#african publications

[reasonsforhope]

"Buried among Florida’s manicured golf courses and sprawling suburbs are the artifacts of its slave-holding past: the long-lost cemeteries of enslaved people, the statues of Confederate soldiers that still stand watch over town squares, the old plantations turned into modern subdivisions that bear the same name. But many students aren’t learning that kind of Black history in Florida classrooms.

In an old wooden bungalow in Delray Beach, Charlene Farrington and her staff gather groups of teenagers on Saturday mornings to teach them lessons she worries that public schools won’t provide. They talk about South Florida’s Caribbean roots, the state’s dark history of lynchings, how segregation still shapes the landscape and how grassroots activists mobilized the Civil Rights Movement to upend generations of oppression.

“You need to know how it happened before so you can decide how you want it to happen again,” she told her students as they sat as their desks, the morning light illuminating historic photographs on the walls.

Florida students are giving up their Saturday mornings to learn about African American history at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach and in similar programs at community centers across the state. Many are supported by Black churches, which for generations have helped forge the cultural and political identity of their parishioners.

Since Faith in Florida developed its own Black history toolkit last year, more than 400 congregations have pledged to teach the lessons, the advocacy group says.

Florida has required public schools to teach African American history for the past 30 years, but many families no longer trust the state’s education system to adequately address the subject.

By the state’s own metrics, just a dozen Florida school districts have demonstrated excellence at teaching Black history, by providing evidence that they are incorporating the content into lessons throughout the school year and getting buy-in from the school board and community partners.

School district officials across Florida told The Associated Press that they are still following the state mandate to teach about the experience of enslavement, abolition and the “vital contributions of African Americans to build and strengthen American society.”

But a common complaint from students and parents is that the instruction seems limited to heroic figures such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and rarely extends beyond each February’s Black History Month.

When Sulaya Williams’ eldest child started school, she couldn’t find the comprehensive instruction she wanted for him in their area. So in 2016, she launched her own organization to teach Black history in community settings.

“We wanted to make sure that our children knew our stories, to be able to pass down to their children,” Williams said.

Williams now has a contract to teach Saturday school at a public library in Fort Lauderdale, and her 12-year-old daughter Addah Gordon invites her classmates to join her.

“It feels like I’m really learning my culture. Like I’m learning what my ancestors did,” Addah said. “And most people don’t know what they did.”"

-via AP News, December 23, 2024

[baldwinheights]

[yorksnapshots]

Invisible Man sculpture in Graphite by Zak Ove 2016.

Encountered at Thirsk Hall Sculpture Park, North Yorkshire.

Not understanding the concept behind this, my first thought was 'We come in Peace' but I don't claim to be cultured. Anyway, I find them aesthetic and would love one in my garden.

[femhanna]

[covenawhite66]

Africa is a continent of more than 50 countries, and home to thousands of languages and cultures. Africans lived in complex societies, from small villages to large bustling cities, that contained universities, mosques, and libraries.

Africa has great civilizations that flourished in Africa included Egypt, Kush, Axum, Mali and Great Zimbabwe.

Africa's history is complex and stretches back through centuries of dynasties. Africa contributed to our knowledge and understanding of ancient writings, languages, agriculture and engineering. Its extensive trade system connected the continent with Asia and India, producing a lively exchange of goods such as grains, metals, and gold.

Black History instruction in K-12 education, 65% of the 401 educators interviewed said that their state does not mandate Black History instruction. Only 12 states require some form of Black history curriculum.

Africans were free before they were enslaved. Enslaved Africans relied on their knowledge and beliefs to survive slavery, and their contributions to U.S. culture, society, and economy are evident in every aspect of American life and enterprise. Agriculture, music, art, and culinary.

[yourdailyqueer]

Da'Shaun Harrison

Gender: Non binary (they/them)

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: N/A 

Ethnicity: African American

Occupation: Writer, activist, public speaker, journalist

[trainsgenderfoxgirl2816]

Trains? >:3

TRAINS :D

[arrlpdma]

Public Domain Art Showcase #4: Chromolithograph of a Samoan snake charmer

Hello there, it's me again with another post showcasing a piece of artwork in the public domain. This piece is a chromolithograph of a snake charmer that was printed sometime in the 1880s. It is inspired by Nala Damajanti (also referred to as Maladamatjaute), a late-19th century snake charmer. This poster codified common visual portrayals of Mami Wata, a water goddess of the African diaspora.

More to come soon.

