The Breathtaking Courage of Harriet Tubman

As I have said previously, Harriet Tubman has always been an inspiration for me, from the time my mother first told me about her when I was a little girl.  

The above film gives us a glimpse of how amazing and remarkable she was.  

For wisdom from Harriet Tubman, go here for Geniuses of Transformation:  Wisdom from Harriet Tubman, and go here to see my short film, Harriet.  Her courage was truly breathtaking. 

For more uplifting and inspiring quotes, go here to download Treasures of the Geniuses of Transformation.  

Go here for more Black history blog posts. 

What do you find inspiring about Harriet Tubman?  Please leave your comments below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks. 

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.

Harriet: A Choreopoem

 Check out this the short film based on an excerpt from my choreopoem, "Harriet", which depicts an imaginary meeting between Harriet Jacobs and Harriet Tubman.  You can watch it above. 

Plus "Harriet" is now available from the British Library.  This is the audio recording of the full-length choreopoem; above is a video directed by Keely Augustus, based on a short clip. 

Plus check out Soul Survivors:  Slave Narratives by Women.  

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

Why Black History Matters Part 2

London Black History Walks have been holding events about Black people in WWI for many years.  We have now reached the centenary of the start of the First World War and I have noticed that, over the past few years, more and more documentaries have started to emerge about the Black contribution to, and involvement in, the war.  For example, this one about Togo. 

I can’t help thinking that this is partly due to the example set by Black History Walks. 

I am wondering:  what do you think is the importance of Black history? 

Further to what I said in Part 1, I think there are two main benefits to gaining knowledge about our history. 

1) Understanding and analysis.  I touched on this in Part 1. 

2) Self-esteem and confidence.  The more we know about the Black contribution, the clearer is our sense of ourselves, our identities – individual and collective – and our gifts, talents and strengths. 

This is one reason why I publish the More Black Success ebooks.

My mother taught me about slavery and resistance when I was a young child.  Although she never used the word “resistance”, she taught me about Black heroes and sheroes like Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass and Toussaint L’Ouverture. 

These stories gave me a sense of pride.  They also meant I had a little bit of knowledge on which I could build.  

It is the responsibility of each and every one of  us to pass on what Black history knowledge we have to the next generations.  

Click here for more opportunities to expand your knowledge. 

There are lots more Black history posts on this blog, so do explore.  Use this as a resource, and share it with your networks.  I welcome your comments below. 

Black in London

I was privileged to be a guest on Adrian X's "Just My 2 Cents" show on Blogtalk last week - and a very great privilege it was. The topic for discussion was "What Is It Like to Be Black in London?"  Scroll down to listen to it.  

We were joined by Adrian's panel and guests including Nia Imara of the National Association of Black Supplementary Schools (NABSS).  

There was a lot of common ground - which is something I have said repeatedly over the years.  African people all over the world are facing a lot of the same challenges.  We have economic difficulties.  Our children are denied the best-quality education.  

Our communities, and particularly our men and boys, are targets for violence, including state-sponsored violence.  

Another issue we almost always face is internalised racism - the particular kind of self-hatred with which we were indoctrinated during the enslavement era.  Nia made the point that, although slavery has ended, mental slavery continues. And we see it everywhere.  It is in all of us.  

In order to combat mental enslavement, we first have to acknowledge that we have it.  Mental enslavement is like a disease, and we have all been infected.  In order to cure ourselves of it, we first need to acknowledge the problem.  

Harriet Tubman said, "I freed a thousand slaves.  I could have freed a thousand more, if only they knew they were slaves". 

A lot of the origins of mental enslavement were depicted in the BAFTA award-winning film 12 Years a Slave, and I shall be writing more about this soon.  

Nia made the point that the film did not depict Black people banding together to fight their oppressors, and this is a fair criticism.  However, we need to remember that this was one man's story.  What 12 Years a Slave showed very clearly were the reasons why some Black people, in some situations, did not fight back, at least not overtly.  Because of the daily brutality they experienced, they were too beaten down, physically and mentally, to fight back. 

Click here for Samuel L. Jackson's comments on 12 Years a Slave.  

You can listen to the show below.  Please post your comments below.  Thanks.  

More Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Adrian X Just My 2 Cents on BlogTalkRadio

"Harriet, a Choreopoem" Now in the British Library

I am pleased to announce that "Harriet, a Choreopoem" is now available from the British Library in Euston Road, London. 

"Harriet" depicts an imaginary meeting between Harriet Tubman and Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.  

Click here to read more and view a short film based on "Harriet".  

Why My Book Is Not for Everyone

My book Success Strategies for Black People is not for everyone.

That's because many people of African heritage are not ready to take the steps necessary to bring about positive change.

They are too busy looking for something else to do it.

Looking for a solution for "us", for the Black community, rather than facing up to the fact that positive change starts with the individual. Positive change starts with self.

When we know and understand how to bring about positive change for ourselves, in our own lives, we understand how others in our families and communities can use these methods to bring about the change they need, too.

Harriet Tubman has been an inspiration for me since I was a child - more than 40 years now. A few months ago, I learned that the first time she ran away, she went back to the plantation.

She ran away with her brothers, and they all turned back.

Eventually, she made the decision to run away on her own. Once she took that step, she found others who helped her and gave her the support she needed.

Having proved that it was possible, Harriet was then able to go back time and time again, to lead many others to freedom.

Learn the lessons of history. We need to be willing to take that first step. Then we will see how to encourage others to do the same - for the benefit of our Black families and our Black communities.

Click here to order Success Strategies for Black People today.

Here's to your success!