Search the archives which informs you on Zimbabwe, South Africa, Africa, it’s diaspora and on ways to help make a positive change in other peoples lives as well as their own, educates them on health, history, tourism , art, music and culture.
Sight Savers International
For someone who is blind, the gift of sight is the greatest gift of all!
Molly Melching in the founder of Tostan meaning (Breakthorough in wolof-native language of Senegal). The Non-Governmental Organisation’s mission is to empower African communities for sustainable development and social transformation in the respect of human rights and abandonment of female genital cutting (FGM) and child/forced marriage in Senegal, Guinea and Burkina Faso. To date, 2,996 communities have abandoned FGC in Senegal through a public declaration, in Guinea, 298 communities have declared, and 20 have declared in Burkina Faso.
Awards Molly has received are: 1999 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2002 Sargeant Shriver Distinguished Award for Humanitarian Service 2007 One’s World Person
She has written a children’s book called Anniko which was published by the (NEA) New African Editions.
In November 1976, she joined thePeace Corps on an individual placement to continue developing and publishing books for Senegalese children tailored to their culture and environment. To accomplish this, Molly created the "Demb ak Tey" (Yesterday and Today) Center, which opened in the African Cultural Center, and served street children in the most populated area of Daka. Using songs, stories, proverbs, theater and other oral African traditions, Molly and her Senegalese team promoted children's literature pertaining to West African culture. Seeing the popularity of traditional African stories and their potential as a vehicle for education, Molly began a weekly radio program in Wolof, a major national language of Senegal. By including messages on health and the environment, the radio program reached thousands of families with relevant information for improving their lives.
In collaboration with community members, she and her Senegalese team developed a basic, nonformal education program for rural populations based on their traditions and culture. This program, funded by USAID, was so successful that many other NGOs soon adopted it.
Molly began collaborating with UNICEF /Senegal in 1988 to improve and expand this nonformal education program to other languages and regions of Senegal. Recognizing women’s crucial role within their own communities as well as the whole of Senegalese society, Molly took note of these women’s distinctive need for literacy training and other kinds of basic education. With UNICEF’s support, the program was extended to thousands of women throughout the country and was also adapted for at-risk, out-of-school adolescents using a basic life skills approach.
I Admire Molly for her courage to take on such a sensitive issue in Africa where some traditional practices were thought never to be eradicated. It is a great achievement and accomplishment she has undertaken. And for her to promote awareness of this issue that is hardly spoken about in today’s society.
Southern Africa in abundance, is filled with wildlife, savannah plains/woodlands, rain forests, plateaus mountain ranges, costal wetlands, river deltas, deserts & thick forest. The region is also diverse in music and dance, ranging from afro pop/rnb, mbira, soukous/rumba/kwasa-kwasa, gospel, traditional ngoma (drum) music, reggae and dancehall. Jamaica plays a big role in Zimbabwe too, dancehall and reggae are one of the ‘most popular genres’ there. Some Zimbabwean musicians are Dubbie Benzie, Decibel, Terrence Mas, Oliver Mtukudzi, Andy Brown and many more. Also ‘hot on the plates’ is hip hop. Since being in the UK i’ve experienced soca music and now cannot get enough of it. Hot flava music! I’ve known calypso music but now another genre soca has got me on my feet once again feeling the hot vybz, how i so appreciate fabulous music.
Mbira Music
Siyaya Arts (Traditional Music)
My country is currently going through a lot of financial issues due to the ever rising inflation rate, this is affecting each and every being, therefore there is an increase in poverty, lack of jobs and opportunities, lack of investment. We just want to live peacefully, happy and move on in life and strive for a better future. Zimbabwe once dubbed as the ‘basket of Africa’ is no longer but i remain optimistic that one day things will change and will be the beginning of a prosperous Zimbabwe once again.
Zimbabwe and Zambia both share Victoria Falls.
Being that I am Zimbabwean born, I also encompass Zambian & South African heritage. I truly love Southern Africa very much.
Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) Capital: Lusaka President: Rupiah Banda Independence: 24 October 1964 One of the Main languages besides English is Nyanja/Chichewa, spoken in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi & Mozambique. Natural resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower
Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) Capital: Harare President: Robert G Mugabe Prime Minister: Morgan Tsvangirai Independence: 18 April 1980 Natural Resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals
South Africa is a country blessed with an abundance of natural resources including fertile farmlands and unique mineral resources.
