Baquaqua? Who is he? 他是谁？

You can’t expect one of my races, 

With woolly hair and sable face, 

And scarce a ray of knowledge, To interest his friends at college. 

But, I will do the best I can,

To prove I mean to be a man.

It’s true, my limbs have fetters worn,

It’s true my back the scourge has borne, 

But it’s not true that tyrant’s power

Has ever made my heart within me cower.

No ! that was free as when I played, 

Beneath my native palm trees’ shade.

Oh! Africa, my native land,

When shall I see thee, meekly stand,

Beneath the banner of my God, 

And governed by His Holy word?

When shall I see the oppressor’s rod 

Plucked from his hand, my gracious God? 

Oh! when shall I my brethren see,

Enjoy the sweets of LIBERTY?

Friends of the crushed and bleeding slave, 

Ask God to pity! God to save!!

For all the help of man is vain,

Since man for man has forged the chain. 

Oh Righteous Father, thou art just,

To thee I look, to thee I trust;

Oh may thy gracious spirit bear 

The Africa’s groan, the Africa’s prayer,

Up to thy spotless throne above,

Where all is joy and peace and love,

For Jesus’ sake, Oh! save the oppressed, 

And let their souls in heaven find rest.

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua was a former slave, a native of Zooggoo, West Africa, a tributary kingdom of Bergoo kingdom. He worked in Brazil as a captive; however, he escaped and fled to New York in 1847, assuring his freedom. He wrote a biography, published by American abolitionist Samuel Moore in 1854.  He was born in 1824.

Read the full biography of this man here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/baquaqua/baquaqua.html

PRAYER OF THE OPPRESSED

Oh great Jehovah God of love.

Thou monarch of the earth and sky, 

Canst thou from thy great throne above 

Look down with an unpitying eye

See Africa’s sons and daughters toil, 

Day after day, year after year. 

Upon this blood-moistened soil. 

And to their cries turn a deaf ear!

Cans’t thou the white oppressor bless 

With verdant hills and fruitful plains, 

Regardless of the slave’s distress.

Unmindful of the black man’s chains.

How long oh Lord! here thou wilt speak 

In thy Almighty thundering voice,

To bid the oppressor’s fetters break, 

And Utopia’s sons rejoice.

How long shall Slavery’s iron grip.

And Prejudice’s guilty hand,

Send forth, like blood-hounds from the slip. 

Foul persecutions o’er the land?

How long shall puny mortals dare 

To violate thy just decree,

And force their fellow-men to wear

The galling chain on land and sea?

Hasten, oh Lord! the glorious time 

When everywhere beneath the skies

From every land and every clime, 

Peans to Liberty shall rise!

When the bright sun of liberty

Shall shine o’er each despotic land, 

And all mankind, from bondage free, 

Adore the wonders of thy hand.

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua’s biography is the only known biography of a former slave from Brazil. Baquaqua was born around the year 1824 near Djougou in modern-day Benin to a Muslim merchant family.  Baquaqua was captured from Djougou in 1845 while acting as a messenger for a local king; he was taken to the coast and shipped to Recife, Brazil.  Originally he was sold to a local baker and soon after was sold to a ship’s captain based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  After living in bondage for two years Baquaqua’s owner took him on a voyage to New York City, New York where local abolitionists helped Baquaqua secure his freedom in 1847.

Baquaqua spent the next two years in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with the Baptist Free Mission Society.  In 1848 Baquaqua, previously Muslim converted to Christianity and the Baptist missionaries continued to hope he would return to Africa to become a Christian missionary.  In 1849 Baquaqua returned to New York State where he enrolled in New York Central College in McGrawville, New York, remaining there until 1853. It is not known if he received a degree.

New York Central College was established by the American Baptist Free Mission Society to educate white students and former slaves.  As such it was one of a handful of racially integrated colleges in the United States.  It was also the first college to hire African American faculty.

Baquaqua moved to Chatham, Canada West in modern-day Ontario in 1853.  In 1854 Baquaqua’s biography was taken as an oral narrative while he spoke mostly in Portuguese, as he knew little English.  He spoke fluent Dendi and Arabic which had been his native language in Africa.  Although Baquaqua’s oral narrative was recorded in Portuguese while he resided in Canada, its target audience was the anti-slavery population of the United States.

In 1855 Baquaqua traveled to Great Britain, still intending to return to Africa one day as a missionary.  However, in 1857 all records of Baquaqua ceased and it is not known where or how he lived out his last days.

