The Guilfordian

Many people cannot trace their roots back to an original source, but imagine hearing your traditions and experiences, your history told only through the voices of colonists.

Anne C. Bailey, author of "African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade," has committed her life to telling the stories of ordinary people who retain their history instead through oral tradition. This tradition is composed of experiences survived by families during slavery.

On Nov. 14, in Bryan Jr. auditorium, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean Adrienne Israel introduced Bailey. Israel, also a history professor, described her as a scholar activist carrying on the work of W.E.B. Dubois.

Bailey, who was raised in Jamaica until the age of 12, wondered where traditions, riddles, and proverbs told in Jamaica originated. She knew that these customs were not passed down from colonists and made it her passion to discover the African voices lost in the Middle Ppassage.

She traveled to Ghana to conduct her research. It was a personal interest fused with professionalism.

"I didn't want to end up in the archives, rooms filled with lots of old dusty books," she said. "I asked myself, how can I learn from the people of Ghana? Let me focus on something indigenous to the country - oral history."

When asked how she was received in Ghana, Bailey said, "I was told that the people of Ghana would say, 'you are the daughter of slaves, we don't know you.' That wasn't true. Kinship is a main idea in Ghana. I was welcomed because of my openness, and knowledge, and willingness to learn. I went with the attitude of a student, not as an American."

Bailey began her research in Eweland, formerly known as the old Slave Coast. The anchors left behind by slave ships from centuries ago are still secured on the coast. The towns, not as vast as many other cities, carry a strong sense of community. The residents carry a sense of dignity and can often trace their stories as far back as 10, sometimes 12, generations.

"Culturally it's more vibrant than it is economically," Bailey said.

Bailey studied the roles of religion, participation in slavery within African countries, shame, and the work of other researchers. Smiling wryly and shaking her head, Bailey briefly described the irony of religion during slavery.

"Almost every single slave ship had a priest or pastor on board," she said.

She discussed the pseudo-science taught at elite universities in earlier centuries before the African slave trade. It was a scientific racism perpetuating the idea that blacks were mentally inferior to whites. Bailey explained how this kind of racism can still be seen in many institutions that have yet to acknowledge and dispel century old myths.

For Bailey, her commitment to this oral history is to not only relay the sad stories but also the victories of survival despite the odds.

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