The Glory of Africa Part 10

Nairobi, Kenya

Lagos, Nigeria

The Table of Contents

1. Prologue 2. The Pioneers of 3. True Reparations 4. Maurice Bishop
Pan Africanism
5. Red Summer 6. Remembering 7. The Global African 8. Diverse African
MOVE Diaspora Ethnic Groups
9. We are All Africans 10. Appendix A:
(Conclusion) Advice and
Commentaries from
Brothers and Sisters
Source of
Image: From
Under Armour
To be human is know about many things.
Africa represents our humanity, since all
human beings came from Africa. To truly
love Africa is to not only love African
people. It is about researching information
about its history, culture, and important
issues found in the continent. For years,
more and more people are speaking up
about the values that encompass African
society. Many countries of Africa have
modern technology, animal conservation
services, and people dedicated to the
premise of human liberation. Doctors,
political activists, athletes, teachers, and
other scholars flourish in African societies.
We have a long way to go in establishing
justice. We know of political corruption,
debt issues, and the fragile nature of our
ecosystem. Also, we acknowledge the huge,
unsung work that unsung African heroes are
doing in making sure that the future is so
much better than the present. Here are
some examples. Wangarĩ Muta Maathai was
a renowned Kenyan social, environmental
and political activist and the first African
woman to win the Nobel Prize. She was
educated in the United States at Mount St.
Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh,
as well as the University of Nairobi in
Kenya.
Prologue
These Sisters are Nigeria’s
first bobsled team in
history. Their names are
Seun Adigun, Ngozi
Onwumere and Akuoma
Omeoga.
We have the young people in Sudan
standing up against a military junta. We
see young people in Nigeria, South Africa,
and Ghana fighting economic inequality,
corrupt leaders, and social injustices.
Therefore, Africa’s growth is beneficial to
the growth of the world in general.
Africa’s growing population growth is a
blessing. It is excellent to witness more
Africans birthed in the world. It is also
important to note that African culture is
diverse. There are tons of languages
spoken, different types of music, and a
myriad of cultural traditions spread all
over the continent of Africa. There is the
kente cloth and African music with
widespread popularity. Loving Africa
extends into loving the African Diaspora
as well. Black lives always matter. There
are black people in Africa, Europe, the
Americas, and Asia plus other places of
the world fighting diligently for our
freedom. Benedita da Silva was an Afro-
Brazilian hero, and Malcolm X was one of
the greatest black American leaders in
history. Their sacrifice and strength ought
to be appreciated. Africa is the
Motherland indeed.
 The Pioneers of Pan Africanism
Pan-Africanism has been one of the greatest, worldwide movements in history. It has built up the power
and confidence in black people globally. It has inspired change, fought imperialism, and gave the world
more glory including the power of black people. Pan-Africanism is about the strengthening of the bonds of
solidarity among Africans and all people of the black African Diaspora. We all have African descent. We
should unite culturally, socially, economically, and politically in order to see Pan-African black liberation a
reality in our world. We are our Brother's and Sister's keepers whether we live in the Caribbean, Latin
America, the United States, Canada, Africa, Europe, Asia, etc. Our destinies are intertwined with each other.
The Pan-African movement is grassroots and promotes collective power. Pan-Africanism has existed for
centuries. Even in our time, we are still fighting against slavery, racism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism. By
the 1700's, many black people formed networks globally to fight slavery and oppression.

One predecessor of Pan-Africanism was Ethiopianism. The Sons of Africa was a political group with people
like Auobna Ottobah Cugoano that was part of the abolitionist movement. In the 1800's, many leaders
promoted connections to Africa. By the 20th century, modern Pan-Africanism existed. Henry Sylvester-
Williams created the African Association and later the Pan-African Association. It was created in 1897, and
Henry organized the first Pan-African Conference in London by 1900. Many future Pan-African advocates
and other black liberation proponents were Haile Selassie, Julius Nyerere, Ahmed Sekou Toure, Kwame
Knrumah, Thomas Sankara, Malcolm X, W.E. B. Du Bois, and other human beings. Pan-Africanists believe
that solidarity will enable the continent to fulfill its potential to independently provide for all of its people.
Crucially, an all-African alliance would empower African people globally. By the time of the African
independence movement (by the mid-20th century), Pan-Africanism grew into new heights.

Ghana achieved independence after long struggle in March of 1957. Kwame Nkrumah was elected its first
Prime Minister and President of Ghana. He promoted the unity of an independent Africa. He wanted the
regional integration of the African continent. In April 1958, Nkrumah hosted the first All-African Peoples'
Conference (AAPC) in Accra, Ghana. The Conference invited delegates of political movements and major
political leaders. With the exception of South Africa, all Independent States of the Continent attended:
Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan. The conference promoted African unity
and anti-imperialism. Frantz Fanon, journalist, freedom fighter and a member of the Algerian FLN party,
attended the conference as a delegate for Algeria. Considering the armed struggle of the FLN against
French colonial rule, the attendees of the Conference agreed to support the struggle of those States under
colonial oppression. This encouraged the commitment of direct involvement in the "emancipation of the
Continent; thus, a fight against colonial pressures on South Africa was declared and the full support of the
FLN struggle in Algeria, against French colonial rule."

The Accra Conference wanted non alignment that didn't want complete control of their lands by the U.S.
and the USSR. In 1959, Nkrumah, President Sékou Touré of Guinea and President William Tubman of
Liberia met at Sanniquellie and signed the Sanniquellie Declaration outlining the principles for the
achievement of the unity of Independent African States whilst maintaining a national identity and
autonomous constitutional structure. The Declaration called for a revised understanding of pan-Africanism
and the uniting of the Independent States. In 1960, the second All-African Peoples' Conference was held in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The membership of the All-African Peoples' Organisation (AAPO) had increased
with the inclusion of the "Algerian Provisional Government (as they had not yet won independence),
Cameron, Guinea, Nigeria, Somalia and the United Arab Republic." The Conference highlighted diverging
ideologies within the movement, as Nkrumah’s call for a political and economic union between the
Independent African States gained little agreement. The disagreements following 1960 gave rise to two
rival factions within the pan-African movement: the Casablanca Bloc and the Brazzaville Bloc.

The image on the right showed the 1919 Pan African Congress.

Ben Bella of Algeria promoted pan-Africanism and African Unity. He helped Algeria to gain independence by
1962. The 1969 Pan African Cultural Festival was historic. It lasted for 8 days starting in July 21, 1969. Many
people came to promote a fight against colonialism. Black Panthers were there. African Americans and
people from across the African Diaspora came. Algeria in that time harbored many revolutionaries. Pan-
African views have been promoted by many people in the 19th century like Henry Sylvester-Williams and
Edward Wilmot Blyden. Pan-Africanists have fought apartheid in South Africa. Other pan-Africanist
organizations include: Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, African Communities League,
TransAfrica and the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement.
Additionally, Pan-Africanism is seen as an endeavor to return to what are deemed by its proponents as
singular, traditional African concepts about culture, society, and values. Examples of this include Léopold
Sédar Senghor's Négritude movement, and Mobutu Sese Seko's view of Authenticité. During the 21st
century, some Pan-Africanists desire environmental justice, and they are addressing globalization.

Some universities went as far as creating "Departments of Pan-African Studies" in the late 1960's. This
includes the California State University, where that department was founded in 1969 as a direct reaction to
the civil rights movement, and is today dedicated to "teaching students about the African World
Experience", to "demonstrate to the campus and the community the richness, vibrance, diversity, and
vitality of African, African American, and Caribbean cultures" and to "presenting students and the
community with an Afrocentric analysis" of anti-black racism. Syracuse University also offers a master's
degree in "Pan African Studies." The red black and green Pan-African flag was designed by the UNIA in
1920. We know the real issue of Liberia too. Dr. John Henrik Clarke criticized some of Liberia's policies.
Carter G. Woodson explained that settlers in Liberia brought with them the ideas of the American slave
holders and established a slavocracy of their own in Liberia:

"And these Negroes of a century ago stood their ground and fought the pro-slavery deportationists to a
standstill, for with the exception of a few pioneers the emigrants to Liberia were largely slaves manumitted
on the condition that they would settle in Africa. These freedmen, then, could have no ideals but those of
the slave-holding section from which they were sent. They established, therefore, a slavocracy in Liberia. If
Liberia has failed, then, it is no evidence of the failure of the Negro in government. It is merely evidence of
the failure of slavery."

In his debate with Alan Dershowitz, Cornel West described Liberia as a settler state in which African
Americans subordinated the native people and named the capital after James Monroe, a slave owning
president. Alexander Crummell is one of the most well-known proponents of settlement in Liberia.
Crummell wrote that the native African “is hardly a quarter of a man.” He continued to write that the native
African is a “crude, underdeveloped and benighted child! A shadow of man!” Crummell is of course wrong
in his bigoted statements. These were the type of views that some (not all) of the Amero-Liberian settlers
were expressing very openly. Many early Liberian leaders collaborated with European colonialists in Africa
as late as the early 20th century, and slavery existed in Liberia.
In How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney writes: “During the colonial era, Liberia was
supposedly independent; but to all intents and purposes, it was a colony of the U.S.A.” This was because
American companies such as Firestone were able to enrich itself at the expense of the Liberian people and
the Liberian government itself. Rodney writes:

"Between 1940 and 1965, Firestone took 160 million dollars’ worth of rubber out of Liberia; while in return
the Liberian government received 8 million dollars. In earlier years, the percentage of the value that went
to the Liberian government was much smaller, but, at the best of times, the average net profit made by
Firestone was three times the Liberian revenue." Liberian leaders who have shown independent thinking
were victims of U.S.-supported coups. Tolbert was in favor of the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics, but he
supported Palestinian rights and maintained diplomatic relationship with the Soviet Union. Today, many
freedom fighters are in Liberia, but we have a long way to go in seeing liberation worldwide.

Pan Africanism promotes unity not division. In other words, we are beyond our national identities imposed
by us by our oppressors. That is why Brazilian activists like Edna Roland have promoted reparations for
African descendants of slavery in the Americas. That is why many African Americans are fighting for the
rights of people of African descent around the world. Malcolm X plainly said:

"...And they’re able to take these hired killers, put them in American planes, with American bombs, and
drop them on African villages, blowing to bits Black men, Black women, Black children, Black babies, and
you Black people sitting over here cool like it doesn’t even involve you. You’re a fool. They’ll do it to
them today, and do it to you tomorrow. Because you and I and they are all the same...."

We abhor the 1921 bombing of Black Wall Street, the 1985 bombing of MOVE, and the deaths of innocent
black Togolese, black Congolese, and other black people in Africa. Also, we are opposed to people being
brutalized in Togo by a dictator. As Walter Rodney said, “every African has a responsibility to understand
the system and work for its overthrow.” Martin Delany worked with Robert Campbell (who was Jamaican)
on black liberation issues. Since white racism is a global system, it must be ended by a global movement. As
Thomas Sankara informed us: “You have to counter a system with a system, an organization with an
organization…” We should always as African Americans unite with our Afro-Caribbean Brothers and Sisters.
Malcolm X's ancestors came from Grenada. We know that Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte have Afro-
Caribbean heritage. We know that Kwame Ture was born in Trinidad. He was raised in New York City,
educated in Howard University, and became one of the greatest proponents of Pan-Africanism in history.
The history of African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans are intertwined. That Haitian Revolution in the late
1700's ended with the independence of Haiti in 1804. That moment inspired slave revolts against tyranny in
America. Many slaves from Africa readily came (against their wills) into the Caribbean and then in the North
American continent. One example is that Denmark Vesey was born in St. Thomas.

He lived in South Carolina to plan a slavery revolt until he was caught. Keith Baird spoke a Caribbean Creole
language and he communicated with the Gullah people of South Carolina. The Gullah people are
Americans. Many Gullah people have links to the Bahamas. Many African Americans came into Haiti after
the Haitian Revolution to escape slavery. Hubert Henry Harrison was born in St. Croix. For centuries, African
Americans and Afro-Caribbean worked together in the cause of black liberation as we are one African
people. We are still Africans. In 1969, Afro-Caribbean Pauulu Roosevelt Browne Kamarakafego organized a
Black Power conference in Bermuda, which was attended by Queen Mother Moore and other American
activists. So, the principle of Pan-Africanism remains true. That is why groups like Africans Rising or a Pan-
African organization continues to fight for solutions. We reject neo-colonialism in Africa. Queen Mother
Moore was a Pan-Africanist who wanted all of Africa liberated. She supported N’COBRA, she believed in
reparations, and she desired global black African liberation. We want all people of black African descent to
live gloriously filled with freedom and prosper.

