Planking

[AOII Angel]

Those pictures are sad and grotesque. The number of people who died in the crossing is staggering. I can't even imagine how horrible it would feel to be confined in planks.

That being said, just because it has a similar name doesn't mean that it has anything to do with the stupid planking trend. Doing "planks" is an abdominal exercise. Why someone thought it would be a good idea to do planks on things and post pictures is beyond me. Then again, a lot of these Internet trends are.

[AOII Angel]

This is where the slave trade part came in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_down_game

Students at Durham University in Northeast England received criticism for a July 2007 re-creation of the image of the 1788 Brookes abolitionist poster, in a manner reminiscent of the lying down game.[19][20] Such displays have prompted comparisons between the game itself, and the slave trade-era practice and manner of stowing African slaves upon the planks of a slave ship's lower hold.[21][22]

This was one group who purposely made a comparison. The origins were however, not to imitate slave planking. Apparently England forgets its culpability in the slave trade.

[MysticCat]

I have learned something new . . . something stupid and new.