The Legacy of white supremacy

In a previous post the History of White Supremacy I discussed the history of white supremacy which you can read here. This post is a continuation of my previous post which will explore the legacy of slavery and colonisation in todays society,

1. Religion

Europeans forced Africans to convert to Christianity and demonised African religions. They used images of a white Jesus for Africans to worship. This is psychological oppression. If you believe that God is white, you will subconsciously believe that white people are superior and that a white person is your saviour. Further, you are  less likely to rebel against your white oppressors as you would believe that harming your oppressor is harming God. Christianity was used to make enslaved Africans passive, they were taught to "obey their masters" "turn the other cheek" and endure hell on earth so that they would go to heaven when they die. There are many black people today who still worship white Jesus. My mum told me of  a saying in Ghana which states that "if you see a white person you don't need to go to church because you have met God" This is very damaging, this brainwashing has led to some people of African descent today seeing white people as more superior to them. Black people need to see themselves as Gods because we are. The human race came from us therefore we are Gods.

2. Beauty 

Africans were taught that their features were ugly, such as their hair, skin colour, facial features etc and being white was the standard of beauty. Therefore anything close to whiteness was seen as more attractive. This has caused black people to hate themselves and their features. This also birthed colorism which exists heavily today. I wrote about this in more detail here.

3. Education

I went to school in the UK where the education system, is very whitewashed. We were never taught about the great achievements of black people. We were taught about "great" Europeans, and the British Empire. In regards to slavery we were never taught about slave rebellions, only that Africans were slaves. We were not taught about the great African empires,  we were not taught about African civilisations apart from Ancient Egypt, however we were taught that Egyptians were not black (when they clearly were). We were not taught what Africans have achieved and contributed to the world. We were not taught about inventions created by black people, we were not taught about black royalty. This is miseducation, so that black people do not feel pride in themselves but are conditioned to see white people as greater than them. That is why I always advocate for black people learning their history because our history is very rich and many of our people have achieved great things.

4. Media

Black people are usually portrayed negatively in the media. There used to be minstrel shows (started in the 1830's), where white people painted themselves in blackface to represent black people in a negative light. Black people were usually protrayed as dumb, lazy and criminal. There were also cartoons portraying African people as cannibals. 

We know that the media can be racist. Black people are usually portrayed negatively, black men are usually portrayed as violent , criminal and hyper-masculine. Black women have historically played the role of the "mammy", the Jezebel (promiscuous woman), the slave or the side kick to a main white character. The first black woman to win an Oscar played the role of a mammy.  We never see too many positive representations of black people and if we do, there are only a few.

In music, there are black artists who rap about about murdering other black men, glamorise criminal behaviour, consumerism  and hyper sexualise and disrespect black women . This is detrimental to our community. A lot of our music is negative and this is what the white record labels want to promote. Unfortunately, a lot of black conscious artists who have positive content are not promoted or signed by these same labels. These labels want to push a negative narrative in the mainstream, why should our demise be the entertainment of others? this is not right. Black artists should stop allowing themselves to be used to promote negativity in our community


5. Criminal Justice system

In the UK, black people make up 3% of the general population but 13% of the prison population. In the USA black people make up 12% of the general population and 40% of the prison population. In the UK black men are 4 x more likely to be stopped and searched that their white counterparts. Black  people are not necessarily more criminal than white people. Black communities tend to be be poorer and poorer areas tend to be policed more and targeted than more wealthy communities. This leads to higher statitsics. Black young men especially, tend to be viewed as criminal. In courtrooms black people are more likely to be convicted and sentenced more harshly. In Ava Duvernay's documentary "13th" she explores the school to prison pipeline in the USA, and how privately funded prisons make money depending on the number of inmates they have, the more inmates, the richer they get.

6. Economics

Black people are economically the poorest in the world compared to other races. Majority of the poorest countries in the world are found in Africa. This is due to Africa being looted and exploited by the West and corrupt African leaders. Black people living in the diaspora tend to collectively be the poorest group in the countries they live in.  There are 2000+ billionaires in the world. Of this only 13 are black. The wealth disparity between black people and other races is huge. Black people need to become independent, especially black countries. They need to work together, black communities need to practice group economics so we can thrive as a race.

R.I.P Chadwick

I woke up on Saturday morning, checked my instagram and saw that Chadwick Boseman was dead. This shocked me. I didn't want to believe it was true, I was was thinking to myself "how can Chadwick be dead?". I saw that he died of cancer and he was battling with this for 4 years. Cancer really hits home for me, multiple family members of mine and family friends have died from cancer.  I remember a few years ago visiting a family friend at hospital (who had cancer). He was on his deathbed and I couldn't stop crying seeing him in that state. I felt helpless,  a couple days later he was dead.

