Black History: Who Was Roots Really Based On?

Laurence Fishburne in Roots

Everyone remembers Kunte Kinte, the central character in Alex Haley's Roots.  Stolen from Gambia, he was taken in chains to the United States (land of the free) along with thousands, maybe millions, of other Black people.

But whose background really formed the story of Kunte Kinte's upbringing and culture?

Want to find out?  Go here to buy my book, Black Success Stories.

Plus go here for more Black history blogs and African history blogs.
 
See also: Black History: How to Give the Gift of Knowledge.  

Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.  Thanks.

Black Scientists and Inventors

It is so important to celebrate Black achievers and role models. Black young people often do not think about careers in the sciences when considering their career options.  

Many of them think studying the sciences is not "cool", and experience peer pressure to avoid studying, as Henry Bonsu pointed out in Black Success Stories. 

Click here to read my new article on Black Scientists and Inventors.  

The article includes an interview with Keith C. Holmes, author of Black Inventors, Crafting Over 200 Years of Success.  

Black Inventors is now available in over 800 national, state, university and public libraries, including museums, research centers and schools as a paperback in 30 countries

How to Get Ahead

I have a range of products and free resources to help you get ahead with your finances, your career, or finding work.  

To break into a range of careers, including 
 - media 
- politics 
- business and 
- the corporate world, 

read Black Success Stories Volume 1.  I interviewed Black achievers and asked them how they achieved their success - and they told me.  I put the information in the book.  

If you are looking for work or want to increase your income, or you know someone who does, I can help.  See Finding the Job You Want for more information.  

Want to build your business?  I have free advice from Black business owners in More Black Success.  

For overall success in every area of your life, check out my Black Success Audios. 

Here's to your success!  

Black Success: Remember Your Greatness

Why don't Black consumers buy Black?  Many Black people have an inferiority complex, although we often try to deny it.  We have forgotten our greatness.  

It is so important that we celebrate Black achievers.  I publish interviews with Black achievers - we can learn from their success. 

Listen to the audio below for more. 

Listen to internet radio with Zhana21 on Blog Talk Radio

If you enjoy this audio and find it useful, please share this with your networks. 

Click here for Black Success Stories. 

Click here for the More Black Success free ebooks.

Why We Need to Heal

Click here for more Black Success audios. 

London's Top Black Men and Women of Power

Courttia Newland

Black Enterprise has identified London's top Black men and women of power.  Not sure I agree with their choices.  

London's Top Black Women of Power 

It's great to see writer Courttia Newland included in the list of London's Top Black Men of Power.  

In Black Success Stories, I did not just list people's accomplishments.  I asked them how they achieved their successes.  It's all there in the book.  

Diane Abbott MP on the Olympics

Diane Abbott MP said on The Wright Stuff this morning that Olympic torch-bearers should be able to sell their torches - after all, corporate sponsors are earning huge sums of money from the Olympics.  

Click here to read more about this and other Olympics news.  

Diane Abbott, the first Black woman to be elected to Parliament, is one of the people I interviewed in Black Success Stories.  If you want to know how to have a career in politics, you need to read it.  

Diane Abbott Says "Sorry" for Race Tweet

Diane Abbott MP has apologised for "any offence caused" by her Tweet that "white people love playing divide and rule".

It's not the first time she has been caught out by her remarks. I personally do not think she should have apologised. I may be in a minority of one (but I doubt it).

If we look at history, it is clear that "divide and conquer" is one of the tactics which has been employed time and time again by racist and colonialist regimes. To our shame as Black people, this tactic has been very successfully employed in turning us against each other.

While it is not wise to make generalisations about any race of people, we need to learn from this history, and we need politicians like Abbott who tell the truth - a rare thing in these times.

I interviewed Abbott, who was the first African Caribbean woman ever to be elected to the House of Commons, in my book Black Success Stories. Click here to order your copy.

This blog contains hundreds of Black history resources. If you type “Black history” into the search box, you can access them.

Please leave your comments below. Thanks.

Is This Racial Stereotyping?

I phoned The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 this morning.

They were discussing the new TV drama, Top Boy, soon to be seen on Channel 4.

