Perserverance

Video Description:

A brown skinned man with a shaved head and a trimmed mustache and beard wearing a black blazer is sitting to the right on a couch with pink, green, and pink-green pillows.  He is signing a song. In the background are brown wood panels to the left and light brown bricks to the right with plants and green leaves climbing up the panels.  A sign with the word love is hanging on the wooden panels.  The room is illuminated with globe lights. 

Lyrics:

Video Description:

A caramel skinned man with short brown hair and a subtle beard. He is wearing two silver necklaces; one is a chain the other has a star pendant. He is wearing a white V-neck t-shirt against a grey background.

The man begins the video with a big smile and a subtle laugh. The smile begins to fade and eventually turns into a straight serious face. He begins to breathe heavy and tear up. His face turns to a grimace and he grits his teeth, while still breathing heavily. He begins to sob, but stops, slows his breathing, and begins to relax. Again, looking serious and straight faced. He starts to smile and laugh slightly.  

Video Description:

Black woman with short brown curly hair wearing earrings and a black shirt against a white background. The same woman changes her top several times throughout the video. From a red thick knit sweater to a black button-up shirt with lion face pattern.

Video Transcript:

It had been 400 years or more than 400 years. It’s still continues on North America, Europe around world. It continues.  v

Growing up, I would see my parents and you look at them.  I know I had a feeling something was different. I do not know how I can explain to you. Black parents compared to others can be so different. It is hard to explain. It is just something that I feel in my gut.  

I learned about slavery oppression from T.V. and in different ways that I would learn about it and learn about injustice toward black people and slavery.  I learned about oppression and how others would oppress black people. and injustice toward black people in North America. I know that my parents had experienced racism in Chicago and Montreal. But when I look at my parents, wow…I felt that they had their own faith and their own self-worth. They were able to navigate their way through their experiences.

Barbados's history, we go back to where Africa began, there were coasts on the side. It is where you are standing on sand, you can see the ocean out there. There were ships between decks on the coasts. There were ships owned by white head-chiefs of the army.

Do you know what was their business for?

Selling black people. 

There are different tribes, there were two tribes that were at war to seize their land. Once one of them won, they seized black people from that tribe and kept them as slaves in their tribe. They also exchanged black people for white head-chiefs for food, supplies, and gold.

What happened to them, they were shipped to Europe, North American, especially the Caribbean. 

Barbados had the largest slavery business; it continues for many years until 1800. That period from the beginning to 1800, black people were not being human beings at all. They were being objects that white people were playing with, beating up, murdering, and throwing away into the ocean. For white people, they saw black people create profits. It was all about money, money and money.

I was about 8 years old or nine years old, my mother and I go to stores as such as grocery, clothing stores or etc. I noticed how she behaved; she would say hi to black people only. She would say hi and have a quick chat. She introduced me to them, says this is my daughter, Jo-Anne. They’d give a wave. Very friendly.

One day, I asked her why she never said hi to white people and only black people. People are people, or so I thought. She responded to me with a face and said, “You will understand when you are old enough.” 

And I asked, “Can you explain why? “

And she did not answer.

My parents were born in Barbados. 

Where is Barbados?

In between North America and South America, Caribbean where there are many islands.

Barbados is further far from the rest of islands.

During my parents’ time, life was normal. 

Government- there were Black Presidents.

Black Owner Business

Black Teachers

Black Doctors

Back Nurses

My parents were teachers.

My mother were ready to make a change in her life. She was eager to move to America. She wanted to move to Chicago. Why pick Chicago, her brother lived there that time. That time, my parents were sweetheart, not yet to get married.  They made a decision that my mother moving to Chicago first then my father followed her later. When she moved to Chicago, there were culturally shock because of her own black skin. She had been prejudiced for being a black person. She took courses to become a clerk, working in office. She did not want to teach in school, she noticed that students had attitudes. It is not only that reason, she had to study over again. My father had experience racism as a black man. White people felt threatened by him.  He realized that the attitudes toward to him because of being a black man. 

I bought the book called “Americanah” By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She explained about her experience and really helped me understand why things felt so different. She was born in Nigeria. My parents were born in Barbados.

And the experiences are similar. 

Also, Barbados and Nigeria have a shared history as well.

When you learn about the history of slavery. We are part of that story.

Looking back in time, thinking about the African Coast

Layers upon layers of decks floating across the ocean.

The ships would travel to Europe, South America, go the various islands in the Caribbean.

One of those islands in Barbados 

Slavery was brought there.

They would sell people as a commodity 

Selling Black people 

It would look at them saying, “Oh, that looks a good strong one.” 

Look at the muscles on him.

How much does he cost? 

How much are you selling it?

And people would bid on these humans. 

They would look at the women and say, “Oh, she looks nice and strong.”

“She’d be great for cooking.”

She produces a lot more slaves for us and they would bid them off as well.

They could bring more black people into various parts in America as well.

The history and the stories. 

Barbados has a history.

And that is a part of my parents’ history.

That book gave much a wider understanding of that all this.

Barbados and the connection that it has with Nigeria and the history in Africa. 

The history in Barbados and the history of Nigeria are connected.

And I understand this now.

We continue to be bitter and angry.

Things have gotten better where people can start new.

As humans and have dreams and hopes for the future. 

I honor those people as part of my history. 

We remember, we remember them and their deaths. 

They did it for us and our future. 

North America have things have been resolved? 

No, we are still bitter and still angry.

And why you ask? Because we never feel welcome. 

We are angry and bitter.

We never feel welcome. 

400 Years 

Jo-Anne Bryan

March 2021

ASLStorytelling