**European settlement expanded during 1820’s as the Boers (Dutch, Flemish, German, & French) meaning in Dutch farmer.
*First Anglo Boer War (1880-1881) was between the Boers & British fighting for South Africa’s mineral wealth when diamonds & later gold was discovered.
**Second Anglo Boer War 1899-1902, was eventually won by the British
Visiting the World Heritage site of Sterkfontein and Wondercaves, comprising 13 fossil sites. It includes Mrs. Ples, a 2.5 million year old skull and “Little Foot” a virtually complete skeleton 4.7 million years old.
Remains of ape-man, fauna remains exceeding a million years, cave formations and chambers. Fossil remains of sabre-toothed cat and 2.8 million year old forest-dwelling monkeys. This area is mysterious and enchanting, with new discoveries almost daily.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Born 18July 1918)
*He is of Madiba clan, his birth name Rolihlahla means “to pull a branch of a tree” or “troublemaker”.
*1923: becomes a herd boy
*1925: first in his family to attend school @ 7 years old.
*1927: his father dies
* 1941: works as a night watchman at a goldmine, then becomes a clerk at the law firm Witkin & studies for his B.A.
*1942: graduates from the University of South Africa. Begins attending ANC (African National Congress) meetings, a nationalist group that aimed to unite Africans & establish a democratic form of government.
*1943: marches in support of a bus boycott to protest a fare hike in Aleazandra, erolls at University of Witwatersrand for degree in Law.
*1944: helps form ANC youth league, marries evelyn Mase, 2 years later their son Madiba is born.
5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested with the charges of leading workers to strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally, plots of sabotage, treason and the second charge he was accused of plotting a foreign invasion of South Africa, which Mandela denied.
He was sentenced to life in prison on 12 June 1964. He was imprisoned on Robben Island. Prison conditions were very basic. Prisoners were segregated by race, with black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. He was as a D-group prisoner (the lowest classification).
“ During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”...in the defense case in Rivonia Trial by Nelson Mandela.
His prison number was 46664 – representing that he is the 466th prisoner of Robben Island in 1964.
Mandela’s incarceration brought international attention to the racial injustices of South Africa’s apartheid government sparking the rally cry ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ worldwide. He served 27 years in prison before his release in 1990 at the age of 72 and was elected the first black President of South Africa in 1994. Although he retired from political life in 1999, Mandela continues to lend his voice towards issues that affect his country and the world at large, such as the AIDS epidemic, poverty, and human rights.
He is a shining example of the incredible strength of the human spirit to persevere in the face of adversity for the pursuit of freedom.
In 1944 Nelson Mandela married his first wife Evelyn Ntoko Mase, his second wife was Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (SA Politician) they wed in 1958. In 1998, on his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married his 3red wife Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique and continued travelling the world, meeting leaders, attending conferences and collecting awards after stepping down as president.
He was an anti-apartheid activist and has received many awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Since his retirement, one of his primary commitments has been to the fight against AIDS.
46664 campaign began in 2003 and is an African response to the global HIV AIDS epidemic that invites the whole world to take the fight in hand. Their aim is to raise awareness overall and educate the younger generations in particular. By gaining global backing for the cause, they raise funds to directly assist the many HIV AIDS projects they support. They intend to do this by using our international ambassadors to spread our messages of hope, our calls to action, our pleas for compassion and our requests for assistance and support for those living with HIV AIDS.
Apartheid: was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994. Apartheid had its roots in the history of colonisation and settlement of southern Africa, with the development of practices and policies of separation along racial lines and domination by European settlers and their descendants.
South Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in the seventeenth century. English domination of the Dutch descendents (known as Boers or Afrikaners) resulted in the Dutch establishing the new colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal. The discovery of diamonds in these lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion which sparked the Boer War. Following independence from England, an uneasy power-sharing between the two groups held sway until the 1940's, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority. Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Starting in the 60's, a plan of ``Grand Apartheid'' was executed, emphasizing territorial separation and police repression.
With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs. In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). The coloured category included major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent. For example, a white person was defined as ``in appearance obviously a white person or generally accepted as a white person.'' A person could not be considered white if one of his or her parents were non-white. The determination that a person was ``obviously white'' would take into account ``his habits, education, and speech and deportment and demeanor.'' A black person would be of or accepted as a member of an African tribe or race, and a colored person is one that is not black or white. The Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books'' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas.
