Cane Warriors

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Q: Belief, music and culture features throughout Cane Warriors, as the newly-liberated people are for a time free to sing, live and worship their gods as their ancestors in West Africa did. What inspired the music, beliefs and stories that feature in this book? I found it interesting how the story was told from the boy’s perspective (Moa) as it gave a deeper insight into the horrors slaves experienced. This shows us that moa as a character is very apollian but also equivocal because he has a great desire for the freedom of him and the rest of the slaves on the plantation but seems unsure of the impact the decision to kill many overseers and owners(+family) may have on them psychologically. For me, the heavyweight is a small price to pay for a cane that's unbreakable. The Ka-Bar is a buy-it-for-life item. I haven't met anyone who's managed to break theirs. (If you have, let me know in the comments.)

Q: Brotherhood and family are strong themes in the novel. Were any of the relationships inspired by real life? Alex Wheatle is a master storyteller. He writes with urgency, passion and the empathy we all need to wrestle with the realities of transatlantic slavery, bringing marginalised narratives straight out of the shadows, right into the frame. Every kid in the country needs to read this book.’ Jeffrey Boakye The importance of this book cannot be overstated. Alex Wheatle takes the truth, and creates fiction to illuminate that truth. He too is a warrior. A word warrior. I saw my ancestors in this book, and now I know that Alex and I really are brothers.-- Benjamin ZephaniahThis is not an easy read because slavery is not a nice topic but it is very powerful and the characters are very inspiring, fighting against the odds, determined to fight against their oppression, which is not always how enslaved people are shown when reading or learning about slavery. In Alex Wheatle’s young adult book Cane Warriors we meet fourteen year old Moa who is enslaved on the Frontier sugar cane plantation. He is in the middle of harvest season, he hasn’t seen his mother in over two months because she is serving in the Enslaver’s house and his father also is kept working for long and exhausting hours. With the recent death of a plantation beloved woman Moa starts considering what freedom would feel like. It's written in Pigeon English, which I don't have any problem with, just at some points it made it a little hard to understand. But, to be honest, it really contributed to the effect. The book is powerful, eye-opening, and educational too. I found the first few chapters hard going as the book is written in Jamaican dialect and it took some getting used to and working out what was being said. Within a few chapters, it just became second nature and I fully settled into the language and the plot. One night one of the men who works with Moa comes to him and explains that the slaves have had enough and on Easter Monday when there are not so many people around they are going to kill the white owners and leave this inhospitable life behind. Moa has been given the task of killing Misser Donaldson, but is he capable of such an act, and what will happen to him and his family when the owners are dead? How will they survive, will others come after them?

What a powerful story this was to read. I found Moa’s narration so compelling. Reading a first person account of life in slavery and rebellion really gave me an insight into life on the plantation. I felt that Moa was brave and loyal, despite the fear that he faced, and the murder that he was asked to commit. Obviously the slave masters and overseers were the characters to dislike, and their treatment of the slaves and the description of the whips were awful. The author did raise questionable points such as the killing of the slave masters children. The plot was exciting as I didn’t know whether they would be successful at any point or it would be crushed straight away. What stood out for me was the friendship between Moa and Keverton and how Moa wouldn’t leave him. I found some of the language difficult to understand at first as it was written as the slaves might speak ‘cyant’ for example. I would definitely recommend it to other pupils as I think it gave an insight into how a teenager actually felt in that time period. Moa is nervous about what he will have to do, but there is never any doubt that he will take part. He seeks out his parents to tell them of his plans as he is quartered with other cane cutters while his parents live separately elsewhere on the estate. It is why I refuse to shy away from writing about the harsh social conditions of my Crongtonnovels. As I write, there is a young person out there somewhere who is confronted with similar scenarios and choices in Liccle Bit, Crongton Knights, Home Girland Straight Outta Crongton. A: When I attended school, I recall learning about the battle of Hastings, King Harold and how he lost his eye, the Spanish Armada, Henry the eighth and his six wives and other canonical topics of British history. There was an absence of any narrative from the Caribbean that related the existence of my ancestors or their lived experience. I had watched Roots when it was first broadcast on British television in the mid 1970s, and it affected me deeply. It was only when I moved to Brixton as a teenager that I first learned about Caribbean slave revolts. Reggae music was a gateway for me. I would listen to Bob Marley’s Slave Driver on a cassette tape in the late 1970s and Dennis Brown recorded his own version in the early 1980s. I guess writing Cane Warriors, I simply wanted to write a tale that brought me the excitement and sense of discovery when I found Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and so many other reggae artists.

For now, though, he’s waiting out the pandemic, pondering a possible move out of London and publishing another young adult novel: The Humiliations of Welton Blake, a ribald comedy of errors that bloomed directly from “needing to laugh” after Cane Warriors. This shouldn’t be construed as him being done with historical narratives however – long-held plans to write about “Caribbean migration to Panama and subsequently what happened with other slave revolts” are taking shape.

In today's article, we're going to review the 7best self-defense canes on the market for every use case. We'll also walk you through the basics of becoming a trained cane fighter - if that's your goal.

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For survival situations - metal cane is the way to go. Besides being a self-defense tool, it will also function as an improvised crowbar. I'd rather have you strike one power shot at your opponent than sit there beating him down. American Cane Self Defense is by far the best and most comprehensive cane fighting course available. It is taught by the Grand Cane Master Joe Robaina. Free PDFs And Materials And while on his journey, the reader is exposed to the evil that is slavery and the slave trade. However, it (thankfully as reading that kind of stuff hurts the soul) does not go into extreme detail of the violence, as the violence is not entertainment like a horror but it doesn't pull any punches in showing the reader the reality of this harsh life from the position of a slave. You also see that for many, death is preferable to the life as a slave that they have to endure. Cane Warriors shines a light on a particularly dark period of history whose effects can still be felt today. A powerful, important book that is destined to become a modern classic. superb foray into historical fiction...this intense, affecting story of courage, bloodshed and commitment to freedom at all costs' The Guardian - Children's books roundup

Jamaica 1760 Fourteen-year-old Moa works with the other slaves on Misser Donaldson’s sugar cane farm. The slaves work fourteen hours a day, growing, cutting, and sugar extracting. Moa works out in the fields whilst his mum and little sister work up at the big house cooking for the family and his dad who only has one arm works in the mill.

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Wooden canes are lighter than metal canes, but they can break during a fight (with a well-aimed strike to the middle). When we read about incredible historical events - from natural disasters to uprisings against tyranny - it's rare that we see the point of view of the young people living through it. Alex Wheatle argues that the teenagers experiencing these harrowing times are key to building a kinder world. As the 72-hour countdown to the uprising begins, we are with Moa as he mentally prepares himself for what is to come. The details of how the business of sugar cane production works is carefully detailed, based upon free labour from young children clearing weeds among the cane rows.