Religion, Race, and Rebellion

[Poitier]

So often I see binary thinking on The Coli when discussing religion in the context of the Black experience.

It isn't uncommon to see some variation of "Abrahamic religions evil, African religious systems good"

People ascribe mysticism to Diaspora syncretic religions : Hoodoo, Vodou, Voodoo, Santeria, Obeah, Queto, etc.

But is this a red herring? Well, lets take a look at a few examples of uprisings across the Diaspora:

Christian Rebellions
Stono Rebellion
Denmark Vesey
Nat Turner
Demerara rebellion of 1823
Baptist War

Muslim Rebellions
Malê revolt

Syncretic and ARS rebellions
Pointe Coupée Conspiracy
Haitian Revolution
First Maroon War
1733 slave insurrection on St. John
Tacky's War

There seems to be no correlation between religion with knowledge of self, impudence, and a desire for agency.

It should also be noted that all 3 religious categories could be found at any single location i.e. Gullah Jack and Denmark Vesey.

The next logical argument would be that the Haitian Revolution succeeded where the other rebellions were suppressed.

However, the sheer number of rebellions across the diaspora meant one was bound to succeed. I wouldn't attribute any fantastical reasons for this but lets analyze a little further:
​

1. Haiti, at the time of the Revolution, was overwhelmingly majority black and had a large population​
2. Haiti is mountainous which provides protection and military advantages​
3. Haiti is an island meaning it is a condensed space thus easier to defend i.e. Citadelle Laferrière​
4. Haiti had a huge maroon population on said small Island​
5. Haiti had a large educated Mulatto population with military backgrounds​
6. The totally different natures and timelines of the American Revolution vs French Revolution​
7. Explicit backing from the French, Spanish and British at various points of the Revolution​

Not to diminish the Haitian Revolution, it inspired rebellions across the diaspora and put colonizers in permanent state of anxiety.

But, I can't think of too many areas in the diaspora that could have a similar situation. Maroon populations, educated Free Blacks and the freedom of movement to "conspire" were not unique to Haiti but the melange was.

Elsewhere, the plantations were not as valuable, the land was too spread out, or the Black population was the minority.

That is not to say there is no value in African religious beliefs. They gave enslaved Africans a language to communicate that was alien to the colonizers.
​

 

[Poitier]

So what are some things that bind the various rebellions across the diaspora? Education and military background.

Kongolese Christians

Jemmy, the leader of the revolt, was a literate slave described in an eyewitness account as "Angolan". Historian John K. Thornton has noted that, because of patterns of trade, he was more likely from the Kingdom of Kongo in west Central Africa, which had long had relations with Portuguese traders.[5] His cohort of 20 slaves were also called "Angolan", and likely also Kongolese. The slaves were described as Catholic, and some spoke Portuguese, learned from the traders operating in the Kongo Empire at the time. The patterns of trade and the fact that the Kongo was a Catholic nation point to their origin there. The leaders of the Kingdom of Kongo had voluntarily converted to Catholicism in 1491, followed by their people; by the 18th century, the religion was a fundamental part of its citizens' identity. The nation had independent relations with Rome.[5] The region had slavery prior to the introduction of Christianity to the royal court of Kongo, and it was regulated by the Kingdom. Slavery was still practiced as late as the 1870s.[6]

Portuguese was the language of trade as well as one of the languages of educated people in Kongo. The Portuguese-speaking slaves in South Carolina were more likely to have learned about offers of freedom by Spanish agents. They would also have been attracted to the Catholicism of Spanish Florida. In the early 18th century, Kongo had been undergoing civil wars, leading to more people being captured and sold into slavery, including trained soldiers. It is likely that Jemmy and his rebel cohort were such military men, as they fought hard against the militia when they were caught, and were able to kill 20 men.[5]

Zumbi

Zumbi was born free in Palmares in 1655, believed to be descended from the Imbangala warriors from Angola.[6] He was captured by the Portuguese and given to a missionary, Father António Melo, when he was approximately six years old. Father António Melo baptized Zumbi and gave him the name of Francisco. Zumbi was taught the sacraments, learned Portuguese and Latin, and helped with Catholic mass. Despite attempts to subjugate him, Zumbi escaped in 1670 and, at the age of 15, returned to his birthplace. Zumbi became known for his physical prowess and cunning in battle and he was a respected military strategist by the time he was in his early twenties.

