BLACK AWARENESS DAY (DIA DA CONSCIENCIA NEGRA) IN BRAZIL

On November 20, 2018 Brazilians celebrate "Dia da Consciência Negra" to commemorate the memory of African Brazilian freedom fighter Zumbi who was beheaded by the Portuguese on November 20-1695. His head was publicly displayed both as a warning to enslaved Africans and proof that Zumbi was not immortal. Zumbi is recognized as a hero, freedom fighter and a symbol of freedom.

Murphy Browne © Thursday, November 20, 2014

BLACK AWARENESS DAY (DIA DA CONSCIENCIA NEGRA) IN BRAZIL

Angola, Congo, Benguela Monjolo, Cabinda, Mina Quiloa, Rebolo

Here where the men are

There’s a big auction

They say that in the auction,

There’s a princess for sale

Who came, together with her subjects

Chained on an oxcart

To one side, sugarcane

To the other side, the coffee plantation

In the middle, seated gentlemen

Watching the cotton crop, so white

Being picked by black hands

When Zumbi arrives

What will happen

Zumbi is a warlord

A lord of demands

When Zumbi arrives, Zumbi Is the one who gives orders

Excerpt from "Zumbi" composed and sung by African Brazilian singer Jorge Ben Jor released in 1974 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db2_TWq7nfs)

“Black November” is celebrated in the city of Salvador in the Brazilian state of Bahia which has the largest number of African Brazilians. Black Awareness Day ("Dia da Consciência Negra") has been celebrated in Brazil every year on November 20, since 1960. On November 20 the enslavement of Africans and other injustices since the abolition of slavery are discussed and the contributions of African Brazilians are recognized and celebrated. November 20 was chosen as Dia da Consciência Negra/Black Awareness Day to remember the transition of Zumbi a famous Brazilian Maroon leader. Zumbi dos Palmares (1655-1695) the last leader of the famous Palmares Quilombo was beheaded on November 20, 1695 by the Portuguese and his head publicly displayed both as a warning to enslaved Africans and proof that Zumbi was not immortal. In 2011 Dilma Rousseff the President of Brazil signed into law a bill that makes November 20 a Brazilian National Holiday although many Brazilian states had previously recognized November 20 with a public holiday.

Zumbi who posthumously has risen to the status of National Hero to many Brazilians and even has a Brazilian airport (Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport) named in his honour and a postage stamp (2008) commemorating his memory was once the bane of the Portuguese colonizers/enslavers in Brazil. Zumbi was born a free African in the community of Palmares where Africans had established a free Maroon community (quilombo) in 1594. Palmares was the most successful community of quilombos established by Africans who fled enslavement in Brazil and survived and thrived for 100 years. Combined forces of Dutch and Portuguese attacked the Palmares community as the presence of Africans living free in a country where White people enslaved millions was a beacon of hope to enslaved Africans. During one of these attacks 6-year-old Zumbi was kidnapped by a group of Portuguese who sold him to a Catholic priest. When he was 15 years old Zumbi escaped and returned to Palmares where by the time he was in his early 20s he was a respected military strategist and a leader in the community. In 1678, the Portuguese governor negotiated a deal with the leader of Palmares. The deal was a cessation of hostilities between the White inhabitants and the people of Palmares if they would agree to move from the location they had settled since 1594 and that they would capture and return any enslaved Africans who fled to their community seeking freedom. The leader of Palmares agreed but Zumbi wisely refused to agree to those terms. The Portuguese proved to be deceitful and enslaved the Africans who believed their promises and left the safety of Palmares. Mary Karasch a White American historian wrote in her article “Zumbi of Palmares: Challenging the Portuguese Colonial Order” published 2013 in "In The Human Tradition in Colonial Latin America" edited by Kenneth J. Andrien: “The Portuguese were not to be trusted, and to live in peace with them would only lead to re-enslavement. To preserve their freedom they had to resist and fight for their people and their own way of life.”

With Zumbi’s refusal to leave Palmares (where Africans had lived as free people for more than 80 years) and his supporters’ determination to defend their territory and their freedom the Portuguese renewed their attacks on Palmares. Zumbi as the new leader of Palmares led the fight against the Portuguese. In her 2013 published article “Zumbi of Palmares: Challenging the Portuguese Colonial Order” Mary Karasch also wrote “What is clear from the documentation is that a newly unified and revived Palmares under the leadership of Zumbi took the offensive. One wonders if the particularly raided plantations where their former comrades had been reenslaved. For a period of thirteen years (1680-1693) Luso-Brazilian expeditions were ineffectual in stopping Palmarino attacks.”