Another time, a close family member was diagnosed with cancer. I was there when the Doctor diagnosed them. I attended every hospital appointment with them. I was there during their chemotherapy sessions, I was there when they had surgery, I was there when they had to do multiple tests. I saw first hand the effect chemotherapy had on their body. It is the chemo that causes hair loss (from all parts of your body), it causes a loss of appetite, your tastebuds aren't effective, this leads to significant weight loss. It makes you extremely weak. The reason being that chemo kills the bad cells and good cells in your body, as it can not differentiate between the two. Thankfully that family member recovered after some time.

Chadwick was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. That year (at age 26) I found a lump on my body. I was scared and was thinking the worst. I  informed my GP who immediately referred me to the hospital. I was referred to the same cancer department that I had previously attended with my family member that had cancer. I saw the same Doctor who diagnosed my family member. I had multiple hospital appointments, saw multiple Doctors/Consultants, I had to have biopsies and multiple tests. Thankfully in the end it turned out not to be cancer and I had an operation to remove that lump. This was a huge health scare for me (this is why I take my health and fitness so seriously). Last year I mourned the death of my uncle who died from cancer.

Chadwick dying from cancer brought up all these memories for me. I was surprised that he still managed to do multiple films back to back (while playing the lead character) while having cancer. Knowing personally the affect of chemo I didn't understand how he could have physically performed those roles as he would have been extremely weak and in a lot of pain, plus the mental toll it would have had on him, knowing that there is a possibility he may die from it. Despite this he still gave his all. He played the roles of legendary black people, In '42' he played Jackie Robinson, the first black person to play in major league baseball. He played the role of the singer James Brown aka the Godfather of Soul in 'Get on up'. He played "Thurgood Marshall",  the first black supreme Court Justice in the film 'Marshall'. This film showed the early years of Marshall's life as a lawyer, I took an interest in this film as I am a black lawyer myself. Thurgood Marshall won the infamous Brown v Board of Education case which allowed the desegregation of schools across America.

The biggest role that Chadwick played was the first black superhero, T'challa aka Black panther. Two years ago my friend took me to watch the film on the day it was released. I was so excited to see it. You can click here to read my post about it. Chadwick was a great actor and nobody could tell that he was sick. He persevered through his pain. He had every reason and excuse to not film or to not give a good performance, but he didn't. This shows extreme strength, courage and determination. This made me realise that in life if we persevere and are very determined to achieve, we can. We should not allow excuses to stop us from achieving our goals. Chadwick knew he had a greater purpose on earth, he touched the lives of millions of people worldwide. He became a hero and role model to many. People became proud to be black, people became proud to be African, this was a huge cultural shift amongst Africans and those in the diaspora. During his pain he still attended hospitals to see children with cancer, whilst battling it himself.

What did upset me was the livestream he did (where it was evident he had lost considerable weight) talking about donating money to help with the COVID-19 relief efforts, there were idiots who were making fun of him. People can be so negative! That is why I am always kind to people as you never know the battles people are going through behind closed doors. People wonder why he never told anyone, but I don't blame him, I would have probably done the same in his situation. Sometimes you don't want pity or to be constantly reminded about what you are going through.  You don't want to be a victim. When you are around people who don't know what is going on you forget your struggles and it takes your mind off it.

In life we all go through hardships, difficulties and pain, but we shouldn't allow this to stop us from achieving our goals. I believe that we all have a purpose on earth. One day we are going to leave this earth. I would rather die knowing that I have achieved my goals and touched/changed the lives of people, than die without accomplishing anything. Rest in Power Chadwick, you have left a Powerful Legacy here on earth. Thank you for all you have done for us, you are with the ancestors now. Wakanda Forever

My Journey to becoming a Lawyer

My journey began at 16 years old. I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise, and to be honest, Law had never even crossed my mind. In my final year of secondary school I was fortunate to obtain a place at a week long summer school at Cambridge University. This was part of a wider scheme to introduce students from "disadvantaged" backgrounds to University to encourage them to apply in future. In relation to the disadvantaged background,  I was a black female, from a working class background who grew up in a council flat, and attended local state schools. I didn't have any connections and did not personally know any professionals, let alone any lawyers (the first time I met a lawyer I was 19/20). My mother had instilled in me from a very young age the importance of education. As we didn't have much growing up, my mum always emphasised that education was the key to a better life.  Because of this I was very studious and academic, achieving good grades.  My teachers were encouraging and reminded me that I could achieve anything I wanted.

During the summer school, it felt surreal being at one of the worlds top universities. The other students and I stayed on campus for a week and attended  a number of lectures. These were introductory lectures  in a wide range of subjects  including History, English, Science, Law plus many more. In the Law lecture we were introduced to criminal law which I had found extremely interesting, out of all the lectures it was the only one I didn't find boring. This is what sparked my interest in law and I did further research. I did have doubts as to whether someone with my background could be a criminal lawyer as the legal profession is dominated by privately educated upper class white males, which is the complete opposite of who I am. Fast forward I went to sixth form to do my A-Levels in English Literature, Psychology and Sociology and got accepted to do a degree in Law and Criminology at Manchester University.

