Abina And The Important Men Analysis

Slavery is a concept that has circulated the world more than enough times to count. It has impacted many people along the way and has made peoples’ lives for the worst. Although not everyone experiences it, those who have are silences and are unheard of. In the graphic history book Abina and the Important Men, it demonstrates the story of a women of color and the court case she went through with her former slave owner. It shows how people forms different ideas and the consequences it brings to certain people. During this historical time, Britain had a huge role in the way slavery was continuing. Although Britain had abolished slavery in 1834, it did not affect the condition of wives, daughters, and concubines. This caused slave owners to import …show more content…
During this time, Britain was the most important European slave trading country. There were slaves getting imported and exported out of the county throughout many years and many of them were by ships. As Britain fought many wars against the slave trade nation, it ultimately abolished the legal statues of slaves in 1874. This meant that the slaves themselves have to make an abolition a reality, hence Abina’s case, since Britain didn’t necessary have to free slaves. But as Abina’s case took place, slavery become illegal in the Goal Cost Colony and Protectorate, but that didn’t stop Britain from gathering slaves, on the contrary, slavery began to grow and was more widely known. In part III of Abina and the Important Men it says, “Over the past millennium, both waves of foreigners and the local population have sought their wealth from the soil and people of the Gold Coast, whether by trading in gold, kola nuts, palm oil, or cocoa” (116). This signifies the importance the Gold Coast became and what goods it offered. It shows reasons why people would want to import and export goods, because it is convenient and of good help to other countries. Thus, palm oil was a major export and there was an increase of demand for it. This cause more slaves to arise and slave owners to take action. Slave owners would pass female slaves as important households or wives and then later forcefully made …show more content…
Therefore, making it significantly harder to present Abina’s case. Most slaves captured were women of color who believed they had no voice and were forced with no other option but to do labor work. Many women were in the same shoes Abina was in but did not speak up either because they were not heard or afraid there wasn’t going to be any change made. Although Abina lost her case, that didn’t mean it was the end for her. The ‘important men’ in the court case tried to silence her and inflict their own understanding upon her making her story seem less important. But there are ways in which silence can be reversed, for example, the court testimony and the graphic novel. Throughout the court testimony it is noted how much Abina is affect by the situation in which she was in and the impact it had on her. Even though she was standing in front of ‘important men’ she was not afraid to continue speaking the truth and try to get justice on her side. Furthermore, the graphic novel is also a way to reserve silence, which is Abina’s redemption as well. Her testimony is discovered by Getz and Clarke which is how the graphic novel come about. It was an influential story that gathered major attention and was brought to light to many. This was an eye opener for many people but also a shock because of what a person goes through and many people become