The Legacy of Violence of the British Empire

Queen Elizabeth II in Nigeria

The recent death of the late British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has caused many to reflect on the legacy of violence of the British Empire.  The Empire, and the violence associated with it,  continued into the reign of Elizabeth II.  Millions of people in Africa, India and many other places were on the receiving end of this violence, and had their homes destroyed and their lives disrupted.  Many lost their lands and their livestock, as the British settlers took them by force.  And many lost their lives.  

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One important question which arises at this time is, how much did the late monarch actually know about what went on?  Churchill is quoted as saying, in the early 20th century, that it was a good thing the House of Commons don't know what they were doing [in Kenya].  "If they did, our East Africa programme would be under a cloud".   

Kenyans had written to Parliament many times, but received no response.  For more about this, see the documentary, Kenya, White Man's Country.   

Here are two more documentaries on this subject:  

​Kenyan History: The European Invasion! (1890 - 1930) [African History]

​Kenyan History (Part 3): The Empire Strikes Back [1952 - 1960]

​

WARNING:   All of these documentaries contain disturbing images and information.  

 

On at least one occasion, it is known that Her Majesty was lied to about this situation. 

I have blogged about the role of the Empire in Kenya, where thousands of Kenya were killed during the "Emergency".  

For more about this, see:  The First Grader.  

Go here for an article on the Empire and how it is still impacting on African people today.  

Go here for more blogs about African history.  

Go here for more blogs about Black history.  

 

 

 

Black History: Lupita and the Warrior Women

Black History the Dora Milaje

People all over the world enjoyed the Black Panther movie. The film broke loads of box office records – and so it should have. As Lupita Nyong'o states, Black Panther was one of the highest-grossing films of all time.  I personally have seen it three times – so far. 
 

Black Panther featured the Dora Milaje – an army of women warriors whose responsibility it was to protect the King – the Black Panther.

These women were amazing – beautiful, fierce, brave – they showed incredible courage and skill.  Lupita Nyong'os character was not a member of the Dora Milaje - she played a spy who was also fierce and beautiful, and who also displayed some very impressive fighting. In the end, she put on the Dora Milaje armour and fought the battle for control of Wakanda.  

Last night, Lupita presented a programme on Channel 4 as part of their Black history season.  She discovered actual, historical African warrior women who had the job of protecting the King. It is online for the next 30 days, so I urge you to watch it if you have not done so already, or even if you have.  

Black History Walks gave a presentation last year about the historical basis of the Black Panther movie, in which Brother T. gave several examples of warrior women in Africa, who protected their monarchs.

In Dahomey, now known as Benin, Lupita discovered an historical army made up of thousands of women warriors - the Agoji.  The Agoji were press-ganged into serving, went through rigorous training and were required to obey the King.  They fought the European powers, particularly the French, who had invaded and occupied the area (and many other territories around the African continent).  

Although the knowledge about the existence of this female army is inspiring, we learned that they were also required by the King to invade other territories, notably the Yoruba territory in what is now Nigeria.  They abducted many men and women, and some of the women were enslaved in Dahomey.  Both men and women were also sold into Transatlantic slavery under the orders of the Kings.  Thus, it is also a shameful history.  

Again, watch it while it is still available online.   

Go here for more African history blogs.  

 

Black History Blogs

MLK voting 1964

I have posted many Black history posts on this blog and I think it's useful to list them.  So you can find many of them listed below (in no particular order).

Plus click here for some of my African history blog posts.

Please share these with your networks, and particularly with parents, children and young people, and teachers and schools.  Please leave your comments on the individual blog posts.

Please note, I DO NOT distinguish between African history and Black history. Its all the history of African people on the Continent and in the Diaspora. If you are familiar with my work, such as my More Black Success ebooks, you now that all of my work has a global

Slavery by Another Name

African focus. Whether we are in Africa, in the Caribbean, in Europe, in the United States or the Americas – wherever we are, we are African people.

But since I know that some people make a distinction between Black people and African people, and because I know this distinction is important to some people, I have listed them separately. Remember, we are one people, and it is all the history of African people. And remember, too, EVERY MONTH IS BLACK

Josephine Baker

HISTORY MONTH.

Black History Blogs

Black History Presentation: The Black Image

The Black History of X-Men

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

African Hair before Bondage

Why Black History Matters

Why Black History Matters Part 2

Aimé Césaire Centennial at the Schomburg

What Can We Learn from Our History?

