CHRIsTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE AFRrr<AN HOLOCAUST
you does to bring revolutionary change to yourself and to your community. I think you should start with a mirror. You look into the mirror until you like what you see, and then you say: My revolution starts with me and my memorial to the people in the Middle Passage starts right now. The End
106
NOTES ON REFERENCES IN THIS QUINCENTENNIAL YEAR OF Christopher Columbus' encounter with the Indigenous People of the Caribbean Islands, mistakenly called "Indians," there is a proliferation of books on Christopher Columbus and his voyages that is tantamount to a small industry. The word" discovery," long used in relationship to his encounter, is at least being questioned. A few new scholars are bold enough to ask, "How can you discover something that wasn't lost in the first place?" In the preparation of this short account of Christopher Columbus and the African Holocaust, I have consulted a variety of books, new and old. In looking at the background to the atrocities set in motion by the Christopher Columbus Era, I have found two short accounts by Father Bartolomeo de las Casas most informative. They are The Devastation of the Indies and The Tears of the Indians. Among Caribbean writers of African descent, the works of Eric Williams, the late prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, were most valuable. His book, Capitalism and Slavery, written over 40 years ago is still a good source on how the slave trade was set in motion, especially in the Caribbean Islands. His last book, The History of the Caribbeans: 1492-1969 From Columbus to Castro is a good overview of slavery in the Caribbean Islands written for the layman. Another small book on the subject written by Eric Williams in the late 30's, is The Negro in the Caribbean. His book Documents on West Indian History, 1492-1655, is the first of a projected fourvolume work dealing with the relevant documents accentuating the history of the Caribbeans, its history and exploiters. In this book the use of the diary of Christopher Columbus is arranged in order to give the reader some insight into Christopher Columbus' thinking when he encountered the Indigenous People of the Caribbean Islands.