Black History Month: The Diaspora Edition (the return)

Doing my part to celebrate Black History Month.  Here is an excerpt from Raise Your Brown Black Fist 2 from the essay/article of the same title.

"We are taught so little about our own history; not only is it never expressed within the greater society that we live in, but it is also not taught internally from within the Black community.  What little of it that is actually taught is never portrayed accurately, and is usually some watered down, stripped down version made to make our oppression seem not so bad.  Our people have been able to overcome great obstacles, no matter where we were taken, and our achievements need to be highlighted.  The UNIA had their Liberty schools, the BPP-SD had their Freedom schools; we need to be able to take it to the next level in order for this current generation to learn about their history, and know about their heroes and sheroes.  Our people (and our children specifically) need to know about leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Steven Biko, Maurice Bishop, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, CLR James, Amilcar Cabral, Yaa Asantewaa, Queen nzingha, Patrice Lumumba, Julius Nyerere, and James Thuku.  They need to know about our people who resisted their enslavement, and were able to run to freedom, and form their own independent societies.  We need to learn more about our ancestors who formed the free Maroon societies, the Quilombos, and the Palenques throughout the Diaspora.

More needs to be known about our ancestry elsewhere.  We should learn more about Yanga and Esteban Montejo from Mexico, and how they were able to rise above their enslavement.  We should teach our children about Zumbi from Brazil, a renowned Maroon leader who formed one of the first Quilombos out there.Also from Brazil, we should make ourselves familiar with the works of such writers as Abdias do Nascimento and Leila Gonzales.  Knowing about our history and our great writers and thinkers is essential to our progress.  It is not only important to about where we came from, but also about what we were able to achieve pre-enslavement/colonization, and what we were able to accomplish during those oppressive times.  We need to be knowledgeable of those brothers and sisters who took the mantles of leadership, and lead us throughout our greatest achievements, and our darkest hours."

The following excerpt is from my second book "Raise Your Brown Black Fist 2: MORE Political Shouts of an Angry Afro Latino".  To read the complete article/essay, purchase a copy of my book from your local bookstore, or via online through my publisher Outskirts Press, Amazon.com, Books-A-Million.com, or Barnes & Nobles' website.