Author: jhnashtongmailcom

Source: Why I Hope More Black Americans Discover the Afro-Brazilian Art of Capoeira | KQED

Just one week into 2022, another titan of cinema has fallen. On Thursday, January 6th, Sidney Poitier—the first Black man to ever win the Oscar for best actor—died at 94. The timing of Poitier’s loss poetically and painfully echoes that of another Black icon of cinema, Cicely Tyson, who died in January of last year. Like Tyson, Poitier projected superhuman levels of grace both on and off camera. They both became civil rights activists, not necessarily by choice but because their era demanded it, and used their influence as movie stars to advocate for tangible change for Black people across the nation. Both Tyson and Poitier, who acted together in 1959’s Odds Against Tomorrow, were synonymous with Black excellence—a testament not only to all that we could achieve, but all that we could do for others in the process.

 

Source: Pocket – To Sidney, With Love

Source: Kamba Cua: The Little Known Kenyan Tribe Living In South America For 200 Years – Travel Noire

 

 

A commotion broke out Friday evening after the eldest son of South Africa’s late Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini was chosen as successor to the throne, AP reports.

The will of Zulu Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, who died last month after the death of her husband King Goodwill, named her son Prince Misizulu as the next king but others raised objections.

Source: South Africa: Uproar as new Zulu king is named – Face2Face Africa

Queen Shanakdakhete took the Throne of Kush Empire in ancient Nubia from 170 to 150 BC. The Queen ruled with absolute power in the Meroë Empire as well. As a result, the Queen became known as the Lord of the Two Lands. The Queen also exercised power without the support of a king, which was unusual for the time.

 

Source: The untold story of the great Nubian Queen Shanakdakhete who ruled without a king | The African History

Beth is a social experiment, a hypothesis that life in America is easier with a name that no one ever gets wrong. And it’s true. I am seen as less Asian and more American with the name Beth. Experiencing that difference, glimpsing a bit of that yellow peril, has been insightful and painful. As Bich, I am a foreigner who makes people uncomfortable. As Beth, I am never complimented on my English.

 

Source: America Ruined My Name for Me | The New Yorker

A stunning documentary about the Burren, in southwest Ireland, used forensic analysis to reveal surprising details about prehistoric Irish hunter-gatherers.

Source: 10,000-years-ago Irish Hunter-Gatherers Were Dark-Skinned | Ancient Origins

In a photo story newly published by Al Jazeera, we learn about Aisha Bakari Gombi, a “Queen Hunter” among a group of hunters defending their community against the group. She was given the title “Queen Hunter” for her bravery on the battlefield. Gombi knows the Sambisa Forest, where Boko Haram has set up camps, like the back of her hand. It is where she went hunting antelopes and water buffalo with her father as a child. Aisha also learned about medicinal plants from her father, a valuable skill that has earned her the respect of her fellow hunters.

Source: The fascinating story of Aisha Bakari Gombi, the woman hunting down Boko Haram in Nigeria – Face2Face Africa

As Great Britain, France, Spain and other European nations competed for control of the New World and its wealth they all in varying ways came to rely on African labor to develop their overseas colonial possessions. Exploiting its proximity to plantations in the British colonies in North America and the West Indies, King Charles II of Spain issued the Edict of 1693 which stated that any male slave on an English plantation who escaped to Spanish Florida would be granted freedom provided he joined the Militia and became a Catholic. This edict became one of the New World’s earliest emancipation proclamations.

 

Source: Black Then | Fort Mose (Florida): An Escaped Slave’s Promise Land

Ojok Okello is transforming his destroyed village into a green town where social enterprises responsibly harness the shea tree

Source: ‘It’s radical’: the Ugandan city built on solar, shea butter and people power | Global development | The Guardian