Black History Class

Black History Class Begins !

2008-11-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

"All strong peoples emphasize their history all the time; weak peoples do not." - Runoko Rashidi
Watch, listen, & learn. Click the links below for the daily lesson:
Lesson 01 - The Pre-test
Lesson 02 - The history of Black History
Lesson 03 - The Global African Presence
Lesson 04 - Ancient African Migrations
Lesson 05 - African Slavery and Islam
Lesson 06 - The world has African ancestors
Lesson 07 - Biblical Black History # 1 - Return to Glory
Lesson 08 - Blacks in America before the Pilgrims
Lesson 09 - The American Slave Trade (Ma'afa)
Lesson 10 - Black Cowboys
Lesson 11 - Queen Mother Moore
Lesson 12 - America's first Black Millionaire
Lesson 13 - Black History and The Moors # 1
Lesson 14 - Biblical Black History # 2 - Black to the Bible
Lesson 15 - Black History in the Holy Koran
Lesson 16 - The Afro-Latinos
Lesson 17 - The Afro-Latinos #2: Puerto Rico
Lesson 18 - The Afro-Latinos #3: Mexico
Lesson 19 - Black Indians (American Indians)
Lesson 20 - The Black Jews
Lesson 21 - Biblical Black History # 3 - African influences
Lesson 22 - American Songs of Freedom
Lesson 23 - Black American Inventions
Lesson 24 - Salsa Music's Black History
Lesson 25 - African Martial Arts
Lesson 26 - Black History and the Blues
Lesson 27 - The Post Test

Created by Seko VArner and Larry Brayboy of The Imani Foundation for The Imani Foundation
To learn more about Runoko Rashidi click here !

Nick News: "Do We Need Black History Month?"

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Lesson 01 of 26 History of Black History

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The American Negro must remake his past in order to make his future . . . History must restore what slavery took away. - Arthur Schomburg

Black History, as we currently know it, has it's main roots in four figures. Three men, one woman. Three were African-Americans (by today's standards), one was a Puerto Rican. Many others influenced these figures, yet we focus on these four. The Great Grandfather of Black History is W.E.B Dubois. The Grandfather of Black History is Arturo Schomberg. The Mother of Black History is Drusilla Houston, and the Father of Black History is Carter G. Woodson.

(Photo: W.E.B. Dubois)

Simply put in 1903 W.E.B. DuBois published a book named "The Souls of Black Folk." Dubois' book taught and inspired both the Puerto-Rican Arturo Schomberg, and the Woman-Journalist Drusilla Houston. The writing of Dubois, and the research of Schomberg taught and inspired Woodson, who created Negro History week with some assistance from members of Woodson's fraternity Omega Psi Phi and others who supported Woodson's activities. As a Pan-Hellenic side note, W.E.B. Dubois is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Arturo Schomberg is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

(Photo Arturo Alfonso Schomburg)

Woodson's later activities, most notably the initiation of Negro History Week, have inspired people of African descent worldwide to improve self-racial pride and laid the foundation for the United States of America to recognize February as Black History month. Houston's works have inspired many scholars, particularly scholars who have studied African and African-diaspora history, to further the scholarly work associated with Black History. Put very simply, Woodson's activities reached the common person and general cultural aptitude, while Houston's work reached the scholars.

It's interesting to note that the Mother and Father of Black History had some difficulties. Woodson dismissed Houston as a “historian without portfolio” and didn't consider her to be a serious historian. As Woodson introduced Negro History week in 1926, Houston published her groundbreaking burst on the historical literary scene with Volume I of her magnum opus "Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire Book 1: Nations of the Cushite Empire, Marvelous Facts from Authentic Records". Daddy started Black History week, Mama provided the ancient information that supported Black History week. Thanks Mom & Dad !

(Photo: Drusilla Huston)

Drusilla Dunjee (later Houston) was born on January 20, 1876 in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Her parents were Rev. John William Dunjee and Lydia Taylor Dunjee. Houston was always fearful that her works would be lost and forgotten and that they would never reach the audience she desired, namely the children. To some extent she was correct. On February 11, 1941, Houston died in Arizona after years of illness from Tuberculosis. True to faith, her grave reads: “To Die is to Gain.”

Visit http://www.abwh.org/ddhouston.htm for more information on The Mother of Black History.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, at the southwestern edge of Massachusetts, to Alfred Du Bois and Mary Silvina Burghardt Du Bois. Du Bois was born and grew up in the overwhelmingly white town of Barrington, Massachusetts. Mary Silvina Burghardt's family was part of the very small, free black population of Great Barrington and had long owned land in the state. They descended from Dutch and African ancestors, including Tom, a West African-born man who served as a private for Captain John Spoor's company in 1780, a service which likely won him his freedom. According to Du Bois, several of his maternal ancestors were notably involved in regional history.
Alfred Du Bois, from Haiti, was of French Huguenot and African descent.

