Archive for the ‘BLACKS IN EUROPE’ Category
ASO OKE OOO!–THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CLOTH IN THE WORLD !!!!
July 31, 2018
YORUBA MALE ATTIRE! -THE BEST IN THE WORLD-THESE PROUD BLACK MEN RULE THE PLANET WHEN IT COMES TO CLOTHES!
April 6, 2011FROM
OJOGBON AKINWUMNI ISOLA,ORLANDO JULIUS AND HIS BLACKamerikkkan WIFE ADUKE
OBAMA WITH HIS YORUBA FRIENDS IN YORUBA DRESS!
OKO IFEDOLAPO!
Traditional Attire of Nigerian and African Men
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By Philipo
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Surprisingly, most men in Nigeria especially Lagos State wear the traditional Yoruba cloths. This comes in various styles and designs. They have different names depending on the type of design like:
Agbada – this is a 4-piece Nigerian Agbada apparel that is made up of hat, buba, flowing Agbada and pants with embroidery.
Babariga – This is men’s 4-piece African Babariga clothing apparel comprising a Hat, long-sleeved shirt, flowing Buba and pants with embroidery.
3-piece Gbarie outfit. Hand-loomed Aso Oke material with matching embroidery.
They are suitable for special occasions and events. Have you seen what the Nigerian women wear? See this http://hubpages.com/_1rfosdrnucsn9/hub/Glamorous-and-Gorgeous-Yoruba-Nigerian-Women-Dress
“ BEAUTIFUL TO BE BLACK”-A POEM BY SISTER CHARA NYASHIA SANJO AND HER PROFILE!
June 11, 2010
Author Chara NyAshia Sanjo
from yeyeolade.wordpress.com
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL!
DEDICATED TO SAVING BLACKNESS WORLDWIDE!
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“BEAUTIFUL TO BE BLACK” A POEM BY SISTER CHARA NYASHIA SANJO,SUBMITTED BY KYA TO “BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL”
By Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade
“BEAUTIFUL TO BE BLACK”
“It’s beautiful to be black.”
It is the color of strength and pride.
I will say it out loud. I don’t have to hide.
I love me, and the color that I represent.
Look at me, there is nothing like it.
What you see is not an illusion.
It’s a gift from GOD, don’t ever confuse it.
“It’s beautiful to be black.”
It is the color of fame and envy.
If I wasn’t black, I wouldn’t be me.
Black is the color of power and authority.
It is so outstanding, thank you LORD for blessing me.
I’ll shout it to the world, I’m proud of what I am.
Those who are in vain will never understand.
“It’s beautiful to be black”
It is the color of confidence and style.
I have been blessed, by my ancestor from the Nile.
I am scenic from the inside out.
These verses are true, I don’t have any doubt.
There is no one who can change my mind.
Black has been beautiful since the begging of time.
“It’s beautiful to be black.”
It is the color of honor and grace.
This is one thing that cannot be taken away.
By Chara NyAshia Sanjo
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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Black and Beautiful by Hilesha S. Humphreys
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This entry was posted on August 12, 2007 at 3:06 pm and is filed under AFRICA, BLACK CHILDREN, BLACK CULTURE, BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL!, BLACK MEN, BLACK NATIONALISM, BLACK PEOPLE, BLACK WOMEN, THE BLACK RACE. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.
4 Responses to ““BEAUTIFUL TO BE BLACK” A POEM BY SISTER CHARA NYASHIA SANJO,SUBMITTED BY KYA TO “BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL””
The face of Afrika Says:
May 4, 2008 at 2:54 am | Reply edit It is beautiful to be black indeed! I hope you don’t mind if I use your poem on my blog, dedicated to celebrate the beauty of African people and of the African continent. Please check the Website http://www.thefaceofafrika.com and contact us at thefaceofafrika@googlemail.com
jameka little Says:
March 2, 2009 at 5:52 pm | Reply edit love the poem it describes me and the way that i feel, it’s very intresting to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
khadijah Says:
May 19, 2009 at 12:27 am | Reply edit i love the poem i hope it will inspire many
can i use your poem for my group “black is beautiful?”
daijahenry Says:
January 15, 2010 at 6:22 pm | Reply edit i love the poem and i hope other people do to and i hope they love to be black
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from mirrors of expression.com
XHARA NYASHIA SANJO-
Poet, Song Writer and Screenplay/Stage Play Writer
Chara NyAshia Sanjo (born August 27, 1965) is an African American author, poet, song writer and screenplay/stage play writer. She is best know for her novel Reclamation of Africa’s Royalty 323 BC and her inspiring poem “It’s Beautiful to be Black.” She began writing at the age of eleven.
Sanjo was born in Cleveland, OH, as Carla Benita Burton, but decided to reclaim her African name Chara NyAshia Sanjo once she was inspired by the true beauty of African History. Her name translates to (Beautiful African princess of purpose who appreciates her past) Chara, the daughter of Anita Cozzette Moore, a hair dresser and elementary school janitor and Albert Carl Burton whose career is unknown seeing that Chara never established a relationship with her father. Her mother died in 2005 of Lung Cancer.
Chara attended John Adams High School and later transferred and graduated from West Technical High School in Cleveland OH. After high school, she attended and graduated from Cuyahoga Community College with an Associates of Art Degree (liberal arts-music & theater). She later attended and graduated from Myers University with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Information Processing Systems.
Chara had every intention on finishing what she started in the arts but had allowed other to discourage her dreams when she became a statistic as a single parent. From this, she took on various jobs working as a secretary, customer service, fitness instructor and she has also worked in various administrative positions in the Medical Industry to support her son.
Before her mother’s death in 2005, she encouraged Chara to get back into the arts and to write the stories that she so loved. Chara took her mother’s advice and decided that she didn’t want to look back on her life and be a victim of Should of would of could of so she pulled an old novel that she started in 1998 off her book shelf and felt compelled to finish it. Chara dedicated that book to her mother.
In 2007 Chara made many attempts to get her book published, but all she heard was no or not interested. After being turned down, Chara decided to self publish her story because she was determined for the world to hear it. Today we know this novel/stage play as Reclamation of Africa’s Royalty 323 BC.
Chara was determined not to let anyone discourage her from making her dreams a reality. In 2008 she launched her own production company called Chara NyAshia Sanjo’s Entertainment Empire. She completed her first poetry book titled Verses of a Black Voice in 2009.
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COME BACK TO AFRICA FOR THE BLACK HERITAGE FESTIVAL,APRIL 4-11,2010-LAGOS/BADAGARY,NIGERIA!
March 20, 2010
from
from ladybrillanigeria.com
thenationonlineng.net
Lagos prepares for ‘Black Heritage Festival’
By Emmanuel Oladesu Published 3/02/2010 Life Midweek Magazine Rat
For seven days, Lagos State will host the world in April for the historic ‘Black Heritage Festival. The hosts are the people of Badagry Division, the haven of tourism Fin the state. The communities are full of eagerness. The three councils in the area are cooperating with the state government to ensure a hitch-free festival.
Visitors from across the globe will comb the history of horror that made the town memorable. The lamentation of slaves, who passed the town on their way to plantations in distant Europe and America, would be recalled. The return of their descendants to their roots in April will rekindle their attachment to Africa, the most populous African country and largest supplier of the unwilling slaves, and the beauty of the titanic liberation war that shook the universe.
The visitors are expected to pick works of arts and artifacts that gave content to the culture of their forebears before they went into captivity. Many of them will locate the under-development of the Dark Continent in the centuries of disruptions, cultural dislocations, neo-colonialism and lack of reparations.
Governor Babatunde Fashola(SAN) has enumerated the conditions for the success of the third Lagos Black Heritage Festival, urging the royal fathers and people to tap its abundant tourism and economic opportunities.
His Deputy, Princess Sarah Sosan, who is from the division, asked the towns and villages in the three local government area to prepare for the inflow of tourists and visitors from across the federation and abroad into the area.
The commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Rotimi Agunsoye, who represented the number one and two citizens at a stakeholders meeting in the ancient town, said the visitors who will live, eat and interact with local folks expect a “To have a meaningful festival, our environment should be clean. Many people will come from far and near. Not long ago, we came here to clear the gutters. The governor and deputy governor who I am representing here asked me to tell our royal fathers, chiefs and community leaders to mobilise people and ensure a clean environment,” he told the people at Badagry Town Hall.
The Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on General Matters, Prince Sunny Ajose, who highlighted the elements of the festival, said the division would savour the economic boom and project the cultural heritage of the towns and villages.
He expressed concern for the disposition of the communities to the notion of hygiene.
“In the past, Badagry was neat, from Seme to Ajegunle. Population explosion has led to an unclean environment. Refuse dumping is a challenge. Instead of dumping refuse at Ilewo, we want LAWMA to create another dumping site near the Badagry area,” he said.
Ajose warned that, if the atmosphere is not conducive for the visitors, they would relocate to Ikoyi and Eko Hotel where they will buy souvenirs, thereby making the people to lose their patronage.
Programmes slated for the festival include symposium, painting competitions, cultural performance, traditional dances, and ‘fitila’ procession.
Ajose said no township festival would be allowed to coincide with the Black Heritage Festival. He enjoined townspeople to preoccupy themselves with the removal of shanties in the neighbourhood so that the towns could wear a new look.
“We want to showcase what we have, including our masquerades. We have tools for slave trade in the Heritage Festival Museum. Black writers have works on slave trade. They will also come to talk about the trade and its implications for us. They will like to visit Iyana Gberesu, the terminal exit route for the slave trade. We have Oduduwa shrine in Ilogbo. We should improve on what we have to be able to get what we want. We want to prepare for all these and record success so that there will be an improvement next year,” added Ajose.
The traditional ruler, Aholu Menu Toyi of Badagry, Oba Babatunde Akran, said the festival is the responsibility of all, urging his subjects to cooperate with the government to ensure its success.
He enjoined the authorities to conduct training sessions for the school pupils who may be useful as tour guides to the visitors during the programme.
‘The visitors will be in our markets. They want to see how we are living .They want to take photographs with us. We should be good hosts’, he added.
The Alabarin of Ikaare, Oba Kayode Akinyemi, said the onus is on the council chairmen in the division to rise to the occasion and embrace their roles towards making the festival a success.
Another royal father alerted the government to the danger of inadequate medical facilities in the local governments. He said the hospitals in the area lack ambulance facilities. He also said, since April falls within the raining season, flooding may mar the festival because the drainages are bad.
Agunsoye said the government has taken note of these challenges and all these facilities would be in place before the commencement of the festival.
The festival which brings to memory the historic pains of forceful separation of kindred holds in Lagos State at a time of intense campaign for greater exploration of tourism, one of the most neglected sectors of the economy. In the days of yore, the ancient town which served as a route for ferrying the black slaves to Europe and America was thrown into monumental panic .It took the earlier generations a long time to erase the terrible experience from their memory. However, the incident has also become a blessing to the town.
Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka visited Badagry early last month for a meeting with the community leaders and elders on the importance of the carnival and modalities for a successful outcome.
At the weekend meeting presided over by Agunsoye, prominent leaders of Badagry Division took their seats with eagerness. They include Oba Moshood Asafa, Onijanikin of Ijanikin; Oba Oyekan Adekanbi, Alapa of Apa; Oba Olanrewaju Aina, Oloto of Oto; Oba Abedeen Durosinmi, Prince Dele Kosoko, Moses Dosu, Amuda Abidu and Joseph Bamgbose.
Agunsoye congratulated the people for hosting the world for the important event, saying that the division is being immortalised by the focus on it.
“Many years ago, many people suffered for our freedom. Some black men died for us to have today. Badagry is one of the famous routes where our forefathers passed to Europe. It was sad. Now, we are happy. History cannot forget Badagry. That is why we want to discuss how to immortalise the ancient times,” the commissioner said.
He said the governor and deputy governor attach much value to the festival because of its implication for the black community in the world.
The commissioner said they acknowledged the fact that an unclean environment would breed disease, adding that sanitary inspectors would be in the towns to ensure compliance with sanitary rules.
“Our black brothers abroad want to come home to mix with us. But they need a clean environment,” he emphasized.
A LAWMA official told the meeting that: “All households must have dustbins. The PSP will do its work, LAWMA will evacuate the refuse. LAWMA sweepers recruited from Badagry will be on the roads. The ‘street captains’ will distribute refuse nylon to households.”
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2 Responses to “Lagos prepares for ‘Black Heritage Festival’”
kazeem balogun at 18 Feb 2010 2:41:58 PM WAT kazeem balogun Rating: Unrated ( Author/Admin)
said this on 18 Feb 2010 2:41:58 PM WAT
its a welcome development,we shall participate
(Reply to this comment)(Cancel this reply)(Comment Replies Disabled)
EKO1CITY at 19 Mar 2010 8:48:40 PM WAT EKO1CITY Rating: Unr
said this on 19 Mar 2010 8:48:40 PM WAT
Ola Jones Lagos Black Heritage…… nice 1,but, so far i cant connect the vision of the group their objectivity pursuit, pro grammes and strategy I a son of the soil by interest in badagry thus am in total cooperation with any social articulate school of mission that set to project badagry historical value.meanwhile here is an overwhelming challenge, so much is been orchestrated in the median while all the node featuresthat makes the history are not preserve,e.g slave route,harboure,artenuation well and the gbelefu point- of- no- return. etc
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from ladybrillenigeria.com
Home » Events
3rd Annual Lagos Black Heritage Festival 2010
by Ladybrille®Nigeria on March 1, 2010No Comment
3rd Annual Lagos Black Heritage Festival
Place: Badagry Township, Lagos, Badagry
Date: April 4th, 2010
“For over a millennium, African indigenes South of the Sahara have been hunted, bartered, and sold into slavery by European and Arab slavers, often, alas, with the active connivance and participation of Africans themselves. Millions perished even before destination along the Trans-Atlantic route, the Trans-Saharan route, and the Indian Ocean route to Iraq and Persia, now known as Iran.
For centuries, and even till today, many could neither recall nor manifest the slightest interest in their antecedents. By contrast, especially since the latter half of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of descendants of the victims of this execrable commerce have embarked on the return journey home – some in search of their true origins, others in the spirit of a symbolic pilgrimage, and yet others to re-claim and re-settle in their ancestral space. Whichever way, for many, this has proved an emotional but fulfilling experience.
It was in fulfillment of this yearning for the healing of dislocated sense of identity that the Lagos State government instituted, with the support of UNESCO, the Black Heritage Festival in the symbolic town of Badagry, one of the more infamous departure points, with surviving landmarks, a Festival that seeks to enshrine the place of Memory in the history of peoples, and to celebrate survival and the resilience of the human will.
The third, 2010 edition of this Festival, appropriately billed as MEMORY AND PERFORMANCE IN THE RETURN TO SOURCE, is planned to raise this awareness to new heights, broaden and deepen the linkage between the African continent and its Diaspora. . .”
Visit Lagos Black Heritage Festival.org for more info.
You might also like:
Abuja Food Festival 2009
Lagos Carnival 2010 – April 3rd-5th, 2010
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from ladybrillenigeria.com
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY WITH THE LAGOS BLACK HERITAGE FESTIVAL
Feb 22nd, 2010 | By Ayo Peters | Category: LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS, TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
The 17th century will forever remain in the hearts of Africans. This was when its history was taken backwards through a trade that was inimical to its growth – Slave Trade.
The Slave Trade (known as the trans-Atlantic slave trade) started with the exportation of blacks to Europe by Portugal in the 15th century. Other European countries like Spain, Netherlands, Britain, Denmark etc soon followed suit. It was not until the 17th century however that the trade got to North America. It was there that it gained real currency.
Thus, in 1619, a Dutch warship brought the first cargo of twenty blacks to Virginia in the then British colony called New World.
Consequent upon the traffic in blacks, scores of black men and women were separated from their African homes and carried into the New World before the Slave Trade was ended. Although a lot of black men like Olaudah Equiano, Candido da Rocha, Samuel Johnson, Mojola Agbebi and others regained their freedom and found their way back to Nigeria, millions were totally separated from their families.
These Africans were not slaves but were made to work in an environment where they were referred to as slaves. Back in Africa, these men were free and respected farmers and herdsmen, craftsmen skilled in pottery and weaving, wood-carving, and blacksmiths. Some of these Africans brought out of the continent against their will were traders and hunters, musicians and dancers, poets and sculptors. Many were princes and warriors, feudal chiefs, rulers of kingdoms and empires.
