Africans to sing and dance on replica of the Zong slaving ship

 

Arranged as part of the unprecedented effort of by the British government to mark the Bicentenary anniversary of the passing of the Abolition of the slave trade Act, a replica of the Zong slaving ship was accompanied by Royal Navy Frigate HMS Northumberland on a trip from Greenwich, through Tower Bridge to its destination at Tower Pier. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone opened the replica ship which hosts the ‘Free at Last?’ exhibition on Thursday 29 March at 2pm. A group of African and british singers and musicians opened the event which apparently served as a “visual reminder of the slave trade”.

The Zong is a British slaving ship that was owned by William Gregson and George Case. On 6 September 1781, during a journey from the West African coast to Jamaica, the captain of the ship realised that there was insufficient provisions for the 442 captured Africans onboard and noticing that many of the Africans were suffering from sickness and disease decided to throw 133 of them overboard. He later claimed compensation to the tune of £30 for each African thrown overboard. Subsequent court cases attempted to challenge the claim were not so much concerned with the murder of innocent people but with the fraudulent nature of the insurance claim.

Despite this despicable history, the replica of a place of human suffering charged visitors £10 to view on the on-board exhibition of African suffering organised by the Spirit of Wilberforce Project. Many in the African community treated the initiative with suspicion and disgust with some commenting that the tone of the bicentenary events amounted equated to what is effectively part of “a slavery theme park”.

The Centre for Contemporary Ministry (CCM), an educational charity based in Bedfordshire discussed the idea of making a replica slaving ship two years ago “to give visible evidence of the horrible conditions endured by the slaves on their two months voyage across the Atlantic from Africa to the Caribbean islands.” However, they discovered that a replica 18th century sailing ship had been used in the film Amazing Grace and decided to rent it for two weeks.