Schomburg was born in the (previously predominately "Black") town of Santurce, Puerto Rico (now part of San Juan) to María Josefa, a freeborn Black midwife from St. Croix, and Carlos Féderico Schomburg, a bi-racial merchant of German heritage. Schomburg was educated at San Juan's Instituto Popular, where he learned commercial printing, and at St. Thomas College in the Danish-ruled Virgin Islands, where he studied Negro Literature. During grade school one of his teachers claimed that blacks had no history, heroes or accomplishments; this patently false claim inspired Schomburg's life-long quest to find the truth and to document the accomplishments of African-Latinos, such as Jose Campeche and later of Afro-Americans.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born to parents who were former slaves, he spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He graduated within two years and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population-and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time. Woodson decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history. Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

Click here to download Ancestor Drusilla Houston's Groundbreaking book !

http://rapidshare.com/files/158859563/Wonderful_Ethiopians.pdf

Lesson 01 - The Black History Pre-test

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This is an online Black History class. The term "Black" will refer to people of African ancestry throughout this class. This designation of Black does not remove or ignore any other ancestral influences that are a part of a persons, peoples, or a cultures make-up. Black History, in this context, is not limited to 'Black Americans', rather it deals with historical information that has any connection to African or Negroid influences. On with the course...

Lesson 1: Learn what you don't know about Black History:

Ask yourself the following questions (Pre-test). Click through the links and watch/read/listen to online lessons. After completing all of the lessons, take the Post test and see what you have learned.

01. Who is the mother of Black History? What did the father of Black History say about her ?

02. What ancient African presence can be found in India ?

03. What are the main three migrations have created the African Diaspora (Spreading out) ?

04. What part did Arabs play in the African enslavement process ?

05. Chiek Anta Diop taught that all people came from Africa, what did IBM discover ?

06. What do some Christian historians mean by an African "Return to Glory ?"

07. Who did the early explorers discover along with the Indians of North & South America ?

08. What is the term Ma'Afa refer to ?

09. What are some of the reasons that ex-enslaved Africans became Cowboys ?

10. How did Queen Mother Moore receive her position of Queen ?

11. Who was Sarah Bledloe and how did she become so rich ?

12. Who were the Moors ?

13. Who were the Blacks noted in the Holy Bible ?

14. Who were the Blacks noted in the Holy Koran ?

15. What created the African influence in Latino / Hispanic culture ?

16. Name three African influences upon Puerto-Rican culture.

17. Name an area of Mexico where Mexico's African heritage is still apparent.

18. How did some American-Indians avoid being walking the Trail of Tears ?

19. Name three groups that are both Black and Jewish.

20. What are some Biblical references to the African influence upon the Hebrews ?

21. What does the Pentatonic scale have to do with Negro Spirituals ?

22. Name three American (U.S.A.) inventions that were created by Blacks in America.

23. What does Salsa Music have to do with Black people ?

24. Name three African Martial Arts.

25. What American (U.S.A.) area produced the first Blues-Music songs ?

26. How can the information in this class improve your life ?

Lesson 03 of 26 - The Global African Presence

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The Global African Presence is a Runoko Rashidi slide-presentation lecture focusing on the African presence around the world, ancient and modern, but with an emphasis on antiquity. It examines the African origins and evolution of humanity, the African origins of and presence in classical civilizations, and the present locations and conditions of African people. The Global African Presence referrs to all of the Black populations that have peopled the planet within both the prehistoric and historic periods. The words African and Black are used interchangeably, as synonyms. This includes Africans as the first modern humans, the subsequent migrations and movements of African people, and the later involuntary arrival of African people around the world as the result of enslavement.

Lesson 04 of 26 Olmecs & Black Migrations

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Christian Warning ! This video contains information that may challenge commonly held belifs of Christians. The Imani Foundation does not intentionally present any information to negatively impact one's relationship with the Almighty. You're relationship with God is the most important relationship. If information that challenges your belifs are disturbing, please skip this section and proceed with another lesson. Dr. YOSEF BEN-JOHANNAN AND DR. SIMMONS AT A UAB LECTURE ON OLMECS, RELIGION, MIGRATIONS, AND EDUCATION.

Lesson 05 of 26 African Slaves and Islam

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This is a work by John Alembillah Azumah detailing the effect Arab-Islam has had on Africa. The book is called "Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A Quest for Inter-Religious Dialogue." John Alembillah Azumah is in Hyderabad, India. He is an expert on Islam in Africa, and has published widely on this subject. Certain words in the Arabic language demonstrate just how their supremacy is ingrained in Arabic (and all Semitic) culture. For instance, the word for "slave" is abd, Abdullah means the "slave of Allah," where all Blacks/Africans are called Abeed (plural for slaves). You find similarly in Hebrew, Obed means "servant".

While slavery only lasted 3 centuries in the west, it has lasted 14 centuries in the Middle East and exists today in many Muslim countries. Another interesting fact was that the Arabic-Islamic slave trade in the trans-Saharan and East African slave markets had mortality rates as high as 80-90%, where the trans-Atlantic slave trade with Europeans is estimated at 10%. Also, in the trans-Atlantic, there were 2 men for every woman that went to the Americas. However, it was reversed with the Arabic-Islamic slave trade in that it took 2 women for every man (where all men were castrated). We can easily imagine the reason the Arabs demanded these gender ratios. With the men already being castrated, the children born to the women were regularly killed at birth, which explains why there is not African/Black population in West Asia, like that in Brazil and the United States. The death toll of Africans from the trans-Saharan and East African Islamic slave trade may be upwards of 140 million souls. -------

History of slavery and slaves in saudi arabia, chad, sudan and nigeria. dhimmitude is the status that Islamic law, the sharia, mandates for non-muslims. they are dhimmis (dhimmi). jihad with islamist. islamism and islamists have shariah.