On January 6, 1694 Palmares suffered a surprise attack because of a careless sentry who failed to warn Zumbi of an approaching army of Portuguese. Although Zumbi and his followers from Palmares fought valiantly, they were surrounded and outnumbered. The Portuguese destroyed the Palmares Quilombo, captured 510 Africans and sold them in Bahia.

Zumbi and a few others from Palmares escaped and continued the fight. Zumbi was eventually betrayed by one of his trusted men who bargained Zumbi’s life for his own with the Portuguese. Zumbi was killed in the ensuing fight on November 20, 1695 and his body was delivered to the officials of the city council of Porto Calvo. In her “Zumbi of Palmares: Challenging the Portuguese Colonial Order” Mary Karasch writes: “An examination revealed fifteen gunshot wounds and innumerable blows from other weapons; after his death he had been castrated and mutilated. The last degradation by his enemies occurred in a public ceremony in Porto Calvo, in which his head was cut off and taken to Recife, where the governor had it displayed on a pole in a public place. His objective was to destroy the belief that Zumbi was immortal.”

Although Palmares was one of several quilombos established by Africans in Brazil, the Quilombo of Palmares was the largest with a population of 30,000 and lasted longer than any other (100 years) from 1594 to 1694. Some of Zumbi’s followers who escaped the carnage visited upon them by the Portuguese attack on Palmares escaped to live in other quilombos and enslaved Africans also continued to flee until slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888. Some of the quilombos were so well hidden that they were never discovered by the Portuguese and the inhabitants lived in freedom and seclusion. In one case the inhabitants of a quilombo (Remanso, Bahia) were unaware until they were discovered in the 1960s that slavery had been abolished for more than 80 years! Since 1988, the quilombos have received protective status under Brazil’s constitution in an attempt to maintain the distinctive culture, history and language developed by these communities.

During the November 20 recognition of Zumbi’s contribution to Brazilian culture and history many events take place at Zumbia National Park which has a monument created in his honour. In spite of the special day to honour Zumbi and the recognition of his place in Brazil’s history, African Brazilians continue to experience oppression in a White supremacist culture.

In his 1989 published book “Brazil, Mixture Or Massacre?: Essays in the Genocide of a Black People” African Brazilian scholar and historian Abdias do Nascimento wrote: “On the whole in this pretentious concept of ‘racial democracy,’ there lies deliberately buried the true face of Brazilian society: only one of the racial elements has any rights or power – whites. They control the means of dissemination of information, educational curriculum and institutions, conceptual definitions, aesthetic norms and all other forms of social/cultural values.”

Nascimento who transitioned to the ancestral realm on May 23, 2011 was a Pan-Africanist who played a significant role in raising awareness among African Brazilians and also wrote "Racial Democracy in Brazil, Myth or Reality?: A Dossier of Brazilian Racism" (1977), "Race and ethnicity in Latin America – African culture in Brazilian art" (1994), "Orixás: os deuses vivos da Africa" (Orishas: the living gods of Africa in Brazil) (1995) and "Africans in Brazil: a Pan-African perspective" (1997.) Recognition of Zumbi would not be complete without recognition of Nascimento as the African Brazilian activist scholar who has been described as a “militant Pan-Africanist” and spent his life raising awareness of the struggle of African Brazilians to navigate a White supremacist culture/system.

Murphy Browne © Thursday, November 20, 2014

MADISON WASHINGTON AND THE SEIZING OF THE CREOLE - NOVEMBER 7-1841

One hundred and seventy-seven years ago today (November 7-2018,) on November 7-1841 a 22-year-old enslaved African man seized control of the slave ship “Creole” which was transporting him and 134 other enslaved Africans from Virginia to be sold in New Orleans. Madison Washington was the leader of this successful uprising of enslaved Africans. Surprisingly five of the enslaved Africans chose to return to enslavement in the United States. The incident of enslaved Africans who rose up and seized their freedom on the “Creole” is regarded as the most successful “slave revolt” in American history because 130 enslaved Africans were freed due to this uprising.

Murphy Browne © Monday, November 14, 2016

MADISON WASHINGTON AND THE SEIZING OF THE CREOLE

On the night of November 7, 1841, Madison Washington a 22-year-old enslaved African man seized control of the slave ship “Creole” which was transporting him and 134 other enslaved Africans from Virginia to be sold in New Orleans. Washington led a group of 18 other enslaved Africans in seizing control from the White captain and crew of the “Creole.” Washington first demanded that they sail to Liberia then changed that plan to Nassau, Bahamas.

