From Black Kos editor JoanMar
For many of us, the “Montgomery Brawl” was the modern-day reenactment of the Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling fight. It was Black people the world over watching Jesse Owens demolish Hitler’s notion of white supremacy. It was Muhammad Ali taking on George Foreman — and all that he symbolized — and coming out victorious. “Ali bomaye!” How do I explain what it felt like to see 16-year-old Aaren, aka “Black Aquaman,” jumping in that water to swim to the rescue of his teammate? How do I explain the feeling that gripped me as I watched those brothers skipping! up to take the fight to those entitled children of the colonizer? This all happened in Montgomery, Alabama, the first capital of the doggone Confederacy. Damn.
In the wake of the attack on that Black man, Black X showed up and showed why they have become such a powerful, respected, and feared entity. They don’t play. However, for me, there was one discordant note that marred the celebratory outpourings. Again and again, I saw the sentiment, “We are not our ancestors!” That statement reminded me of the idiotic comment from Kanye West where he famously declared:
“When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You were there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally imprisoned.”
We are not our ancestors. Like, what? We are smarter, fiercer, and more courageous than they were? Chile, many of us wouldn’t last an hour in their shoes… for those of them that had shoes. What a disservice to our ancestors. In fact, chattel slavery and the systems put in place to protect and promote it lasted that long not because of any perceived docility on the part of the enslaved, but rather, entirely because of the depravity of European/American slave owners. They had a very good thing going and were in no hurry to give it all up. They’d use everything at their disposal to maintain the status quo: religion, psychology, pseudoscience, the English language itself, and most importantly, brutality/cruelty on a scale seldom seen before or since.
But let’s never, ever get it twisted, our ancestors fought.
On ships traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, our ancestors fought. On plantations across slaveholding states, the Caribbean islands, South and Central America, our ancestors fought. They fought to live every single day, and when living became untenable, they gave precious lives so their descendants might live free.
The history books written by the oppressors to perpetuate the lies, do not often record just how much our ancestors fought. Choosing instead to promote the myth of the happy negro.
I bet you thought this song was about the weather? Listen again.
Touching on how our ancestors used work itself as a tool of resistance.
One of the most effective weapons Enslaved Africans used against slave masters was work. The problem of the “lazy, shiftless negroes” was cause for great angst among lazy colonizers. Here they had all this free labor and it came with so much headache. They found it well nigh impossible to sip their mint julep in peace. Bible-quoting owners extolled the virtue of hard work and the need for obedience to masters. The fact that they needed the brutal, gun-toting, whip-snapping overseer spoke to how futile their efforts at brainwashing were and how effective our ancestors were in fighting back against the theft of their labor. Yes, Black folks in the diaspora are owed trillions, but with a half-way decent productive, cooperative slave force, it would have been infinitely more.
Based on the wages paid to laborers in the antebellum period and assuming an average of 12 hours of work a day, seven days a week, the researcher, Thomas Craemer, concluded that U.S. slave labor would be worth roughly $5.9 trillion today.
Our enslaved ancestors sabotaged plantations’ production by destroying machinery, destroying crops, moving at snail’s pace or slower, pretending ignorance, poisoning livestock… all at the risk of losing their lives in the most barbaric fashion their sadistic owners or overseers could devise at any given moment.
Without iPhones, without social media platforms, and without AR-15s, our ancestors fought. Because they were, we are. So when we talk about them, put some respect on their names. Speak of them with worshipful reverence befitting their sacrifices and their contributions to humanity. I know I do. And yes, they were beaming with pride as they watched the Montgomery Brawl.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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The 2009 film The Blind Side tells the story of a white family on a heartfelt mission: to save the life of “Big Mike,” an unhoused Black 17-year-old who attends the local school with their son in Memphis, Tennessee.
As many critics would later note, the tale was a classic “white savior” story that served to praise the goodness of white people and erase the nuances of a Black kid’s story of resilience. But audiences at the time heralded The Blind Side, which was based on a book of the same name, as a tearjerker and the blueprint for a feel-good classic. Plus, it was all a true story, based on the real events in the life of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and Michael Oher, who went on to play eight seasons in the NFL.
The film earned more than $300 million at the box office and was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, while Sandra Bullock took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of family matriarch Leigh Anne Tuohy.
Now, however, Oher, a former NFL player, has alleged that the crux of the story — that a white family adopted him out of homelessness — is a lie and that the family exploited his name and story for years to enrich themselves. Oher says that he believed he was a legal member of the Tuohy family for nearly two decades, only to learn this year that he was not.
