The month of February always marks the remembrance of how Black citizens arrived on these shores. While it is horrendous that they were bought by the whites and their treatment was despicable, it must not be forgotten that it was other black tribes of Africa that sold them.
These men, women and children were captured and first enslaved by neighboring tribes who eventually sold them to White Slavers and transported to North America and the Caribbean.
Most blacks can trace their ancestry to places like Senegal, Gambia, Angola, the Congo, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Battles between tribes resulted in the capture of people from other tribes. They became the slaves of the capturing tribe and somewhere in the history of it all, the tribe leaders found they could make a profit by selling them to ship captains who would transport them to be sold yet again in whatever port they would dock.
The black history of slavery is the one most often remembered period. Unfortunately, slavery has been part of the world’s culture for thousands of years. In every culture there have been slaves. Biblical times record the practice of slavery. Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures practiced slavery. Discoveries are being made that show the horrific practices in Incan and Mayan cultures with regards to slaves. Native American tribes took prisoners during their wars (both white and Indian) who became slaves to the capturing tribe. Europeans were sent to the new world as indentured servants, some never being able to pay the debt and the cost of their travel expenses.
Every continent and most cultures have captured and held slaves. And unfortunately, the world has not learned its lessons even today. Human trafficking is still practiced, and our law enforcement agencies are working hard to put an end to it. They need our support in whatever way we can in fighting this evil.
Today, as we remember the history of the millions of black men and women who endured the effects of slavery through generations, let us also be mindful that we cannot let it continue in any form.
The black community of Tate County have many excellent role models to be proud of, some more prominent than others. Robert Earl Jones (actor) was born in the Arkabutla area, Glen Moore of Coldwater was a Rhodes scholar, O. B. Clinton, the musician, is buried in Tate County, Trell Kimmons made his mark in sports and Curtis King also of Coldwater is a well-known entrepreneur just to name a few. Other Mississippians whose names are known to us are B. B. King, Oprah Winfrey, Charlie Pride, Ida B. Wells, Leontyne Price and Cassie Davis who are all known for their achievements in their respective fields.
We honor their ancestors survived the hardships of slavery and moved forward one generation at a time to make it possible for them to have a better life. TCGHS is working to preserve the history of its black citizens regardless of how well-known they might be. We depend upon the black community to help by contributing whatever information they can on their family and its history because we cannot preserve that history if we don’t know it. We continually add data to our resources for those of you who want to know the details of your ancestors in Tate County. We have birth, marriage and death records as well as census data. We are happy to help anyone begin the search for their ancestors.
We invite you to visit the library located in the Crockett Building, 107 Court Street (second floor), to investigate. You can use the west entrance to our building and take the elevator to the second floor. Ring doorbell and librarian will admit you. We are open on THURSDAY and FRIDAY (except prior to a holiday) from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (please call if you’ll arrive after 3 p.m.). We are also open on Saturday, February 15 and March 15, on a trial basis to see if there is interest. The time is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You may contact us at tatehistory@hotmail.com or call 662-366-0125 and leave a message on voice mail with brief details of your request and we will answer. Check us out on Facebook.
