blackbritishreader:

For #WorldBookDay I’m sharing a list of books that are my favourite reads; published books that have given me some of my greatest insight into Black British history, identity, culture and the experiences of Black communities in Britain:

1. Peter Fryer, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain
2. Ron Ramdin, The Making of The Black Working Class in Britain
3. Norma Myers, Reconstructing the Black Past: Blacks in Britain 1780-1830
4. Gerzina Gretchen, Black London: Life before Emancipation
5. Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie & Suzanne Scafe, The Heart of The Race: Black Women’s Lives in Britain
6. Delia Jarrett-Macauley, Reconstructing Womanhood, Reconstructing Feminism: Writings on Black Women
7. Julia Sudbury, Other Kinds of Dreams: Black Women’s Organisations and the Politics of Transformation
8. Kwesi Owusu, Black British Culture & Society (A Text Reader)
9. Kobena Mercer, Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies
10. Paul Gilroy, Black Britain: A Photographic History
11. Mark Olden, Murder in Notting Hill
12. Jayne O. Ifekwunigwe, Scattered Belongings: Cultural Paradoxes of Race, Nation and Gender
13. Ruth Chigwada-Bailey, Black Women’s Experiences of Criminal Justice: Race, Gender and Class
14. Marc Matera, Black London: The Imperial Metropolis and Decolonization in the Twentieth Century
15. Kennetta Hammond Perry, London is the Place for Me: Black Britons, Citizenship and the Politics of Race
16. David Olusoga, Black and British: A Forgotten History

(via medievalpoc)

diasporicroots:

Cheikh Anta Diop (29 December 1923 - 7 February 1986)

Senegalese anthropologist and radiocarbon physicist Cheikh Anta Diop is hailed as one of the greatest African historians. Diop was studying physics for a doctorate in Paris in 1951 when he caused quite a stir at the university because of his Ph.D. thesis on the black African origins of ancient Egypt was rejected as unsuitable by his assessors. Not being easily discouraged, Diop boldly labored for nine more years to make the evidence in his thesis so airtight that, when he resubmitted the thesis again, this time it was grudgingly accepted.

Hardened by those struggles and the bias he encountered against the African origin idea, Diop went further and published his thesis under the title Nations Ne'gres et culture , and very soon he became a national defender of the African origins theory. In his native country of Senegal, Diop founded the radiocarbon  laboratory at the university of Dakar, became it’s first director, and used this cutting edge technology to continue his research on the ethnic origins of the Egyptian civilization. Diops argument was simple and straightforward: it was possible to know the skin color of an ancient corpse by microscopic analysis of the melanin content in the body. His critics countered by saying it was not fullproof and that possible contamination of the embalming unguents and the deterioration of the corpse over the centuries made the result dubious, but these objections were in turn addressed by Diop.

His crowning moment was In 1974 Diop and college Obenga carefully presented their findings to a large number of professional Egyptologist and anthropologists at the people of ancient Egypt symposium in Cairo organized  by UNESCO World Heritage. They were ignored, the attending Egyptologists had not even bothered to prepare for a proper balanced debate. There biased conviction was so entrenched that they merely listened politely and then ignored the issue at hand. The UNESCO organizers, however were clearly impressed by Diop and commissioned him to write the entry on the origins of the pharaohs in their general history of Africa published in 1981.  

Lesson to be learned

Never give up,  Cheikh never gave up, his unflinching resolve and determination led to a rethink of ancient history. He was one of the first Africans to properly challenge traditional history.

references:

Bauval, R. Brophy, T. (2011) Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt. Bear & Company

(via diasporicroots)

diasporicroots:

The Dahomey Amazons

The Dahomey Amazons were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey. They were so named by Western observers and historians due to their similarity to the legendary Amazons described by the Ancient Greeks.

King Houegbadja (who ruled from 1645 to 1685), the third King of Dahomey, is said to have originally started the group which would become the Amazons as a corps of elephant hunters called the gbeto. During the 18th century, the king had some of his wives trained as royal bodyguards.

Houegbadja’s son King Agadja (ruling from 1708 to 1732) developed the female bodyguard into a militia and successfully used them in Dahomey’s defeat of the neighbouring kingdom of Savi in 1727. European merchants recorded their presence, as well as similar female warriors amongst the Ashanti. For the next hundred years or so, they gained reputation as fearless warriors. Though they fought rarely, they usually acquitted themselves well in battle.

The group of female warriors was referred to as Mino, meaning “Our Mothers” in the Fon language by the male army of Dahomey.
From the time of King Ghezo (ruling from 1818 to 1858), Dahomey became increasingly militaristic. Ghezo placed great importance on the army and increased its budget and formalized its structures. The Mino were rigorously trained, given uniforms, and equipped with Danish guns (obtained via the slave trade). By this time the Mino consisted of between 4000 and 6000 women, about a third of the entire Dahomey army.

