WEBVTT - 111823 Way Black History Fact - Barrel Laughs Roots in Slavery

0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.640
<v Speaker 1>But for now it is time for the Way Black

0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:04.480
<v Speaker 1>History Fact.

0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:09.240
<v Speaker 2>So today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Underground

0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:09.760
<v Speaker 2>Beach Club.

0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:11.200
<v Speaker 1>From the Streets to the Beach.

0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.760
<v Speaker 2>For the latest in beachwear, visit Underground Beach Club dot com.

0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:22.040
<v Speaker 2>All right, I'm gonna say that normally, what I try

0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.919
<v Speaker 2>to do on this show is I try to research

0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.280
<v Speaker 2>everything and make sure that I have verifiable sources and

0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:33.520
<v Speaker 2>that the sources decided in those verifiable sources are also verifiable.

0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.720
<v Speaker 2>I have to say that that is not true of this,

0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:41.000
<v Speaker 2>but I suspect there's a reason. It feels very true

0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.000
<v Speaker 2>in all the sources that I found that were credible

0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:44.600
<v Speaker 2>kind of had a similar position.

0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:46.240
<v Speaker 1>But you'll see what I mean.

0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.720
<v Speaker 2>And you'll see why this would naturally be hidden, And

0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.120
<v Speaker 2>I think that this would inspire a lot of conversation

0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:53.720
<v Speaker 2>moving forward. All right, this comes from Black Youth Project

0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:54.440
<v Speaker 2>dot com.

0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.160
<v Speaker 1>The writer is Shirandaj Brown.

0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:58.680
<v Speaker 2>Seems like every year I learned some new factoid about

0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:01.640
<v Speaker 2>how plantations operated during this live the time of chattel

0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.600
<v Speaker 2>slavery of African peoples in the Americas, I inevitably come

0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:06.800
<v Speaker 2>across another unfortunate piece of knowledge that I wish I

0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:09.280
<v Speaker 2>never had to know. At the same time, I always

0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:12.280
<v Speaker 2>understand how it's of vital importance that these things be remembered,

0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.759
<v Speaker 2>because white supremacy is always in the business of forgetting

0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.480
<v Speaker 2>and deals exclusively in lies. This week I learned about

0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.839
<v Speaker 2>laughing barrels, and slaved Africans were not allowed to laugh

0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.640
<v Speaker 2>on some plantations, and so, in an active defiance and

0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:28.920
<v Speaker 2>as a mode of survival, they often stuffed their heads

0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:30.760
<v Speaker 2>into barrels in order to laugh out of sight and

0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:32.040
<v Speaker 2>out of earshot of enslavers.

0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:33.120
<v Speaker 1>This apparently is.

0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.920
<v Speaker 2>Where we get the term barrel of laughs. After quite

0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.280
<v Speaker 2>a bit of research, I am still unsure of whether

0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:40.120
<v Speaker 2>or not this is a myth, but I will proceed

0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.880
<v Speaker 2>here with the understanding of laughing barrels as a literal

0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.480
<v Speaker 2>rather than as literal rather than figurative, which is more

0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.960
<v Speaker 2>or less the same conclusion that I come. All right, now,

0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:55.960
<v Speaker 2>here's what I discovered, Ramses. Okay, so now we know

0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:57.960
<v Speaker 2>that some slaves are not permitted to laugh when on

0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.480
<v Speaker 2>the plantation. It was forbidden for slaves to laugh as

0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.640
<v Speaker 2>they worked, presumably because the masters were afraid that if

0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.079
<v Speaker 2>it ever turned into laughter at them, the whole system

0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.079
<v Speaker 2>might start to crumble. The masters viewed slaves laughing as

0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.079
<v Speaker 2>a form of disrespect to them. Some plantation owners had

0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.280
<v Speaker 2>barrels set up on the plantation. When a slave hurt

0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:17.800
<v Speaker 2>something funny, they would run up to one of these

0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.200
<v Speaker 2>barrels in order to laugh. Of course, laughter is part

0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:24.080
<v Speaker 2>of the human experience, however, dire but slaves in these

0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.959
<v Speaker 2>circumstances were wise to keep things to a brief chuckle

0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.560
<v Speaker 2>as they worked. However, the laughter was too great, but

0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.240
<v Speaker 2>they couldn't contain themselves. Those slaves would find a barrel

0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:36.560
<v Speaker 2>and that standing around and under the pretext of looking

0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.639
<v Speaker 2>for something, to reach down into it as far as

0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.320
<v Speaker 2>they could and let their laughter ring out where nobody

0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:46.120
<v Speaker 2>could hear them. The barrel sometimes contained water, which would

0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.880
<v Speaker 2>help with the noise. All right, I'm gonna go back

0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.120
<v Speaker 2>to Shiranda, She says, we need more reminders that our

0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:54.840
<v Speaker 2>enslaved ancestors felt more than just anguish, because they were

0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.440
<v Speaker 2>fully human. Our people found ways to laugh even when

0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.760
<v Speaker 2>it was dangerous for them to do so. I liked

0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:01.720
<v Speaker 2>to think about how they might have giggled, how their

0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.960
<v Speaker 2>bodies might have quaked with their forbidden laughter, shaking until

0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.000
<v Speaker 2>their abs were sore and tears were in their eyes.

0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.240
<v Speaker 2>I think about this and it's a reminder that they

0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.520
<v Speaker 2>also felt lust. They kissed, they made love to feel

0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:14.880
<v Speaker 2>the pleasure of touching closeness. And they also played with

0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.400
<v Speaker 2>little children, bounced happy babies on their knees, saying songs,

0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.440
<v Speaker 2>told stories, and shared intimate moments of braiding each other's hair.

0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:24.680
<v Speaker 2>They loved and showed love in whatever ways they could,

0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.679
<v Speaker 2>stealing seconds of togetherness and amusement that they were never

0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.040
<v Speaker 2>supposed to have. The reason why this is important is

0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:38.440
<v Speaker 2>because sometimes when a group of black people, young black

0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:41.640
<v Speaker 2>people in particular, say something funny, they'll all kind of

0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:45.280
<v Speaker 2>double over and laugh, and then they'll scatter while doubled over,

0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.000
<v Speaker 2>And it's reminiscent of the image that this paints in

0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:50.880
<v Speaker 2>my mind. You know, when someone says something funny, you

0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.200
<v Speaker 2>kind of duccinly start laughing and you kind of take

0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.680
<v Speaker 2>off running through that little bit of scatter. So this

0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.680
<v Speaker 2>kind of reminded me of a barrel laugh, and I

0:03:58.240 --> 0:03:59.560
<v Speaker 2>felt like there might be some CONNECTI

0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:01.960
<v Speaker 1>Tissue there are with the epigenetics we're about to talk

0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:02.240
<v Speaker 1>about