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 I of Mali – The richest person in history
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: First British-born black army officer
Walter Tull was one of Britain’s first black footballers and a First World War hero. Walter Tull was born in Folkestone on 28th April 1888. His father Daniel Tull, the son of a slave had arrived in Britain from Barbados in 1976 and found work as a carpenter. Daniel Tull married Alice Elizabeth Palmer. Over …
Timing of Beyoncé’s Formation is marketing genius
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 …
6 facts about Jamaica’s debt
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. Conditions imposed with loans mean that foreign institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) …
This John Hanson was not the first Black President of the United States
Social media is a great place to share information be it fact or fiction. One of the most fictional stories is that of John Hanson who was allegedly the first Black President of the United States. The miseducation of black people continues and a lot of the times the lies stem from our own community. …
The untold history of Jamaica
How we were made slaves and why we are still not free 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 …
African Americans experience higher arrest related deaths
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 …
Jimmy Kimmel explains Minaj and Swift beef with emojis
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 …