|
January 20, 2009
I am posting
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" (which has been called the Negro National Anthem) in honor of Barack Obama's Presidential
Inauguration and in memory of great American leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and everyone on whose shoulders we stand
today.
Lift
Every Voice and Sing
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and
heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let
it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing
a song full of the hope that the present has brought us, Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let
us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter
the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady
beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We
have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood
of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white
gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God
of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has
by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet
stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world,
we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand.
True to our God, True
to our native land.
by James Weldon Johnson
January 20, 2008
Barack Obama is Black!
Ignorant people
are insulting Barack Obama and saying he is not black because his mother was white. That is ridiculous. Black
mixed with anybody is still black. According to the study of mitochondrial DNA, everybody came from black people.
Since the slave period in America, there has been a "one drop rule" that has been used at the convenience of
racist whites. Most African Americans have at least one white ancestor, which is also traced to the slave period.
We are still black! As I have stated in my poetry book, STAND, "black is black, from midnight to offwhite."
Ungodly, unhappy, insecure people find foolishness to argue about. Hence, negative people are having a field day on
various online message boards. They feel better about their trifling selves when they can get you riled up about a bunch
of nothing. I won't waste my time reading what they have to say or waste my time responding to them.
Leave them be. Pray for them. Barack Obama's landmark achievement cannot be taken away from him. Its
significance to black people cannot be taken away from us. Enjoy this day of victory.
See my earlier blogs
about black presidents.
Be blessed.
November 26, 2008
The song "Paper Planes"
by M.I.A. is a work of social and political satire. Yet, it has been sampled and remixed to make "thug"
anthems. Most of today's hip hop is strictly commercial. Most of it is a modern day "minstrel show"
in which we sell our own self-destruction and negative stereotypes. So, I was inspired to write this.
Paper Planes Parody
I like rolling papers,
wearing platinum chains.
If you really like br--- and you really like the train, Your life is a game. You want to get played. When you die of AIDS, we'll remember your name.
I like rolling papers, wearing platinum chains.
If you really like brain and you really like the train, Your life is a game. You want to get played. When you die of AIDS, we'll remember your name.
I don't use common sense, but I claim
to be sane. I'm
an anti-intellectual trying to get fame. It's someone else's fault, I can never be blamed. But I'm a grown man and don't think that is lame.
I don't use common sense, but I claim to be sane.
I'm an anti-intellectual
trying to get fame. It's
someone else's fault, I can never be blamed. But I'm a grown woman and don't think that is lame.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
Inside I'm real smart,
but I worry about my image, so I try to act hard. We don't know who we are and don't want to know 'cause we have no heart. I like cash and cars. Take the easy way out 'cause I don't want to work hard. I like stripes and bars. Dropped out of school and expect
to get far.
Nobody can use the word
"nig--" but us,
Nig-- but us, nig-- but us. Nobody
can use the word "nig--" but us, Nig-- but us, nig-- but us. Nobody
can use the word "nig--" but us, Nig-- but us, nig-- but us. Nobody
can use the word "nig--" but us, Nig-- but us, nig-- but us.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
After I sell my soul,
I'll go order a quarter pounder with cheese... Then come back and make "street anthems" out of socio-political parodies.
Just turn the radio off.
I call the brother my nig--, the sister a b---- and a h--.
I call the brother my nig--,
the sister a b---- and a h--.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
Copyright © 2008 Tyari Witherspoon
November 7, 2008
Black Presidents
Barack Obama is not actually our first black President of the United States. We have already had at least seven. Five
have been documented by scholar J.A. Rogers. Look up Rogers' book "The Five Negro Presidents" published
in 1965.
John Hanson was our first black president. He was one of several presidents who served our young nation
under the Articles of Confederation, which came before the U.S. Constitution. George Washington was simply the first president
to serve under the Constitution. This information is lost in history to most of us because American history classes usually
ignore the presidents who came before George Washington. To justify the omission, some scholars make the argument that our
nation was more like a federation of independent states prior to the Constitution (which is a point of view that can be debated).