In 1951, the Bantu Authorities Act established a basis for ethnic government in African reserves, known as ``homelands.'' These homelands were independent states to which each African was assigned by the government according to the record of origin (which was frequently inaccurate). All political rights, including voting, held by an African were restricted to the designated homeland. The idea was that they would be citizens of the homeland, losing their citizenship in South Africa and any right of involvement with the South African Parliament which held complete hegemony over the homelands. From 1976 to 1981, four of these homelands were created, denationalizing nine million South Africans. The homeland administrations refused the nominal independence, maintaining pressure for political rights within the country as a whole. Nevertheless, Africans living in the homelands needed passports to enter South Africa: aliens in their own country.
In 1953, the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were passed, which empowered the government to declare stringent states of emergency and increased penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of a law. The penalties included fines, imprisonment and whippings. In 1960, a large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes; the government declared a state of emergency. The emergency lasted for 156 days, leaving 69 people dead and 187 people wounded. Wielding the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the white regime had no intention of changing the unjust laws of apartheid.
The penalties imposed on political protest, even non-violent protest, were severe. During the states of emergency which continued intermittently until 1989, anyone could be detained without a hearing by a low-level police official for up to six months. Thousands of individuals died in custody, frequently after gruesome acts of torture. Those who were tried were sentenced to death, banished, or imprisoned for life, like Nelson Mandela.
Segregation - The classification and separation of people due to race. This separation pervades all aspects of life, including separate schools, housing, and public facilities.
Pan-Africanism - The belief in a broad African identity, including all those of African descent in Africa and abroad, and the need for African unity to fight against slavery, racism, imperialism, and colonial occupation. Pan-Africanism also refers to a world-wide movement for the political unity of African states.
Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture or language of one culture into another.
Colorism is a form of discrimination or racism based on skin-tone. The term is generally used for the phenomenon of people discriminating within their own ethnic groups.
Some examples was the brown paper bag test and the blue vein society. The days of slavery about the House & Field Negro. And even in Liberia, descendants of African-American settlers in part defined social class and standing by raising people with lighter skin above those with dark skin. In addition to rivalries among descendants of African Americans, the Americans held themselves above the native Africans in Liberia. Thus, descendants of Americans held and kept power out of proportion to their representation in the population of the entire country, so there was a larger issue than color at work. Even still today African diasporians still want to see themselves as distinct from Continental Africans.
Colorism is a process that privileges light-skinned people of color over dark in areas such as income, education, housing, and the marriage market. The color complex is also exported around the globe, in part through global media images, and helps to sustain the multibillion-dollar skin bleaching and cosmetic surgery industries, mainly rhinoplasty. Colorism also occurs in other western cultures where fair people are considered to be more superior, affluent, and powerful then those of a darker skin tone. The term colorism can also refer to when darker skin tones are preferred and lighter skin is considered less desirable or vice versa.
The range of colour people possess is awesome. Black, in all its splendid hues, is indeed beautiful. It should also go without saying, that this variation is useless as an index for judging individual beauty, intelligence, aspirations and the like. One’s complexion is intrinsically irrelevant to any and all of these qualities.
"Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? You know. Before you come asking Mr. Muhammad does he teach hate, you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God made you."
Malcolm X
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I believe apartheid, racism and colorism are purposely entangled with each other. Also my belief for why this persistent problem ‘colorism’ continues in society around the world, especially with people of colour is because people continue to have this mentality of the past colonialism European racial hierarchy that continues to destroy unity amongst society. I also believe in part of the colorism issue it was manufactured by society itself by only a minority of people who have self-hate of themselves and prey it onto others to make themselves feel better.
Colorism will remain a consistant problem in society if people continue to have this mentality, I just believe we should not discriminate anyone regardless of their skin tone even in the ethnic society. If the world had people all looking the same and the same colour it would be pretty boring and dull and then how would we embrace all races for their cultures and music etc.
African Renaissance: is a concept in which African people, nations & their descendants are called upon to solve the many problems troubling the African continent. It seeks to promote the indigenous African heritage, the art & quality of being human and promotion of Africa and it’s people. It also seeks unity in diversity a move towards a rebirth of all who value the rediscovery of ourselves.
The phrase was first used in 1994 in South Africa following the first democratic election after the end of apartheid, and was clarified with then-Deputy President Thabo Mbeki's famous " I am an African" speech in May 1996 following the adoption of a new constitution.
Emancipation: is a term used to describe various efforts to obtain political rights or equality, often for a specific group.
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg in the early 1990s. It is based on house music beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped with deep basslines. Kwaito was born in Soweto ,one of the townships where blacks were forced to live during the time of apartheid. Similarly, kwaito has been referred to as the "sound of the ghetto", and emerged from the most economically depressed areas of South Africa. Boom Shaka, the first kwaito group, was also the first to create and popularize dance moves to accompany kwaito.