Top Boy, which will star Ashley Walters, has been criticised for focusing on young, Black gangsters and drug dealers. Hackney Council has withdrawn its permission to shoot the drama within the borough, saying that it negatively stereotypes Black youth.

The producers argue that the drama reflects life for young people on inner-city estates.

Nina Wadia, an Asian actress from EastEnders, echoed these thoughts on the show today.

My argument is that, yes, it does represent some of the realities of life for some young people.

However, there are many more stories that are not being told or not made into dramas for TV and film.

When we keep seeing the same portrayal of Black people over and over again, these images become stereotypes and cliches.

In Black Success Stories, I have profiled many successful Black people in Britain.

My free More Black Success ebooks also feature the experience of successful Black people in a range of fields.

Don't just protest against negative stereotyping. Produce positive images and positive stories like the ones in Black Success Stories and More Black Success.

How to Research Black History

In my book, Black Success Stories, the late Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives in South London, gives his steps for researching Black history.

He talks about defining a Black identity, why he started to teach Black history and how he founded the archives.

Click here to order your copy now. Black Success Stories also makes a great gift.

Black Success Stories also contains an interview with Jak Dodd, the creator of the Nubian Jak Black history board game.

Knowledge of Black history – the history of African people - starts at home. It’s down to the parents – we cannot rely on the schools to do it.

My parents taught me about my history from a very young age. They planted a seed. All of our parents and grandparents carry valuable knowledge which we need to share.

Once we have an awareness of even a little Black history, we can build on this. I continue to attend Black history events and I always learn something new.

For more about the importance of Black history, see: Our History, Our Healing.

This blog contains hundreds of Black history resources. If you type “Black history” into the search box, you can access them.

Please leave your comments below.

Your Ideal Job In 90 Days Workshop - Success Stories Video

Click here to watch a Success Stories video.

This video is courtesy of Career Insights, who are offering free career training.

Plua, click here for a free jobsearch consultation.

To read more success stories, see Black Success Stories.

See also: More Black Success.

Here's to your success!

Cameron Gets It Wrong

Prime Minister David Cameron recently stated that Oxford University had only accepted one Black student last year. As we all know, this statement was incorrect, as Oxford accepted 27 African and Caribbean students last year - he was not counting the students from the African continent.

Wow, a whole big 27.

The broadcaster Henry Bonsu, himself an Oxford graduate, has been working for years to encourage and support Black students to apply to Oxford and Cambridge. He takes groups of young people to Oxford for a one-week intensive programme. As he says in Black Success Stories, his teachers encouraged him.

The funny thing is, if you're one of the few Black people in a majority white school, you'll either be the best or the worst. Because if your teacher spots that you are good at something, they'll see you all the time. That's what happened to me. So I was pushed in my Latin, I was pushed in my German, to the point where they said to my parents when I was 15, he could go to Oxford....

The universities are now under pressure to get in students from non-traditional backgrounds. So if you do the work, you'll get a fair hearing now.

So if the teachers spot that potential, they will encourage Black children - at least sometimes. But I still think it's mainly up to the parents.

Mind you, Henry was later sacked by the BBC for being "too intellectual". But that's another story.

Worried about how to pay for university tuition? Check out my new ebook Shaking the Money Tree.

The Future for Black Boys

One of our guests on What U Need to Know on Saturday, Theron J. Jackson, author of Never Be Nothin, talked about his experience of having been told in 5th grade "You'll never be nothing". He was told this by a Black woman teacher. Click here to listen to the show.

I use the term "teacher" advisedly.

One of the many challenges faced by our Black boys and young men is that many are being raised in an environment where they have no positive male role models. One result of this is that many of them are lost in the education system and end up in the criminal justice system.

Although our guest was speaking about African American boys, we see the exact same things happening in the UK.

Although being raised without positive male role models is not the only reason for this problem, the lack of role models does have an effect.

I think girls as well as boys need positive male role models.

This is why I published Black Success Stories Volume 1.

Many of those interviewed in the book speak about educating our young people, and the duties and responsibilities of Black parents.

Click here to order your copies of Black Success Stories now.