Hanson could not pass for white, and he lived during a time period in which most of his people were still enslaved.
Yet, his expertise was taken advantage of during the critical early years of the new republic. In time, his true image was
replaced with the image of a white man, a pathetic cover-up in American history.
Later black presidents were men
who passed for white despite the fact that they had at least one black ancestor. They included Thomas Jefferson (black, white,
and Native American), Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln. It is funny the way racist whites who held power in this country
have used the slave period's old "one drop rule" at their convenience--sometimes to group us together for the
purpose of discrimination but at other times, in attempts to keep us divided.
Barack Obama is our first openly
recognized black president. His victory provides inspiration and hope for all Americans who want to see their nation headed
in a better direction, but especially for black people. Think of how beautiful it was to see an indisputably black family
come on stage after the election results were announced. Naturally, older black people who lived through the Jim Crow era
were moved to tears. Think about the passing of Obama's grandmother. Think about the 85 year-old woman who made her way
to the polls to vote. Take Jesse Jackson as another example. Despite his recent mistakes, he is the same man who marched with
Martin Luther King, Jr., continued on as a civil rights advocate, became an international diplomat (who was received better
than most white politicians), and even ran for president in 1984 and 1988. It does not matter that he was not able to win
the Democratic nomination. Without people like Shirley Chisholm (who ran for president in 1972) and Jesse Jackson paving the
way, there would be no Barack Obama headed for the White House today.
As a younger black man who once lost everything
and had to start his adult life over because of racial discrimination, I was also deeply moved to see one of history's
brightest examples of what African Americans can accomplish if we keep getting up and moving forward no matter how many times
we have been knocked down.
Let us not try to take anything away from Barack Obama and his monumental accomplishments,
but please correct people who keep saying that he is our first black president.
Obama's Victory
Barack Obama's
victory in this year's presidential election was a wonderful day. It was a triumph for African Americans (and for the
entire African Diaspora). It is also a victory for every person who desires change in our nation. I pray for Obama, his beautiful
black family, and everyone close to him. Let us celebrate, but let us not be naive. He is not "the exception" to
the rule as prejudiced whites keep saying. He is not just a clean cut guy who "speaks well." No, Barack Obama is
an example of who we really are and who we can be (despite the obstacles). What an incredible example for black children to
see. What a symbol for anyone who has wrestled with hopelessness and despair. GOD has laid another major stepping stone before
us. Obama's victory does not erase 400 years of slavery in America followed by approximately 150 years of racial violence,
oppression, and suppression. Still, it is a very important milestone that shows what we can accomplish when we firmly believe
in EXCELLENCE and PERSEVERENCE. To GOD be the glory!
The Impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
by Dabian T. Witherspoon
I am disappointed by the fact that people are still being given inaccurate information about Trans-Atlantic (or Atlantic)
slavery and its long-term consequences. Too many people talk about it as if it is just a thing of the past that should
not be talked about today. I am posting this piece because I am tired of the fact that my people have been exposed to
misinformation for generations. Unfortunately, some of us fall for things because we are either too complacent or too
preoccupied to really look things up for ourselves.
The emphasis on the horrors of slavery is not about putting
whites on a guilt trip. Of course, no slaves or slave masters are still alive in our nation. However, the legacy
remains. Racism is institutionalized. Institutions are created to be self-perpetuating. Even as fewer whites
subscribe to racist beliefs over time, the institution of racism continues. Whites today are responsible for helping
us make our society better. The past must be acknowledged in order to work on our future.
Despite
centuries of oppression (social, economic, and political) by racist whites, too many of us trust the whitewashed version of
history. For example, I recently read a paper which cited a racist white scholar who teaches the boldfaced lie that
75% of Africans were already slaves before Trans-Atlantic slavery began. These "scholars" who perpetuate pseudo-history
also overemphasize the participation of Africans in order to try to make Trans-Atlantic slavery seem less evil. The
bottom line is this. Trans-Atlantic slavery was owned and operated by Europeans.