Some kwaito artists are Arthur Mafokate, Mandoza, Trompies, Anashante, Malaika,TKZee, Zola , Lebo from ex Boomshaka group, etc. Also a popular star was Brenda Fassie mixed her music with kwaito and Afro pop.
One of the first Kwaito singles to become a hit in South Africa was the song “Kaffir” According to an article by Thokozani Mhlambi. The lyrics are a perfect illustration of the freedom of expression that developed as a result of the political change. Boom Shaka, the first kwaito group, was also the first to create and popularize dance moves to accompany kwaito.
Kaffir was once term for black southern Africans. It is now utilized exclusively as an ethnic or racial slur and should no longer be used in society. The original meaning of the word was heathen, unbeliever or infidel, from the Arabic Kafir. Portuguese explorers used the term generally to describe tribes they encountered in southern Africa, European colonists subsequently continued its use. The term was mostly used in South Africa, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) & Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
The term Cape Coloureds refers to the modern-day descendants of slave labourers imported into South Africa by Dutch settlers as well as to other groups of mixed ancestry (African, Indian and European origin). They were classified as this ethical group under the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
The term Coloured was not only used in South Africa, but also in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia Botswana. Majority Zimbabwean coloured come from Shona or Ndebele mixing with British.
During the apartheid era, in order to keep divisions and maintain a race-focused society, the term Coloured was used to describe one of the four main racial groups identified by law: Blacks, Whites , Coloureds and Indians.
In Zimbabwe the coloureds began to call themselves goffal. It cannot be pinpointed exactly when coloureds started referring to one another as Goffals but it is widely accepted. During the white minority rule in then Rhodesia all children resulting from inter-racial relations were separated from their families and put into race-specific schools and restricted to living in coloured designated neighbourhoods. As a result the mixed race offspring began to marry and have families within their racial group. The Goffal community began to grow and gain an identity. Specific suburbs mainly in Bulawayo (Morningside & Thorngrove) and Harare (Arcadia & Braeside). Languages spoken by Goffals are mainly English but also the “B” Language & certain slang words created by the goffals themselves. Some also in addition speak Shona, Ndebele & Nyanja/Chichewa part also being due to diversity & non – segregation after independence. Under white minority rule in the then Rhodesia, Coloureds had more privileges than black Africans, but still faced serious discrimination and racism, due to this system of the colonial era placing coloureds above blacks there was tension between both coloured and blacks. But now situations have changed and people are now coming together and also with the realisation we are all descendants of Africa, in the fight to make a better Zimbabwe and live peacefully amongst one another.
But like I wrote earlier in this post is that in order for people to move on in life, we have to put behind the class system or segregational pyramid created by the apartheid/colonial era and people should start embracing their natural beauty and stop critising other races because we all beautiful.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
With an astonishing wildlife experience, Rwanda is home to different wildlife species but utmost the rare, endangered and closest human kin-the mountain gorilla
Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group.
When the Belgian colonists arrived in 1916, they produced identity cards classifying people according to their ethnicity.
The Belgians considered the Tutsis to be superior to the Hutus. Not surprisingly, the Tutsis welcomed this idea, and for the next 20 years they enjoyed better jobs and educational opportunities than their neighbours.
Resentment among the Hutus gradually built up, culminating in a series of riots in 1959. More than 20,000 Tutsis were killed, and many more fled to the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda.
When Belgium relinquished power and granted Rwanda independence in 1962, the Hutus took their place. Over subsequent decades, the Tutsis were portrayed as the scapegoats for every crisis.
In Sept. 1998, a UN tribunal sentenced Jean Kambanda, a former prime minister of Rwanda, to life in prison for his part in the 1994 genocide. He became the first person in history to be convicted for the crime of genocide, first defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention after World War II.
A UN court in Dec. 2008 convicted Col Theoneste Bagosora, a Hutu extremist, of genocide for his involvement in the 1994 massacre of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu. He is the highest-ranking military official charged in connection with the genocide.