See also: Do You Think Like a Success?

Click here for more about our panel of experts.

Here's to your success!

Do You Want to Have a Successful Career?

Do you want to have a successful career in
- business?
- the corporate world?
- the media?
- politics?
- healthcare?

Are you willing to learn from the experts?

In Black Success Stories Volume 1, I have interviewed experts in all of these fields, and they have given steps on how to achieve your goals.

If you are a parent, teacher, educator or mentor, you want this book.

Black Success Stories is a brilliant gift for Xmas and Kwanzaa. Click here to order your copies now.

Click here for my free report on 4 Steps to Finding the Job You Want.

Click here for lots more jobsearch resources.

Black People 26 Times More Likely to Be Stopped by Police

Saw comic Stephen K Amos on The Wright Stuff on Monday reveal the recent report that Black people are 26 times more likely to be stopped by the police than members of other groups.

26 times!!!!

TWENTY-SIX TIMES!!!

We’re not even one percent of the population!

I knew we were more likely to be stopped, but, say it with me:
TWENTY-SIX TIMES!!!

Is this really the best use of police resources????

Plus, I have recently seen Matthew Wright question why there has been so much coverage of the police’s shooting of barrister Mark Saunders when shootings of Black people are substantially more frequent, yet barely get a mention.

In fact, I’ve heard him say it twice!

Well done, Matthew. Right on. You have obviously learned something.

What a pity Henry Bonsu has disappeared from your shows after being a regular panelist for so long. To read more about this, see my interview with Henry in Black Success Stories.

Ian Wright 'axed from Live From Studio Five'

Presenter and former footballer Ian Wright is claiming he was fired from Live at Studio Five. I reckon he was the best thing about that show.

Click here to read more.

This reminds me of when Henry Bonsu was sacked from the BBC because he was "too intellectual". He talks about this in Black Success Stories. He was also a regular panellist on Five's The Wright Stuff at the time, but soon disappeared from that show as well.

Moira Stuart was later sacked by the BBC reportedly for being "too old".

Ludovic Kennedy once said there were too many Black people on TV - looks like Five are doing something about it.

The Importance of History

Click here to join me on the radio.

I often blog about history-related events, such as those with Tony Warner.

In case you were wondering why, it's because I think it is vital that we know our history. So much of our history has been deliberately hidden. This gives us a false impression of ourselves and our achievements.

I remember sitting in a self-styled Afrocentric bookshop one day talking to one of the workers, who insisted that "Black people haven't achieved anything". He sat there all day every day surrounded by Afrocentric books, but he still had the view that we had contributed nothing to society.

This is a lie which we have been told. Not only that, the dominant group and other races have been told the same lie. They, and we, have been led to believe that Black people have achieved nothing and contributed nothing.

As you can see from this article on Black people in World War II, our contribution has deliberately been hidden. This is just one example of what has been going on for hundreds of years.

Stealing our history and lying about it is just one way in which our cultural identity has been stolen from us. Whe we don't know our history and our ancestral heritage, how can we know who we really are? This leaves us subject to being defined by others.

When those in charge of the media consistently portray people of African heritage as lazy and stupid, or as criminals, this has an effect on our psyches as well as on how we are treated by the wider society.

Even now, Black children as young as three see themselves as ugly. Where did they get this message? It is being fed to them every day. It is being fed to their parents as well.

We need to change how we see ourselves and we are the only ones who can do this. We need to define ourselves, and reclaiming our history is an inherent part of this process. This is an essential part of our healing.

For more about this, read Success Strategies for Black People. For true stories of Black achievers, see Black Success Stories.

One of the people I interviewed for that book was the late Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives in South London. He describes how, when Black people in the 1970s started offering to donate their artefacts to museums, they were told "We are not collecting this type of material". So, off his own bat and without any funding or training in this area, he set up the Black Cultural Archives.

Click here for lots more books about Black history and Black achievers.

Click here for the next Black history events with Tony Warner.

See also: Black History International.