*It is also important to honor Harriet Tubman's roots which are from Africa. She rescued black people and
allowed them to go into Canada. Tubman lived in Canada for a time. She worked with Martin Delaney to
build up Black Union soldiers to defeat the Confederacy. Black Union soldiers contributed heavily to the
Union victory involving the U.S. Civil War. Delaney wanted black people to travel into Africa. Harriet
Tubman's grandmother was born in Africa. She was part of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
Malcolm X was a Pan-Africanist. Recently, Michael Eric Dyson has spoken about Malcolm X in terms that I
find to be wrong. He is now defending Jay Z's deal with the NFL, when Jay Z has loved the capitalist system
as a means to gain profit. It is oxymoronic for capitalism to try to solve social injustices since capitalism by
its nature is amoral (as its concern is to make profit for individual entrepreneurs).

I find Dyson's criticisms of Malcolm X to be inaccurate. Dyson said that Malcolm X called Dr. Martin Luther
King a "sellout," but his words don’t tell the entire story. Malcolm X criticized the corporate establishment
infiltration of the mainstream civil rights movement during the 1963 March on Washington and on other
events. Malcolm X said that he wanted to push Dr. King to be more militant in order for change to come. He
told this to Coretta Scott King. Also, Malcolm X critiqued Dr. King because of his tactics of nonviolence in
the midst of a system of violence being used against black people. Dyson said then he or Malcolm X was
murdered. Malcolm X did a lot of things before he was assassinated like traveling the world, confronting
voting rights suppression in Selma, and calling on the UN to confront America on its abuses of the rights of
black Americans. Dr. King and Jay Z are black men, but they are different ideologically. Jay Z loves
capitalism. Dr. King criticized capitalism. For example, on August 31, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said
the following words in a speech: “…We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew
and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifices. Capitalism was built on the
exploitation of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor, both black and white,
both here and abroad.”

Dr. King opposed the war in Vietnam. Jay Z is not confronting imperialism in public. Jay Z is wrong to blame
single families for the incidents of police brutality in America which is grossly offensive, reactionary, and
evil. The FBI targeted Malcolm X and Dr. King for years. Dyson omitted that Dr. King criticized Malcolm X as
lacking solutions. Dyson once accused Malcolm X of trying to cancel Dr. King, which is false.

Malcolm X in 1963 invited Dr. King to attend a unity rally in Harlem. Malcolm X and Dr. King shook hands in
1964. Therefore, Malcolm X wasn't canceling him. Dr. King didn't want a big association with Malcolm X
because of his political views. Yet, Dr. King talked with the Nation of Islam in 1966 and criticized militarism
(that caused the corporate media to criticize him viciously). Numerous mainline civil rights leaders back
then opposed Dr. King's anti-war views. Muhammad Ali supported Dr. King ironically, and praised his anti-
war stance. Dr. King and Malcolm X sincerely wanted black liberation. They just had different approaches in
getting it done. Dyson implies that Malcolm X wasn't militantly confronting injustice when Malcolm X
confronted the police after Hinton Johnson was beaten plus refused medical treatment. Dyson made the
disrespectful comment that Malcolm X would have been manhandled by Connor and his racist cops. That's
silly since Malcolm X advocated armed black people defending the black community. Malcolm X knew how
to defend himself. Malcolm X called for armed units of black people protecting the black community in the
South. Cornel West isn't perfect (I disagree with West supporting the anti-African, xenophobic ADOS
movement), but Cornel's views on imperialism are more accurate than Dyson's views on imperialism.
Malcolm X sent a telegram to the Nazi Lincoln Rockwell that if the Neo-Nazis harm Dr. King in Selma,
Alabama, then they (or the Nazis) would experience maximum physical retaliation in self-defense from
black people. Malcolm X was never scared of racists. Therefore, Pan-Africanism is here to stay.

True Reparations
The Reparations Movement has existed for a long time in America. Not only do most African Americans
support reparations for black Americans as proven by polls and other research. People of black African
descent experienced the worst form of slavery in human history. Africans were kidnapped and shipped over
thousands of miles into the Americas, Europe, Asia, etc. in order to be used like property by vicious racists.
No other people but people of black African descent experienced that form of slavery. Reparations are
legitimate and morally just as well. Our ancestors were slaves for centuries. My third great grandparents
were slaves in America. My black ancestors were beaten, raped, and received no wages. They worked in
the plantations of the South, the North, and other places in America from sun up to sun down.

Yet, they were never given just compensation for that horrendous mistreatment. Black Americans also
were key in building up America. American slavery was one evil injustice that built up the modern American
system. The common lie involving this debate is that since we weren't born during the 19th century (or
before), therefore we aren't entitled to reparations. That is refuted by this following response. The U.S.
government refused to compensate black Americans. Therefore, we are the descendants of those slaves
and our black ancestors' sacrifice ought to be reconciled by the debt being paid off by reparations given to
African Americans today.

Also, after 1865, peonage existed which was virtual slavery. Peonage lasted well into the 20th century. Jim
Crow, redlining, gentrification, the prison industrial complex, and other evils continued that ravished black
communities without just compensation to Black Americans. These policies were facilitated by the federal
government (including private, oligarchical entities) that stripped the wealth including the lands of many
black Americans. The racial wealth gap, the disparities of health, the loss of black farmlands, the impact of
racism in society, etc. are caused by the legacy of slavery and discrimination in world society. The federal
government apologizing for such evils (as promoted by one author named Jonathan Capehart) is not
enough. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has mentioned clearly (during his Poor People's Campaign) in 1968,
we are coming for our check. I don't agree with the ADOS movement, since of its explicit anti-African
Diasporic views, its anti-immigrant views, and some factions of it being funded by those linked to the now
deceased white nationalist John Tanton. Real fighters for freedom, like the late Queen Mother Moore,
believe in reparations in the context of advancing global black liberation.

Reparations aren’t just about capital or money alone. It is about structural change that addresses
education, health, land, and other resources. Another lie is that reparations never existed to people after
the fact. Centuries after the genocide of Native Americans, many Native Americans received reparations.
Decades after the Japanese Americans experienced the unjust internment camps in America, they received
reparations in the form of money (via our tax payer dollars). Years after the 9/11 attack, 911 responders
have continued to receive just compensation. Jewish victims of the Holocaust have received reparations.
Therefore, just because we are not directly responsible for something doesn't mean that we can't use our
taxpayer dollars to compensate victims. We use our taxpayer money to help hurricane victims and flood
victims, because it's the right thing to do not because we are responsible for a hurricane disaster.
America has to pay its debt. The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) is one
out of many organizations fighting for the reparations sent to black Americans. Many people will disagree
with me, and that's fine. Reasonable people can debate the issue of reparations. Yet, my conscience is clear
in my advocacy of reparations. Justice is beyond words. It is about actions used to make sure that the
victims of injustice are compensated. Stats on the median wealth gap alone merit revolutionary solutions.
Systems of oppression (not culture or individual acts) contributed to the lack of wealth transfers in our
society. No true reparations omit infrastructure issues, mass incarceration, poverty, health care, predatory
lenders, etc. Yet, America must pay what black Americans are owed.

Maurice Bishop
Maurice Bishop lived from 1944 to 1983. He was one of the most revolutionary leaders of the 20th century.
He was the leader of the New Jewel Movement. He believed in pan-African unity and black liberation. He
wanted education and socioeconomic development to spread in his community. He was also the second
Prime Minister of Grenada. Maurice Bishop was the head of the People’s Revolutionary Government of
Grenada from 1979 to 1983. He was born at Aruba, which was controlled by the Netherlands back then. His
parents were Rupert and Elment Bishop. Aruba is just off the coast of Venezuela. He lived in Aruba until he
was six. He moved to Grenada. He walked into school, and his father inspired him to make great
contributions involving education. Maurice Bishop became interested in politics, history, and sociology. He
supported the West Indies Federation which wanted Caribbean nationalism by 1958. He was inspired by
the 1959 Cuban Revolution. In those same years Bishop and his colleagues became interested in reading
the works of Julius Nyerere and Frantz Fanon. In 1962, Bishop graduated with a gold medal for his
outstanding ability. By December 1963, he studied law at the University of London when he was 19 years
old. In 1963–66, Bishop was president of the Students Association of Holborn College and in 1967 headed
the association of students of the Royal College.

While studying Grenada history, Bishop focused on the head of the uprising in 1795, Julien Fédon, and
other anti-British speeches. In 1964, he participated the UK's West Indian Standing Conference (WISC) and
Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD). He traveled from the UK to socialist Czechoslovakia and the
German Democratic Republic. During that time, he studied the works of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao
Zedong. Yet, he was impressed by Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism (published by Oxford
University Press in 1968) and the Arusha Declaration of 1967. He earned his law degree and worked in
Grenada. He wanted to work in Grenada to gain political power. He gave legal defense to striking nurses at
St. George’s General Hospital. He wanted patients’ lives to be better. He protested and was arrested, but all
of the nurses were acquitted after a seven month trial. In 1972, he helped organize a conference in
Martinique that discussed and strategized actions for liberation movements. The philosophy of Julius
Nyerere and Tanzanian socialism would be guiding elements for the Movement for Assemblies of the
People (MAP) which Bishop helped organize after the elections of 1972. He along with Kenrick Radix and
Jacqueline Creft, were interested in steering MAP toward construction of popular institutions centered in
villages, to facilitate broad participation in the country’s affairs.

Bishop was beaten by the security forces under Chief Constable Aynesent Belmar. In 1974, Bishop’s father
was shot after he led women and children aware from Gairy supporters’ bottles. Bishop worked in the Pan
African Congress. In 1979, he staged a revolution. Eric Gairy was a corrupt, imperialist person. Gairy was
gone, and Bishop was the Prime Minister of Grenada. He could communicate brilliantly about empathy for
the people of Grenada. Maurice Bishop built infrastructure. He wanted women’s rights, workers’ rights,
ending racism, and ending apartheid. Reagan hated Bishop and organized a coup. Under Bishop's
leadership, the National Women’s Organization was formed which participated in policy decisions along
with other social groups. Women were given equal pay and paid maternity leave. Sex discrimination was
made illegal. Organizations for education (Center for Popular Education), health care, and youth affairs
(National Youth Organization) were also established.

Bishop introduced free public health; illiteracy dropped from 35% to 5% and unemployment from 50% to
14%. But its weak point was tourism. Bishop was not without imperfections. Many in the PRA or the
People’s Revolutionary Army violated human rights, and Bishop was hesitant to promote further elections
for fear of outside interference. Ironically, it would be four members of the PRA that would kill him. Then,
Reagan launched an invasion. Bishop's wife was Angela Redhead. They had 2 children. He had another son
that was murdered at the age of 16. On May 29, 2009, Grenada's international airport (formerly Point
Salines International Airport) was renamed Maurice Bishop International Airport. Speaking at the
ceremony, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said: "This belated honour to an
outstanding Caribbean son will bring closure to a chapter of denial in Grenada’s history." Maurice Bishop’s
gift was that he combined intellectual power with humility in wanting justice for his people. He never
wavered in his commitment to justice, and he gave his life in service to fight imperialism.
 Rest in Power Brother Maurice Bishop.

Red Summer (100 Years Later: 1919-2019)

Red Summer started in the summer of 1919. It was one of the harshest chapters in American history. The
time was about when tons of innocent black people in America were murdered, assaulted, raped, and had
their homes plus businesses destroyed by white racist mobs. We should remember this tragedy after 100
years. This was murder and an unjust slaughter. It was a pogrom against black people literally. It was
caused by many factors. Over 165 people died via Red Summer. The racists were jealous of black
infrastructure and had a vicious hatred of black people in general. Not only did black people died, the
federal government did nothing about it. Some in the federal government like J. Edgar Hoover disgracefully
blamed black people for the violence. It started from late winter of 1919 to the fall of the same year plus
beyond. The destruction and bombing of Black Wall Street was part of the Red Summer era. Many of the
violence existed after white racists promoted the lies that black people wanted to kill white people
collectively or the racists advanced the lie that black men collectively were raping white women. White
racist terrorists groups destroyed the lives of thousands of black people. Then, some have the nerve to say
that black Americans aren’t entitled to reparations today. Many black people fought back in self-defense in
places like Chicago and Washington, D.C. During that time, there was the first Great Migration where
African Americans left the South to go into the North, the Midwest, and West Coast (for economic
opportunities and to escape racial terrorism found in the South). Many black people found the same racism
in the North as found in the South.

