Thursday, July 8, 2021
'Going All-City': A Vocabulary Lesson (by Johnny Coleman II)
Monday, March 8, 2021
"The African Connection" by Johnny Coleman II
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Hari Jones (1958-2018) |
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U.S. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) |
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Mr. Marquett Milton Photo Credit: Johnny Coleman II/Anthro21 |
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Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu Photo Credit: Amhara Kings |
Thursday, March 4, 2021
"Babylon is Fallen!" by Johnny Coleman II
"If you do no understand white supremacy - what it is, and how it works, everything else that you understand will only confuse you."
Mr. Neely Fuller, Jr.
“...there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD!”
I Samuel chapter 5, verse 1
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!"
Revelations 18:2
Friday, August 14, 2020
"What is an International Day?" by Johnny Coleman II
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Photo Credit: International Slavery Museum Liverpool |
The photo above is of a poster from the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England. August 23rd is an international day and it is observed as the: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
AN INTERNATIONAL DAY---DEFINITION
According to the United Nations (UN) an international day is defined:
"...designates specific days, weeks, years and decades as occasions to mark particular events or topics in order to promote, through awareness and action, the objectives of the Organization. Usually, it is one or more Member States that propose these observances and the General Assembly establishes them with a resolution.
On occasion, these celebrations are declared by the specialized agencies of the United Nations, such as UNESCO, UNICEF, FAO, etc., when they concern issues that fall within the scope of their competencies. Some of them may be later adopted by the General Assembly."
WHY INTERNATIONAL DAYS?
"International days are occasions to educate the general public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool.
Each international day offers many actors the opportunity to organize activities related to the theme of the day. Organizations and offices of the United Nations system, and most importantly, governments, civil society, the public and private sectors, schools, universities and, more generally, citizens, make an international day a springboard for awareness-raising actions."
For a list of all UN International Days please look HERE.
REMEMBERING THE PAST
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which lasted 300 years created historic wealth for the European World with exports from Africa in both people and goods. This trade also established the United States and the strength of this wealth is still experienced today. The discussion of slavery and segregation in the USA has become easier in 2020, however many people choose not to share this history with their children for fear it will ruin their minds. I am obviously not one of those people. It think it is important to share what has happened with the youth so it does not happen again.
In 2014, a United Nations resolution established the worldwide observation and this day was observed worldwide for the first time in 2016. Then in 2017 I organized a commemoration of August 23rd in Washington, DC at the African American Civil War Memorial. The day pays tribute to the people who revolted against the system of slavery on August 23, 1791. In 1791 the island was known as Santo Domingo until 1804, when it was renamed "Haiti" meaning mountains. The Haitian Revolution was a dramatic symbol of liberty for African people in the Americas. Now, when we teach abolition we are often taught dates and times when a government declared, or abolished, chattel slavery. However, this international day is a date that commemorates self-emancipation (freeing the self) from bondage with dignity. That is the major difference.
I organized that event with the help of Mr. Marquett Milton of the African American Civil War Memorial & Museum in Washington, DC (seen in the photo below with the hat) and also Minister Chi Mauuso, also of Washington, DC (seen in seated in the photo below), she lead us in prayer and a moment of silence. I am grateful to the Washington Informer newspaper for supporting the event; I am in the photo below on the right.
The largest observance of this day is in Trafalgar Square in London, England. In London they call this "Sankofa Day." Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah) translates to "Go back and get it" in the Twi language and is symbolized in the Adinkra as:
(1) a stylized heart shape, or
(2) by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth.
These symbols capture the proverb that "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." In the two photos below you will see Shezal Laing, the Director and Founder of the organization Slavery Remembrance. She is the organizer for the London gathering and her work has educated the world on this chapter in history.
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Photo Credit: AfrocCultureBlog |
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Photo Credit: The Voice-UK |
Finally, when it comes to the commemoration of August 23rd there are annual activities in Liverpool, England starting at the International Slavery Museum (see photo below).
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Photo Credit: International Slavery Museum Liverpool |
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
World's Great Anthropologist: Jomo Kenyatta (by Johnny Coleman II)
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Photo Credit: Mount Kenya (World Atlas) |
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Photo Credit: Bronislaw Malinowski (LSE) |
Malinowski made a career as a serious ethnographer and is called the 'Father of social anthropology.' Cultural anthropology is called social anthropology in England. An ethnographer is the old-school anthropologist living among traditional people and documenting their life.
When he met Kenyatta they became friends and he welcomed him because he wanted to support the work of an indigenous student and is quoted to say: “one of the first really competent and instructive contributions to African ethnography by a scholar of pure African parentage.” As an anthropologist who traveled and wrote about other people Malinowski was not part of the groups he wrote about like Kenyatta. During that time Kenyatta's work was revolutionary.
Jomo Kenyatta is one of the world's great anthropologists!