These important men of African descent were taken to Europe and the New World through ports marshaled by these European masters. A lot of these slave ports existed in West Africa but some stood out. These were: Goree Island (Senegal), Whydah (Benin Republic), Elmina (Ghana) and Badagry (Nigeria).
The slave port in Badagry was notorious because hordes of Africans were taken through it. Little wonder, this port was dubbed: “Point of no Return.”
One Nigerian who suffered greatly as a result of the slave trade was Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano). Gustavus Vassa was born in the ancient Benin Kingdom in 1745. He was kidnapped from his family and sold into slavery. He was later sold again to traders and chained on a slave ship bound for America. He passed on to a Virginia planter, and then, to a British naval officer, and finally to a Philadelphia merchant who gave him the chance to buy his freedom. In his autobiography, ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African,’ he narrated some of the ordeals he and his fellow African brothers went through on shore to the New World. For instance, a black man was flogged while on deck so unmercifully with a large rope that he died in consequence of it. Olaudah wrote that some of his countrymen were chained together and when they were weary, preferred death to such a life of misery and somehow, “made through the nettings and jumped into sea.”
The narrative by Gustavus Vassa was a fraction of the hardships blacks were made to undergo in the New World and in Europe. Many blacks died as a result of this hardship. Slaves like Nat Turner and John Brown who revolted were murdered in cold blood while one of the most brilliant Americans of the nineteenth century who started his life as a slave on a Maryland plantation, Frederick Douglas, in his autobiography asked: “Why am I a slave? Why are some people slaves and others masters? How did the relation commence? He wrote that he didn’t know he was a slave until he found out he couldn’t do the things he wanted.
Indeed, not having anything to say about the use of your own time and labour is probably what makes you feel bad. This is the absence of freedom. As providence would have it, that is all gone; total history.
Slavery and slave trade have been abolished after series of protests here and there and the great grandsons of former slaves have now become free men in Europe, Caribbean, and North America. These men after careful study, based on the ‘reign of terror’ of the slave port in Badagry, have decided to remember their roots, history, culture, and land of their forebears by celebrating the Lagos Black Heritage Festival.
Logically, Badagry is the preferred host as it is poised to hoist the Third Lagos Black Heritage Festival starting from the 3rd of April, this year.
Badagry, it will be recalled, was the departure route of these ‘slaves’. Once they got to Badagry, they were certain they would not return to their homes.
Today, Badagry still retains a lot of slavery artifacts. This includes one of the largest slave markets – Vlekete slave market – in West Africa. Here, slaves were sold at competitive prices. Hence, most countries that traded in slaves had their forts in Badagry. This included Portugal, Britain, Spain, Brazil, France and the Netherlands.
The Mobee slave relic is another of the artifacts that survived the infamous trade. It is housed by the Mobee family. We also have the Seriki Abbas compound, the Egbado-born businessman, who settled in Badagry and partook greatly of the obnoxious business.
In truth, the Lagos Black Heritage Festival has come to stay. This feat was achieved by the Lagos state government and the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to Emeritus Professor, Wole Soyinka, the third edition of the Black Heritage Festival “seeks to enshrine the place of memory in the history of peoples, and to celebrate survival and the resilience of the human will.”
The third edition, which starts on April 3rd, this year, is tagged: Memory and Performance in the Return to Source, has been planned to broaden and deepen the linkage between the African continent and its Diaspora. In the words of Soyinka, “this will be effected through a focus on the lives and works of three eminent representatives of, and close collaborators in this racial mission… pan-Africanist and cultural activist, Aime Cesaire; prime mover of the Journal Presence Africaine, and the publishing house of that name, Alioune Diop; and statesman, Leopold Sedar Senghor.”
Badagry local government is leaving no stone unturned towards ensuring that Badagry had a hitch-free festival. Accordingly, the local government has ensured its cleaning every day.
Most residents of Badagry are eager to see the D-day. Hon. Husitode Moses Dosu, the executive chairman of Badagry local government says the “Lagos Black Heritage Festival connotes a return to the source.”
Activities lined up for the festival includes a symposium, feature films, documentaries, a book exhibition, contemporary art, theatre, concerts, traditional and modern dances, a boat regatta, a Children’s Heritage Village and African tradition games.
We await this reconnection, revaluation, and revindication.
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December 29, 2009 — CHAIRMAN DOLES OUT BURSARY AWARD TO BADAGRY STUDENTS (0)
November 19, 2009 — Group Gives Free Medical Services to Patients in Badagry (0)
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September 16, 2009 — Unite in Badagry – Chairman Tells Badagry (0)
September 11, 2009 — PDP GROUP DEFECTS TO ACTION CONGRESS IN BADAGRY (1)
September 9, 2009 — Hon. Husitode Moses Dosu Reconstructs Badagry Roads (1)
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September 3, 2009 — Badagry Chairman Honoured As Best Performing Local Government Chairman In Lagos State (4)
Tags: a boat regatta, a Children’s Heritage Village, African tradition games, Alioune Diop prime mover of the Journal Presence Africaine, Badagry Local Government, Badagry Nigeria, book exhibition, Brazil, Britain, Candido da Rocha, concerts, contemporary art, documentaries, Elmina Ghana, Emeritus Professor Wole Soyinka, feature films, France, Frederick Douglas autobiography, Goree Island Senegal, Hon. Husitode Moses Dosu, John Brown, Lagos Black Heritage Festival, Lagos state government, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Memory and Performance in the Return to Source, Mobee slave relic, Mojola Agbebi, Nat Turner, Netherlands, Olaudah Equiano Gustavus Vassa autobiography, pan-Africanist and cultural activist Aime Cesaire, Point of no Return, Portugal, Samuel Johnson, Seriki Abbas, Spain, symposium, theatre, traditional and modern dances, United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Vlekete slave market, Whydah Benin Republic
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uzoh hilary March 5th, 2010 9:21 pm :
as a fashion designer and loving arts i like to participate in the black heritage festival. so please can you detail me on the event. thank you.
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from travelintelligence .com
The Badagry Route by Pelu Awofeso
Anyone can understand why callers to the slave ports at Elmina (Ghana), Goree (Senegal) and Ouidah (Benin) weep and wail after they have walked round the remains of the transatlantic slave trade in those regions. To even see images on the screen is enough to affect the senses sorely. The Black Heritage Museum—just opened to tourists in palm-and-coconut-rich Badagry, western Lagos—is another of the kind. Maybe the place won’t stir you to tears, but after going in and out, then up and down its nine galleries, it is certain to make any visitor sober.
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Nigeria, which helped with the research and installation, displays sketches, sculptures, photos, documents and dated shackles to tell the touching tale of over 300 years of ‘trading’ of which the African people were the ‘goods’.
We are now inside the building and this ad published in 1784 in the U.S. stares me in the face: “NEGROS FOR SALE: a cargo of very fine stout men and women, in good order and fit for immediate service, just imported from the windward coast of Africa…” Another in New Orleans, this time in 1835 described its ‘ware’ in detail: Chole…aged 36 years. She is without exception, one of the most competent servants in the country, a first-rate washer and ironer, does up lace, a good cook, and for a bachelor who wishes a housekeeper she would be invaluable. She is also a good ladies maid, having travelled to the north in that capacity.”
One learns a typical slave’s safari goes something like this: A freeborn is kidnapped, captured at war or despatched to a creditor to offset a debt. He is kept in custody and made to do simple menial duties at first. A time comes when a white businessman, sailing across from the west, seeks out the community’s head and demands for people to serve him and his wealthy colleagues back on their own soil. He proffers gins, guns and some other processed goods in exchange.
The deal sounds sensible enough and both parties come to an agreement. So starts the tortuous trip of an unfortunate African, the fall guy of unfeeling men (much later, markets were established to service the rising need for cheap human labour). He never travels alone; there are thousands of them at any occasion, group-chained, flogged to submission and silence, and ‘arranged’ in ships in patterns that guarantee little breathing space and more anguish. Not all of them survived. The dead were tossed overboard.
