Keti Koti and Kinky Hair: Traces of Slavery
Traces of the Trade. That is the translated title of the impressive documentary Traces of the Trade. Director Katrina Browne follows the traces of her ancestors, the DeWolf family, known as the largest slave traders in American history. Together with nine family members, she travels along the route that made her ancestor James DeWolf one of the richest men in America. This route, as Katrina herself states, laid the foundation for the fortune that made her family not only influential, but also privileged.
The journey begins in Bristol, Rhode Island, where the first DeWolf settled. The group then visits a slave fort in Ghana, a dilapidated plantation in Cuba, and finally returns to America. It is not an easy journey. There is no manual for confronting a violent past, and emotions run high.
What surprised me was how the emotions of this privileged white family from America barely differed from the feelings within Black families in Suriname when the history of slavery is discussed.
Keti Koti: Reflection and Processing
Until I decided to embrace my kinky hair, I had barely considered the consequences of slavery. Growing up in Suriname, I never lacked anything. I come from a loving family with plenty of opportunities to develop myself. As a result, I never considered myself a victim of slavery.
In Suriname, July 1st, Keti Koti, was a day off to commemorate how much we as a people had overcome. In retrospect, I realize that such a holiday helps in processing, forgiving, and moving on.
When I went to study in Amsterdam, I rarely thought about what slavery meant for the Netherlands. Suriname was barely a topic in Dutch schools. Dutch people often know so little about Suriname that they are surprised that we "speak Dutch so well." When slavery came up, I often heard that today's Dutch people have nothing to do with the crimes of their ancestors. Or that Africans who sold their own people were partly to blame.
Kinky Hair: A Mirror of the Past
My kinky hair literally brought me back to my slave roots. Straightening hair is so normal in the Afro-Surinamese community that I had never considered the harmful effects of these chemicals. Many women suffer from hair breakage and hair loss, but accept this as a given.
What really affected me was that kinky hair still carries a stigma. It is a sensitive topic in the Black community, and comments like "why is your hair so kinky?" can evoke deep emotions. Why are Black women still afraid to apply for jobs with their natural hair? This stigma is one of the many traces of slavery.
During kinky hair gatherings, intense emotions often surface. In my opinion, these feelings can be directly traced back to an unprocessed history of slavery. The pain, sorrow, and shame we feel are traces of the trade.
A New Dialogue
The documentary Traces of the Trade offers a new perspective on the consequences of slavery. It shows that the traces of the slave trade, no matter how long ago, affect everyone in society. More importantly, it opens the door to a dialogue that can lead to more understanding relationships between races. As Katrina Browne says: not out of guilt, but out of genuine suffering and sorrow.
Sign up for the lecture on June 22: Bad Hair Uprooted.