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BLACK HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: THE AFRICAN SAMURAI-YASUKE

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

Origins

Yasuke is believed by some scholars to of come from the Yao people of modern-day Mozambique. Therefore some believe his name Yasuke derived from “Yao-Suke”, suke being a Japanese suffix added to a male name, so Yasuke most likely meant a man of Yao origin. There are varying accounts saying he could of been Ethiopian, or Sudanses, but no one knows for sure.

ARRIVAL IN JAPAN

It is documented that when Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579, he was in the service of an Italian Jesuit Missionary named, Alessandro Valignano, who was appointed by the society of Jesus (Jesuits), to inspect their missions in East Africa, South and East Asia. For the Japanese who encountered him, it would of been their first time seeing a Black man. The Jesuits later reported when Yauke was taken to Oda Nobunaga, head of the powerful Oda clan (a man some scholars of Japanese history credit as being one of the first unifers of Japan), the Daimyo (feudal lord) thought that Yasuke had been painted with black ink and ordered Yasuke to remove his clothes from the waist up and demanded he scrub his skin to attempt to remove what he assumed was black ink painted on his skin. Reportedly when Nobunaga realized that Yasuke was not wearing ink, but instead was a Black man, he became fascinted with the African, and praised him for his strength and demeanor. It has been written that Nobunaga’s nephew gave Yasuke some money after their first meeting to help him on his journey.

BLACK SAMURAI

On May 1581, Yasuke left for a trip with some other Christians to go to the Echizen province. There they would meet with regional warlords Shibata Katsuie,Hashiba Hidekatsu and Hashiba Hidekatsu. When Yasuke and his fellow Christian missionaries returned to Kyoto (the former capitol of Japan) on May 30, at some point afterwards Yasuke entered into the service of Nobunaga. Nobunaga would also give Yasuke his own residence , a ceremonial katana and would make him his weapons bearer. In the Battle of Tenmokuzan, Nobunaga led his forces (which included Yasuke) into armed conflict and ultimately victory against the Takeda clan. On June 1582, Nobunaga was attacked by the army of Akechi Mitsuhide. Yasuke was present at the time of the attack and he fought with valor against Akechi’s forces, but ultimately Nobunaga forces would be overwhelmed and Nobunaga would be forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). After the death of Nobunaga, Yasuke visited Nobunaga’s son and heir apparent Oda Nobutada, who at the time was in the process of rallying forces at Nijo castle. Yasuke fought bravely alongside Nobutada’s forces, but was ulimately captured. When Yasuke was brought to Akechi, the warlord reportedly made racist comments about Yasuke being an animal and not Japanese, therefore he stated that Yasuke shouldn’t be killed, but rather taken to the Christian church in Kyoto. His ultimate fate is unknown and there is no more written about him after this time. Some people believe he may of returned to working for the Catholic Church, or contracted his services to other warlords.

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By LEON KWASI CHRONICLES Posted on

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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.
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BLACK HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: HANNIBAL BARCA-THE AFRICAN GENERAL WHO PUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE ON THE BRINK OF DESTRUCTION!🌍✊🏿

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

Early Life

Hannibal Barca was born in Carthage, (modern-day Tunisia, North Africa) in 247 BC. He was the son of Hamilcar Barca, who was a highly respected Carthaginian general, and one of the leaders in the first Punic War with the Roman Republic. His brothers Hasdrubal and Mago Barca and his brother-in-law Hasdrubal The Fair, were all commanders in the Carthaginian Military.

The Warrior

Even though Carthage loss the the first Punic War, the Carthaginians and Hannibal were not a submissive people and what they may have loss in the first Punic War, they started to win back in the punic peace, when they started to reclaim their loss territory. The second Punic war started in 218 BC, when Hannibal and his army attacked Saguntum (modern-day Spain), which was an ally of Rome. Hannibal then brought the war to Rome’s Italy territory, when he marched his army and African war elephants out of Africa and into Southern Europe, by crossing the Alps. Hannibal used his brilliant military mind to out strategize his opponents and exploit their weaknesses. For the first several years of his military campaign against the Romans, he achieved many victories, including the battle of Trebia, The Battle of Cannae and the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Hannibal and his forces would eventually take control of most of Southern Italy, and would hold on to it for about a decade and a half. Unfortunately, for Hannibal, he was unable to put the final nail in the Roman Republic’s coffin because for the most part the Roman military, which was led by Fabius Maximus, refused to have a head-to-head battle with their African rivals. Instead they used what is now called the “Fabian Strategy”, which is war of attrition. While Hannibal and his men were busy occupying Southern Italy, Roman general Scipio Africanus, saw that as an opportunity to invade Northern Africa. Once Hannibal discovered their new strategy, he immediately returned to Carthage and would eventually be defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama.