Sons and daughters, too, no matter how underaged, were hauled across the Atlantic from the African coast to the New World. The survivors were later put on kegs and boxes and auctioned like articles at Sotheby’s. Once sold, they toiled on the cotton, sugarcane or rice fields of their white masters—and it was almost round the clock—with the cruellest of punishments administered to those who attempted to bail (one exhibit shows a dog, purposely trained, biting at the throat of one). Others worked as domestic hands. There is more inside what used to be the District Officer’s administrative block in the colonial years and is a three-minute stroll from the white structure earmarked as the first storey building in Nigeria.
The opening of the museum in August 2002 put the inhabitants in the mood for the second Black Heritage Festival, said to be styled after Ghana’s decade-old Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) and organised to conform to UNESCO’s ‘Slave Routes Project’. Lagos State Waterfront and Tourism Development Corporation, the planners, intends for the festival with time to pep up the tourism receipts of Nigeria’s most commercialised city; for the time being, though, it is finding a sure footing and winning more participants from the Diaspora each year that are the goals.
Day four of the festival was all traditional stuff: The dozen delegates, all of them living in the U.S., had to go through a ceremony of ‘ethnic adoption and traditional robbing’ to choose the local names they wished to bear henceforth. Two home priests in the full glare of the town’s royal head, the Akran of Badagry, conducted that. The idea is not for the new names to replace the initial, but for the recipient to either add them on or to “keep it close to my heart”. The naming was performed with honey, sugarcane, salt, kola, and the other regulars in day-to-day Yoruba naming rites.
The Yoruba in Nigeria look to the Ifa for the same reasons Christians and Moslems search through the Holy Books. No move is made without consulting it. It gave its consent to the names the home comers preferred. At different times during the festival, the kola nut and bitter kola were tossed in another form of customary inquest. Each result turned out a pleasant omen: The land of Badagry agreed with the coming of Mayor Hawkins and co.
Badagry today is a smiling and struggling population of close to two hundred thousand. The Atlantic Ocean, its bane for centuries, flows subtly and quietly; the breeze still blows over it-and onto the mainland, and one can still sight natives paddling away in their canoes in the distance. The one thing it needs now is a rise in stature. The New Nigerians may well make that happen, because already, the group has promised to revisit its scholarship promise to the community’s bright minds; the other project will be to erect another impressive monument to the slave trade a la the ‘Point of no Return’.
The Akran, on behalf of the people, has promised pieces of land to the new natives, because they need, he says, to have their own homes—one they can come to whenever they please.
See all travel writing by Pelu Awofeso.
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from 234next.com
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5527680-146/story.csp
Council mobilises for Lagos Black Heritage Festival
February 16, 2010 10:38PM
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The Oto/Awori Local Council Development Area says it will mobilise the people to showcase their rich culture at the forthcoming 3rd Lagos Black Heritage Cultural Festival scheduled for April 3- 9.
The festival themed, “Lagos/Badagry 2010”, is aimed at celebrating the creativity of Lagos State in dance, music and theatre regatta.
The Council Chairman, Bolaji Kayode, told News Agency of Nigeria in Badagry on Tuesday that the Council’s contingent had been fully prepared for the festival.
“Our participation in the festival is part of Oto/Awori LCDA’s commitment to promoting arts and culture. We will mobilise our people to feature in the festival particularly in Gelede and Ajegbo events,” he said.
Mr. Kayode expressed the hope that the council’s contingent would lift the laurels in the two events.
The organisers said the festival would be a forum for showcasing Africa’s diverse cultural heritage. The maiden edition of the festival was held in 2001 and was declared open by the former governor of the state, Bola Tinubu.
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from punchng.com
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100319035970
Lagos Black Heritage: A festival of reconnection, revaluation
By Mudiaga Affe, Published: Friday, 19 Mar 2010
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka
Inspired by the spirit of convergence for which the most populous state in Nigeria remains pre-eminent, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said that the forthcoming Lagos Black Heritage Festival would be an event of reconnection, revaluation and re-vindication.
Speaking on the festival tagged, Memory and Performance in the return to Source, Soyinka said, in a statement obtained by our correspondent in Lagos, that the event would celebrate the creativity of Lagos within a ”Carnivalesque of tradition and contemporary dance.”
The LBHF, which holds between April 3 and 9, 2010, is an initiative of the Lagos State Government.
According to Soyinka, the LBHF is a seven-day cultural manifestation during which hundreds of performers will animate the ancient city of Badagry and cosmopolitan Lagos in a blend of the traditional and the modern.
On the theme of the festival, Soyinka, who is the Festival Coordinator, explained that for over a millennium, African indigenes South of the Sahara were hunted, bartered, and sold into slavery by European and Arab slavers often with the active connivance of Africans themselves.
”Millions perish even before their destination along the Trans-Atlantic route and the Indian Ocean route to Iraq and Persia, now known as Iran. For centuries, and even till date, many could neither recall nor manifest the slightest interest in their antecedents.
”By contrast, especially since the latter half of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of descendants of victims of this execrable commerce have embarked on the return journey home – some in search of their true origins, others in the spirit of symbolic pilgrimage, and yet others to reclaim and resettle in their ancestral space. Whichever way, for many, this has proved emotional, but with fulfilling experience,” he said.
He said that it was in fulfillment of this yearning for the healing of dislocated sense of identity that the Lagos State Government instituted, with the support of the United Nations‘ Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the Black Heritage Festival in the symbolic town of Badagry.
The playwright said the Lagos State Government plans to serve the discerning palates from within the country, the continent and the Diaspora of the Caribbean and Americas.
One of the highlights of the Lagos-Badagry 2010 is a painting competition featuring artists drawn from Nigeria and the rest of the world.
An international jury will decide which of the 25 finalists will be rewarded in the Gold, Silver and Bronze categories which go with the award of $20,000, $15,000 and $10,000 respectively.
Comments :
Lagos Black Heritage…… nice 1, but, so far i cant connect the vision of the group their objectivity pursuit, pro grammes and strategy I a son of the soil by interest in badagry thus am in total cooperation with any social articulate school of mission that set to project badagry historical value. meanwhile here is overwhelming challenge, so much is been orchestrated in the median meanwhile all the node features that makes the history are not preserve,e.g slave route,harboure,artenuation
Posted by: eko1city , on Friday, March 19, 2010
Report this comment
The slogan makes no sense to me. What is Lagos black heritage? I’ll rather call it ’Lagos reborn of African Heritage’. It makes more sense and gives me something to look forward to. I do not want to use the slogan of racisim, because that is the way they will call it in a land where there are other colours.
Posted by: Enitan Onikoyi , on Friday, March 19, 2010
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from
http://lagosblackheritagefestival.org/
HISTORY
THE LOGO
THE TEAM
Welcome to the Official Website of the 3rd Lagos Black Heritage Festival!
For over a millennium, African indigenes South of the Sahara have been hunted, bartered, and sold into slavery by European and Arab slavers, often, alas, with the active connivance and participation of Africans themselves. Millions perished even before destination along the Trans-Atlantic route, the Trans-Saharan route, and the Indian Ocean route to Iraq and Persia, now known as Iran…
More >>
The First Edition of Caterina de’ Medici Painting Award took place in Florence in year 2002. Three Nigerian Artists participated. One of these artists, Olubunmi Ogundare emerged as one of the best ten of the world-wide competitors!
More >>
Présence Africaine
Présence africaine is a panafrican quarterly cultural, political, and literary revue, published in Paris and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, Présence africaine expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore on the rue des Écoles in the Latin Quarter of Paris. As a journal, it was highly influential in the Panafricanist movement, the decolonisation struggle of former French colonies, and the birth of the Négritude movement.
More >>
**********************************************
The Black Orpheus
HISTORY
THE LOGO
THE TEAM
For over a millennium, African indigenes South of the Sahara have been hunted, bartered, and sold into slavery by European and Arab slavers, often, alas, with the active connivance and participation of Africans themselves. Millions perished even before destination along the Trans-Atlantic route, the Trans-Saharan route, and the Indian Ocean route to Iraq and Persia, now known as Iran.
For centuries, and even till today, many could neither recall nor manifest the slightest interest in their antecedents. By contrast, especially since the latter half of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of descendants of the victims of this execrable commerce have embarked on the return journey home – some in search of their true origins, others in the spirit of a symbolic pilgrimage, and yet others to re-claim and re-settle in their ancestral space. Whichever way, for many, this has proved an emotional but fulfilling experience.
