How the autobiography of a Muslim slave is challenging an American narrative

[Samori Toure]

The Library of Congress has the Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said. The Youtube comments were disabled obviously because stupid crackas and other people (including African Americans) were unaware that a large number of the slaves were Muslim and many could read and write. These so called experts on slavery now acknowledge the at least 20% of the slaves were Muslims, which is up from the 3%-5% that they used to claim; but in reality the number is probably closer to 33% or more were Muslim.

 

[OfTheCross]

The Library of Congress has the Autobiography of Omar Ibn Said. The Youtube comments were disabled obviously because stupid crackas and other people (including African Americans) were unaware that a large number of the slaves were Muslim and many could read and write. These so called experts now acknowledge the at least 20% of the slaves were Muslims, which is up from the 3%-5% that they used to claim; but in reality the number is probably closer to 33% or more were Muslim.

PBS Newshour doesn't allow comments on any of their vids. I notice many news outlets do this for obvious reasons.

Thanks for posting the vid. I'll check it out later

 

[Samori Toure]

PBS Newshour doesn't allow comments on any of their vids. I notice many news outlets do this for obvious reasons.

Thanks for posting the vid. I'll check it out later

That is good to know, because I noticed that there were over 1,000 down votes on that video.

 

[OfTheCross]

That is good to know, because I noticed that there were over 1,000 down votes on that video.

lol...those are from who you think they're from

 

[Jemmy]

Thanks for the post. In the USA it was probably a way higher percentage than being reported.

 

[Samori Toure]

Thanks for the post. In the USA it was probably a way higher percentage than being reported.

It was probably was, because the Spanish and Portuguese did not want Muslim slaves in their territories, due to the revolts that the Moors started when they were there. So Muslim slaves began to have a larger presence in British and French territories in the USA and Caribbean.

Proof of a large number of Muslim slaves in the USA is pretty extensive.

Basic stuff like the Blues, which is from the Western Sahel where the Muslims lived in West Africa. The solitary singing in Black Baptist Churches is also likely from Islam, we call it Dr. Watts; but it sounds like a variation on the call to prayer.






Stuff like the ring shout, is assumed to be from tawaf which is called shawt which is one circuit counter clockwise around Kaaba. It is part of the Hajj that Muslims take to Mecca.




Islam was also prevalent on the Georgia Sea Islands.
Muslim Culture on the Georgia Sea Islands · Enslaved and Freed African Muslims: Spiritual Wayfarers in the South and Lowcountry · Lowcountry Digital History Initiative

There is a lot of other stuff too, but an excellent book on the subject is:

 

[Supper]

It was probably was, because the Spanish and Portuguese did not want Muslim slaves in their territories, due to the revolts that the Moors started when they were there. So Muslim slaves began to have a larger presence in British and French territories in the USA and Caribbean.

Yup, and the opposite happened here when cen afr kongo/angolan slaves launched the stono rebellion, which lead to a massive decrease in the amount of slaves imported from there and increase in the amount of slaves imported from the senegambian and rice coast ports.

Planters decided to develop a slave population who were native-born, believing the workers were more content if they grew up enslaved. Attributing the rebellion to the recently imported Africans, planters decided to cut off the supply. They enacted a 10-year moratorium on slave importation through Charleston. When, a decade later, they opened the port to the international slave trade again, planters imported slaves from areas other than the Congo-Angolan region.

Stono Rebellion - Wikipedia


And cen afr as well as other forest african cultural aesthetics were suppressed in response to that when they banned the african hand drums and large social gatherings. Hence why foundational proto-Afr'Am culture is heavily Sahelian/Sudanic/Savannan in origin in comparison to other groups in the Afro-New World diaspora, especially when it comes to music.

“Two American specificities can thus explain the emergence of the blues. Of all the countries in the Western hemisphere, the United States received the highest proportion of men and women from Senegal, Gambia, Mali, and Guinea; and it is also the only place where drumming was forbidden. So it is not by chance that the blues evolved only there. What makes this music so different from Caribbean and Afro-South American music is specifically the presence of Sahelian/Arabic/Islamic stylistic elements. They can be found in the instrument playing techniques, the melodies, and the singing style.”

African American Muslim Experiences | Department of Religion | The George Washington University

Brazil may have been the only country that imported more muslims slaves than the US by raw number, simply because Brazil was importing 10x the amount of africans as America, so they had more of every group. But, proportionally America easily imported more muslim or muslim influenced slaves than any other country/colony in the Americas.

 

[Samori Toure]

Yup, and the opposite happened here when cen afr kongo/angolan slaves launched the stono rebellion, which lead to a massive decrease in the amount of slaves imported from there and increase in the amount of slaves imported from the senegambian and rice coast ports.


Stono Rebellion - Wikipedia


And cen afr as well as other forest african cultural aesthetics were suppressed in response to that when they banned the african hand drums and large social gatherings. Hence why foundational proto-Afr'Am culture is heavily Sahelian/Sudanic/Savannan in origin in comparison to other groups in the Afro-New World diaspora, especially when it comes to music.


African American Muslim Experiences | Department of Religion | The George Washington University

Brazil may have been the only country that imported more muslims slaves than the US by raw number, simply because Brazil was importing 10x the amount of africans as America, so they had more of every group. But, proportionally America easily imported more muslim or muslim influenced slaves than any other country/colony in the Americas.

