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Encyclopedia Africana

Inspired by the dream of the late African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and assisted by an eminent advisory board led by Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Harvard professors Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., have created the first scholarly encyclopedia that takes as its scope the entire history of Africa and the African Diaspora. A landmark in reference publishing, Africana is an incomparable one-volume encyclopedia of the black world-a vital resource for families, students, and educators everywhere. For more info click here

African Heritage City

Last night I came across this website called African heritage city, which is a theme park in Nigeria's capital Abuja. I would love to visit once its completed.

Heritage City otherwise known as the African Kingdoms and Empires Theme Parks and Resorts is designed to showcase Africa’s rich history, enhanced with modern technology to produce a total experience in learning, entertainment and relaxation for tourists and visitors.

Heritage City Theme Park Project represents the best initiative to date to present all of Africa’s diverse culture and history to tourists and visitors in one spot. That spot is a 17,000 acre site on the outskirts of Nigeria’s Federal Capital City-Abuja which has been earmarked by Nigerian authorities for the project and for other tourism related developments such as a wildlife park and safari, hotels, vacation homes, retail and movie theaters.

The park will feature the normal rides plus re-creations of ancient African Kingdoms and Empires such as Oyo, Egypt, Songhai, Nubia, Ashanti, Kanem Borno and the Kings and Queens who presided over them such as Queen Nefertiti, King Jaja of Opobo, Queen Amina, the great Zulu warrior –Shaka Zulu among others.

The project will also bring to life themes from African movies, festivals legends and folklore. A preview of the masterplan reveals for example, the Yemaya Water Park named after the ancient Yoruba legendary figure and the Iri-Ji Amphitheater whose design incorporates themes based on the New Yam Festival celebrated by the Igbos of eastern Nigeria.

There will be monuments honoring the heroes of the African Independence struggle and a showcase featuring scientific discoveries of the origins of human life in Africa. Source

In Egypt, a 3,000-year-old find

Egypt's antiquities council says that archaeologists have unearthed a 3,000-year-old red granite head believed to portray the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities says the discovery was made recently at Tell Basta, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Cairo.

The council's statement Thursday says the 30-inch-high head belonged to a colossal statue of Ramses II that once stood in the area. Its nose is broken and the beard that was once attached to the king's chin is missing.

The site at Tell Basta was dedicated to the cat-goddess Bastet and was an important center from the Old Kingdom until the end of the Roman Period. Archaeologists are still digging at the location for the rest of the statue. source

Thousands cheer Ethiopian obelisk restoration

Shout out to my lil brother and Ethiopian family, I will be teaching him this historic moment even though he's going to look at me like "what the heck are you talking about" he'll understand when he's older (he's only 1 1/2 now).


Thousands of Ethiopians on Thursday cheered the long-awaited restoration of the 1,700-year-old Axum obelisk to its original site in the country's north.
With great pomp, the obelisk was unveiled in the northern city of Axum. The obelisk, an 80-foot high piece of carved granite, was transported from Italy in three separate pieces.
The project took three years of work by Italian engineers and cost an estimated $10 million.
Italy took the funeral stone, or stele, in 1937 on the orders of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Italy, which occupied Ethiopia from 1936-1941, returned the obelisk in 2005, after demands by Ethiopia's government.
The obelisk is considered a symbol of African civilization and is a remnant of the ancient kingdom of Axum, which ruled the region from about 400 B.C. into the 10th century. source

Ancient War Crown and Tutsi Headdress Connection

In the 1st image above, the face of Rameses II has been completely obliterated

while in the 2nd image above a line was intentionally chiselled through the face of Rameses II in an effort to alter the shape of his nose.

Now compare the war helmet of Rameses II to the head of a native Black Afrikan Tutsi.

source

The Lost And Hidden History Of The African Sibyl Prophetess Pt.1 & 2

Click here to watch Pt 1

Click here to watch Pt 2

Comprehensive slide-show trailer of the ground breaking book on the ancient history of the African Sibyl prophetesses.

Before. After. Way After !

I found this picture on myspace and I think its a great example to show how Europeans have altered history .

