Bernard Binlin Dadié (10 January 1916 - 9 March 2019) was an Ivorian novelist, playwright, poet, and governmental administrator whose work has left an indelible mark on African literature and culture. Dadié's writings, deeply influenced by his childhood experiences of colonialism, strive to bridge the gap between traditional African folktales and the modern world.
Flag of Côte d'Ivoire
Early Life and Career
Dadié was born in Assinie, Côte d'Ivoire. He attended the local Catholic school in Grand Bassam and then the Ecole William Ponty. Later, he worked for the French government in Dakar, Senegal, at the Institut français d’Afrique noire, before returning to his homeland in 1947.
He became part of its movement for independence. With Germain Coffi Gadeau and F. J.
Rediscovery through "Amistad"
Dadié was rediscovered with the release of Steven Spielberg's 1997 movie Amistad, which features music by American composer John Williams.
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The choral text of Dadié's poem, "Dry Your Tears, Afrika" (“Sèche Tes Pleurs“) is used for a song of the same name in the film.
John Williams, reflecting on his work for the film, noted:
“Composing the musical score for Steven Spielberg’s very moving film, Amistad presented a particular challenge. The story required that the music form a connecting bridge between the rich oral traditions of African tribal culture and Quaker-inspired music of early 19th century America."
He further elaborated on the use of Dadié's poem:
“As I searched for a text of what the children might sing, I discovered in a volume of West African poetry, a poem by Bernard Dadié written decades ago, which was entitled “Dry Your Tears, Africa Your Children Are Coming Home.” I was thrilled to discover this, however accidentally, as it seemed ideal for the final scene of this film. I was especially excited to learn that Bernard Dadié is alive, well, living in Africa, and pleased that we wished to use his poem for the film’s musical score."
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Амистад (Amistad) - Блестящая история
Williams arranged to have the poem translated from English into Mende, the native tongue of the Africans associated with the true story, with the help of a translator at the Sierra Leone embassy in Washington D.C.
Amistad Movie Scene
"Dry Your Tears, Africa": A Poem of Healing and Homecoming
Published in 1967, this poem is basically about Africa and her sons and daughters returning home.
The poem below is titled “Dry your Tears Afrika” or “Sèche Tes Pleurs“.
It is about healing the wounds of slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism.
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This poem was actually translated into Mende, a language spoken by ~ 46% of Sierra Leone.
Impact and Interpretation
The inclusion of "Dry Your Tears, Africa" in Amistad brought Dadié's work to a global audience, underscoring the themes of dignity, determination, and the longing for home.
Doug Adams of Film Score Daily noted that Williams' score, including the use of Dadié's poem, serves as an undercurrent that powerfully expresses the anguish and uplift of the story.
The revenue brig. supreme court case in 1841.
The Amistad Case
In February of 1839, Portuguese slave hunters abducted a large group of Africans from Sierra Leone and shipped them to Havana, Cuba, a center for the slave trade.
Fifty-three Africans were purchased by two Spanish planters and put aboard the Cuban schooner Amistad for shipment to a Caribbean plantation.
On July 1, 1839, the Africans seized the ship, killed the captain and the cook, and ordered the planters to sail to Africa.
The planters were freed and the Africans were imprisoned in New Haven, CT, on charges of murder. Although the murder charges were dismissed, the Africans continued to be held in confinement as the focus of the case turned to salvage claims and property rights.
President Van Buren was in favor of extraditing the Africans to Cuba. However, abolitionists in the North opposed extradition and raised money to defend the Africans.
Claims to the Africans by the planters, the government of Spain, and the captain of the brig led the case to trial in the Federal District Court in Connecticut. The court ruled that the case fell within Federal jurisdiction and that the claims to the Africans as property were not legitimate because they were illegally held as slaves.
The case went to the Supreme Court in January 1841, and former President John Quincy Adams argued the defendants' case. Adams defended the right of the accused to fight to regain their freedom.
The Supreme Court decided in favor of the Africans, and 35 of them were returned to their homeland. The others died at sea or in prison while awaiting trial.
THE UNITED STATES, APPELLANTS, v. 518; 10 L. Ed.
“Your Honors, I derive much consolation from the fact that my colleague, Mr.
However, why are we here?
How is it that a simple, plain property issue should now find itself so ennobled as to be argued before the Supreme Court of the United States of America?
I mean, do we fear the lower courts, which found for us easily, somehow missed the truth?
Is that it?
Or is it, rather, our great and consuming fear of civil war that has allowed us to heap symbolism upon a simple case that never asked for it and now would have us disregard truth, even as it stands before us, tall and proud as a mountain?
The truth, in truth, has been driven from this case like a slave, flogged from court to court, wretched and destitute.
Yea, this is no mere property case, gentlemen.
I put it to you thus: This is the most important case ever to come before this court.
These are transcriptions of letters written between our Secretary of State, John Forsyth, and the Queen of Spain, Isabella the Second.
Thank you, sir.
I would not touch on them now except to notice a curious phrase which is much repeated.
The queen again and again refers to our incompetent courts.
Now what, I wonder, would be more to her liking?
Huh?
A court that finds against the Africans?
Well, I think not.
Thank you.
This is a publication of the Office of the President.
It's called the Executive Review, and I'm sure you all read it.
At least I'm sure the President hopes you all read it.
This is a recent issue, and there's an article in here written by a "keen mind of the South," who is my former Vice President, John Calhoun, perhaps -- Could it be?
"There has never existed a civilized society in which one segment did not thrive upon the labor of another.
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