Minus the social side of university which I enjoyed, I found studying at university quite challenging. There were times I considered dropping out. To be honest I am not a big fan of lectures as I find it really passive and I prefer classrooms where it is more interactive as I learn a lot better. This did affect my grades and for the first time in my life I had to do exam resits (2 in total). I felt like a failure in life as I was always used to getting good grades, I even cried on the phone to my mum about this. However, when I did my resits there were so many other students who were also resitting that I felt less bad lol. Fast forward again, I graduated with honours.

Now being a graduate, reality hit me hard. There is this notion that we are fed that if you work hard and get your qualifications you will automatically get a good job. THE LIES! I learned really quickly that work experience and who you know is  far more important and will get you further. I applied for work experience at multiple firms (the vast majority never got back to me), but luckily a small high street firm in east London specialising in criminal defence offered me a placement for a few months. It was unpaid but the experience I gained was invaluable. After this placement  I experienced a few months of unemployment (I had applied to law school to do my Legal Practice course but this course wasn't starting for another 6/7 months). My mum made me apply for Jobseekers allowance so I could have some income in the meantime while applying for jobs, so I was signing on bi-weekly. I became depressed during this period as I saw some of my peers with their graduate jobs while I was unemployed at home and broke. I never expected to be in this position, however this is a reality for many graduates and we should be be encouraging them and not putting them down, (I had experienced this).

Fast forward I studied the legal practice course (LPC) part time while working part-time in retail. In order to qualify as a solicitor you need to complete a training contract for two years with a  law firm. Obtaining one is very difficult and can take years, some students aren't able to obtain one. I had applied to numerous firms, either I never heard back from them or I got rejection emails. It definitely affected my self confidence. I thought I would never obtain a training contract and was ready to give up, I had even stopped applying to firms for a period of time. I remember one of my colleagues at my retail job had asked me if I had made any recent applications, I told her I hadn't and felt like giving up. She started shouting at me saying that I had made it too far to quit now and I should keep going. I felt like I was being told off but she was right, that was the kick I needed to continue applying. I also came across an organisation called Urban Lawyers which helps black people and ethnic minorities to enter the legal profession. I went to a few of their events and it was good to see many people that looked like me from similar backgrounds who were lawyers or working towards entering the profession. After a year and half of applying I managed to obtain a training contract with a high street firm and became a qualified Solicitor in November 2017. In the UK 21% of solicitors are from a BAME background and of this 15% are Asian and only 3% are black. We need more black lawyers in the profession.

The hardest part of the legal profession is getting your foot in the door. Once it is in, it becomes easier.  I used this this opportunity to network and build relationships with various lawyers. I've had the opportunity to speak to top lawyers who have represented clients in some of the biggest cases in UK history. I've worked on cases dealing with murder, rape, multi-million pound fraud, supplying class A drugs as well as less serious offences. Despite my accomplishments I've always felt self-doubt, that I'm not good enough and don't deserve to be in this space. I later learned that this is called "imposter syndrome" and  that many working class/black professionals experience this.

The lessons this journey has taught me is to always be persistent despite failures (which is inevitable). Despite the difficulties that you may face due to race, gender or class do not use it as an excuse to not achieve in life. Life is what you make of it.  I also learned the importance of black representation, because when you see someone who is similar to you achieving great things it will inspire you to believe that you can also achieve the same. It is important to have supportive people around you who will encourage you and push you to  be great. Do not waste time on negative people. Personally, I like being around people who are ambitious go-getters as  this motivates me to do better. I believe that God and my ancestors have had my back and seen me through this very difficult journey and will continue to see me to greatness.

Will there be a Revolution?

REVOLUTION

Six years ago I wrote a post about Mike Brown. Here we are again, another unarmed black male being killed by a racist Police officer.  2020 has been a crazy year to say the least. We heard about the story about Ahmaud Aubery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and more recently Ryshard Brooks.

There have been many similar deaths for a number of years but the murder of George Floyd literally caused a major worldwide shift. I think it is due to the nature of his death, a police officer putting his knee on George's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, while he was begging for his life. This reminded me of Eric Garner's death, because they both said "I can't Breathe" whilst dying.  

There were hundreds of protests which took place around the world. Protests  took place in every single state in the USA, Canada, all over Europe ( I went to a protest in London), Australia, New Zealand, South America, middle east,  Africa and Asia.  All 54 African leaders united and demanded that the UN have a meeting about racism against black people. This has never happened before in history. People of all races came together to protest the racial injustice in the world.

Almost every company has  issued a statement expressing that they are against racism and support the Black Lives Matter movement (though I do not believe they are all being genuine). Many of these companies are having diversity meetings and training.  Some companies have shared data in regards to the number of black employees they have, including in leadership positions, and have made pledges to increase the number of black employees in leadership roles.