Samuel L. Jackson on 12 Years a Slave

70th Anniversary of D-Day

Break the Silence Congo Week

Remembering The Somme

The Negro Soldier

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

Ida B. Wells – A Passion for Justice

Mary Seacole Strikes Back

Slavery by Another Name

MLK's “Lost” Newcastle Speech

MLK: Black Is Beautiful

Harriet, A Choreopoem

Black in London

Celebrating Black History

Healing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Is Black Really Beautiful?

Soul Survivors Slave Narratives

Civil Rights, Fannie Lou Hamer, Black Women and Hysterectomy

Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

Gil Scott Heron: Message to the Messengers

You Couldn't Even Try on Shoes 

Black History Film:  Freedom Riders  

Click here for some African history blogs.   

Please share these with your networks and please leave your comments on the individual posts.  Thanks. 

African History: Invasion 1897

My blog post, a review of the film Invasion 1897, was published on Africa on the Blog some time ago.  Click here to read it.   

You have probably heard of the Benin bronzes - artefacts which were stolen from Africa and added to collections around the world.  Some of the Benin bronzes are on display in the British Museum.   

The Benin bronzes contain the record of a people and its history and culture.  

Invasion 1897 portrays the invasion and colonisation of Benin in West Africa in 1897.  Benin was known for being a very advanced civilisation with its own unique culture.  It is now part of Nigeria.  

Click here to read my blog post.  Please leave a comment on my blog, and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

For more about the devastating long-term effects of European colonisation on African countries, see: Black People in the First World War.

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. 

Is Black Really Beautiful?

Below is my review of the new documentary Beauty Is, from director Toyin Agbetu of Ligali.  

Beauty Is explores the relationship people of the African Diaspora, and all African people,  have with beauty.  

Our quest for beauty influences:  
- our health
- our economics
- our relationships and
- our self-esteem

and the film explores all of those areas.  

This is a very important film, and we need to keep having these conversations.  

There is a link to the Ligali anti-skin-bleaching campaign below.  

I will be interviewing the Director of Beauty Is, Toyin Agbetu, soon, so stay tuned!  

You can listen to my review below.  

Find Additional Books Podcasts with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

 

Click here for Natural Hair/Nappturality. 

Click here for The Key to Confidence and Self-Esteem.  

Click here for the Ligali anti-skin-bleaching campaign. 

 Click here for my Black Success audios. 

Click here for my analysis of the film 12 Years a Slave.

Film Review: Long Walk to Freedom

Idris Elba as Mandela

I recently saw the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, loosely based on Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

Mandela was obviously a world-renowned figure, but there was a time when he was all but forgotten. In the wake of Mandela's recent passing, this film celebrates his life and his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle.  

Long Walk to Freedom is a true African story of the heartbreak and devastation caused by the apartheid system, two people caught up in the fight against apartheid, and Mandela's long struggle which ended in triumph. 

Mugabe: Villain or Hero?

The documentary Mugabe: Villain or Hero? was shown recently as part of the African Odysseys strand at BFI London South Bank.

Mugabe: Villain or Hero? examines the current situation in Zimbabwe. If you have heard or read about Robert Mugabe in the Western media, you may be very surprised at what you learn from this film.

The film documents the history of Zimbabwe from independence to the present day. The making of the film is a story within the story.

The director, Ghanaian Roy Agyeman, travelled to Zimbabwe on the promise of being given access to Robert Mugabe within three months. It turned out to be more like three years.

Over the course of that time, Agyeman interviewed Zimbabweans and experienced life in the country during a period of economic instability and hyper-inflation caused by the economic sanctions imposed by the West. At one point, people could only withdraw 5 million per day from the bank, while a taxi journey cost twice that.

Robert Mugabe had been elected on the basis of his promise to redistribute Zimbabwe’s land. As with other former colonies, such as Kenya, white settlers occupy the best, most fertile land in Zimbabwe. Black people – the majority population – struggle to survive on a much smaller percentage of land.

The film also covered aspects of history of which I was not aware:

In 1979, Mugabe was pressured into signing the Lancaster Agreement, which required him to wait 10 years before redistributing the land. He was photographed with world leaders including Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, and with celebrities including Princess Diana. He was knighted by the Queen and was suggested as a possible recipient of a Nobel Prize.

Having waited 10 years, Mugabe was then prevailed upon by other African leaders to wait another five years, until after Nelson Mandela had been released from prison.

