The Catholic Church was at the Medieval era, the most powerful institution in the European continent. The Pope, head of Church had so much power that he could change and institute rules that would change the life trajectory of millions civilians. Pope Gregory Xlll as example, switched the entire calendar in 1512 with the help of mathematicians and astronomers, in order to revoke the previous Julian calendar. The introduction of the Gregorian calendar was essential so the 24 hours would perfectly equal the day time measure for the 365 days that represent a year. The main goal here was to stay perfectly in sync with the solar cycle. The Church’s impact has still a tremendous influence in our today’s life for good and BAD (slavery, patriarchy, proselytism, Natives Americans, Jews, Africans, Aborigines genocides).
The medieval society was ruled by two entities:
-The Noble class: Monarchs, Kings, the Emperors.
-The Clergy: Roman Catholic Church (RCC), the Pope, the archbishops.
These two power structures went hand in hand to implement their self-serving policies in European societies and across the Globe.
The Age of Discovery, is a historical period that occurred between the 15th century to the 17th century in European history. That essential era retraces the Europeans seafaring: missions based upon exploring and colonising regions across the Globe. The age of discovery is also a period when many major scientific breakthroughs occurred. Explorers and scientists shifted many paradigms that were previously reinforced/backed up by the Catholic Church as the time, such as geocentrism: a belief that the Sun and the other planets from the same astronomical system spin around ours. Science also managed through thorough researches to challenge beliefs that the Earth is flat. Scientists indeed, went out of their ways to debunk approaches validated by the RCC and by extension defying the Church authority. Marco Polo, Magellan and many others explorers, transformed these controversial theories into practical experiments. The Earth being round was firstly supported by Greeks thinkers such as Aristotle before the seafaring actually took place. In the European's lens/perspective, the Age of discovery put lights on parts of the Worlds, ecosystems, cultures, ethnies that were billions of miles away different from theirs: the immense African continent with its several tribes and ethnies, Asia, South-Asia, the Americas, Caribbean islands, Australia. The Clergy and the Noble rulers saw in the “New Worlds” discoveries, an excellent opportunity to make an abundant amount of money in zones that overflow rare ressources that cannot be found in the old continent. Not only they found an opportunity to create brand new economies with a beyond-border market that will generate a looooot of revenue, but they also found the perfect opportunity to expand their power through the mechanism of that brand new economical system in process, on a GLOBAL scale.
But how did they impose a system that functions on ruling and exploiting whole sovereign nations that live with their own laws, customs, languages, beliefs, diet habits, etc. ?
With religion.
The Spanish inquisition initiated by the RCC, was a powerful office that tried the heretics (non-Christians civilians) by imprisoning them, exiled them, torturing them, forcing them to convert into Christianity, and confiscating their properties. These methods were firstly put in place to eradicate the Jews and Muslims from benefiting of the soon-to-be most influential and impactful economical trade the History has ever known: The Triangular trade. That transatlantic trade was crucial to maintain and increase wealth in Europeans countries. The purpose was to export non-essential commodities from a specific region to another World zone where it was more needed, creating a supply-demand system on a global scale, and offsetting trade imbalances between the different regions participating in that economy. The RCC inquisition was also an ammunition to legitimise slavery and the persecution of Native Americans on their own sole. The Church relied on biblical scriptures to justify the servitude of human beings, and their whole erasure through violence. In the Bible, dark skin tones were associated with evilness and bestiality. In the inquisition office, disturbing statements rapidly erupted, statements centered around ideologies that the African population does not own a soul, that they were worse than beasts and were products of evilness. That their only way to not end up in hell was to convert immediatly into Christianity. The political philosopher Montesquieu retraced perfectly the anti-African mindset, and naturally legitimised the subjugations and erasure of these targeted demographics that were purposely turnt into property and capital goods. Indeed, Montesquieu and many others modern era thinkers, philosophers, politicians saw in the slavery trade an economical component required to generate substantial amount of revenue. The religion justified these practices because according to its holy scriptures, the subjugated population were not persons, they did not own a soul.
The transatlantic trade mechanism:
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In Europe: exportation of commodities in Africa => pots, pans, guns, alcohol, horses // importation of commodities from the new World : sugar, cotton, rum, tobacco, coffee
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In the Americas and Islands: importations off commodities from Africa => essentially Slaves being shipped for cultivating the exporting products to Europe in exchange of imported goods by European merchants.
The Slave mercantile capital system started in the 15th century. It firstly involved Portugal and Spain, and rapidly being followed by Britain, France and Netherlands. Indeed, Spanish traders took the first African slaves to America in 1503. The next centuries the slave trade developed a lucrative commercial system that developed whole new economies through the mass transportations of human beings and their subjugation into capital goods. The transatlantic slave trade transported millions of Africans from West Africa to the Caribbean’s islands and the Americas, destroying along whole nations, cultures, and their History.