Intore dancer
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill Great Blue Turaco
What Are "Conflict Diamonds"? Blood Diamonds, also known as “Conflict Diamonds” are stones that are produced in areas controlled by rebel forces that are opposed to internationally recognized governments. The rebels sell these diamonds, and the money is used to purchase arms or to fund their military actions. Blood Diamonds are often produced through the forced labor of men, women and children. They are also stolen during shipment or seized by attacking the mining operations of legitimate producers. These attacks can be on the scale of a large military operation. The stones are then smuggled into the international diamond trade and sold as legitimate gems. These diamonds are often the main source of funding for the rebels, however, arms merchants, smugglers and dishonest diamond traders enable their actions. Enormous amounts of money are at stake and bribes, threats, torture, and murder are modes of operation. This is why the term "blood diamonds" is used.
Yellow countries are where conflict diamonds have originated.
Sierra Leone
Flag colour represents: Green – agriculture, natural wealth & mountains White – justice & unity Blue – Atlantic Ocean
Sierra leone
Capital: Freetown Independence: 27 April 1961 from British President: Ernest Bai Koroma*Early inhabitants were the Sherbo, Temne, Limba, Tyra and later the Mende people. *In 1462 visited by Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cinta and called it’ Serra de Leão-‘Lion Mountains, later called Sierra Leone by Italians. ***The country was a hub of the transatlantic slave trade. In 1747, a plan was implemented to settle some of London’s black and white poor in Sierra leone (what was called Province of freedom), many of the black poor were African Americans, who had been promised their freedom for joining the British Army during the American Revolution but also included other African & Asian Inhabitants of London.
Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769.
*Bai Bureh(Temre Chief Leader) of 1898 rebellion against British Rule (Hut Tax War). He was captured and sent to exile in Gold Coast now called Ghana. *Civil was from 1991-2000 (In 1991 Civil war broke out, mainly due to government corruption and mismanagement of diamond resources. The RUF (Revoluntionary United Front), led by Foday Sankoh (former Sierra Leone army corporal) and backed by Charles Taylor (former President of Liberia), launched first attack in villages in Kailahun District in eastern Sierra Leone from Liberia on 23 march 1991. They forced recruitment of child soldiers as their early feature of rebel strategy. Most were used for attacks on villages and on guard duty at diamond fields. *It is reported that Simon Yelnik an Israeli arms dealer supplied rebel forces in Sierra leone with weapons, also linked to the ‘blood diamonds’ is retired Israeli forces colonel Yair Klein and Israeli business man Simon Rosenblum. * Sierra leone is slowly emerging from civil war and is showing signs of successful transition.Main Resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite
Liberia
Liberia
Capital: Monrovia (land of peace) Independence: 26 July 1847 President: Ellen Johnson-Sir Leaf *Founded as a colony in 1822 by freed slaves from the USA. *Was called ‘Costa da pimeta) by the Portuguese meaning ‘Grain Coast@ *3 largest rivers leading into the Atlantic – St Paul near Monrovia, St John at Buchanan & Cestos Rover *Longest River is Cavalla *Highest point – Mount Wuteve *They had 2 civil wars – 1st (1989-1996) & 2nd (1999-2003) *Liberia’s wartime economy featured the exploitation of the region’s diamond wealth with the country acting as a major trader in Liberian, Sierra leonian & Angolan ‘blood diamonds’.
DRC (Belgian Congo/Congo Freestate/Zaire)
Mountain Gorilla
Bonobo Chimp.
Okapi
DRC (Belgian Congo/Congo Freestate/Zaire)
Capital:Kinshasa Independence: 30 June 1960 from Belgium *By 1996 tensions from neighbouring Rwanda War and genocide had spilled over to Zaire. *Much of the conflict was focused on gaining control of natural resources – diamonds, copper, zinc & coltan, aftermath of war gutted the country. *Laurent Kabila (former president) assassinated in 2007 succeeded by his son Joseph Kabila. Attractions: Bakongo Rover, Mt Nyiragongo, rainforests contain great biodiversity, rare & both species of chimpanzee (common & bonobo (pygmy chimp)), mountain gorilla, okapi, white rhino. *National Parks – Garumba, Kahuzi-Beiga, salonga, Virunga National Park & Okapi Wildlife Reserve. *Civil War & resultant poor economics conditions have endangered much of this biodiversity. *All 5 listed by UNESCO as World Heritage In Danger.
Angola
Serra da Leba, Sá da Bandeira (Lubango)
Angola
Capital:Luanda Independence: 11 November 1975 from Portugal *Early migration inhabitants – Khoisan hunter/gatherers & Bantu People. *Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luanda in 1575 as "São Paulo de Loanda". *Benguela port/bay was the epicentre for slave trade of slaves to Brazil & Cuba to work in agricultural plantations. *Civil War (1975-2002), Angola's civil war caused a half million deaths and some 100,000 maimings (injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration or mutilation). Rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) generated almost $4 billion from blood diamonds between 1992 and 1999. *Resources: Petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium, enormous reserves of oil, gas and diamonds, as well as considerable hydroelectric potential, varied agricultural land, good rainfall and considerable marine resources.