The British had colonized the Bahamas in 1649 and made it a British Crown colony in 1718. Following the successful American rebellion against British rule (1765-1783) some of the British Loyalists had fled to the Bahamas taking the Africans they had enslaved in the USA. Britain abolished slavery on August 1, 1838 after a four year “apprenticeship” for the Africans from August 1, 1834. On November 7, 1841 when the Africans on board the “Creole” seized control of the vessel they first demanded to be taken to Liberia in West Africa. Liberia had been developed as a colony in 1821 by the American Colonization Society to settle formerly enslaved Africans. The American Colonization Society was a group of White people who did not want to share space with Africans who were not enslaved. They felt that all freed Africans should leave the USA and be taken to Africa even though they were born in America as were their ancestors for several generations. Liberia, West Africa was the first choice of resettlement for Madison Washington after seizing control of the “Creole.” Some of the other Africans on board wanted to try for the Bahamas which was much closer. They had heard about the slave ship “Hermosa” which had been shipwrecked in the Bahamas in 1840 and that the enslaved Africans onboard had been set free. On October 22, 1840 the American slave ship “Hermosa” was towed to Nassau, Bahamas with 38 enslaved Africans on board. The Africans were freed once they landed in Nassau because slavery had been abolished by the British six years before.

When the “Creole” landed in Nassau, Washington and his 18 co-conspirators were jailed because they were accused of killing a White man during their bid for freedom on the “Creole.” Inexplicably, of the 135 enslaved Africans on the “Creole” three women, a boy and a girl choose to remain onboard to return to slavery in New Orleans. Several of the people from the “Creole” who escaped slavery choose resettlement in Jamaica. Washington and the 18 people he led during the uprising on the “Creole” were tried and found not guilty. The Admiralty Court of Nassau held a special session in April 1842 to consider the charges. The Court ruled that the men had been illegally held in slavery and had the right to use force to gain their freedom. They were released on April 16, 1842 and disappeared into history.

Madison Washington is said to have escaped slavery two years before the “Creole” incident but was recaptured when he returned to the USA to rescue his wife. It has also been said that Washington was reunited with his wife, who according to legend was on the “Creole.” Perhaps Washington and his wife settled in the Bahamas after he was released because there was a substantial free African community in the Bahamas. This free African community had grown after the British abolished the international slave trade in 1807. Thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships by the British Royal Navy were resettled in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Abaco, Inagua and other islands in the Bahamas.

The incident of enslaved Africans who rose up and seized their freedom on the “Creole” is regarded as one of the most successful “slave revolts” in American history. Enslaved Africans resisted their enslavement by any means necessary wherever they were enslaved. Africans were enslaved by Europeans in every country in the Americas (Central, North and South) and on the Caribbean islands. Their resistance included sabotage, such as breaking tools or setting fire to buildings and/or crops. They sometimes pretended to be too sick to work, worked as slowly as they could or pretended not to understand instructions. Some enslaved Africans poisoned their enslavers. There were some cases of enslaved Africans accused of poisoning their owners, who were tried and executed. In 1755, a group of enslaved Africans were accused of killing their owner. Phillis an enslaved African woman in Cambridge, Massachusetts was accused of poisoning her owner and executed by being “burned at the stake.” Mark an enslaved African man who was accused of conspiring with Phillis was hanged and his body gibbeted (left on display.) An article published in the September 25, 1755 issue of the “Boston News-Letter” described their execution: "Thursday last were executed at Cambridge, pursuant to their sentences, Mark and Phillis, two Negro Servants belonging to the late Captain John Codman of Charlestown, for poysoning their said Master: They were both drawn from the Prison to the Place of Execution, attended by the greatest Number of Spectators ever known on such an Occasion; where the former was hanged by the Neck until dead, after which the body was Gibbeted; and the latter was burned to Death." In 1681, an enslaved African woman named Maria tried to kill her owner by setting his house on fire. She was convicted of arson and burned at the stake in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. An enslaved African man named Jack, convicted in a separate arson case, was hanged at a nearby gallows and his body was thrown in the fire with Maria’s body as she was burned at the stake.