It was in fulfillment of this yearning for the healing of dislocated sense of identity that the Lagos State government instituted, with the support of UNESCO, the Black Heritage Festival in the symbolic town of Badagry, one of the more infamous departure points, with surviving landmarks, a Festival that seeks to enshrine the place of Memory in the history of peoples, and to celebrate survival and the resilience of the human will.
The third, 2010 edition of this Festival, appropriately billed as MEMORY AND PERFORMANCE IN THE RETURN TO SOURCE, is planned to raise this awareness to new heights, broaden and deepen the linkage between the African continent and its Diaspora.
This will be effected through a focus on the lives and works of three eminent representatives of, and close collaborators in this racial mission, all three now ancestral figures: the Martiniquan poet, dramatist, pan-Africanist and cultural activist, Aime Cesaire; prime mover of the journal Presence Africaine, and the publishing house of that name, Alioune Diop (whose centennial anniversary comes up in the year 2010, and the poet, essayist, and statesman Leopold Sedar Senghor. With this emphasis, a further step is taken to diminish the fragmentations in a common race heritage that were created through colonization under competing European cultures on African soil.
The three ancestors led a closely intertwined career. Cesaire, it will be recalled, was a principal midwife, in company of Leopold Sedar Senghor and others, of the philosophy of Negritude, the Beingness of Black. In addition to the performance of Cesaire’s plays and readings from his poetry, rare archival material from Alioune Diop’s pioneering journal, Presence Africaine, of which Aime Cesaire was also past president, will be placed on exhibition for the first time in this country. At the same time, Lagos State pays tribute also to the late President Leopold Sedar Senghor who was the inspiration and spearhead of the first ever international Negro Arts Festival (1966), the second edition of which the late Alioune Diop, served as Secretary-General and principal organizer. That second edition was called the Black and African Arts Festival, 1977, better known as FESTAC.
Buffered by a symposium, films, documentaries, a book exhibition, a gallery of contemporary art, music, theatre, concerts, traditional and contemporary dances, a boat regatta, a Children’s Heritage Village and African traditional games, not omitting from the Nigerian Film industry, this promises to be THE cultural event to round off the first decade of the millennium. The City of a Thousand Masks – Lagos – will herself be a player in the events, since the Festival programme will feature a unique competition – in association with the Caterina de’ Medici Foundation – where artists of African descent will vie for the ultimate laurel with their painterly impression on the theme CITY OF A THOUSAND MASKS, a contest that will be held before a live audience.
To sum up, a Festival of RECONNECTION, REVALUATION, REVINDICATION – this is the feast that Lagos State plans to serve up to discerning palates from within the country, the continent, and the Diaspora of the Caribbean and the Americas.
HISTORY
THE LOGO
THE TEAM
The Activities for the 3rd Lagos Black Heritage Festival include:
PAINTING COMPETITION
(Collaboration with Catarina de Medici).
DRAMA / THEATRE
This segment will feature 3 plays:
– King Christophe
– A Season in the Congo
– Ireke Onibudo
Children’s play
DRAMA
CULTURAL PERFORMANCES
MUSIC
The Musical segment of the LBHF celebrates the indigenous Music and Culture of Lagos, Nigeria and the Black World. The segment encompasses every style associated with the city of Lagos. A wide scope indeed as Lagos State represents Nigeria and essentially the Black World.
From Traditional music to Contemporary – Juju to Afro Caribbean.
Ayo Bankole
Steve Rhodes Voices
Lagbaja
Seun Kuti
Fatai Rolling Dollar (Guest Appearance).
Tunji Oyelana – Guest Artist.
Fuji
(Kwam1 / Obesere/ Pasuma )
Apala
(Musiliu Isola / Apala-Porto-Novo)
Hip-Hop
(D Banj, 9ice)
Agidigbo (Eko)
Gbedu Oba (Eko)
CHILDRENS’ HERITAGE VILLAGE
(to be directed by Jimi Solanke).
DANCE & MASQUERADES
– Contemporary Dance
– ATUNDA Dance
Traditional
Ajogan (Badagry King’s Procession).
Vodun (Badagry)
Sato (Badagry)
Bolojo (Badagry/Ijio/Eko)
Obitun (Ile-Oluji/Ondo)
Bata (Lagos/Oyo)
Dundun (Lagos/Oyo)
Ijo Apeja (Epe)
Nyok (Calabar)
Ekombi (Calabar)
Sokorowo (Owo-all female troupe)
Fitila Procession
The sombre Remembrance procession.
Nasarawa Contingent
Masquerades
Zangbeto (Badagry)
Gelede (Badagry)
Eyo (Eko)
Ekpe (Akwa-Ibom)
Igunnuko (Eko)
GALA NIGHT
FILM SHOWS
-> Roots
-> Amazing Grace
CHILDREN’S THEATRE
FITILA PROCESSION
OLOKUN FESTIVAL
OPENING CEREMONY
CLOSING CEREMONY
CLOSING CONCERT
FOOD FAIR
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL GAMES
AFRICAN FASHION /LAGOS HAIR SHOW
ART & CRAFT ZONE
Crafts Artisans from the Lagos region of Nigeria and from around the world converge at Festival Crafts zone to demonstrate and sell their works. It is held at various locations around Badagry, Lagos and other selected locations around Lagos State.
Display Hours are 10am to 9pm.
SYMPOSIUM
The Lagos Black Heritage Festival Symposium creates a forum of Intellectual discourse of themes related to black history, heritage and the relevance of memory to contemporary concerns.
EXHIBITIONS
(a). Presence Africaine – Books Exhibition.
(b). Slavery Objects
HISTORY
THE LOGO
THE TEAM
Wole Soyinka
For over a millennium, African indigenes South of the Sahara have been hunted, bartered, and sold into slavery by European and Arab slavers, often, alas, with the active connivance and participation of Africans themselves. Millions perished even before destination along the Trans-Atlantic route, the Trans-Saharan route, and the Indian Ocean route to Iraq and Persia, now known as Iran. For centuries, and even till today, many could neither recall nor manifest the slightest interest in their antecedents. By contrast, especially since the latter half of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of descendants of the victims of this execrable commerce have embarked on the return journey home – some in search of their true origins, others in the spirit of a symbolic pilgrimage, and yet others to re-claim and re-settle in their ancestral space. Whichever way, for many, this has proved an emotional but fulfilling experience.
It was in fulfillment of this yearning for the healing of dislocated sense of identity that the Lagos State government instituted, with the support of UNESCO, the Black Heritage Festival in the symbolic town of Badagry, one of the more infamous departure points, with surviving landmarks, a Festival that seeks to enshrine the place of Memory in the history of peoples, and to celebrate survival and the resilience of the human will. The third, 2010 edition of this Festival, appropriately billed as MEMORY AND PERFORMANCE IN THE RETURN TO SOURCE, is planned to raise this awareness to new heights, broaden and deepen the linkage between the African continent and its Diaspora. This will be effected through a focus on the lives and works of three eminent representatives of, and close collaborators in this racial mission, all three now ancestral figures: the Martiniquan poet, dramatist, pan-Africanist and cultural activist, Aime Cesaire; prime mover of the journal Presence Africaine, and the publishing house of that name, Alioune Diop (whose centennial anniversary comes up in the year 2010, and the poet, essayist, and statesman Leopold Sedar Senghor. With this emphasis, a further step is taken to diminish the fragmentations in a common race heritage that were created through colonization under competing European cultures on African soil.
The three ancestors led a closely intertwined career. Cesaire, it will be recalled, was a principal midwife, in company of Leopold Sedar Senghor and others, of the philosophy of Negritude, the Beingness of Black. In addition to the performance of Cesaire’s plays and readings from his poetry, rare archival material from Alioune Diop’s pioneering journal, Presence Africaine, of which Aime Cesaire was also past president, will be placed on exhibition for the first time in this country. At the same time, Lagos State pays tribute also to the late President Leopold Sedar Senghor who was the inspiration and spearhead of the first ever internastional Negro Arts Festival (1966), the second edition of which the late Alioune Diop, served as Secretary-General and principal organizer. That second edition was called the Black and African Arts Festival, 1977, better known as FESTAC.
Buffered by a symposium, films, documentaries, a book exhibition, a gallery of contemporary art, music, theatre, concerts, traditional and contemporary dances, a boat regatta, a Children’s Heritage Village and African traditional games, not omitting from the Nigerian Film industry, this promises to be THE cultural event to round off the first decade of the millennium. The City of a Thousand Masks – Lagos – will herself be a player in the events, since the Festival programme will feature a unique competition – in association with the Caterina de Medici Foundation – where artists of African descent will vie for the ultimate laurel with their painterly impression on the theme CITY OF A THOUSAND MASKS, a contest that will be held before a live audience.
To sum up, a Festival of RECONNECTION, REVALUATION, REVINDICATION – this is the feast that Lagos State plans to serve up to discerning palates from within the country, the continent, and the Diaspora of the Caribbean and the Americas.
Wole Soyinka
Emeritus Professor in Literature
Obafemi Awolowo University
Nobel Laurette in Literature 1986
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“THE BLACK,FIRST EUROPEANS: AFRICAN SLAVS,AFRICAN CELTS-EDITED BY OGU EJI EFO ANNU-FROM AFRICANRESOURCE.COM
May 30, 2009from african resource.com
The Black (First) Europeans: African Slavs, African Celts – Edited by Ogu Eji Ofo Annu
The Black (First) Europeans: African Slavs, African Celts
Compiled and Edited by Ogu Eji Ofo Annu
April 14, 2008
Reconstructing the phylogeny of African
mitochondrial DNA lineages in Slavs
To elucidate the origin of African-specific mtDNA lineages, revealed previously in Slavonic populations (at frequency of about 0.4%), we completely sequenced eight African genomes belonging to haplogroups L1b, L2a, L3b, L3d and M1 gathered from Russians, Czechs, Slovaks and Poles. Results of phylogeographic analysis suggest that at least part of the African mtDNA lineages found in Slavs (such as L1b, L3b1, L3d) appears to be of West African origin, testifying to an opportunity of their occurrence as a result of migrations to Eastern Europe through Iberia. However, a prehistoric introgression of African mtDNA lineages into Eastern Europe (approximately 10 000 years ago) seems to be probable only for Europeanspecific subclade L2a1a, defined by coding region mutations at positions 6722 and 12903 and detected in Czechs and Slovaks. Further studies of the nature of African admixture in gene pools of Europeans require the essential enlargement of databases of African complete mitochondrial genomes. See: Boris A Malyarchuk et. al “Reconstructing the phylogeny of African mitochondrial DNA lineages in Slavs,” European Journal of Human Genetics 9 April 2008;
Genetic Distance
However of all the non-African populations, Europeans are most closely related to Africans. As the genetic distance from Africa to Europe (16.6) is shorter than the genetic distance from Africa to East Asia (20.6) and even much shorter than the Genetic distance from Africa to Australia. Cavalli-Sforza proposes that the simplest explanation for this short genetic distance is that substantial gene exchange has taken place between the nearby continents. Cavalli-Sforza also proposes that both Asian and African populations contributed to the settlement of Europe which began 40 000 years ago. The overall contributions from Asia and Africa were estimated to be around two-thirds and one-third, respectively. Europe has a genetic variation in general of about a third of that of other continents. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_history_of_Europe
Neolithic Farmers
It is a further surprise that the Epipalaeolithic Natufian of Israel from whom the Neolithic realm was assumed to arise has a clear link to Sub-Saharan Africa. … The data treated here support the idea that the Neolithic moved out of the Near East into the circum-Mediterranean areas and Europe by a process of demic diffusion but that subsequently the in situ residents of those areas, derived from the Late Pleistocene inhabitants, absorbed both the agricultural life way and the people who had brought it. See: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/103/1/242
Bohemia
“In its former name, Csechkoslovakia, is preserved the racial roots, Slav. Two countries were formed from the breakup of that country: Slovakia, and the Csech Republic; it’s identity now lost in the new appelation.
But, both hide the more ancient and more original name of Csechkoslovakia which was Bohemia. Bohemia the name given the land by the incursive Germanic tribes who found African (by phenotype) Celts calling themselves the Boii. And, from that tribal name the land they lived on was called by the Germans, Bohemia.
In its original, earliest, and longest phase (Africans were there from paleolithic times), it was African. See Marc Washington: @ http://www.beforebc.de/all_europe/02-16-800-00-18.html; http://www.beforebc.de/all_europe/05-09-100-00-01.html
You are reading Rasta Livewire. For all things Africa, visit AfricaResource: The Place for Africa on the Net.
Related Posts:
The First (Black) Europeans: The Original Africans Of Europe – By – Oguejiofo Annu
The Roots of Afro-Europe: Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b1*, Cro-magnons, and Afro-Europeans – Dana Marniche
Human Diversity: Pale Skin/Black Genes
African Genetics Revisited: Europeans are genetically inferior to Africans
Black Like The Ancient Europeans: The Black (First) Europeans
Original West Africans Of Ancient Greece!!! The Black (First) Europeans III
The Fake Englanders
The Nigerian/Ethiopian Roots Of the Ancient Greeks – Edited By – Jide Uwechia
The Forgotten People:The African Origin Of China Part 1 – By: Lauren K. Clark
Pale Skin/Black Genes: African Tribes of Europe
Posted in Articles, Prophet, Rastas.
By Don Jaide April 27, 2008
4 Responses
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Dathi Mac Ghille Chulainn said
on April 28, 2008 I am an Irish Canadian, I have been to the Motherland five times and I have always felt that Ireland is very closely related to Africa. Do you know the story about Scota, daughter of Pharaoh Nectanebo?
terrell ali bey said
on August 6, 2008 you are right ,may you share the reality with the people,she is an egyption princess who went to southern ireland 3500 4000 years ago.,when they tell they coded story of st patrick kicking out the snakes in ireland the snakes were the moors in reality,in legend they said snakes.
terrell ali bey said
on August 6, 2008 http://indigo.ie~marrya/scota.html …………………..this should help everyone overstand scota,an how she was killed.its good reading .if you dont get it just put it in the search.peace to brother jahdey
Dana said
on August 29, 2008 I had also read somewhere that her name has something to do with the name of the Goddess Sekhet or Sekhmat.
When early Brits said black Irish it was apparently literal. It did not mean “Spaniard” or “tanned” as some American Irish like to say. The same goes for Scotland’s early blacks. I found this passage in J. A Rogers book, NATURE KNOWS NO COLOR LINE, published 1952.
“MacRitchie adds that ‘the legends and the history of the Scottish highlands are both witnesses to the existence of a purely black people there.’ Boswell and Dr. Johnson saw descendants of these black people when they visited Scotland. In his “Journey to the Hebrides, September 1, 1773, Boswell wrote of one clan, the McCraes, ’some were as black and wild in their appearance as any American savages, whatsoever.’ Martin who had visited these Western Islands eighty years before Boswell said of the people of Jura, “black of complexion ,’ of Islay, ‘generally black’. and of Arran, ‘generally brown and some of a black complexion. ”
The quote from David MacRitchie came from the book, Ancient and Modern Britons, published in 1926. MacRitchie a British archeologist also said “So late as the tenth century three of these provinces were wholly black and the supreme ruler of them became for a time the paramount king of Transmarine Scotland…….We know as ah historical fact tha nigher El Dubh has lived and reigned over certain black divisions of our islands – and probably white divisions also – and that a race known as the sons the Black succeded him in history….. p. 32. This is on page 70 of Roger’s book.
The name Douglass is supposedly derived from the word Dubh – as in Dublin?!
The quote from Boswell according to the book is from the book, WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND, a 1934 reprint of edition from the year 1703, see pp. 236, 272.
The Headwear of Beautiful Black Yoruban/ Nigerian Women!!
May 15, 2009 These ladies do style, they are about class. They are ready to flaunt.
They’ve come prepared to show their
hats off. Brace yourself for the most
beautiful and vibrant, bright set of
colors. Oh, and the styles of the headwraps will make you want to
go purchase scarves for them.
It’s like a festival. It will make you want to dance, just maybe.
It’s a parade of glorious scarf hats.
The hats are so beautiful it will make
you lose gravity, just kidding, but they
are really really gorgeous.
WANT TO SET UP AN INDEPENDENT BLACK SCHOOL WHERE EVER YOU ARE IN WHITELAND? CHECK OUR THE COUNCIL OF INDEPENDENT BLACK INSTITUTIONS(CIBI.COM)-THEY WILL SHOW YOU HOW!
April 9, 2009from cibi.com
BLACK CHILDREN EVERYWHERE NEED BLACK SCHOOLS TO TEACH THEM THE TRUE BLACK HISTORY AND TEACH THEM THAT THEY ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN IN THE WORLD!
About the Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI)
Founded in 1972, the Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI) is an umbrella organization for independent Afrikan-centered schools and individuals who are advocates for Afrikan-centered education. CIBI members are found primarily throughout the United States. Most of our institutional members are full-time Afrikan-centered independent schools. Our institutional membership also includes a number of part-time and supplementary schools. These schools enroll students at all levels from pre-kindergarten through secondary. The heaviest concentration, however, is at the elementary level.
CIBI activities include:
• Bi-annual conferences (in odd numbered years) designed to educate members of the Afrikan community about issues and prospects in Afrikan-centered education in general and specifically in CIBI. Unlike the convention, the conference is open to the public;
• Bi-annual conventions (in even numbered years) provide educators from CIBI schools and elsewhere opportunities to share information on curricula and other Afrikan centered education related matters. CIBI also installs its incoming Ndundu (leadership council) members during its convention;
• The Walimu Development Institute (WDI) attracts teachers in CIBI schools as well as CIBI home schools. CIBI also organizes intensive, on-site workshops for African-centered educators;
• Semi-annual publication of a newsletter, FUNDISHA! TEACH!, provides a forum for curriculum innovations, book reviews, news about member schools and other features pertaining to people of Afrikan ancestry.
• Annual Science Expositions held each year in April. During each Science Expo, children from the various member schools have an opportunity to display their science projects in a uniquely non-competitive environment in which they are evaluated according to criteria based upon the Nguzo Saba.
• A speakers’ bureau;
• An alumni association for graduates of CIBI institutions;
• Consultation and technical assistance to those operating or wishing to open independent Afrikan-centered schools. Services are also available to public and private schools or to any institution or group that serves children of Afrikan descent.
CIBI member contributions help make it possible to publish some of the outstanding Afrikan-centered curriculum materials that have been developed and used effectively over the years by teachers in institutions affiliated with CIBI as well as in other schools. CIBI’s social studies curriculum guide, Positive Afrikan Images for Children, published in 1990, is an example.
CIBI Mission Statement (Approved January 14, 1995)
Definition, Standards and Interpretations
• To define Afrikan-Centered Education
• To establish appropriate terminology, conditions, interpretations and standards consistent with the definition
Advocacy
• To vigorously promote the philosophy of Afrikan-centered education as defined by the organization
• To serve as the primary regional, national, and international spokesperson for the Afrikan- centered education movement and the institutions associated with that movement
Certification
• To establish Afrikan-centered standards and procedures for the certification of educational institutions, program, initiatives, organizations, etc.
• To establish Afrikan-centered standards and procedures for the certification of instructional and administrative personnel associated with educational institutions or programs
Curriculum Development and Standardization
• To develop and promote an Afrikan-centered curriculum philosophy
• To establish appropriate definitions and terminology associated with that philosophy
• To establish an Afrikan-centered curriculum design and methods for its implementation and evaluation
• To establish Afrikan-centered curricula for all ages (infancy through post-graduate levels) and in all subject areas
• To sponsor and/or facilitate the development of curriculum materials consistent with the design and content of Afrikan-centered curricula
Academic Performance Standards and Evaluation
• To establish academic performance standards consistent with the philosophy and design of the Afrikan-centered Curriculum
• To sponsor and/or facilitate the design of appropriate performance and diagnostic instruments, and procedures for the measurement of academic performance
• To establish standards and appropriate instruments for the evaluation of curriculum design and operations, instruction, and administration within Afrikan-centered educational institutions
National and International System Development and Coordination
• To facilitate the development and linkage of Afrikan-centered institutions world-wide through staff and student development programs, exchange programs, expositions, conventions, computer networking, bulk purchasing, joint investments and fundraising, etc.
• To establish designs, criteria, procedures, models, and necessary training\orientation programs that facilitate the development of viable institutions of Afrikan-centered education and culture.
• To serve as that administrative vehicle that coordinates the affairs of a national and international system of Afrikan-centered education.
CIBI’s Definition of Afrikan Centered Education: A Position Statement (Adopted November 11, 1994)
CIBI defines Afrikan-centered education as the means by which Afrikan culture — including the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills needed to maintain and perpetuate it throughout the nation building process — is developed and advanced through practice. Its aim, therefore, is to build commitment and competency within present and future generations to support the struggle for liberation and nationhood. We define nation building as the conscious and focused application of our people’s collective resources, energies, and knowledge to the task of liberating and developing the psychic and physical space that we identify as ours. Nation building encompasses both the reconstruction of Afrikan culture and the development of a progressive and sovereign state structure consistent with that culture.
We, in CIBI, further believe, that in practice, Afrikan-centered education:
1) acknowledges Afrikan spirituality as an essential aspect of our uniqueness as a people and makes it an instrument of our liberation (Richards, 1989; Clarke, 1991; Anwisye, 1993; Ani, 1994);
2) facilitates participation in the affairs of nations and defining (or redefining) reality on our own terms, in our own time and in our own interests (Karenga, 1980);
3) prepares Afrikans “for self-reliance, nation maintenance, and nation management in every regard” (Clarke, 1991, p. 62);
4) emphasizes the fundamental relationship between the strength of our families and the strength of our nation;
5) ensures that the historic role and function of the customs, traditions, rituals and ceremonies — that have protected and preserved our culture; facilitated our spiritual expression; ensured harmony in our social relations; prepared our people to meet their responsibilities as adult members of our culture; and sustained the continuity of Afrikan life over successive generations — are understood and made relevant to the challenges that confront us in our time;
6) emphasizes that Afrikan identity is embedded in the continuity of Afrikan cultural history and that Afrikan cultural history represents a distinct reality continually evolving from the experiences of all Afrikan people wherever they are and have been on the planet across time and generations;
7) focuses on the “knowledge and discovery of historical truths; through comparison; hypothesizing and testing through debate, trial, and application; through analysis and synthesis; through creative and critical thinking; through problem resolution processes; and through final evaluation and decision making”
(Akoto, 1992, p. 116);
8) can only be systematically facilitated by people who themselves are consciously engaged in the process of Afrikan-centered personal transformation;
9) is a process dependent upon human perception and interpretation [Thus, it follows that a curriculum can not be Afrikan-centered independent of our capacity to perceive and interpret it in an Afrikan-centered manner (Shujaa, 1992)];
10) embraces the traditional wisdom that “children are the reward of life” and it is, therefore, an expression of our unconditional love for them. In order to best serve Afrikan children our methods must reflect the best understandings that we have of how they develop and learn biologically, spiritually and culturally.
References
Akoto, K. A. (1992) Nation building: Theory and practice in Afrikan-centered education. Washington, DC: Pan- Afrikan World Institute.
Ani, M. (1994). Yurugu: An African-centered critique of European cultural thought and behavior. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Anwisye, S. (1993). Education is more than the three “R”s. Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, 2, 97-101.
Clarke, J. H. (1991). African world revolution: Africans at the crossroads. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Karenga, M. (1980). Kawaida theory: An introductory outline. Inglewood, CA: Kawaida Publications.
Richards, D. M. (1989). Let the circle be unbroken: African spirituality in the diaspora. Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press. (originally published in 1980)
Shujaa, M. J. (1992). Afrocentric transformation and parental choice in African American independent schools. The Journal of Negro Education, (61)2, 148-159.
How CIBI Defines “Independent” As it Relates to the Fiscal Affairs of Independent Afrikan Centered Educational Institutions
An Afrikan-Centered educational institution is considered by CIBI to be “independent” in the context of its fiscal affairs, if:
a. The programmatic emphasis of the institution is directed toward nation building and the security of liberated space.
b. Pan-Afrikan nationalist interests determine institutional decisions about soliciting, accepting and investing funds.
c. The operational budget (i.e., that which includes the rent/lease/mortgage, payroll, utilities, kwk (etc.)) is funded primarily from sources within and controlled by the Pan-Afrikan community in order to ensure that the ability of the institution to maintain itself is contingent upon Afrikan people.