Pan-Africanism is a philosophy, as well as a movement, which seeks to unify both native Africans and those of the African diaspora as part of a "global Afri community".
Pan-African Flag
Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) is labelled the father of Pan-Africanism. Born in Saint Thomas (Virgin Islands) Jamaica. He was a diplomat, writer and politician in Liberia and Sierra Leone.He is of Igbo descent.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (1887-1940) Born St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. He was a publisher, journalist, enterepeneur & pan-africanist. His inspiration came from Edward Bylden. He believed uniting blacks was the only way to improve their condition. He had many organisations/projects:-
1] Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Jamaica 1914
2] Negro World Newspaper
3] African Communties (Imperial) League (ACL)
4] People’s Politcal Party
5] In April 1931 he launched the EdelweissAmusementCompany , which he set up to help artists earn their livelihood from their crafts.
6] The Black Star Line was a shipping line incorporated by Garvey it was supposed to involve the transportation of goods and eventually African Americans throughout the African global economy.
MAN KNOW THYSELF
For man to know himself is for him to feel that for him there is no human master. For him Nature is his servant, and whatsoever he wills in Nature, that shall be his reward. If he wills to be a pigmy, a serf or a slave, that shall he be. If he wills to be a real man in possession of the things common to man, then he shall be his own sovereign. When man fails to grasp his authority he sinks to the level of the lower animals, and whatsoever the real man bids him do, even as if it were of the lower animals, that much shall he do. If he says "go." He goes. If he says "come," he comes. By this command he performs the functions of life even as by a similar command the mule, the horse, the cow perform the will of their masters. For the last four hundred years the Negro has been in the position of being commanded even as the lower animals are controlled. Our race has been without a will; without a purpose of its own, for all this length of time.
Because of that we have developed few men who are able to understand the strenuousness of the age in which we live. Where can we find in this race of ours real men. Men of character, men of purpose, men of confidence, men of faith, men who really know themselves? I have come across so many weaklings who profess to be leaders, and in the test I have found them but the slaves of a nobler class. They perform the will of their masters without question. To me, a man has no master but God. Man in his authority is a sovereign lord. As for the individual man, so of the individual race. This feeling makes man so courageous, so bold, as to make it impossible for his brother to intrude upon his rights.
So few of us can understand what it takes to make a man - the man who will never say die; the man who will never give up; the man who will never depend upon others to do for him what he ought to do for himself; the man who will not blame God, who will not blame Nature, who will not blame Fate for his condition; but the man who will go out and make conditions to suit himself. Oh, how disgusting life becomes when on every hand you hear people (who bear your image, who bear your resemblance) telling you that they cannot make it, that Fate is against them, that they cannot get a chance. If 400,000,000 Negroes can only get to know thesmelves, to know that in them is a sovereign power, is an authority that is absolute, then in the next twenty-four hours we would have a new race, we would have a nation, an empire, - resurrected, not from the will of others to see us rise, - but from our own determination to rise, irrespective of what the world thinks.
Speech by Marcus Garvery
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) (1922=5-1965) born Omaha, Nebraska was a African American minister, public speaker and human rights activist. He has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. He is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage His father Earl was a supporter of Marcus Garvey and president of UNIA division in Omaha. Malcolm X was assassinated 21 Feb. 1965 he was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
Responses to assassination
Reactions to Malcolm X's assassination were varied. Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr sent a telegram to Betty Shabazz, expressing his sadness over "the shocking and tragic assassination of your husband."
While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and the root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems we face as a race.
Bob Marley (Robert Nesta Marley) (1945-1981) Born Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica. Was a musician/song-writer and pan-africanist through music. Bob Marley as not only is he a legend but his music touched peoples hearts and he used his music to fight against racism, cultural imperialism and apartheid, but he also used it to promote love amongst everyone in the world and for people to coalesce . He died of Melanoma in Miami, Florida.
Other related pan-africanist figures
Hugo Chavez - Current President of Venezuela who is trying to reconnect Afro-Latin Americans with their African heritage.
Jomo Kenyatta was a Pan-African activist who became the first president of Kenya .
Julius Nyerere - Key figure for Pan Africanism and SADC