Lesson 06 of 27 (February 7th)

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"Where do you really come from? And how did you get to where you live today? DNA studies suggest that all humans today descend from a group of African ancestors who—about 60,000 years ago—began a remarkable journey." -
The Genographic Project

Lesson 07 of 26 Biblical Black History # 1

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A Christian approach to ancient African history. Learn about Biblical Black History. Visit http://www.returntoglory.org/ for additional details about this Black-History Christian ministry.

Lesson 08 of 27 Blacks before the Pilgrims

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Lecture given by Dr Ivan Van Sertima discussing African history in the Americas prior to Chistopher Columbus. Recorded in 1986 at Camden Town Hall, London. Caribbean Cultural International & Karnak House.

Lesson 09 of 26 The Maafa (In the Americas)

2008-11-14T21:23:00.001-08:00

The Ma'afa means 'catastrophe' in Swahili. The Ma'afa is most commonly used when describing or referring to the process of enslaving Africans in the Americas.

Lesson 10 of 26 Black Cowboys

2008-11-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

Dr. Yasser A. Payne speaks on the impact and little known history of Black people in the wild west. as Cowboys, outlaws, gangs, sherifs, etc..

Lesson 11 of 26 Queen Mother Moore

2008-11-14T21:21:00.003-08:00

Audley Moore became an ancestor on May 2 at the age of 98 in 1997. She was given the honorary title of `Queen Mother' by an Ashanti tribe in Ghana.

Mother Moore lived a long and active life, dedicated to public service and improvement of the lives of African-Americans. Born on July 28, 1898 in New Iberia, LA, to second generation freed blacks, she became a revered public figure in Harlem, best known as an advocate for Africa and African-Americans. Moore's ideas and teachings of Pan-African Nationalism was influenced by great political personalities such as W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey. As a civil rights activist, Mother Moore worked on the defense of the Scottsboro boys. Internationally, she spoke on her disapproval of the Italo-Ethiopian war.

"I am not a part-time struggler,' she once said. `I'm in the movement for the liberation of African people full-time, 7 days a week, 24 hours per day, for life."
Her career was influenced by the violence and hatred she endured as a young child and young woman. While in the fourth grade, Moore's parents died and thus ended her formal education. During World War I while in Alabama, Moore was a volunteer nurse who involved herself in the first of her movements for the equality of blacks by organizing support services for black soldiers that were denied by the Red Cross.

Mother Moore was drawn to the idea of black nationalism and economic independence by the oratory of Marcus Garvey, founder of the Harlem-based Universal Negro Improvement Association. She became an active member of the organization, and founded the Harriet Tubman Association to better the conditions of black women. Through this organization, Moore advocated issues such as higher wages, better education, and the lowering of food prices to help improve the conditions of the poor. Following her brief membership in the Communist party--at the time, the only organization that accepted her radical ideas--she focused her attention on seeking economic reparations for descendants of the victims of slavery, cultural identity, and education. She launched a national campaign in support of economic reparations. Moore believed that economic reparations were the first constructive step in black nationalists ideology.

As an orator, her rhetoric on this issue was powerful:
"Ever since 1950, I've been on the trail fighting for reparations. They owe us more than they could ever pay. They stole our language; they stole us from our mothers and fathers and took our names from us. They worked us free of charge 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, under the lash for centuries. We lost over 100 million lives in the traffic of slavery."

In 1962, Mother Moore met with President John F. Kennedy, the United Nations, and the Congressional Black Caucus about the issue of economic reparations. She later organized and directed the Reparations Committee of Descendants of United States Slaves.

One of her last public appearances was at the Million Man March in Washington, DC. Although weak, her poignant speech was delivered by an associate.
http://www.queenmothermoore.org/mission.htm

Lesson 12 of 26 - USA's 1st Fe-millionaire

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Born Sarah Bledloe, Madam C.J. Walker (December 23, 1867 May 25, 1919) was an American businesswoman, hair care entrepreneur, tycoon and philanthropist. Her fortune was made by developing and marketing a hugely successful line of beauty and hair products for black women. The Guinness Book of Records cites Walker as the first female, black or white, who became a millionaire by her own achievements.

Lesson 13 of 26 Blacks and Moors # 1

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This is a clip from the documentary called Prince Among Slaves. Its about Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, who was a prince from Timbo, West Africa, in what is present day Guinea, Fouta Djallon. In 1788 he was kidnapped from Africa after being DEFEATED in battle and taken to Natchez, Mississippi. After 40 years of slavery he was released. Part of that released involved him, being mistaken for a Moor from the Americas. Why so, for one the sultan they are talking about is not the sultan from Africa the continent but the one in the Americas.

The Kingdom of Morocco of the east, on the continent of Africa did not get their independence and sovereignty until 1956. Also we are talking about Ancient Morocco that the modern day Kingdom of Morocco is named after, who shares a name and flag with the ancient Moorish Empire or Moorish Amexem Empire. The Ancient Morocco which was North, Central, South America and the Caribbean, has a flag that goes back about 10,000 to 50,000 years old. Also they ASSUMED he was a Moor. How do they know what a Moor look like? What a Moor wears? They also gave him a fez to put on his head. For more information about Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori you can watch the full documentary, for quick information and reference go to the following link: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Among_Slaves - The ancient Moors or Moorish inhabitants of the Americas was labeled through written history and after being defeated in war as Negro, Black, Colored, Afro and African American, West Indian, Indian, Black Indians and other misnomers. In history they were also known as free blacks, free negros, free colored people, or as stated in the Dred Scott vs Sanford case as free native-born inhabitants.