Slavery in Canada was abolished on August 1, 1834 as elsewhere in British colonized countries at the time. There was no “apprenticeship” period to be served by the emancipated Africans in Canada unlike in the Caribbean. Slavery in the USA was abolished 31 years later in 1865. The history of enslaved Africans is rife with examples of African resistance which led to the end of the practice of enslaving Africans by Europeans. There are many stories naming White abolitionists and hardly is credit given to the Africans who resisted in various ways including armed struggle like the Africans on the “Creole.” The African struggle to end their enslavement is often ignored, underestimated or forgotten. African resistance was documented by Europeans only when there was substantial damage to European interests such as uprisings on slave ships and arson.

The African resistance movement included fleeing plantations and establishing maroon communities (Brazil, Jamaica, Suriname etc.,) from where war was often waged against the Europeans. In Europe, African abolitionists launched or participated in civic movements to end enslavement of Africans. They delivered speeches, provided information, wrote newspaper articles and books. Using various means Africans in Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe were consistently involved in the struggle to end the slave trade and slavery. The abolition of slavery was very much the result of African resistance and incidents such as the uprising on the “Creole” hastened the end of slavery.

The descendants of those enslaved Africans continue to struggle against the White supremacist cultures in the Americas and Europe. Racial profiling exists in workplaces, educational institutions, housing, policing etc. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has recognized that: “As racial stereotyping and discrimination exists in society, it also exists in institutions such as law enforcement agencies, the education system, the criminal justice system etc., which are a microcosm of broader society.” Madison Washington and the other freedom fighters from the “Creole” are lost in history, seldom remembered. There are names of our freedom fighters (including Charles Roach, Dudley Laws, Sherona Hall) that must not be lost, who we must never forget as we continue the struggle.

Murphy Browne © Monday, November 14, 2016

BOX HAND PARDNER SUSU SOUSOU

BOX HAND PARDNER SUSU SOUSOU

Murphy Browne © Monday, October 29-2018

An African custom that is still practiced by many Africans in the Diaspora is an informal banking system that has its roots in West Africa. This system although familiar is known by various names in the countries where it is practiced. In Jamaica this system is known as “pardner;” in Guyana, “box hand;” in Barbados, “meeting;” in Haiti, “min;” in Suriname, “kasmoni;” in Trinidad and Tobago “sou-sou.” This method was ingrained in the African Guyanese psyche from since the long ago and far away days after slavery was abolished (August 1-1834) and the "apprentice system" ended (August 1-1838) and they saved their money to purchase abandoned plantations to establish villages (November 1839-1852) along the Guyana coastland. I know of many Guyanese who used this method to fund their children's education, paid their fare to Canada, England, the USA etc., Over the years living in Toronto I have chatted with others in the Diaspora and learned the various names used for the same system. Over the years living in Toronto I have chatted with other Africans in the Diaspora and learned the various names used for the same system. I recently spoke with an elderly relative who told me that she bought her house by "throwing box" many decades ago. Although she was a nurse/midwife and her husband was a policeman, "throwing box" rather than seeking a loan from a bank was the route she decided to use. I became a member of this system as a teenager in Guyana but never bought anything as substantial as a house.

The name sou-sou comes from the Yoruba term “esusu” and originated in Nigeria, West Africa from where the ancestors of many in the Diaspora were taken. The Yoruba esusu was transported to wherever the Africans were enslaved in the Caribbean, Central America, North America and South America. Susu is also part of the Akan culture of Ghana, West Africa; another area from where many of our ancestors were taken and scattered. Although the susu system is now not well known to African-Americans, it remains popular among many African Caribbean, African Latino and African immigrant communities from Central and South America. Some use the susu to start businesses, others for substantial purchases, vacations, down payments on properties and cars and even to pay for the education of their children.

A sou-sou (also spelled su-su or susu) is an informal rotating savings club, where a group of people get together and contribute an equal amount of money into a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly fund. The total pool when collected, sometimes known as a hand, is then paid to one member of the club on an agreed-on schedule. In every sousou group there is a banker/treasurer who will collect the contributions of the members. The banker/treasurer will also create a payout roster, or members can request to receive their hand at any given date during the cycle. Everyone agrees on how much and how often they want to contribute. If ten members are contributing $100 a week, each week a member will receive a $1,000 “hand” or cash lump sum. Any member who can afford it, can also double their contribution and get paid two hands in one cycle.

The susu banker/treasurer assumes the responsibility for collecting and keeping track of the contributions and is someone who is trusted and respected throughout the community. In most cases the susu members also trust and know each other well. There is no interest on the money so the partners who “throw box” will always collect the exact amount that they contribute. In some cases once each member has received a hand, the susu is dissolved. A similar group (with the same or different participants) is usually reformed to continue its activities under similar conditions. Susu hands are used for various reasons including cash flow management, raising seed capital to start businesses, buying a vehicle, vacation funds or securing home mortgages.

