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Tag: arab

african diaspora 0

BLACK HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: TARIQ IBN ZIYAD-THE MOOR WHO CONQUERED SPAIN

By:Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

EARLY LIFE


Tariq Ibn-Ziyad was a Berber general from where is now Morocco in North West Africa. He was a mawla (which translate to lord or guardian) of Musa Ibn Nusayr, who was the Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya (which consisted of parts of Tunisia,Libya and Algeria) . After Tangier was conquered between 710-711, Musa Ibn Nasayr put Ibn-Ziyad in control of the Tangier area.


The Conquerer


later in 711, Ibn-Ziyad and his army (which consisted of Berbers and new coverts to the Islamic Faith), landed on the Iberian Peninsula (the region of Spain and Portugal). Ibn-Ziyad and his army disembarked at a base of a mountain that would later be known as the Rock of Gibraltar (Gibraltar translates to mountain of Tariq). Tariq Ibn-Ziyad’s army included about 7000 Berber horsemen, additional men sent by Musa Ibn Nusayr, and some locals, who were rivals of the Spanish ruler, Roderic, the Visigothic king in Hispania. On July 19, King Roderic and his men would finally be defeated at the Battle of Guadalete. After the defeat of the visigoth king, Ibn-Ziyad divided his army and they would continue to conquer cities like Cordoba, Granada, Toledo, and Guadalajara, among others. Eventually culminating with Ibn-Ziyad controlling Spain, and making him its de facto ruler, for about a year before Musa Ibn Nasayr arrived.


Later In Life


In 714 Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid the ruler of the Umayyad Caliphate (Islamic state which controlled much of North Africa and the Middle East) ordered Tariq Ibn-Ziyad and Musa Ibn Nasayr to Damascus, Syria, where they would spend the rest of their lives, some say this was because of jealousy and fear of the power that Ibn-Ziyad and Ibn Nasayr had displayed when Ibn-Ziyad conquered Spain with the assistance of Ibn Nasayr.
Use Link for additional information on Tariq
Use 2nd link for more information on Tariq
For information on the Moors use this link

External Education Resources







political 0

PITTSBURGH GAS STATION EMPLOYEE AND OWNERS CHARGED AFTER VIDEO OF THEM BEATING BLACK WOMEN SURFACED

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

Two owners and an employee of a gas station were all charged with simple assault earlier in the week.

On Monday the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office announced simple assault charges against the gas station owners’ Sukhjinder Sadhra, Balkar Singh, and gas station employee Scott Hill after a video surfaced of them beating two Black woman at their gas station.

The District Attorney’s Office stated:

“Under no circumstances is it acceptable for anyone, regardless of gender or race, to be assaulted in the way that is depicted in the video and such behavior will not be tolerated in Allegheny County.”

For additional information use link below:

https://atlantablackstar.com/2019/09/25/pittsburgh-gas-station-owners-employee-identified-and-charged-after-video-shows-them-beating-dragging-two-black-w

middle east 0

LEADERS FROM THE MOST POWERFUL MUSLIM NATIONS CLAIM THE UNITED STATES RECOGNITION OF JERUSALEM AS ISRAEL’S CAPITAL MAKES THE U.S. LOSE CREDIBILITY AS A NEUTRAL MEDIATOR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

At the Mecca Summit, which was held in Mecca Saudi Arabia, heads of state and other political officials from various Arab and North African countries collectively condemned the United States’ decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, since both the Palestinians and Israelis claim Jerusalem as their rightful capital.

To many world leaders, including leaders from the Muslim nations at the summit, Donald Trump and therefore the United State’s recognition as Jerusalem as being the rightful capital of Israel makes the United States lose its credibility as a neutral mediator.

According to Aljazeera:

Saudi King Mohammed bin Salman told leaders of the IOC countries gathered at the summit: “The Palestinian cause is the cornerstone of the works of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is the focus of our attention until the brotherly Palestinian people get all their legitimate rights.

“We reaffirm our unequivocal rejection of any measures that would prejudice the historical and legal status of Quds [Jerusalem].”

In a final statement this was said:

“The Palestinian people have the right to achieve their inalienable national rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State,”

For additional information use the link below:

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2019/06/mecca-summit-supports-palestinians-backs-saudis-iran-standoff-190601063421981.html

activism 0

YOU STILL CAN HELP END PTSD IN GAZA!

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

This Saturday, on October 15, 2016, the third annual San Francisco Gaza 5K will take place.

To signup for the race or donate to help fight end PTSD, please use link below :
SIGNUP OR DONATE TO THE GAZA 5K 

Proceeds from this 5k walk / run benefit the UNRWA’S Community Mental Health Program, for children in Palestine suffering from PTSD and other psychological trauma, due to the blockade and current conflict in the region.

The situation is so dire, the internationally-known scientist, historian, social critic and political activist, Noam Chomsky said the occupation in Palestine is worst than the Apartheid of the South African past.

Noam Chomsky on BDS and How the Israeli Occupation is “Much Worse Than Apartheid”

africa 8

8 DISTURBING THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BEING BLACK IN MODERN DAY EGYPT!

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1. Black Egyptians experience racism daily: the black community in Egypt are deemed “inferior minorities”, subjecting them to varying degrees of racial discrimination and degrading treatment.

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2. Racial discrimination is not criminalized in Egypt : very little is done to take a legal stance against the discrimination that the black Egyptians are subject to on a daily basis.