Many black veterans competed for jobs after World War I ended. So, Northern manufacturers recruited
workers in the South. About 500,000 African Americans came from the South to the North by 1919. Black
people worked in factories and some were strikebreakers. Violence against black people happened in East
St. Louis, Illinois and Houston, Texas by the summer of 1917. Many racists scapegoated black people during
the Red Scare and made the lie that black folks calling for racial justice were being influenced by the
Bolshevik Revolution (when the struggle for black freedom existed long before the Russian Revolution. Also,
the Russian czars were corrupt and ought to not maintain a rule of anti-Semitism, serfdom, and corruption.
In other words, the Russian czars ought to be gone from power). Black Americans competed for housing
too among whites including European immigrants. Back then, a labor shortage came about in the Northeast
and Midwest. Civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson called the time Red Summer. He worked in the
NAACP as a field secretary since 1916. He organized peaceful protests against the racist violence. Dr.
George Edmund Haynes, W.E.B. DuBois, and others talked about the returning black veterans as an
opportunity for racial justice to be made. A. Philip Randolph from the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
(and a civil rights activist) defended the right of black people to use self-defense. In addition, Haynes
reported that between January 1 and September 14, 1919, white mobs lynched at least forty-three African
Americans, with sixteen hanged and others shot; while another eight men were burned at the stake. The
states appeared powerless or unwilling to interfere or prosecute such mob murders. The NAACP requested
that Woodrow Wilson do something about the violence, but he refused to do anything.

6 people died in rural Jenkins County, Georgia in the riot of 1919 on April 13. Many black-owned properties
were burned. By May 10, 1919, the Charleston, South Carolina racial riot was so bad that the city imposed
martial law. U.S. Navy sailors led the race riot. Black people like Isaac Doctor and William Brown plus James
Talbot were killed. 5 white men and 18 black men were injured. A Naval investigation found that 4 U.S.
sailors and 1 civilian (all white men) initiated the riot. Washington, D.C. starting July 19, white men, many in
the military and in uniforms of all three services, responded to the rumored arrest of a black man for rape
of a white woman with four days of mob violence against black individuals and businesses. They rioted,
randomly beat black people on the street, and pulled others off streetcars for attacks. When police refused
to intervene, the black population fought back. The city closed saloons and theaters to discourage
assemblies. Meanwhile, the four white-owned local papers, including the Washington Post, fanned the
violence with incendiary headlines and calling in at least one instance for a mobilization of a "clean-up"
operation. After four days of police inaction, President Woodrow Wilson mobilized the National Guard to
restore order. But a violent summer rainstorm had more of a dampening effect. When the violence ended,
a total of 15 people had died: 10 white people, including two police officers; and five black people. Fifty
people were seriously wounded and another 100 less severely wounded. It was one of the few times in
20th-century riots of whites against blacks that white fatalities outnumbered those of black people. In
Norfolk, Virginia, a white mob attacked a homecoming celebration for African-American veterans of World
War I. At least six people were shot, and the local police called in Marines and Navy personnel to restore
order.
Starting July 27, the summer's greatest violence occurred during rioting in Chicago. The city's beaches along
Lake Michigan were segregated by custom. Eugene Williams, a black youth, swam into an area on the South
Side customarily used by whites, where he was stoned, and drowned. When the Chicago police refused to
take action against the attackers, young black men responded violently. Violence between mobs and gangs
of both races lasted thirteen days. White mobs were led by ethnic Irish. The resulting 38 fatalities included
23 black people and 15 whites. The injured totaled 537 and 1,000 black families were left homeless. Other
accounts reported 50 people were killed, with unofficial numbers and rumors reporting more. White mobs
destroyed hundreds of mostly black homes and businesses on the South Side of Chicago; Illinois called in a
militia force of seven regiments: several thousand men, to restore order. At the end of July, the
Northeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, at an annual convention, denounced the rioting and
burning of black Americans' homes and asked President Wilson "to use every means within your power to
stop the rioting in Chicago and the propaganda used to incite such.” At the end of August, the NAACP
protested again to the White House, noting the attack on the organization's secretary in Austin, Texas the
previous week.

Their telegram said: "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People respectfully
enquires how long the Federal Government under your administration intends to tolerate anarchy in the
United States?" On September 30, a race riot against black people broke out in rural Elaine, Arkansas, in
Phillips County. Distinctive because it occurred in the rural South rather than a city, it erupted from white
minority resistance to labor organizing by black sharecroppers and fear of socialism. Black sharecroppers
were meeting in the local chapter of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America. Planters
opposed their efforts to organize and tried to disrupt meetings. In a confrontation, a white man was fatally
shot and another wounded. The planters formed a militia to arrest the African-American farmers, and
hundreds of whites came from the region. They acted as a mob, attacking black people at random over two
days. In the riot they killed an estimated 100 to 237 black people, and five whites also died in the violence.
Racial violence against black people was in Dublin, Georgia, Philadelphia, Tuscaloosa, Bisbee, Arizona,
Knoxville, Omaha, Baltimore, and elsewhere in America. Wilson did nothing but issued some token words
about condemning lynching. That’s it. He issued no federal laws or executive orders. The National Equal
Rights League criticized Wilson for his lax response. The African Blood Brotherhood was created in the
northern cities to promote self-defense. Dr. George Edmund Haynes of October of 1919 wanted national
action to stop the lynching and racial violence. The Haynes report exposed that lawlessness among white
racists contributed to the violence. The aftermath of this time caused tons of African Americans to continue
to fight back for black freedom. It inspired more people to continue in the freedom movement. We should
never forget the unjust murder of black people.
 Never Forget Red Summer. Never Forget.

Remembering MOVE
The MOVE ought to be remembered. It was a movement that was the victim of total injustice literally and
figuratively. Not too many people know about this organization until the event during the 1980's where
police from Philadelphia blew up its homes. MOVE ultimately is a black liberation group. It was created in
1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John Africa (born Vincent Leaphart) and Donald Glassey formed the
MOVE group. The MOVE movement focused on black liberation, animal rights, environmentalism,
communalism, and other concepts. They existed in a communal living situation at West Philadelphia. They
believed in anarcho-primitivism. They combined the revolutionary views of the Black Panthers with the
advocacy of animal rights. Their first major standoff was in 1978 with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Back then, the standoff ended with one police officer being dead and injuries to many people. Life
sentences came for nine members and they were convicted for killing the officer. During the late 1970's,
Mayor Frank Rizzo was in Philadelphia. People knew of his reactionary, authoritarian reputation. MOVE
didn't want to leave at first in 1978, and the gun battle occurred.

John Africa and Donald Glassey wanted to promote a radical form of green politics and return to a return to
a hunter-gatherer society. Many of their critics accused MOVE of opposing science, medicine, and
technology. On member named Janine Africa, who wrote to Ed Philkington from the The Guardian, from
prison: “We demonstrated against puppy mills, zoos, circuses, any form of enslavement of animals. We
demonstrated against Three Mile Island and industrial pollution. We demonstrated against police brutality.
And we did so uncompromisingly. Slavery never ended, it was just disguised.” MOVE was right to oppose
racism and exploitation of animals. Some of them made the mistake of sometimes going too far in their
actions. Some members used profanity laced demonstrations against people who disagreed with them.
According to a 2018 article in The Guardian, "Eyewitnesses, however, gave accounts suggesting that the
shot may have come from the opposite direction to the basement, raising the possibility that Ramp was
accidentally felled, by police fire. Move members continue to insist that they had no workable guns in their
house at the time of the siege. Several months earlier, in May 1978, several guns – most of them
inoperative – had been handed over to police at the Move house; however, prosecutors at the trial of the
Move Nine told the jury that at the time of the August siege there had been functioning firearms in the
house." The standoff existed for almost an hour before MOVE members began to surrender. The nine
members of MOVE charged with third-degree murder for Ramp's death became known as the MOVE 9.
Each was sentenced to a maximum of 100 years in prison. They were Chuck, Delbert, Eddie, Janet, Janine,
Merle, Michael, Phil, and Debbie Africa. Two of them died in prison. Their names are Merle Africa in 1998
and Phil Africa in 2015 being only 59 years old.

On June 16, 2018, Debbie Sims Africa, who was 22 when sentenced, was released on parole and reunited
with her 39-year-old son, Michael Davis Africa, Jr. She gave birth to him a month after she was imprisoned,
and he was taken from her a week later. The release of Sims Africa renewed attention on members of
MOVE and the Black Panthers who remain imprisoned in the US from the period of the 1960's and 1970's;
there are at least 25 still in prison as of June 2018.

On October 23, 2018, Michael Davis Africa, the husband of Debbie Sims Africa, was released on parole. In
May 2019, Janine and Janet Africa were released on parole after 41 years of imprisonment. As of May 2019,
the remaining three members of the MOVE Nine still in prison were Chuck Sims Africa, Delbert Orr Africa,
and Eddie Goodman Africa. The location of the 1985 bombing occurred on 6221 Osage Avenue.

The second major event was in 1985 that people talk about heavily. First, MOVE members and neighbors
had a dispute about trash around their building. The police obtained arrest warrants in 1985 charging four
MOVE occupants with crimes including parole violations, contempt of court, illegal possession of firearms,
and making terrorist threats. Mayor Wilson Goode and police commissioner Gregore J. Sambor classified
MOVE as a terrorist organization. Residents of the area were evacuated from the neighborhood. They were
told that they would be able to return to their homes after a twenty-four hour period. Water and electricity
were shut off. Later, the armed standoff occurred among the police and MOVE members. Commissioner
Sambor ordered that the compound be bombed. From a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter, Philadelphia
Police Department Lt. Frank Powell proceeded to drop two one-pound bombs (which the police referred to
as "entry devices") made of FBI-supplied Tovex, a dynamite substitute, targeting a fortified, bunker-like
cubicle on the roof of the house.
That event ended when a police helicopter dropped a bomb on the MOVE compound, a row house in the
middle of the 6200 block of Osage Avenue. The resulting fire killed eleven MOVE members, including five
children, and destroyed 65 houses in the neighborhood. Mayor Wilson Goode later testified at a 1996 trial
that he had ordered the fire to be put out after the bunker had burned. Police Commissioner Sambor said
he received the order, but the fire commissioner testified that he did not receive the order. Eleven people
(John Africa, five other adults, and five children aged 7 to 13) died in the resulting fire. So, the local police
murdered innocent people in Philadelphia. Ramona Africa, one of the two MOVE survivors from the house,
said that police fired at those trying to escape. The MOVE Commission issued its report on March 6, 1986.
The report denounced the actions of the city government, stating that "Dropping a bomb on an occupied
row house was unconscionable." Following the release of the report, Goode made a formal public apology.
No one from the city government was criminally charged in the attack. The only surviving adult MOVE
member, Ramona Africa, was charged and convicted on charges of riot and conspiracy; she served seven
years in prison. After John Africa's death, his widow, Alberta, married John Gilbride, Jr. Gilbride divorced,
and died mysterious. Accusations of MOVE members killing Gilbride continue to this very day.

The survivors later filed a civil suit against the city and the police department, and were awarded $1.5
million in a 1996 settlement. In 1996 a federal jury ordered the city to pay a US$ 1.5 million civil suit
judgement to survivor Ramona Africa and relatives of two people killed in the bombing. The jury had found
that the city used excessive force and violated the members' constitutional protections against
unreasonable search and seizure. Ramona Africa acts as a spokesperson for the group. She has given
numerous speeches at events in the United States and other countries. Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted
and originally sentenced to death for the unrelated 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner. In 2011
his sentence was commuted to life. He had reported on MOVE and expressed his support for them. MOVE
continues to advocate for Abu-Jamal's release as well as for that of imprisoned MOVE members. MOVE
regards them all as political prisoners.

Birdie Africa, also known as Michael Moses Ward, was the only child to survive the 1985 MOVE bombing.
As an adult, he accidentally drowned in 2013 in a hot tub on board the ship Carnival Dream while cruising in
the Caribbean. The legacy of MOVE is complex. They did many righteous actions in society and their
mistakes can't be omitted either. Let the Fire Burn is a documentary about these times relating to the
MOVE movement. The film is directed and produced by Jason Osder and was released by Zeitgeist Films in
October 2013. Therefore, we have to understand MOVE, realizing their strengths, acknowledge their errors,
and condemn the police bombing of their homes at the same time. The bombing of MOVE homes while the
police letting the fires burn was completely evil and unjustified.
 The Global African Diaspora
Members of the African Diaspora represent family. I am a member of the African Diaspora as I was born in
the United States of America. So, this subject is very personal to me. The African Diaspora consists of all
communities of people who are descended from sub-Saharan Africa or people from Sub-Saharan Africa.
They are mostly found in the Americas. Likewise, black people are found in places like London, Paris, Berlin,
Accra, Nairobi, Sydney, New York City, and other cities and towns of the globe. This is an exciting topic to
discuss, because it deals with our diversity and unity simultaneously. Our unity is part of our strength. That
is why the more we come together as one Pan-African family, the better off we will be as one African
community. It doesn't matter what the naysayers say. It does matter that we treat each other right and
advance the same goal of liberation, freedom, and justice. The more information that I have found about
the African Diaspora, the stronger I am emotionally and spiritually. The African Union considers the African
diaspora as its sixth region. It is important to appreciate diverse cultures and promote Black Unity along
with Black Love. This is the goal that we embrace completely.
North America
The history of black people in North America has been filled with slavery and triumph. It has been filled
with pain and strength. I live in North America, and I know of its history greatly. There are about 46,350,467
black Americans in the United States. In America, black people came into America against our wills in
chains. From the Maafa to slavery, African Americans experienced harsh mistreatment by racists. Also,
black Americans fought back heavily to end injustices from Malcolm X to Harriet Tubman. From black
people in the colonial days to an African American President, African Americans have made monumental
contributions in human history.

