Thirst For Knowledge

It is what it is!

When I was in school, learning the history of America; the only thing I read about people of color were, that we were slaves, brought over on slave ships to perform slave labor in the fields and slave over a hot stove for the slave master and return to slave quarters. This bothered me, but a thirst for knowledge taught me differently; I now know that was his story and not my history.

No one told me that KASTA, SHABAKA, TAHARKA, EZANA, SOLOMON, and MANSA MUSA were all mighty kings that ruled over our people. They lived in palaces lavished with all the riches of the land and they were far more advanced than the "other" man. No one told me that I am an heiress to the many dynasties of Africa or that I am a descendant of royalty but my thirst for knowledge taught me and now I am free.

No one told me that the remains of the first man were found in Africa or that Egyptians were black, (Kemit-Land of the black man) and the Great Pyramids were designed by Khufu and built by the hands of many black men; or that CLEOPATRA, NEFERTARI and HATSHEPUT were Black Queens, but my thirst for knowledge taught me and now I am free.

No one told me that HENRY BLAIR, a Black Man invented TWO CORN HARVESTERS or that J. E. MANTZELIGER, a Black Man invented THE SHOE LASTING MACHINE or that JOHN P. PARKER, a Black
Man invented THE SCREW that revolutionized the TABACCO PRESS or that ELIJAH McCoy, a Black Man Patented several inventions for AUTOMATICALLY LUBRICATING MACHINES, (The Real McCoy) Or that G. T. WOODS, a Black Man invented THE STEAM BOILER, AUTOMATIC AIR BRAKES and LARGELY CONTRIBUTED TO ELECTRICITY but my thirst for knowledge taught me and now I am free.


No one told me THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL HEART SURGERY was performed by a Black Doctor or CHARLES DREW developed THE BLOOD PLASMA TECHNIQUE that made it possible to have blood banks today or that PAUL CUFFE, a Black Man BUILT A SHIP TO TAKE OUR PEOPLE BACK TO AFRICA, but after only taking 38 people it was made so costly for him that he couldn’t afford to take anymore, but my thirst for knowledge taught me and now I am free.


No one told me that The REFRIGERATOR, The BABY CARRIAGE, The TRAFFIC LIGHT, The ELEVATOR, The MAILBOX, AIR CONDITIONING, The GOLF TEE, The IRONING BOARD, The FOLDING BED, and The INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULB were all invented by black people but my thirst for knowledge taught me and now I am free.

We are the original people and don’t let anyone tell you differently; gain a thirst for knowledge about your history. Your heritage is what you, so don’t let it end with me. There is so much more to learn about our legacy don’t settle for a text book definition of you "born to be a slave" because we were royalty, architects and inventors, when "others" were still in caves. I have laid the foundation and planted the seed. I have watered your roots with the knowledge you need, now it’s up to you to quench your own thirst and succeed.
 

Reviews

[Silvia - Scribo, Ergo S..]

Good for you, girl! Yes, alas, history is always written, manipulated, modified by the rulers of todays ... certainly NEVER objective and always very selective ... There are so many things they do not teach us, do not tell us ... You (like everybody of every race) have so much to be proud of!!!! We were all rulers and slaves at one point or other in our histories ...

Great, empowering write, my dear! xxx

PS: Cleopatra though was, if anything, Greek .... Nefertari, if anything, Syrian ... not that it really matters, but for historical accuracy. Doesn�t change the message, though!!!!!

[DeLisa]

I, indeed, enjoyed this. There is a lot of stuff that you put into this piece that I didn't even know.

[Jonathan Bryant Dean]

Did you learn about George Washinton Carver in school? What about Booker T. Washington? How about Martin Luther King? I learned aboutt them and others in my education. I was told that the Egyptians were black, and about Nefertiti and many others.

Were all Africans kings?

Who sold the black men into bondage?

The men that built the pyramids were slaves, and the Pharoahs were black. The Pharoahs held slaves.

You have stated a lot of true historical facts. Why not give the other side of the story. Slavery was also encouraged by black men. A man named Anthony Johnson arrived at Jamestown in 1621 and he owned slaves. Anthony Johnson was a black man. A black couple, Justus Angel and Mistress L. Horry, of Colleton District, South Carolina, each owned 84 slaves in 1830.

There are two sides to any story.