Racist white scholarship
teaches that Africans are responsible for Trans-Atlantic slavery because of the willing participation of African chiefs. This
is a gross exaggeration which is conveniently used to distort history and to promote the idea that blacks are pathogenic and
pathological. According to historians such as W.E.B. DuBois (which is not commonly known), 90% of Africans taken from
Africa were kidnapped-not sold or traded by African chiefs and Arab middlemen. Africans who actively participated were
coerced by Europeans. Europeans first made contact along the coast of Africa for the purpose of trading goods. Motivated
by greed, they later began instigating wars between rival African groups after being introduced by Arabs to the concept of
exclusively enslaving blacks. For example, Europeans began to trade guns for prisoners of war after creating these conflicts.
At first, African leaders did not understand what they were getting into. There was a huge difference between
their traditional form of unpaid labor in Africa and the dehumanizing, brutal, and permanent chattel slavery created by Europeans.
Slavery among Africans had mainly consisted of prisoners of war and people being punished for crimes. These people
were also afforded upward social mobility and could later enjoy freedom, even the right to marry into the group they had been
assimilated into. Enslaved Africans such as Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa distinguished the sharp contrast between
European and African "slavery." As Trans-Atlantic slavery grew, few Africans willingly turned over "their
own people." Some traded their rivals to avoid their own enslavement. Some were double-crossed and were enslaved
by Europeans despite their own cooperation.
Moreover, the fact that Africans waged war against Europeans
in order to resist Trans-Atlantic slavery has never been emphasized in the Eurocentric teaching of history. As a matter
of fact, it also took Europeans about 400 years to begin the domination and colonization of Africa. Once again, Trans-Atlantic
slavery was owned and operated by Europeans. It began with the Portuguese in the mid 1400s and continued with other
nations, including 13 English colonies which declared themselves the United States of America in 1776.
Trans-Atlantic
slavery lasted more than 400 years. There were far more than "a few boatloads of Arabs and Europeans." Between
12 and 40 million of the most skilled and able-bodied Africans were brought to the Americas by force according to a very low
estimate. Millions more never made it to America, dying during the inhumane and unsanitary conditions of the Middle
Passage (crossing the Atlantic Ocean in tightly packed ships). It was horrific then, and its impact is still a
nightmare today.
Trans-Atlantic slavery created the mental enslavement that still plagues some black
people today.
Mental enslavement has prevented some of us from reaching our full potential and has helped to keep
us divided. Trans-Atlantic slavery also led to the development of a full-blown ideology of white supremacy and
the worldwide denigration of the color black and of course, black people. For example, many people in India trace their
history to the invasion of India by the light-skinned Aryans or Indo-Europeans instead of acknowledging their earliest ancestors,
the dark-skinned Dravidians who originally populated the region after migrating from Africa centuries earlier. Of course,
the Aryans forced their way of life on the native Dravidians and forced them into the bottom caste, and this stigma still
exists.
Africa has never recovered from Trans-Atlantic slavery and the colonization that followed, which left the
continent underdeveloped. Consider this. What would happen to our way of life in North America if people began
to be stripped away from here by the millions? Of course, it is problematic that Africa's wealth is in the hands
of a few while many people suffer. The African leaders who have "done nothing for the development of their countries"
are people who have simply been installed (or installed themselves) into the political models created by Europeans during
colonialism. Keep in mind the fact that some African nations have been independent for less than 50 years. Of
course, greed cannot be excused, and there must be some accountability. However, we must acknowledge the origins of
the collective problems faced by black people in Africa and in America. Most of our problems can be traced either directly
or indirectly to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Any images not expressly owned by Tyari Witherspoon are presumed public domain.
Copyright © 2000-2009 Tyari Witherspoon. All Rights
Reserved.
Any images not expressly owned by Tyari Witherspoon are presumed public domain.