African American history and culture is made up of dynamic power and an inspirational story. African
Americans are mostly of West/Central African descent. The first African Americans are descended from
peoples of West Africa who were kidnapped from Africa and sent into the Americas as early as the 1500’s.
European imperialists sought out markets and expanded economic exploitation. That is why African slaves
were treated like cattle or property. Racism has always existed in human history, but international racism
the way that we see it today transpired as a result of the Maafa and American slavery. African Americans
were heavily found in the English colonies by the 17th century. Many black people back then were slaves,
and some were free. Luisa de Abrego was a black woman in St. Augustine, Florida back in the 1500’s. Black
slaves were in the area of South Carolina as early as 1526. In August of 1619, many slaves came into
Jamestown which was controlled by British colonists. The slaves came from Angola. African Americans
suffered whips, rape, family separation, and other injustices as slaves. Free African Americans raised crops,
owned cattle, and did other things. In Virginia, there was a transition. By the late 1600’s, African Americans
increasingly experienced a more race-based slavery that further harmed the rights of human beings. John
Punch was a black Virginian who was enslaved for life. Many black people migrated into Spanish Florida for
safety from slavery. It is no secret that back then, many African Americans intermarried with the English,
the Spanish, and Native Americans. It is also no secret that many black slaves were victims of rape during
the antebellum period too. By the 1700’s, race based slavery was very prominent in the British North
American colonies. It is important to note that black Americans fought against slavery since the beginning.
Our ancestors were battling against racists in Africa, in the ships, in the Americas, and in the world in
general for justice.

African Americans were on both sides of the American Revolutionary War seeking freedom and justice.
These people were Crispus Attucks, James Armistead, Prince Whipple, and Tye. Slavery was enshrined in
the U.S. Constitution by calling black slaves 3/5s of a human being. African Americans worked in abolitionist
and other liberation movements to fight to end slavery. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick
Douglas, and others worked hard against slavery. The Union black participation in the U.S. Civil War helped
to defeat the Confederacy once and for all. Reconstruction saw new black Congressmen along with the rise
of more hate groups like the Klan. After Reconstruction, Jim Crow was further developed with
disenfranchisement, violence, and other discriminatory policies. Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. DuBois,
Trotter, and other black leaders like Ida B. Wells opposed racism and lynching. By this time (in the late 19th
century and early 20th century), black churches, banks, social clubs, businesses, and other institutions
grew. With Red Summer and massive violence, race relations in America back then was terrible. Plessy v.
Ferguson in 1896 permitted Jim Crow for decades. The 2 Great Migrations were about black people
escaping Southern tyranny, but they found similar racism in the Northern and Western areas of the United
States of America. Black people served in every American war too. During the Harlem Renaissance and
beyond, black social activists and intellectuals critiqued capitalist America while advancing a call for racial
justice like Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Richard wright, Paul Robeson, Lorraine
Hansberry, DuBois, and others. The murder of Emmett Till grew the black freedom movement. The Civil
Rights Movement was made of black Americans and people of every color to seek equality and justice. It is
important to note that back during Jim Crow, Northern industrialists allied with Southern segregationists in
gaining power at the expense of people of every color. From the March on Washington to the Voting Rights
Act, victories existed. Yet, we have a long way to go. The Black
Power movement wanted economic and political self-sufficiency
among black people. It had conservative and progressive
factions.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968 was a turning

point in African American history. Dr. King opposed the Vietnam
War, rejected imperialism, promoted the Poor People’s
Campaign, and wanted billions of dollars from the federal
government to address poverty in America. The paradox of after
1968 was that while new black mayors and leaders existed,
wealth was heavily transferred to a select few of upper middle
African American architect Roberta
class and rich African Americans primarily. The reason is that the
Washington is the founder of Roberta
capitalist system permitted reforms to some black people but
not revolutionary change that would overthrow that Washington Architects, PC. That
exploitative system in general. The post- civil rights era saw institution is located in New York
legitimate firsts among African Americans and black heroes City, and it provides a full
rising up from Carol Moseley-Braun to other people. By 2008, architectural design and planning
Barack Obama was the first African American President of the services. Her alma mater are Howard
United States of America. Many black people in 2019 and in University and Columbia University.
2020 have successes and other don’t. That is why we should
have African American solidarity along with addressing class related issues that deal with addressing
income inequality and wealth disparities in our communities. In our time, the oligarchs (via the military
industrial complex) permit the war on terror which resulted in the deaths of millions of people in Iraq,
Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, etc. African Americans are diverse politically, ideologically, religiously,
culturally, and socially. We are unified in our common origin of Africa and our singular goal of justice for our
people. Therefore, the beauty and strength of African Americans is that we are diverse yet unified in our
black African heritage at the same time.
 AFRICAN AMERICAN ICONS
These black American heroes inspire us all with their determination strength, courage, and love of black
people. As an African American, these human beings always motivate me in my life.

Harriet Tubman freed many Sojourner Truth stood up for Mary McLeod Bethune Malcolm X fought for black
slaves. our people educated many. liberation.

Marian Anderson sang greatly and Langston Hughes was an Stevie Wonder is an iconic Jackie Robinson broke barriers
loved civil rights. eloquent writer. musician and activist. in baseball.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke Robert Abbott founded the Madam C.J. Walker was a Ella Baker used grassroots
truth and served black people. Chicago Defender. great businesswoman. organizing in favor of justice.

Muhammad Ali was a fighter for Richard Allen spoke out Maya Angelou wrote about Frederick Douglass was a
black people being free. against slavery. the souls of black folks. leading abolitionist.

W.E.B. DuBois was a great scholar Aretha Franklin was a genius Zora Neale Hurston was Ida B. Wells defended black life
and Pan-African advocate. singer and social activist. one of the great writers. and stood up for freedom.
Canada has 1,198,540 people. It is a country filled with
black people. Many Afro-Canadians are descendants of
black escaped slaves who traveled from the South into
Canada during the 19th century. Many Afro-Canadians
have come from the Caribbean, especially in Toronto. Also,
Afro-Canadians have fought for civil rights and against
racial profiling just like African Americans.
Afro-Canadians have a long history and a great culture.
Most of them live in the Toronto area, Hamilton, Waterloo,
Windsor, Ontario, Ottawa, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Winnipeg,
Edmonton, Calgary, Brooks, and other locations in the
Canadian nation. Afro-Canadians are diverse too. Some
have Afro-Caribbean heritage. Some came from America
during the time of the Underground Railroad. Some came
into Canada after the Revolutionary War too. Many of
them were descendants of the Black Loyalists who came
into Canada like Thomas Peters. Many of the first visible
minorities to hold high public offices have been black,
including Michaëlle Jean, Donald Oliver, Stanley G. Grizzle,
Rosemary Brown and Lincoln Alexander, in turn opening
the door for other minorities. Matheiu da Costa was the
first recorded free black person in Canada. He traveled with
the navigator Samuel De Champlain. The first known black
person to live in what would become Canada was a slave
from Madagascar named Olivier Le Jeune, who may have
been of partial Malay ancestry. As a group, black people
arrived in Canada in several waves. Many black slaves were
in Canada or New France centuries ago. 1,192 Black Loyalist
men, women and children left Nova Scotia for West Africa
on January 15, 1792. They settled in what is now Sierra
Leone, where they became the original settlers of
Freetown. They, along with other groups of free
transplanted people such as the Black Poor from England,
became what is now the Sierra Leone Creole people, also
known as the Krio. Canada eliminated slavery by 1833 via
the Slavery Abolition Act. Southern Ontario was a known
destination where African Americans came to from slavery
via the Underground Railroad. In 1819, Sir John Robinson,
the Attorney-General of Upper Canada, ruled: "Since
freedom of the person is the most important civil right
protected by the law of England...the Negroes are entitled to personal freedom through residence in
Upper Canada and any attempt to infringe their rights will be resisted in the courts."
The Afro-Canadian Timeline

Early 1600’s Mathieu DaCosta was the first
black man who came into Canada.

1734 Marie-Josephe Angelique was tortured
and hanged. She was a black woman who
wanted freedom from slavery.

1776 Black Loyalists reached Nova Scotia

1796 Jamaican Maroons came at Halifax,
Canada on July 22, 1796.

1815-1860 Thousands of African Americans
slaves escaped bondage and go into Canada
via the Underground Railroad.

1853 Mary Ann Shadd Cary founded the
Provincial Freeman in Windsor, Canada to
promote anti-slavery and women’s rights
campaigns. She set up schools for black
people too.

1902 African American women formed the
Coloured Women’s Club in Montreal.

1914-1918 Black Canadians had great
involvement in World War I.

1939-1945 Black Canadians fought in World
War II.

1947 On April 1, the Saskatchewan Bill of
Rights was passed. It was Canada’s first
major law that bans discrimination.

1946 On November 8, 1946, Viola Desmond
was arrested at the Roseland Theater for her
fight against segregation.

1958 On January 18, Willie O’Ree was the
first black man in the NHL.

1972 Rosemary Brown was the first black
woman elected to the Canadian provincial
legislature.

2005 On September 27, the right Honorable
Michaelle Jean was sworn in as Governor
General

2008 Lawrence Hill was awarded the
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for “The Book
of Negroes.”
 These Afro-Canadian heroes are Viola Desmond (on the left)
and Rosemary Brown (on the right).
Rev. Samuel Ringgold Ward lived in Canada and fought slavery in his life. He moved into Canada West by
1851 to escape the Fugitive Slave Act. Slavery was banned in Ontario, but segregated schools existed even
in Canada during the 19th century. William Hall of Horton, Nova Scotia was the first black man to win the
Victoria Cross. Afro-Canadians fought racism, discrimination, and anti-immigration policies. Historically,
Black Canadians, being descended from either Black Loyalists or American run-away slaves, had supported
the Conservative Party as the party most inclined to maintain ties with Britain, which was seen as the
nation that had given them freedom. The Liberals were historically the party of continentalism (i.e. moving
Canada closer to the United States), which was not an appealing position for most Black Canadians. In the
first half of the 20th century, Black Canadians usually voted solidly for the Conservatives as the party seen
as the most pro-British. Until the 1930's–1940's, the majority of Black Canadians lived in rural areas, mostly
in Ontario and Nova Scotia, which provided a certain degree of insulation from the effects of racism. Viola
Desmond in 1946 used activism against a whites only theater to fight discrimination. Afro-Caribbean culture
revolves around the Caribana festival too. There is the Black Culture Centre for Nova Scotia found in
Cherrybrook. There is the Amherstburg Freedom Museum at Amherstburg, Ontario that tells the stories of
Afro-Canadians. Black people in Canada are fighting police brutality and systemic racism in Toronto, etc.
Afro-Canadians are powerful, resilient people. Most black people in North America are descendants of
West Africans and Central Africans.
The Caribbean
The Afro-Caribbean culture is filled with rich, beautiful heritage. Haiti has about 9,925,365 people. They
helped to create the first black Republic of the Western Hemisphere called Haiti in 1804 (after they
defeated the French, the Spanish, and the English). The Haitians are courageous, and they love their nation.
We love their culture. Jamaica has about 2,731,419 people. It is home to reggae, revolutionary leaders, and
the Maroons. Jamaica influenced not only the Caribbean but the world. From government leaders to track
and field legends, Jamaica has numerous blessed people. Afro-Caribbean culture in Jamaica is dominated by
music like reggae, government institutions, art, and cuisine. Jamaican culture has a large, global influence.
Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica. Hip hop artists like Busta Rhymes, the late Heavy D, and the late
Notorious B.I.G. are of Jamaican descent. The reggae stars Peter Tosh and Bob Marley loved Jamaica
too. Roger Mais (1905 – 1955) was a journalist, a poet, and a playwright who wrote many short stories,
plays, and novels, including The Hills Were Joyful Together (1953), Brother Man (1954), and Black Lightning
(1955). The island is famous for its Jamaican jerk spice, curries and rice and peas which are integral to
Jamaican cuisine. Jamaica is also home to Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. Cricket is a staple of Jamaica
(with players like George Headley, Courtney Walsh, and Michael Holding).