In ages gone by, long ago and far away, housewives who did not have an income and those in rural communities who had no access to traditional banks used sou-sous. The women would save a little bit of money from whatever their husbands gave them and put it in a sou-sou to be able to treat themselves when they received a hand. Some of those women also helped their families to buy a house, started businesses or paid their children’s school fees.

In this centuries-old tried and trusted practice that originated in West Africa the prevailing and most important component is trust. Whether it is called box hand, sousou, partner, meeting or kasmoni trust is important. It is therefore important to join a susu with trusted friends, family members or co-workers who understand the importance of honouring the commitment.

Murphy Browne © Monday, October 29-2018

CURACAO UPRISING AUGUST 17-1795

MURPHY BROWNE © August 16-2018




On August 17-1795 a group of Africans on the Caribbean island Curaçao seized their freedom from the Dutch men and women who had kept them enslaved as an unpaid workforce. In 1795 Curaçao was a Dutch colony occupied by men and women from the Netherlands who bought, sold and brutalized enslaved Africans. The Africans had been kidnapped from their homes and transported across the Atlantic under barbaric and horrific conditions in the holds of ships manned by White Christians. The Africans engaged in this Revolutionary War against the Dutch which raged for a month (August 17-1795 to September 19-1795) were led by Tula.




Much of the history of Africans in the Diaspora has been of struggle against and triumph over chattel slavery. In every location where Africans were enslaved they resisted in various ways including armed struggle. The Africans on Curaçao with superior numbers could have crushed the Dutch and either driven them off the island or exterminated the lot of them. The Dutch did not hesitate to brutally supress the Revolution and displayed extreme barbarity in destroying the revolutionaries when they regained control of the island.






At the time of the Revolution on August 17-1795 the Africans outnumbered the Dutch. However while the Africans were negotiating in good faith (all they wanted was their freedom) the Europeans were marking time. Once the Europeans regained control of Curaçao many of the Africans were brutally killed and decapitated, their heads put on display as a warning. Many of the Africans preferred to die fighting, rather than surrender and become re-enslaved.




Tula and the other recognized leader, Bastiaan Karpata, were arrested on September 19 and on October 3 they were executed. Some of the freedom fighters were hanged, some broken on the wheel and one woman was “strangled after her hands had been cut off.” The Dutch unceremoniously threw the bodies of the freedom fighting Africans into the sea.






Although the August 17-1795 uprising did not end slavery in Curaçao it is recognized as the beginning of the end of enslavement in the Dutch colony. The Dutch abolished slavery in 1863, 68 years after the August 1795 uprising. The date and the freedom fighters are recognized and celebrated in the 21^st century. A monument representing Tula’s efforts to end slavery stands on the spot (erected October 1998) where he was executed by the Dutch on October 3-1795.






It is recognized that the uprising in Curaçao was inspired by the Haitian Revolution. In the 2011 published “Curaçao in the Age of Revolutions, 1795-1800” Dutch authors Wim Klooster and Gert Oostindie wrote: “While the type and significance of slavery may have been atypical by regional standards, slave resistance was as engrained in Curaçaoan slavery as it was elsewhere. The sheer number of insurgents and their proportion of the total population make this revolt of significance in the wider historiography of slave revolts inspired by the French, and particularly Haitian revolutions.”




Like many other places that were colonized by various European tribes Curaçao was traded back and forth. During the early 18th century, the island attracted the British and French, who were fighting over various Caribbean islands in desperate struggles to control the profitable trade routes and sugar plantations of the islands. Britain tossed the Dutch out of Curaçao twice; 1800 to 1803 and again from 1807 to 1815. The 1815 Treaty of Paris returned Curaçao to Dutch control. The fate of the enslaved Africans was never a consideration to the warring European tribes.






After WWII, the people of Curaçao joined other Caribbean nations in advocating for independence. On October 10, 2010 Curaçao, Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius became special municipalities within the Netherlands. Although the majority of the population of Curaçao are the descendants of enslaved Africans the White supremacist Dutch tradition of “Black Pete/Zwarte Piet” holds sway. In his 1990 published “The Dutch in the Caribbean and in Surinam 1791/5-1942” Dutch author Cornelis Ch. Goslinga wrote: “The white elite of the Curaçao islands was composed of influential, in general well-to-do or rich Protestants and Jews. The years of their ascendancy and domination over the colored and black masses lasted for almost 300 years, well into the 20th century. They were able to maintain this control because of their monopoly in political power. The laws, made by the whites, gave them all advantages possible. In the traditional infrastructure every white had high prestige value. The skin therefore was of great importance. To have a white one meant to be powerful.”




