#African Diaspora

[bellemorte79]

Thinking about how America interacts with Black America my mind goes back again to the idea of the abject. Simultaneously attracted and repulsed.

[yearningforunity]

A symbol of resistance

Charlemagne Péralte

Charlemagne Péralte was a Haitian resistance leader shot by U.S. forces during the 1915 occupation.

After Péralte's death, U.S. troops displayed his body posed in a way that resembled a crucifixion – tied upright with a Haitian flag draped over him. This photo was intended to intimidate the Haitian population.

However, it backfired. The image resonated with Haitians, making Péralte a martyr and a symbol of resistance. There's even a famous Haitian painting called "The Crucifixion of Charlemagne Péralte for Freedom."

[alwaysbewoke]

they've always said that the reason why slavery revolts didn't work in america is because america had one thing these other slave revolts didn't have working against them: poor white people.

[akonoadham]

[anaelrich]

Rebel Faces: An 18th century painting containing the actual faces of rebels who participated in one of the most well documented revolts by black enslaved people.

      “...The main figures in the revolt were the three brothers Wally, Mingo and       Baratham.”

“... Because of the shortage of women, many of the enslaved men had wives and children living on other nearby plantations and it had become custom for these men to visit their families during their free time.”

“...warden Westphaal was given the order to increase the yield and restore order and discipline. To effectuate this, one of the measures he took was bringing down the amount of free time from two days back to one.”

Read more at https://anaelrich.com/2020/11/10/rebel-faces/

Source images: https://estherschreuder.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/terugblik-op-de-grote-suriname-tentoonstelling-de-slavendans-van-dirk-valkenburg/

[brooklynmuseum]

Miriam Makeba’s portrait greets and grounds you near the entry of Africa Fashion. 

Makeba’s emergence as a singer on the global stage coincided with the emergence of an independent African continent. Her songs blended popular musical styles like Jazz with indigenous South African melodies, often incorporating Swahili, Xhosa, and Sotho lyrics. Well-known globally for her songs Pata Pata and Qongqothwane (the Click Song) Makeba’s music and self-fashioning embodied African liberation and identity. 

For many Africans, her music gave voice to the dawn of a new independent era and the liberation struggles that remained. Affectionately referred to as Mama Africa by her legions of fans, Makeba came to embody a forward-looking Pan-Africanism and Black Power. 

See this portrait of Makeba and hear her singular voice as part of the African Cultural Renaissance that welcomes you in #AfricaFashionBkM.

📷 Jürgen Schadeberg (German, 1931–2020). Miriam Makeba, 1955. © Estate of Jürgen Schadeberg (Photo: Courtesy of the Estate of Jürgen Schadeberg)

[preethecaribbean]

Gwoka, from the French Caribbean Islands of Guadeloupe.

Enslaved Africans in Guadeloupe had used Gwoka to communicate through music, song, and dance. Nowadays, this cultural expression celebrates and continues the legacy and stories of the people of Guadeloupe.

In this video, the barefoot dancer—a Black woman with ankle-length locs and wearing a sleeveless, white top and red flared shorts with a pleated hem that ends a little above her knees—is communicating with the lead drummer to perform the notes based on each step she makes. The specific rhythm, which the other drummers are playing, is called Léwoz. There are seven rhythms in total that express different moods and tell various stories.

(video source)

[forthosebefore]

Are there Black dialects of Spanish?

Some people got a surprising result after taking an MIT dialect quiz. It was meant to guess what U.S. dialect the test taker spoke and the person's native language. As results started coming in, many Spanish speakers saw their English dialect had been marked as “U.S. Black Vernacular/Ebonics”

But what's the connection between speaking Spanish and U.S. Black Vernacular?

In the United States, dialects spoken by African Americans are sometimes referred to as Black English, African American Vernacular English, or even Ebonics. Though the terms have had different levels of popularity, having a specific name at all has given African Americans the ability to reclaim their language practices as a joyous part of their identity. 

But much less common are terms and discussions about Blackness and Black language beyond English. If Black English dialects exist, are there also Black forms of other languages due to colonization? For example, are there Black Spanishes and Black Portugueses, too? Read more here.

Source: Are there Black dialects of Spanish? by Aris M. Clemons

Visit www.attawellsummer.com/forthosebefore to learn more about Black history.

Need a freelance graphic designer or illustrator? Send me an email.

[southernmermaidsgrotto]

Tag yourself!

{made with the Ancestors and Great Spirits of the African Diaspora in mind, here's what I associate with each day of the week and the children of the diaspora born therein:

Monday's child is fair of face

Tuesday's child is full of grace

Wednesday's child is full of woe

Thursday's child has far to go

Friday's child is loving and giving

Saturday's child works hard for a living

And the child born on the Sabbath day

Is bonny and blithe, good and gay.

Monday: masters of finding new roads and moving forwards, tearing down blockages, trailblazers and warriors. Artists of all kinds, writers, poets, singers.

Tuesday: embodiment of thunderstorms, winds, omens, they're powerful conjurers with hot hands, always busy, always moving. Often times scholars, historians.

Wednesday: defenders, protectors, of humanity and nature as a whole. Warrior spirits at their core, but also great diviners and mediums.

Thursday: eloquent muses of the arts of love and war alike, great beauties who lead armies with equal charm and force. Sweetening, love and luck workings come easy to them.

Friday: personification of abundance and status. A commanding presence. Building legacy, great manifestors and conjurers, specially for work and finances.

Saturday: guardians of waters and the beyond. Community leaders, gifted healers, divine messengers. Carrying all the wisdom of the Elders and Ancestors.

Sunday: priests and priestesses that defy status quo, very old Ancestors coming back to reshape and rebirth reality. They will enter your life and purge every aspect of it.}

[uzumaki-rebellion]

Do you know how iconic/historic it is for Beyonce to start Texas Hold 'Em with a banjo, an African instrument our ancestors brought over here and was appropriated by white country music? To start her new joint with African sounds and move it into Black American southern roots as part of the diaspora is HUGE. Okay, lemme go relax. The historian and Black music lover in me is so geeked right now! Solange and Beyonce are shaping music culture so much and I want people to know about it!

[ghost-37]

[yearningforunity]

Woman lifting fruit on downtown street, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 1985

Ph: Gary Monroe 

[alwaysbewoke]

[otoso]

Povo, poor, penniless

Rudy, rude boy, Jamaican slang, working-class or lower-class teenager

Scene with Keiynan Lonsdale and Daniel Wuol

from 2024 series Swift Street

by African Australian writer and director Tig Terera