My journey to Shimoni 'Slave' Cave and why shifting from the use of 'slave' to 'enslaved' is necessary

Africans who were in bondage in Shimoni Slave Cave and all dungeons across the world should not be referred to as slaves but as enslaved people. Most academicians and Pan-Africans strongly advise us to embrace this change explaining that using the word slave equals dehumanizing the affected people.

While emphasizing the variation in those words to the guide at Shimoni Slave Cave, my friend Toza thought that I had learned it sooner but that was not true. I came across this debate last year but decided to dig deeper in my research that evening of 1st October 2022 after my trip to the cave.

My entry ticket at Shimoni Cave 

My motivation came after realizing that most people still haven't embraced the change. I also found out that most of those people still stay in the dark because they have not come across the light, in this case - necessary information. This means that Pan Africans from all sectors have to intensify this honourable movement if we are to realize our dreams in the near future. 

A journey to the historical Shimoni Cave for enslaved persons

The position of the ancient Shimoni Cave was very strategic for the enslavers. The cave, which our assigned guide insisted that is was natural, is located in Shimoni village in southeastern Kenya near the border with Tanzania. From a passenger terminal a few meters from the cave, you can have a glimpse of Wasini Island. Zanzibar island is accessible from Shimoni via the Indian Ocean. 

One cannot get enough of the port village but we managed to discover what we could. That Shimoni day evening, I was very exhausted so I decided to rest and recall all activities of the day. Most that replayed in my mind were the beautiful people my friend and I saw that day. The diversity brought about by the interaction of many cultures could also not be ignored.

The cave itself was even more memorable. I could remember its cavernous nature and the way it seemed tunnelled underground. According to the site's guide, the cave is reputed to extend 5 km inland and served for centuries as ”Kayas” or sacred sites of worship and sanctuary for the local community. Later, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the cave served as a temporary dungeon for the thousands of people captured in the African interior by Arab enslavers. The cave is not managed by a community group.

The entrance to Shimoni Cave

When questioning the guide about the spiritual instruments we saw on the right side of the cave after a few steps in, he informed us that a group still uses part of the cave as a spiritual centre. My enthusiasm for African Spirituality did not end there. Bolaji Shoga, a Nigerian friend of mine, also a conscious fellow, once told me that "you cannot separate African history from its spirituality". From a personal perspective, that is absolutely true. I have always wanted to grasp any necessary knowledge of African Spirituality and here was an opportunity that I could not let slip off my hands.

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Moving closer, we further learnt that there were three ribbons with different colours (red, black and white) tied on a rope. According to the guide, the colours represent the god of mountains and high places (responsible for bringing rain on the land), the god of the land (responsible for harvests) and the god of the sea respectively. The supreme God is referred to as Mwanangoto who takes the shape of a huge black snake according to the information given to us.

Spiritual corner at Shimoni Cave

Yes, I am a proud African but became prouder having realized that there was a God with an African name. Just like the Whiteman walking on the world head-high knowing that his God resembles him, I got out of Shimoni Cave with the same feeling.  My friend Toza and I were also informed that the said supernatural creature is sometimes visible but harmless to humans. When the creature appears, it is a sign of a calamity that would befall man. The appearance is simply a message to human beings telling them to take caution.

As we walked further inside the cave, we were shown a shallow well where enslaved people would drink water when they are thirsty. In relation to the proximity of the cave to the ocean, it is clear that the water would be very salty. Just nearby was a place that must have been very heartbreaking for anyone who was on site when it was in use. There was a single remaining piece of a rusted chain that any enslaved person who tried to escape was tied and punished by whipping. Don't tell me you haven't watched and movie on slavery and seen how it was done!

Old Chain at Shimoni Slave Cave, Kenya.

Those among the enslaved people that made it alive through the long walk and the 3 weeks of waiting in the cave were trafficked to the infamous Zanzibar 'slave' market. The Arab enslavers were extremely barbaric. We were informed that those who got weak on the inland route were left to die. Dead bodies in the cave were thrown into the nearby sea.