Lesson 14 of 26 Biblical Black History # 2

2008-11-14T21:19:00.002-08:00

Rev. Jeffrey A. Johnson Jr. preaches/teaches his Black to the Bible Vol. 1 - "The Biblical Black Presence." The lecture/sermon contains historical information and Biblical doctrine supporting the presence of African people and people of African descent in the standard cannonized Bible. This file is the first sermon/lecture in an educational four part series.

Lesson 15 of 27 Black History in Islam

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THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY HISTORY NOTES:

THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN EARLY ARABIA -

BY RUNOKO RASHIDI

The Arabian Peninsula was early populated by Black people. Once dominant over the entire peninsula, the African presence in early Arabia is most clearly traceable through the Sabeans. The southwestern corner of the peninsula was their ancient home. This area is today called Yemen. In antiquity this region gave rise to a high degree of civilization because of the growth of frankincense and myrrh. The city of Makkab was considered a holy place and the destination of pilgrims long before the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad himself, who was to unite the whole of Arabia, appears to have had a prominent African lineage. According to al-Jahiz, the guardian of the sacred Kaaba, Abd-al-Muttalib, "fathered ten Lords, Black as the night and magnificent." One of these men was Abdallah, the father of the Prohpet Muhammad.

According to tradition, the first Muslim killed in battle was Mihja--a Black man. Another Black man, Bilal, was such a pivotal figure in the development of Islam that he has been referred to as "a third of the faith."

Many of the earliest Muslim converts were Africans, and a number of the Muslim faithful sought refuge in Ethiopia because of initial Arabian hostility to Muhammad's teachings. It was this relationship which caused Muhammad to declare that, "Who brings an Ethiopian man or an Ethiopian woman into his house, brings the blessings of God there."

Runoko may be researched here: http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/runoko.html

runoko@yahoo.com

Lesson 16 of 26 - Afro Latinos

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Afro-Latinos :

(Photo - Two Nicaraguan dancers)

Some people of African origin first arrived in the Americas with the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries. For example, Pedro Alonso Niño, traditionally considered the first of many New World explorers of African descent [7] was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Those who were directly from Africa mostly arrived in Latin America as part of the Atlantic slave trade, as agricultural, domestic, and menial laborers and as mineworkers. They were also employed in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico) and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Valiente). They were mostly brought from West Africa and Central Africa in what are now the nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Angola, and Congo, There are three major groups: the Yoruba, Akan, and the Bantu. Most of the enslaved Africans were sent to Brazil, Peru, and the Caribbean, but lesser numbers went to Colombia and Venezuela. Countries with significant black, mulatto, or zambo populations today include Brazil (86 million), Colombia (10 million), Haiti (8.7 million), Dominican Republic (4 million), Cuba (up to 4 million), and Puerto Rico (20%-46%). Recent genetic research in UPR Mayaguez has brought to light that 26.4% of Puerto Ricans have African heritage on the X chromosome and 20% on the Y chromosome, thus between 20%-46% of the Puerto Rican population has African heritage.

(Photo - Rastafarian Afro-Cubans)

The mix of these African cultures with the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and indigenous cultures of Latin America has produced many unique forms of language (e.g., Palenquero, Garífuna and Creole), religions (e.g., Candomblé, Abakuá, Santería, Lucumi and Vodou), music (e.g., kompa, salsa, bachata, cumbia, Palo de Mayo, plena), samba, martial arts (capoeira) and dance (rumba, merengue).

A rising voice - Afro-Latino Americans.

The African presence in Nicaragua.

The African presence in the Dominican Republic.

The African presence in Brazil.

The African presence in Cuba.

(Photo - Mardi Gras in the Dominican Republic)

Click here to watch a video on the African presence in Latin America !

Lesson 17 of 26 The Afro-Latinos #2: Puerto Rico

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A little history about Puerto Rican's Afro-Borinquen heritage. Note that the Grandfather of Black History, Arturo Schomberg, was Puerto Rican who started the trend to use the term "Afro" when describing people of African descent. Arturo Schomberg called himself an "Afroborinqueño" which means "Afro-Puerto Rican" in the 1890's. Malcolm X, who studied Schomberg's information, is attributed to first use the term Afro-American in the 1960's which later became "African-American" when popularized by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as he began saying the term in the 1980s.
Video # 1

Video # 2

Lesson 18 of 26 The Black Mexicans

2008-11-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

Africans in Mexico post Columbus

Along the highlands and coastal shores of the Atlantic and Pacific ocean, reside a nation of people unknown or forgotten. Many are the descendants of the enslaved Africans transported to this rich tropical land more than 500 hundred years ago. Today they are identified as Afro-Mexican and Afro-Mestizo. Within their communities they are simply Mexicans. The first African slave brought to Mexico is said to be one Juan Cortés, a slave who accompanied the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1519. The Indians, spellbound by his dark skin, for they had never seen an African before, took him for a god!

Lesson 19 of 26 The Black Indians

2008-11-14T20:59:00.003-08:00

"Black Indians: An American Story" is a distinguished documentary which presents the rarely-told story of the racial fusion of Native and African-Americans. It is a story which literally begins with the birth of America, in the presence of the mixed-race Boston Massacre martyr Crispus Attucks, and which follows the deadlier aspects of the 19th century through the Seminole War (where runaway slaves joined Seminole warriors in Florida in armed conflict against the invading U.S. Army) and the expulsion of the Cherokee nation on the infamous Trail of Tears (where black Indians within the Cherokee orbit faced the no-win choice of either leaving with their brethren into forced exile or staying behind to live in slavery).