The Mino were recruited from among the ahosi (“king’s wives”) of which there were often hundreds. Some women in Fon society became ahosi voluntarily, while others were involuntarily enrolled if their husbands or fathers complained to the King about their behaviour. Membership among the Mino was supposed to hone any aggressive character traits for the purpose of war. During their membership they were not allowed to have children or be part of married life. Many of them were virgins. The regiment had a semi-sacred status, which was intertwined with the Fon belief in Vodun.

The Mino trained with intense physical exercise. Discipline was emphasised. In the latter period, they were armed with Winchester rifles, clubs and knives. Units were under female command. Captives who fell into the hands of the Amazons were often decapitated.

Conflict with France
European encroachment into west Africa gained pace during the latter half of the 19th century, and in 1890 King Behanzin started fighting French forces in the course of the First Franco-Dahomean War. According to Holmes, many of the French soldiers fighting in Dahomey hesitated before shooting or bayoneting the Mino. The resulting delay led to many of the French casualties. Ultimately, bolstered by the Foreign Legion, and armed with superior weaponry, including machine guns, the French inflicted casualties that were ten times worse on the Dahomey side. After several battles, the French prevailed. The Legionnaires later wrote about the “incredible courage and audacity” of the Amazons. The last surviving Amazon of Dahomey died in 1979.

(via diasporicroots)

Original Source: The Gender Question in Education: Theory, Pedagogy and Politics by A. Diller, B. Houston, K.P.Morgan, and M. Ayim. 1996. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

A White County, Tennessee judge has determined vasectomies are the real get out of jail card…

White County, Tennessee judge Sam Benningfield (https://www.tncourts.gov/courts/general-sessions-courts/judges/sam-benningfield) has signed a standing order to allow local jail inmates to eliminate thirty days from their sentences if they are willing to submit to a vasectomy, or for women a LARC (Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive). 

The ACLU has already issued a statement condemning the practice as unconstitutional. In the reproductive justice movement, women are often at the forefront, and this tragic overreach of judicial authority serves as another example of the necessity for men to step up and support the women in the community who advocate for bodily autonomy for all populations. 

These laws, or in this case- standing order- (which we could not locate online) often serve as models for future legislation that spreads like wildfire throughout red states. After witnessing the normalization of LARCs as coercive reproductive controls, it is logical to conclude that vasectomies will return as an incentive for male prisoners en masse. The practice of sterilization as a component of the criminal justice system harkens back to post-colonial practices in the developing world, and points to a future where these same practices become a tool of renewed population control in the United States. 

Health Policy dictates that a community acts to improve outcomes for those suffering at the worst levels. This law does not support a community, but impedes individual’s rights to reproductive autonomy, and ties it to criminal behavior. It offers no opportunity for rehabilitation of the individual, and prevents any opportunity for a family in the future. 

We’ll keep our eyes on White County, Judge Bennington, and continue to reiterate the necessity of male RJ activists. 

troublesmysight:

startedwithb:

blackness-by-your-side:

Veterans Ask Native Elders For Forgiveness At Standing Rock.

I never thought I would see this day when a white man apologizes for the tyranny and oppression of Native American population. This is so powerful. This is the nation that I want - responsible, compassionate and that learns from its mistakes.

God bless them!

My Nana & her ancestors are weeping from above with joy. This means so much to see this

I’m crying. 

(via aboriginalnewswire)

Love Persepolis…i use it to teach about the Individual in Society in Sociology.

(via teachingliteracy)

superselected:

“There’s a very clear, and kind of oppressive paradynamic happening with black art and black creativity, generally.  You can see it online when black people create a word or a phrase or if there’s any black person filmed for something funny that they’ve done.  It goes viral.  It gets consumed.  It gets put on talk shows.  But people don’t recognize where that creativity and that genius comes from.  And they don’t recognize it as genius.”

Watch This.   Artist Nadijah Robinson on The Consumption of Black Culture and Healing Through Art.

Kyra Gaunt wrote about this with twerking videos…shaming instead of recognizing creativity, profiting instead of recognizing transmission of culture..

(via poc-creators)

Hey Folks, I’m at the absolute dead end of time for my research on the experiences of African Immigrants in the US.

I’ve been trying to document the process of creating identity/adapting to life in the US as an African immigrant, and have been looking for folks who are between 25-50 and living in the US for 10 or more years. 

I’ve been working on this for years, and basically will not be able to complete my PhD without completing this work.

