visit from pedro welch
Today Dr Pedro Welch came and told us about the history of the slave trade and the history of enslaved peoples in Barbados through their emancipation. he told us about narratives written by Africans traveling through the middle passage.
He told us about his own research about inhabitants of Bridgetown and his surprise at finding some 50 formerly enslaved women who developed rich social networks with European shipsmen in order to buy independence and become successful entreprenuers. He talked about the words and phrases used in Barbados to this day which come directly from Africa. He said that in Barbados, enslaved peoples resisted when they could and accommodated when necessary. Read youth comments below.
![photo[2]](http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6014/6199141394_f7e350787d_s.jpg)
![photo[1]](http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6157/6199141330_d6b5aa6077_s.jpg)
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:54 am
“Humanity is cruel to humanity. Period.â€
Everyone no matter who they are; be they black, jewish, fat, skinny, disabled has suffered some injustice or insult at the hand of another human being. So what do we do when we ourselves are the target of some form of anger? Pedro’s answer? pick ourselves up and try to move on. Don’t dwell on it, learn from it. Slavery was Horrible, the Holocaust just as bad and we should never forget them, but we shouldn’t dwell on them. We should remember what our ancestors fought for what they endured but we should not blame those today for it. (That last bit was me)
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:17 am
I have gained a great deal of knowledge, about the origin of very common names in Barbados and how important African culture is to Barbados, and one should always be proud of who you are.