Gabriel Prosser

As Gabriel and Solomon were trained as blacksmiths, their father may have had that skill. Gabriel was also taught to read and write.[1]

By the mid-1790s, as Gabriel neared the age of twenty, he stood "six feet two or three inches high". His long and "bony face, well made", was marred by the loss of his two front teeth and "two or three scars on his head". White people as well as Black people regarded the literate young man as "a fellow of great courage and intellect above his rank in life".[1]

Denmark Vesey

Telemaque worked for Joseph Vesey as a personal assistant and interpreter in slave trading, including periods spent in Bermuda, and was known to be fluent in French and Spanish in addition to English.[7]

Nat Turner

Turner spent his entire life in Southampton County, a plantation area where slaves comprised the majority of the population.[8] He was identified as having "natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension, surpassed by few."[9] He learned to read and write at a young age. Deeply religious, Nat was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible.[10]

Jack Gladstone and his father, Quamina

Under the guidance of Reverend John Wray,[9] he learned to read and write.[10][11] As was witnessed in a letter he wrote to the LMS, he was persuaded to attend the recently opened church by the person who he served as apprentice.[6] Wray noticed positive changes after he became Christian.[10] Quamina was proud and hardworking

Jack was a cooper on the plantation. As a slave who did not work under a driver, he enjoyed considerable freedom to roam about.[3] He was a free spirit, and passionate man who despised limitations on his freedom; he was aware of the debate about slavery in Britain, and was made extremely listless by rumours of emancipation papers arriving from London.[3] Jack was tall and debonair, and possessed "European features" — he stood at six feet two inches, was intelligent, and had a reputation as a "wild fellow". Jack had been baptised, was occasionally a "teacher", but was not a regular church goer because he was too restless to follow church rules.[4]

Toussaint Louverture

Toussaint is believed to have been well educated by his godfather Pierre Baptiste. Historians have speculated as to Toussaint's intellectual background. His extant letters demonstrate a command of French in addition to Creole; he was familiar with Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher who had lived as a slave; and his public speeches as well as his life's work, according to his biographers, show a familiarity with Machiavelli.[20] Some cite Abbé Raynal, who wrote against slavery, as a possible influence:[21] The wording of the proclamation issued by then rebel slave leader Toussaint on August 29, 1793, which may have been the first time he publicly used the moniker "Louverture", seems to refer to an anti-slavery passage in Abbé Raynal's "A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies."[22]]

Samuel Sharpe

He was allowed to become well-educated. Because of his education, he was respected by other slaves.

Sharpe became a well-known preacher and leader in the Baptist Church, which had long welcomed slaves as members and recognized them as preachers. He was a deacon at the Burchell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, whose pastor was Rev. Thomas Burchell, a missionary from England. Sharpe spent most of his time travelling to different parishes in Jamaica, educating the slaves about Christianity, which he believed promised freedom.

Dutty Boukman

Dutty Boukman was a self-educated slave born on the island of Jamaica. After he attempted to teach other slaves how to read, he was sold to a French plantation owner and placed as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man," which some scholars, despite accounts suggesting that he was a Vodou houngan, have interpreted as meaning that he was a Muslim, since in many Muslim regions the term "man of the book" is a synonym for an adherent of the Islamic faith. One scholar suggests that it is likely that Boukman "was a Jamaican Muslim who had a Quran, and that he got his nickname from this."[6] Other scholars suggest that Boukman may have practiced a syncretic blend of traditional African religion and a form of Christianity.[7]

We live in a different time. We can communicate and travel freely, literacy isn't rare and military innovation makes physical confrontations an unlikely pathway to autonomy but we cannot fall for red herrings and put mental real estate to battling over religious beliefs.

I do thing there are things to take from our ancestors. Economic and cyber warfare are the preeminent domains currently, and we can only engage on those fronts if we have an understanding of how the Eurasians move.

