Africa's Children

For more than three hundred years
midst cries of anguish
Mother Africa gave up her children to the New World.
Reluctant sons and daughters, snatched from her warm tropical breast
were cast naked upon the cold shoulder of the Americas.
Like pawns they were callously moved about in a game of greed
sanctioned by presidents, clergy and kings.
Thousands perished, their branded bodies cast
without ceremony or remorse into trackless Atlantic waters.
Betrayed and brutalized
by a society dedicated to elegance and leisure
survivors of Middle Passage chains
were transported like cattle
into hostile lands they did not know
lands that refused to know them.
Homeless, denied even the comfort of their name
they labored without reward
in forest, field, city and sea.
Africa's children cleared the land
in a new world they had not chosen
planted the fields, rocked the cradles
and gathered the harvest for another's table.
They built a banquet but dined on scraps
in a land where no law respected them.
Restrained and restricted
bodies and minds bound by chain and by law.
Yet the spirit of their ancestors could not be destroyed.
The joie de vivre that is their unique heritage
survived generations of repression and hardship
survived and evolved.
Africa's children took their meager scraps and created culinary triumphs
their skills in farming , fishing and metal,
their stories, music, art, dance, inventions and language
melded into and enriched American culture
becoming so completely interwoven and intertwined
that Africa's children forgot their history.
They no longer recognized their mother.
But their Mother did not forgot them.
She remembered and mourned her great loss.

Field Hands II ~ 1995 ~ 16 x 24 x 11 inches

Africa today is far less than she might have been, while the America's of today have been greatly enriched and enhanced by the forced migration of our ancestors so long ago. I want my brothers and sisters in America to know that the children stolen from Africa were not forgotten. Even today, the loss of family members during slavery days is still remembered and mourned . In my own family my mother told me of a great uncle who was stolen and sold into slavery. sometimes in America I will someone who resembles my family and I think of my mother's story and wonder if that person is a descendant of my uncle.

In 1991, I began a series of wire sculptures that would chronicle the history of my people-from pre-slavery days in Africa to modern-day America. This is a work-in-progress that numbers approximately 200 pieces, some of which evoke strong emotional reactions from viewers. But the events I have illustrated are taken from history books. I did not make them up. This story of our ancestors must continue to be told, again and again.

When the Jewish Holocaust Museum opened in Washington DC people were saddened by the exhibitions. But most agreed it's important to document those terrible times and try to prevent them ever happening again. It is equally important to remember our own holocaust.

I hope my work can be a small memorial that will commemorate some of the sacrifices African people have made to the Americas. I hope it can be used as a teaching tool to raise awareness of their contributions to our society. I dedicate it to all oppressed people everywhere, both past and present...Augie N'Kele, 1994