Saturday, June 1, 2024
Books-GK
Monday, April 8, 2024
Juneteenth Coloring Book
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
The Freedom Warrior, Harriet Tubman
A beacon of resistance, resilience, and a love of freedom, Harriet Tubman proved to all of those who would follow her that there was truly a way out of the clutches of slavery. She knew personally the dark side of slavery and what it was like to be treated only as property. While she could do little about the inequities and the lack of human rights, she was able to make a difference when it came to freeing, not only herself but all of her enslaved brothers and sisters brave enough to follow her out of the shadow of slavery.
Let's face it, what Harriet did was dangerous both to herself and to all those she shepherded. Following Harriet into a world where not all white people were bad, and not all black people were good, across an anti-freedom minefield which, for a slave was a journey that, if you were lucky enough to make it to freedom, would never occur to a newly freed person, to simply rest of a while then say, ok! Let's do that again!
But that is exactly what Harriet Tubman would do, determined to free her people (the ones who would follow her) from slavery one person at a time if she had to. Willing to put her life on the line for the anti-slavery cause until there was no longer a need for the support she received from the other abolitionists also working on the Underground Railroad. When slavery was no more she no longer needed support from the Underground Railroad who helped Harreit finance the purchase of shoes that were worn off her feet, and those of her followers.
After slavery was abolished in the U.S. Harriet Tubman along with other female abolitionists, like Susan B. Anthony would recommit their activism to Women's Suffrage, and work to improve the 15th Amendment that granted African American men (not women) the right to vote.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
The Colonization Society II
The vision of the American Colonial Society was slaveholders freeing their slaves and sending them to Africa. The ACS was an organization that was set up to transport African Americans to African continent, in the early 1800s. The organization was made up of slave merchants, and slaveowners, with some well-meaning abolitionists sprinkled in. Just prior to the Civil War General Robert E. Lee freed some of his slaves and offered to pay for those slaves interested in a trip to Africa. The American Colonization Society had established a colony on the west coast of Africa. Robert E. Lee had been aware of the growing divide in the Union of States even before he and his associate Jeb Stewart had been called upon to put down the armed raid on Harpers Ferry. The raiding party Lee was sent to put an end to was made up of black and white men, and led by the abolitionist, dubbed domestic terrorist, John Brown.
The thing that stood out to me about Robert E. Lee's assistance to his former slaves William and Rosabella Burkes was the fact that the Lee family and the Burkes family maintained a friendship and communications across a vast Atlantic Ocean that would allow Rosabella Burkes, to exchange messages with her family members still living in the area through Mary Custis Lee. Mary Custis Lee was able to share news and information about what was happening politically in the U.S. which was not good. Robert E. Lee who was at the time in the Union Army, was forced to choose a side when the Civil War broke out.
Rosabella also shared information with Mary Custis Lee about the trials and tribulations of the Burkes who were learning to live in Africa, which after more than 400 years of slavery in the U.S. was a foreign land to all the African Americans that ended up in the little colony set up by the American Colonization Society. During the days of slavery in the U.S. all African Americans could be slaves, but the fact was, not all African Americans were slaves. Millions of Africans born in America lived as free people, and free from slavery.
The American Colonization Society was set up in part to deal with the situation of the African Americans living as free people. Slaves could be freed by purchasing their freedom, or the freedom of a family member from a master. White slave owners who had children by slave women could free their own children with a deed of manumission, once a child reached an agreed-upon. There were slaves who simply self-emancipated themselves by escaping slavery in one place to reside in an area free of slavery.
Overall, the ACS believed the presents of free blacks in the United States was a threat to the nation's wellbeing. There were also those members of the ACS that included the sprinkling of abolitionists who believed African Americans would only be able to fulfill their potential as human beings, in Africa and believed sending American Africans to Africa would allow them to live free of discrimination. The Burke family went to the ACS colony for the chance to raise their children in a place free of discrimination.
