The Glory of Africa Part 10
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.
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 the glory of 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 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 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.
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 organisations 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!” 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, 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 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 doesn't tell all of the 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. 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. 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. 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 Rockwell that if the Nazis harm Dr. King in Selma, Alabama, they would experience maximum physical retaliation in self-defense. Malcolm X was never scared of racists. Therefore, Pan-Africanism is here to stay.
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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 is legitimate and morally 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 build 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 lost 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 the white nationalist John Tanton. Real fighters for freedom like the late Queen Mother Morore believes in reparations in the context of advancing global black liberation.
Reparations isn'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 merits revolutionary solutions. Systems of oppression (not culture or individual acts) contributed to the lack of wealth transfers in our society. No true reparations omits infrastructure issues, mass incarceration, poverty, health care, predatory lenders, etc. 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 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.
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 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 lead 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, and sex discrimination was made illegal. Organisations 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.
Rest in Power Brother Maurice Bishop.
Red Summer
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.
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Remembering MOVE
The MOVE ought to be remembered. It was a movement that was the victim of total injustice literally and figuratively. Not to 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 promoted 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 then 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 is 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 discus, 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 more strong 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. 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. 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. 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, 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 transformed to a select few of upper middle class and rich African Americans primarily. The reason is that the capitalist system permitted reforms to some black people but not revolutionary change that would overthrow that exploitative system in general. The post- civil rights era saw legitimate firsts among African Americans and black heroes rising up from Carol Moseley-Braun to other people. By 2008, Barack Obama was the first African American President of the United States of America. Many black people in 2019 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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, 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 transformed to a select few of upper middle class and rich African Americans primarily. The reason is that the capitalist system permitted reforms to some black people but not revolutionary change that would overthrow that exploitative system in general. The post- civil rights era saw legitimate firsts among African Americans and black heroes rising up from Carol Moseley-Braun to other people. By 2008, Barack Obama was the first African American President of the United States of America. Many black people in 2019 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. Therefore, the beauty and strength of African Americans is that we are diverse yet unified in our black African heritage at the same time.
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 came 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."
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 a wit in a whites only theater to fight discrimination. Afro-Caribbean culture revolve 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 heritage. Haiti has about 9,925,365 people. They helped to created 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, 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 and 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.
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 and 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, etc. Hip hop was born from Kool Herc, who has Caribbean parents. Hip hop is similar to toasting.
*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, 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. Blacks in Panama are the descendants of West African slaves but later on blacks from the Caribbean islands arrived. Many Afro-Costa Ricans are found in the Limon Province and the Central Valley. The main community 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, Maya, and European. Many black people do live in El Salvador. The main community of African heritage in Guatemala are 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.
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 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 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 came 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.
Since 1981, many Nigerians, Ghanaians, other Africans came 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.
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 women 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 is 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 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.
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 follow traditional African religions. They are a Bantu people. The Bakongo society include 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.
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).
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. In rejecting injustice, we incorporate in our lives a sense of profound destiny and a fidelity to honor the truth.
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. In rejecting injustice, we incorporate in our lives a sense of profound destiny and a fidelity to honor the truth.
By Timothy
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