Just came across in a speech to the General Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1842, given by Alexander McCaine, in which he stated that the institution of slavery was "ordained by God Himself."
It put me in mind of Lemm Sissay's 'Gilt of Cain' poem which features on the slavery memorial (unveiled 4th Sept 2008 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu).
The 10-ft high granite sugar cane columns & slave auction block were sculpted by Michael Visocch and sited at Fen Crt, Fenchurch Ave, London EC3 (nr Lloyds Bank of London (LAMDA)) on land part-owned by Church of St Mary Woolnoth, where abolitionist & former slave trader Rev John Newton – author of Amazing Grace – preached & held campaign mtgs.
Apparently Ken Martindale (British Black Heritage) led the campaign for the memorial.
I love the ‘Gilt'/ guilt associations
And now I love the McCaine/ Cain/ cane associations
It just gets richer every time.
I guess that Lemn Sissay was on my mind anyway because he 'Why I don't hate white people' was broadcast on Radio 3 again, the other day, as a fill in after some live Russian concert.
It's the 2nd time that I've heard this piece by Sissay and I'm even less sure of it now. True there are some telling lines, but mostly I heard anger and confusion.
Nothing wrong with anger and confusion I guess, except that it is unsettling. And perhaps issues re. 'race' will always be unsettling, and yet...
Oh well. Perhaps on 3rd hearing I might have a different response.
No comments:
Post a Comment