As part of the agreement, Britain agreed to provide funds to finance the redistribution of the land. But in 1997, the newly-elected New Labour government under Tony Blair reneged on the deal, claiming that as they were a new party, they had nothing to do with the agreement that had been signed.

Mugabe’s government started redistributing the land. The film states that some atrocities were committed. The white landowners whose land was repossessed were still each offered land amounting to100 times the size of Wembley Stadium.

Such was Mugabe’s distrust of Western journalists and news media that it took three years before he finally granted an interview with Agyeman, who had been following him around for much of the time, filming his activities from a distance.

The interview with Robert Mugabe was very refreshing. It was wonderful to hear him state that the redistribution of Zimbabwean land was “right”. At no point has he backed down from that position.

The discussion afterwards and Q & A with the director, Roy Agyeman, was ably led by Henry Bonsu of Colourful Radio. I interviewed Henry in my book Black SuccessStories.

What this film makes clear is that, as people of my generation are aware, the situation in Zimbabwe is about land. It is a land issue. Younger people may not realise this, though, because of the way Mugabe has been demonised by the press.

It was said that one winds up feeling like the lone voice, as if one were mad, if one’s view diverges from the portrait of Mugabe painted by the Western media, and this very much resonated with me.

As with other issues, the facts have often been distorted and misrepresented. As bloggers, we have a responsibility to uncover the truth and to share it.

As the film pointed out, much of the Western media and many Western governments and financial interests do not want to see Zimbabwe become prosperous. They will do anything they can to undermine Zimbabwe and smear Mugabe’s name. This is because land redistribution also needs to happen in other former colonies, such as Kenya and, of course, South Africa, and foreign powers fear losing their influence and their economic dominance.

With its mineral wealth, Zimbabwe can potentially become one of the strongest economies in Africa, and perhaps the world.

Mugabe: Villain or Hero? is an excellent film which sets the record straight, and you really need to see it. Everyone should see it.

For more about African history, see: Naij: A Film History of Nigeria.

For more about the way the media manipulate us by misrepresenting the facts, see this blog about the Niger Delta. 

Plus click here for more Black history resources. 

 

Film Africa: Filming Sensitive Issues

Dancing on the Edge

THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT. 

I had some serious issues with the Filming Sensitive Issues event held at the BFI as part of the recent Film Africa festival.  

I walked in to see a panel of three white women (one of them turned out to be mixed race, but she appeared white).  I immediately had a problem with this.  There are many Black people filming in Africa right now, at this moment, and I am sure some of them are filming sensitive issues.  So I question the composition of the panel.  

Two of the filmmakers had made a film about LGBT activists in Uganda.  I'm not going to say much about this right now.  

The other white woman, Karen Boswall, had made a documentary in Mozambique entitled Dancing on the Edge, about health workers educating people in local communities in order to prevent the spread of HIV.  So this was a real conflict for the woman who was the central figure in the documentary - she was an HIV+ health worker who was participating in the ritual. 

Dancing on the Edge showed girls taking part in a traditional initiation ceremony.  They had to take a vow that they would always sexually satisfy their husbands and never refuse to do so.  This goes directly against the health initiative to encourage people to use condoms.  They also vowed to submit if their husbands decided to beat them.  Thus, the initiation instructed them on how to be a good woman. 

One thing I found very offensive was that Boswall said the ancestors had required women to take these vows - this is what the locals told her.  I had a problem with this because it is the duty of the ancestors to protect their descendants (although not all ancestors are protective).  If your ancestors are telling you to submit to beatings, they are not doing their job.  However, there was no analysis of this from the filmmaker.  

It has rightly been pointed out to me that religion and spirituality are often used to manipulate and control people, as depicted, for example, in Ousmane Sembene's film Moolaade.  Therefore, it is entirely likely that the ancestors are being slandered in this instance. 

The film depicted many girls and young women taking part in the ritual.  In a lengthy sequence, they are topless.  So we see this sea of breasts - again, with no explanation or analysis.  There is no voiceover to place this in context. 

One thing I found particularly disturbing was that many of these girls were very young - far too young to have breasts - in fact, they literally looked like little boys.  I question why children so young were participating in an initiation ritual.  

Another problem I had with this event was that Boswall was surprised at how many people had asked her about female genital mutilation (FGM) in connection with her film.  It is obvious that, in an African context, any discussion of female initiation ceremonies will include reference to FGM, but Boswall did not seem to understand this.  Nor was she aware of Moolaade.  I have a problem with someone who knows so little about African film, or indeed African culture, having her work included in this festival.  