Before the Europeans' ambitions came into fruition, the African continent had a beautiful, inspiring, culturally rich History. Before the colonial period in central Africa, the most damaged area from slavery trade, the Kongo kingdom possessed a unique language: Kikongo (still spoken today), specific rituals, its own social rules and laws, and ethnics: the Bantou. The empire covered the today Angola, DRC-Kinshasa and Rd Congo-Brazzaville. In 1483, when the Portuguese Navigators arrived for the first time in the Kongo shores in quest of political and commercial alliances, the kingdom was already a powerful and centralized state that highly impressed its freshly accosted Europeans visitors. Few years later, the Milanese Ambassador stated in Lisbon that Mbanza Kongo the capital, reminded him of Evora, a prestigious portuguese city which was considered as the royal residence.
The transatlantic slave trade has indeed decimated nations, spread unnamable atrocities from West Africa to the “New World”. But along these monstrosities in the name of capitalism and supremacist ambitions, whole cultures managed to emerge from that dark era. The 10 million of Africans who had been shipped as Slaves to these new places took with them their unbroken souls. The African soul that was at the time completely disproven by “great thinkers”, by the European monarchs and the Catholic Church, was the source of the most beautiful pieces of art never created that is the blueprint of many artistical creations today. Through adversity, pain, brutality, torture and their lifelong nightmare by being physically tortured, by seeing their relatives, families being killed, raped, their souls however in an unexplainable way, have NEVER been broken.
DANCE: expression outlet, a coping mechanism
Dancing was THEE way for slaves to cope, to face the life long servitude penitence. Dancing was always being a powerful outlet for African culture. The captured slaves felt as well, that this would be a way to resist from any assimilations and stay no matter what they went through, connected with their true roots, their true identity. While that art form was considered at the time by religious people as vulgar and undignified, dancing managed nonetheless to link the African slaves and Afro-descendants to their African heritage. Dancing was an artistic expression that was waaaaay stronger than any other aspect of the African culture. Indeed, that outlet had a substantial importance in Africa as a continent: not only it was (still is) a routine communal activity, but also an integral part of ceremonies that bind groups together as people. It links one’s personal identity to a group. Dancing connect people to events throughout the life cycle. The individual and the community were commemorated in dance: fertility dances and rite-of-passage dances, were symbolically celebrated with the art of body movements and that even before the slave mercantile system. Like all social institutions, black dance arenas reflect the history, sociocultural tenor, and power relations of their era. The rumba dance taking its inspiration from bantou african ethnics' rhythm and roots. That new dance was formed in Cuba, a Spanish colony at the time, as a protest, a form of rebellion, a vital outlet of self-expression for people denied freedoms. The upbeat, rythmic and recognisable tempo, emphasised by an energetic beat of hollow claves and African drum, was meant to dance sensually through hips and ass moves. Rumba not only is an act of rebellion against white oppression, it is also a sensual and seduction ritual that spiritually activate fertility. Rumba “It’s an expression of the joy of life, created during the slavery period in the sugar plantations, in the neighbourhoods, in the ports, on the railway lines,” said Miguel Barnet, president of Cuba’s writers and artists guild. “Wherever the slave worked, he needed his spiritual and liturgical songs, for salvation and healing.”
In the same spirit as the rumba dance in Cuba, the Champeta dance born in Colombia a former Spanish colony, was as well a lively rythmic music meant to dance. A new music/dance genre created by the slaves mainly originated from Kongo, in the Bantou culture that music genre is actually called Sebene. That new art expression developped by the Kongolese captives, was a way to free themselves from their masters during the 18th century. Champeta music and dance helped the Slaves to show their resilience and strengh, and that until this day. Their art still lives in the town of San Basilio de Palenque. These noticeable African rhythms with percussions and mixed with urban music that create the Champeta music genre, is still sung and danced in Cartagena.
MUSIC: negro spiritual, blues, gospel
It is said that blues originated on southern plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana in the 19th century. The founders were Slaves, ex-Slaves, and descendants of slaves. That whole new music genre came from Africa. Negro spiritual and gospel, are chants, work songs, drums, solos, and also dance. There are crossovers from blues to jazz and jazz to blues, jazz and blues to gospel and gospel to jazz and blues. Blues is the true ancestors of many music genre that we are listening to today: rock music, soul, Rythm & BLUES, house music etc. The African Slaves singing during their forced labor into the plantations, created the most beautiful artistic pieces that inspired and birthed new artistical genres that are centuries years later still listened to by millions of people across the Globe. Blues music such as Gospel and spiritual chants, mainly emerged through suffering and resistance. Indeed, Slaves communicated secret messages through these spiritual incantations as a way to bypass the slave owners who would be listening in on their conversations. They sang through coded songs to provide instructions that would allow them to escape to the North and to freedom, particularly on the Underground Railroad. Sandra Jean Graham is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at Babson College stated : « Although slaves came from many different African societies, there were some common musical traditions that brought about the spiritual » .
