Black History: The Rosewood Massacre

We keep learning about massacres in which thriving, prosperous African American communities, such as the Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma were destroyed by white supremacists.  So many of these massacres have been forgotten, lost to history, but they are being recalled and their history restored.  The destruction of Rosewood in Gainesville, Florida is one such event.  

How can we learn from this history to create a better future?  Please comment below and please share.  

Go here for more Black history blog posts.  

Go here for my list of Black/African heritage museums in Africa, the U.S., the Caribbean and Europe.  

How to Have an AMAZING Year in 2020

As you may know, my book, Success Strategies for Black People, contains loads of practical methods to bring about positive change in your life.

I wrote this book specifically for Black people, i.e people of African heritage.  I talk about universal methods from which we can bring about positive change.  At the time, I was passionate about this work - and I still am.

What I realize now, in hindsight, is that I wrote the book as a response to the trend I see among Black people - waiting for others to rescue us.

Don't get me wrong, Harriet Tubman is a great shero of mine.  She has been my inspiration for many years, since I was a young child.  And she did a lot of rescuing.  Harriet Tubman was an amazing woman. And we have a lot to learn from our ancestors, the great leaders who came before us, like Harriet Tubman. 

We have to rescue ourselves.  And positive change starts within, it starts with the individual.  Harriet only helped other people escape from the plantation after she gained her own freedom.  And she knew that some people are more afraid of freedom than of slavery. 

Positive change begins within.  It begins with self.  And once we have liberated ourselves, we can help to liberate others in our families and in our communities. 

We have enormous power, but we don't use the power we have.  For more about this, see:  How to Get Clear, Precise Answers. 

If you seriously want to make positive changes for yourself, and/or for others, buy a copy of Success Strategies for Black People.  It can help you change your life.

Go here for more African American holiday shopping. 

And have a AMAZING year in 2020!   

Please share this with anyone who can benefit from it. 

Patrick Vernon on the Importance of Black History Month

In this video, a panel including activist and campaigner Patrick Vernon discuss the importance and relevance of Black History Month/African Heritage Month.

If you have seen the documentary More than a Month, you know that this debate continues in the United States, where it was found that the way Black history was taught in schools focused on a few signicant figures.  People such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks featured prominently, as so they should.  But Black history did not begin with slavery.

Although this approach to Black history is wholly inadequate, when there was no attempt made to recognise Black History Month, Black history was not acknowledged or taught at all.

Therefore, Black history is still very relevant, and although there is no need to confine it to one single month, Black History Month/African Heritage Month serves as a signpost towards greater knowledge and understanding, both here in Britain and in the United States.  . 

I am keen to share Black history as far and wide as I can.  Therefore, please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.

Please also share these Black history links.

Please also share my short film about Harriet Jacobs and Harriet Tubman.

Healing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

enslaved African men in chains

Click here to download my new ebook, Why We Need to Heal.  

I am re-purposing this blog post.  Several years ago, Dr. DeGruy Leary gave a lecture in London on Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.  She has said the same things I have been saying for many years.

We must heal the past. We must heal the internalised racism and oppression, i.e. self-hatred, that has been passed down within Black families for many generations since the enslavement of African people by Europeans began.

This is why I do the work I do. See my book, Success Strategies for Black People, for positive cultural reinforcement for Black parents and families - for all of us. 

This is why I compiled Black Success Stories and the More Black Success ebooks.  For more about this, see: Remember Your Greatness.   

For more information on the healing of people of African heritage, click here to download Why We Need to Heal. 

 

Black Blogger: Entree to Black Paris

Monique Y. Well's blog Entree to Black Paris explores the lives and history of people of African heritage in Paris.  

As one of the contributors to Secrets of the Black Bloggers, Monique has recently reviewed the book.  One area she focuses on is the importance of networking with, and learning from, other Black bloggers.  Click here to read her review. 

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.

Celebrating Nappturality (2)

Further to my previous post on Celebrating Nappturality, I have just seen this great article: Paying Tribute to The Black Hair Conversation. This article explores our obsession with the Black hair thing from an historical and political perspective.

Celebrating and enjoying our natural hair is part of learning to love ourselves as African people. For more about this, see The Key to Confidence.

Have a great day!

New Radio Show - History, Heritage and Healing - What U Need to KNow

Please join us for my new radio show, What U Need to Know, which I am co-presenting with Joan E. Gosier, author of Cotton Pickin' Paycheck.

This show focuses on history, heritage and healing for people of African heritage.

The first show is tomorrow, Saturday 5th June at 2 p.m. EDT, 7 p.m. UK time.

We will be discussing Juneteenth. This is the first of three shows looking at independence, freedom and liberation.

What is Juneteenth about, and what is the significance of this celebration? Do you celebrate Juneteenth? Please feel free to phone in at (001) (347) 637-1099 or join us in the chatroom to add your questions and comments.

We will be joined by guests from the African Cultural Arts Council of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Orange County, CA.

I hope you will join us. Click here to listen.

If you miss the live broadcast, you can listen to the recording here:

What U Need to Know.

The Black Queen, Charlotte Sophia

Happy Black History Month/African Heritage Month, everybody!

Of course, some people say every month is Black History Month.

What was the relationship between the Black Queen, Charlotte Sophia, and Queen Victoria?

I will be publishing Black history questions and answers over at Black History International. I will update these frequently, so please keep coming back.

Happy Kwanzaa!

Happy Kwanzaa, everybody.

Kwanzaa is a festival which is observed from December 26 through January 1. This is a time for people of African heritage to focus on traditional African values including family, community responsibility, creativity and faith. The word Kwanzaa means "first fruits" in Swahili.

Celebrating Kwanzaa helps us to build our self-esteem and confidence. To read more, see Kwanzaa - Celebrating Traditional African Values.

Click here for listings of Kwanzaa events. I've got events all over the UK, as well as Paris and the U.S.A.

Click here for books about Kwanzaa and lots more. Click here in the UK.