I have seen many other positive actions which have emanated from this shift. I've seen that black businesses are being promoted more and black people are taking part in initiatives to support black businesses (group economics).  For example, here in the UK we have Black pound Day. More black people are unifying (which I love because I believe in Pan-Africanism),  huge amounts of money are being donated to help black organisations. Statues of racists are being pulled down, laws and policies are being enacted, councils are agreeing to defund Police departments in the USA, meetings have  happened in the USA senate, and in the White House regarding police brutality and racism. Some white people are educating themselves about the black experience, and many racist white people are losing their jobs! (goodbye Karen!).

On July 4 2020 I saw a viral video of a 1500 strong, armed Black Militia Group called NFAC (Not

F***ing around Coalition) led by Grandmaster Jay, marching in Stone Mountain, Georgia after threats had been made by the KKK that they were going to kill black people. I loved seeing this imagery of strong brave black men (and women) who  are willing to protect each other by any means necessary. The white supremacists were scared!. These are the images we need to see instead of the usual victim role we are used to seeing. Our ancestors were fighters and always resisted against the oppressors.

George Floyd did not die in vain. His death has sparked a huge increase in the Black Lives Matter movement which is literally changing the world. The discussion of racism is everywhere. I believe that the COVID-19 pandemic, as unfortunate as it is, has helped the shift. As more people are at home due to quarantine they have more time on their hands, and are able to focus more on what is going on in the world as distractions have been removed. 

The world is changing before our very eyes. The system of White supremacy is starting to be dismantled. Many of the young generation  (especially white people) have a different mentality to those of the older generation. This gives me hope. Though I believe things will improve,  I do not believe that  racism is ever going to completely end. The onus should not be on black people to end racism, as racism was  created by white people, therefore only they can end it. I do not believe that black people should be begging racist whites for equality or their validation. I believe that as black people we should demand it! we should not give all our power to Massa but empower ourselves. When a racist white person does something bad to a black person there needs to be consequences. We also need to create our own establishments, our own networks and do things that benefit us instead of everyone else. We can learn from our Asian and Jewish Counterparts who practice this. The global African diaspora need to collectively  focus  on gaining economic power. With  economic power it would become difficult for racist whites to mistreat us. We need to liberate ourselves to power and do for self.

Black in Asia and Australasia

When we think of Black people, we tend to think of those of African descent in Africa, Europe and the Americas. However, many people don't know that there are huge black populations in Asia and Australasia, and I don't mean the recent migration to Asia by continental Africans. I'm talking about Black people who have lived in Asia/Australasia for thousands of years.

They are usually referred to as "Negrito" which comes from the Spanish word for black.

Ancient Vietnamese

Ainu of Japan

Kaffir of Sri Lanka

Jarawa of Andaman Islands (India)

Melanesians of Papua New Guinea

Aeta of Philippines

Khoisan tribe - the original Chinese

Semang of Malaysia

Indigenous Fijians

Maniq of Malaysia

Siddi of India

Australian Aboriginie

The History of Systemic White Supremacy

White supremacy is a belief that the white race is superior over every other race and should therefore be dominant over these "lesser" races. However, this belief held by some white people who are racist is systemic and permeates into every aspect of our lives including, education, media, law, religion , politics, economics, science etc. I am going to explore the history of systematic white supremacy.

Slavery

The first systematic act of white supremacy was started by the Portuguese in 1441. Portuguese explorer Antão Gonçalves was the first European to buy Africans as slaves. This started a whole institution which would last for 400 years. Other European countries became involved in the slave trade including, Spain, UK, France and Holland.

During the trans Atlantic slave trade, Africans were kidnapped from their lands to never see their homes, family and friends ever again. They were marched to the coast and were branded with hot irons. They were forced into slave dungeons in cramped conditions until a slave ship came to the coast to transport them. They were also cramped on the ships, and had to urinate, defacate and vomit where they were. It's estimated that 2/3 of them died due to the inhumane conditions.

Europeans stripped enslaved Africans of their African identity. Their African names were taken and they were given European names. They were beaten if they spoke their native tongue and were forced to speak the language of their oppressor. They were banned from practicing their own religion and were forcibly converted to Christianity where they had to pray to images of white Jesus. Africans were not allowed to read, if a slave could read and their slave owner found out they would be killed, this was a form of mind control. Multiple slaves were not allowed to gather together without a white person being present. Women were repeatedly raped. Men were also raped (this was called buck breaking),  slave owners would get their most rebellious male slave then anally rape him in front of his wife, children, and the rest of the slaves on the plantation to emasculate him.  Families were often split up, an enslaved women could have her children sold off to other plantations to never see them again. If a slave tried to runaway and got caught they would be brutally punished, this included getting whipped or having body parts chopped off. There were also breeding farms where the stronger, healthy enslaved Africans were forced to have sex with each other so that they could reproduce many children.