The art of music in the African and Afrodescendant culture plays a huge component for our healing, to cope with the indescribable amount of pain. Music is an undeniable and substantial vector for expressing our vibrant and powerful emotions through creativity. And during that dark time, the African slaves through their dreadful and unjust lifelong nightmares, gave birth to these technical crafts to survive, to not give up ever. What blossomed from their fights, resistance and resilience, outreached on the global scale until today. Soul music for example, a genre directly born from blues and jazz, the artistical blueprints of many other genres we are all listening to today, took its name from the Black Souls that has despite many and endless attempts by their oppressors and that for centuries, never been tarnished, tampered, torn down or erased. Its genre name is a tribute, a reminder from our brutal History but also a reminder from our Power, our Strength, our natural creative talents. Indeed, Black Souls naviguated through art and culture and managed to evolve, morphed and gave birth to a an immense heritage that the modern Black artists adopted with pride and respect of the Ancestors.
Other cultural heritage: Kikongo the Kongo African empire language spoken in Brazil, Colombia, DR - festivals, carnivals
Slavery brought African cultures to the new World and also whole heritages such as languages. The Kongo empire main language was Kikongo, most of the population spoke that language before the transatlantic trade. When millions of African slaves were transported to these colonial areas in the Americas and Caribbean islands, the congolese dialect still spoken in Africa today, was transported along with the captive protagonists and then was transmitted through slaves and afro-descendants until today. Indedd, Kikongo is still spoken in Brazilian, Colombian, Dominican, Cuban, Panamian regions by the Afro-descendants. Mixed with creole and Spanish, the Kongo empire language remains spoken in these post slavery areas, and is today named : « Habla Congo ». The dialect, cultural heritage brought along with the captured Slaves, is now ingrained and taught to generations who directly descend from them. “African slaves never forgot about where they came from and passed along their memories to each subsequent generation through oral history and reminiscences” - Dwaine Plaza & Jane DeCosmo.
Carnivals are festivals of freedom performed in the face of European enslavement. The word “Carnival” etymologically comes from the pre-emancipation ritual of Cannes Brulees (sugarcane burning) that occurred on sugar plantations that enslaved millions of Africans in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. With these colourful, sparkling attires and percussions up-beat lively tempo music, Carnivals in the Carribbeans, Louisiana, Brasil and Guyana, were absolute joyful celebrations for Slaves, Slaves descendants. As happy and proud the Carnival protagonists were, the gruesome History that led them to create a timeless global festival, was imperative to create Momentumm, a one of a kind memorial and tribute for their Ancestors. That timeless global festival was also created to demonstrate the european oppressors that the African soul IS unbreakable. Carnivals are still centuries later, unmissable yearly celebrations that millions of afro-descendants are exciting to participate in, wearing traditional attires while dancing on up-beat and exhilarating percussions until dawn. Here we explore the rich trove of historical sources that reveal acts of rebellion, music-making, dance, masking, and ritual at the origin of Carnival, in predominant slavery areas such as Louisiana state, the Caribbean islands and the Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese colonies in South America.
One of the darkest time in history covered as a « genius » capitalist system that instituted the economic globalisation as we know it today, had artistically and culturally created a new wave of expression outlets. Captured, treated as livestocks, tortured, brainwashed, used as “scientific” experimentations, all of these horrific treatments would erase and silenced the Black community in the US, the Islands and South/Central Americas. But instead, and miraculously out of ALL this misery that lasted CENTURIES, the Slaves coming from different African empires and nations, speaking different languages, sharing different beliefs, rituals etc., found a way to stay in communion and help each other to go THROUGH these atrocities no matter what. No matter which unspeakable and disgusting acts the religious supremacist societies, the slave owners, the capitalist system perpetuated against them. They artistically ascended. ART was and still is today the Black people’s lifeline and oxygen bottle. Christianity, White supremacy, capitalism are factually the TRUE evil who made its way to Africa, crawled into human lives to destroy it. A true evil that came centuries ago and never left the continent in peace ever since. The colour of our skin has never been questioned before the Europeans entered our continent with supremacists’ ideologies backed up by religious rigmaroles. Through our beautiful dark skintone, strangers seated in an office thousands miles away, discussed debated around our humanity, whether we possess a soul or not. As far as I am concerned, the soulless individuals are those who torn families apart, those who put them in chains, who transported them in ships for months long as vulgar disposable goods without any remorse, threw them in plantations miles away from their home, forced them to work all their lives until they were bored enough to assassinate them.
The questionnable Black souls changed the Black and White, conservative, arbitrarily labelled societies, by sprinkling Joyful, meaningful, deep, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, mind-blowing pieces of art that the World needed.
I am so proud of the captive Africans and their absolute resilience ♥️