A week ago, upon recommendation from a friend, I watched the movie "Sankofa." I was told that the movie was strong visually. Also, I was told that "Sankofa" was a movie that was relevant back in 1993 when it was created and it is just as powerful now.
The movie "Sankofa" was directed and written by Haile Gerima; it is a powerful and intense movie. "Sankofa" provided an unapologetic, authentic look at the dehumanization of enslaved people and their traumatic voyage. Watching this movie in combination with what has been taught about in the Black Diaspora has been giving me a new outlook. This movie has also caused reconsideration of what has been previously taught in the past about the Transatlantic Triangular Trade. Although it has been taught that the Transatlantic Triangular Trade was a horrific event in history, there was a watered down version of it given, although it seemed that it was not intentional. Watching "Sankofa" gave an illustration of just how dehumanizing and traumatic slavery, the voyage, and those “in charge” were.
Also, watching the visualization of everyday slave life in the movie demonstrated the depth of the psychological effects the slave owners had over the enslaved people extended. Watching how the head slave was willing to betray the slaves he was presiding over, illustrated one of the many dynamics of the day-to-day interactions of the slaves on the plantation. The willingness of the head slave to betray the other slaves shows how the slave owner and other overseers were able to infiltrate the minds of the slaves to divide them. Through the classic divide-and-conquer approach, overseers were able to keep the slaves from banding together mentally and ultimately physically to keep rebellions from happening. This also hindered growth in developing strong connections between each other because there were those who were looking to be in the good graces of those in charge to avoid physical harm and to be in favor of the slave owners.