Picture 1. Isis nursing Horus, Kemet (also known as Egypt)

Picture 2. Black Madonna and child

Picture 3. The Virgin Mary

500 Nations an Eight Part Documentary

Episode 1:Wounded Knee Legacy and The Ancestors

Explore three early North American cultures in THE ANCESTORS, the first in the series 500 NATIONS. Tour the 800-room Pueblo Bonito in the arid southwest, view the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde, and visit Cahokia, the largest city in the U.S. before 1800.

Episode 2: Mexico

Follow the dramatic and tragic history of the Mexican Indian nations from pre-Columbian times, through the period of European contact and colonization. Witness the rise and fall of the Toltecs and the growth of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city of an empire.

Episode 3: Clash of Cultures

Explore the conflict between indigenous peoples and Spanish expeditions in the Caribbean and the southeastern U.S. As native nations defy a plundering advance by outsiders, they are subject to two unconquerable weapons: muskets...and disease.

Episode 4: Invasion of the Coast

As more foreigners arrive in North America, tensions rise as native peoples lives are impacted. At Jamestown, the story of the Powhatan princess, Pocahontas, unfolds. Thanksgiving at Plymouth leads to the bloodiest of colonial Indian wars in 1675.

Episode 5: Cauldron of War

Europe fights to control American resources, turning Indian homelands into a "Cauldron of War." Many indigenous nations side with the French but when the defeated country leaves its Indian allies vulnerable determined leader, Pontiac, rises to prominence.

Episode 6: Removal

Follow the Trail of Tears as Native Americans are displaced even as they adopt American ways. Shawnee leader Tecumseh sparks a return to traditional ways but The Indian Removal Act becomes law in 1830. Many stoically accept; others resist.

Episode 7: Roads Across the Plains

Native tribes of the Great Plains watched their lifestyles end as American settlers extinguished huge buffalo herds. Though native leaders pursue a path of peace it is met with tragedy at Sand Creek. The massacre suffers severe repercussions.

Episode 8: Attack on Culture

The final episode of this mini series explores the legislative attack on native ways, including the disbanding of communal land. Today, the renewal of native cultures reminds us of the glory of America's original people and the hardships they endured.

Source: My sis ▲Ayira El Bey▲
More info click here

Barbados PM calls for focus on positive legacies of slavery

Barbadians should not dwell on the negative legacies with which they are faced as a result of the unique nature of Caribbean slavery. Instead, they should bury their differences and reflect on the important lessons learned during one of the most shameful episodes in human history.

This call was made by Prime Minister David Thompson as he addressed the Emancipation Day Rally last Friday. Thompson listed the negative legacies as: mental slavery manifested in low self-esteem; distrust manifested in political divisions; and the tendency to blame everything on slavery. However, he stressed that there were positive legacies such as the love of freedom, which should be focused on.

“It is natural that a society that was built on the foundations of slavery would have as one of its most important values, the quest for freedom. Barbadians and other Caribbean people in general, are internationally renowned for their willingness to fight for their freedom wherever and whenever it is threatened,” he said. source

Josephine Baker to be honored on U.S. stamp

Josephine Baker, the gorgeous Black singer/dancer whose beauty mesmerized France and the rest of Europe during the 1920s and ’30s, is the latest African American to be memorialized on a U.S. postage stamp. Baker’s movie, “Princess Tam-Tam,” is among the five images on the stamps to honor vintage Black cinema. New Jersey, the home of a Black film festival, will hold ceremonies marking to commemorate the sale of the stamps. “I guess that if she was with us today she would be very honored. At her death she was a French citizen, but she never forgot she was born in America,” her son, Jean-Claude Baker, told The Associated Press in an interview. “She would be delighted and very moved.” In addition to her acclaimed singing and dancing, Josephine Baker earned military honors as an undercover agent for the French resistance in World War II. During the 1950s and ’60s, she was active in the Civil Rights Movement, even making an appearance with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington. source

South Africa releases Mandela 90th birthday coin

The South African Reserve Bank says 5 million coins featuring a smiling Nelson Mandela will go into circulation on July 18, the former president's 90th birthday. The new five rand coin is South Africa's largest coin, worth about 65 U.S. cents. It shows Mandela in one of his signature patterned shirts and is the latest in a series of events honoring the anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. source

Mattel Creates Limited-Edition AKA Centennial Barbie

The women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority really know how to get dolled up -- and focus on business.
They'll show that this week when they hit Washington, D.C., about 35,000 strong, for their biennial convention and get a look at one of their newest members: Barbie.

