A Victim of Colonialism (The Little Black Boy

                              

            Colonialism was a western practice in African countries that led to the domination and subjugations of most African societies.  As a result, most Africans were sold into slavery in the western countries by the colonizers.  Nonetheless, this is one of the reasons why William Blake wrote the poem “The Little Black Boy,” who was a victim of colonialism in the 17^th century. Blake was a poet born in 1752, and he published this poem in 1789 when slavery was still going on in London. This shows that Blake witness the enslavement of Africans in Briton, and this may have inspired him to write this poem.  According to Sukhdev Sandhu, slavery was made legal in London until 1772, and many African salves worked as attendants in aristocratic families. This implies that Africans were transported to work as house whole servants in Briton, while some other slaves worked in plantations. Blake also illustrated this poem in an image, which presents the little black boy and his mother under a large tree in a vast land. The little boy and his mother are surrounded by mountains, few trees, and a beam of sun rising above the mountains. But the image did not fully cover certain issues about the little boy as in the poem.  This analysis will involve   issues of slavery, racism, and religion in the poem that are visible or invisible in the image.

            Blake’s poem depicts slavery era during colonialism when Africans were taken to Europe by the colonizers. This is portrayed in little boy’s statement “My mother bore me in the Southern Wild” (Blake). The southern wild in the stanza represents Africa in dark ages when people lived in the forest. Thus, the little boy and his mother were among those who were transported to London as slaves. According to Sandhu, many slaves were taken to Britain by planters, government officials, and naval officers who returned home. Some slaves were transported on ships that carried imperial goods like sugar, cotton, coffee, and oil to enrich the economy of London (Adi). On the other hand, the image also portrays this aspect of slavery due to the presence of a rising sun beam and the position of the little boy and his mother in the middle of a vast land. The vast land in the image depicts a plantation and the sun beam signifies intense sun during the day. This shows that the little boy and his mother were working on the plantation, and they had to rest under the large tree in order to avoid intense heat from the sun.  According to Sandhu, many African were transported across the sea to work on plantations, where they had to do back-breaking labor all their lives under the scalding sun. Thus, the maltreatment of Africans with hard labor was so intense that their human bodies could not withstand it.

            Moreover, the issue of racism is portrayed in the poem which can be perceived through the little boy’s words, “I am black, but my soul is white” (Blake). This signifies that even though he is black, he is innocent of his nature.  In one of the stanza, Blake use the word “bereaved of light” to described the intensity of the little boy’s skin color, and how this affected him psychologically. According to Sandhu, whites in London treated blacks as animals, and in the hierarchy of power in the society, blacks were ranked next to domestic animals. This shows that blacks were not considered as human but animals in human form.  The little boy is still confident of his nature and skin color. This explains why he said, “This black body and sun-burnt face is but a cloud, and like a shady grove” (Blake).  This signifies that his skin color is just a shadow covering his body, which is not permanent. On the contrary, the image did not portray the aspect of racism in its presentation, but racism is only perceived in the little boy’s thoughts as a black child.

              The issue of religion is similar between the image and the poem based on the existence of God in the Sun. The symbol of the sun in the image centers on the little boy’s belief in the existence of God in the sun, which is also express by his words in the poem. For example, he points at the sun while he saying, "Look on the rising sun: there God does live, And gives His light, And gives His heat away, And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday” (Blake). This shows that the reflection of the sun on earth signifies God’s love for all living creatures so that they may live happily. In the poem, little boy believes that all blacks and whites are the same in God’s presence. This explains why he said, “When I from black and he from white cloud free, And round the tent of God like lambs we joy” (Blake). Likewise, the image did not portray the little boy’s thoughts about himself and the white boy in the presence of God. This shows every human being on earth is the same in God’s eyes despite the differences in skin color. Furthermore, many slaves came to know God through their conversion to Christianity by British missionaries. According to The National Archives, the conversions of Africans to Christianity facilitated their acceptance into the English society, and after conversion, slaves were given Christian names and Bible names. Thus the little boy’s mother was among the salves that were converted to Christianity and so she was able to teach her son about God.

            The image is a good illustration of the poem, even though certain aspects of slavery, racism, and religion that are discussed in the poem are not fully illustrated in the image. The history of slavery in Briton as presented by scholars supports the fact that Blake wrote this poem during the era of slavery. Blake also wrote this poem to show how Africans were maltreated with hard labor, abused because of their skin color, and how they came to know God. Thus, the civilization of Africans and their existence in the western world originated from slave trade that was carried out by the colonizers.

                                                      

                                                Work Cited

                    William Blake. Songs of Innocence.  London. 1789. Print.

                    Hakim Adi.  Slaveryand Abolition. BBC London. Web. June 16, 2012.

                    Sukhdev Sandhu. The first black Britons. BBC London.Web. June 16, 2012.      

              Religion and Relationships. Work and Community. The National Archives. June 16, 2012.