Also, Jamaica is home to some of the greatest track and field athletes in human history. These men and
women Jamaican track and field legends include people like Usain Bolt, Arthur Wint, Elaine Thompson,
Merlene Ottey, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Kerron Stewart, Herb McKenley, Aleen Bailey, Veronica Campbell-
Brown, Sherone Simpson, Yohan Blake, George Rhoden, Deon Hemmongs, Asafa Powell, Juliet Cuthbert,
etc. Sanya Richards-Ross was born in Jamaica, and she represented America in the Olympics. Jamaica has
also produced several world class amateur and professional boxers including Trevor Berbick and Mike
McCallum. First-generation Jamaican athletes have continued to make a significant impact on the sport
internationally, especially in the United Kingdom where the list of top British boxers born in Jamaica or of
Jamaican parents includes Lloyd Honeyghan, Chris Eubank, Audley Harrison, David Haye, Lennox Lewis,
Frank Bruno, Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose maternal
grandfather is Jamaican. When you think about Jamaica, you think about massive cultural power.

There are 1,126,894 Afro-Cuban people. There are about 1,138,471 Afro-Dominican people. There are
979,842 Afro-Puerto Ricans. There are 452,536 black people in Trinidad and Tobago. There are 270,853
people in Barbados. There are 225,860 people at Guyana who are black people. There are 200,406 Afro-
Surinamese people. About 101,309 black people live in Grenada.
*It is also important to recognize the Afro-Caribbean contributions to American history. John Brown
Russwurm was from Jamaica, and he created the first black owned newspaper in America. Earl Graves was
the founder of Black Enterprise. He has roots from Barbados. Robert Maynard was the son of immigrants
from Barbados. He was the former owner of the Oakland Tribune. Yvette Clarke, who is a Congresswoman
and daughter of Jamaican immigrants introduced a bill to erect a statue of the late Congresswoman Shirley
Chisholm (She was the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress. She is the daughter of Afro-
Caribbean parents). The first Black female appointed to the federal bench is Constance Baker Motley. She
was co-counsel with Thurgood Marshall in the Brown v. Board case that ended Jim Crow segregation. She
was the daughter of Caribbean immigrants from the islands of Nevis. Kwame Ture who coined the phrase
“Black Power” in the 1960s was born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The Gullah people of North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida are related to the people of the Bahamas. Michelle Obama
has Geechie people roots. One of the largest slave revolts in the US was led by a Haitian named Charles
Deslondes in New Orleans. People like Claude McKay who wrote the poem “If We Must Die” during the
Harlem Renaissance was from Jamaica. In fact, long before Sidney Poitier (from Bahamas) one of the most
successful Black actor during that time was Bert Williams from Bahamas. Afro-Puerto Rican Arturo Alfonso
Schomburg helped to chronicle Black American history in the New York library and other places. J.A. Rogers
was from Jamaica. Actresses with Afro-Caribbean roots are Nia Long, Kim Whitley, Tatiana Ali, Kerry
Washington, Susan Kelechi Watson, Grace Jones, Sheryl Lee Ralph, the late Madge Sinclair, etc. Hip hop was
born from Kool Herc, who has Caribbean parents. Hip hop is similar to toasting.

Central America and Mexico

Afro-Central Americans are great people with their own culture and histories. There are about 100,000
people in Costa Rica and the same amount in Guatemala. There are about 700,000 black people in
Nicaragua. Many of them also live in Panama. Many Afro-Caribbean people came to Panama to help build
the Panama Canal and to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica to work in banana and sugar
cane farms. Black people in Panama are the descendants of West African slaves but later on black human
beings from the Caribbean islands arrived. Many Afro-Costa Ricans are found in the Limon Province and the
Central Valley. The main communities of African descent are the Creoles and Garifuna concentrated from
the Cayo District to the Belize District and Stann Creek District (Dangriga) on the Caribbean Sea. Belize City,
on the Caribbean coast, is the center of West African culture in Belize, with its population being of mixed
Black African, Mayan, and European. Many black people do live in El Salvador. The main community of
African heritage in Guatemala is the Garifuna, concentrated in Livingston and Puerto Barrios. Also many
people of African descent are located in different regions of the country but most notable are in Amatitlán,
San Jerónimo, and Jutiapa. The national folk instrument, the marimba, has its origins in Africa and was
brought to Guatemala and the rest of Central America by African slaves during colonial times. The melodies
played on it show Native American, West African and European influences in both form and style. Today,
the Garifuna and Afro-Caribbean people of Guatemala are organized in a group called Organización Negra
Guatemalteca (Onegua). According to its website, Onegua is "a non-governmental organisation established
in 1995 with a mandate to promote the interests and fight for the rights of Guatemala's Garifuna and
Afrodescendant populations." There is also an association called Asociación Raíces Afrodescendientes
Guatemaltecas.

On November 26, 2009 Afro descendants mostly of Garifuna heritage and all mixes came to the Catedral
Metropolitana located in Guatemala City for a church event organized by Garifunas from Izabal, Guatemala
to prove that after 200 years of Garifuna existence in Guatemala they are not considered part of the
population of Guatemala. The main reason for this event was to prove a point to stop discrimination
against Afro descendants and other ethnic groups in Guatemala. A more recent and accurate estimate
indicates that there are around 600,000 Garifuna Afro-Hondurans (8% of the population) which is closer to
the estimate given by the National Assembly of Afro-Honduran Organizations and Communities. About 9%
of Nicaragua's population is African and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean coast.
Afro-Nicaraguans are found on the autonomous regions of RAAN and RAAS. The African population is
mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from
Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands when the region was a British protectorate. There is also a smaller
number of Garífuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent. The Garífuna live
along in Orinoco, La Fe and Marshall Point, communities settled at Laguna de Perlas. Nicaragua has the
largest population of blacks in Central America.

Afro-Mexicans are about 1,386,556 people. Many Afro-Mexicans have developed their own culture and
music constantly. Gaspar Yanga was a famous Afro-Mexican who fought for freedom centuries ago. Most
Afro-Mexicans today live in the southern region of Mexico. Some who migrated north in the colonial period
assimilated into the general population, making their existence in the country less evident than other
groups. Mexico's second President Vicente Guerrero was an Afro-Mexican. He issued a decree abolishing
slavery and emancipating all slaves in 1829. Race was considered for the first time by the Encuesto
Intercensal in 2015, which revealed that 1.2% of Mexicans identify as Afro-Mexican. Gaspar Yanga founded
the first free African township in the Americas in 1609. A Black man named Esteban el Negro (Steven the
Black), a North African Moor from Spain, searched for the fabled city of Cíbola with Cabeza de Vaca. Many
Afro-Mexicans live in Veracruz.

South America
There are 55,900,000 black Brazilians and multiracial people. About 7 percent of Brazil's 190 million people
reported to the census as Black. Many more Brazilians have some African descent. Brazil is an epicenter of
long movements against slavery and racism. Slavery ended in Brazil by 1888. Today, many Afro-Brazilian
people are lawyers, social activists, athletes, doctors, politicians, and other contributors to society. One
legendary Afro-Brazilian was Ruth de Souza. She was the first black actress to build a career in Brazilian
theater, cinema, and television. There are about 4,944,400 Afro-Colombians and multiracial people. There
are 3,56,817 Afro-Venezuelans. There are about 1,200,000 black Peruvian people. There are many Afro-
Chilean people. Slavery was banned in Chile in 1811. Marta Salgado is an activist for Afro-Chilean rights.
There are 4.9 million Afro-Colombian people. Most Afro-Colombian people live on the northwest Caribbean
coast and the Pacific coast in such departments as Chocó, although considerable numbers are also
Cartagena, Barranquilla San Andres Isla. Many of their long-established settlements around the Pacific
coast have remained underdeveloped. In Colombia's ongoing internal conflict, Afro-Colombians are both
victims of violence or displacement and members of armed factions, such as the FARC and the AUC. Afro-
Colombians have played a role in contributing to the development of certain aspects of Colombian culture.
For example, several of Colombia's musical genres, such as Cumbia, have African origins or influences.
Some Afro-Colombians have also been successful in sports such as Faustino Asprilla, Freddy Rincón or
María Isabel Urrutia.

San Basilio de Palenque is a village in Colombia that is noted for maintaining many African traditions. It was
declared a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005. The residents
of Palenque still speak Palenquero, a Spanish/African creole. There are Afro-Ecuadorian people like Nelson
Estupiñán Bass. The Afro-Ecuadorian culture is found in the northwest coastal region of Ecuador and make
up the majority (70%) in the province of Esmeraldas and the Chota Valley in the Imbabura Province. They
can be also found in Ecuador's two largest cities, Quito and Guayaquil. The best known cultural influence
known outside Ecuador is a distinctive kind of marimba music. From the Chota Valley, there is Bomba
(Ecuador) music which is very different from marimba from Esmeraldas. Afro-Paraguyan people are from
West Africa. They came to Paraguay as slaves by the 1500's. Most Afro-Paraguayans established
communities in towns such as Areguá, Emboscada, and Guarambaré. Many achieved their freedom during
the Spanish rule. In the capital area of Asunción, there is a community of 300 Afro-Paraguayan families in
the Fernando de la Mora municipality. Uruguayan national hero Jose Artigas led an elite division of black
troops against the colonists. One of his top advisors was Joaquín Lenzina, known as Ansina, a freed slave
who composed musical odes about his commander's exploits and is regarded by Afro-Uruguayans as an
unheralded father of the nation.

Sister Thais Ferreira is part

of the new generation of
Afro-Brazilians who are
fighting for justice. She
believes n
entrepreneurship. Also, she
desires an end to racism,
Image via sexism, economic
Thais inequality, and any
Ferreira's injustice. She has a small
Facebook business. Not to mention
Page. that she has a food truck
park in Rio De Janeiro’s
poor suburbs. Many young
people are supporting her.
She is politically
consciousness and a heroic
black woman.

There is a lot of news in the world. Gabriela de Matos has a project that show visibility of black women
architects. Brazil is one large epicenter of black humanity. It has only been a decade in Brazil since Afro-
Brazilians were able to enter institutions of higher learning in larger numbers. Affirmative action in Brazil
has transformed education in the nation in many positive ways. There are more black professors,
graduates, and scholars. Matos developed her publication called Revista Arquietas Negras as a means for
her to bring more visibility to Afro-Brazilian architects. Many Afro-Brazilian architects involved in this
project are Minas Gerais, Gabriela de Matos, and Barbara Oliveira. These women want to eliminate racial
and gender discrimination involving the field of architecture. The magazine focuses on urban design,
interior design, and other aspects of architecture. Much of the magazine's content has information shown
by invited architects like Stephanie Ribeiro (from Sao Paulo), Taina de Paula (from Rio de Janeiro), Joice
Berth (from Sao Paulo), and Patricia Silva (from Bahia). The movement for justice continues, and these Afro-
Brazilian women are doing great work in shining their lights in expressing their contributions to humanity.
Europe
There are about 5.5 million Afro-French people. Black French people have been social activists, political
leaders, doctors, lawyers, and athletes. There was the black nun Louise Marie Therese who lived in the late
1600's. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas and Toussaint Louverture (appointed a general-in-chief in 1797) were the
two highest-ranking officers of sub-Saharan African descent in the Western world until 1975, when
"Chappie" James achieved the equivalent rank of four-star general in the United States Air Force. Today,
Afro-French people live in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, etc. There are tons of Afro-
French people who made a difference in society. There are many Afro-Caribbean and Afro-French MPs in
France. Roger Bambuck was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 1988 to 1991. Aime Cesaire was the
mayor of Fort-de-France and deputy from Martinique for the PCF/Martinican Progressive Party. Blaise
Diagne was the black African human being elected to the French Chamber of Deputies and the first to hold
a position in the French government (of black African descent). Rama Yade was the former minister and
Secretary of State. Laetitia Avia is the lawyer of Togolese descent, and she is member of the National
Assembly for the 6th constituency of Paris since 2017. Danièle Obono, of Gabonese descent, is the MP for
La France Insoumise representing the 17th Paris constituency since the legislative elections of 2017. Kemi
Seba is a Pan-Africanist political leader.