 IF you all have friends, associates classmates or ARE African immigrants (1st or 2nd generation  ***Country of origin does not matter***), Please complete my survey at www.giovannidortch.com/african-immigrant-survey.html and reblog this post/share with friends and family.

Thanks a million. 
Giovanni 

aboriginalnewswire:

Throughout the late 19th century racial tension grew throughout the United States. More of this tension was noticeable in the Southern parts of the United States. In the south, people were blaming their financial problems on the newly freed slaves that lived around them. Lynchings were becoming a popular way of resolving some of the anger that whites had in relation to the free blacks.

From 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States. Of these people that were lynched 3,446 were black. The blacks lynched accounted for 72.7% of the people lynched. These numbers seem large, but it is known that not all of the lynchings were ever recorded. Out of the 4,743 people lynched only 1,297 white people were lynched. That is only 27.3%. Many of the whites lynched were lynched for helping the black or being anti lynching and even for domestic crimes.

Was lynching necessary? To many people it was not, but to the whites in the late 19th century it served a purpose. Whites started lynching because they felt it was necessary to protect white women. Rape though was not a great factor in reasoning behind the lynching. It was the third greatest cause of lynchings behind homicides and ‘all other causes’.

Most of the lynchings that took place happened in the South. A big reason for this was the end of the Civil War. Once black were given their freedom, many people felt that the freed blacks were getting away with too much freedom and felt they needed to be controlled. Mississippi had the highest lynchings from 1882-1968 with 581. Georgia was second with 531, and Texas was third with 493. 79% of lynching happened in the South.

Of the lynching that did not take place in the South, mainly in the West, were normally lynchings of whites, not blacks. Most of the lynching in the West came from the lynching of either murders or cattle thief’s. There really was no political link to the lynching of blacks in the South, and whites in the West.

Not all states did lynch people. Some states did not lynch a white or a black person. Alaska, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were these few states that had no lynchings between 1882-1968.

Although some states did have lynchings, some of them did not lynch any blacks. Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin were some states that did not lynch any blacks to record.

Quite a few states did in fact lynch more white people than black. In the West these greater number of white lynchings was due to political reasons not racial reasons. California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming lynched more whites than blacks.

It’s sad to think that we look at other countries and deem them immoral for killing their own people, but we over look the fact of what happened in the late 1890’s to the late 1960’s. This is something that we cannot over look and do not need to try to over look it.

minoritiesinpublishing:

“The books that I recommend in [the First Nations list] are ones that can counter that bias in several ways. One, they’re not stereotypical [depictions of Native people]. Two, most of them are set in the present day, which is important in countering what we see in a lot of children’s and young adult literature, which says that we vanished, we didn’t make it to the present day, and of course we did. So I selected books by Native writers because when teachers are using books by Native writers, or libraries or parents are, they can use present tense verbs in talking about them. So they would say for example, ‘Cynthia Leitich Smith IS a Muscogee Creek writer; she’s a citizen of the Muskogee Creek Nation.’ In doing that, just using that little bit of information, they bring us Native peoples out of that remote past into the present.” –Debbie Reese

writingwithcolor:

chiminey-cricket asked:

Do any of you have any tips for doing independent research for PoC characters?

This question is super broad, but I’m going to see if I can give it a crack!

First of all, consume media by the group in question. If you want to write a story with a Chinese-American protagonist, read some blogs by Chinese-Americans, read books by Chinese-Americans – both fiction and nonfiction – lurk on places like thisisnotchina so you can get a feel for what pisses Chinese and Chinese diaspora people off about their portrayal in the media, google for stereotypes about Chinese people and try to make sure you’re not doing those (even positive ones), go more general (East-Asian all-of-the-above in general since in many cases the harmful tropes overlap), go more specific (if your protagonist is female, look specifically for blog posts featuring the opiniosn of Chinese-American and other Asian/Asian diapora women; same if your protagonist is attracted to the same sex, is transgender, or deals with any other form of oppression besides anti-Chinese racism.) All of the above applies to Latinxs, Native Americans/Canadian First Nations, African/African diaspora people, Jews, Muslims, etc. Find out what we’re saying about ourselves.

Lots of things are available just from Google. “I have a Black character and I want to know what kind of hairstyles are available for her!” We have a Black hair tag, but apart from that, googling “Black hairstyles” will probably bring up some articles that can at least give you a good starting point to learn some vocabulary to add to your next Google search, like “natural” and “twists” and “dreadlocks.”

Next, you can talk to people in the group, but before you do this, be sure to have some specific questions in mind. “How do I write a Jewish character?” is not a specific question. “Do I have to make my Jewish character follow kosher laws if I’ve made her religious in other ways, or can she go to shul but not keep kosher?” or “What’s a term of endearment a parent might use for a child in Yiddish?” is much more specific. Remember, if you’re talking to someone they’re answering you back with their free time, so expecting them to do most of the work of figuring out what’s most important for you to know is a little entitled.