While Native Americans did not carry the racial hang-ups of white society and did not see mixed-raced Indians as being second-class, white society and 19th century government bureaucrats had no concept of multiculturalism and demanded that everyone be pigeonholed into one racial group, with any questions of identity decided by appearance. Thus, it was not uncommon for black Indian families to find themselves separated by government classifications into completely different racial groups based solely on their color and appearance. This practice was also helpful in erasing official traces of native nations in the late 19th century--mixed race Indians were not considered pure blooded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and several tribes were declared extinct even though they still lived in the persons of black Indians whose native heritage was not recognized by the government. By the time that civil rights and Native rights movements in the 1960s roared into the national forefront, the story of the black Indians was virtually forgotten except as family histories by those who shared the blended racial heritages. Even today, black Indians meet incredulous skeptics who refuse to acknowledge their ancestral worth.

Lesson 20 of 27 The Black Jews

2008-11-14T20:59:00.001-08:00

Photo: Rabi Jehu A. Crowdy Jr. -
Church of God and Saints of Christ

The Black Jews (from wikipedia)
1) The Jewish people have had a long history in Africa, dating to the Biblical era. As the African diaspora grew, because of the movement of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, African Jews were part of that diaspora. In addition, Judaism has spread through the African diaspora, largely through conversion. While many adhere to traditional Jewish movements, there are a number of Jewish organizations unique to the African diaspora.

2) Beta Isreal - During the 1970s, members of the Beta Israel, a community of Ethiopian Jews, began to immigrate to Israel after Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, ruled that they were descendents of the Biblical Israelites and that they should be eligible for citizenship under Israel's Law of Return. As famine gripped Ethiopia during the 1980s, several thousand Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel, but political instability in Ethiopia and Sudan made further immigration impossible. In 1991, when circumstances changed, more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were flown to Israel.
Absorption of the Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society has been difficult. During the 1980s, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate initially required the new arrivals to undergo certain conversion procedures, which many of the Ethiopian Jews considered an insult. In 1996, the Magen David Adom destroyed all blood that had been donated by Ethiopian Jews.

3) Hebrew Israelites - The Black Hebrew Israelites, or Black Hebrews, are groups of people of African Americans situated mostly in the United States who claim to be descendants of the ancient Israelites. They claim that they and many Africans, and blacks in places like Brazil, Madagascar, and the Caribbean are also descended from the Israelites.

4)The Lemba: The Black Jews of South Africa.

* Genesis 12:16 – Not only Hagar, but many of Abraham’s servants were gifts from Pharaoh and in this period it is fairly likely that many were Nubians. (approx. 1921 BC)

* Genesis 13: 6-8 – Abraham had a large number of herdsmen and 318 male servants who were born into his house.

* Genesis 25 – Isaac, Abraham’s son and then Jacob inherited everything.

* Genesis41:50 – Joseph fathered two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, by an Egyptian wife, automatically making Israel nearly 10 percent Egyptian. Joshua was from one of these half-African tribes, Ephraim; in later years this tribe became so dominant that the northern tribes of Israel were sometimes simply called “Ephraim”. When the Israelites were subjected to slavery under the Egyptians, they and their former servants were now all defined as Israel together; this means that much intermarriage must have taken place.

* Exodus 12:38 – After 400 years, a “mixed multitude” left Egypt during the Exodus.