JBD

[1blaquote]

This may help those who are having differculties with the facts: An article by Charles Whitaker

Here's where the scholars seem to agree: Cleopatra was the last in a line of Ptolemies--Macedonian Greeks--who ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander the Great in 305 B.C. until Antony's defeat in the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. The Ptolemies, as was the custom, were an incestuous, intermarrying breed (they were concerned about preserving the royal bloodline). But they took their pleasure with the courtiers and concubines who filled their palaces. Many of the children born of these assignations were bestowed a place in the royal lineage despite their dubious--and unspoken--parentage.

Many believe that Cleopatra's father was the product of such a union--his mother may have been a concubine from Nubia or Alexandria. Lending credence to this theory is the fact that Cleopatra's bond to the people of Egypt seemed greater than those of her Ptolemic ancestors, who aligned themselves culturally and linguistically with Greece. "Far more than her predecessors, [Cleopatra] made an effort to learn Egyptian and was very savvy about presenting herself as Egyptian to the people that she ruled," says Molly Levine, a professor of Egyptology in the classics department at Howard University.

So it seems that Cleopatra may have had a true Egyptian (as opposed to Macedonian-Greek) grandmother. Does that make her "Black?" It is a question the organizers of the Field Museum's exhibit wanted to tackle head-on.

"It is a question that is nearly impossible to answer," says Ben Bronson, the museum's curator of Asian archeology and ethnology. "What we've tried to do is narrow down the range of possibilities for her ancestry. And when you do that, you see that there is a perfectly good chance that Cleopatra was an African Egyptian. Was she 100 percent African, meaning was her skin dark? Probably not. The Romans, who wrote extensively about her, probably would have noted that. But it is quite possible--given the comings and goings of people in the Ptolemic court--that she was a mixed-race Egyptian."

Yet, even an answer as hedged as that raises hackles in the scholarly community, where discussions of Cleopatra's race are so couched and guarded that professors even fear engaging in the discussion publicly. One Black classics professor, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, questioned why Cleopatra's race is of any significance in the first place. "Cleopatra is singled out not because she was Egypt's greatest queen (far from it, impressive though she is), but because she is the one who was admired by Europeans (Caesar and Antony) and is the, most famous "ancient Egyptian" in the Western tradition. So the question itself is really profoundly Eurocentric, and, as such, a political question rather than a historical one."

[KUFU]

Cleopatra was indeed from the Ptolemy line. She was not fully Greek. Cleopatra was a mixed woman. Nor was she a Pharaoh, rather; a minor queen of an Egypt that had been in decline for 600 yrs. The Golden Age of Egyptian civilization was considered ancient history by the time she was put on the thrown as a puppet administrator. She presided not over an empire, rather a diminutive fiefdom as compared to the Egyptian empire of Khufu's era.
To assert Nefertiti was Syrian is plausible. Syrians are black too. Notice how historians like to portray people who thrived in desert conditions as a Nordic type. How sad and misleading. Also what people fail to understand is that the Arab is not the original inhabitants of Egypt. They are relative newcomers thanks to the rise of Islam. The Arabs originated in Mesopotamia and indeed founded a great civilization that spaned the breath of what is called S.W. Asia.

[KUFU]

F A V O R I T E !I was beaming like the first time I was told that the first man to die in defense of liberty and this country was a black man by the name of Crispus Attucks. Truth and knowledge will indeed set you free. The conditioning of the black American female and male is a devised plan to ensure they grow up hating themselves. An insidious trap; that takes one investigating his/her own genesis to free themselves of this mental hindrance. When Dr. King proudly pronounced, "free at last, free at last, thank god O mighty, we are free at last!" most ignoramuses take this as him saying we are free from slavery. How crude. When he said these words he spoke of freedom from the mental shackles that bound the black consciousness. White Amerika keenly understood this awakening. This is why Dr. King had to be assassinated. The attempt to destroy the dream(awakening) was a dismal failure.If you notice, the black concsiousness has been under attack from within since the waning of the Harlem Renaissance. It is our duty as poets, mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, lovers to eradicate this cancer that has been allowed to fester within the black consciousness/community.I commend you! An enlightening piece for all in the Writers Cafe to read. I notice many racist poets in this place. Hopefully your work(as well as mine) will help them to see the folly of their ways.

[Judy]

Isn't it interesting how much history is out there just waiting to be discovered? I found out that on my paternal grandmother's side of the family, there was a gun smith. He happened to be John Brown's gun smith. Also, he earned his way out of slavery when it was still permitted. I am proud and ashamed of both sides of my heritage for various reasons. I completely agree with you that having courage to discover our past is so freeing. Thank you for sharing this well written work.