BOX HAND PARDNER SUSU SOUSOU

BOX HAND PARDNER SUSU SOUSOU

Patsy Liverpool © Monday, October 29-2018

One of my favourite African customs that is still practiced by many Africans in the Diaspora is an informal banking system that has its roots in West Africa. This system although familiar is known by various names in the countries where it is practiced. In Jamaica this system is known as “partner”; in Guyana, “box hand”; in Barbados, Meeting; Haiti, “min”; in Surinam, Kasmoni; in Trinidad and Tobago Sou-sou.

The name Sou-sou comes from the Yoruba term “esusu” and originated in Nigeria, West Africa from where the ancestors of many in the Diaspora were taken. The Yoruba esusu was transported to wherever the Africans were enslaved in the Caribbean, Central America, North America and South America. Susu is also part of the Akan culture of Ghana, West Africa; another area from where many of our ancestors were taken and scattered. Although the susu system is now not well known to African-Americans, it remains popular among many African Caribbean, African Latino and African immigrant communities from Central and South America. Some use it to start businesses, others for substantial purchases, vacations, down payments on properties and cars and even to pay for the education of their children.

A sou-sou (also spelled sou, su-su or susu) is like an informal rotating savings club, where a group of people get together and contribute an equal amount of money into a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly fund. The total pool when collected, sometimes known as a hand, is then paid to one member of the club on an agreed-on schedule. In every sousou group there is a banker/treasurer who will collect the contributions of the members. The banker/treasurer will also create a payout roster, or members can request to receive their hand at any given date during the cycle. Everyone agrees on how much and how often they want to contribute. The pool rotates until all members have received their hand/share. The cycle would begin again after ten weeks when each member has received their “hand.” Weekly contributions can be any amount and run anywhere from $100-$5,000. Hands can range from $1,000-$15,000, depending on the size of the susu. Any member who can afford it, can also double their contribution and get paid two hands in one cycle.

The susu banker/treasurer assumes the responsibility for collecting and keeping track of the contributions and is someone who is trusted and respected throughout the community. In most cases the susu members also trust and know each other well. There is no interest on the money so the partners who “throw box” will always collect the exact amount that they contribute. In some cases once each member has received a hand, the susu is dissolved. A similar group (with the same or different participants) is usually reformed to continue its activities under similar conditions. Susu hands are used for various reasons including cash flow management, raising seed capital to start businesses, buying a vehicle, vacation funds or securing home mortgages.

In ages gone by, long ago and far away, housewives who did not have an income and those in rural communities who had no access to traditional banks used sou-sous. The women would save a little bit of money from whatever their husbands gave them and put it in a sou-sou to be able to treat themselves when they received a hand. Some of those women also helped their families to buy a house or started businesses.

In this centuries-old tried and trusted practice built on trust, equality and integrity that originated in West Africa, the prevailing and most important component is trust. Whether it is called box hand, sousou, partner, meeting or kasmonie trust is important. If you decide to join a susu it is important to ensure it is one with trusted friends, family members or co-workers who understand the importance of honouring the commitment; the integrity and trust.

Patsy Liverpool © Monday, October 29-2018

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

Patsy Liverpool © Tuesday October 23-2018

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

I am passionate about African culture and history. I love African inspired clothing, bags and jewelry. Over the years I have collected a few pieces that I bought from various festivals and a few are gifts from relatives. The gorgeously colourful necklaces and bangles attract my attention wherever I am.

I am fascinated by the unique beadwork and the carved chunky necklaces, the intricately carved bangles.

Patsy Liverpool © Tuesday October 23-2018

AFRICAN HISTORY

Patsy Liverpool © Monday October 22-2018

AFRICAN HISTORY

African history did not begin with slavery. Africans had great civilizations and kingdoms before anyone else. Africans developed astronomy, architecture, mathematics, medicine, philosophy and lived in well-ordered societies and advanced civilization. Many notable Greek philosophers spent years in Africa learning from African philosophers long before the rise of Greek philosophy. Africa is home to many diverse countries and cultures, all with their own unique history.

The Axum Empire was a dominant power in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. From 100 to 940AD, the Axum Empire was one of four global superpowers along with Rome, China, and Persia and extended its influence as far as India and China. The Benin Kingdom existed in what is now southern Nigeria, and achieved significant accomplishments in technology, architecture, science, art, administration, town-planning, astronomy, and more. The Kingdom of Kush was an African kingdom where kings ruled as Pharaohs. This is known as the 25th dynasty of Egypt which was an influential time of renaissance in Egypt.

The erasure and distortion of African history was engineered by Europeans to support their enslavement of Africans and their colonization, division and occupation of the African continent. The European scramble for Africa was a race for African land and resources. The 3-month-long Berlin Conference (November 15-1884 to February 26-1885) where White men from 14 nations met and carved up the African continent did as much irreparable harm to Africans as the 400 years enslavement.

