Writing Their Scripts

15 Things You Did Not Know about the History of Black People in London before 1948
By Charmaine Simpson, December 2012

The presence of Africans in England dates back to at least the Roman period when African soldiers who served as part of the Roman army were stationed at Hadrian’s Wall during the 2nd century CE. Septimus Severus, the emperor who was born in Libya, spent his last three years in Britain before he died in York in 211 CE.

I will present 15 facts aimed at raising the level of knowledge, and uncovering the hidden histories, of people of African and Caribbean descent who have contributed to London before 1948.

1. The earliest known [public] record of a Black person living in London is of “Cornelius a Blackamoor” whose burial on 2nd March 1593 was recorded in the parish register at St Margaret’s Church in Lee.

Banneker versus Jefferson

 To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Banneker, 19 August 1791

From Benjamin Banneker

Maryland. Baltimore County. Near Ellicotts Lower Mills
August 19th: 1791

Sir

I am fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom which I take with you on the present occasion; a liberty which Seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished, and dignifyed station in which you Stand; and the almost general prejudice and prepossession which is so prevailent in the world against those of my complexion.

I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of Beings who have long laboured under the abuse and censure of the world, that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt, and1 that we have long been considered rather as brutish than human, and Scarcely capable of mental endowments.

Benjamin Bannaka

A Man of Many Firsts

In 1753, Benjamin Banneker engineered the first striking clock made entirely of wooden parts. This invention marked the advent of his rise to fame as people would travel from far and near to witness his remarkable invention. Made entirely of hand carved wood parts and pinions, the clock struck on the hour for over 50 years.

Banneker was the first to track the 17 year locust cycle, a valuable revelation to farmers enabling them to prepare for attacks by locusts on their crops. He was among the first scientific farmers to employ crop rotation and water irrigation techniques. He enjoyed eviable results as a tobacco farmer, and harvested his own food crop.

Banneker was among the first Americans, and the first African-American, to publish almanacs, a valuable tool in an agricultural economy. His almanacs were publicly sold from 1792 to 1799, and did quite well.

Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker
Scientist, Astronomer(1731–1806)

“The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.”
—Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer.

Synopsis

Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in – what was later named – Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland. A free-born black man who owned a farm near Baltimore, Banneker was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics. He was later called upon to assist in the surveying of territory for the construction of the nation’s capital Washington D.C. He also became an active writer of almanacs and exchanged letters with Thomas Jefferson, politely challenging him to do what he could to ensure racial equality. Banneker died on October 9, 1806.

Background and Early Years

Muhammad Ali – Floating Like A Butterfly

º January 17 1942 – † June 03 2016

Top 5 Eric Garner Conspiracy Stories

Eric Garner Death: The Top 5 Conspiracy Theories
By Sam Prince (December 8, 2014)

While the media reports that the death of Eric Garner and the dismissal of charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo are indicative that America is not in fact in a “post-racial” era, underground online forums claim that Garner’s death and the use of extreme police force are indicative of something more sinister: a police state.

From Ferguson to Staten Island to other police shootings all over the United States and the subsequent government forces called in to quell irate crowds of protesters, the results show one thing: the US government knows how to handle civil disobedience.

War on Sanity – The Lockett Experiment

Okla. execution: ‘Chaos’ after injection is stopped, inmate dies anyway
by Ed Payne, Greg Botelho and Dana Ford, CNN

— One execution [botched], another postponed.

Oklahoma corrections officials looked for answers Tuesday following the death of inmate Clayton Lockett, who convulsed and writhed on the gurney after drugs to carry out his death sentence were administered.

“His body started to twitch, he mumbled something I couldn’t understand,” said Dean Sanderford, his attorney. “The convulsing got worse, it looked like his whole upper body was trying to lift off the gurney. For a minute, there was chaos.”

Lockett – Experimenting With Lethal Injections

Lethal Injection Leads to the Most Botched Execution
By The Daily Beast

Last night the state of Oklahoma added to America’s long history of botched executions when it attempted to execute Clayton Derrell Lockett by lethal injection. At 6.23 p.m., a doctor administered the first drug, which corrections officials identified as the sedative midazolam. What followed was an agonizing spectacle that ended when Lockett died at 7.06 p.m.—43 minutes after the drugs began to flow.

In Spirit of Hurricane Carter

James M. Whitfield

James Monroe Whitfield (1822-1871)

James Monroe Whitfield [was] born in New Hampshire in 1822 to free black [people], probably attended a local school in New Hampshire, and eventually married and had two sons and a daughter. By the late 1840s Whitfield was working in Buffalo as a barber. In 1850 Frederick Douglass urged Whitfield to relinquish what he regarded as his lowly, menial job, but the facts would indicate that Whitfield, like a number of free black

Sherman Educates on the Difference Between Persona and Self

Black In America: Thug Life – Richard Sherman Style
By Angriest Black Man In America, Black In America Series, Jan. 24 2014

The Story

So…suffice it to say I have a new hero: Richard Sherman. I am actually not a football fan. Honestly, I dislike the sport for its aggressive barbaric nature and some other ideological crap most people don’t care about. However, I don’t think anyone could have missed the media storm that was caused by Richard Sherman’s post-game interview on the field after his team’s win against the 49ers.

Richard Sherman