Mattel Inc. created the limited-edition AKA Centennial Barbie, the first Barbie based on any sorority.
The doll, outfitted in a pink and green evening gown, matching jeweled shoes and gold jewelry, honors the Chicago-headquartered sorority, the first established by black women . source

Prince Hall Masonry founded in 1775

It was a significant event in Freemasonry on March 6, 1775, when Prince Hall and fourteen other men were initiated into Freemasonry through Warrant No. 459, which is still in our possession. John Batt, who was of the 38th Foot Regiment of the British Army, having enlisted in 1759 and learning of the American cause, re-enlisted in its army. The enlistees were Prince Hall, Cyrus Johnston, Bueston Slinger, Prince Rees, John Canton, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Duff Ruform, Thomas Santerson, Prince Rayden, Cato Speain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Horward, and Richard Titley. The writer has this record. A permit was issued for these freemasons to meet as African Lodge No. 1, and they became the first Black freemasons in the United States. Prince Hall enlisted and served as a soldier in the 2nd and 6th Regiments of Massachusetts. In this connection, George W. Williams, historian, wrote in 1884, "that he saw hard service we know by the record of the two regiments he served in, always distinguished for steadiness and valor. Prince Hall was not only a good soldier, he was a statesman."

Lewis Howard Latimer

A public school named in honor of Lewis H. Latimer opened in Brooklyn, NY, on this date in 1968.

Lewis Howard Latimer (September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928) was an African American inventor and draftsman. Though Thomas Alva Edison is credited with the invention of the light bulb, Latimer made significant contributions to its further development. More info click here

Malcolm Shabazz: Grandson of Malcolm X

source: giantmag
Malcolm Shabazz was born October 8, 1984, the first and only child of Qubilah Shabazz. Malcolm was named after his grandfather, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, or, as the world knew him best, Malcolm X. Malcolm X had six daughters, which makes young Malcolm the slain civil rights leader's first male heir. At 23 years old, he is infamous -- not for his name and lineage but for one horrific moment in 1997 when a fire he set claimed the life of Betty Shabazz, his beloved grandmother and Malcom X's widow. He has been in and out of juvenile detention facilities and prison, and since the age of 12, he hasn't been free for longer than a year. Read full article here

Happy Cinco De Mayo! !

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "5th of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla. It is not an obligatory federal holiday.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The holiday commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day; Mexico's Independence Day is actually September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish), which is the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. source

France Pays Tribute to Late Poet Aime Cesaire

France paid tribute on Sunday to the poet and statesman Aime Cesaire, a fierce critic of colonialism and a father of the "negritude" movement that celebrated black pride and consciousness.

Cesaire, who died on Thursday at the age of 94 was commemorated at a state funeral in his native Martinique attended by President Nicolas Sarkozy, government ministers and senior figures from the opposition Socialist Party. Continue reading

On This Day in Our History

Benjamin Banneker, inventor, surveyor, mathematician, and astronomer, began to help lay out Washington, DC, under the supervision of Major Andrew Endicott IV on this date in 1791.

Father Patrick Francis Healy, the first Black awarded a Ph.D. degree, was born in Georgia on this date in 1834.

James Hubert"Eubie" Blake, pianist and composer, was born in Baltimore, MD, on this date in 1883.

Autherine Juanita Lucy, the first Black student at the University of Alabama, was suspended after a riot at the school on this date in 1956.

Cheikh Anta Diop, Egyptologist and author of Civilization of Barbarism and the general history of Africa, dies on this date in 1986. Diop proved Egyptians were Black and their culture pre-dated and directly influenced the Greek and Roman culture.