Black History – Every Black Person on Earth Must Read This

By Kingstone Matsekeza

Being a black person is a blessing. Whatever else you have going for you in your life, your existence and thriving are not just a blessing and an opportunity, but  testament of progress against the odds; underwritten by the blood, sweat and tears of other black people before us. The colour comes from the melanin within our skin, which protected our ancestors from the brutal African sun but has now become a stamp of our undeniable identity… an identity that many have tried to destroy, hide, steal and distort.

 

Our history is not only censored, it was disembodied, like the angels that rebelled. The bible speaks of angels that went to war against the creator but lost. Their punishment was severe and eternal. They lost their celestial bodies to become spirits devoid of physical body and yet yearning for a place to call home. These spirits wander from place to place, animal to person and some even in inanimate objects. The most powerful of them are chained up in unbreakable chains, awaiting the judgement and wrath of the Almighty.  This is also a microcosm of what happened to black history; dominant, brilliant and powerful but now left without form, shape or volume. There are rumours of shadows of Black ingenuity, but most of it are hollow echoes from an amputated and disembowled organism. The remnants of Black identity and impact in the days of old is nothing short of a half-tooth from an unknown prehistoric creature; undeniable but unattributable. This article aims to challenge thoughts and evidence about historic black people as we celebrate black history month.

 

A good place to start is the home of civilisation… And the place of its slaughter… Egypt. Black history transcends the Egyptian dynasties in that the Ancient Egyptians were black. Although popular media has tried to whitewash the pharaohs, the hieroglyphics, drawings and artwork of ancient Egypt scream of black mastery but this truth did not sit well with the agendas of the historians that were tasked to catalogue the civilisation. Why are the paintings of some pharaohs distinctly dark of skin with the wide nose that is synonymous with being black? Granted, the latter dynasties were brown and then fairer… but how can we ignore the following evidence? (insert article on black pharaohs) Even the Sphinx; one of Egypt’s most epic monument is believed to have been vandalised in order to hide its black origin. The nose was blown off and early paintings and drawings of the whole Sphinx are conspicuously missing. Vivant Denon famously etched an undamaged Sphinx with black features. I read many articles to this effect, but few were more compelling than the following. The twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt was ruled by Black Kushite pharaohs. Elizabeth Snodgrass of National Geographic wrote this article.

 

 

Even in Europe, black people had a very positive impact.in antiquity, few capture the imagination of the time like St Maurice, whose story has many embellished versions, but they all agree that he was a black man of nobility and integrity. The Moors were a race of black people whose great fortune and influence during their age is undeniable. They too have a forgotten stakeholding in the shaping of modern commerce, politics and even religion.  The articles on the Moors and their depiction in art, poetry and prose show them as a mighty people, shrewd and well spoken. They were fiercely brave in battle but seldom fought except for what they believed in. Some europen civilisations fashioned themselves into Moorish paths of cogitation because they were deemed clearer, better and indeed superior lifestyles.  The Moor, however, became undone by their own success. As they became wealthier and more powerful, they were at odds against two juggernauts of the time; the crown and the church. I found this article on the fate of our black forebears enlightening, by Atlanta Blackstar on 8 things the Moors brought to Europe…the list will surprise you!

 

 

Now, back to Africa. As I always say, I am passionate about all things African… From African Fashion, African causes, through to African culture and heritage. I have watched exhibits on African cloth, African civilisations and even African language at various museums. Each time, I have come away feeling that there is a disconnect between what ancient black people accomplished and what we are taught of the black people of that time. How can such simple people… To quote Wole Soyinka, “Untutored, mannerless and devoid of grace” create so much sophisticated art… Sophisticated enough to inspire grandmasters to paint feelings and emotion… And yet simultaneously achieve high feats of artisanry, as depicted by the African Bronze heads; pedigree sculpture that was unmistakably professional and comparable to the greatest sculptors in Greece even. The skill involved in creating the Bronze Head from Ife challenged the preconceptions of African art and bears witness to the hidden talent and skill.

