Ben Kaczmar GVSU

 Hey, Emma! I actually talked about a lot of the same things in my own post regarding how slaves were not completely subjugated by the masters. Something from your post that I didn't mention, however, was your idea that slaves from the past are still being dehumanized today. I never thought about slavery that way before, but we have always seemed to put an emphasis on slave masters and their power when it comes to slavery. Yes, slaves did not have many freedoms, but as you said, all humans have free will. It's important to recognize this to better understand slavery from a slave's perspective. Sometimes we have to analyze slavery from a dreadful point of view even if it is hard to understand.

  Hello, Kamrin! I think that Manzano was an incredible person because he had so many unique talents. He was able to adapt himself to perform whatever role he was forced to as a slave. I can also relate with your point about self-exploration and how that connects with Manzano. I am interested in so many different things just like you, which makes it difficult for me to pick out one career or thing that I want to do. In the long run, Manzano benefitted from his wide array of experiences. I believe that having many interests is a positive for both of us because we can form more connections with many different individuals.

Generally, students are taught that the balance between slaves and their masters was extremely in favor of the masters. Especially in the United States leading up to the Civil War, Americans are taught about the domination of slavemasters and instances of going to great lengths to recapture runaway slaves. Although slavemasters had most of the power over their property, slaves actually had more power than I originally thought. In Latin America, slaves had various forms of resistance that could limit productivity. Whether it was through suicide, abortions, escape, or work ethic, slaves were just as important as their masters in determining success through their resistance. One form of resistance that I thought was unique for Latin American slaves was petit marronage. The way that slaves could leave and force change was incredible to me. It's almost like the slaves could tease the masters and say "you need me more than I need you." Petit marronage forced slave owners to ret...

 Hello, Angie! I also think that it's important to see things from both sides of the story. Even if there is a "victorious" side, it's not like the "losers" are going to disappear forever. The history of both the Portuguese and Palmares were going to develop as long as they continued to exist. The movie did a good job at portraying this by showing how the Portuguese and Palmares histories were intertwined rather than separate.

 I love your idea that racism could be diminished for future generations if we don't talk about it! If we stop pointing out differences between each other, we'll be more united. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but Morgan Freeman made comments very similar to yours about race in an interview years ago. Your post reminded me about that interview and brought back some memories!

 One of the most interesting points from this week came from our class discussion before the Cañizares-Esguerra article: race doesn't exist scientifically, but it does socially. I really connected with this statement because it aligns with many of my own viewpoints on race and life in general. A lot of human interaction is based on ideas we create on our own. We can't comprehend large theories in an instant, but we can process pre-conceived ideas that we have already experienced. Most "structures" in the world are made up of social organizations designed by people. Whether it is race, politics, or class, humans have found ways to socially classify each other based on characteristics. All of these things don't necessarily relate to natural law because the individuals affected by them are so different. Natural law applies to everyone, but race, politics, and class only apply to specific groups. Humans tend to like people who share similar opinions or characteristics...

 I never knew that pirates ended up uniting with their enemies when the merchants lost! It does make sense that the losing party would follow along with enemy pirates to keep their own lives. I don't know a lot about pirates, but my impression had always been that they would fight to kill and destroy the enemy. The fact that pirates actually acquired merchants to help has changed my perspective. Glad to learn something new from your post, Joe!