By examining scientific papers, correspondence between naturalists, and the records of slaving companies, historians are now seeing new connections between science and slavery and piecing together just how deeply intertwined they were. By Sam Kean, Science Magazine — At the dawn of the 1700s, European science seemed poised to conquer all of nature. Isaac Newton had recently published his monumental theory of gravity. Telescopes were opening up the heavens to…
By the Centre for Reparations Research — St. Andrew, Jamaica. The 2019 International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade under the theme “Remembering Slavery: The…
Perhaps the main reason so many people objected to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam calling the first 20 Africans to land in Virginia in 1619 indentured servants, and not slaves, is that they believe the conditions of slavery were so much harsher than those of indentured servitude, that calling these Africans indentured servants amounts to a cover-up of their reality. That is because the popular image that we have been sold…
32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia WE, Heads of State and Government of the African Union, assembled on 11 February 2019 at…
‘I’m a prince’: After years of searching for family history, a pastor discovers royal ties to Africa
By Marissa J. Lang, The Washington Post — It was about 4 a.m. when his phone buzzed with a message from far away. He read it once, twice, three times before he woke his sleeping wife to tell her the news. “I’m a prince,” he whispered as she blinked herself awake. “A prince.” Jay Speights, an interfaith pastor from Rockville, Md., could hardly believe the words as he formed them…
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux — According to some historians, Afrodescendents first entered these united states in 1619 off the coast of Virginia. If we believe that narrative, Afrodescendents have been…
RECORDED 1/21/19 — Dr. Ron Daniels (President, IBW21) talks with callers and guest Rev. Dennis Dillon (Senior Pastor, The Rise Church, Brooklyn NY) about Dr. Martin Luther King, King’s vision, Economic Justice, the African Diaspora and the Year of the Return to Africa on this Martin Luther King Day edition of Vantage Point Radio.
Vantage Point by Dr. Ron Daniels — This year, 2019 marks the 400th year since the Dutch ship White Lion arrived in Jamestown in the British Colony that was to become the Commonwealth of Virginia with “20 and odd Negroes” from Africa. The arrival of these indentured enslaved Africans was the opening chapter in one of the most horrific events in human history, the holocaust of African enslavement, the MAAFA via the European slave trade. Proud African men and women from highly civilized…
By David Love, Atlanta Black Star — Even as those who oppose reparations argue it is unfeasible or too costly, one British university is proving that it is both possible and necessary to make amends for the enslavement and genocide of African people. While the steps made so far may not seem so substantial, this institution could provide a model for others to follow. The University of Glasgow made £200…
Oh, do you hear me? I cannot rest in peace… Through eons and centuries, I have cried out, “Oh, why do you not honor my suffering?” Oh, why do you not raise your voices in unison to decry the pain and struggles of your ancestors; those who came before? In your reticent reaction to my cries and pain…
What a Danish slave trade castle in Accra revealed about Ghana’s history and my family. By Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann, Hampshire College — As a Ghanaian archaeologist, I have been conducting research at Christiansborg Castle in Accra, Ghana. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle is a former seventeenth century trading post, colonial Danish and British seat of government, and Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana. Today,…