Rokhaya Diallo, is French journalist, of BET-France host, author, a filmmaker, and an activist for racial,
gender and religious equality. Louis-Georges Tin fights for justice. Afro-French athletes include Tony Parker,
Johan Petro, Isabelle Yacoubou, Isaia Cordinier, the late Raoul Diagne (1910-2002), Larbi Benbarek (1914-
1992), Delphine Cascarino, Grace Geyoro, Viviane Asseyi, Christine Arron, Laura Flessel-Colovic, Yannick
Noah, Vanessa James, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Teddy Riner, etc. Josephine Baker was an entertainer in France,
and she loved the country. Fatou Diome is a best-selling and award-winning author of Senegalese origin.
Aissa Maiga and Sonia Rolland are famous actresses of France. Imany is a famous woman singer in France.
Helene and Celia Faussart or Les Nubians is a great Afro-French singing duo.

There are about 2.5 million Afro-British people. Black human beings live in England, Scotland, Wales, and
other parts of the UK. Most Afro-British people live in the urban areas of England. Research have found
some African people in Roman-era London thousands of years ago. A craniometric study of 22 individuals
from Southwark, Roman London, found that four of them appeared to be of African ancestry, and the
isotopic analysis of their bones suggested childhoods spent in a climate warmer than Roman Britain. There
were black people in the age of Henry VIII. Composer and shopkeeper Ignatius Sancho was the first black
person of African origins to vote in parliamentary elections and became a symbol of the humanity of
Africans and immorality of the slave trade.

There are about 1.1 million Afro-Italian people. Afro-Italian people live heavily in Rome, Milan, Turin,
Palermo, Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo, and Florence. There has been an increase of 40 percent of migrants
coming into Italy in 2017. Many of them arrived from Africa. There were many black people in the era of
ancient Rome. Roman writers described people with physical characteristics of sub-Saharan Africans as
"Aethiopes", but the term carried no social implications. Elena Angione and Jean-Leonard Touadi are
famous Afro-Italian leaders. Paolo Dal Molin was an athlete born in Cameroon. Edwige Gwend is a famous
woman judoka born in Cameroon. One great track and field athlete who represents Italy and was born in
Cote d’Ivoire is Audrey Alloh. Cecile Kyenge is a famous Afro-Italian politician. She is the Minister of
Integration.

There are about 1,045,120 black people in Spain. Afro-Spaniards have people with West/Central African
descent. Autumi Toasije is a historian and pan-African activist who is Afro-Spanish. Juan Latino lived from
1518 to 1596. He was Afro-Spanish person and a black professor at Granada during the sixteenth century.
His parents were black slaves. Juan Latino was a very intellectual person. He excelled in classical languages
and music. He studied with the famous grammarian Pedro De Mota. Juan Latino received the degree of
Bachelor. He was 28 years old at that time. He was set free and in Granada, he received the Chair of
grammar and Latin language of the Cathedral; he held that post for 20 years. Juan Latino wrote many forms
of literature. Juan de Pareja lived in from 1606 to 1670. He was a painter. Many modern day Afro-Spanish
entertainers are Virginia Buika, Concha Buika, the journalist Desiree Ndjambo, and other people. Rita
Bosino and Dolores Johnson Sastre are Afro-Spanish politicians. Josephine Onyia, Yago Yao, Rodolfo Bodipo,
and other Afro-Spanish athletes are famous.
There are about 817,150 Afro-Germans. Most Afro-Germans live in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich,
and Cologne. Black American writer and activist Audre Lorde encouraged Black German women like May
Ayim and Ika Hügel-Marshall to write and publish poems and autobiographies as a means of gaining
visibility and writing themselves into existence. Afro-Germans are heavily involved in politics and other
spheres of human life. The irony is that cities like Hamburg and Berlin were former center of the Allied
occupation forces after World War II. Recent immigration in both cities has caused the Afro-German
population in those communities to massively increase. About 70,000 Afro-Germans live in Berlin. During
the 1720's, Ghana born Anton Wilhelm Amo was sponsored by a German duke to become the first African
to attend a European university; after completing his studies, he taught and wrote in philosophy. Many
black people were victims of German slavery. That is why Germany and other European imperialism divided
up Africa via the 1884 Berlin Conference. Many black Germans were educated at universities while others
were in other aspects of society. The Nama people in Africa were exterminated by Germany in 1907.
Bernhard Bernburg promoted genocide of black people. This is a time to condemn murderers and celebrate
the life of Afro-German people. Afro-German Ignatius Fortuna lived in the 1700’s. For an autobiography of
an Afro-German in Germany under Nazi rule see Hans Massaquoi's book Destined to Witness. Steffi Jones is
the President of the Organizing Committee of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and head coach of the
Germany women's national football team from 2016 to 2018.

Since 1981, many Nigerians, Ghanaians, other Africans have come to Germany to study in German
universities and live their own lives. The largest African groups in Germany came from Nigeria, Somalia,
Ghana, Eritrea, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Togo, etc. Many Afro- Germans are known for writing literature like Esi Edugyan, Gayl Jones, etc. One
political group that promotes the human rights of Afro-Germans is the Initiative of Black People (Initiative
Schwarzer Deutscher). The ISD wants people to know about oppression in order to end discrimination. They
send outreach to the government and the media of Germany. Zeca Schall is an Afro-German politician.
Karamba Diaby is a member of the Bundestag. John Ehret was Germany’s first Afro-German mayor. Famous
Afro-German artists are Ayo, Jessica Wahls, Lou Bega, Harris, etc. The SFD - Schwarze Filmschaffende in
Deutschland (Black Artists in German Film, literally Black Filmmakers in Germany) is a professional
association based in Berlin for directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors who are Afro-Germans or of
Black African origin (and living in Germany). They have organized the "New Perspectives" series at the
Berlinale film festival. Lelia Negra, Richard Adjei, Gerald Asamoah, Celia Sasic, and other people are Afro-
German film stars and athletes.

There are about 145,600 black people in Romania. There are about 500,000 Dutch black people in the
Netherlands and the Dutch Antilles. They live in the islands of Aruba, Boanire, Curcaco, and Saint Martin.
There are many black people in southern Abhazia.
There are Afro-Russians. Alexander Pushkin's great grandfather was the African prince Abram Petrovich
Gannibal, who became Peter's protégé, was educated as a military engineer in France, and eventually
became general-en-chef, responsible for the building of sea forts and canals in Russia.

Asia and other places of the world

Black people are all over the Middle East and Turkey. Some work as business leaders, and other are fight for
justice for black people in various areas. There are Afro-Turks who have heavily Bantu descent. Black
people in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Israel, Palestine, and other places of the Middle East have shown
strength and resiliency. There are a number of communities in South Asia that are descended from African
slaves, traders or soldiers. These communities are the Siddi, Sheedi, Makrani and Sri Lanka black human
beings. Some of them are people such as Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut, Hoshu Sheedi or the rulers of Janjira State.
The Mauritian creole people are the descendants of African slaves similar to those in the Americas.

These are young Afro-Mexican human beings. There are at least

1.38 million Afro-Mexican people living in Mexico. The advocacy
organization, México Negro, fought to include black people to be
counted in the Mexican Census. We salute the Afro-Mexican
people.
 Murielle Ahouré (who is on the left) is a legendary track and field athlete from
the Ivory Coast.

Diverse African Ethnic Groups

The Yoruba people live in the Western African countries of Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Togo, and the Ivory
Coast. They are of the some of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. They are in the population of about 44
million people. Most of them live in Nigeria. Most Yoruba people speak the Niger-Congo language of
Yoruba. They are culturally diverse too. Most of them are Christians and Muslims. The Yoruba culture has
the traditional Yoruba religion, spiritual concepts, and various ceremonial participation. In the Yoruba
religion, there is the concept of Orisa. Orisa are terms to describe the manifestations or avatars of God in
the Yoruba religious views. Ogun is the god of metal, war, and victory. Sango deals with justice. Olorun is
one of the principal manifestations of the Supreme God of the Yoruba pantheon, the owner of the heavens,
and is associated with the Sun known as Oòrùn in the Yoruba language. The two other principal forms of
the supreme God are Olodumare—the supreme creator—and Olofin, who is the conduit between Òrunn
(Heaven) and Ayé (Earth). Oshumare is a god that manifests in the form of a rainbow, also known as
Òsùmàrè in Yorùbá, while Obatala is the god of clarity and creativity. The Yoruba culture deals with
concepts like respect, peaceful co-existence, loyalty and freedom of speech. The Yorubas were one of the
first groups in West Africa to be introduced to Christianity on a large scale. Islam came into the Yoruba
people centuries before Christianity came into the region. Yoruba terracotta sculptures are known in
Yoruba culture. Stone culture has been created by them including metal bracelets. Many festivals take
place in the Yoruba culture.

Music, dance, and drums are found in these ceremonies. The Yoruba people and their descendants are
found in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Cuba, Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
They exist in South America and Australia via Yoruba communities. It is no secret that many African
Americans (if not the majority of black Americans) are descendants of the Yoruba people. Brazil, Cuba, and
other places are influenced by Yoruba culture.

The Xhosa people live in Southern Africa primarily. Some live in Zimbabwe too. They speak Xhosa, Zulu,
English, etc. The Xhosa people honor their ancestors, use rites of passage, and have a division among
people based upon age and work. The purpose of these actions was to give Xhosa people a sense of identity
and culture. Traditional foods include beef (Inyama yenkomo), mutton (Inyama yegusha), and goat meat
(Inyama yebhokwe), sorghum, milk (often fermented, called "amasi"), pumpkins (amathanga), Mielie-meal
(maize meal), samp (umngqusho), beans (iimbotyi), vegetables, like "rhabe", wild spinach reminiscent of
sorrel, "imvomvo", the sweet sap of an aloe, or "ikhowa", a mushroom that grows after summer rains.
Xhosa have a diverse amount of fashion for men, women, and children.

There are drums, whistles, flutes, and other instruments in music. There are songs for various ritual
occasions; one of the best-known Xhosa songs is a wedding song called "Qongqothwane", performed by
Miriam Makeba as "Click Song #1". Besides Makeba, several modern groups record and perform in Xhosa.
Missionaries introduced the Xhosa to Western choral singing. "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", part of the National
anthem of South Africa is a Xhosa hymn written in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga. The Oromo people are one of
the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia being 34.5% of the total Ethiopia population. They speak the Oromo
language which is part of the Cushite branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. They live in Kenya,
Somalia, Australia, Canada, and other places of the world. They follow their own traditional religion. Many
are also Muslims and Christians. Diverse fashion, a governing system, and other customs are part of the
Omoro culture. In the 5000m, the Omoro woman Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia set a new world record time
14:11:15. The Omoro people have fought against human rights abuses against their people in Ethiopia as
well. Oromo track and field athlete Maryam Yusuf Jamal, Oromo distance running champion Kenenisa
Bekele, doctors, political leaders, lawyers, and other great people are part of the Omoro community.

The Igbo people are found in Nigeria with 49 million people. Traditional Igbo political organization was
based on a quasi-democratic republican system of government. In tight knit communities, this system
guaranteed its citizens equality, as opposed to a feudalistic system with a king ruling over subjects.
Mathematics is heavily involved in the Igbo society. They created their own calendar system, a week had
four days, a month consisted of seven weeks and 13 months made a year. In the last month, an extra day
was added. Many people of the African Diaspora are related to the Igbo people. Bussa or the Barbadian
slave revolt leader, Edward Clyden, Aime Cesaire Martinquis, and Paul Robeson are of Igbo decsent. The
Igbo were dispersed to colonies such as Jamaica, Cuba, Saint-Domingue, Barbados, the future United
States, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others.

Elements of Igbo culture can still be found in these places. For example, in Jamaican Patois, the Igbo word
unu, meaning "you" plural, is still used. "Red Ibo" (or "red eboe") describes a black person with fair or
"yellowish" skin. This term had originated from the reported prevalence of these skin tones among the Igbo
but eastern Nigerian influences may not be strictly Igbo. The word Bim, a colloquial term for Barbados, was
commonly used among enslaved Barbadians (Bajans). This word is said to have derived from bém in the
Igbo language meaning 'my place or people', but may have other origins. Igbo culture relates to using their
language to create literature and grow their culture. In 1789, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano was published in London, England, written by Olaudah Equiano, a former slave. The book
featured 79 Igbo words. In the first and second chapter, the book illustrates various aspects of Igbo life
based on Olaudah Equiano's life in his hometown of Essaka.

The Sister to the far

right is the famous
South African actress
Leleti Khumalo. She
was in Sarafina!, Hotel
Rwanda, Yesterday,
and Invcitus.

The Igbo use musical style in percussion instruments like the udu to express themselves. Masks,
architecture, and rites of passage are found in the Igbo tradition too. Most Igbo people are Christian. 56
percent of them are Roman Catholic and 43 percent of are Protestant/Evangelical. Some follow Judaism.
The Igbo traditional religion is known as Odinani. The supreme deity is called Chukwu ("great spirit");
Chukwu created the world and everything in it and is associated with all things on Earth. They believe the
Cosmos is divided into four complex parts: creation, known as Okike; supernatural forces or deities called
Alusi; Mmuo, which are spirits; and Uwa, the world. Great cuisine and music is part of the Igbo tradition.