Copyright © 2000-2009 Tyari Witherspoon. All Rights
Reserved.
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Lift every voice and sing
Till
earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High
as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full
of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us, Facing
the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet
with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We
have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood
of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white
gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God
of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has
by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet
stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world,
we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand.
True to our God, True
to our native land.
by James Weldon Johnson
January 20, 2008
Barack Obama is Black!
Ignorant people
are insulting Barack Obama and saying he is not black because his mother was white. That is ridiculous. Black
mixed with anybody is still black. According to the study of mitochondrial DNA, everybody came from black people.
Since the slave period in America, there has been a "one drop rule" that has been used at the convenience of
racist whites. Most African Americans have at least one white ancestor, which is also traced to the slave period.
We are still black! As I have stated in my poetry book, STAND, "black is black, from midnight to offwhite."
Ungodly, unhappy, insecure people find foolishness to argue about. Hence, negative people are having a field day on
various online message boards. They feel better about their trifling selves when they can get you riled up about a bunch
of nothing. I won't waste my time reading what they have to say or waste my time responding to them.
Leave them be. Pray for them. Barack Obama's landmark achievement cannot be taken away from him. Its
significance to black people cannot be taken away from us. Enjoy this day of victory.
See my earlier blogs
about black presidents.
Be blessed.
November 26, 2008
The song "Paper Planes"
by M.I.A. is a work of social and political satire. Yet, it has been sampled and remixed to make "thug"
anthems. Most of today's hip hop is strictly commercial. Most of it is a modern day "minstrel show"
in which we sell our own self-destruction and negative stereotypes. So, I was inspired to write this.
Paper Planes Parody
I like rolling papers,
wearing platinum chains.
If you really like br--- and you really like the train, Your life is a game. You want to get played. When you die of AIDS, we'll remember your name.
I like rolling papers, wearing platinum chains.
If you really like brain and you really like the train, Your life is a game. You want to get played. When you die of AIDS, we'll remember your name.
I don't use common sense, but I claim
to be sane. I'm
an anti-intellectual trying to get fame. It's someone else's fault, I can never be blamed. But I'm a grown man and don't think that is lame.
I don't use common sense, but I claim to be sane.
I'm an anti-intellectual
trying to get fame. It's
someone else's fault, I can never be blamed. But I'm a grown woman and don't think that is lame.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
Inside I'm real smart,
but I worry about my image, so I try to act hard. We don't know who we are and don't want to know 'cause we have no heart. I like cash and cars. Take the easy way out 'cause I don't want to work hard. I like stripes and bars. Dropped out of school and expect
to get far.
Nobody can use the word
"nig--" but us,
Nig-- but us, nig-- but us. Nobody
can use the word "nig--" but us, Nig-- but us, nig-- but us. Nobody
can use the word "nig--" but us, Nig-- but us, nig-- but us. Nobody
can use the word "nig--" but us, Nig-- but us, nig-- but us.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
After I sell my soul,
I'll go order a quarter pounder with cheese... Then come back and make "street anthems" out of socio-political parodies.
Just turn the radio off.
I call the brother my nig--, the sister a b---- and a h--.
I call the brother my nig--,
the sister a b---- and a h--.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
All I want to do is get crunk,
and sell drugs, and stack the money. All I want to do is bang, bang, bang like Pops so
you will spend your money.
Copyright © 2008 Tyari Witherspoon
November 7, 2008
Black Presidents
Barack Obama is not actually our first black President of the United States. We have already had at least seven. Five
have been documented by scholar J.A. Rogers. Look up Rogers' book "The Five Negro Presidents" published
in 1965.
John Hanson was our first black president. He was one of several presidents who served our young nation
under the Articles of Confederation, which came before the U.S. Constitution. George Washington was simply the first president
to serve under the Constitution. This information is lost in history to most of us because American history classes usually
ignore the presidents who came before George Washington. To justify the omission, some scholars make the argument that our
nation was more like a federation of independent states prior to the Constitution (which is a point of view that can be debated).