Post War Life

After the Second Punic War with the Romans, Hannibal decided to run for political office and was elected “Sufet”, which in modern-day terms would be the equivalent of a chief magistrate. Hannibal would use his political power to enact financial reforms to raise money to pay war reparations to the Romans. The reforms were so unpopular with the wealthy aristocrats in Carthage and Roman, that Hannibal decided to go into self-imposed exile. One of the places he lived while in exile was the Seleucid Empire, there he became a military advisor to Antiochus III The Great, during his military campaign against Rome. When Antiochus was defeated at the battle of Magnesia, Hannibal once more was forced to go into exile. Hannibal would eventually travel to the Kingdom of Armenia, where he sought sanctuary, there he would be betrayed to the Romans. Instead of allowing himself to be a prisoner of the Romans, he committed Suicide by poisoning.

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PHARAOH PIYE: THE BLACK KING WHO RULED BOTH ANCIENT KUSH/NUBIA AND EGYPT

Pharaoh Piye: The Black King Who Ruled Both Ancient Kush/Nubia and Egypt

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

Early Life

Piye, also known as Piankhi, was the king of the kingdom of Kush, also known as Nubia (modern-day Sudan). He ruled from about 750 BCE to around 719 BCE.

The Holy Conqueror

During his reign as ruler of the people of Nubia, (a people who shared a cultural-connection to the people of Egypt), Piye knew of and took advantage of the inner-conflict of Egypt at the time.

He expanded Nubia’s territory beyond Thebes, in Southern Egypt, and eventually he moved his army north and achieved military victories in Memphis and Hermopolis , just to name a few.

Hear what I have done in exceeding the ancestors. I am the king, the representation of god, the living image of Atum, who issued from the womb marked as ruler, who is feared by those greater than he, [whose father] knew and whose mother perceived even in the egg that he would be ruler, the good god, beloved of the gods, the Son of Re, who acts with his two arms, Piye, beloved of Amon ....— Victory Stele of Piye

“Hear what I have done in exceeding the ancestors. I am the king, the representation of god, the living image of Atum, who issued from the womb marked as ruler, who is feared by those greater than he, [whose father] knew and whose mother perceived even in the egg that he would be ruler, the good god, beloved of the gods, the Son of Re, who acts with his two arms, Piye, beloved of Amon ….”

— Victory Stele of Piye

Egypt at the time was very chaotic and instead of being one unified kingdom, it consisted of several fragmented smaller states, all of which never stood a chance against the mighty and unified kingdom of Nubia, which was at it’s peak at the time. Several kings of the Delta region, including Iuput (also spelled Auput II)of Leontopolis, Nimlot of Hermopolis, and Usermaatre Osorkon IV of Tanis, all eventually submitted to the throne of Piye. Pharaoh Piye viewed his conquest of Egypt as not only a military one, but a religious one. In fact, he believed that Egypt had lost much of its shared cultural and religious identity with Kush due to the fact that Egypt had been invaded by various peoples by this time, who inevitably mixed their cultural, religious and racial identities into the fabric of Egypt. As Pharaoh, Piye wasn’t only responsible for ruling over the people of the Kingdom (soon to be empire) of Kush, but he was also responsible for commanding its military and as Pharaoh he was considered divine and an intermediary between the gods and the people. Making Pharoah Piye the most important religious figure in the nation. Which is why he commanded that his soldiers ritually cleanse themselves (similarly to what a modern-day Muslim does before prayer) before they went into battle. Piye, himself offered sacrifices to the god of Amun. His uniting the two Kingdoms would be seen as an African renaissance.

His Reign

His exact time on the throne is unknown, some reseachers suggest he ruled as Pharaoh for 24 years, others suggest it could of been upwards of 31 years.

