Did you see the Samuel L Jackson doc on bbc 2

[allinadaystwerk]

Excellent but pretty heart wrenching. I get a range of feelings when I watch this kind of programme from anxiety to anger to upset and sadness. Sometimes I just have to let watch as I cant handle the trauma. Yet I am so glad they are aired. Its draining. I wonder how non black Caribbean or African people feel when they watch such programmes? Indeed do they watch them at all or was this amazing documentary just educating those who already know the sins of the fathers so to speak

Sorry OP I am not black. I watched it and felt very sad

It was very informative; I am currently reading Black and British, A forgotten history by David Olusoga which touched on some of the stories in the documentary.

For a few years I’ve just not been able to watch documentaries/films that feature enslaved folk, those oppressed during civil rights, Grenfell, the recent Windrush series.

I want to watch them, I want to be informed, I want to go or my ancestors by not looking away but I cannot.

I extensively studied black history 20 years ago. After I had my baby I had intrusive thoughts about how enslaved mothers (and parents felt) felt. How they coped not being able to look after and protect their children, having their children stolen from them. How they coped with forced labour after giving birth.
I wondered how displaced/refugee parents are managing today.

I wonder how I’ll cope/protect my child if England continues its downward spiral to facism, it’s happened before I don’t trust it cannot happen again. People are calling for refugee concentration camps now, babies are alone in cages now.

It nearly sent me off my head so no, to my shame I just cannot watch any of it.

Which is a shame because I adore Samuel L Jackson and Afua Hirsch.

I want to honour my ancestors that should read.

I did watch with my husband, we are not black but found it sad and shaming. We both spoke about how this history needs to be taught more at school. The realisation that we were only taught about the abolitionists and not about the shameful reality of British involvement which had gone on for so long.
My only criticism of the show, and this is not really to do with the content or presenters, is there was a lot of focus on the divers and the technical bits of what they were doing. For me this detracted a bit from the overall emotional content of the show.

I decided not to watch it. There’s only so much that my mental health can take. It’s close to home at the moment since I can see how racism has impacted my own family dynamics. I consider myself fairly well read on the subject so I feel that it’s more important for (mostly white) people to educate themselves. I made the decision around the time of ‘When they see us’ coming out that I just didn’t need to replay those stories. Completely get you @Phoenix21

I’ve been enjoying the Henry Louis Gates series on bbc4 - I learned a lot about some of the historical kingdoms of Africa. It’s not an area that gets much coverage

I completely get the inability to put yourself through it. How sad that we feel too traumatised to learn of our history. We should not feel ashamedvif that inability or decision to look away though. Its completely understandable and your current mental health is more important. Right here right now has to have priority.

Yes I watched it OP. It was so harrowing, although I have read a lot about slavery, it still hit home.

It's recorded and we're planning to watch it but I did watch the Teddy Prendergrass documentary....that was very sad, definitely worth watching.

Aa a black person, I always get upset at how awfully black people were (and still are) treated, especially in the USA.

My only criticism of the show, and this is not really to do with the content or presenters, is there was a lot of focus on the divers and the technical bits of what they were doing. For me this detracted a bit from the overall emotional content of the show.

I thought this too, I thought it was unnecessary and not that interesting.

It was a really hard watch.

My heritage is Ghanaian, and while I knew Ghana was one of the epicentres of the slave trade, seeing and hearing so much more about it brought it all home. I felt desperately sorry for those who went through it.

I also thought the programme spent too much time focussing on the divers, and not enough time with the Ghanaian gentleman who had made thousands of sculptures to represent the lost people. Absolutely haunting.

I watched this too but found the technical stuff to be really interesting, not just from the aspect of the diving but to see black people doing the actual diving. People would have you believe that diving is not something that Black people do so that was a nice surprise. It also gave me time to breathe while watching because sometimes, when you see these programmes, it is too painful to take all in one go. I want to take it all in and learn new things. I had no idea so many enslaved were taken to Brazil. I hope after doing this documentary, they look at the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa, as that started long before and finished long after the transatlantic slave trade
discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/routes/places-involved/east-indies/east-african-slave-trade/#:~:text=The%20Indian%20Ocean%20stretches%20between%20the%20east%20coast,to%20the%20Middle%20East%2C%20North%20Africa%20and%20India.

I watched it and I'm actually glad they had the technical stuff in it. Like Farle29 the technical stuff gave me time to reflect on the other bits I just watched.

Also the fact that black people were competent divers and made decisions on what historical artifacts to go down to get was important. Plus it helped link together the other stories.

@SandyY2K black people are treated poorly in a lot of countries particularly by the police. I keep reading articles about France, seeing clips on Israel and Australia.

@RedMarauder

black people are treated poorly in a lot of countries particularly by the police. I keep reading articles about France, seeing clips on Israel and Australia

No argument from me...we just see the evidence of this a lot more in the USA.

Like this

TRIGGER WARNING.

This clip is distressing. It shows the treatment of a black woman at the hands of a white police officer

I've watched bits of it that I happened to catch. I will be going back to watch it in full. The terrible treatment and conditions these human beings were subjected to was not news to me but what I hadn't been consciously aware of was the sheer volume of numbers. 2 million plus died at sea - that's so shocking it leaves me numb. I can't grasp the mentality of people that can dehumanise others to that extent, and those were allegedly "god-fearing" societies. Just shows you how quickly we can sell out our own humanity if the price is right.

I've just come looking for a thread about this, having this moment finished the last episode and been so moved by the final scenes I just wanted company.

I'm white, BTW, and definitely one of those who knows the sins of the fathers, so in one sense it was preaching to the converted, but there's always so much more to learn.

As well as the incredible scenes of Jackson's ancestors' tribe welcoming back their lost son, I found much of it very informative. Eg like Farle29, I'd had no idea of the scale of enslaved people being taken to Brazil, and like TooTrueToBeGood, the sheer number of those who died at sea.

I think sometimes programmes by white British researchers and presenters get a bit sidetracked by the guilt – either overwhelm or avoidance of it. There's a danger they either focus exclusively on the slavery of the British Empire, or it can feel like they're veering into whataboutery. This series, by an African-American, a Black British person and a Canadian, together with a black diving group (American?), avoided those grooves.

I had to watch in short chunks to take it in, but I'm better informed for having done so. Not just about the facts, figures and places, but about how important people felt it was to know where they came from.

I just watched the last of this recently and it was so emotional.
I was overwhelmed with it, even though it's nothing new. Slaves were taken from my country of origin...my ancestors...in another life it could have been me.

The final episode where they relayed an account of the ship's captain tearing the clothes off a black slave, trying to force her to dance, then he killed her because she didn't want to in such a brutal manner.

Then the capturing of the group of freed slaves in St. Lucia....Britain's wealth was built on the back of their suffering and to think slave owners families were still being paid up to 5 years ago is diabolical.

It just makes it seem like the British government have continued to support it centuries later.

I find it terribly sad and sickened that it ever happened. What an absolute disgrace to humankind.

The divers and Samuel L J did a good job with this.

18:05PerkingFaintly

I think sometimes programmes by white British researchers and presenters get a bit sidetracked by the guilt – either overwhelm or avoidance of it. There's a danger they either focus exclusively on the slavery of the British Empire, or it can feel like they're veering into whataboutery.
This series, by an African-American, a Black British person and a Canadian, together with a black diving group (American?)

I agree with you.