Boswall was well-meaning.  She said she was disappointed that her film was unlikely to bring about change, and she plans to make fiction films rather than documentaries in future.  

Some useful reflections came out of the event, as the filmmakers involved were very candid about the effects of their work on African communities.  I shall say more about this in future. 

Although the BFI screens the excellent African Odysseys film series on a monthly basis, I was very disappointed by this offering from Film Africa. 

Black Women Make Movies

This Saturday, 17th November. London Black History Walks will screen two films by and about African women.  

              

Ugandan Superladies - Rose, Leila and Susan are three  ordinary Ugandan women concerned with homes, families and jobs, but they also share the dream of becoming champion rally drivers. They face the double challenge of achieving sporting success while fighting prejudice and sexism in the male world of motor rallying.The film documents their journey take as they struggle to put together their cars for the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally 2009, the most coveted motor sports title in East Africa.  Showing with:

The Window - Moji dreams of being a window dresser but is held back by her husband Samson and things start to look even worse for her when Samson's second wife arrives from Nigeria to live in their one-bedroomed Peckham flat with them. However the two women,rather than being rivals,form a bond and,after a public show-down at Samson's chieftancy ceremony, attain their independence plus Q and A with screenwriter Funke Oyebanjo

Saturday, 17th November

Room B36, Birkbeck University of London, Malet St (entry on Torrington Square)

Tube: Russell Square/Tottenham Court Road

Free entry. First come, First served 

This event sponsored by National Association of Black Saturday Schools www.nabss.org.uk and Birkbeck, University of London  

Plus:  Performing Black Bodies in White Spaces  (Repeated by popular demand)

Saturday 17   November 5pm to 8.30pm

Birkbeck University of London, Tube: Russell Square/Tottenham Court Road

Free entry  if you click here to book and get venue details 

This event sponsored by National Association of Black Saturday Schools www.nabss.org.uk and Birkbeck, University of London  

Nigerian Films at the BFI

Phone Swap and Maami are two films showing at the BFI this Saturday, as part of the African Odysseys strand, organised by London Black History Walks in conjunction with the BFI.  You can watch the trailer below.  

See also:  Naij:  A Film History of Nigeria.  

See also:  Film Africa:  Filming Tomorrow

 

Film Africa

Rungano Nyoni

I have been very much enjoying the Film Africa festival. 

Click here for the Film Africa programme.  

One of the delights of the festival is that we get to meet working filmmakers.  

Saturday, I attended a screenwriting workshop at the BFI with award-winning screenwriter Rungano Nyoni.  She gave us the benefit of her perspective of writing as an actor, rather than a trained screenwriter, which I found very educational and very stimulating. 

Then, Saturday night, Rich Mix screened several shorts including Yellow Fever (very powerful) and Native Sun (very poignant), along with Whitey's on the Moon and Walking Backwards, both by Caroline Deeds, who was present for the screening.  So I got to hang out with the director and her family.  Brilliant.  I recommend you see all of these films. 

I had some issues with the workshop at the BFI on Sunday on Filming Difficult Subjects.  More about this soon. 

The festival continues.  The BFI will screen two Nigerian blockbusters on Saturday as part of their African Odysseys strand:  Maami and Phone Swap.  See also:  Film Africa;  Filming Tomorrow. 

Film Africa: Filming Tomorrow

Film Africa, the UK’s largest annual festival of African cinema and culture, is back in November 2012 with 10 days of 70 African films, 35 leading filmmakers offering Q&As, free professional workshops, and 9 African music nights.  

Filming Tomorrow will be a screen-seminar on grassroots filmmaking in Africa

As the conditions in which film is made change rapidly and radically, so too does the practice of filmmaking. In this open seminar, we will look at alternative filmmaking collectives, citizen journalists and community TV. Here, we will open up the discussion into the future of radical filmmaking in Africa.

Section 1: Urban Film and Space presented by Joshua McNamara
Section 2: Mosireen and collective filmmaking presented by Omar Robert Hamilton.
Section 3: Open discussion.  

Tuesday 6th November 6:00pm 

Venue  :Rich Mix

06:00PM - 08:30PM

FREE

No booking required, spaces limited.  

Click here for more details.  

South Africa Remixed at the Schomburg

The Schomburg will celebrate South Africa Remixed this Saturday.  The programme will include film, live music and discussions.  