Carol Thatcher and the Gollywog Remark

Apparently, Carol Thatcher made a remark at work, at the BBC, comparing someone's hair to that of a gollywog. This was being discussed on The Wright Stuff this morning. Carol Thatcher is a frequent panel member on the show. Remember, this is the same show on which Henry Bonsu used to be a panel member before they got rid of him with no explanation. He talks about this in my book Black Success Stories.

The panel pretty much agreed that this is a storm in a teacup, as Thatcher's remark was made privately. Sanjeev Bhaskar is making jokes about it.

These kinds of grotesque images were widely circulated in the African colonies to reinforce negative stereotypes about African people, as the the late Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives explains in Black Success Stories.

I don't think anyone should have to work in a workplace where these kinds of remarks are being made.

One of the key areas in which Black people were taught to have negative thoughts and feelings about ourself was around our hair. To read more about this, read The Key to Confidence and Self-Esteem. See also What They Don't Want Us to Know.

Black History: Poetry, Music, Art

On Sunday 26th October, 2008, UK's Most Wanted presents its Black History programme. As the author of Black Success Stories, I will be speaking on The Importance of Our African Cultural Heritage.

I hope you will be able to join us.

Every month, the UK 's Most Wanted programme includes spoken word, music and an art exhibition.

Time: 4:00-8:00 p.m.

Place: Redstar, 319 Camberwell Road, Camberwell Green,

London SE5 0HQ

Cost: £7 or free with a leaflet.

For more info, phone 07727 214 047

To read interviews with African Caribbean artists on their responses to the Bicentenary of the end of the Transatlantic trade, visit:

www.kuumba-survivors.com

For more BHM arts events, visit: http://groups.msn.com/BlackBooksStuff/events.msnw

Black/African British Identity and Young People

I read a piece in the Voice the other day which argued that young people in Britain lack a sense of identity.

They may have been born in the UK or come here at an early age. When they go back to visit their parents’ homes in Africa or the Caribbean, the place seems foreign to them. But in Britain, they don’t feel as if they belong.

Identity is clearly an important issue. In the 1970s, many young people turned to Rastafarianism as a way of reclaiming their cultural identity.

The article glossed over some factors. For example, a young person living in a big city might feel out of place on a farm, whether that farm is in a rural area of Britain or in the Caribbean or Africa.

Still, the article states that “nearly all youth projects only offer musical or sports-related activities”, which “reinforces the stereotype that Black males can only be successful if they are sports figures or musicians”.

It is so important that we reinforce positive cultural values and a sense of their African heritage and identity with our young people. Without this, many of them are lost. They often don’t do well in school, join gangs which offer a feeling of belonging, get involved in crime and end up behind bars.

In my book, Black Success Stories, I made a conscious decision to avoid featuring people in the fields of sports or entertainment. After all, people of African heritage are good at everything. I celebrate Black success across a wide range of fields. All of the people I feature in the book are based in Britain. To order your copy today, visit: http://www.blacksuccess1.com/blacksuccessstories.htm

We also celebrate Black success and talk about the need for positive Black role models on my Success Strategies radio show every Tuesday. To listen in, and to hear recordings of previous shows, visit: http://www.blacksuccess1.com/radioshow.htm

Paulette West MBE - Growing Aspiring People

My guest on Tuesday's show was Paulette West MBE.

Paulette spoke about how she started out as a typist at Barclays at the age of 16. She moved into a management position. She then used Barclays’s considerable resources to benefit the Black community, by holding events where she profiled role models and offered Black businesses the opportunity for start-ups and mentoring.

She is still holding role model events now, and young Black people have been inspired to start businesses as a direct result of this work. She has now left Barclays and runs her own project, the g.a.p. network – Growing Aspiring People.

Sometimes, people assume that successful people had it easy. I think people give up when they reach difficulties. When we see a Black role model standing up there talking about the difficulties he or she encountered, then we realise it’s not going to be easy. This inspires some people to take risks which they might not otherwise have taken.

Paulette takes these role models into the community. She hires community venues so Black people could feel comfortable attending these events. She is doing this work internationally, in African countries.

We can learn strategies from those who have been successful, which we can then apply in our own situations. When I interviewed people for Black Success Stories, I asked them what mistakes they had made, and how they had overcome them.

Click here to listen to my interview with Paulette.