FFW (5 min; 10 sentences): What is the difference between saying "slaves" vs "enslaved people?" What does each term imply? How do you know?

The Met recently acquired “Bélizaire and the Frey Children,” a 19th-century Louisiana portrait with a secret: For over a 100 years, the image of an enslaved child was erased. Read more.

FFW (5 min; 10 sentences): What do I see? What might a viewer of this map infer (educated guess) about the people of pre-colonial Africa?

A map indicating the major ancient and medieval states in sub-Saharan Africa. Areas and dates relate to a state at its peak. In addition, shaded areas are approximate indicators only. For the majority of the states, their precise borders are not known or disputed amongst scholars.
Historical Context
The historical kingdom of Benin was established in the forested region of West Africa in the 1200s C.E. According to history, the Edo people of southern Nigeria founded Benin. They no longer wanted to be ruled by their kings, known as the ogisos. They asked a prince from Ife, an important West African kingdom, to take control. The first oba, or king, in Benin was Eweka. He was the son of the prince from Ife.
The kingdom reached its greatest power and size under Oba Ewuare the Great. He expanded the kingdom and improved the capital, present-day Benin City; the city was defined by massive walls. The height of power for Benin’s monarchs began during this period. To honor the powerful obas, the people of Benin participated in many rituals that expressed their devotion and loyalty.
Artists of the Benin Kingdom were well known for working in many materials, particularly brass, wood, and ivory. They were famous for their bas-relief sculptures, particularly plaques, and life-size head sculptures. The plaques typically portrayed historical events, and the heads were often naturalistic and life size. Artisans also carved many different ivory objects, including masks and, for their European trade partners, salt cellars.
The success of Benin was fueled by its lively trade. Tradesmen and artisans from Benin developed relationships with the Portuguese, who sought after the kingdom’s artwork, gold, ivory, and pepper. In the early modern era, Benin was also heavily involved in the West African slave trade. They would capture men, women, and children from rival peoples and sell them into slavery to European and American buyers. This trade provided a significant source of wealth for the kingdom.
Benin began to lose power during the 1800s, as royal family members fought for power and control of the throne. Civil wars broke out, dealing a significant blow to both Benin’s administration as well as its economy. In its weakened state, Benin struggled to resist foreign interference in its trading network, particularly by the British. A desire for control over West African trade and territory ultimately led to a British invasion of Benin in 1897. Benin City was burned by the British, who then made the kingdom part of British Nigeria (which became Nigeria after the country gained independence in 1960). After that time, the kingdom no longer played a governing role in West Africa. However, even today, the oba still serves in Benin City as a government advisor.
Resources
Dramatic Reading
Actor Jyuddah Jaymes performs extracts from 'The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano,' one of the very first narratives detailing an enslaved person's experience on a slave ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
FFW (5 min; 10 sentences): What do I see?

There is a text panel in the Orientation Gallery at the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters that reads, “Words have Power. They express meanings, ideas, and relationships. They impact how we relate to the past and one another. As we share this history, we strive to use words that are empathetic to those whose history has been marginalized. For example, we use phrases like "enslaved woman," rather than "slave."
The noun slave implies that she was, at her core, a slave (definition: a device, or part of one, directly controlled by another). The adjective "enslaved" reveals that though in bondage, bondage was not her core existence. Furthermore, she was enslaved by the actions of another. Therefore, we use terms like "enslaver," rather than "master," to indicate one’s effort to exert power over another.
Why, then, does the sign in front of the building where enslaved people slept still say, “Slave Quarters”? Well, as the panel says, words do have power, so we’ve debated this one at length. It is important to acknowledge humanity where it exists, assign agency when it was present, and keep language useable and understandable. At the end of the day, the correct terminology would probably be “living quarters for the enslaved people.”
Social Emotional Check-In
The WHY:
Why is it so important to honestly discuss the history of enslavement today?