Dominant Forms of Oppression to Liberate from Oppression

While I have read Herman Melville's Benito Cereno in the past, it has been surprisingly refreshing to experience the novela through a different lens. The first time I read it was for a class assignment where many of my peers victimized the Spaniards and demonized the slaves for taking over the ship. What I now consider "brave" acts of resistance, at the time I did not care that the actions of the slaves were being contested. Today, the actions of the slaves carry validity and act as a testament that Black bodies that were enslaved in fact were smarter than what they were portrayed. With that said, it has been conflicting to validate the actions of the slaves while acknowledging that they are perpetuating dominant forms of oppression that reflect the actions of those that captured them. This point leads me to my question: While scholar activists such as Paulo Freire states "In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not in seeking to regain their humanity become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers of the humanity of both" (Freire 28,) would it be possible for an enslaved human to achieve liberation on the Atlantic without embracing tools from the oppressor's box? To be honest, I'm not sure.

Captured slaves on the Atlantic are in an interesting situation because they exist on water, and something concrete such as a ship. Traveling in the past was radically diffferent in comparison to today and one could spend anywhere between 2-4 months. This granted slaves very limited opportunities to free themselves from bondage because they were surrounded by a body of water that could potentially engulf them if something went wrong, while they remained on something concrete (a ship) that constrained them while attempting to mold them into the new identity of slave. Captured slaves had limited options to achieve freedom, and if they were to try and have it, they had to become aggressive. In We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity Bell Hooks claims that Africans were not aggressive beings, but rather very gentle. She claims that the slave trade inevitably led to African/Black men becoming more aggressive and embracing dominant forms of oppression to gain a false sense of independence (Hooks 11). Therefore in order to begin to change the power dynamics, slaves have had to take on new characteristics in attempt to gain freedom. For instance in Benito Cereno, the slaves on board use settle ways to apply intimidation (I say use instead of create because the oppressor has already used these tools against the oppressed. The oppressed is now using that tactic against the oppressed). Physical tools such as a rope, a lock, and a shavers knife are all used to remind the Spaniards of what the slaves are capable of doing if they ruin the plans. I would love to talk about this subject more at length in class to get other opinions into the conversation!

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 26. New York, New York: The Continum Publishing Corporation, 1987. 186. Print. 

Hooks, Bell. We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity . New York, New York: Routledge, 2003. 160. Print.