NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Slavery is one of the most brutal and inhumane crimes in history. Its long-lasting impact has set back the Black community in countless ways, including economically, emotionally, by way of education, genetically, and as some theories even suggest, the connection of hypertension among African descents from the trauma of slavery, particularly among African Americans.
Various angles of slavery have been studied and revealed over time: How enslaved people created new languages so slave masters didn’t understand them. How ownership prevailed, giving slave masters the greenlight to brand human beings as if they were cattle. How braids were used among enslaved people as a way to communicate and store food. But what about the very image that symbolizes slavery—chains?
Olufemi Farouk is a tour guide at the Mobee Slave Relics Museum in Badagri, Nigeria. 1010 WINS spoke with him about the impact working at the museum has had on him.
“I keep feeling so bad every day because I meet people—African Americans—who come around to see the chains,” Farouk said. “When you are explaining to people, telling them about the chains, you see people crying, having these deep emotions… sometimes it’s more difficult for me to face it.”
The chains, some over 500 years old, were introduced by the Portuguese, British, and Americans during the transatlantic slave trade. Used to restrain captured Africans before they were forcibly transported to foreign lands, these iron instruments of oppression came in many forms.
“There are different types of chains,” Farouk said. “We have a chain called a necklock. The necklock is a chain which they fixed around the slave’s neck for about 18 hours every day. When the ships arrived at the ‘Point of No Return,’ slaves were marched with these chains still on, sometimes for months, to their final destination.”
Other forms of bondage included the ankle lock, which shackled two enslaved people together, forcing them to move in unison, and the light chain, designed specifically for infants. “At times, when they captured a pregnant slave, if she gave birth, the baby also became a slave,” he explained. “They didn’t want the baby to disturb the mother or father while they were working, so they chained the babies together.”
Perhaps one of the most disturbing restraints was the mouth clip, used to prevent enslaved laborers from eating crops like sugarcane as they worked. “They locked up the mouths of the slaves… so they wouldn’t have access to eat the sugarcane they were harvesting,” he said. “They also did this to domestic slaves to stop them from eating the food they cooked for their masters.”
Enslaved people were also branded with hot iron, permanently marking them with their master’s name. “They used the iron branding, put it into fire… then wrote the name of the slave master either on the chest or back of the slave,” he said. “That’s why they made us believe slaves didn’t have names. But we had great names in Africa, names with deep meaning.”
Even basic survival was stripped away. “There was the slave drinking water bowl—a deep iron bowl where they were forced to drink like animals,” he added.
The brutal reality of these instruments serves as a painful reminder of history—one that continues to elicit strong emotions from those who come to witness them. “It feels so bad,” he said. “So bad.”
His museum, Moby Original Slave Relic Museum, preserves original shackles and artifacts, ensuring that history is not forgotten. “Without the museum, I don’t think people would be able to tell these stories,” he said.