Black Roots

[luck25one]

[fortheloveofnutrition]

I always wondered why sometimes I'd get a sweet one, and other times a bland, flavorless one. Keep this handy and get great melon every time.

[consciencist]

[consciencist]

Black Roots Science is Knowledge of the elders about the ancient life and ancient science, beginning with the creation of our universe all the way to the creation of our earth. Contains knowledge of what is soon to come regarding this present era.

[consciencist]

[mainevent67]

Rare Picture of an early Egyptian Sphinx before their noses were blown off.

[nprbooks]

Image by Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

We are so sorry to report that Nobel laureate Toni Morrison has died at 88.

“She was an extremely devoted mother, grandmother, and aunt who reveled in being with her family and friends. The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing,” her family said. “Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life.”

Our own Karen Grigsby Bates has a remembrance, with links to our previous interviews with Morrison – find it here.

– Petra

[seeselfblack]

  World 7 Myths and Atrocities of Christopher Columbus That Will Make You Cringe

Columbus sailed the ocean blue, so goes the elementary school rhyme. But Columbus also committed numerous crimes against humanity that we never learned about in school. This coming Monday, whenever you see a status update or tweet mentioning Columbus Day, share this article in response. On the anniversary of Columbus’ landing, it’s important for everyone to remember that Christopher Columbus was one of the most evil men to ever walk the earth, and that the myths propagated about him were completely wrong.

1. Columbus never once reached the mainland US.  Christopher Columbus never discovered America. The closest he got was Cuba, on his first voyage. Even on his second, third, and fourth voyages, Columbus reached Central America and the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), but it wasn’t until April of 1513 when Europeans first set foot on the mainland US, when Juan Ponce de Leon sailed to Florida from Puerto Rico.

2. Columbus misrepresented the natives who rescued him as cannibals.  Upon his arrival to the Bahamas, Christopher Columbus wrecked the Santa Maria. The native population worked for hours to rescue the crew and their cargo. Despite the natives’ kindness, Columbus’ mind immediately went to how profitable enslaving the native population would be. In his journal, Columbus wrote,“…With fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them.”Despite the natives’ kindness and hospitality, Columbus later described the indigenous population as cannibals,

3. Columbus’ sailors were rapists and murderers.  On Columbus’ second voyage, he was accompanied by 1,200 men, who viewed the native population as theirs to exploit. 

4. Columbus massacred over 250,000 natives for gold. Columbus could only justify his multiple voyages across the Atlantic Ocean by assuring King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that the newly-discovered lands were rich with gold. So on his subsequent voyages, Columbus was pressured to deliver. The native populations were quickly enslaved and forced to mine at least a thimbleful of gold every three months.

5. Columbus sold children into sex slavery.  Death and Taxes called Columbus “the pimp of the New World.”“A hundred castellanos are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand, and for all ages a good price must be paid,” Columbus wrote.

6. Columbus fed natives to dogs.  …Columbus and his men: using dogs to hunt natives instead of foxes. This hellish sport was referred to as the monteria infernal… Natives were even pitted against these dogs in barbaric, gladiator-style death matches. A native would be armed with nothing but a stick and stripped naked, and colonists would entertain themselves by watching the dogs maul the natives by decapitating them with their jaws. 

7. Columbus was brought back to Spain as a prisoner, but was immediately pardoned.  News of the atrocities committed by Columbus and his men along with his mismanagement of the island’s resources created enough outrage that in 1500, he was stripped of his official title as governor of Hispaniola and ordered back to Spain in chains. But King Ferdinand liked Columbus so much that he not only pardoned him, but funded Columbus’ 4th voyage.

In just 8 years, Christopher Columbus managed to begin the eradication of an entire indigenous population, put the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade into motion, and establish precedent for centuries of raping and pillaging by other European colonists. Rather than observing Columbus Day this coming Monday, take after Seattle, Washington; Richmond, California; Lawrence, Kansas, and other cities and observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.

[african-moorish]

Why I define my Family and Culture as Moorish.

I am only speaking for myself. I know others may disagree and it’s all good. I am largely of African Moorish descent, from my Mother’s side. My patrilineal ancestry has been determined to be Fulani/Hausa. It’s distance goes back to about 1728. This corresponds to the early colonial era of the Orleans parish in Louisiana Territory.