 

The monuments by African civilisations are most intriguing.  Kingdoms of Africa exlores the Great Zimbabwe ruins; a complex so intricate and of the highest order or architecture… Built by the Shona during their Iron Age, the evidence of the origin is undeniable (including the soapstone carvings of the Zimbabwe bird, the pottery and jewelry) and stonework… And yet the history and accreditation for such has not been passed on the decendants of these geniuses. But this is because of a prolonged and uncompromising war of attrition agains African excellence. They even tried to discredit the monuments from being created by black people and went to great lengths. It is known that the Black Shona built these marvelous monuments now, butthere was a time when that heritage was denied them. Nubian kingdom, Zulu kingdom, Mutapa empire, Luba Lunda Empire… There is so many deep veins of black history that it is sad to see a people pillaged of heritage and spot in history. Ancient Africa delved deeper into African lost history to reveal how a combination of governmental ignorance and lack of proper funding to curate black history may have cost black eole their identity, history and esteem as a people.

 

But I do not want us to rue our lost history or to hate those who perpetuated these injustices. Instead, let us create an amazing history that will inspire future black people. Let us dedicate our lives to excellence… Not to superiority and not to servitude but to undeniable excellence; being mediocre in nothing but passionate, knowledgeable, impactive and leading the world to a more excellent path. The conspiracies againsr our civilisation will not stand as we create technology, revive lost competencies and govern with wisdom and love. Let us invest in our future history by investing in educating black people and mentoring them to lead and to discover, incent, create, explore, build and restore. Let the black person stand up tall and be counted as equal in all things that men may be measured in, but more excellent in their application and dedication. The richest man of all time, Mansa Munsa was highlighted as being black. His legacy was stolen a long time ago but perhaps now that we know about him and other hugely successful black people, we might stand a chance at aspiring to be more than just existent.

 

This is the era for the first Black president, Barack Obama… as well as the first Black gymnastics world champion, Simone Biles…  And only now has NASCAR inducted African-American, Wendell Scott… And even the Defence Intelligence Agency has entrusted its top job to Vincent Stewart. There is a whole List of African-American firsts, but this list is by no means exhaustive. If we do not make history today, we will not be in thei chronicles of tomorrow… And this time we need Black people to be guardians of our heritage, culture and history… after all, we are no longer asking for apologetic mentions in history but wish to contribute and become a significant chunk of this world’s future….As the talented musician and AFR Clothing ambassador, Alexander Star sings, “THIS IS MY ERA…”

 

 

AFR Clothing are investing time and money towards the education of more and more children in Africa, with the hope that among them shall come great leaders, artists, thinkers, movers, shakers… or that we result in the improvement of communities so that they do not stay relegated to the shadows of life and history. The Amani Hope Scholarship is the vehicle through which we are educating Africa, one shirt at a time. Education removes the veil of ignorance and directs energy and talent into usefulness and sustainability in life. We hoe that the children we are educating will get a more rounded understanding of their heritage through proper teaching of black history and through introduction to people who are making history in this aeon.

 

Final sentiments… Black is beautiful… black is strong… black accepts all other colours without changing itself… black is powerful and relevant. We do not seek to be treated as better or worse, but as equals in this life. When race must be declared, we are All the Human race; and when identity is questioned, we are Black. Since it is black history month, I have to ask for a moment of silence… first for all the black people that lost their lives in times as they fought, endured or suffered oppression… and those that fought a good fight for equality… and even those that did not fight but excelled in their arenas of practice… the athletes that showed that Blacks were intelligent enough to lay in the NBA… MLB… Olympics…. To the black campaigners that taught us to love our black skin, black noses, lips, hair… To Nelson Mandela and those that championed Ubuntu… the realisation that our value is embedded in our community… Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey the whole pan-African Movement… to Reggae and its sentiments for the black skin and our ancestry and Africa… to my poetic inspiration, Dr Maya Angelou, whose impact and incision will continue to challenge the way we view ourselves.. and to rise from our ashes rather than to languish in the brutality of self-loathing…  to every Black mother and father whose progeny changed the world view of Black people for the better…. And to Africa, from which all that is black originates.