Each One Teach One
Black History
History has been one of my favourite subjects since Primary school so it’s not surprising that my family history is important to me. Black History Month is a good opportunity to think about our ancestry. Like many Jamaican’s my ancestry is a mix-up and blend up! My great-grandfather on my dad’s side was white Irish. …
Mansa Musa was the first African Muslim king to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was also the richest person in all history with a £321 ($400) billion fortune. Much richer than Bill Gates, the Rockefeller’s and the Rothschild family. Musa Keita I came into power in 1312 following the death of his predecessor, Abu-Bakr …
Walter Tull was one of Britain’s first black footballers and a First World War hero. Walter Tull was born in Folkestone, Kent on 28 April 1888. His father Daniel Tull, the son of a slave had arrived in Britain from Barbados in 1876 and found work as a carpenter. Daniel Tull married Alice Elizabeth Palmer. …
I wasn’t going to comment on the release of Beyoncé’s video Formation on Saturday 6 February because there are already thousands of think pieces out there on the subject whether for or against. Then I realised that as someone who loves history it would be remiss of me not to mark the occasion and say …
For over 40 years the people of Jamaica have suffered under the weight of massive debt. Jamaica is one of the most indebted countries and spends twice as much on debt repayments as it does on education and health combined. In 1972 Prime Minister Michael Manley instituted wide-ranging socialist reforms. The resulting trade deficit brought …
There are many who claim that John Hanson was the first Black president of the United States, not Barack Obama. This tale is continuously shared on social media. Because many people believe that everything posted on Facebook or Twitter is the truth, lies will spread like wildfire and before you know it, it has taken …
This is an interesting lecture that manages to span over 10,000 years of our history in under an hour. It looks at the people who lived on the island of Jamaica prior to Christopher Columbus’ so-called discovery. It speaks about the transatlantic slave trade and how our history has been deliberately obscured to keep us …
Racial disproportionality in the US criminal justice system is a fact that can be proved with statics. This could help to explain why a young black woman like Sandra Bland could end up dead after a routine traffic violation. As Sandra Bland’s death has been ruled as a suicide let’s look at statistics for deaths …
During a week where another black American life was lost under dodgy police circumstances, Nikki Minaj and Taylor Swift got caught up in some Twitter beef (Tweef). The Tweef between the women inspired everyone from Ed Sheeran to Bruno Mars to Kim Kardashian to react, but no response was more shocking than that of Katy …
Zoë Kravitz was denied an audition for a small part in the critically acclaimed Christopher Nolan-directed The Dark Knight Rises. Why? I hear you ask. Because of the colour of her skin apparently. Zoë, the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet is featured on the front cover of for Nylon Magazine’s August …
Ackee and Saltfish is the National Dish of Jamaica but neither ingredient is of Jamaican origin. Ackee Ackee is derived from the original name Ankye that comes from the Twi language of Ghana. Its botanical name, Blighia sapida, was given in honour of Captain William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. Captain Bligh brought …
Jamaica has a population of 2.7 million people and 1.1 million people live below the poverty line. It’s no wonder then that some young children are the breadwinners for their families, often weaving in and out of cars selling goods or washing windscreens. Street Boys of Jamaica shines a spotlight on these boys and the …
The Jamaican cabinet has approved a bill to legalise the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill appears to be a full-on decriminalisation and legalisation: The country is eliminating criminal penalties for possession and setting up a Cannabis Licensing Authority, though unlicensed export of marijuana will continue to be illegal. The bill, which will to …
Originally written as a poem “Bitter Fruit” by Abel Meeropol became a song performed famously by Billie Holiday. Meeropol, a white, Jewish high school teacher from the Bronx and a member of the Communist Party wrote it as a protest against lynchings. His inspiration came from the photograph by Lawrence Beitler of the 1930 lynching …
In this post we fact check the origins of Black Friday and the Willie Lynch speech. Toni Braxton posted a call to boycott Black Friday on her Facebook page with an image of a slave auction and text claiming that Black Friday was linked to slave auctions the day after Thanksgiving. This post did the …
