THE NARRATIVE The different voices of the narrator are English, Ebo, Yoruba and Jamaican patois. In a solemn and dignified voice, old West Indian Henry said to us: "Be still and listen... We were caught, bought, shipped and enslaved Found hope in God's grace and were saved... So, why were we not as good as you? You forced your culture on us in short time But destroying ours was the greater crime This dishonouring was long and brutally done And has made us all what we have become... Nyaa, ? gini b? na anyi adiro nma ka unu? Kilode ti awa ko se da to eyin? Soe, wa mek unu tink unu betta dan we? So, so why were we not as good as you? During our slavery we had many fears That your legal codes would kill us And damage our children for years... So, why were we not as good as you? You destroyed our families and gave us one name Such as: Nigger, Quashi Sambo, Boy Horatio, Wallace Sarah, Jane... Nyaa, ? gini b? na anyi adiro nma ka unu? You derided our new music which was "noise" to your ear But it gave us a voice that has lasted for years. You sneered at our colour and laughed at our frame But we had your children since our blood is the same... Soe, wa mek unu tink unu betta dan we? You preached we were subhuman but pleasing Which Hume and Carlyle confirmed with "reasoning" But they would not have been clever then Had they been taught in plantation pens Soe, wa mek unu tink unu betta dan we? No writer, preacher, politician of worth Should have been silent for so long When kit and kin inflicted such hurt... Kilode ti awa ko se da to eyin? Our beaten bodies were sore with pain Yet you branded and bred us and sold us for gain... Kilode ti awa ko se da to eyin? We dug strange fields in New World's dew And were oft-times sick un-noticed by you We tried our obeah but it failed To protect us from the evil that prevailed... Nyaa, ? gini b? na anyi adiro nma ka unu? What was our price, what was our worth? To live in a hell you created on earth You ate or sold the food we grew And our children died instead of you... Nyaa, ? gini b? na anyi adiro nma ka unu? Our dead children brought great sorrow But our steely women were our tomorrow They were the metal of our arm and eye That drove us daily to defy... So, why were we not as good as you? When we fought and rebelled in our defence You hanged or slow-burned us for impudence Often in dark silence we would cry If this is life, then let us die And fly from the self interest of the lie... Kilode ti awa ko se da to eyin? We ate scraps and lived like rats to survive But fought and "smiled" to remain alive We are the "savages" that made you rich But you buried us in a dirty ditch... Nyaa, ? gini b? na anyi adriro nma ka unu? You whipped our faces, put filth in our mouths Which you tied shut, to prevent spitting out. We endured this "civilised" violence alone Where your prosperity and prejudices were sown Only hypocrites and cowards deny their past Because, good or bad done is meant to last... Soe, wa mek unu tink unu betta dan we? Our slavery was a dream rape From which there was no escape It was a nightmare come true A world away and chained by you The enlightened and the brave That, "never, never will be slaves"... So, why were we not as good as you? Chained, we heard the 12th of April's cannons groan The hundred year's dice of war was thrown Again and again we were the prize In a game of greed you had devised... Kilode ti awa ko se da to eyin? Unlike the progenies of animal and grass Our children will remember the past But no task on earth is harder Than to redress the "sins of the Father". Abolition was not an Act divine, It was then politic to cover the crime... Nayaa, ? gini b? anyi adriro nma ka unu? In future, ignorant fools will say Others suffered in a similar way But such denial and cultural play Will not wash this cruel crime away... Soe, wa mek unu tink unu betta dan we? We are not chattel to slave and kill We have the same humanity: Love, rage and will... So, why were we not as good as you? For surviving the most profitable evil the world has known Put up no stone...just repair the damage done, alone. Our right to live here is not for review We paid a bitter price to live like you." Geoff Palmer Adapted from his book, The Enlightenment...Citizens of Britishness.

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