The Hands of the Blacks" could be a story by Luis Bernardo Honwana.

The story follows the

talker as he asks totally different folks to clarify the explanation why the hands of black folks
area unit lighter than the remainder of their bodies. initial he speaks to his teacher, WHO tells
him that their hands area unit lighter as a result of humans once crawled on the bottom like four
leglike animals, departure their palms unexposed to the sunshine. Next, the talker speaks to 3
spiritual men, Father Christiano, Seor Antunes, and Seor Frias, WHO offer him with totally
different spiritual explanations. The talker then says that he once scan a book that explained the
development because the outcome of slaves choosing cotton in Virginia. Finally, the talker
speaks along with his mother, WHO tells him that God created black folks while not lighter
hands, however once he saw however they were assaulted by race, he lightened their palms.
The mother says that he did this to indicate that whereas black folks looked totally different, their
work for God was even as necessary and valuable. His mother cries and leaves him to mirror on
her words.

SUMMARY "The Hands of the Blacks" is a short story by Luis Bernardo Honwana. The
story follows the narrator as he asks different people to explain the reason why the
hands of black people are lighter than the rest of their bodies. First he speaks to his
teacher, who tells him that their hands are lighter because humans once crawled on
the ground like four legged animals, leaving their palms unexposed to the light.
Next, the narrator speaks to three religious men, Father Christiano, Seor Antunes,
and Seor Frias, who provide him with different religious explanations. The narrator
then says that he once read a book that explained the phenomenon as the outcome
of slaves picking cotton in Virginia. Finally, the narrator speaks with his mother, who
tells him that God created black people without lighter hands, but once he saw how
they were mistreated by white people, he lightened their palms. The mother says
that he did this to show that while black people looked different, their work for God
was just as important and valuable. His mother cries and leaves him to reflect on
her words.

Lus Bernardo Honwana was born Lus Augusto Bernardo Manuel in Loureno Marques (present-
day Maputo), Mozambique. His parents, Ral Bernardo Manuel (Honwana) and Naly Jeremias
Nhaca, belonged to the Ronga people from Moamba, a town about 55 km northwest of Maputo. In
1964 he became a militant with FRELIMO, a front that had the objective to liberate Mozambique
from Portuguese colonial rule. Due to his political activities he was arrested by the colonial
authorities and was incarcerated for three years.

He studied law in Portugal and worked for some time as a journalist. He was appointed director of
President's office under Samora Machel. Later in 1981, he became Secretary of State for culture. He
served on the Executive Board of UNESCO from 1987 to 1991 and was chairman of UNESCO's
Intergovernmental Committee for the World Decade for Culture and Development. In 1995, he was
appointed director of the newly opened UNESCO office in South Africa. Since he retired from the
organization in 2002, he has been active in research in the arts, history and ethno-linguistics. [1]

The Hands of the Blacks

I dont remember now how we got on to the subject, but one day, Teacher said that the palms of
the Blacks hands were much lighter than the rest of their bodies. This is because only a few
centuries ago, they walked around with them like wild animals, so their palms werent exposed
to the sun, which made the rest of their bodies darker. I thought of this when Father Christiano
told us after catechism that we were absolutely hopeless, and that even the pygmies were better
than us, and he went back to this thing about their hands being lighter, and said it was like that
because they always went about with their hands folded together, praying in secret. I thought
this was so funny, this thing of the Blacks hands being lighter, that you should just see me now. I
do not let go of anyone, whoever they are, until they tell me why they think that the palms of the
Blacks hands are lighter. Doa Dores, for instance, told me that God made Blacks hands lighter
so they would not dirty the food they made for their masters, or anything else they were ordered
to do that had to be kept clean. Seor Antunes, the Coca-Cola man, who only comes to
the village now and again when all the Cokes in the cantinas have been sold, said it was a lot of
baloney. Of course, I do not know if it was really such, but he assured me, it was. After that I
said, All right, it was baloney, and then he told me what he knew about this thing of the Blacks
hands. It was like this: Long ago, many years ago, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Virgin
Mary, St. Peter, many other saints, all the angels that were in Heaven, and some of the people
who had died and gone to Heaventhey all had a meeting and decided to create the Blacks. Do
you know how? They got hold of some clay and pressed it into some second-hand molds and
baked the clay of creatures, which they took from the heavenly kilns. Because they were in a
hurry and there was no room next to the fire, they hung them in the chimneys. Smoke, smoke,
smokeand there you have them, black as coals. And now, do you want to know why their
hands stayed white? Well, didnt they have to hold on while their clay baked? When he
told me this, Seor Antunes and the other men who were around us were very pleased and they
all burst out laughing. That very same day, Seor Frias told me that everything i had heard from
them there had been just one big pack of lies. Really and truly, what he knew about the Blacks
hands was rightthat God finished men and told them to bathe in a lake in Heaven. After
bathing, the people were nice and white. The Blacks, well. They were made very early in
the morning and at this hour, the water in the lake was very cold, so they only wet the palms of
their hands and the soles of their feet before dressing and coming to the world. But i read
in a book that happened to mention the story, that the Blacks have hands lighter like this
because they spent their lives bent over, gathering the white cotton of Virginia and i dont know
where else. Of course, Doa Estefania did not agree when i told her this. According to her, it is
only because their hands became bleached with all that washing. Well, i do not know what
to think about all this but the truth is that however calloused and cracked they may be, Black
hands are always lighter than the rest of him. And thats that! My mother is the only one
who must be right about this question of a Blacks hands being lighter than the rest of his body.
On the day that we were talking about it, i was telling her what i already knew about the
question, and she could not stop laughing. When i was talking, she did not tell me at once what
she thought about all this and she only talked when she was sure that i wouldnt get tired of
bothering her about it. And even then, she was crying and clutching herself around the stomach
like someone who had laughed so much that it was quite unbearable. What she said was more
or less this: God made Blacks because they had to be. They had to be, my son. He
thought they really had to be. Afterwards, He regretted having made them because other men
laughed at them and took away their homes and put them to serve as slaves and not much
better. But because He couldnt make them all white, for those who were used to seeing them
black would complain, He made it so that the palms of their hands would be exactly like the
palms of the hands of other men. And do you know why that was? Well, listen: it was to show
that what men do is only the work of men... that what men do is done by hands that are the
samehands of people. How, if they had any sense, would know that before anything else they
are men. He must have been thinking of this when He made the hands of those men who thank
God they are not black!
After telling me all this, my mother kissed my hands. As i ran off to the yard to play ball, i thought
that i had never seen a person cry so much as my mother did then.