Enslaved people were human beings despite slavery’s alterations of their being

Evidence

One way of asserting this sense of agency was by adhering to African cultures, values and belief systems. In practice (and among other things), this meant clinging to their knowledge of the medicinal powers of plants; following remembered birthing and weaning practices; adapting stories, musical instruments and festivals; and reinventing traditional leadership roles. By passing this collective wisdom on to each new generation, enslaved women were able to mount a concerted and enduring defence against their owners’ daily assaults on their humanity. — Stella Dadzie, A Kick in the Belly- Women, Slavery and…, 380 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Slavery exists wherever men are forced to follow others’ prescribed purposes; Manumitted slaves still lacked full rights as persons and poets; Slaves maintained an autonomous culture and consciousness apart from their rulers (+8 more)

Related

• Enslaved people defied authorities to maintain their own burial grounds (similarity 0.86)
• Enslaved women preserved their humanity by clinging to traditional African practices (similarity 0.86)
• Enslaved women preserved their sanity by adapting smuggled African cultural practices (similarity 0.84)
• Enslaved Africans carried their cultures and consciousness into slavery, contradicting primitive accumulation (similarity 0.83)
• Slaves maintained an autonomous culture and consciousness apart from their rulers (similarity 0.83)
• Acknowledging slaves’ religion would have conceded their humanity under the law (similarity 0.81)
• Enslaved women transmitted cultural knowledge to ensure survival across generations (similarity 0.81)
• The slaves freed themselves through religious fervor, not objective class consciousness (similarity 0.80)
• Slavery altered slaves’ conditions but could not negate their being (similarity 0.79)
• Early African revolts sought to preserve a past, not transform the West (similarity 0.79)
• Manumitted slaves still lacked full rights as persons and poets (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Slaves maintained an autonomous culture and consciousness apart from their rulers #corroborates (0.80)
• Enslaved Africans carried their cultures and consciousness into slavery, contradicting primitive accumulation #corroborates (0.75)
• Enslaved women preserved their humanity by clinging to traditional African practices #corroborates (0.70) — Stella Dadzie, A Kick in the Belly- Women, Slavery and…, 380
• Acknowledging slaves’ religion would have conceded their humanity under the law #corroborates (0.65) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 171
• Enslaved people defied authorities to maintain their own burial grounds #exemplifies (0.60)