By Joe Moore
(Joe Moore is a member of Socialist Workers Party Cork and is a prominent activist on the anti-racism scene He is a regular contributor to Africa World Newspaper AfricaWorldNewspaper.com. This article is taken from the Sept 1st – 15th 2012 edition of the publication)
African Americans have given the world a wide range of musical genres that includes blues, jazz, gospel and soul. Music was the medium through which people expressed their resistance to slavery, when political agitation would mean certain and cruel death. The only form ofexpression allowed to them was religion. After being sold at “slave auctions” people were then taken to the plantations to be literally worked to death. All resistance was brutally suppressed. All celebrations of African culture were outlawed. The practice of traditional religion was not allowed. Slaves were baptised as Christians in order to keep them passive. However Christianity was used against the slave owners, when the Africans used the bible to organise politically. In particular the story of the Israelites escape from Egypt was used as a metaphor for their own situation.
One of the greatest gospel songs, in my view, is “Let my people go” also known as “Go down Moses”. The chorus goes as follows,
“Go down Moses,Way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old Pharaoh,Let my people go.”
This probably is the most political of all gospel songs. Egypt’s land refers to the southern states of the US, where slavery was rife. Pharaoh was the slave owners and “my people” were the slaves. Moses referred to Harriet Tubman. She used the nom de guerre Moses throughout her political career. She was born into slavery in Maryland in 1820. As a child she was severely beaten by her master with a heavy metal weight. This injury affected her health for the remainder of her life. She constantly suffered from seizures and headaches as a result. She was also whipped on numerous occasions, the scars from which she carried for the rest of her life. After making many earlier attempts, Harriet finally escaped to Philadelphia in 1849. This marked the beginning of Harriet’s career as a “conductor” on the “underground railway”. The underground railway was the system used by runaway slaves and their supporters. It helped them get from slavery in the south to freedom in the north. The people who worked this route were referred to as conductors. Harriet, know as Moses, was the most famous conductor. For 11 years she returned again and again to Maryland, first to rescue members of her family and then others still in bondage. In total it is estimated that Harriet rescued some 70 slaves, making 13 expeditions back to the south. When the Civil War broke out, Harriet again risked her life by working as a government agent behind enemy lines in the south. In one daring raid on the Combahee River, Harriet played the leading role in the rescue of more than 700 slaves. In later life she took up the cause of women’s suffrage. Harriet died aged in 1913 aged 93.
It is important that we remember people like Harriet Tubman. To quote the AfricaWorld motto “unless the hunted give their account, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter”. However the most appropriate manner in which to remember her, is to emulate her. So how do we in 21st century Ireland, emulate the actions of Harriet Tubman. After all slavery does not exist in Ireland. There are people here who need our solidarity and support, the majority of whom are African. I refer to those seeking asylum here. People who are forced to live in intolerable conditions. People who are the victims of state racism. These people are denied the right to work. They are denied access to 3rd level education. They are forced to live on €19.10 per week. They are housed in the prison-like conditions of the direct provision system, where their every move is monitored and where the state decides the very food they eat. After enduring these conditions for years, the majority are given deportation orders.
June 20th is World Refugee Day. This year the day was marked in Dublin by the junior minister in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Joe Costello, TD attending a multicultural football match. After the game he was photographed with the participants. Earlier that same morning, a number of direct provision centres, around the country, were raided in advance of a deportation to Nigeria. The government’s targets were mainly women and children. In one case a mother of three children was assaulted and pepper sprayed, before her and children were put on the plane.
A national campaign against deportations, will be launched in the coming weeks. Anti Deportation Ireland (ADI) will oppose all deportations and seek to have this practice ended. The way to ensure Harriet Tubman’s memory lives on, is to become part of ADI and fight against the evil of deportation.
