I'm apparently pretty behind on this bit of medical history, but TIL that in addition everything else King Leopold II of Belgium arguably bears some responsibility for the emergence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
TL;DR the earliest known blood sample is from Kinshasa (formerly Leopoldville) in 1959, but based on a fairly constant rate of mutation researchers estimate that the virus has been around since the early 20th century; conditions in colonial Congo and Africa more broadly probably contributed to its evolution and spread
The recent discovery of a well-preserved tissue sample from a woman living in the Congo in 1960 allowed scientists to analyze an early versi
It went undetected because, for one thing, people often died young from tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases. So it wasn't obvious that some people were dying of a new disease we now know as AIDS. [...]
A year ago, Worobey documented a "signature of HIV migration" from the Congo to Haiti. The virus was carried there, he thinks, by French-speaking teachers and other professionals who had gone to work in the early post-colonial economy.
Hello CBC! I am not sure if this work has been covered here before but yesterday my pinterest fyp decided to bless me and i got an ad for this novel here
The story's premise as copypasted from the page:
"Ceciline lives to serve her Mistress—the wise, warm, and mysterious witch who raised her. Together, they live a peaceful life tucked away in their cottage in the woods. The witch works her magic, and Ceciline follows closely behind, sweeping floors, gathering ingredients, and staying alert should her Mistress need her for anything. The witch refuses to teach her any spells or incantations. But Ceciline doesn't mind. She's perfectly happy with the way things are. She only wishes to be useful.But things change when a mysterious traveler lands on her doorstep with a thump. And the closer the two become, the more Ceciline questions whether the witch is protecting her...or imprisoning her.I Live to Serve the Witch is a story about trauma, and how it tends to be passed on and on and on and..."
Seeing this I immediately thought, "Hey! This feels perfect for CreatingBlackCharacters' blog!" so... here you go! I myself have now have this on my to read list. Hope others can see it and become interested!
Fun fact! Not only this is listed as explicitly LGBTQIA+, but the writer Jacque Aye is a queer Nigerian-American Black woman herself! Here is a link to her website:
The political term is Afro-whatever country or Afrodescendiente (Afro-descended)
The general term for a non white person casually referring to a Black person is moreno (Moroccan) or sometimes I’ve heard Central Americans say “piel-negra” (dark-skinned) to distinguish from themselves as dark skinned indigenous people. Brazilians use pardo except that term is from medieval Spanish for a brown animal so I’d be careful there.
Black Spanish speakers say Negro amongst ourselves and I personally let my allies say it.
Under no circumstances use negrito/a/e. That’s blackie. Never use “Los negros,” that’s “the blacks.” Typically if you say something like “el negro,” one specific black man, the addition of the Spanish “the” is alienating and thus roughly the equivalent of calling someone a hard r slur.
Say “las personas negras” “communidad Negra.”
Persona is a femenine word derived from Latin. It is not necessary to change the word to “persone” to refer to someone nonbinary because the word has just been that way since Roman times and adding an “a” on it doesn’t mean you’re talking about a feminine gendered person.
Pardo in Brazil is a term for someone that's mixed race. Any type of "race mix" but mostly used for white-black mix. You can you both 'preto' and 'negro' for black people. 'negro' is a word mostly used for race, 'preto' is mostly use for the color black, there is some debate regarding if we should use 'preto' or not. I say is fine, (if you're brazilian and thing differently please reblog this).
Under the IBGE (Gorvenamental Institute of Geography and Estatistcs) Negro is everyone who's afrodescendent and has the African phenotype, and is used as a umbrella term that includes 'pardo' and 'preto'.
Brazil colonization was done differently from the USA, everyone in Brazil is mixed (and I fully mean everyone). We don't have the 'one drop rule', we've mixing since the first invasion (mostly by violence), Brazil's transatlantic slave was MASIVE by 18th, black people were 80% of the population, we're the last country in America to abolish slavery in 1888.
There's a LOT of debate to say if 'pardo' is a valid term or not, because was used to separate black people from their identity. Mixing was used as technique to 'whiten' the people so we mostly classify black people by who they look, because everyone has 'black blood' and you have to decide which people are more deserving of humanity of not, so by phenotype you go. By IBGE 45.3% of the population considers themselves as pardo
On this day, 23 July 1967, one of the biggest rebellions in US history occurred in Detroit, following a police raid on a bar in a poor, majority Black area in the early hours of the morning.
Black and white residents fought police in the streets and looted goods while snipers took potshots at officers from windows. Police, National Guard and US troops retaliated with outright brutality and intense violence. By the time it was over, more than 40 people were dead, 7,000 arrested and over 2,000 buildings destroyed.
General Baker, a Black auto worker at the Dodge Main assembly plant in Hamtramck said that he and his colleagues "learnt from the Detroit Rebellion… When the Detroit Rebellion took place, and the National Guard and 101st Airborne was sent in, and they imposed curfew, if you got sick, you couldn’t go to the doctor. If you got hungry, you couldn’t get no food. But if you had a badge from Chrysler, Ford or General Motors, you could get to the police line, the National Guard line, the army line, all of them to take your butt to work. The conclusion we draw from that was that the only place in this society that Black people had any value was at a point of production. That’s why after the rebellion, we turned all our efforts into organising inside the plants."