There are numerous groups represented in my raw DNA analysis, predominantly Africans of Islamic heritage from the Mali empire, as well as the Fulani and Hausa states, and the Yoruba. There was some admixture with these groups and North and East Africans. The one thing most of these groups have in common is the fact their religion was Islam. However, even more important is their common languages, history and culture. There was also admixture with central and southern African groups such as the Lemba and Kaba, many of who were not Islamic. They were African traditional religious (ATR) practitioners. However, again, what ties these groups together is common languages (largely Niger-Congo) such as the Mande/Mandenka, and cultural continuity. What I mean by cultural continuity is that they maintained close kinship relationships even as some kinfolk converted to other languages. In this respect, Moorish is a more precise cultural term that Muslim, because the determining factor is not race or religion but commonality of culture and kinship.

As far as I am concerned, my Moorish ancestry is very diverse and dates back at least to 225 BC to the Canary Islands which at the time was a colony of Numidia in North Africa. The Ruling dynasty of the Numidians intermarried with the ruling class of Ptolemaic Egypt. This is well before the advent of Islam, and rooted in the history and culture of the Iberian Peninsula/North-West Africa.

The interesting part of this is the presence of early American DNA from the areas of California. Miwok, Costanoan and Colville, to be exact. This Native Californian ancestry predates any known West African ancestry.

Again, the main idea here is kinship and culture as determining factors.

Selam!

-Baba Omowale (Ras Maka-El)

[earthstory]

Reflections

These are the Canary Islands. This image by the Terra Satellite shows the reflection of sunlight from the water, known as sunglint. The milky color of the water is caused by the sunglint, and it shows details about the surface of the water that are sometimes hidden. The islands create a wind shadow. As the winds blow toward the islands (in this case from the northeast), the airflow is blocked and redirected around the land masses. This causes choppy water in some areas, and calm water in other areas, reflecting the sunlight in different ways.

-Amy

Reference:

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=81421

Image credit NASA

[hellenicdreaming]

A few nights back something happens but it wasn't scary. I cant explain it. I felt super lonely before going to sleep. I spoke to Anubis before. Then I went to bed. I cant explain the feeling properly but something held my hand. Like i remember the feeling of something holding my hand and being behind me. It wasnt a scary experience. It was like i felt safe, cared for. I dont know what it was

[kemetic-dreams]

[fogo-av]

Misuse of my Afro-Latinx Meetup Photo

It has recently come to my attention that the popular blog kemetic-dreams​ published This Post in an attempt to discuss Afro-Mexican people. They misused this picture of some of the attendees of the Afro-Latinx meetup in the Bronx that took place a few weeks ago.

I organized this event to try to define Afro-Latinx solidarity. They did not ask permission to use this photo neither from myself nor the photographer songocubano​.  I have asked them to remove my picture from their post for various of reasons: 

None of the people depicted in this photo are Afro-Mexican.

Some of the info on the post seems inaccurate.

It furthers the erasure of Afro-Mexicans and homogenizes Afro-Latinxs.

They didn’t ask permission.

This blog has continued to promote and publish problematic posts including fetishization of Black women, mis-representations of Lukumi/Santeria, among other things. (They have been confronted about these issues but I have yet to see them adequately respond/apologize/take responsibility.  

The point of this is to make sure everyone knows I’m not supporting the homogenization of the beautiful diversity of Afro-Latinxs. I want to make sure that my support for Afro-Mexicans is known and denouncing the post is my way of making sure to show support and solidarity for Afro-Mexicans as they continue to fight for more agency/visibly.

I would have loved for Afro-Mexican people to have been at my event, but as it were, none were present. The fact that they use this photo further marginalizes Afro-Mexican people and seems to homogenize Afro-Latinxs as a whole. If they looked hard enough they could see that shown are the Dominican, Haitian, Colombian and Pan-African flags with people posing in front of a statue of Roberto Clemente. These people are ignored in an attempt to discuss Afro-Mexicans. 

In defining Afro-Latinx solidarity was this lovely point which reads: celebrate differences/recognize similarities. 

If we as Afro-Latinxs are homogenized, that is confined into having one culture history, experience, we are being erased. Although we have shared experiences in facing white supremacy and anti-Blackness throughout Latin America, it is important that we recognize how Afro-Latinxs all over Latin America are battling for visibility and political, social and cultural agency in unique ways. 

If they really wanted to discuss Afro-Mexican people, they could have easily re-blogged and presented blogs that are already doing just that including lati-negros and blaxicansofla.

