It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally ready for prime time. “Blakfacts Volume 1” is a compendium of notable facts in the history of the African diaspora. You’ll encounter heroes and sheroes; warriors and peacemakers; presidents and popes. In fact there’s no telling what kind of folks you’ll encounter.

This book is for young and old! You’ll learn about things your teacher never told you in school. They say, “those who do not know their history are destined to repeat it!” This fully illustrated volume is the first in a series of books which will broaden the horizons of its readers. If you thought you knew something about African American history, think again. Read the rest of this entry »

Another long campaign comes to an end. We now know what we may have been unsure of yesterday. The most powerful man in the world is a Black man! The Obamas will soon be occupying the White House, not as a butler and maid, but as the residents of the house.

This is a significant occurrence in American history, but not like some of us may think. “Race” has been a significant issue during this run for the White House. However, this is not the first time an African American has occupied the White House!! According to J.A. Rogers, their have been 4-5 African American presidents already! Now, just in case you missed this lesson during American history class I’ll give you a quick recap.

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Congratulations to Barack Obama and Obamaholics across the nation.

During the last months this site, focused on African American culture, has had a steady dose of Obama related content. That is fitting, considering an Obama presidency’s impact on Black America. We look forward, though, to getting back to highlighting cultural artifacts of interest the the black community. Hence this post.

The idea of a black president is one that has generated much speculation in our community. In film, music, and literature the notion has been kicked around sometimes as an impossible farce and sometimes as a radical, revolutionary challenge. Off the top of my head, a couple of popular tunes come to mind when thinking of a black president. I thought I’d present them here just for kicks since, after today, we can never listen to these songs in the same way. I’m hoping to hear one or more of these cuts at the inaugural.

fyi: hit the little speaker icon next to the name to play the track without leaving the page.

Funky President (People it’s Bad) James Brown-1974

One Nation Under a Groove Funkadelic-1978

Paint the White House Black George Clinton-1993

Young people turned out in force for a political rally at the Quicken Loans Arena on October 29th, 2008. LeBron James, Jay-Z, the Obama Campaign and the Democratic Party held a large rally in downtown Cleveland that was well staged and attended.

News media from around the world were represented, including a Kenyan paper called “The Nation,” “Al-Jazeera English,” and all the major U.S. news outlets.
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Today Senator Barack Obama wrapped up the presidential campaign that began “on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, “with his “closing argument,” delivered to a full house at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. His closing argument summed up the current state of the campaign and, I’m sure, inspired many residents of Northeast Ohio to continue to work even harder to put him in the White House, on November 4th, 2008.

Even as the diverse crowd basked in the words of the presidential candidate, plans to implement the “final solution” for African Americans, Barack Obama in particular, were being foiled by federal agents in Jackson, Tennessee. This makes the 4th assassination attempt on Baracks life, that’s been publicized, since he began his campaign on the steps of the Old State Capitol.
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You’re probably familiar with the West African symbology known as Adinkra. I won’t go into the details of where they come from and why they’re used. What I am going to do is make available these symbols to artists who may want to use them in their designs.  I’ll be putting up collections of 15 or 20 along with their names and meanings as I have time. This is the first installment in .jpg format. To get them onto your machine just drag the image to your hard drive if you’re on a Mac. If you are on a PC I believe a right click will allow you to save.

Part 2 of the Adinkra symbols can be found here

[Show as slideshow]

ABAN (A fortress): STRENGTH OF AUTHORITY

ADINKRAHENE (Chief adinkra):
GREATNESS & LEADERSHIP

AGYINADAWURU (The gong of Agyin): FAITHFULNESS & ALERTNESS

AKOBEN (war horn):VIGILANCE & WARINESS, A CALL TO ARMS

AKOFENA (Ceremonial swords): STATE AUTHORITY, LEGITIMACY

AKOKO NAN (Hens feet): PROTECTIVENESS and PARENTAL DISCIPLINE

AKOMA (The Heart): LOVE, PATIENCE & FAITHFULNESS

AKOMA NTOASO (The joined or united hearts): TOGETHERNESS & UNITY

ANANSE NTONTAN (The spider's web) WISDOM, CRAFTINESS, CREATIVITY and COMPLEXITIES of LIFE

ANI BRE A ENSO GYA: PATIENCE & SELF-DISCIPLINE

ASASE YE DURU (The earth is heavy): PROVIDENCE & DIVINITY

AYA (fern): ENDURANCE and RESOURCEFULLNESS

BESE SAKA (sack of cola nuts): AFFLUENCE, POWER, TOGETHERNESS and UNITY

BI NKA BI (No one should bite the other): PEACE and HARMONY

BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO (Help me and let me help you):
COOPERATION and INTERDEPENDANCE

DAMEDAME (the checkerboard game): CRAFTINESS, INTELLEGENCE and STRATEGY

The end of this election season is coming to an abrupt close. There are 12 days left to cast your vote. Will you wait until the last moment and then rush to cast your vote in a furious flurry, or will you cast a vote early and free up a space in line for someone who cannot get enough time off from work to go to the polls? Now’s the time to make your decision and take action. It’s such a simple thing that has been complicated by the need to automate every aspect of society.

Voting machine technology, which was supposed to simplify the whole process has come up short of the hype. What was supposed to streamline the process, improve accuracy and reliability is now causing interminably long lines at the polls and in the end is not necessarily accurate. We now know that our “state of the art” electronic voting equipment is unreliable at best (see EVEREST report), prone to tampering at worst. So, here are a few tips to help you successfully cast your ballot in a timely manner.

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I’ve lived in the Akron area for almost 40 years now. During that time I’ve had the privilege of working with some extremely talented singers, songwriters, and musicians. Many of these players would put the latest crop of corporate sponsored, cookie cutter “talent” that we hear on the radio to shame. In fact if someone were to pool this talent I think we could give Motown a run for their money. Right here in little ol’ A-town.

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An email has recently been circulating decrying a Stanford University poll showing how many Americans have negative feelings toward blacks. The poll was most disheartening in that it showed some pretty low scores for Democratic voters and suggested that many will not vote for Obama simply because of his race. To that I have to ask: People actually get paid for this?

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