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3. RACIAL slurs are commonly directed towards black people in public places : the terms ” Chocalata” and “Samara” are often used to refer to those of the black community in Egypt. The word “Zarboon” meaning slave is also used to refer to black people in Egypt.

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4. Black women are often treated as if they are promiscuous : Black Egyptian women are often treated as inferior concubines. In fact, a 2013 government survey determined that 99.3 percent of Egyptian women have been sexually assaulted at one time or another.

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5. Colorism is openly practiced and for the most part, upheld : the degree of racism that black people in Egypt are exposed to often depends on how dark their skin is.

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6. Black Egyptians are often subject to police brutality : black Egyptians receive very little protection from police.

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7. Egyptians media portrays Black people as inferior : Black people in cinema and other media has often historically been either marginal or racist.

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8. Black refugees are second-class citizens : according to a 2013 article released by Al Jezeera, “non-arab”, or black , refugees are forced to overcome very serious problems.

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION USE LINK BELOW :

http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/10/16/8-disturbing-things-know-black-modern-day-egypt/?utm_content=buffer7d810&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

africa 6

THE HIDDEN BLACKS OF EGYPT! ( ARTICLE )

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BY: LEON KWASI KUNTUO-ASARE

Chances are if you were to watch a television program, movie or read an illustrated book on Egypt, you are probably more likely to see an image of a white European than a black African, but despite that ancient historical omission by western media corporations or even most American school textbooks, there are millions of them.

They are the Nubian people of southern Egypt and northern Sudan, the the descendants of the ancient people who ruled the powerful Kingdom of Kush ( also referred to as the Nubian Dynasty), of the central nile Valley. At their height the black Pharoahs of Nubia conquered and ruled over ancient Egypt from 760 BC to 656 BC from their capital of Meroe, in Sudan.

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The modern day Nubians still live in the lands of southern Egypt and northern Sudan, the lands their regal ancestors once dominated. Despite centuries of Arabization they still hold on to their Nubian language, despite speaking Arabic and they still have managed to maintain many of their traditional customs, despite being muslims.

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But despite all that great history and culture, the Nubians of Egypt are still a marginalized people in their own land, like blacks in the Americas. Thousands of Nubians were forced to relocate from the land their people lived in for thousands of years when the Aswan Dam was created in the 1960s and even now they also are forced to deal with harsh racism by mainstream Arab Egyptians, and a disproportionate amount of Nubian-Egyptians are forced to work in menial jobs, and in Cairo is filled with impoverished Nubians communities, who are often forced to take shelter on rooftops.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON MODERN NUBIANS IN EGYPT:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/21/egypt-nubians-dam

Uncategorized 1

THE EXODUS MOVIE AND THE NEED FOR THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY TO CREATE THEIR OWN FILM AND MEDIA INDUSTRY! ( ESSAY )

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BY:LEON KWASI KUNTUO-ASARE

Black people stop complaining about the movie “Exodus: Gods and Kings” being racist, with its all white lead casts playing egyptains, in a time before the arab/muslim invasion, military conquest and eventual Arabization/ethnic cleansing of Egypt and the rest of North and parts of East Africa.

Yes my black people our complaints maybe valid, the film seems to be no more than cinematic bigotry, that would make a Nazi propaganda officer jealous. The whites in the film play Gods and royals, while the black supporting cast members, are limited to playing roles of lower class civilians, criminals and servants.

But what are we the African-American community going to do about? That is the issue! Yes historically whenever we as a community have gotten on the same page and started to think progressively and attempted to move forward, we were either destroyed like the blacks in Black wallstreet ( the successful black part of Tulsa, Oklahoma) in the 1920s or sabotaged like the black power movement of the 1960s was by the FBI’s counter intelligence program (cointelpro) , under the supervision of white supremacist J. Edgar Hoover.

Yes times have changed, yet the government is still spying on we the people , today with the NSA spying program, the same way they did with the counter intelligence program of yesterday, and not to mention the way the Ferguson protestors were originally treated, looked like a vintage film of the racist police force in Birmingham, Alabama treated Martin luther King and his followers in 1963.

Even though the things just previously mentioned are historic facts, a lot has improved for the African-American community as a people, and I am not talking about the election of the first African-american president Barack Obama, who has done a lot to improve the situation of huge banks, and the lives of the white LGBT community and illegal immigrants of Latin America, and has literally done nothing for the disenfranchised blacks of this country, but that’s another essay for another day.

What we have today is what previous generations lacked, and that is direct access to media. Like the young revolutionaries of the Arab spring movement, that was organized on social media, that began in 2010 and topled several middle eastern and North African regimes.

No longer do we have to be beholden to mega corporations like Fox media, Viacom and Time Warner, if we want our stories to be told. with the technology of today, each of us can create our own radio stations with podcasts, we can make our own news media with our own news blog sites that can be easily created using WordPress or Squarespace, we can publish our own history in our own words with ebooks. We can organize mass protests with social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Meetup. We can also produce our own movies with crowd funding from websites like indiegogo or Kickstarter.

Summary: instead of complaining to the white supremacist entertainment industry to make factual movies about our history, we need to make our own films and we have to put an end to that slave crab in a barrel mentality and support our own people, the same way every other group does. Don’t expect a person or group of people (white people) to do something, you’re not willing to do yourself, especially if they’re the one that put you in the situation in the first place.