5) The BlackJews.Org:
"My background and most of my information comes from working with those congregations that derive from the late Chief Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew (1892-1973). Rabbi Matthew founded the Commandment Keepers Congregation in Harlem, New York in 1919. He trained and ordained many of the rabbis who later founded synagogues in various places of the United States and the Caribbean. Rabbi Matthew, it turns out, was a close associate of Rabbi Arnold J. Ford who was the musical director of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) which was organized by Marcus Garvey in 1911.
The emergence of Judaism among people of African descent in the first half of this century was made possible by a combination of the following factors: (1) A strong religious tradition in the background of the person who became Jewish that embodied Jewish practices from an early but unclear source. When interviewed, many of the older members of this community recall memories of their parents observing certain dietary laws, such as abstaining from pork or salting their meat. Others recall traditions related to observing the Sabbath or festivals such as Passover and Sukkot. In most cases these practices were fragmentary and observed by people who simultaneously practiced Christianity.
The possible origins of these Hebraic traditions could be traced to West Africa were a number of tribes have customs so similar to Judaism that an ancient connection or maybe even descent from one of the "ten lost tribes" is believed. Other possibilities for these well-documented practices are through association with Jewish slave owners and merchants in the Caribbean and North America. In this case, the number of Jewish slave owners is known to have been small, yet it has been shown that Jewish masters, particularly in the Caribbean, attempted to proselytize their slaves just as their Christian counterparts had. Therefore, the three main sources of Judaism for African Africans today are: (1) Indigenous African Ancestry, (2) Conversion during or after slavery, (3) Intermarriage between white Jews and people of African descent, and (4) Shuvah, the conscious reclaiming of Judaism by people of African descent whose ancestors were forced into Christianity.
Many African Americans who practice Judaism today maintain that they have always had a close affinity with the Hebrews of the Old Testament. This is true whether or not they recall particular rites that remind them of the Jewish traditions they now follow. Scholars such as Albert Raboteau have described in books such as Slave Religion that the biblical struggles of the Hebrew people—particularly their slavery and exodus from Egypt—bore a strong similarity to the conditions of African slaves and was therefore of special importance to them. This close identification with the biblical Hebrews is clearly seen in the lyrics of gospel songs such as "Go Down Moses" and remains a favorite theme in the sermons of black clergy today.
What all this proves is that there was a foundation, be it psychological, spiritual, or historical, that made some black people receptive to the direct appeal to Judaism that Rabbi Matthew and others made to them in this century. If black people were fertile ground for the harbingers of Judaism, then the philosophy of Marcus Garvey was the seed that helped to bring it to fruition. Put most simply, Garvey's message was one of Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism. His goal was to instill pride in a people who were being humiliated through institutionalized racism and cultural bigotry. Garvey and Matthew attempted to challenge old stereotypes that either minimized a black presence in history or the bible, or, that completely excised black people from these texts. They argued that such distortions and omissions were harmful to the self-image that many black people had of themselves. They debunked these myths by extolling the contributions that black people made to the development of human civilization. To some extent this meant focusing on the achievements of African societies such as Egypt and Ethiopia in highly rhetorical and romantic way. It also meant attacking the false image that all the people in the bible looked like Europeans. They pointed out that by normative standards the dark hues of the ancient Hebrews would cause them to be classified as black in today's world. This was a revelation to thousands of black people who had previously accepted the all white depictions without question.
Rabbi Ford and Rabbi Matthew took Garvey's philosophy one step further. They reasoned that if many of the ancient Hebrews were black, then Judaism was as much a part of their cultural and religious heritage as is Christianity. In their hearts and minds they were not converting to Judaism, they were reclaiming part of their legacy. This fit very neatly with the biblical prophecies that spoke of the Israelites being scattered all over the world, being carried in slave ships to distant lands, and of being forced to worship alien gods (Deuteronomy 28).
Rabbi Matthew found himself in the peculiar position of having to both justify his small following of black Jews in Harlem, and also to explain the presence of so many white Jews. His position on this subject went through various stages. He always maintained that the "original Jews" were black people-or at least not European; however, he did not deny the existence or legitimacy of white Jews. In fact, as his services, synagogues, and attire show, he deferred to orthodox conventions on many matters. For example, he maintained separate setting for men and women, he used a standard Orthodox siddur (prayer book) to conduct his services, worshippers wore tallitzim and kippot (prayer shawls and yarmulkes), they affixed mezuzot, wore tefillin, used standard texts in their Hebrew and rabbinic schools and read from a Sefer Torah.
Rabbi Matthew believed that although the "original Jews" were black people, white Jews had kept and preserved Judaism over the centuries. Since we, black Jews, were just "returning" to Judaism it was necessary for us to look to white Jews on certain matters—particularly on post-biblical and rabbinic holidays such as Hanukkah which could not be found in the Torah. However, it is important to note that Rabbi Matthew felt free to disagree on matters where he had a strong objection. He also recognized that since many customs, songs, and foods were of European origin, that he had the right to introduce some African, Caribbean, and American traditions into his community. Of course, his right to do this was often challenged, sometimes by Jews who had “Europeanized” Judaism in the past or who were "Americanizing" Judaism in the present. Rabbi Matthew was constantly aware of apparent double standards within Judaism. After decades of trying to find common ground with white Jews by speaking at white synagogues around the county and at B'nai Brith lodges internationally, and after repeated attempts to join the New York Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Matthew concluded that black Jews would never be fully accepted by white Jews and certainly not if they insisted on maintaining a black identity and independent congregations. Since his death in 1973, there has been very little dialog between white and black Jews in America." - Rabbi Sholom Levy from http://www.blackjews.org/Essays/WhoAreWe.html

6) Church of God and Saints of Christ
The story of Prophet Williams S. Crowdy:
http://www.cogasoc.org/leaders/wscrowdy.html
Judaism is a system of religious beliefs that governs the life of the individual who chooses to practice it. Thus, anyone, regardless of race, nationality, or ethnicity, can embrace the religion. According to the Census, there are millions of people worldwide who profess to Judaism. Among these are people of African descent. Thousands of African-Americans in the United States professed to Judaism. There is growing evidence that the ancient Hebrews of the Bible were an Afro/Asiatic people. Many Egyptologists and biblical scholars, including Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Charles Copher, Cheikh Anta Diop, Cain Hope Felder, Ivan Van Sertima, and Rudolf Windsor have asserted that the people of the ancient biblical world were an African people. Today, many people of African descent around the world practice Judaism and trace their lineage to ancient times. For example, the "Beta Israel" of Ethiopia believes that they are descendents of Menelik, son of Solomon, and the Lemba Tribe of South Africa believes that they are the descendents of the tribe of Levi.

More: The Black Jews

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOSJVfbgxdo

Lesson 21 of 26 Biblical Black History # 3

2008-11-14T20:58:00.001-08:00

Rev. K. Price's presents the normaly overlooked African influences in the Judaic-Chrisitan cultures and religions.

Lesson 22 of 26 American Freedom Songs

2008-11-14T20:56:00.001-08:00

http://www.negrospirituals.com/ : The very first negro spirituals were inspired by African music even if the tunes were not far from those of hymns. Some of them, which were called “shouts” were accompanied with typical dancing including hand clapping and foot tapping. After regular a worship service, congregations used to stay for a “ring shout”. It was a survival of primitive African dance. So, educated ministers and members placed a ban on it. The men and women arranged themselves in a ring. The music started, perhaps with a Spiritual, and the ring began to move, at first slowly, then with quickening pace. The same musical phrase was repeated over and over for hours. This produced an ecstatic state. Women screamed and fell. Men, exhausted, dropped out of the ring.