Scientists used pseudo science to "prove" that black people were inferior. In 1851, an American Physician, Samuel A Cartwright said that slaves that ran away had a mental condition called  Drapetomania. Slaves were also used for medical experiments. James Marion Sims, also known as the father of gynaecology was a physician who used to do experiments on enslaved African women, without using anaesthesia, many of whom died. He believed that black people could not feel pain. This is a notion which is still prevalent by people in the medical field today.

Enslaved Africans were told that they were less than humans, they were ugly and savages that needed "civilising". Europeans forced the belief that being white was superior, pure and beautiful. This was the beginning of the indoctrination and brainwashing of black people to develop an inferiority complex which unfortunately exists within some black people till this day. Slavery ended in different colonies between 1838 - 1888, but the effects of this remained long lasting.

Colonisation and the Scramble of Africa

As slavery ended the colonisation of Africa by Europeans began. In 1884, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck organised the Berlin Conference. The purpose of this conference was for European nations to decide which parts of Africa they would control. This was supposed to stop wars amongst the Europeans over land. There were 14 European countries involved including  France, UK, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, USA plus more. No African was involved. When dividing Africa, they totally ignored the different cultures and ethnic groups. This led people who were from the same tribe to be on opposite sides of the border, and people from different tribes now being within the same borders. By 1914 90% of Africa had been colonised and Africa had been divided into 50 Countries. Liberia and Ethiopia were the only nations that were independent. The boundaries/borders created in this conference still remain today. It has also been the cause of conflict and division in Africa.

Europeans colonised Africa by using force and violence.  They imposed their way of life on Africans such as their language and religion. They also imposed their ideologies such as whites being superior. They forced their culture onto Africans, while disregarding the culture already in Africa. They were also stealing natural resources from Africa. There were also multiple massacres committed by Europeans, one example is  King Leopold II of Belgium who was responsible for the deaths of over 10 million Congolese people.

The decolonisation of Africa happened between the 1950's - 1975 when Africans fought the Europeans for their independence. Many African leaders who either successfully led their countries to independence or wanted to separate their countries from European influence in order to progress, were often killed or removed by European powers. This included leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Patrice Lumumba of Congo,  Thomas Sanakara of Burkina Faso as well a many others. European powers would then put their corrupted African "Puppets" who would follow their agendas, to lead these countries so that they could continue to steal resources from Africa, and keep Africa underdeveloped.

Unfortunately the legacy of slavery and colonisation and its affects still exists. When Haiti successfully gained independence from France in 1804, the French made Haiti pay them 90 million Francs (equivalent to $21 billion) for their "loss of slaves". Haiti only finished paying this in 1947. French colonies in Africa are are still obliged to pay a colonial tax to France which amounts to $500billion per year. Up until 2015, in the UK the British government were using taxpayers money to pay slave owners and their descendants for compensation after slavery was abolished. The enslaved Africans did not get a penny.

This is the reason why Africa is not as rich as Europe and has a higher rate of poverty. Europe and America would not be rich if it wasn't for Africa. The wealth of the west comes from slavery, looting and the pillaging of Africa. That is why we shouldn't judge Africa of African people by European standards. The racist ideology that black people are inferior has spread worldwide, hence why black people are the most disrespected race on the planet. No matter where black people are in the world, whether Europe, the America's, Asia or Australasia, they face discrimination and maltreatment.  Anti-blackness is global and even exists within the black community. This is a narrative that needs to change. My next blog post will explore how the legacy of slavery and colonisation affects black people today.

Was Slavery a choice?

Around this time 2 years ago Kanye West made the controversial comment that "slavery was a choice" while he was at the TMZ headquarters. At the time, like many black people, I was offended by what he said. Looking back at it, Kanye was just ignorant about black history and I can't blame him, or those who say "we are not our ancestors". In the west, what you are taught about Black history is that Europeans came to Africa, stole millions of African's with the help of other Africans, put them on  ships and took them to the America's where they were enslaved and worked on plantations for hundreds of years until the government, who out of the kindness of their hearts decided to abolish slavery. This narrative is false.

We are not taught about are the hundreds of slave revolts which took place in Africa,  on the slave ships and in the America's. We are not taught about the key figures who led these revolts. This post is to educate you about some of the revolts and freedom fighters, I urge to do further research on the African resistance to slavery..

Africa

The majority of the rebellions took place on the west coast of Africa. There were Africans who fought with Europeans to prevent them from  capturing and enslaving other Africans.  Some Africans would keep watch for European ships. Some were prepared and killed any European that stepped foot on their shores.