She is the Nigerian track and field legend

Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor. She has
achieved great accomplishments in the long
jump and in sprints. Her athleticism and
contributions in helping others are
amazing. She is a gorgeous black woman
who is married to a great man (who is the
footballer Igho Otegheri). She is of Urhobo
heritage. We all congratulate her on her
success and wish more blessings for her.
 April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011

She was our hero. For decades,

she not only fought for the
well-being of the environment.
She defended political
freedoms in Kenya. Wangari
Muta Maathai was the first
African woman to win the
Nobel Peace Prize. She studied
at Benedictine College, the
University of Pittsburgh, and
the University of Nairobi in
Kenya. She was a Ph.D. Always
an advocate for women’s rights
and environmental justice. For
years, Dr. Maathai helped to
plan trees in Africa plus use
environmental conservation to
save lives. Her Green Belt
Movement was ahead of its
time in their fight for
protecting the planet that we
all share as human beings.

Rest in Power Sister

Wangari Maathai.
 He was one of the greatest African
leaders in human history. With his
courageous actions, he helped to fight
European colonialism in the Congo.
He was the first Prime Minister of the
independent Democratic Republic of
the Congo from June to September
1960. He defeated Belgian colonialism.
He was the leader of the Congolese
National Movement or MNC party
from 1958 to his passing. Ideologically,
Patrice Lumumba was an African
nationalist and Pan-Africanist.
Eisenhower and Allen Dulles didn’t
like him, but the Congolese black
people loved him. Passionate about
independence, he condemned
European imperialism overtly. Traitors
like Mobutu, the Belgian government,
and others were responsible for his
assassination. Yet, his legacy lives on
eternally.

Rest in Power Brother Patrice

Lumumba.

PATRICE LUMUMBA
July 2, 1925 - January 17, 1961
The Kongo people or the Bakongo live in Central Africa. 10 million people make up the Congo ethnic group
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Gabon. Many of them are
Christian and some follow traditional African religions. They are a Bantu people. The Bakongo society
includes farmers and other people involved in endeavors. Some are farmers who grow staples and cash
crops. Among the staples are cassava, bananas, maize, taro and sweet potatoes. Other crops include
peanuts (groundnuts) and beans. The cash crops were introduced by the colonial rulers, and these include
coffee and cacao for the chocolate industry. Art, music, and other great cultural developments exist in the
lives of the Kongo people.
 Nigerians and American including British peoples of Nigerian descent

Nneka Oguwmike (b. Andre Iguodala (b. Uzo Aduba (b. 1981) Nnamdi Asomugha (b. Onyeka Ibe (b. 1971)
1990) 1984) ACTRESS 1981) ABSTRACT
WNBA PLAYER, NBA PLAYER FORMER NFL EXPRESSIONIST
WNBA CHAMPION PLAYER, ACTOR, PAINTER
AND MVP IN 2016 AND PRODUCER

Pamela Abalu (b. 1978) Chimamanda Ngozi Agbani Darego (b. Wole Soyinka (b. 1934) Tiwa Savage (b. 1980)
ENTREPRENEURAND Adichie (b. 1977) 1982) POET, PLAYWRIGHT, SINGER AND
DSIGN LEADER AUTHOR, SCHOLAR, MODEL AND ESSAYIST, SONGWRITER
AND FEMINIST

Florence Ita Giwa (b. Ameyo Adadevoh

1946) For years, we know more of the contributions of the blessed Nigerian (1956-2014)
POLITICIAN people. When I’m on social media, some of the most spiritual, HEROIC PHYSICIAN
kindest people that I have encountered are Nigerian people. As an
African American, many of us black Americans are descendants of
Nigerian people like the Igbo, the Yoruba, Hausa, and other ethnic
groups. The Igbo people centuries ago were kidnapped and were sent
into Virginia and North Carolina. My DNA is over 1/3 Nigerian.
Black people globally are diverse, and our diversity represents the
Adewale Akinnuoye- breadth of our beautiful black people. Tons of us African Americans Femi Oke (b. 1966)
Agbaje (b. 1967) have so much Nigerian heritage that tons of Nigerians look like our BRITISH TV
ACTOR AND cousins for real. PRESENTER AND
DIRECTOR JOURNALIST

Omoyele Sowore (b. Nikki Amuka-Bird (b. Carmen Ejogo (b. 1973) Cynthia Erivo Rinsola Babajide
1971) 1976) ACTRESS ACTRESS (b. 1987) SOCCER PLAYER b.
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTRESS 1998)
ACTIVIST
 We are All Africans (Conclusion)
Africa is within me, since I am of black African descent. I was born in the United States of America in
Virginia, but my ancestors existed from Africa. Studying Africa requires respecting Africa too. Folks have to
have a love of learning a myriad of information of African societies. Africa is never monolithic. Advanced
technologies, different nations, and diverse flora plus fauna flourish in its lands. Hundreds of languages are
spoken in Africa, and multifaceted cultures exist in the continent of Africa too. There is the beauty of Zulu
culture and the power of the great cultural strength found in Namibia. Also, we believe in democracy and
freedom. Tons of Africans and those of the African Diaspora are engaging in the fight for the freedom of the
press, for governmental accountability, and for the rights of the people in general (in Africa plus
worldwide).

During these days, it is always important to love the African Diaspora. I remember many years ago of having
a dream to learn more about the black African Diaspora and about my ancestors in general. Today, I know
not only tons of information about my ancestors. I have a greater appreciation of the Diaspora. There are
black people in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and in other places of the world who are righting the good
fight. There are always those who want to minimize the issue of racial oppression or put their heads in the
sand. Yet, I reject that path. It is always our responsibility to fight for right and to acknowledge that the
journey for freedom is not insignificant. It is vital part of our existence in general. When you see suffering in
poorer neighborhood, when you see the suffering of our Sisters, and when you understand the injustices
inflicted on our Brothers, then you recognize that black lives always matter. Souls are valuable, and we
honor the power of the Most High God. One truth in life is to constantly learn. We have to gain wisdom no
matter the age which we are in. We are all in this together. For example, most African Americans are
descendants of West and Central African people. Many people from across the Diaspora contributed
heavily in the anti-slavery, civil rights, and other pro-freedom movements spanning history. Our intention is
always to believe in health care for all, an end to police brutality, promote justice for black people, end
colorism, and maintain integrity in our world. In order to be a free, you have to love truth and the defend
the rights of human beings.
23 and me shows what my African heritage consists off. According to 23
and me, I am mostly West African and Congolese (along with Southern East
Africa). In total, I have 86% of Sub-Saharan black African heritage. I am 35%
Nigerian, 13.4% Angolan and Congolese, 11.1% Ghanaian, Liberian plus
Sierra Leonean, etc. Therefore, over a third of my heritage is Nigerian
which is very interesting as tons of African Americans are of Nigerian
descent. I appreciate my Bantu ancestry. I am inspired by my ancestors,
and I will continue to fight for justice in my life. This is a long journey to
liberation, but let it be known that we are the original people as black
people. We are the first people on Earth, and that truth can never be
eliminated. We respect our elders and our neighbors. We honor hallowed
traditions and cultures. Likewise, we will never take any mess.
During this time, we certainly celebrate
In rejecting injustice, we incorporate in our lives a sense of
women including unsung women. Josina
profound destiny and fidelity to honor the truth.
Machel, from Mozambique, lived less than
30 years on this Earth. Yet, she was a
By Timothy warrior against imperialism and for the
liberation of women in Africa. She lived
from 1945 to 1971. She fought for
Mozambican independence, wanted
African women to be emancipated, and
married the man who would be the
country's first President. She was only 25
years old when she passed away, but she
lived a life of total courage. She was a hero
of the ages.

Rest in Power Sister Josina Machel

 Appendix A: Advice and Commentaries from Brothers and
Sisters
In this year of 2020, I have kept the faith. While others who claimed to be woke and pro-black
betrayed themselves with strife and selling out, tons of black people remain firm in promoting
Pro-Blackness. We live in unique times. More people are talking about reparations legitimately.
Tons of people are studying about Africa and the African Diaspora. We witness the evolution of
the 2020 Presidential election. The stakes are high. Yet, we won't lose hope, since we have been
here before. During the Maafa and the slavery era in the Americas, black people used great revolts
to fight back against tyranny. During the age of Reconstruction, black people set up many towns
and infrastructure to survive. By the 20th century, black Americans and other black people led the
charge in anticolonial plus freedom movements. The ancestors inspire us, because they are part of
us and we part of them. Ida B. Wells taught us about courage. Kwame True taught us about Pan-
African unity. Ella Baker taught us about grassroots organizing. Malcolm X taught us about the
power of self-defense and the hypocrisy of Western society. Dr. King taught us about love and
opposing imperialism. Today, young black people continue to teach all of us about togetherness,
unity, and justice. The following words deal with commentaries from Brothers and Sisters with a
lot of wisdom to give.

One lesson in life is to promote unity with the black family worldwide. Some groups don't do
that, we are different. Pan-Africanism believes in the premise of the unity of all African people.
Black unity is always important. While others act like that they have a monopoly on the
reparations movements (i.e. ADOS movement, which have members that constantly bash black
immigrants in an, evil xenophobic way. Yvette Carnell once wore a MAGA hat and agrees with
Trump on ending birthright citizenship), and some want to disparage people of the Afro-
Caribbean community (like some in the FBA movement does. The xenophobe & misogynist
Tariq left Malcolm X off the FBA shirt, because of Malcolm X's ancestors came from the
Caribbean), I don't believe in that agenda. I will believe in the unity of African Americans, Afro-
Caribbeans, Africans, Afro-British people, and all black people worldwide. The fight for
reparations via the premise of global black liberation is righteousness. The reparations movement
didn't start with Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore. It started long ago during the 19th century
plus before. If anyone doesn't desire global black liberation, then that person is anti-black by
definition. Some scholars believe that as high as 60% of African Americans are Igbo. A lot of the
slaves from the Bight of Biafra were forced to come into Virginia. Therefore, there is an Igbo link
to my birth state of Virginia. Unifying people have always been the hallmark of Pan-Africanism.
 Celebrating Our Beauty
2019 Miss Teen USA 2019 Miss 2019 Miss USA 2019 Miss Universe 2019 Miss World
Kaleigh Garris America Nia Cheslie Kryst Zozibini Tunzi (from Tori-Ann Singh
Franklin South Africa) (from Jamaica)

We live in very historic times. Recently, Miss Universe of 2019 is a black woman from South
Africa. She has spoken about climate change and other issues. She is very outspoken to inspire
girls and women to make their stands in the world. Her name is Zozibini Tunzi, and her victory is
by her own merit. We live in a new time. This is a time when more people are rightfully rejecting
colorism, and tons of people are shining their image of glorious Blackness. We have a long way to
go. We are not naive, but many people are making contributions in building society up. She is the
first black pageant winner in 8 years since Leila Lopes from Angola took home the crown in 2011.
In 2019, Miss America, Miss Teen USA, Miss USA, Miss World, and now Miss Universe are all
black people during 2019. This has never occurred in human history. We congratulate Zozibini
Tunzi as a great heroic role model of our generation. The truth is that Black Beauty is human
beauty, and the more people realize that, the better off the world will be. Being Black is Beautiful
as Black is Always Beautiful.

One great item of advice in the world today for our community is UNITY. Too many people look
at corporate controlled TV and various shows and falsely think that the majority of black people
are filled with the most negative stereotypes possible. The reality is that these denigrating shows
are controlled by corporate oligarchs, not by the common people. They have an agenda to distract
not inform plus to cause tensions without causing healing. Black people collectively never
dropped atomic bombs murdering innocent people, polluted the world, cause many animal
species to go extinct, use colonialism to steal the lands of people of multiple continents, robbed
millions of their homes via bad economic policies, or started world wars. Therefore, we are a
compassionate, loving people as black human beings. We love anyone who loves us. Yet, we won't
tolerate some scapegoating us. We have to follow ethics and a code of conduct that realizes that
we can have fun at times along with being serious to do the work in liberating our black people at
the same time.
By Timothy
Enjoy:

Miss Life Lessons

1 month ago

We are visually dynamic ... we are creative and great at everything we do!

_______________________________________________________________

Trojan Pam

@ Kushite Prince

when people accuse black people of being “just as racist as whites” they NEVER give any real
examples of this “power” that blacks allegedly have over whites.

All they can say is, well, a black person cussed me out and called me a “honk*y!” or some black person
(usually one person) said or did something which may or may not have happened because they were
white.