The meaning of these songs was most often covert. Therefore, only Christian slaves understood them, and even when ordinary words were used, they reflected personal relationship between the slave singer and God.

The codes of the first negro spirituals are often related with an escape to a free country. For example, a “home” is a safe place where everyone can live free. So, a “home” can mean Heaven, but it covertly means a sweet and free country, a haven for slaves.

The ways used by fugitives running to a free country were riding a “chariot” or a “train”.
The negro spirituals “The Gospel Train” and “Swing low, sweet chariot” which directly refer to the Underground Railroad, an informal organization who helped many slaves to flee.

The words of “The Gospel train” are “She is coming… Get onboard… There’s room for many more”. This is a direct call to go way, by riding a “train” which stops at “stations”.

Then, “Swing low, sweet chariot” refers to Ripley, a “station” of the Underground Railroad, where fugitive slaves were welcome. This town is atop a hill, by Ohio River, which is not easy to cross. So, to reach this place, fugitives had to wait for help coming from the hill. The words of this spirituals say,“I looked over Jordan and what did I see/ Coming for to carry me home/ A band of angels coming after me”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/

Lesson 23 of 26 Black Inventors

2008-11-14T20:55:00.002-08:00

(01/05/1997) Dr. Luck Wilson discusses the many inventions created by people of African descent in the Americas that can be viewed while riding a train. All Aboard ! The Black History Train !

Lesson 24 of 26 Black Roots of Salsa Music

2008-11-14T20:55:00.001-08:00

The history of "Salsa" music and dancing. This 3 part video talks about how the Mambo eventually came to be called salsa. It also summarizes the evolution of salsa from it's African roots.

Lesson 25 of 26 African Martial Arts

2008-11-14T20:54:00.001-08:00

African Martial Arts:
While many naively associate Martial Arts simply from Asian sources. African has a long history of Martial Arts. Here is a list of only a few:
Angola Capoeira Angola Egypt Egyptian Stick Fencing
Eritrea Testa Nigeria Dambe South Africa Nguni Stick Fighting
Rough and Tumble Obnu Bilate Fanchento Senegal Laamb Wrestling Sudan
Nuba Fighting Togo Evala Wrestling
"The earliest evidence of martial arts in Africa was discovered in the Beni Hasan tombs in Egypt, which date back to between 2040 and 1785 BCE, during the Middle Kingdom. In the tombs, archaeologists found paintings of wrestlers displaying techniques such as punching, kicking, throwing, and locking of their opponents’ joints. There is also evidence to suggest that ancient Egyptians performed stick fencing as a tribute to the Pharoah. Modern Egyptian stick fencing—the highly codified system of combat with its own methodology, weaponry, and training syllabus—was developed to keep the Egyptian armed forces trained and ready for battle."
http://www.themmazone.net/Martial-Arts-WP/2008/12/01/african-martial-arts/

1) Capoeira is a African-Brazilian blend of martial art, game, and dance originated in Brazil, from the regions known as Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and São Paulo. The art-form started up in Brazil during the 16th Century, an obvious result of the slave trading that took place in conjunction with the previously slaved native Indians. Capoeira was created and developed by both the remaining native slave Indians in Brazil and slaves brought from Africa who brought with them a form of Martial arts from Africa. Participants form a roda (circle) and take turns playing instruments, singing, and sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The game is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of groundwork, as well as sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Less frequently-used techniques include elbow-strikes, slaps, punches, and body-throws.

As in the United States, slavery existed also in Brazil. The slaves were put to work in the plantations where sugar and tobacco were the main crops and the demand for slave labor was at an all-time high. During the history of the slave trade, it is estimated that more than two million slaves were brought to Brazil from Africa. They were brought to the port of Bahia. These captive Africans created the earliest form of Capoeira, a martial art, to increase their chances for liberty and independence. On the pretence of dance and religious gatherings, they practiced fighting techniques. Capoeira became an art form through which many liberated themselves.In Pernambuco, a group of forty slaves used Capoeira to rebel against their master and burn the plantation house. They then set themselves free and headed for the mountains. Eventually they reached what they thought was a safe place and named it Palmares, due to the abundance of palm trees. In this place, an African community was born, it lasted nearly a century and grew to a population of more than twenty thousand. These slaves came from different regions of Africa and thus had different cultures. Here, tribes that were enemies in Africa, united to fight for a common goal. After slavery was abolished on May 13, 1888, the planters no longer had interest in the ex-slaves as a work force, so most of them entered the cities and formed slums and shantytowns.

Lesson 26 of 26 Black History and the Blues

2008-11-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

Oral Tradition and the Blues" - 52:48 - Apr 5, 2006 - Dartmouth College Office of Alumni Relations. Born in the Mississippi Delta, refined in Chicago, its Mecca, the Blues has been described as an impulse to keep painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one’s aching consciousness. It is a musical chronicle of personal agony and the possibility of conquering it through sheer toughness of spirit. Learn more about the people and places that created the music

The Final Exam

2008-11-14T20:46:00.000-08:00

The Post Test (Created by Brother Larry Brayboy)

1. Q: Who was Drusilla Dunjee Houston and what was her contribution to the foundation of "Negro History Week"?

2. Q: What is W.E.B. DuBois' most famous writing?

3. Q: What inspired Arturo Schomburg to begin studying Black History?

4.Q: What were Carter G. Woodson's three major contributions to Black History?

