The way Black Americans speak to each other has frequently been viewed by society as lazy and uneducated. What these elitist folks don’t realize is that there is strength and an unyielding power in the Black language.
Enslavers deliberately sought to keep Black enslaved people illiterate and uneducated, cunningly concocting a toxic web of control designed to diminish their power. These cruel enslavers recognized the intrinsic strength and potential dwelling within these individuals, which posed a palpable threat to their illegitimate authority.
While only an estimated ten percent of the enslaved were literate because of this power dynamic, they used the power of their voices to uplift the call for liberation. The enslavers failed to realize that Black power and liberation weren’t only in writing. Our ancestors spread the message orally, too.
Oral history has always been a central part of African traditions. Even with the language barriers that enslavers purposely tried to keep in place, the enslaved created the Pidgin language and used that as a basis to continue to learn to communicate.
Be it spoken or written, the Black language stands tall as an enduring testament to our resilience binding past and present together in an eternal chorus demanding liberation and justice. SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT.