I've loved history since I was 10 years old. The thought of understanding current events as result of having a grasp on previous events encourages me to study history so I can comprehend the world around me. I know I am a nerd :).
As well, I think understanding historical events can help address contemporary issues that affect communities across the African diaspora. I have tremendous respect and reverence for people of the diaspora. African Nova Scotians, African Americans, Caribbeans and Afro Latinos have gifted the world with so much. From pursuing academic excellence through inventions such as the modern day Lawn Mower (John Albert Burr) , the Gas Mask (Garrett Morgan) , Traffic Light (Garrett Morgan), Modern Blood Bank (Charles Drew), treatment of Glaucoma (Percy Julian), pioneering Open Heart surgery (Daniel Hale Williams), patenting the modern Home Security System (Marie Van Britton), the Automatic Gear Shift (Richard Spikes), Caller ID (Dr. Shirley Jackson) and calculating by hand the complex equations that allowed space travel (Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson) etc. To birthing music genres like Gospel music, Jazz, Rock n' roll, Soul music, R&B, Hip- Hop music, Blues, Samba and Reggae as well as pursuing athletic excellence by setting records in Track and Field , Baseball, Basketball etc. All the while emerging from and actively resisting (search Haitian revolution and Jamaican Maroons), the worst form of slavery the world has ever seen, Chattel Slavery, and the racial terror that followed such as Jim Crow in the United States of America. Furthermore, Enslaved Africans preserved parts of their culture (search Africanisms) as seen through the Akan influence on the language of Patois, the Yoruba influence on Samba music in Brazil, as well as Yoruba spirituality that is still practiced in Cuba and the " The Charleston Dance" which was heavily influenced by enslaved Kongas who brought the Juba dance over etc. Africans Americans, Caribbeans and Afro Latinos have a rich and distinct culture that is just as valid as my Asante- Ghanaian culture. I will continue to reject the lie that my distant relatives don't have a "real culture". Nevertheless, I recognize the Arab and The "Maafa" - translated The great disaster (Swahili word for the Atlantic Slave trade ), was the greatest forced migration in human history which deserves a lament for lost traditions, names, languages, culture and history.
2 Comments
demani
10/27/2017 04:15:33 pm
Great post!
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Kwaku
11/12/2017 12:31:33 pm
Excellent post. Provide citations next time :)
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AuthorMy name is Akua B and I'm a lover of all things Africa, natural hair and poetry... Archives
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