The bit of kente cloth—traditional West African woven cloth—that Teenie and Tidbit treasure represents the resistance on the part of Black slaves to sever their connections to Africa. Teenie’s mother, who was abducted from Africa, managed to keep a scrap of kente cloth from her home, even hiding it in her mouth at various points along her journey to the American colonies. Especially since Teenie didn’t grow up speaking her mother’s native language, the kente cloth represents Teenie’s only tangible connection to her ancestral homeland.
In Fort Mose, Amari has the opportunity to build a loom and weave cloth of her own—something she’s wanted to do for years but which was a profession reserved for men in Africa. This offers hope that in the colonies, slaves and freed Black people alike will be able to hold onto their cultural traditions and tweak them to suit their own purposes. Amari’s opportunity to weave represents a significant change from what weaving entailed in her village in Africa, but it will nevertheless allow her to keep the knowledge of how to make the cloth—and the symbolism woven into the cloth—alive for future generations.
Kente Cloth Quotes in Copper Sun
“What did your mama keep a-tellin’ you while you be with her?”
“She tell me stories about Africa and about her own mother, and she tell me, ‘Long as you remember, ain’t nothin’ really gone.’”
Amari, blinking away tears, hugged him. “You gonna always remember?”
“I ain’t never gonna forget nothin’ she done tell me,” the boy said with great seriousness. He squeezed the leather pouch.
Kente Cloth Symbol Timeline in Copper Sun
