They Tried to Erase Us, But Our Ancestors Still Speak : A Story Older Than Chains
They Tried to Erase Us, But Our Ancestors Still Speak By Mackenzie Lodimus A Story Older Than Chains They came to our land with ships, flags, and weapons. They came speaking words we did not understand and carrying beliefs they claimed were superior to ours. They looked at our people—not as human beings with histories, kingdoms, and civilizations—but as property to be bought, sold, and exploited. They captured our sons and daughters. They tore families apart. They loaded human beings onto ships like cargo and transported them across oceans into a world of unimaginable suffering. For more than four hundred years, millions endured slavery, colonialism, forced labor, humiliation, and violence. Yet despite everything that was taken from us, there was one thing they could never fully destroy: Our memory. Because long before we were called slaves, we were kings. Long before we were treated as property, we were queens. Long before we were assigned numbers, we carried names that connected us t...