5. Q: What scholar has dedicated his studies, specifically, to documenting the global presence of Africans on every continent?

6.Q: The 1st documented physician and multi-genius was?

7.Q: The first documented civilization of The Americas was?

8.Q: The death toll of Africans from the trans-Saharan and East African Islamic slave trade may be upwards of how many people?

9.Q: 84,000 Moorish manuscripts were ordered to be destroyed by?

10.Q: The tragedy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is often referred to as?

11.Q: Two of the primary crops grown during slavery were?A: Cotton, Tobacco

12. Q. The voluntary trading of 4 to 7 years of service to another was called?

13.Q. Maroon communities in the western territories were originated how?

14. Q. She founded the Harriet Tubman Association to better the conditions of black women as well as the Reparations Committee of Descendants of United States Slaves..

15. Q. America's first Black and first Female millionaire was?

16.Q. Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori was the royal West African enslaved and known as who?

17.Q. Early adherents of al-Islam fled where for safety?

18. Q. The Black Man who was the first "Muezzin" was called?

19.Q. 46% of enslaved Africans were sent where?

20.Q. What were the 3 major groups of Africans brought to the West?

21.Q. Two Africans religions preserved in Central and South America and the Caribbean are?

22.Q. The first documented enslaved African to be brought to Mexico was?

23.Q. This famous African-influenced martial art was made an official national sport? In what country?

24. Q. It was during this historical occurence that black Indians faced leaving home with their native brethren into forced exile or staying behind to live in slavery.

25. Q. The Black Jews of South Africa are called?

26. Q. The covert form of message carrying and communication amongst Africans in America, later influenced this type of music?

27. Q. Name any 5 significant Black inventions.

28. Q. A Black trader and settler founded what popular city?

29. Q. Martial Arts was first conceived with what style?

30. Q. The birthplace and the mecca of The Blues, are?

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
BELOW:

1. Q: Who was Drusilla Dunjee Houston and what was her contribution to the foundation of "Negro History Week"?
A: The ancient information that supported it's foundation. "Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire."

2. Q: What is W.E.B. DuBois' most famous writing?
A: Souls of Black Folks

3. Q: What inspired Arturo Schomburg to begin studying Black History?
A: during grade school one of his teachers claimed that blacks had no history, heroes or accomplishments

4.Q: What were Carter G. Woodson's three major contributions to Black History?
A: The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, in 1915; The Journal of Negro History; and Negro History Week, in 1926.

5. Q: What scholar has dedicated his studies, specifically, to documenting the global presence of Africans on every continent?
A: Runoko Rashidi

6.Q: The 1st documented physician and multi-genius was?
A: Imhotep

7.Q: The first documented civilization of The Americas was?
A: The Olmecs

8.Q: The death toll of Africans from the trans-Saharan and East African Islamic slave trade may be upwards of how many people?
A: 140 Million

9.Q: 84,000 Moorish manuscripts were ordered to be destroyed by?
A: Cardinal Ximenes

10.Q: The tragedy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is often referred to as?
A: The Maa'fa

11.Q: Two of the primary crops grown during slavery were?
A: Cotton, Tobacco

12. Q. The voluntary trading of 4 to 7 years of service to another was called?
A. Indentured Servitude

13.Q. Maroon communities in the western territories were originated how?
A. Africans who migrated west and joined with natives.

14. Q. She founded the Harriet Tubman Association to better the conditions of black women as well as the Reparations Committee of Descendants of United States Slaves..
A. Audley "Queen Mother" Moore

15. Q. America's first Black and first Female millionaire was?
A. Madam C.J. Walker

16.Q. Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori was the royal West African enslaved and known as who?A. "Prince"

17.Q. Early adherents of al-Islam fled where for safety?
A. Ethiopia

18. Q. The Black Man who was the first "Muezzin" was called?
A. Bilal

19.Q. 46% of enslaved Africans were sent where?
A. Brazil

20.Q. What were the 3 major groups of Africans brought to the West?
A. There are three major groups: the Yoruba, Akan, and the Bantu.

21.Q. Two Africans religions preserved in Central and South America and the Caribbean are?
A. Any of the following: Candomblé, Abakuá, Santería, Lucumi and Vodou

22.Q. The first documented enslaved African to be brought to Mexico was?
A. The first African slave brought to Mexico is said to be one Juan Cortés, a slave who accompanied the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1519

23.Q. This famous African-influenced martial art was made an official national sport? In what country?
A. Capoeira. Brazil.

24. Q. It was during this historical occurence that black Indians faced leaving home with their native brethren into forced exile or staying behind to live in slavery.
A. The Trail of Tears

25. Q. The Black Jews of South Africa are called?
A. The Lemba people

26. Q. The covert form of message carrying and communication amongst Africans in America, later influenced this type of music?
A. Gospel

27. Q. Name any 5 significant Black inventions.
A. Clock, Fountain Pen, Stop Light, Almanac, Peanut products, Ice cream maker, refrigerator, folding table, fold-up bed, fire extinguisher, railroad signals, etc.

28. Q. A Black trader and settler founded what popular city?
A. Chicago

29. Q. Martial Arts was first conceived with what style?
A. Nuba Wrestling

30. Q. The birthplace and the mecca of The Blues, are?
A. Born in the Mississippi Delta. Chicago, its Mecca