If a black criminal robs you on a street corner, they’re not doing it because you’re white, he or she is
robbing you because he or she wants your money, phone, etc,

but they call this “black racism”

Even when black people have powerful “titles” they still cater to white people and are still following their
orders from their white bosses but as soon as the black person does or says something white people
don’t like (like Michelle Obama talking to black girls)

they call this “black racism”

It’s so bad that even black people are calling other black people “racist”

“Oh, so and so said something unflattering about white people so that black person is a racist!”

that’s why it’s important to know the definition of words and how they’re used to confuse and deceive
us.

________________________________________________________________
Kimberly Fraizer

2 months ago (edited)

I detect a lot of jealousy from some in the black sector in Youtube. They are upset because Fantasia
leveled up like Ciara did. in spite of, she overcame in spite of. And I'm very happy for her.

____________________________________________________

Sister Lashid4U

6 days ago

..and NOTE: I was one of those who criticized Hammer, back-n-the-day, but that was ONLY because
he became more and more crossover (and I was younger, and thought I was such a hip hop "purist"),
but he was tight when he first blew up in the hood - his songs like "Pump it Up" were played at house
parties, etc., and I used to dance w/ my crew ..Still ..we (Black people) should have been more
supportive of the brotha, considering how he was SO VERY supportive of his people (which many of us
didn't know about at the time)

________________________________________________________________

QUEEN'IKnoWhoIam

1 day ago

Smh...this radioactivity apocalypse is extremely upsetting and worrisome for me!

But, I appreciate AND value all of this useful helpful life saving information.

The sad fact and reality is, is that it's getting more and MORE difficult to survive on this planet.

Every day there's seemingly another hurdle to jump through and another roadblock set up against us to
kill us all off!

I don't want to start panicking, but it would be logical and understandable if I did... ♀

I will admit that Im worried...and VERY much so.

I've even changed my diet to foods that are alkalizing and non inflammatory...ONLY.

Fresh foods, as organic as possible are key and essential.

I am in a constant daily battle to stay alive and to inform others who I love and care about of this deadly
energy that has us all in a death grip!

It's EVERY WHERE and in EVERYTHING!

I'll keep trying and doing my best to avoid it....that's all I really can do at this critical point in time.
 ❤
Thank you Sister Ajali. ..great GREAT invaluable information, advice and thoughts..🔥

☺
�...and yeah, 😂😂..

I'm the one (at the time) who suggested FRYING the avocado...😂😖�

Of which I NO longer do..that or anything else is fried in my house..👏�

_____________________________________________________________

This is a horrifically heart-breaking story – and another wake up call for blacks in America. No one
(black) is off limits. Not our children, babies, our women, our elderly, our crippled, mentally
handicapped or handcuffed, not those in wheelchairs, and certainly, not black men. Our lives have zero
value in this white supremacist culture. What more proof do we need?

This system, this government, this society are waging OPEN WARFARE against us — something I
have been predicting for years would happen. I don’t say this with any pleasure whatsoever, but I’m
hoping that black people will finally open our eyes and get out of denial and drop the illusion of
inclusion. We are tolerated at best, but will never accepted as full human beings with the right to life.

I personally believe some of the police violence – which seems to be accelerating — is a STRATEGY
to get black people so emotionally bent, so emotionally angry and unstable that we will begin to act out
in violent and socially unacceptable ways

so that the next PHASE — martial law and mass incarceration — will appear to be justified. I’m not
even sure we know who these renegade police officers are who are murdering black people. That being
said, I do not believe the majority of police officers fall into the category of sociopathic killers.

What bothers me, however, is the lack of a collective moral conscience within the blue ranks and how
they come out in force to support officers they know are breaking the law and committing murder. It
makes one wonder how thin the line is between the innocent and the guilty.

For example, in Chicago, I believe many of the drive-by shootings and random murders are not being
committed by “black gang-bangers” but in fact, are the random assassinations of black people for a
variety of reasons, among them, to force us to move out of the now-desirable areas that whites want to
reclaim.

I also believe these “assassinations” are being conducted by the police and by other military type
“entities” that operate in secret, including the random lone wolf white supremacist, and/or organized
white supremacist groups.

When black people die in Chicago, law enforcement and mainstream media never look beyond the
“black on black gang” theory, all of which makes us a super easy target for anyone who wants to spill
our blood. No one ever looks for a white assailant because no one wants to find one. Perhaps, they
know the truth and know we do not.

There will be those black people, who in despair, will reject what I am saying, and will be driven deeper
into denial, to avoid the pain of living among monsters who wantonly and gleefully spill our blood with
the blessings of the majority of the white collective.

And for those who will deny this, how do the usually all-white or majority white juries vote whenever a
police officer is on trial for murdering an unarmed black man, woman, or child?

NOT GUILTY.

All the “liberal” hand-wringing about police violence means NOTHING when you sit in a jury pool and
vote to allow a killer to go free because the victim is black. At that point you have ZERO CREDIBILITY.

That’s why I have been advocating FOR YEARS that we MUST unify. We must decide to love, support
and BE with each other for survival’s sake, and start changing the way we have been brainwashed to
treat each other.

We have to stop chasing and begging for white validation (and white lovers) and finally realize that our
oppression will not end until WE CHANGE what we say, think, and do.

We are in a similar situation that the Jews found themselves during the rise of Nazi Germany, who were
scapegoated for all the social and economic ills of the frightened and frustrated Germans. The white
supremacists plan to use black bodies to absorb the rage and fear of the white collective as this house
of economic cards falls apart and unfortunately, their strategy seems to be working, as one can see
from the racist rhetoric of a very popular presidential candidate.

I don’t know what it will take to get black people to wake out of this deep, dead sleep, to stop running
and hiding from our real problems, and to get the courage to actually see what is happening in this
nation, especially as the economy worsens.

Obama didn’t (and couldn’t) fix it. Hillary—who called black youth “super predators”–certainly won’t fix it
– nor will she try. Going to the polls in November won’t make a damn bit of difference. We are the ones
who will have to do what needs to be done, starting with black males and black females placing value
on each other and ourselves and standing together.

(sorry about the long post!)

-Sister Trojan Pam (in response to the death of Korryn Gaines)

____________________________________________

EXACTLY! We have more varieties of BEAUTY and HANDSOMENESS in Our Sisters AND Brothers, it
leaves everyone else in a jealous tizzy fit. That's they're problem. Not Ours. BLACK REMAINS
BEAUTIFUL!!!

-The Radical Sister

______________________________________
mr we-right

1 month ago

@Chris Leonard West African songs are polyrhythmic, which means that they feature two or more
conflicting rhythms. Traditional European music has one main rhythm, not the case in West Africa.
These songs create layers of distinct rhythms on top of each other. The most common form of
polyrhythmic structure in this region is called the cross-rhythm, which is characterized by the hemiola, a
rhythmic pattern where three beats are played over two beats in the same space. It is the most
common form of cross-rhythm found throughout West Africa, but again, this is a simple beat by African
standards. We start with the hemiola, then build more rhythms on top of it.

___________________________________

Disso Disso

3 months ago

All blacks people around the world need to be united

______________________________________

Iyapo Yapa

2 days ago

….and now, news from the land of “eating your cake and having it too.”

There are those in our community who wreak havoc upon our people and have a very destructive
influence. They seek to run around unchecked and do their misdeeds without any kind of pushback or
negative repercussions for their actions.

The niche they slip themselves into is a convenient one where they are set up in a way that they are
free to cause chaos, and at the moment they are called out for it, the person who rightly calls them to
task is the one who is demonized and called a “clout chaser” or that they are “using MY
_______________ (fill in the name of the prominent person), name to “get views” and so on.

That is one of the reasons why I don’t mention any names in any of my titles (unless it is to say
something GOOD about them). And likely one of the reasons I have been on YouTube for about two
years and still have under 800 subs (along with the shadow banning and suppression of my channel
because I, like you, are trying to talk about things that MATTER… and not about “celebrities” or “beefs”
at in the end analysis really have ZERO impact on us or our community (or any more impact than our
community feeds into it).

I digress…

So the whistle blower… instead of being thanked for calling attention to the poison pill within the
community is attacked and made a pariah.
Though it is undeniably true that there are many YouTubers who “pick fights” or start “beefs” (or at least
try their best), with other YouTubers in order to build their channels, the key actually lies in a holistic
examination of the person’s channel.

If a channel has been dedicated to “oppression porn”, or “beefs” with other YouTubers, “celebrity”
gossip, or endless bashing of Black men and/or Black women, it is obvious that these channels are
NOT intended for the uplift of our people and are there for either entertainment purposes at best, or
conscious effort to gain money, fame or both at the expense of our people.

And just as with a human being… no one can be judged just upon one or two actions… and even when
there IS a pattern, the person speaking out against the person or persons who are destructive to our
community and our plight need to be viewed in CONTEXT.

When my mother used to “whoop” me… I never ONCE (even at a young age), saw it as a “beating”…
why? Because this SAME woman was the one who went FAR and ABOVE OUT OF HER WAY, to
make sure I was Fed, Clothed, had a place to live, made sure I was protected and LITERALLY (not
figuratively), several times LITERALLY put HERSELF in harms way to protect ME. So… whenever I
was punished or chastised even MY young mind was able to put into the context of the fact that this
woman very deeply loved me and never missed an opportunity to demonstrate that love… therefore…
any punishment she is giving me is NOT for HER enjoyment or purposes… but for MINE.

And so it is with those in our community who spend 98% of our time, efforts and energy seeking to uplift
our people, to support our people and to WARN our people of dangers, which face us, and offer
SOLUTIONS for what we can do. An the remaining 2% we spend chastising, or “calling out” people
who are a detriment to us, is tantamount to the “whoopin’” and taking NO JOY in having to say these
things and point them out, but in an HONEST effort to take corrective action.

How much love…. I ask… would my mother have had for me if she did ALL the loving things I named
before, but then saw where I needed correction, but didn’t do it because she felt that any time she did, I
would accuse her of being a witch who took pleasure in BEATING me, and that she was only “attacking
me” for her own pleasure and fulfillment.

That is the way a CHILD thinks.

I would suggest that anyone who wants to make statements about activists such as you, me and
others… before going down the “You’re just clout chasing”, rabbit hole… take and HONEST look and
make a GENUINE assessment of our ENTIRE bodies of work and messages before making ill-
informed, groundless judgments based upon one, two, or even SEVERAL videos that hit one of their
nerves because one of their “heroes” is being called out.

What we do is out of LOVE and CONCERN for our people… and EACH THING WE DO is meant for
that purpose!

It is time we start to take the time to unemotionally examine the actual motivations of various members
of our community IN CONTEXT and HOLISTICALLY to see whether a person is actually AGAINST
us… FOR us… or FOR THEIRSELVES.

The results might be quite surprising.

RESPECT TO YOU AJALI!

_______________________

AFROGEMER

2 months ago

Haitians are never given enough credit for all they’ve done for our people. Black people as a whole owe
a lot to them.

__________________________________

I am aware that there are many who wince at a distinction between PROPERTY and PERSONS--who
hold both to be sacrosanct. My views are not so rigid. A LIFE is sacred. Property is intended to serve
life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part
of the earth man walks on; it is not man." ----Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, THE TRUMPET OF
CONSCIENCE (p. 56)

-Savant

____________________________

Kenol Thomas

3 months ago (edited)

I have been to Salvador Bahia. Beautiful black experience and more culturally diverse than Rio. There
is no black representation in their media as well as they're still fighting for civil rights.

________________________________________________

Azeem Alexander

3 months ago (edited)

I went to Salvador Bahia, Brazil, you see HUGE statues of the Orishas, African religion is accepted and
open, you can hear the DRUMS all around, Yoruba & Kimbundu in the music and the language like you
said, Capoeira and so much more afro retention. As an African-American to be there it feels as if this is
how it would've been if your ancestors were allowed to just be African and develop their afro culture.

___________________________________________
Lavender Water

3 months ago

I loved dark skin, wide noses kinky hair and full lips. I can't help it, that's what my uncles on my father
side look like. We are such a beautiful people, I just wish we knew how beautiful we are.

___________________________________________________________

__________________________________

Nicole White

3 years ago

Times like this make me want to blast this into every barber shop all across America to remind these
brothers that you are loved and needed by your sisters. We need you, we are for you not against you
despite what they want you to believe.

_________________________________________________

M Edouard

3 years ago

Shout out to all the sisters who uplift their black counterparts!

__________________________________

Navy gurl81

2 years ago

I am a black woman and this song (i.e Angie Stone’s Brotha) lifts my spirits because our black men are
so special and we need them!!! :)

________________________________

La'Tasha W.
2 years ago

Ain't nothing like black love