Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

Marcus Garvey

To quote Marcus Garvey on history, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots".

To quote Malcolm X, History is a people's memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower animals.

We have been fed many lies and distortions about our history in order to make us forget who we are.  Our history has been marginalised, ignored and buried.  It us up to us to dig it up, uncover it and share it. 

Check out some of my recent Black history/African history blogs:


To find out about how Martin Luther Kind and Malcolm X influenced sci-fi movies, check out The Black History of the X-Men. 


African History Film:  Invasion 1897 - this links to some of my other African history blogs. 

Please share these with your networks.  And if you like my blog posts, please leave a comment.  Thanks. 

The Black History of X-Men

Wesley Snipes as Blade

As I have said many times before, I always learn something in presentations by Brother T. of London Black History Walks.  Listen below for more.  

How has Black history influenced science fiction and sci-fi movies?  Listen below. (Scroll down.) 

Three points particularly stood out for me in this presentation.  

1) Dr. Wooter Basson - Brother T. has mentioned him in other presentations.

2) In 1999, the family of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. held a civil trial.  Did you hear about this?  I didn’t.  The mainstream media buried the story.

3) Blade was the first Marvel superhero featured in successful movies.  
Listen below for more.  

Click here for my Invasion 1897 blog.  

Click here for my blog about Healing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.  

Click here for The Black Blogger as Modern Griot. 

Click here for Nurture Success Events.  

It is so important that we share this information.  Please share this with your networks. 

INTERnational Week for Nonviolence

I am privileged to be a member of the Summit Council of the INTERnational Week for Nonviolence, which will be held 16th-23rd August 2014.

If you are organising an event during that week, please post the details in the comments section below.

I have also posted some NVC events - not just events for that week – here.

One of my guests on my recent show about Black parents and nonviolence was saying, "You CAN'T teach young people nonviolence because they have to fight".

I was reminded of the first time I met Marshall Rosenberg, author of Nonviolent Communication.  I asked him about his work with Black gang leaders. 

 

I talk about this in the audio below.   

I am also inspired by the example of Malcolm X. He was alienated and disaffected, and he became involved in petty crime and ended up in prison. But the right support and encouragement, and given the right inspiration, he became a leader.

Listen below for more.

I am really passionate about this work. NVC is saving people's lives all over the world, and it could save your life. It could save your child's life.

The INTERnational Week for Nonviolence is not exclusively for people of African heritage. It's for everyone.

Help me celebrate the Week for Nonviolence this coming August.

I have written about Nonviolent Communication in Success Strategies for Black People and

my new ebook, Affirmations for Parents. 

Follow me @Zhana21 and @ZhanaHeals.  

Current Books Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

 

Was the March on Washington a Waste of Shoe-Leather?

Is marching a waste of shoe-leather? This is what John Henrik Clarke said about marching.

Before the March on Washington, Malcolm X predicted that African Americans would still be marching 50 years later – check out this video clip.

Malcolm claimed Black people did not have the moral high ground because we did not own our own businesses, and therefore could not employ our own people, as other communities did and still do.

However, his argument was naïve because we know that banks and financial institutions discriminated against Black business owners and would-be entrepreneurs.

And when Black people did set up their own thriving business communities, these communities were sometimes brutally attacked, as was the case with the Black Wall Street.

Still, when we look at the situation today, where Black people often do not patronise businesses in our own communities, but instead rush to spend our money in other communities, we need to remember Brother Malcolm's words. It's up to us to employ our own people, just as other communities do. In order to do this, we need to build a Strong Black Business Community. 

I believe it was important to have a nationwide March on Washington.  It was a significant moment in history and still has an impact today.  But is it still useful to keep on marching?  I don't think so.  What do you think?  Leave your comments below.   

Click here to remember the 1963 March on Washington in words and pictures.