[kemetic-dreams]

Mainstream breakthrough

Flavor Flav of Public Enemy performing in 1991

In 1990, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet was a significant success with music critics and consumers. The album played a key role in hip hop's mainstream emergence in 1990, dubbed by Billboard editor Paul Grein as "the year that rap exploded". In a 1990 article on its commercial breakthrough, Janice C. Thompson of Time wrote that hip hop "has grown into the most exciting development in American pop music in more than a decade." Thompson noted the impact of Public Enemy's 1989 single "Fight the Power", rapper Tone Lōc's single Wild Thing being the best-selling single of 1989, and that at the time of her article, nearly a third of the songs on the Billboard Hot 100 were hip hop songs. In a similar 1990 article, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times put hip hop music's commercial emergence into perspective:

It was 10 years ago that the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" became the first rap single to enter the national Top 20. Who ever figured then that the music would even be around in 1990, much less produce attractions that would command as much pop attention as Public Enemy and N.W.A? "Rapper's Delight" was a novelty record that was considered by much of the pop community simply as a lightweight offshoot of disco—and that image stuck for years. Occasional records—including Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" in 1982 and Run-DMC's "It's Like That" in 1984—won critical approval, but rap, mostly, was dismissed as a passing fancy—too repetitious, too one dimensional. Yet rap didn't go away, and an explosion of energy and imagination in the late 1980s leaves rap today as arguably the most vital new street-oriented sound in pop since the birth of rock in the 1950s.

[culmaer]

I've been looking for various references to the Cape "snoek horn" (fishmonger's bugle) and came across a story/blog post written phonetically in Kaaps-Afrikaans dialect with English code mixing. certainly worth looking at for anyone interested in Afrikaans and Dutch, to get a sense of what the Cape Town dialect can look like. (the full post is on Jeremy Vearey's blogspot)

but my main reason for sharing, and with my sincere apologies @geschiedenis-en-talen, is the phonetic rendering of the final words of this paragraph :

As djy vannie Tiervlei se lane is en djy kennie vir Boetie Stinkvet tie dan is djy vaak gebore en het annieslaap grootgeword. As djy innie 80's van Tiekie-stage byrie hoek van Balvenie en Connaught verby Bataan se winkel straight orrie sandveld galoeppit dan kô kry djy die begin van dertiendelaan. Nou nerra oppai hoek, daa was Boetie Stinkvet se rooisink disco, smokkie, bioscope, restirant eksekera eksekera.

I stand by what I said, that Afr. "ensovoorts" / Eng. "and so forth" are more commonly said here, but I guess this is proof that this pronunciation does in fact exist at the Cape

with standardised spelling, but maintaining the dialect and code-mixing, the above paragraph would read :

As jy van die Tiervlei se lane is, en jy ken nie vir Boetie Stinkvet nie, dan is jy vaak gebore en het aan-die-slaap grootgeword. As jy in die 80's van Tiekie Stage by die hoek van Balvenie en Connaught verby Bataan se winkel straight oor die sandveld geloop het, dan kom kry jy die begin van Dertiendelaan. Nou net daar op daai hoek, daar was Boetie Stinkvet se rooi sink disco, smokkie [smokkelhuis], bioskoop, restaurant et cetera, et cetera.

English translation :

If you're from the streets of Tiervlei, and you don't know Boetie Stinkvet, then you were born tired and grew up asleep. Back in the 80's, if you walked from Tiekie Stage on the corner of Balvenie Avenue and Connaught Road past Bataan's shop, straight across the sand field, then you'd find yourself at the start of Thirteenth Avenue. Now, right there on that corner was Boetie Stinkvet's red sheetmetal disco, shebeen [speakeasy ?], movie hall, restaurant, et cetera, et cetera.

[pink-pony-luv]

no seriously how am i nonwhite in 2 different directions and yet i STILL am so whitewashed

[longlistshort]

This mural, Southern Expansion, was created by Zulu Painter and is located in St. Pete, Florida.

Located in the old phone booth on the corner is a plaque that reads-

In the late 1800’s, Black Men were hired to continue the railroad in to the territory that is now known as St. Petersburg, FL. These men settled in this area and were largely responsible for building our city and streets and creating this Gulf Coast community.

This mural honors the history and legacy of the African American people at the foundation of our great city.

You also find Zulu Painter’s work on Instagram.

