February is Black History Month (BHM), but we can celebrate Black History all year round. Few of my biracial and black colleagues, friends and clients tell me that BHM is not their favourite (I will write more about this in my next blog post). However, these milestones play an important role in our actions as leaders, members and change agents. I had an experience recently that I want to share with you.
During a recent visit to the hospital to get an MRI done for my knee, I met a person who shared with me his history of being enslaved; he mentioned that he did not have any knowledge of his ancestry and therefore he has a particular last name which his master (referring to the person who enslaved him) gave him. I had shivers run down my spine as I heard this…It’s 2021 and a young Canadian man in his late 20’s (or a bit older) just shared his background of being enslaved! Perhaps he connected with me in some way, as a woman of colour and with a different sounding last name.
“I want to encourage you this month to consider the influence/power of words specifically slaves vs. enslaved.”
Webster dictionary defines “Slave” as a person held in servitude as the chattel of another; Oxford defines slave as: a person who is owned by another person and is forced to work for them, suggesting an ownership. Webster defines “Enslaved” as to reduce to or as if to slavery : SUBJUGATE; Oxford defines ENSLAVED as : “to MAKE someone a slave”
In the spirit of appreciation and recognition for Black history in our countries, consider how linking African American or Black with the term ‘slave’, can create a lens through which we perceive people who are Black in a certain way. With an eye on this knowledge that our brains associate with mental images created by our socialization, notice the difference when we pay attention and change our language and use the word enslaved instead.
Enslaved asks us to think differently. It begs us to ask the question, “enslaved by whom?”. which encourages a reflection about the act of enslaving, the context within which slavery occurred, and the possibility of imagining people beyond that circumstance.
This quote by Adichie urges all of us to tell our stories thoughtfully: “Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.”
Think differently, try it, start a conversation using different language, tell a story that reflects the truth and see what happens!