NUBIAN PYRAMIDS

PHARAOH’S Tomb

The Tomb of Piye was located in El-Kurru, which was one of the cemeteries of the Nubian/Kush royal family. The tomb site is located in Northern State, Sudan.

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CANADA LABELS WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUP A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, WHILE THE U.S. LOSES ITS FILES ON ONE OF THE LARGEST NETWORKING SITES FOR WHITE SUPREMACISTS

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

Canada labels White supremacist organization a terrorist organization, at around the same time the United States claims that they supposedly lost the files on one of the world’s largest networking websites for White supremacists.

The neo-Nazi group “Blood and Honour” and its armed division “Combat 18” were labeled terrorist entities this past week in Canada. This puts them on Canada’s terrorist list, which includes international terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and about 60 other organizations. Because of this classification, they potentially could have their assets seized because they are known as an organization that supports terrorism.

The group has a history of killings and bombings across Canada and Europe.

Ironically, south of the Canadian border, at around the same time, the FBI who has refused to label White supremacist-extremists, “terrorist”, eventhough they commit most of America’s terrorism, now claim they loss their files on the White supremacist Networking site “StormFront”.

For additional information use the links below:

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/27/americas/canada-neo-nazi-terror-organization-list-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1fDn-jRC4V_10DjDhMQ0lSxbXhRWExIMbVnRPR9R3bIZjGL1XeThkmIC8

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rawstory.com/2019/07/fbi-claims-it-lost-file-on-neo-nazi-website-stormfront-after-a-reasonable-search/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.washingtonpost.com/opinions/can-we-forget-politics-and-just-focus-on-keeping-people-safe/2019/05/03/d6cfe574-6d24-11e9-8f44-e8d8bb1df986_story.html%3foutputType=amp

By LEON KWASI CHRONICLES Posted on

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AMERICA’S LAST SLAVE DIED IN 1971

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

With all the talk about reparations for the descendants of American slaves currently going on around the country, anti-reparation people would have you believe that slavery was so long ago, it wasn’t.

The last surviving person born a slave in the antebellum south was a man named, John Magee. Magee was born in North Carolina in 1841.
Magee’s parents Jeanette and Ephraim were slaves on the J.J. Shanks plantation.

Magee told people that before the Civil War he was sold to a plantation owner by the name of Hugh Magee, at a slave market in Enterprise, Mississippi.

Some say that Magee was later sold to Victory Steen, who ran a slave plantation near Florence, Mississippi. Magee would claim that in 1863 he escaped the bondage of the Steen plantation and enlisted in the Union Army, reportedly he was part of an assault on Vicksburg in Mississippi.

Magee would later get wounded at both Vicksburg and Champion Hill. After the end of the war, Magee returned to his life, but this time as a “free man”, he would begin farming near Columbia, Mississippi with a White mam named, Tom Mix.

In the early 1990’s, Magee would move to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, before later returning to Columbia, Mississippi, to work for a sawmill operator named, Richard Davis. Magee, was trusted and respected enough to supervise the mill when, Davis was away.

Magee would die on October 15, 1971.

For additional information use the link below:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Magee

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JUDGE DROPS CHARGES AGAINST THREE RACIST GANG MEMBERS

By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare

This past Monday a federal judge threw out the charges against three White supremacist gang members, who were indicted for their roles in brutal and violent clashes in political rallies throughout the state of California.

The federal judge, Cormac Carney claimed the three men, who are members of the Rise Above Movement (RAM) gang, were not properly charged when they were charged under a federal anti-riot statute, for planning and then carrying out racist assaults at rallies in 2017 in cities like Huntington Beach, San Bernardino and Berkeley, following the months after President Trump election win.

According to pbs, the federal prosecutor complaint claimed : ” the defendants used the internet to coordinate combat training in preparation for the events”.

When the judge dismissed the case, he claimed he dismissed the case not because the men weren’t guilty of assaults, which they could be charged with later, rather the anti-riot statute of 1968 was too broadly defined.

Judge Carney ordered the release of Robert Rundo, Rober Bowman; Aaron Eason, the third gang member who was already free on bond.

In a separate case in Virginia, three RAM members pleaded guilty to similar charges for their roles in the chaos at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

For additional information use the link below:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/federal-judge-dismisses-charges-against-3-white-supremacists/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share_button

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