Using their belief systems to our advantage because some European thought IS beneficial if we repurpose it and create syncretic/creolized ideologies. I believe the Asians have a great understanding of this.

Doing smart business with Eurasians, intra-Diaspora integration, and intelligent nation building.


As an aside, I'd like to address briefly the idea "Mullatos evil, Black good."

True, mulattos and free people of color were used as agents more so than enslaved Africans but absolutes are seldom correct:

Bussa's rebellion
Charles Deslondes and the 1811 German Coast Uprising
Cécile Fatiman
Francisco Menendez
John Horse

Are a few examples of our biracial brothers and sisters who fought the good fight.​

 

[Bawon Samedi]

He's back at it... This is the @Poitier I been waiting for(pause ).

@EastCoastNaga @Raymond Burrr @The College Dropout @Supper @DrBanneker @The Odum of Ala Igbo @The Hierophant @Akan @Karbaash @Grano-Grano

Wanna add yall to this.

 

[Grano-Grano]

Locker room this as well. Them goofies need this.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Locker room this as well. Them goofies need this.

Tag them here. We need to feed the Root more.

Anyways, I'll add my deep points later.

 

[Grano-Grano]

Aight give me a sec

 

[Supper]

Black seminole wars, creole mutiny, and baltimore mutiny were all done with completely secular intentions with no clear religious/spiritual motivation.

Though at the same time, and I may need to go back and re-read some material on them to jog my memory, the leaders of the two ship rebellions didn't appear to have any education or military background either. What they did have were strong personal motives(especially in the case of madison washington), a good eye for opportunity and/or situational awareness, as well as a charismatic ability to rally support & back up from their fellow enslaved individuals.

 

[Poitier]

Black seminole wars, creole mutiny, and baltimore mutiny were all done with secular intentions with no clear religious/spiritual motivation.

Though at the same time, and I may need to go back and re-read some material on them to jog my memory, the leaders of the two ship rebellions didn't appear to have any education or military background either. What they did have were strong personal motives and a good eye for opportunity and/or situational awareness.

Yeah, I'm not making any sort of religious argument. I'm saying its a red herring.

A group of Black atheist fed up of being in bondage would eventually rebel.

The ship rebellions I don't really count given the entirely different dynamic but the leader of the creole ship rebellion was a free man of color who was most certainly educated.

Actually his story would be a dope love story: Madison Washington: The Free Man Who Led A Successful Slave Revolt - On the Shoulders of Giants

 

[Samori Toure]

Amen on this thread.

What I would suggest is that the Haitian Revolution like the Male Revolt may have had it roots in the Muslims that were in Haiti. Francois Mackandal and Dutty Bookman who were front runners of that revolution are often referred to or inferred as being Muslim in some writings. There seems to be acknowledgement that other Muslim were present in Haiti as well.

http://www.islamawareness.net/LatinAmerica/Haiti/Haiti_Article001.pdf

 

[Supper]

Yeah, I'm not making any sort of religious argument. I'm saying its a red herring.

Right, I actually agree with you %100, and I've actually NEVER seen anyone word it so eloquently. So, MAJOR props for putting this out there.

A group of Black atheist fed up of being in bondage would eventually rebel.

The ship rebellions I don't really count given the entirely different dynamic but the leader of the creole ship rebellion was a free man of color who was most certainly educated.

Actually his story would be a dope love story: Madison Washington: The Free Man Who Led A Successful Slave Revolt - On the Shoulders of Giants

Yes, the Creole ship revolt is indeed itself a riveting tale all on it's own. But, as it turns out Madison Washington was actually BORN a slave in Virginia, and managed to escape to escape as an adult via the underground railroad north into Canada where he found work as a farmer saving money to buy freedom from his still enslaved wife, but grew impatient and eventually returned back to VA for his wife, but captured and was sold into the domestic slave trade, to be shipped to New Orleans, and the rest is history....... And it also turns out he was prone to being rebellious and not respecting authority since he was a child. I don't remember reading anything about him becoming literate during his stay in Canada.
Madison Washington: The Free Man Who Led A Successful Slave Revolt - On the Shoulders of Giants
Edit: (lol @ me grabbing the same source)

But, one other aspect of these slave revolts that I feel are overlooked is those that were planned and premeditated, and whether it was p&p'd by one or MANY people vs. those that were done, more or less, at the spur of the moment, such as many of the ship revolts.

