#BlackHistory

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Follow the slave’s energy. Follow the slave’s intelligence. Follow the slave’s knowledge and skills. Enslaved Africans supplied a continuously renewed stream of human energy and intellectual capital to plantation extraction sites, where their labour, agricultural knowledge, technical intelligence, adaptability and skills were appropriated and converted into commodities and wealth. That wealth travelled through export systems and financial markets, helping to finance institutions, infrastructure and endowments beyond the Caribbean. Emancipation ended the legal institution of slavery, but it did not erase the capital accumulated from enslaved production. The question for reparations is therefore not merely what slavery produced then, but where the value extracted from enslaved people went—and what forms of that accumulated value survive today.

Follow the slave’s energy. Follow the slave’s intelligence. Follow the slave’s knowledge and skills. Enslaved Africans supplied a continuously renewed stream of human energy and intellectual capital to plantation extraction sites, where their labour, agricultural knowledge, technical intelligence, adaptability and skills were appropriated and converted into commodities and wealth. That wealth travelled through export systems and financial markets, helping to finance institutions, infrastructure and endowments beyond the Caribbean. Emancipation ended the legal institution of slavery, but it did not erase the capital accumulated from enslaved production. The question for reparations is therefore not merely what slavery produced then, but where the value extracted from enslaved people went—and what forms of that accumulated value survive today.

Follow the Slave’s Energy and Personal Smarts

Who supplied the energy and intelligence that made the extraordinary accumulation of wealth from chattel slavery possible?

A-QuEST (Minott)

Sep 14 min read

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