Today 223 years after the Dutch on Curaçao executed Tula, Bastiaan Karpata and other African freedom fighters their stories are known. In 2013 the movie “Tula: The Revolt” was released based on the book “Tula: The Revolt.” Every year August 17 is celebrated to commemorate the uprising.




MURPHY BROWNE © August 16-2018

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AUGUST 13-1920 RED BLACK AND GREEN

Murphy Browne © August 13-2018

AUGUST 13-1920 RED BLACK AND GREEN

Ninety eight years ago on August 13-1920 the members of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (U.N.I.A.-ACL) voted to accept the “The Declaration of Rights of the African/Negro Peoples of the World.” This revolutionary document was one of the earliest and most complete documents advocating human rights and detailing the abuses against Africans worldwide. It also sought the uplift of Africans everywhere and encouraged self-reliance and nationhood. One of the most notable declarations of “The Declaration of Rights of the African/Negro Peoples of the World” was article 39 proclaiming the red, black and green flag the official banner of the Africans.

For the entire month of August 1920, the U.N.I.A.-ACL founded by the Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey held its first international convention in New York City. Many events were held at the New York Liberty Hall with its biggest events held at Madison Square Garden. An estimated 25,000 Africans from all around the world attended the convention including delegates from 25 African countries. On August 13, 1920, they voted and made the declaration official. One of the most notable declarations of this document was one proclaiming the red, black and green colours the official colours representing the African race. Since then the red, black and green flag has become a symbol of African unity and pride all over the world. Many African countries (including Ghana and Kenya) sport the colours in their flags, symbolizing the influence of Marcus Mosiah Garvey. The red, black and green flag became a symbol of Black pride, Black power, and Black nationalism in the USA during the 1960s. During the Pan-African Kwanzaa celebration (December 26-January 1) the colours red, black and green are used as well.

“THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS OF THE AFRICAN/NEGRO PEOPLES OF THE WORLD.”

PREAMBLE

Be It Resolved, That the Negro people of the world, through their chosen representatives in convention assembled in Liberty Hall, in the City of New York and United States of America, from August 1 to August 31, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty, protest against the wrongs and injustices they are suffering at the hands of their white brethren, and state what they deem their fair and just rights, as well as the treatment they propose to demand of all men in the future.

WE COMPLAIN:

1. That nowhere in the world, with few exceptions, are black men accorded equal treatment with white men, although in the same situation and circumstances, but, on the contrary, are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason than their race and color.

We are not willingly accepted as guests in the public hotels and inns of the world for no other reason than our race and color.

2. In certain parts of the United States of America our race is denied the right of public trial accorded to other races when accused of crime, but are lynched and burned by mobs, and such brutal and inhuman treatment is even practiced upon our women.

3. That European nations have parcelled out among them and taken possession of nearly all of the continent of Africa, and the natives are compelled to surrender their lands to aliens and are treated in most instances like slaves.

4. In the southern portion of the United States of America, although citizens under the Federal Constitution, and in some States almost equal to the whites in population and are qualified land owners and taxpayers, we are, nevertheless, denied all voice in the making and administration of the laws and are taxed without representation by the State governments, and at the same time compelled to do military service in defense of the country.

5. On the public conveyances and common carriers in the southern portion of the United States we are jim-crowed and compelled to accept separate and inferior accommodations and made to pay the same fare charged for first-class accommodations, and our families are often humiliated and insulted by drunken white men who habitually pass through the jim-crow cars going to the smoking car.

6. The physicians of our race are denied the right to attend their patients while in the public hospitals of the cities and States where they reside in certain parts of the United States.

Our children are forced to attend inferior separate schools for shorter terms than white children, and the public school funds are unequally divided between the white and colored schools.

7. We are discriminated against and denied an equal chance to earn wages for the support of our families, and in many instances are refused admission into labor unions and nearly everywhere are paid smaller wages than white men.

8. In the Civil Service and departmental offices we are everywhere discriminated against and made to feel that to be a black man in Europe, America and the West Indies is equivalent to being an outcast and a leper among the races of men, no matter what the character attainments of the black men may be.

