Scars

Black history is a story of scars.

Scars memorialize pain.
Scars explore art.
Scars show pride.
Scars express joy.
Scars are forgotten.

During the slave trade, the Yoruba people of Southwestern Nigeria began scarring the faces of children to serve as a means of identification and self-preservation. The Yoruba people placed tribal marks on every child. These marks were unique to each town, and each patrilineal house. The prevailing thought was that if a child ever managed to escape slavery, or got lost in an unknown land, the child simply needed to find someone who would recognize the marks on their face, which would serve as a map to their ancestral home.
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Scars are painful.

Facial or tribal marks are given to children at such a young age, without their permission. The child weeps and wails as lines are drawn and incisions are made on their face with hot knives. “A sin gbere” the elders say. Using local herbs, artisans attempt to soothe the pain, seal the wound, tell a tale, yet preserve the incisions.

Scars explore art.
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Over years, as the society owns its pain, its identity, and its quest for self-preservation, scars have come to be seen as beautification marks. Hot knives are not…