My Slaves

"You and the afternoon."
"I acknowledge you. Are you with peace?"
"There is peace there. What's your last name?"
"Camara. And yours?"
"Camara! I'm a Damba. You are my slave!"
"If I'm your slave, you have to buy me something to eat."

As a white American from the South, I'm not completely at ease in referring to a West African as my slave. But, believe it or not, by doing this, I'm following a generations-old system put in place to keep social harmony. The system of cousinage, or joking cousins, sets up a joking relationship between people of certain last names. For example, I call Camaras my slaves. They, in turn, tell me my mouth is always full of bread.

My family name also has a relationship with the Dansokhos. You may recall the story of my last name - Danfakha - or buffalo killer - in which the men one day killed (fakha) all the buffalo (dan). You may notice a similar word in the name Dansokho - buffalo stabber, or poker. We make fun of the Dansokhos for being weak, or not getting the job done - they merely poked the buffalo, whereas we Danfakhas actually killed them.

So while calling people here my slave is not something Alex Haley would approve of, it is interesting being part of a tradition that has kept peace between families for years.

Now please excuse me while I stuff my mouth with bread.