Through the Lens of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Unacknowledged policies and mindsets from the Transatlantic Slave Trade continue to perpetuate injustices and instability, destroying people and the planet. It keeps the world in conquest, terror alert mode shaping human interactions and expectations. To address these issues and define our lens, Parts I and II answers two questions regarding the Transatlantic Slave Trade (1444-1888). The first question, “Where are we?," addresses the remnants of that Trade today. Millions of Africans were moved to the New World after 1) the Christian church, 2) European governments, and 3) the first multinational corporations organized for economic gain. New financial institutions were created to collect the taxes and manage the stolen land, labor and lumber (natural resources). Many of these institutions remain today. The second question is more historical. The lenses are focused on "How did we get here?" The longitude continents (Africa and the America) met the latitude countries (in Europe and Asia). Each had different geography, resources and lifestyles. Part III illuminates the different ways they see each other and interact. Latitude countries and their lifestyles now dominate the World. It sharpens our focus by looking at lessons learned from the Trade. In Part IV I look at the games people play that perpetuate the dysfunctions. The unconscious wounds that emerged from the Trade need to be acknowledged and healed. This book seeks the truth and provides examples so that we can envision a world beyond this man-made tragedy.

Unacknowledged policies and mindsets from the Transatlantic Slave Trade continue to perpetuate injustices and instability, destroying people and the planet. It keeps the world in conquest, terror alert mode shaping human interactions and expectations. To address these issues and define our lens, Parts I and II answers two questions regarding the Transatlantic Slave Trade (1444-1888). The first question, “Where are we?," addresses the remnants of that Trade today. Millions of Africans were moved to the New World after 1) the Christian church, 2) European governments, and 3) the first multinational corporations organized for economic gain. New financial institutions were created to collect the taxes and manage the stolen land, labor and lumber (natural resources). Many of these institutions remain today. The second question is more historical. The lenses are focused on "How did we get here?" The longitude continents (Africa and the America) met the latitude countries (in Europe and Asia). Each had different geography, resources and lifestyles. Part III illuminates the different ways they see each other and interact. Latitude countries and their lifestyles now dominate the World. It sharpens our focus by looking at lessons learned from the Trade. In Part IV I look at the games people play that perpetuate the dysfunctions. The unconscious wounds that emerged from the Trade need to be acknowledged and healed. This book seeks the truth and provides examples so that we can envision a world beyond this man-made tragedy.

In her first 30-year career, Vinita Moch Ricks was a college professor of Psychology and the Social Sciences at Harold Washington College, Chicago, IL (1974-2004). She retired. After reading Hugh Thomas’ The Slave Trade, she started to travel, read and seriously engage this fascinating subject. She has now travelled to twenty-three countries on five continents. She has lived in three of these countries. In Africa (Ghana, Morocco, South Africa, Swaziland & Zimbabwe), Central America & Caribbean Islands (Belize, Bahamas, Guatemala, Jamaica, Panama &Trinidad), Europe (Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey & UK), North America (Canada, Mexico, & visited 31 of the 50 States in the US), and South America (Salvador, Brazil), She has not retired her traveling shoes. She has a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, School of Education & Social Policy in Educational Psychology. She has an M. A. from the University of Chicago in the Social Sciences and a B. A. from Indiana University in Psychology and Political Science. She is a life-long learner.