According to ESPN, Oher filed a 14-page petition in Tennessee’s Shelby County on Monday, alleging that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never actually adopted him. Instead, the petition alleges, they tricked him into a conservatorship, a legal agreement that gave them legal authority to use his name in business deals, less than three months after he turned 18. The petition claims that the family used Oher, now 37, to make millions of dollars from the popular book and 2009 blockbuster film. He’s now asking that the probate court end the conservatorship and bar the family from using Oher’s name and likeness. The petition also requests that the court seek an accounting of all the money the Tuohys have made since starting the conservatorship in 2004 and to pay Oher his share of the earnings, in addition to damages.
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Before Curly Girl Collective blossomed into a globally recognized brand, it began life as an email thread. It was 2010, and as a new generation of Black women was starting to move away from relaxers and perms, the Natural Hair Chain served as a safe space for them to ask questions, share resources and get advice on transitioning to natural hair.
After several conversations through email, Tracy Coleman, Melody Henderson, Charisse Higgins, Simone Mair and Gia Lowe decided to plan a small get-together. The group met at Coleman’s home and instantly felt affirmed in that shared and supportive space. Wanting more people to experience the energy they did that night, the quintet formed the Curly Girl Collective and began to plan more events throughout the year. As their fanbase and recognition grew, so did the demand for their sold-out events, and they continued to evolve.
In 2014, the five founders introduced their community of naturalistas to a new event; an outdoor picnic to accommodate their now robust community. Thus, Curlfest was born. Kicking off in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the event quickly became a visual representation of everything the Curly Girl Collective stood for, a celebration of Black hair and a safe space for every person to be comfortable being their authentic selves
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The former Miami Heat point guard — now in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — has finally responded to reports that Florida Democrats were considering him and fellow NBA legend Grant Hill as potential contenders for a U.S. Senate candidacy in 2024, People reported.
“I mean, it’s just conversation,” Wade admitted. “‘Hey, you would be good for,’ ‘Hey, we can see you in,’ ‘We would love to have you in.'”
Wade said he heard about the discussions when asked by The New York Times recently to address the rumors, which surfaced in May following a report that Democratic donor groups mentioned both of the former basketball players.
He acknowledged that people had asked him about running for office, but he laughed off any inquiries about whether he would genuinely think about doing so.
“It’s things that I’m passionate about that I will speak out on and speak up for,” said Wade. “And so I don’t play the politician games. I don’t know a lot about it.”
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A $436 million "debt-for-nature" swap by Gabon to fund marine conservation has backers hoping for more such money-saving environmental deals, but some investors still see room for improvement in the increasingly-popular transactions.
The central African country, whose beaches and coastal waters are home to the world's largest population of endangered leatherback turtles, as well as Atlantic humpback dolphins, manatees and sawfish, bought back $436 million of its international bonds last week.
It switched the debt to a new $500 million "blue bond" with a lower interest rate and longer maturity in a transaction finalised on Tuesday that is expected to generate $163 million for marine conservation projects over the next 15 years.
At their simplest, debt-for-nature swaps see a country's debt bought up by a bank or specialist investor and replaced with cheaper loans, usually with a development finance "credit guarantee" or "risk insurance" helping bring the cost down. The savings are meant to fund conservation.
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The National Film Authority of Ghana wants to show the world why it should be considered a leader in the movie industry. It has forged a new strategic partnership with Nigeria's FilmOne Group and its own Silverbird Cinema to host the inaugural Africa Cinema Summit in Accra this winter, according to Deadline.
The event, scheduled to take place over three days, will be a showcase of contemporary African films alongside industry-focused sessions, which will include business matchmaking events, panel discussions, keynote speeches by African industry leaders and dedicated networking sessions for visitors.
The announcement is a timely one. This past March, Idris Elba, who is of Ghanaian descent, partnered with Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu to focus on talent and production from Africa through their respective companies: Elba’s Green Door Pictures and Abudu’s EbonyLife TV. Once the SAG-AFTRA strike ends, Elba will presumably resume work on an untitled Ghana project, which he will direct and star in.
The summit is set to take place at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra this November, but you don’t have to wait until then to see some great African cinema. Here are three beloved films from Ghana you can check out today.
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A "robust use of force" by a multinational police deployment and use of military assets is needed to restore law and order in Haiti and disarm gangs, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Haiti last year asked for international help to combat violent gangs that have largely overrun the capital Port-au-Prince. Guterres suggested in October that countries send a "rapid action force" to support Haiti's police.
The council last month encouraged countries to provide security support and asked Guterres to report within 30 days on a full range of U.N. options, including backing for a non-U.N. multinational force or a possible peacekeeping operation.
Guterres's report was circulated to the 15-member council on Tuesday and outlined two potential U.N. options: providing logistical support to a multinational force and Haiti's police and to strengthen a U.N. political mission already in Haiti.
"Haiti's current context is not conducive to peacekeeping," Guterres wrote, adding that law and order had to be restored, gangs disarmed, strategic installations and roadways secured and a state presence re-established to provide basic services.
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