Over the years Rosabella and Mary Custis Lee shared stories about family and friends. Rosebella would learn from Mary that war seemed inevitable. Much of what the two women shared in letters between them was later published in the Colonization Society's Journal, the Colonial Journal, and the African Repository, in 1859. Starting all over again for the Burkes family in Africa would be hard and take years. Eventually, the differences between the African American people deposited on the West Coast of Africa, and the African people in Africa would fade into each other forming a dependence on the other. The Burkes would open their home up to African people in need and in return the African people taught the Burkes the customs and traditions to prosper in Africa. The tiny ACS colony would grow into the country of Liberia. That fact alone fascinated and answered a question I had since learning about Liberia: Why do so many people in Liberia have American sounding names?
Robert E. Lee would go on to prosecute a war against the Union Army he had once fought for. That would over many battles and much blood shed in the north and the south result in his surrender and the end of the Civil War. Lee's home would be captured by Union Forces, and a detachment of African American soldiers would be tasked with guarding Robert E. Lee's property and wife Mary Custis Lee. A pregnant Rosabella Burke would read about the war between the states on the other side of the ocean from her peaceful settlement in Africa. She would give birth to another child, and her first child to be born in the land of her ancestors, and she would name her newborn baby daughter, Mary Custis Burke.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
What is Ancient Kemet?
What is Ancient Kemet
Kemetism, Kemetics all refer to Ancient Kemet one of the names given to ancient Egypt by the then ancient indigenous inhabitants who lived in Egypt before the time of the invaders and colonizers. In modern day terms the term Kemet has become associated with viewing Egypt in its African Cultural Context because of the many significant links between Ancient Egypt and modern African culture such as hairstyles, headrests, and the skin color of mummies examined from ancient Egypt. Luckily for the children of the sun, our ancient black Egyptian ancestors hid everything in plain sight with the Egyptian art, sculptures (even with the vandalized noses), and painting from that time. That history was the driving inspiration behind my new Kemet Jewelry line with the inscription: Know Thy Self.
I realize that only so much history can be crammed into early learning materials, and I truly do understand how some important times in world history can be left out. But when history is taught from only one side of historic references African Americans seem to come out on the losing end. When I was in school during my formative years, I would love to have known that several of the Pharaohs mentioned in the bible I studied in Sunday School, were black. To be honest there was nothing in the bible that I can remember that said the people being referred to in my Sunday School lessons were white, either, but all of the biblical and religious images shown to me at that point in my life were white. Having a better historical perspective would have been helpful with my own self esteem.
I would have learned the truth about slavery, in that slavery was not just a black thing. Slaves came in whatever color was captured by the warring parties back then. Imagine my shock when I learned that those black pharaohs, I mentions, had slaves of their own. Or the fact that the first trade relationships with the motherland of the African continent ships brought slaves to African to trade for diamonds and gold. In short, I would have had a better clearer picture of world history than I had prior to my college years, especially when it came to slavery. Studying about ancient Egypt has taught me that African Civilizations are way older than Greek, or European civilizations, and that many of the modern-day advancements we enjoy in math, medicine, even warfare came from some of the ancient African civilizations.
And Kemet, ancient Egypt, is a major part of that history, history holds many valuable lessons that the wise study and learn from, just asked the Greek Historians who studied in Africa. There was once a complicated time of Library index cards and rolls of viewable tapes when you had to go out and track down history. Now thanks to the internet history can, more or less, come to you. It is always helpful to verify your online sources when it comes to historic events and information but as one of the YouTube channels, I'm fond of watching, always says: "The truth is out there!"
Teach the younger generation early what we learned so late!
Monday, June 26, 2023
John Brown and Juneteenth
Friday, June 16, 2023
Why Black and White People Celebrate Juneteenth
Why should Black and White people celebrate the Juneteenth Day Celebration? First of all the Juneteenth Celebration is a national holiday, intended to be celebrated by the entire nation. From the information I have been able to gather the majority of American African people who celebrate Juneteenth Day Celebration do so to honor their African ancestors who fought for and eventually gained their freedom from slavery in the United States. On that day (June 19th, 1865) the ball started rolling toward the official end of slavery in this nation that the Juneteenth Day Celebration is based. Even though the first official celebration of Juneteenth happened one year later, on June 19th, 1866. Since then, and long before Juneteenth became a national holiday American African descendants have celebrated Juneteenth as the end of slavery in this nation, and to honor the African ancestors who fought for, and did not live long enough to experience the freedom American Africans enjoy today.