It can be a painful experience for Africans in the Diaspora coming to terms with their heritage and not knowing where in Africa their ancestors were taken from. Many of us will never know. Many even deny that they are African because of the 400-year-long rift which disconnected us from our African culture and heritage.

Members of the African Diaspora reinvented themselves and the African influence can be seen and felt everywhere. The music, food, dances etc., that abound in the Caribbean, Central America, North America and South America are heavily influenced by the Africans who were enslaved in those places.

Many Africans in the Diaspora are constantly striving to decolonize their minds. Decolonization of the mind involves reclaiming our African identity that was stolen from our ancestors and the negative views of Africa which were passed down through generations. African Jamaican Pan-Africanist the Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey was one of the Africans in the Diaspora who made a mighty effort to counter the colonization of minds.

There is a connection among the descendants of enslaved Africans Diaspora as their ancestors were taken from the same areas in Africa. Enslaved Africans suffered similar fates regardless of which European tribe enslaved them and what language they were forced to speak. Whether they were enslaved by the Dutch in Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Suriname, by the Portuguese in Brazil, by the British (English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,) in Anguilla, Antigua, Guyana, Canada, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Montserrat, the Danes in St. John, the French in Cayenne, Haiti, Quebec, Guadeloupe, Martinique, the Spanish in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the enslavement was brutal and inhumane. It has been recognized that the enslavement of Africans was a crime against humanity.

Today in the 21^st century, after 500 years of enslavement followed by colonization and various efforts to destroy us, Africans in the Diaspora are urged to forget the genocidal attempts on our communities. We must never forget!! As Bob Marley famously sang in 1976 “Don’t forget your history nor your destiny. In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty.” Fortunately there is a movement fueled by access to the Internet and social media for Africans at home and abroad to unite for the benefit of our people. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fBKrM0qzRA 

Patsy Liverpool © Monday October 22-2018

AFRICAN WOMEN AND HEADWRAPS

Patsy Liverpool © Saturday October 20, 2018

AFRICAN WOMEN AND HEADWRAPS

 

The headwrap or gele/ichafu (Nigeria,) duku (Malawi, Ghana,) dhuku (Zimbabwe,) tukwi (Botswana,) chitambala (Zambia) has been worn by African women for centuries. In some African cultures the headwrap of a woman has meaning depending on how it is tied. A headwrap can identify a woman as single, a married woman, a widow or a grandmother. In some cases the headwraps are improvised and may have no traditional meaning attached to them except that the wearer is expressing pride in their African culture. Most African women in the Diaspora wear headwraps to express awareness and pride in their Africanness. Many of the cultural meanings were lost, forcibly and brutally stripped from Africans in the Diaspora during slavery.

In one of the more famous cases of how the headwrap lost its African meaning during slavery and gained a new meaning in a slave society was the passing of the “Tignon Law.” In 1785-1786 during the Spanish colonization of Louisiana the “Tignon Law” was passed by Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miró. The “Tignon Law” compelled enslaved African women and those who were free to wear a “tignon” or headwrap whenever they appeared in public. The law was made so that White looking enslaved women and “free women of colour” could be distinguished from White women at a glance by what they wore on their heads. The infamous “one drop” rule was (and still is to some extent) very much a part of the history of African enslavement. Some of the enslaved women throughout North America looked White enough to “pass for White” and were indistinguishable from White women except for the fact that it could be proven that some of their ancestors had been enslaved Africans.

In the culture of Louisiana there was a unique system which led to the passing of the “Tignon Law.” This unique system of Louisiana was the plaçage system where a White man would buy an enslaved African woman and keep her solely for a sexual “relationship.” The women were bought at “Quadroon Balls” or “Octoroon Balls” given especially so that White men could choose to buy a light skin (almost White) enslaved woman. The women were known as “placées” in this unique plaçage system. The children who were born of these “relationships” were also enslaved and were the property of their fathers and the girls would frequently be sold by their White owners/fathers at these "Quadroon Balls" or "Octoroon Balls."

There were various terms used to identify the children depending on the amount of “African blood” in their “pedigree.” Mulatto 1/2, Quadroon ¼ and Octoroon 1/8 were popular terms but then there were those with 1/16 and 1/32 amount of “African blood” who were White in appearance and except for the fact that they were connected to an enslaved African ancestor were White.

It was practically impossible to just look at a woman classed as an “Octoroon” and know that she was not White except if she was wearing a tignon. Historian Virginia M. Gould notes that Miró hoped the law would control women “who had become too light skinned or who dressed too elegantly, or who, in reality, competed too freely with white women for status and thus threatened the social order.”