9. In the British and other West Indian islands and colonies Negroes are secretly and cunningly discriminated against and denied those fuller rights of government to which white citizens are appointed, nominated and elected.

10. That our people in those parts are forced to work for lower wages than the average standard of white men and are kept in conditions repugnant to good civilized tastes and customs.

11. That the many acts of injustices against members of our race before the courts of law in the respective islands and colonies are of such nature as to create disgust and disrespect for the white man’s sense of justice.

12. Against all such inhuman, unchristian and uncivilized treatment we here and now emphatically protest, and invoke the condemnation of all mankind.

In order to encourage our race all over the world and to stimulate it to overcome the handicaps and difficulties surrounding it, and to push forward to a higher and grander destiny, we demand and insist on the following Declaration of Rights:

1. Be it known to all men that whereas all men are created equal and entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and because of this we, the duly elected representatives of the Negro peoples of the world, invoking the aid of the just and Almighty God, do declare all men, women and children of our blood throughout the world free denizens, and do claim them as free citizens of Africa, the Motherland of all Negroes.

2. That we believe in the supreme authority of our race in all things racial; that all things are created and given to man as a common possession; that there should be an equitable distribution and apportionment of all such things, and in consideration of the fact that as a race we are now deprived of those things that are morally and legally ours, we believed it right that all such things should be acquired and held by whatsoever means possible.

3. That we believe the Negro, like any other race, should be governed by the ethics of civilization, and therefore should not be deprived of any of those rights or privileges common to other human beings.

4. We declare that Negroes, wheresoever they form a community among themselves should be given the right to elect their own representatives to represent them in Legislatures, courts of law, or such institutions as may exercise control over that particular community.

5. We assert that the Negro is entitled to even-handed justice before all courts of law and equity in whatever country he may be found, and when this is denied him on account of his race or color such denial is an insult to the race as a whole and should be resented by the entire body of Negroes.

6. We declare it unfair and prejudicial to the rights of Negroes in communities where they exist in considerable numbers to be tried by a judge and jury composed entirely of an alien race, but in all such cases members of our race are entitled to representation on the jury.

7. We believe that any law or practice that tends to deprive any African of his land or the privileges of free citizenship within his country is unjust and immoral, and no native should respect any such law or practice.

8. We declare taxation without representation unjust and tyran[n]ous, and there should be no obligation on the part of the Negro to obey the levy of a tax by any law-making body from which he is excluded and denied representation on account of his race and color.

9. We believe that any law especially directed against the Negro to his detriment and singling him out because of his race or color is unfair and immoral, and should not be respected.

10. We believe all men entitled to common human respect and that our race should in no way tolerate any insults that may be interpreted to mean disrespect to our race or color.

11. We deprecate the use of the term “nigger” as applied to Negroes, and demand that the word “Negro” be written with a capital “N.”

12. We believe that the Negro should adopt every means to protect himself against barbarous practices inflicted upon him because of color.

13. We believe in the freedom of Africa for the Negro people of the world, and by the principle of Europe for the Europeans and Asia for the Asiatics, we also demand Africa for the Africans at home and abroad.

14. We believe in the inherent right of the Negro to possess himself of Africa and that his possession of same shall not be regarded as an infringement of any claim or purchase made by any race or nation.

15. We strongly condemn the cupidity of those nations of the world who, by open aggression or secret schemes, have seized the territories and inexhaustible natural wealth of Africa, and we place on record our most solemn determination to reclaim the treasures and possession of the vast continent of our forefathers.

16. We believe all men should live in peace one with the other, but when races and nations provoke the ire of other races and nations by attempting to infringe upon their rights[,] war becomes inevitable, and the attempt in any way to free one’s self or protect one’s rights or heritage becomes justifiable.

17. Whereas the lynching, by burning, hanging or any other means, of human beings is a barbarous practice and a shame and disgrace to civilization, we therefore declare any country guilty of such atrocities outside the pale of civilization.

18. We protest against the atrocious crime of whipping, flogging and overworking of the native tribes of Africa and Negroes everywhere. These are methods that should be abolished and all means should be taken to prevent a continuance of such brutal practices.

19. We protest against the atrocious practice of shaving the heads of Africans, especially of African women or individuals of Negro blood, when placed in prison as a punishment for crime by an alien race.

20. We protest against segregated districts, separate public conveyances, industrial discrimination, lynchings and limitations of political privileges of any Negro citizen in any part of the world on account of race, color or creed, and will exert our full influence and power against all such.