Queen Nzinga of Angola was born in 1583 to the Ndongo royal family. At this time, the slave trade was in full effect and the Portuguese were carrying out slave raids.  Queen Nzinga was military trained by her father and learned how to speak fluent Portuguese. This helped her to negotiate a Peace treaty with the Portuguese in 1622, which included the withdrawal of Portuguese troops and sovereignty for the Ndongo people. However, the Portuguese did not adhere to the treaty and continued the raids. This led to Queen Nzinga fighting numerous battles (some of which she won) against the Portuguese for 30 years to prevent them from capturing africans. After this a new peace treaty was signed between the two parties.

Slave ships 

There were 450 recorded forms of resistance on slave ships.

Amistad
In 1839 a slave ship called 'Amistad' which contained 53 Africans who were illegally captured, had set sail from Cuba to another island. One of the Africans, Joseph Cinque managed to break his shackles and then freed the other Africans on the ship. They revolted and killed the Captain and the cook but spared the life of the navigator who promised to sail the ship back to Sierra Leone, where the captured Africans were from. Instead, the navigator sailed the ship to the USA. The Africans were jailed and a long complex trial took place, about the status of the Africans. Eventually, the Court held that the African's could be returned to Africa as they had been captured illegally. In 1842 they arrived back in Sierra Leone.

The Marlborough revolt
In 1752 an english owned slave ship, the Marlborough contained 420 Africans from the west coast of Africa. Three days after the ship had sailed, the African captives revolted and killed 33 out of the 35 crew members. The remaining two crew members were used to sail the ship back to Africa where the captives returned.

Unites States of America

The USA alone had 250 slave rebellions who took place during the period of slavery.

Nat Turner
Nat Turner was a slave who became a preacher, he planned a rebellion and believed that he was led by God. On 21 August 1891, he along with other African slaves armed themselves with weapons and went from plantation to plantation killing all the white inhabitants, and freeing the slaves. Around 70 black people joined him. About 50-60 white people were killed including women and children. The state militia put an end to the rebellion and Nat Turner was eventually executed after being found whilst in hiding. Many of the black people involved were also executed and black people who were not involved in the rebellion were also killed by whites. This rebellion had created fear in the white communities.

Seminole/Gullah wars

A lot of enslaved Africans used to escape to the south in Florida, where a population of Seminole Indians lived. These africans assimilated with the seminole Indians and they became "Black Seminoles". As Florida was owned by Spain they allowed the black Seminoles to have settlements there. This was a safe haven for escaped slaves. The American government did not like this and wanted to take their land and remove them. As a result there were three wars which took place between 1817–18, 1835–42 and 1855–58. The second Seminole war was the longest war where 1500 US Soilders were killed. The Black Seminoles used Guerrilla warfare tactics and were known for heavily arming themselves. After the third war many of them migrated to Mexico while some remained in Florida.

Caribbean

The Bussa Rebelloin
Bussa was an enslaved African who led the biggest slave revolt in Barbados with 400 slaves  in April 1816. Many plantations were burned down as the slaves revolted. During battle, Bussa was killed but the slaves continued to fight the British militia, unfortunately the slaves were defeated. However, the legacy of Bussa remains.



Haiti 
The biggest rebellion in history was the Haitian revolution. It was started in 1791 By Dutty Bookman, an enslaved African and Voodou priest. In August, he presided over a voodoo ceremony, which was the start of the revolt. A week later 1800 plantations had been destroyed and 1000 slave owners were killed. The French killed Dutty Boukman in November 1791 and put his head on display as a warning to other slaves. This did not stop the revolution. The rebellion was then led by General Toussaint Louverture who successfully led the revolt and emancipated the slaves. He ruled Haiti until 1803 when he was captured and imprisoned by the French until he died. His general Jean-Jacque Dessalines took over and defeated the French army in 1803. Haiti was declared an independent nation in 1804, Dessalines ordered the killing of all the French people on the island. Haiti became the first black nation to become independent and successfully overthrow European rule. He ruled Haiti until his assassination in 1806. (You can watch 1804 by Tariq Nasheed which explains the revolution in depth)

South America

Zumba palmemra
Palmares in Brazil was established around 1605 by 40 enslaved Africans
who had escaped slavery. They discovered the first government of free Africans known as the Republic of Palmares.The population continued to grow until about 30,000 people. Zumbi became the king of Palmares and led resistance against the Portuguese, who kept attacking them. The Palmares military were experts in self defence . Zumbi never bowed down to the Portuguese and kept fighting against slavery. Zumbi was captured and killed on November 20, 1695. His legacy remains in Brazil.

The Berbice Slave uprising Cuffy was originally from Ghana and was enslaved in Guyana . On 23 Feburary 1763, he armed himself with weapons and along with numerous slaves, attacked slave owners seizing control over their plantations and freeing slaves. About 3000 blacks were part of the revolt and began to take control of some of the regions . Many white people had fled for their safety. In 1764 European troops came to put an end to the rebellion and took control of the land.


This is only a very tiny amount of the revolts that took place. Africans have always resisted against oppression, this includes slaves poisoning their masters, breaking machinery, refusing to work etc. Africans were not passive docile people but were freedom fighters (some were warriors) who fought hard for the freedoms that we have today. We are our ancestors.