There was mention of Senegal, Gambia, Mali and Guinea in the article, but there should have also been mention of Sierra Leone and Liberia, because in around 1580 Sierra Leone and Liberia were invaded by people called the Mane, who were actually Mande people (also called Mandeka or Mandingo people) who had left Mali. They were led by a female general who had been kicked out of Mali. I think that her name was Macaricio or something like that. That is how how the a large number of Mande people like the Mende, Mandingos, Kpelle, Susu, Vai, Loko and other Mande ended up in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Many of those people ended up being enslaved after they had wars with the local tribes in Sierra Leone and Liberia that had made contacts with the Europeans. In fact the English made that area and the slave port of Bunce Island a focal point.

So many of those invaders brought Islam to Sierra Leone and Liberia, which is why many slaves were Muslim. That little fact was conveniently overlooked by historians even though many of the Mende slaves on the Amistad (like Sengbe Pieh) were Muslim.

The Mane, the Decline of Mali, and Mandinka Expansion towards the South Windward Coast. - Persée
Sengbe Pieh (Cinque) and the Amistad Revolt

 

[Jemmy]

Islam was also prevalent on the Georgia Sea Islands.
Muslim Culture on the Georgia Sea Islands · Enslaved and Freed African Muslims: Spiritual Wayfarers in the South and Lowcountry · Lowcountry Digital History Initiative

There is a lot of other stuff too, but an excellent book on the subject is:

Yeah on the Georgia Island it’s a lot of Islamic stuff. Some Arab officials have visited I believe. Keep in mind South Carolina referred to their slaves as Ancient Berbers in The Negro Law Of South Carolina in 1848.

It’s believed the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA had to be built by Muslims. It’s a cursive Arabic engraved in the pews.

 

[Samori Toure]

Yeah on the Georgia Island it’s a lot of Islamic stuff. Some Arab officials have visited I believe. Keep in mind South Carolina referred to their slaves as Ancient Berbers in The Negro Law Of South Carolina in 1848.

It’s believed the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA had to be built by Muslims. It’s a cursive Arabic engraved in the pews.

This is excellent info. I have to try get over there this Summer to look around. There is so much stuff historical stuff for African Americans to see right in this Country, but we have to find the time to get there to see it.

The fact that they were Muslims would explain why the doors of early African American Churches faced East.

 

[Jemmy]

This is excellent info. I have to try get over there this Summer to look around. There is so much stuff historical stuff for African Americans to see right in this Country, but we have to find the time to get there to see it.

The fact that they were Muslims would explain why the doors of early African American Churches faced East.

Exactly. Even hoodoo has some Islamic elements. Some mojo bags were discovered with Quranic verses in them. So much history in the Southeast.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Nah it definitely IS around 30% and now I see slavery historians FINALLY acknowledging because BOTH White and even ADOS scholars have had ulterior motives to deny it. The Muslim African influence on ADOS culture is REAL and this "new" percent only makes sense of things because ADOS culture at its ROOT has Sahelian Muslim African origins. The best example being the Blues.

 

[Samori Toure]

Nah it definitely IS around 30% and now I see slavery historians FINALLY acknowledging because BOTH White and even ADOS scholars have had ulterior motives to deny it. The Muslim African influence on ADOS culture is REAL and this "new" percent only makes sense of things because ADOS culture at its ROOT has Sahelian Muslim African origins. The best example being the Blues.

I can not recall, but I think Sylvaine Diouf estimate was even higher than 30%. I think that she was at 33 1/3% and she stressed that was conservative, based upon the regions where slaves were take from . I would not be surprised if it is as high as 40% or even more.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

It was probably was, because the Spanish and Portuguese did not want Muslim slaves in their territories, due to the revolts that the Moors started when they were there. So Muslim slaves began to have a larger presence in British and French territories in the USA and Caribbean.

Actually it was mainly the Wolofs who were responsible for the anti-Muslim and anti-Wolof slave laws that were passed by Spanish and Portuguese enslavers, due to the fact that not only Islam and their temper made them prone to revolt, they were also trained warriors with expertise in cavalry warfare. It made their rebellions very efficient against Portuguese that used horses to suppress slaves.

Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion

The king of Jolof at the beginning of the XVIth century had a company of 8 000 to 10 000 mounted men

 

[Samori Toure]

Actually it was mainly the Wolofs who were responsible for the anti-Muslim and anti-Wolof slave laws that were passed by Spanish and Portuguese enslavers, due to the fact that not only Islam and their temper made them prone to revolt, they were also trained warriors with expertise in cavalry warfare. It made their rebellions very efficient against Portuguese that used horses to suppress slaves.

Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion

The king of Jolof at the beginning of the XVIth century had a company of 8 000 to 10 000 mounted men

I don't know all the full reasons behind their decision, but later slave rebellions like the Male Revolt in Brazil probably confirmed the Portuguese and Spanish thoughts on Muslim slaves.

The weird thing about the Male Revolt is that it looks like it was actually the Yoruba slaves of modern Nigeria that set it off, but for some reason the Portuguese and Spanish equated Muslim slaves with being from Mali (Male).