They both had their pros and cons. With the p&p'd revolts allowing more time to gather bodies, material, intelligence, and coordinate but also increasing the risk of it being compromised from above before it can be carried out. While the spur of the moment revolts didn't come with the risk of it being compromised from above before hand, they allowed for less timing to coordinate, gather bodies, and so on.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Yeah this is why I rank @Poitier high as a poster because he states some points I be saying but he STATES it BETTER than me.

For one:

1. The Coli doesn't grasp religion. They don't comprehend that Christianity whether you agree with it or not is a very part of African-American culture/history. This isn't about, "oh trust in da LORD! Forgive forgive da whiate man!" like the Coli believes, but using religion as a tool. I have said many times that the majority of Blacks use Christianity the "wrong way." Meanwhile slave rebels like Nat Turner and those Angolan soldiers used it for THEIR benefit and to free themselves. Not on some, "forgive da white man!" I have said before that the Jews are very religious and yet are among the most powerful people in the world. Moving on to Islam, the Coli brings up how Islam is evil YET drool over heavily ISLAMIC African civilizations like the Moors, Mali Empire, Songhay Empire and other Islamic African civilizations. Heck, many of the big Afring civilizations since antiquity were Islamic. So yeah the Coli does have a flawed view on religion.

2. As for mulatto. I have stated many times that i am indifferent. If a biracial like J Cole wants to help then we should not exclude. I have stated that the mulatto situation for AAs is different for other Blacks. And obviously many Coli members forget that many early AA freedom fighters were biracial like Frederick Douglass obviously.

All in all its about context.

 

[Poitier]

I don't remember reading anything about him becoming literate during his stay in Canada.
Madison Washington: The Free Man Who Led A Successful Slave Revolt - On the Shoulders of Giants
(lol @ me using the same source)

True, but I believe you have to read between the lines.

I find it hard to believe a man of Madison Washington's level of cerebralness had no form of education.

This is a dude that kept a tool kit in his coat to saw off chains lol.

Edit: I found this which hints at self-education https://books.google.com/books?id=_...onepage&q=Madison Washington literate&f=false

 

[Grano-Grano]

@Max B @Trajan @Hennessypapi @Swagnificent

 

[Poitier]

Amen on this thread.

What I would suggest is that the Haitian Revolution like the Male Revolt may have had it roots in the Muslims that were in Haiti. Francois Mackandal and Dutty Bookman who were front runners of that revolution are often referred to or inferred as being Muslim in some writings. There seems to be acknowledgement that other Muslim were present in Haiti as well.

http://www.islamawareness.net/LatinAmerica/Haiti/Haiti_Article001.pdf

Yeah, I was going to mention it alongside Vesey and Gullah Jack but I couldn't find definitive sources.

Crazy that the Male Revolutionaries wore images of Dessalines.

Our ancestors were not as hung up on religion when it came time to fight.

 

[Supper]

True, but I believe you have to read between the lines.

I find it hard to believe a man of Madison Washington's level of cerebralness had no form of education.

This is a dude that kept a tool kit in his coat to saw off chains lol.

Edit: I found this which hints at self-education https://books.google.com/books?id=_QeSAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Madison+Washington+literate&source=bl&ots=5BHrVUjj-y&sig=m7nLFa6dTewkxvEKyfy37BYyqso&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi63cTf0qPYAhUDzIMKHXXJB-AQ6AEIQjAE#v=onepage&q=Madison Washington literate&f=false

Well, he was certainly resourceful, had a high level of situational awareness, and well as hunger for autonomy as well as a recognition of his right to such.

And it seems that there's one letter written to someone else by him, but he could've used a scribe, as was common in those days. It's hard to tell what he might've learned during his stay in Canada or maybe even growing up on the plantation.