The Real Size of Africa

From childhood we are taught that the world looks like this. This is the Mercator world map which is used in institutions all over the world. It was created by a Flemish cartographer called Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It was mainly used to assist with navigation for European sailors. 

It is very difficult to get an accurate impression of a sphere shape onto a flat surface, and as a result there will inevitably be distortion on world maps. However, the distortion on this map is very drastic. What we have been taught about the size and land mass of various continents has been a total lie. 

The Gall-Peters map on the right is far more accurate in terms of the landmass of  countries. James Gall in 1855 created a more accurate map in terms of proportion in regards to land mass.  German historian Arno Peters also created a map in 1973 which matches that by James Gall. Hence why it is called the Gall-Peters map. What you will notice is that the countries/continents  in the North of the world is drastically smaller and those in the Southern hemisphere are drastically bigger. Most notably, Africa is double the size in real life than what is shown on the above Mercator Map. South America and Australia are also a lot bigger. You will notice that Europe is a lot smaller.

The question you may be asking is why the Mercator map created this drastic distortion which has been accepted worldwide. This answer is rooted in European imperialism. The size of countries are equated to power, and significance so the bigger a country looks, the more important it is. Hence why Europe's size was increased to look more powerful as this took place during the colonial era. Places like Africa was decreased in size to make it look less significant and less powerful.

The map below created by Visual Capitalist shows the true size of Africa. As you can see the whole of Europe, USA and a large portion of Asia can all fit inside Africa. It shows you how huge the continent of Africa is. The majority of the world's resources come from Africa, hence why Africa sustains the majority of the world.

Image from Visual Capitalist

COVID-19

I don't think any of us could have anticipated that a virus would come and literally put the whole world on lockdown and collapse the global economy. This is the kind of thing you read about in history books that you wouldn't imagine happening in your life time. To be honest, when coronavirus was in China, I wasn't too worried as previous other coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS didn't have this kind of impact globally. In March 2020 is when we actually saw the severity of this disease and many countries took action and closed their borders and ordered a lock down.

Coronavirus causes COVID-19. What is scary is that black people and other ethnic minorities in the UK & USA are dying  at a higher rate from this disease. Like many people I was wondering why. There could be a long list of possible reasons: ethnic minorities are more likely to live in poorer neighbourhoods, this means less access to healthcare, increases in poor diets, and are more likely to be essential workers so they are exposed more.

There will be  no cure for COVID-19 as the pharmaceutical industries do not believe in cures because they profit from people being sick. Usually when you go to hospital for an illness you are usually "treated" by taking medications that "relieve your symptoms",  not cures. For example, with all of these advanced medical practitioners there is still no cure for the common cold. Next time you buy cold medicine check the packaging and you are likely to see the word "relief" not cure. I am also  highly skeptical about any vaccines because of negative side effects they can have but I won't go into that in this post.

I have been watching many documentaries regarding viruses and infectious diseases, doing a lot of my own research and speaking to people in the medical field. I believe that the best way to defeat this disease is by strengthening your immune system.  This way, if you were to catch it you will have a better chance to fight it off. Here are my tips on  what you can do to improve your immune system, most of these things mentioned can be bought at health food stores such as Holland and Barrett's or online. Disclaimer: I am not a medical expert or nutritionist so  feel free to research these things for yourself.

Cleaner Air

- Keep your windows open to allow ventilation. As pollution has gone down considerably the air is much cleaner

- You can burn sage as it is known to kill over 90% of airborne bacteria and disinfects the air

Herbs , Minerals and Vitamins

Mullein - it is known to help clear the respiratory system
Sea moss - contains 92 of the 102 minerals our body requires
Bladderwrack - contains the remaining 10 minerals
Elderberry - contains antioxidants which help to improve the immune system
Black seed oil
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Zinc


Foods
Citrus Fruits i.e. oranges, lemon, lime
Ginger
Tumeric
Garlic
Cinnamon
Manuka Honey

Drinks
Water - drink a lot of water especially spring water or alkaline water
Green Tea

Things to avoid
Processed foods
Dairy
Too much sugar - this can feed viruses and bacteria
Too much alcohol
Smoking

Noughts + Crosses

I recently binge watched the series Noughts and Crosses, which is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Malorie Blackman.  The concept of this story is unique. We know through history that Europeans colonised other countries and oppressed its people, including Africans. Now imagine a world where this is flipped, where Africans (referred to as Apricans on the show) colonise Europe and oppress Europeans instead. This story explores this narrative. The black Apricans are 'Crosses' and the white Europeans are 'Noughts'.

This series is set in Albion (England). The black Crosses are the ruling minority. They are in the positions of power, they live in the richest areas, they have the best schools, and have all the privilege. Aprican culture influences everything in Albion including the clothing, architecture of the buildings, music and hairstyles. The white Noughts on the other hand are poor, have no power, do not have as much rights, and live in the poorest areas.  They do not have access to the privileges that the Crosses have.