Hanson could not pass for white, and he lived during a time period in which most of his people were still enslaved.
Yet, his expertise was taken advantage of during the critical early years of the new republic. In time, his true image was
replaced with the image of a white man, a pathetic cover-up in American history.
Later black presidents were men
who passed for white despite the fact that they had at least one black ancestor. They included Thomas Jefferson (black, white,
and Native American), Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln. It is funny the way racist whites who held power in this country
have used the slave period's old "one drop rule" at their convenience--sometimes to group us together for the
purpose of discrimination but at other times, in attempts to keep us divided.
Barack Obama is our first openly
recognized black president. His victory provides inspiration and hope for all Americans who want to see their nation headed
in a better direction, but especially for black people. Think of how beautiful it was to see an indisputably black family
come on stage after the election results were announced. Naturally, older black people who lived through the Jim Crow era
were moved to tears. Think about the passing of Obama's grandmother. Think about the 85 year-old woman who made her way
to the polls to vote. Take Jesse Jackson as another example. Despite his recent mistakes, he is the same man who marched with
Martin Luther King, Jr., continued on as a civil rights advocate, became an international diplomat (who was received better
than most white politicians), and even ran for president in 1984 and 1988. It does not matter that he was not able to win
the Democratic nomination. Without people like Shirley Chisholm (who ran for president in 1972) and Jesse Jackson paving the
way, there would be no Barack Obama headed for the White House today.
As a younger black man who once lost everything
and had to start his adult life over because of racial discrimination, I was also deeply moved to see one of history's
brightest examples of what African Americans can accomplish if we keep getting up and moving forward no matter how many times
we have been knocked down.
Let us not try to take anything away from Barack Obama and his monumental accomplishments,
but please correct people who keep saying that he is our first black president.
Obama's Victory
Barack Obama's
victory in this year's presidential election was a wonderful day. It was a triumph for African Americans (and for the
entire African Diaspora). It is also a victory for every person who desires change in our nation. I pray for Obama, his beautiful
black family, and everyone close to him. Let us celebrate, but let us not be naive. He is not "the exception" to
the rule as prejudiced whites keep saying. He is not just a clean cut guy who "speaks well." No, Barack Obama is
an example of who we really are and who we can be (despite the obstacles). What an incredible example for black children to
see. What a symbol for anyone who has wrestled with hopelessness and despair. GOD has laid another major stepping stone before
us. Obama's victory does not erase 400 years of slavery in America followed by approximately 150 years of racial violence,
oppression, and suppression. Still, it is a very important milestone that shows what we can accomplish when we firmly believe
in EXCELLENCE and PERSEVERENCE. To GOD be the glory!
The Impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
by Dabian T. Witherspoon
I am disappointed by the fact that people are still being given inaccurate information about Trans-Atlantic (or Atlantic)
slavery and its long-term consequences. Too many people talk about it as if it is just a thing of the past that should
not be talked about today. I am posting this piece because I am tired of the fact that my people have been exposed to
misinformation for generations. Unfortunately, some of us fall for things because we are either too complacent or too
preoccupied to really look things up for ourselves.
The emphasis on the horrors of slavery is not about putting
whites on a guilt trip. Of course, no slaves or slave masters are still alive in our nation. However, the legacy
remains. Racism is institutionalized. Institutions are created to be self-perpetuating. Even as fewer whites
subscribe to racist beliefs over time, the institution of racism continues. Whites today are responsible for helping
us make our society better. The past must be acknowledged in order to work on our future.
Despite
centuries of oppression (social, economic, and political) by racist whites, too many of us trust the whitewashed version of
history. For example, I recently read a paper which cited a racist white scholar who teaches the boldfaced lie that
75% of Africans were already slaves before Trans-Atlantic slavery began. These "scholars" who perpetuate pseudo-history
also overemphasize the participation of Africans in order to try to make Trans-Atlantic slavery seem less evil. The
bottom line is this. Trans-Atlantic slavery was owned and operated by Europeans.