你不能指望我的种族之一 毛茸茸，脸黑， 并缺乏知识来使他的朋友在大学里感兴趣。 但是，我会尽力而为， 证明我的意思是成为一个男人。
“是的，我的四肢都受伤了， “我的祸害是我的后背，这是真的， 但是，“暴君的权力是不正确的” E'er使我内心畏缩。 不行和我玩的时候一样免费 在我的原生棕榈树的树荫下。
哦! 非洲，我的故乡， 我什么时候见你，温柔地站着， 在我的上帝的旗帜下， 并受他的圣言支配吗？ 我什么时候可以看到压迫棒 我亲切的上帝从他手里摘走？ 哦! 我的弟兄们什么时候可以看到， 享受自由的糖果吗？ 
被压迫和流血的奴隶之友， 求上帝怜悯！上帝保佑！ 人的一切帮助都是徒劳的， 自从人为人锻造了锁链。 哦，公义的父亲，你只是， 我向你看，我向你信任； 哦，愿你的仁慈之熊 非洲的吟，非洲的祈祷， 直到你一尘不染的宝座 凡是欢乐，和平与爱， 看在耶稣的份上，噢！拯救被压迫者 让他们的灵魂在天堂找到安息。

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua曾是奴隶，是西非Zooggoo的本地人，是Bergoo王国的附属。他在巴西当俘虏。然而，他逃避并于1847年逃往纽约，以确保他的自由。他写了一部传记，由美国废奴主义者塞缪尔·摩尔（Samuel Moore）于1854年出版。他出生于1824年。

MAHOMMAH GARDO BAQUAQUA (CA. 1824-CA. 1857)

被压迫者的祈祷
耶和华伟大的爱神。
天国君主
你能从你的大宝座上
用不屈的眼睛往下看
看到非洲的儿女辛劳，
日复一日，年复一年。
在这块湿润的土壤上。
对他们的哭声充耳不闻！

你不能为白人压迫者保佑吗
翠绿的山丘和富饶的平原
不管奴隶的痛苦如何。
不介意黑人的锁链。
主啊！你在这里说话
用你全能的雷声，
为了压迫压迫者的羁绊，
乌托邦的儿子们欢欣鼓舞。
奴隶制的铁夹子要握多久。
还有偏见的罪恶之手，
像滑溜溜的猎犬一样发出。
土地遭受迫害吗？

微弱的凡人敢冒险多久 为了违反你的正义法令， 强迫同伴们穿 陆地和海洋上的磨损链？ 赶紧，天哪！辉煌的时光 当天空下无处不在 在每一个土地和每个种族， 自由之豆将崛起！ 当自由的灿烂阳光 在每个专制的土地上都要发光 全人类不受束缚， 崇拜你手的奇观。 奴隶制的铁夹子要握多久。 还有偏见的罪恶之手， 像滑溜溜的猎犬一样发出。 土地遭受迫害吗？

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua 的传记是已知的巴西前奴隶的唯一传记。 Baquaqua 于1824年左右在现代贝宁的Djougou附近出生，出生于一个穆斯林商人家庭。巴夸夸（Baquaqua）于1845年从朱古（Djougou）被俘，当时他是当地国王的使者。他被带到海岸，然后运到巴西累西腓。最初，他被卖给了当地的面包师，不久之后又被卖给了巴西里约热内卢的一艘船长。在奴役生活了两年之后, Baquaqua 的主人带他去了纽约，前往纽约市，当地废奴主义者在1847年帮助 Baquaqua 确保了他的自由。

Baquaqua 随后与浸信会自由宣教会一起在海地太子港呆了两年。 1848年，先前的穆斯林已转换依基督教的巴夸夸（Baquaqua）和浸信会传教士继续希望他能回到非洲成为一名基督教传教士。 1849年，Baquaqua 返回纽约州，在纽约麦格劳维尔的纽约中央学院就读，一直在那里工作直至1853年。目前尚不清楚他是否获得学位。

纽约中央学院是由美国浸信会自由宣教协会建立的，旨在教育白人学生和前奴隶。因此，它是美国少数种族融合的大学之一。它也是第一所聘用非裔美国教师的学院。

Baquaqua 于1853年搬到现代安大略省，在加拿大西部的查塔姆。1854年，Baquaqua 的传记被用作口头叙事，而他主要讲葡萄牙语，因为他很少英语。他讲流利的Dendi 和阿拉伯语，这是他在非洲的母语。尽管巴夸夸（Baquaqua）居住在加拿大时的口头叙述是用葡萄牙语记录的，但其目标受众是美国的反奴隶制人群。

1855年，Baquaqua 前往英国，仍然打算有一天作为传教士返回非洲。但是，在1857年，所有有关 Baquaqua 的记录都停止了，不知道他在哪里或如何过着最后的日子。