To the surprise and chagrin of Governor Miro and White Louisiana, the women who were compelled to wear the tignon embraced the tignon and made it fashionable. The tignon was proudly worn, fashionably and intricately tied. Brightly coloured fabrics were used and the tignons were decorated with jewelry, feathers, ribbons etc., What was supposed to be a badge of shame and inferiority became a fashion statement. With the transfer of New Orleans to US control in 1803 following the Louisiana Purchase the "Tignon Law" no longer applied. Yet, according to African American historian Lisa Ze Winters (in the 2016 published book “The Mulatta Concubine: Terror, Intimacy, Freedom, and Desire in the Black Transatlantic") the women who had been compelled by law to wear the tignon continued to voluntarily wear it. They had claimed it and made it their own.

In Suriname, a country in South America once colonized by the Dutch, enslaved African women also wore headwraps and gave it their own unique twist. The "angisa" worn by African Surinamese women can be tied to send various messages including the very popular style "let them talk."

Patsy Liverpool © Saturday October 20, 2018

MANGOES MANGOES MANGOES

Patsy Liverpool © Friday October 19, 2018

MANGOES

The mango is a fruit, shaped like an egg and most of them are about four inches long. When I bought them on Monday the skins were smooth and green with just a hint of red. There is no “give” to the skin when the green mangoes are squeezed. Cutting the green mangoes needed a sharp knife because the flesh of the mango clings to the seed. The seed is large, oval shaped and is about one third of the mango. The flesh of the green mango is pale green and very firm to the touch. Grating the flesh of the green mangoes produces a tart tasting juice which mixed with sugar makes a refreshing and delicious drink. The texture of the grated flesh is a bit fibrous.

Mixing the grated flesh with salt and pepper is one way to make the flesh of the green mango edible. The salt easily dissolves into the mixture and the pepper adds colour to make achar which changes the taste from tart to tangy and spicy. Peeling then cutting the flesh of the green mango to eat with salt and pepper was a favourite snack when I was a child.

Over a period of time the green mangoes go through three stages, 'turn', 'ripe' and 'overripe'. 'Turn' mangoes are mangoes that are almost ripe and the still firm flesh is sweet and easy to eat. The ripe mangoes are fairly firm to the touch with a bit of “give” in the skin and flesh is crisp and juicy. After 48 hours in a paper bag the remaining mangoes were at the “turn” stage. The colour had changed to a glorious orange-yellow, with more than a hint of red.

Overripe mangoes usually “give” very easily to the touch, ooze juice and are very messy to eat. Eating an overripe mango, you may end up covered with juice oozing down your chin, arms and onto your clothes. I do not eat 'overripe' mangoes, too messy.

Patsy Liverpool © Friday October 19, 2018

AUBREY AND PATSY

                        

             AUBREY AND PATSY

My husband Aubrey and I met when we were 9 (him) and 8 (me) years old respectively. We probably met before then but that is my first memory of us meeting. His family (mother, father, sister and 2 brothers) lived next door to my mother’s older sister and her family. My first memories of my husband are that he was from the family that lived next door as I was spending time with my aunt’s family at 420 Mora Street and his older brother made a dolls’ swimming pool for my cousin and I. It was a lovely swimming pool and my cousin and I were happy and impressed.

Aubrey and I could have met before then because he, his parents and his siblings were born in the same village as my father and the families knew each other. Our ancestors had lived in that same village for generations. His parents and my father moved from the village to work in another part of the country. We both visited that village (with our parents and siblings) during our childhood but never at the same time.

When I was a teenager I spent time at my aunt’s house at 420 Mora Street and my husband now tells me that he was romantically interested but was too shy to express his interest. I never had any idea about his feelings so we went our separate ways and eventually married other people.

Fast forward a few years and we were both single again. I received a phone message from my cousin that someone from our youth was interested in hearing from me. When I called my cousin and she told me that it was Aubrey whose family had lived next door I was surprised. Aubrey and I eventually spoke to each other and then he told me of his romantic interest from when we were teenagers. I was shocked because I was not even interested in boys at that time in my life (teenager) I was concentrating on my “books!!” That was my father’s mantra (books, books, books) which I took to heart; being a Daddy’s girl and wanting to please my father.

Aubrey and I were living in different countries at the time and had many long conversations that sometimes lasted into the wee hours of the morning. We both were excited to talk about many subjects including our childhood and youth. One thing was clear Aubrey was still romantically interested and I realized that I was also romantically interested. It seemed inevitable that we should reconnect and explore where we would take our budding relationship.

Our budding relationship blossomed into a full-blown love and now we are married. We are both ecstatically happy to have found love again and look forward to many happy years together.