Besides, a more specific question will give you a more helpful answer. If someone asks me “how do I write a Jewish character” one of the first things out of my mouth will be a list of personality stereotypes to avoid, which isn’t going to be very helpful if what you really need for your fic was whether or not you have to write your character as following strict kosher laws.

If you’re sending a question in to a writing blog or one of those race blogs like thisisnot[whoever], please read through their tags and FAQ to see if they’ve already answered it. Longtime followers of a blog would get very bored if all the blog’s content was nothing but “We answered that here last week at this helpful link!” Those who participate in answering these blogs are usually unpaid volunteers who provide a resource that’s already there to help people; help repay them for what they do by looking through the material on your own first.

How to tell if a source from outside the group is biased and bigoted: obviously, you’re not going to want to listen to Stormfront about Jews, or the KKK about, well, anything. If you’re not on a source created by the group in question, look for dry and academic language as opposed to emotional, informal, or inflammatory words – although dispassionate and technical language is no guarantee it won’t be racist, colonialist, or inaccurate. If you read enough books and blogs from the inside, though, you’ll probably see some of the myths from those other sources debunked before you even encounter them.

Lastly, don’t assume that all people who are Asian, African-American Christians, religious Jews, or Muslims are from cultures more oppressive, more conservative, more patriarchal, more homophobic, more sexist, or more controlling than the one in which you were raised. If your plot calls for homophobic parents or a repressive culture, that shouldn’t be the reason you make your character one of the groups listed. There is plenty of oppressive, anti-woman, and anti-queer thought in white American Christian/Christian-cultured society and personally, I believe such criticisms of the marginalized diaspora peoples I listed above belong in the voices of the cultures themselves.

–mod Shira

I’d not leave looking for dry and clinical information as the ONLY means to distinguish that a work is biased.

While yes it is pragmatic to say “look for academically toned wording,” … in addition to that, these folks really need to look into who the author is. Definitely look into the author. And the year the thing was published (because man if it’s from like the 60s or earlier, 9 times out of 10, throw that shit out).

Because people can disguise hatred and racism in careful diction so that it looks reasonable and polite. A shining example is physiognomy studies from Nazis and anti-Semite eugenecists. And the sad thing is, you really can’t trust people to read it and make the judgement call that this hate-in-disguise they’re reading is hate.  

Somehow, when someone says, “The people of the Levant express features such as […] which, at the risk of sounding untoward, suggest a very rodent-like persuasion,” people are like, “Oh, well, that was worded fancily and there was no angry or profane language, I suppose they’re right,” not stopping to think even for a moment that they just accepted that this book just said to them that Jews look like rats. I saw it happen in my Nazi Germany class when we were given reading material. It was fucking nuts.

So definitely, definitely look every outsider author in the mouth and cross-check any and everything that person says. 

–mod Elaney

Shira again: Elaney is right that you will want to be critical of outside sources, especially older ones. Also, be suspicious of blanket statements about a group such as “X group are” instead of discussing forces in X culture. For example. Because there’s going to be diversity within any group and it’s likely what’s being said isn’t inherently biologically linked to being in X group.

–mod Shira

Accurate, yet so much more that can be said.

(via medievalpoc)

5:30-8:30 pm June 8, 2016
Leadership Memphis
365 South Main, Memphis, TN

Join SisterReach, community members and local activists as we explore how the laws across the nation and in Tennessee impact our women and girls. In this Panel Discussion, we examine options for activism, what justice for poor and low income women looks like, as well as how women of color can assert their political power.

#WomenDeserveBetter #RJ #ReproductiveJustice #Memphis #Law #Policy #Justice #GirlPower #SisterReach #DNC #🐴 #RNC #🐘 #ImWithHer #FeelTheBern #DumpTrump #Washington #VoterEducation #civics #government #FightFor15 #Memphis #Tennessee #SoMemphis #Choose901 #🏛 #⚖

5:30-8:30 pm June 8, 2016
Leadership Memphis
365 South Main, Memphis, TN

Join SisterReach, community members and local activists as we explore how the laws across the nation and in Tennessee impact our women and girls. In this Panel Discussion, we examine options for activism, what justice for poor and low income women looks like, as well as how women of color can assert their political power.

#WomenDeserveBetter #RJ #ReproductiveJustice #Memphis #Law #Policy #Justice #GirlPower #SisterReach #DNC #🐴 #RNC #🐘 #ImWithHer #FeelTheBern #DumpTrump #Washington #VoterEducation #civics #government #FightFor15 #Memphis #Tennessee #SoMemphis #Choose901 #🏛 #⚖