[the-most-humble-blog]

Global Borrowers, Foundational Creators: Hip-Hop Belongs to Foundational Black Americans, Fat Joe

It’s time to have a real conversation. Hip-hop didn’t just spring out of thin air, and it sure didn’t emerge as some global kumbaya project where everyone held hands and equally contributed. Hip-hop is a cultural expression born directly from the experience of Foundational Black Americans (FBAs). Period.

So when Fat Joe flaps his gums, casually suggesting that hip-hop was some kind of cultural potluck with no clear origin, it’s not just wrong—it’s a disrespectful erasure of Black Americans’ legacy. Here’s why Fat Joe, and anyone parroting his nonsense, needs to sit down, open a book, and recognize who built the house he’s living in.

The Birthplace of Hip-Hop: FBA Struggles, Creativity, and Culture

The Bronx in the 1970s was a tough place—economic despair, systemic neglect, and racial discrimination were daily realities. For Foundational Black Americans, whose ancestors endured centuries of slavery, segregation, and systemic racism, hip-hop was born out of resilience and innovation. It was more than music; it was a way to turn pain into art, to reclaim agency in a world that continually tried to silence them.

Graffiti, breakdancing, DJing, and MCing—the four pillars of hip-hop—were deeply rooted in FBA culture and history:

Graffiti: A visual rebellion, a way to carve out a presence in a city that erased Black voices.

Breakdancing: An art form born from Black American jazz dance traditions and martial arts influences, adapted and redefined by FBA youth.

DJing: Techniques like scratching and mixing evolved from traditions of Black American music—jazz, blues, funk, and soul.

MCing: The verbal tradition of storytelling, roasting (the dozens), and call-and-response, all rooted in FBA oral traditions.

While non-FBA individuals like DJ Kool Herc contributed to technical innovations, the cultural fabric and ethos of hip-hop are undeniably FBA. The very foundation Herc built upon—funk records, soul music, Black American slang, and cultural storytelling—was created by FBAs long before a single turntable was scratched.

Why This Matters: Cultural Borrowing Isn’t Creation

Let’s get something straight: being part of something is not the same as starting it. Latinos and other groups contributed to hip-hop’s growth, no doubt. But creating something from scratch? That was FBA ingenuity.

Fat Joe’s comments are part of a larger problem: the global habit of cherry-picking contributions while erasing the origins. It’s the same dynamic we’ve seen with jazz, rock ’n’ roll, and blues—genres Black Americans pioneered, only to see their contributions downplayed or outright stolen. Hip-hop is no different, and we can’t allow that pattern to repeat.

To borrow from a house analogy: Foundational Black Americans laid the bricks, raised the walls, and built the damn roof. Everyone else just moved in.

Fat Joe, Please Take a Seat

Fat Joe’s claim that hip-hop was some global melting pot ignores reality. Hip-hop came from the Bronx, yes—but it came from Black Americans living in the Bronx. It came from their pain, joy, and ingenuity. To suggest otherwise isn’t just ignorant; it’s insulting.

Here’s the thing, Joe: No one’s denying your place in hip-hop as a Puerto Rican artist who contributed to its growth. But contributing is not creating. Acknowledge your role as a participant, not a pioneer. It’s not that hard.

When you try to rewrite history, you’re doing the same thing colonizers did to indigenous cultures—stealing credit while stomping on the people who made it possible. Do better.

FBA Legacy: The Backbone of Global Hip-Hop

Today, hip-hop is a billion-dollar global industry. But let’s not forget who planted the seeds. Every rapper spitting bars in Tokyo, London, or Johannesburg owes their craft to FBA creativity. The slang, the style, the storytelling—it all traces back to Black American communities who turned their struggles into an art form that resonated worldwide.

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Non-FBA communities can and should celebrate their contributions to hip-hop’s evolution. But hip-hop’s origins belong solely to Foundational Black Americans. That’s not up for debate. That’s history.

The Bottom Line: Hip-Hop Is Black American History

Fat Joe, take note: Being loud doesn’t make you right. Hip-hop is not a buffet where everyone gets to claim equal credit. It’s a cultural masterpiece crafted by Foundational Black Americans—a gift to the world, born out of pain, resilience, and relentless creativity.

So let’s set the record straight: Hip-hop isn’t “global” in its origins. It’s FBA. Respect it, acknowledge it, and stop trying to rewrite it.

[femhanna]

[randomfandomisuppose]

You can tell a lot about a person based on whether or not they call twitter “twitter” or “x”

Also remember when Elon Musk wanted us to call tweets “xeets” instead? Could never take it seriously, sounds like a word you’d use to describe a fart in a foreign language.