Come Back, Africa, a film shot in secret during apartheid, will be one of the films screened.  Click here to read more.  

Click here for more about South Africa Remixed and other Black history and cultural events.   

This is a free event, but you need to book for it. 

African Film Season on Film Four

This week, Film Four is screening a series of films made in Africa, by and about African people. 

Last night, they screened Johnny Mad Dog, which depicts the experience of child soldiers during the Liberian civil war.  Click here to read more and watch the trailer.  

Tonight, Film Four will screen A Screaming Man, a drama from Chad about guilt, betrayal and intergenerational father/son conflict.  A Screaming Man also touches on the effect the Chinese takeover of African countries is having on the lives of ordinary African people.  Check out the trailer above. 

Click here for more about the Film Four African Film Season. 

Black History Film: The First Grader

As I stated in Historic Victory for Kenyans/The Mau Mau, four elderly Kenyans have been granted the right to sue the UK government. Given these recent developments, the screening of this film I attended in London was very timely.

The First Grader tells the story of Maruge, an elderly Kenyan man who has never learned to read and write, and who decides to go back to school.

Maruge has received a letter from the government and wants to read it for himself. In the course of the film, we catch glimpses of what he suffered at the hands of the British – his imprisonment and torture and the killing of his family during the “Mau Mau” uprising of the 1950s.

The First Grader graphically depicts the lack of knowledge of subsequent generations, who don’t understand what he fought for, or what he is fighting for now.

When I told my 90-year-old dad that the subject of this film was a man in his eighties, he immediately replied, "That's wonderful!". This was my response as well.

So I was shocked to see the reactions of some of the locals, who resented the fact that Maruge was going back to school, even though he was not taking resources away from any children. This showed how far the African tradition of respect for the elders has been eroded.

Some even assumed the headmistress, played by Naomie Harris, was being bribed to educate this senior learner.

This film is a must-see for those who, like many, know little or nothing about the history of Kenya under colonisation.

After the screening, we had a panel discussion which included one of the lawyers representing the elderly Kenyans who have just been granted the right to sue the British government. For more about this, see: Historic Victory for Kenyans/The Mau Mau

The screening was held before that decision had been reached. The panel explained that the UK government had, for many years, denied the existence of any documentation about what had happened in Kenya.

Then an archive was discovered which contained documentary evidence of what was done in Kenya and many other countries under British colonisation.

Thus the decision was granted. We will be discussing this on What U Need to Know on Saturday the 13th of August, as part of our discussion of African Emancipation Day. Click here to join us or go to Success Strategies for Black People on Facebook.

See also: Africa and Africans on Film

Mirror Boy: New Nigeria Cinema

The Nollywood movement has produced many thousands of films, and Nigeria now has the second-largest film industry in the world, after Bollywood.

But frequently, quality is sacrificed in order to achieve quick results.

In the wake of this financial success, a new wave of Nigerian film directors and producers has arisen. They aim to produce high-quality films for international distribution. Mirror Boy is one of these.

Click here for a video report on Mirror Boy.

Why Do We Never Talk about This?

People from Africa often talk about the corruption in their countries, the corrupt governments. But they rarely mention the fact that it was European intervention that allowed corrupt governments to rise and flourish.

People from the Diaspora talk about slavery and the effects of Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. But we are often unaware of what happened in Africa.

How many people know that the first German death camp was built in Namibia in 1905?

Or that the British in Kenya slaughtered thousands of people, stole their land, and relegated the remaining Kenyans to menial jobs? Or that Teddy Roosevelt said that the same people who did well in the old West would do well in Kenya?

How many people know that people in Nigeria were enslaved and forced to work for the British armed forces during the Second World War?

To read more, see Naij: A Film History of Nigeria

Black History Film: 500 Years Later

I far preferred this film to Motherland.

500 Years Later explores the importance of history for us as people of African heritage.

Using a series of talking heads as well as powerful and disturbing images, music and sound recordings of Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X, this film examines the legacy of self-hatred and low self-esteem which we have inherited due to the slavery experience, and the need for self-love, self-determination and self-reliance among people of the African Diaspora.

I explore these themes further in Why We Need to Heal.

In my book, Black Success Stories, the late Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives, describes the steps we need to take in order to research our history. Click here to buy it.

Motherland Film Screenings

The documentary Motherland was described by The Sowetan as "The Best Documentary on Africa". Directed by the makers of 500 Years Later, Motherland will be screened in London tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday. Click here for details of these and other BHM events.