The letters, journals, books and reports of Dr David Livingstone ( a famous British missionary) on his visits across Africa give a more clear view of what Arab slavery looked like. Having come across many slave caravans, he summarizes the situation: "The strangest disease I have seen in this country seems really to be brokenheartedness, and it attacks free men who have been captured and made slaves."

Dr David Livingstone also records some occasions where he passed by a dead woman tied by the neck to a tree. A sadder situation is when he writes of another woman who seemed to have been shot or stabbed through the body and lying on the path. According to constantcontact.com, Dr Livingstone further explains that "onlookers said an Arab who passed early that morning had done it in anger at losing the price he had given for her because she was unable to walk any longer..."

Chancellor Wiliams in The Destruction of Black Civilization writes that the Arab enslavers would castrate black males mainly to prevent them from reproducing either among themselves or with Arab women. It amazes many history enthusiasts that this extremely barbaric side of humanity has been long ignored.

Digital illustration of an Arab caravan for enslaved Africans
(credits T-VINE Magazine) 

So little is spoken of the Arab-Muslim slave trade that most people don't know what transpired. However, most history scholars do agree that the Arab Slave Trade was the earliest and was longer than the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Franco-Senegalese author and anthropologist,  Tidiane N'Diaye, confirms this by writing: "The Arabs raided sub-Saharan Africa for thirteen centuries without interruption. Most of the millions of men they deported have disappeared as a result of inhumane treatment. This painful page in the history of black people has apparently not been completely turned.” The survival rate of those enslaved by the Arabs Muslims was the least.

How I wish our black Muslim brothers will lead us into the path of uncovering the dark side of Africans' interaction with the Arabs. This brother of the human race should be held accountable. All in all, the knowledge of self is a personal responsibility. Let's not leave it entirely to scholars. Go get that book, visit that museum and learn your history. 

Why the shift from 'slave' to 'enslaved' for Africans who were in bondage is necessary?

That evening after my long rest, I felt the urge to read more materials on this hot topic of 'Slave' vs enslaved. I found out that most writers who propose the use of 'enslaved' argue it mainly from a 'people-first' language. Since those enslaved were people and not commodities, it would be inhumane to call them slaves. At some point, it would be revisiting the horrifying chapter of history on them at a language level.

Eric Zorn in his article in Chicago Tribune reminds us that if we adopted a 'people-first' language for people living with disabilities, we should do the same in describing people who were in bondage. He illustrates the necessity of the variation from using “disabled person”  to “Person with a disability”. Writer Zorn further refers to the famous December 1988 news conference at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in which the Rev. Jesse Jackson confirmed that his people would now like to be called “African American” and not “black.”

Exactly in the second paragraph of Slate's 2015 essay on the subject, Katy Waldman writes:  “The heightened delicacy of ‘enslaved person’ — the men and women it describes are humans first, commodities second — (does) important work: restoring identity, reversing a cascade of institutional denials and obliterations."  It is further argued that 'slave' portrays slavery as an internal or even metaphysical condition and not an imposed or arbitrary one.

Waldman further writes:

To reduce the people involved to a nonhuman noun was to reproduce the violence of slavery on a linguistic level; to dispense with it amounted to a form of emancipation.

 

If we are to be politically correct then we should all embrace the use of enslaved persons instead of slaves.  Katy Waldman finalizes her article [Slave or Enslaved Person: It’s not just an academic debate for historians of American slavery] by saying: "Enslaved person seems useful because it can convey the monstrousness of slavery without subsuming those it describes into a separate ontological category. In fact, by underscoring victims’ personhood, this phrasing perhaps conjures the system’s evils more vividly."

As explained by Hon Marcus Garvey, going back to the past means understanding what transpired before so that we can plan for the future. The past for Africans in this case is the history of our ancestors. It should also be noted that African history encompasses all the glorious past and the challenges our race has ever encountered. Talking about the challenges, the enslavement of African people stands out.

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The period in which Africans were forced into slavery left a big scar on us as a people. Some of the effects are still felt today. It affected this race psychologically and the effects have been passed from generation to generation. No matter how heartbreaking slavery was, its history should not be hidden. Nelson Mandela once said that we must forgive the colonizers but not forget what they did to our ancestors. We should live to tell our children so that they can prevent it from happening again.

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