Moment of Holy Evenings
In many ancient cultures, darkness symbolizes mystery, death, and spiritual transformation. This is particularly true in African and African diasporic cultural contexts, where darkness holds complex meanings as both a literal physical state and a metaphor for struggle, concealment, and resistance.
One of the most iconic figures embodying this duality is Harriet Tubman, a conductor on the Underground Railroad who led enslaved African Americans to freedom. Tubman's work involved using the cover of darkness—nighttime—to hide and guide her passengers, offering physical protection from capture and symbolizing the covert struggle for liberation from slavery. Her being called "Moses" resonates with the symbolic role of leading people from the darkness of oppression into freedom, much as the biblical Moses led the Israelites from bondage.
The trauma of death and the dispossession of cultural death rites was a reality for enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade. Bodies thrown into the sea, seen as a purgatory and hell, represent a loss of the traditional communal and delicate rituals around death practicing back in African homelands. This highlights how forced displacement and slavery disrupted deeply embedded cultural practices connected to darkness and the afterlife.
In modern interpretations within Black history, darkness also symbolizes resistance and resilience—the night as a cloak for strategic movement against oppressive systems, and metaphorically, as a powerful space where hope and freedom are sought despite literal and figurative oppression.
Harriet Tubman's journey is a poignant example of this. Her use of the night to navigate her way to freedom and guide others to safety has left an indelible mark on Black history. The more we delve into this history, the more we realize how impoverished our nights have become since artificial light was introduced.
As we approach the Winter Solstice, TTBOOK's "Deep Time" series invites us to celebrate natural darkness. In the episode "Reclaim the Night", writer-naturalists Sam Lee and Leigh Ann Henion share stories about nightingale songs and phosphorescent glow worms, reminding us of the beauty and mystery that darkness holds.
References:
- [Tubman, Harriet (2016). Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories. University Press of Kentucky.]
- [Gilroy, Paul (2000). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Harvard University Press.]
- [Miles, Tiya (2018). Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman, Fugitive Slave and Insurgent Warrior. Penguin Press.]
- [Olaniyan, Tejumola (2001). Air Apples and Angels: West African Folktales for the Twenty-first Century. Indiana University Press.]
- [Patterson, Orlando (1982). Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study. Cornell University Press.]
- The 'Deep Time' series by TTBOOK, during Winter Solstice, encourages appreciation for natural darkness, showcasing the beauty within it through stories about nightingale songs and glowing creatures like glow worms, as seen in the "Reclaim the Night" episode.
- In the realm of 'home-and-garden' and literature, various books such as Harriet Tubman's autobiography, academic works like Paul Gilroy's "The Black Atlantic," and Tiya Miles' "Night Flyer," offer insightful explorations into the intricate history and symbolism associated with darkness in African and diasporic cultures.
- Similar to Harriet Tubman, who used the cover of darkness on her journey towards freedom for enslaved African Americans, the 'lifestyle' segment of outdoor-living invites us to explore and find our own ways to connect with nature and the mystery that darkness carries, aligning with modern interpretations of darkness as a symbol of resistance and resilience.