Afro-Mexican people are a resilient and beautiful people. It is important that we respect them. I’m not sure what kemetic-dreams‘ intentions were but it seems and could easily be read as a continued erasure of Afro-descendientes in Mexico.

[fogo-av]

Update: kemetic-dreams have responded to my ask to have my photo removed from the post and have since retracted my photo. So yay. I still question their motives in even using the photo, apparently they were trying to use a picture that showed people from different locations on the Americas, but it didn’t look like that in the context of the post. I have a sense that they still don’t understand the dangerousness in homogenizing us, and they still haven’t done work to see how the info spread in the work seems a bit inaccurate. I hope they see this post to help them fact check, and while this post is getting traction I hope they could address some of the other issues they have had in the past including fetishization, and misrepresenting Afro-diasporic religions.

[indigenous-caribbean-deactivate]

The initiative is part of the International Decade for People of African Descent, which recognizes the significant contribution made by people of African descent.

A member of the Elumbé dance troupe dances during the carnival parade, which is heavily influenced by Afro-Uruguayan folklore, Montevideo, Uruguay, Feb. 4, 2005. | Photo: EFE

The Uruguayan government reaffirmed Tuesday its commitment to progress in the political and social recognition of the Afro-Uruguayan people, who represent about 10 percent of the national population, while the greatest concentration of this ethnic group is located in the capital Montevideo.

Uruguay is raising awareness with this measure and it is promoting transparent and inclusive mechanisms of justice, while also contributing to reducing inequality and improving development policies.

The initiative is part of the International Decade for People of African Descent, declared by the United Nations. The program kicked off in January and will run until 2024. The initiative is aimed at providing the opportunity to recognize the significant contribution made by people of African descent to societies.

Countries with populations of African descendants states should, according to the U.N. “take concrete and practical steps … to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance faced by people of African descent…”

The presence of African descendants in Uruguay dates from the arrival of European settlers, who brought the first black slaves. Official data reveals that the Afro-Uruguayan population has higher levels of poverty than the general population, with many earning via unskilled labor.

In 2012, the government of former president Jose Mujica actively promoted positive discrimination, or affirmative action, which reserves 8 percent of of public scholarships to Afro-Uruguayans and changed the law so that companies that hire African descents receive higher rebates on social security contributions.

[african-moorish]

Why I define my Family and Culture as Moorish.

I am only speaking for myself. I know others may disagree and it’s all good. I am largely of African Moorish descent, from my Mother’s side. My patrilineal ancestry has been determined to be Fulani/Hausa. It’s distance goes back to about 1728. This corresponds to the early colonial era of the Orleans parish in Louisiana Territory.

There are numerous groups represented in my raw DNA analysis, predominantly Africans of Islamic heritage from the Mali empire, as well as the Fulani and Hausa states, and the Yoruba. There was some admixture with these groups and North and East Africans. The one thing most of these groups have in common is the fact their religion was Islam. However, even more important is their common languages, history and culture. There was also admixture with central and southern African groups such as the Lemba and Kaba, many of who were not Islamic. They were African traditional religious (ATR) practitioners. However, again, what ties these groups together is common languages (largely Niger-Congo) such as the Mande/Mandenka, and cultural continuity. What I mean by cultural continuity is that they maintained close kinship relationships even as some kinfolk converted to other languages. In this respect, Moorish is a more precise cultural term that Muslim, because the determining factor is not race or religion but commonality of culture and kinship.

As far as I am concerned, my Moorish ancestry is very diverse and dates back at least to 225 BC to the Canary Islands which at the time was a colony of Numidia in North Africa. The Ruling dynasty of the Numidians intermarried with the ruling class of Ptolemaic Egypt. This is well before the advent of Islam, and rooted in the history and culture of the Iberian Peninsula/North-West Africa.

The interesting part of this is the presence of early American DNA from the areas of California. Miwok, Costanoan and Colville, to be exact. This Native Californian ancestry predates any known West African ancestry.

Again, the main idea here is kinship and culture as determining factors.

Selam!

-Baba Omowale (Ras Maka-El)

[african-moorish]

http://africancreationenergy.blogspot.com/2015/03/mansa-abubakari-keita-ii-mariner.html?m=1

[superselected]

Listen to This.  Laura Mvula Drops ‘People.’  + A New Editorial From NOTION Magazine.