21. We protest against any punishment inflicted upon a Negro with severity, as against lighter punishment inflicted upon another of an alien race for like offense, as an act of prejudice and injustice, and should be resented by the entire race.

22. We protest against the system of education in any country where Negroes are denied the same privileges and advantages as other races.

23. We declare it inhuman and unfair to boycott Negroes from industries and labor in any part of the world.

24. We believe in the doctrine of the freedom of the press, and we therefore emphatically protest against the suppression of Negro newspapers and periodicals in various parts of the world, and call upon Negroes everywhere to employ all available means to prevent such suppression.

25. We further demand free speech universally for all men.

26. We hereby protest against the publication of scandalous and inflammatory articles by an alien press tending to create racial strife and the exhibition of picture films showing the Negro as a cannibal.

27. We believe in the self-determination of all peoples.

28. We declare for the freedom of religious worship.

29. With the help of Almighty God we declare ourselves the sworn protectors of the honor and virtue of our women and children, and pledge our lives for their protection and defense everywhere and under all circumstances from wrongs and outrages.

30. We demand the right of an unlimited and unprejudiced education for ourselves and our posterity forever[.]

31. We declare that the teaching in any school by alien teachers to our boys and girls, that the alien race is superior to the Negro race, is an insult to the Negro people of the world.

32. Where Negroes form a part of the citizenry of any country, and pass the civil service examination of such country, we declare them entitled to the same consideration as other citizens as to appointments in such civil service.

33. We vigorously protest against the increasingly unfair and unjust treatment accorded Negro travelers on land and sea by the agents and employee of railroad and steamship companies, and insist that for equal fare we receive equal privileges with travelers of other races.

34. We declare it unjust for any country, State or nation to enact laws tending to hinder and obstruct the free immigration of Negroes on account of their race and color.

35. That the right of the Negro to travel unmolested throughout the world be not abridged by any person or persons, and all Negroes are called upon to give aid to a fellow Negro when thus molested.

36. We declare that all Negroes are entitled to the same right to travel over the world as other men.

37. We hereby demand that the governments of the world recognize our leader and his representatives chosen by the race to look after the welfare of our people under such governments.

38. We demand complete control of our social institutions without interference by any alien race or races.

39. That the colors, Red, Black and Green, be the colors of the Negro race.

40. Resolved, That the anthem “Ethiopia, Thou Land of Our Fathers etc.,” shall be the anthem of the Negro race. . . .

41. We believe that any limited liberty which deprives one of the complete rights and prerogatives of full citizenship is but a modified form of slavery.

42. We declare it an injustice to our people and a serious Impediment to the health of the race to deny to competent licensed Negro physicians the right to practice in the public hospitals of the communities in which they reside, for no other reason than their race and color.

43. We call upon the various government[s] of the world to accept and acknowledge Negro representatives who shall be sent to the said governments to represent the general welfare of the Negro peoples of the world.

44. We deplore and protest against the practice of confining juvenile prisoners in prisons with adults, and we recommend that such youthful prisoners be taught gainful trades under human[e] supervision.

45. Be it further resolved, That we as a race of people declare the League of Nations null and void as far as the Negro is concerned, in that it seeks to deprive Negroes of their liberty.

46. We demand of all men to do unto us as we would do unto them, in the name of justice; and we cheerfully accord to all men all the rights we claim herein for ourselves.

47. We declare that no Negro shall engage himself in battle for an alien race without first obtaining the consent of the leader of the Negro people of the world, except in a matter of national self-defense.

48. We protest against the practice of drafting Negroes and sending them to war with alien forces without proper training, and demand in all cases that Negro soldiers be given the same training as the aliens.

49. We demand that instructions given Negro children in schools include the subject of “Negro History,” to their benefit.

50. We demand a free and unfettered commercial intercourse with all the Negro people of the world.

51. We declare for the absolute freedom of the seas for all peoples.

52. We demand that our duly accredited representatives be given proper recognition in all leagues, conferences, conventions or courts of international arbitration wherever human rights are discussed.

53. We proclaim the 31st day of August of each year to be an international holiday to be observed by all Negroes.

54. We want all men to know that we shall maintain and contend for the freedom and equality of every man, woman and child of our race, with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

These rights we believe to be justly ours and proper for the protection of the Negro race at large, and because of this belief we, on behalf of the four hundred million Negroes of the world, do pledge herein the sacred blood of the race in defense, and we hereby subscribe our names as a guarantee of the truthfulness and faithfulness hereof, in the presence of Almighty God, on this 13th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty.

Murphy Browne © August 13-2018