Racist white scholarship
teaches that Africans are responsible for Trans-Atlantic slavery because of the willing participation of African chiefs. This
is a gross exaggeration which is conveniently used to distort history and to promote the idea that blacks are pathogenic and
pathological. According to historians such as W.E.B. DuBois (which is not commonly known), 90% of Africans taken from
Africa were kidnapped-not sold or traded by African chiefs and Arab middlemen. Africans who actively participated were
coerced by Europeans. Europeans first made contact along the coast of Africa for the purpose of trading goods. Motivated
by greed, they later began instigating wars between rival African groups after being introduced by Arabs to the concept of
exclusively enslaving blacks. For example, Europeans began to trade guns for prisoners of war after creating these conflicts.
At first, African leaders did not understand what they were getting into. There was a huge difference between
their traditional form of unpaid labor in Africa and the dehumanizing, brutal, and permanent chattel slavery created by Europeans.
Slavery among Africans had mainly consisted of prisoners of war and people being punished for crimes. These people
were also afforded upward social mobility and could later enjoy freedom, even the right to marry into the group they had been
assimilated into. Enslaved Africans such as Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa distinguished the sharp contrast between
European and African "slavery." As Trans-Atlantic slavery grew, few Africans willingly turned over "their
own people." Some traded their rivals to avoid their own enslavement. Some were double-crossed and were enslaved
by Europeans despite their own cooperation.
Moreover, the fact that Africans waged war against Europeans
in order to resist Trans-Atlantic slavery has never been emphasized in the Eurocentric teaching of history. As a matter
of fact, it also took Europeans about 400 years to begin the domination and colonization of Africa. Once again, Trans-Atlantic
slavery was owned and operated by Europeans. It began with the Portuguese in the mid 1400s and continued with other
nations, including 13 English colonies which declared themselves the United States of America in 1776.
Trans-Atlantic
slavery lasted more than 400 years. There were far more than "a few boatloads of Arabs and Europeans." Between
12 and 40 million of the most skilled and able-bodied Africans were brought to the Americas by force according to a very low
estimate. Millions more never made it to America, dying during the inhumane and unsanitary conditions of the Middle
Passage (crossing the Atlantic Ocean in tightly packed ships). It was horrific then, and its impact is still a
nightmare today.
Trans-Atlantic slavery created the mental enslavement that still plagues some black
people today.
Mental enslavement has prevented some of us from reaching our full potential and has helped to keep
us divided. Trans-Atlantic slavery also led to the development of a full-blown ideology of white supremacy and
the worldwide denigration of the color black and of course, black people. For example, many people in India trace their
history to the invasion of India by the light-skinned Aryans or Indo-Europeans instead of acknowledging their earliest ancestors,
the dark-skinned Dravidians who originally populated the region after migrating from Africa centuries earlier. Of course,
the Aryans forced their way of life on the native Dravidians and forced them into the bottom caste, and this stigma still
exists.
Africa has never recovered from Trans-Atlantic slavery and the colonization that followed, which left the
continent underdeveloped. Consider this. What would happen to our way of life in North America if people began
to be stripped away from here by the millions? Of course, it is problematic that Africa's wealth is in the hands
of a few while many people suffer. The African leaders who have "done nothing for the development of their countries"
are people who have simply been installed (or installed themselves) into the political models created by Europeans during
colonialism. Keep in mind the fact that some African nations have been independent for less than 50 years. Of
course, greed cannot be excused, and there must be some accountability. However, we must acknowledge the origins of
the collective problems faced by black people in Africa and in America. Most of our problems can be traced either directly
or indirectly to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Any images not expressly owned by Tyari Witherspoon are presumed public domain.
Copyright © 2000-2009 Tyari Witherspoon. All Rights
Reserved.
Any images not expressly owned by Tyari Witherspoon are presumed public domain.
Copyright © 2000-2009 Tyari Witherspoon. All Rights
Reserved.
|