The following year, Baker and others formed the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), part of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.
Learn more about the group in episodes 61-62 of our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e61-the-league-of-revolutionary-black-workers-in-detroit/
The leftist was involved in the deadly 1972 attack on Lod Airport in Israel, in which 26 people died
24 july 2026 (okamoto's death was announced 23 july)
Kozo Okamoto, a Japanese leftist who took part in a deadly attack on Lod Airport in Israel in 1972 and spent much of his life in Lebanon, has died in Beirut aged 78.
[...]
Okamoto joined two other members of the Japanese Red Army in an attack on Lod Airport, now Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv on 30 May 1972.
The three men arrived on a flight from Europe before retrieving rifles and grenades from their luggage and opening fire. Okamoto’s two comrades died, while Israeli forces wounded and captured him.
The attack, organised with the PFLP, killed 26 people, including 17 Christian pilgrims from Puerto Rico, and eight Israelis.
The PFLP said the operation came in response to Israel’s 1968 assault on Beirut International Airport, during which Israeli commandos destroyed more than a dozen civilian aircraft resulting in widespread international condemnation.
An Israeli court sentenced Okamoto to life imprisonment. Israel released him in 1985 after 12 years as part of a prisoner exchange with Palestinian resistance groups.
While in prison, Okamoto spent much of his sentence in solitary confinement and was forced to “eat from the ground like a dog, with his hands cuffed behind his back,” according to the PFLP.
He later reached Lebanon and received political asylum. Lebanese authorities arrested him and four other Japanese nationals in 1997 over their immigration status.
Beirut returned the other four to Japan in 2000 but allowed Okamoto to remain, repeatedly rejecting Japanese demands for his extradition.
During his Lebanese trial, Okamoto described himself as “an Arab resistance fighter”.
He made a rare public appearance in May 2022 at a Beirut cemetery containing the graves of Palestinian resistance figures, marking 50 years since the airport attack.
The Japanese Red Army emerged in 1971 as an internationalist, far-left group closely connected to the Palestinian struggle. It carried out several overseas operations before eventually disbanding.
Okamoto remained in Lebanon until his death, remembered by supporters across the region as a figure who left his homeland to stand with Palestinians confronting occupation.
all in all I take a complete disarmament and non-proliferation stance on boyfriends. Do not use them. Do not create them. Dismantle the ones you have and repurpose their material for peaceful civilian use. This is the only way the world can know peace
to be clear you SHOULD buy that cast iron pan and you SHOULD buy that knife set and you SHOULD buy that fancy rice cooker and you SHOULD buy that novelty mug. high quality kitchenware is always worth it you’re literally gonna be using that almost every day
In a place where children no longer know what safety feels like, a mother is trying to keep her children alive despite everything 💔
I don’t know how I am still holding on...
My name is Najah, and I am a mother of six children, including newborn twins 👶👶 who need urgent care every single moment.
We are living through extremely difficult days filled with fear, hunger, and the lack of basic necessities 🥺🍞
Sometimes my children go to sleep without enough food, and I stand helpless before their tears because I cannot provide milk, diapers, or medicine for them.
My newborn twins are still so fragile, and their tiny bodies need constant nutrition and care 🍼💔
But our situation has become far beyond my ability to handle, while my other children face hunger, cold, and fear every day.
For many days, we have not received any donations or help, and our situation keeps getting worse with every passing hour.
I try to stay strong for my children, but my heart breaks every night when I see them suffering and I have nothing to protect them with.
Every second now is precious ⏳
Every act of kindness could be the reason my children survive 🙏
I am not asking for the impossible — only for a chance for my children to live safely, stay together, and have hope for another tomorrow.
Please, from the bottom of my heart, do not ignore our suffering 💔
Any small donation could help me buy milk, diapers, food, and medicine for my children.
I am Najah, living with my twin children in a tent. As the tanks approached the area where we are staying, my fear was no longer for myself, but for my two little children who need safety more than anything else. All I hope for is that this danger passes peacefully and that I can protect them from being displaced once again.
Please donate $25, $50, $100, or any amount you can give 🤲
Every contribution, no matter how small, can make a real difference in my children’s lives.
And if you cannot donate, please share our story everywhere you can 📢
Your compassion may reach someone who can save my children before it is too late.
I beg you — stop here, donate, share, and choose kindness before this silence becomes another tragedy for my family.
Thank you to everyone who listened to our pain 🌸
Your kindness today could give my children another chance at life and safety.
Donation link
From the heart of Gaza, we reach out to you with deep pain and a plea for help… amelia romain needs your support for Help Wedad's family in
Plz don't ignore us. With your support and donations, our message of humanity reaches the world and every kind-hearted soul. Every act of kindness gives our family hope and brings us one step closer to rebuilding our lives. ❤️🙏
Plz don't ignore us. Your support and donation are our only hope for rebuilding our lives and moving forward. Every act of kindness brings us one step closer to a better future. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. ❤️🙏
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My name is Nemer, a Palestinian child from Gaza. I will turn thirteen next September. Be… Nemer Omer needs your support for Save our passion
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