The story follows the lives of Sephy and Callum. Sephy is a black Cross who is the daughter of a Politician. She is born into wealth and privilege. Callum on the other hand is a white Nought, who is a  the son of a domestic worker that is employed by Sephy's family. Callum's family are poor and endure the struggles of being white. Callum and Sephy end up falling in love with each other in a world where interracial relationships are illegal.

One of the themes explored in the series is Police brutality. (Spoiler Alert) This is shown in one of the early scenes, when Callum, his brother Jude and friend Danny are at a social gathering with other Noughts.  The Police (who are black)  come and use their position of power to abuse  Callum and Danny. Danny gets severely injured by the Police and ends up in hospital.  Throughout the series, it shows that there is always a heavy police presence when Noughts have any kind of public gathering, including a vigil they have for Danny, and a Nought festival called midsummer (the Nought equivalent to Notting Hill carnival). In a latter episode, Callum shares how he has been stopped and searched by Police around 300 times which appears to be the norm for Noughts. Death in custody is also explored when Callum's father is killed in prison, however the officials report that the death was a suicide. This is a narrative which is true for many black men who are consistently stopped and searched by Police more than their white peers and are more likely to die in custody.

Another theme explored is black beauty. In the first episode, Callum is completely captivated by Sephy's beauty. Sephy is a dark skinned black woman with black features. She always wears her hair in its natural afro state. Even the billboards in Albion promote this standard of beauty. There has been no influence of European beauty standards. There are some Noughts who wear braids and curls to assimilate with the Crosses. Watching this made me wish that African beauty standards in the mainstream would exist in today's world. European beauty standards have been so ingrained in us that  characteristics associated with Africans e.g. kinky hair, broad noses, dark skin are equated with ugliness, whereas lighter skin, straighter har, and thin noses are equated with beauty. This is why there are some black women who go to great lengths to try to erase their blackness in the name of beauty.  Unfortunately,  when black beauty is promoted in the mainstream it is usually someone who is mixed or is racially ambiguous.  To see a white man on the show so enthralled by the natural beauty of an unambiguous black woman is something we rarely ever see in real life.

Everything in Albion society is catered to the black Crosses.   The concept of nude colours is briefly addressed. There is a scene when Callum cuts his finger and Sephy puts a plaster on it. The plaster is brown and you can see the contrast between the brown plaster and Callum's white skin. It made me realise how something as minor as the  plasters we use in real life, match the skin tone of white people and do not cater to those of us with darker skin (though there are a few brands that have created plasters for darker skin).

The Crosses are openly racist to Noughts.  The education system promotes the idea of Noughts being inferior while Crosses are superior. One of the biggest newspapers in Albion publishes stories which portray the white Noughts as 'thugs' and paints them in a negative light (like we see newspapers do to black people in real life). The racist term for white people is "Blanca" which is equivalent to the word "nigger". The racist term for those who are mixed is "halfer". In this society, white people are required to sit at the back of the bus .  In the series, Callum wishes to go to Mersey Point which is an all black military school, that is now allowing white students to enrol.  There are a lot of black Crosses who are angry about this and start protesting outside the school. This is reflective of the all white schools being desegregated in the USA and white people protesting when black students started attending. Though the Prime Minister of Albion appears to be progressive and is trying to give rights to the Noughts, Sephy's father disagrees with this and takes action to get her removed. As Sephy's relationship with Callum develops, she begins to become aware of the oppression suffered by the Noughts and challenges a lot of the beliefs she grew up with.

There is a contrast between Callum and his brother Jude. Though they both want the conditions of Noughts to change, they believe in very different methods. Despite being oppressed, Callum doesn't have hatred towards the Crosses but wishes to create change by enrolling at Mersey Point. He wants to change the system from the inside (however his views do shift later). Conversely, Jude is frustrated and has a deep hatred towards the Crosses, he would rather use violence to change the conditions of the Noughts.  Jude joins the Liberation Militia which is a group  that are fighting for the liberation of Noughts from the Crosses by using violence.  The media refers to the Liberation Militia as a 'terrorist organisation'. (It appears that the Liberation Militia to a degree, is based on the Black Panther Party). It seems that Callum and Jude's approaches to liberation  are loosely based on Martin Luther King (Callum) and Malcolm X (Jude).

Unfortunately we still live in a world where racism still exists against people of color. There are some white people who struggle to grasp the concept of racism against black people. There are some others who believe that racism against black people is justified, and find it difficult to empathise with black victims of racism. I hope this series  shows these people how racism looks like towards someone that looks like them, then maybe it would open their eyes and give them a better understanding of racism against black people. I would definitely recommend watching the series as it deeply explores the impact of racism in all aspects of society and how this affects the lives of the oppressed.