BLEACH AND LOOK LIKE A MONSTER EVENTUALLY! CHECK OUT THESE PHOTOS ON EVASITOE.WORDPRESS.COM
March 14, 2009
THIS SOUTH AFRICAN SISTER NOWS WISHES THAT SHE HAD NEVER TRIED BLEACHING!
BLEACH AND BECOME A MONSTER LIKE MICHAEL JACKSON!
eVaDiVa’s Make-up Bag
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SKIN BLEACHING/LIGHTENING? YOUR ENNEMY
By eVaDiVa
Oct. 2,2008
***WARNING*** WARNING*** DISTURBING PICTURES BELOW
I was watching a documentary that a friend sent me last week and I was horrified by what I found out and saw. I then googled “depigmentation de la peau danger” and almost threw up when I saw the pictures (see below). So I didn’t want this blog to be full of nice and pretty pictures of women with makeup and beautiful skin, I wanted to make sure that beautiful women of color like me and you are aware of the danger of skin lightening.
In Senegal, this practice is called “Khessal” meaning “lightening”. It is done by many women of different social classes. This means that a rich or a poor woman can do it, she will just use different products depending on her budget…In RDC (Republic Democratic of Congo), this has been a practice that even men do… In Gambia, the president Yaya Djame banned it and people are subjected to emprisonment if they are caught bleaching their skin. It is unfortunate that other countries do not apply the same laws knowing that skin bleaching can sometimes kill…
A play Written and performed by Rani Moorthy to raise awareness against skin bleaching
Here is an interesting article that I found at: http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Health/skin_bleaching/_lightening_its_dangers_37431.html that details this phenomenon…
How skin lightening products work
There are two chemicals found in skin lightening products, Hydroquinone or Mercury.
o Hydroquinone (C6H6O2) is a severely toxic and very powerful chemical used in photo processing, the manufacture of rubber and is an active agent in hair dyes.
o Mercury in the form of Mercury Chloride & Ammoniated Mercury is carcinogenic. They appear on the list of toxic substances that can only be purchased via pharmacies with prescribed labels of toxicity.
Both products perform a similar process. In the short term they will initially cause the skin to lighten by inhibiting the production of melanin. Without melanin formation in the basal layer no brown pigmentation will be visible.
The long term effects, however, are those that must be addressed.
The long term effects of using skin lightening products
Hydroquinone or Mercury applied to the skin will react with ultra violet rays and re-oxidise, leading to more pigmentation and premature ageing. More product is then applied in an attempt to correct the darker blotchy appearance.
These are the beginnings of a vicious cycle. By altering the skins natural structure and inhibiting the production of Melanin, it’s natural protection, the skin is more susceptible to skin cancer.
Prolonged use of Hydroquinone will thicken collegen fibres damaging the connective tissues. The result is rough blotchy skin leaving it with a spotty cavier appearance.
Mercury will slowly accumulate within the skin cells striping the skin of it’s natural pigment leaving behind the tell tale signs of gray/ blue pigmentation in the folds of the skin. In the long term the chemical will damage vital organs and lead to liver and kidney failure and mercury poisoning.
PLEASE DO NOT USE SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS. DO NOT USE ANYTHING THAT CONTAINS ANYTHING HIGHER THAN 2% HYDROQUINONE UNLESS DIRECTED BY A DOCTOR.
FOR ALL MY FRANCOPHONE READERS, READ THIS ARTICLE: http://www.hautcourant.com/Depigmentation-de-la-peau-au-dela,409
Thank you Leyla for sending that…
XoXo
eVaDiVa
I also wanted to give two thumbs up to all these fighting against skin bleaching and that are raising awareness in their communities. For instance, as common as it is here in Senegal, I have not seen one flight attendant from our national airline company using these products…
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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Foundation 101—> Part 2
EFFECTS OF BLEACHING CREAMS ARE DEADLY! FROM BLACKBEAUTYANDHAIR.COM-AUG. 26…
Skin Color-Pale is Preferable?
Skin bleaching
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3 Responses to “SKIN BLEACHING/LIGHTENING? YOUR ENNEMY”
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1 Amina
Friday, October 24, 2008 at 10:21 pm
It is so unfortunate..I never understood this process and a few women in my life went through that. apparently, they also wanted to attract men because lighter women are “more beautiful” than darker ladies and some men prefer their women to be light…so sad..
I was horrified when I went to a friend’s house..it was back in 2002 and her cleaning lady was mixing eau de javel with her khessal lotion!!!!!!!
2 Rukaya
Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 12:07 pm
This is yet another example of colonial mentality. It’s sad that as a people, some of us don’t realize the gorgeousness of black skin. Mental slavery, is by far worse of than physical slavery…it’s more difficult to eradicate. Thank you for sharing Diva!
3 ahmedseo
Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 1:37 am
skin bleaching cause a temporary whitening, it destort your skin more as compare to the condition of skin before bleaching.
4 Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade
Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 6:27 am
SISTER ,you are great for publishing this article! I will put it on my blog BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL!
(yeyeolade.wordpress.com) right now and give you credit and link you too! I have been fighting a campaign against bleaching and all of us Black women must do this! Black on to you! Also add this to your prayer points -STOP BLEACHING OUR BEAUTIFUL BLACK SKIN AWAY!
AT LAST!-THE PHOTO I HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR-MICHELLE OBAMA WITH AN AFRO-SHE IS INDEED A BLACK SKINNED BEAUTY!-FROM THEPOLITICALCARNIVAL.BLOGSPOT.COM
March 7, 2009
FINALLY THE PICTURE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR -MICHELLE WITH AN AFRO!WHAT NATURAL BLACK BEAUTY! MICHELLE IS A BLACK SKINNED BEAUTY!
Friday, March 6, 2009
PhotObama: Michelle Obama’s high school prom date was no Barack
By GottaLaff
Prom Night! 18-year-old beauty named Michelle Robinson: Check. Flirty low-cut dress slashed to the thigh: Check. Handsome prom date: Check. David Upchurch instead of Barack Obama: Ruh-roh!
Back then, [Upchurch] recalls Michelle exhibited the drive that would take her from a rough Chicago neighbourhood to Harvard University and on to a law career where she would later meet her husband, Barack Obama.
David said: ‘I grew up with Michelle and her brother Craig. We were neighbours, and our families were close.
‘When Michelle was in the middle of her junior year, we began dating and continued to date for a year-and-a-half.
‘Michelle knew what she wanted and after graduation she was off to Princeton University. I couldn’t stand in her way.’
Perhaps mindful that her husband is the President, David refuses to ‘kiss and tell’ about their time together.
He says he can’t even remember if he received a goodnight kiss after the prom.
The romance ended when Michelle went off to Princeton to study sociology. […]
‘I wished the best for Michelle because she has always been a wonderful person,’ he said.
‘I always knew Michelle was special and would make a difference in the world.’ […]
David, a divorced father-of-three from Colorado Springs, Colorado, says he finds it hard to believe his prom date ended up in the White House.
‘I cannot tell you how proud I am of her and her husband. I have never met Barack, but I have to say, he is a very lucky man,’ he said.
David Upchurch: The Pete Best of dating.
Posted by GottaLaff at 12:31 PM
Labels: david upchurch, first lady michelle obama, high school, prom
7 comments:
GottaLaff said…
He came THIS close… ; )
He sounds like a sweet man.
March 6, 2009 12:45 PM
Anonymous said…
LOL! I didn’t look close enough at first and just saw the mustache and thought, God Barack looks like crap with a mustache!
March 6, 2009 1:09 PM
Clancy said…
Oh, that dress! Let me tell you, prom pictures should be destroyed within five years of their taking. Every once in a while, mom likes to pull out my junior prom pics, in which I’m dressed in a 18th century period clothes (because I really loved my girlfriend).
March 6, 2009 1:15 PM
Dr. President said…
look at those long ass legs, go girl!
March 6, 2009 2:20 PM
Dr. President said…
look at those long ass legs, go girl!
March 6, 2009 2:20 PM
Anonymous said…
She looks as though she did not age a day. What is ya secret GF?
March 6, 2009 5:34 PM
Belinda said…
I wonder if President Obama is the jealous type. I bet he would pimp slap someone over his woman. I Already know Michelle would snatch a woman bald.
March 6, 2009 9:35 PM
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL! 