Posted on 03/26/2011 10:46:38 PM PDT by OddLane
In an excellent documentary called Stolen, which sets out to document a family reunion in the sole region in Africa where Spanish is spoken, filmmakers Ayala and Fallshaw uncover a bigger story than they had originally planned.
What they find is a pocket of slavery still practiced in Western Sahara, Morocco, Mauritania, and elsewhere in Arab-African societies. The initial impetus for the film is the re-union of a generational family under UN auspices, a service the UN provides if the correct paperwork is filled out; family members long separated are brought together for a joyous 5-day reunion. What the documentarians quickly discovered, without intending to, was the fact that the family was enslaved to the “white grandmother,” Deido, a Muslim who considered herself the loving doyenne of her Spanish-speaking, Christian slave family.
Deido had received Kemil as a child to serve as a nanny for her own son. Since that time, the little girl grew and had children of her own. I kept wondering where her husband was, but there is no husband; Kemil’s children are the offspring of the slave-owner, who has unquestioned droit de seigneur with any women, who are regarded as property. Getting married requires documentation, and few bother with marriage, as it is a corrupt process. All children from such couplings are left in the care of their indentured mothers, but may also be given away at will by the owners.
(Excerpt) Read more at american-rattlesnake.org ...
Food for thought.
ping
“A pocket” of slavery of Africa? No way. A friend of mine in the Peace Corps reported it throughout the Sudan.
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