Achebe's Things Fall Apart: The Making Of A Classic Masterpiece

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre,

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."

   William Butler Yeats- The Second Coming.

Its title borrowed from W.B Yeats "The Second Coming", Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. Published in 1958, its story chronicles pre-colonial life in the south-eastern part of Nigeria and the arrival of the Europeans during the late nineteenth century.

Achebe

It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. In 1962, Achebe's debut novel was first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd. Things Fall Apart was the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series.

The novel follows the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo ("Ibo" in the novel) man and local wrestling champion in the fictional Nigerian clan of Umuofia. The work is split into three parts, with the first describing his family, personal history, and the customs and society of the Igbo, and the second and third sections introducing the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on Okonkwo, his family and wider Igbo community.

The work of Okonkwo is basically epitomised by his notoriously famous quote that cowards die many deaths before dying.

Things Fall Apart was followed by a sequel, No Longer at Ease (1960), originally written as the second part of a larger work along with Arrow of God (1964).

Young Achebe with copies of things fall apart

Achebe states that his two later novels A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), while not featuring Okonkwo's descendants, are spiritual successors to the previous novels in chronicling African history.

THINGS FALL APART WAS WRITTEN IN ENGLISH

Achebe wrote his novels in English because the written standard Igbo language was created by combining various dialects, creating a stilted written form. In a 1994 interview with The Paris Review, Achebe said, "the novel form seems to go with the English language.

There is a problem with the Igbo language. It suffers from a very serious inheritance which it received at the beginning of this century from the Anglican mission. They sent out a missionary by the name of Dennis. Archdeacon Dennis. He was a scholar.

.

Achebe Writing

He had this notion that the Igbo language—which had very many different dialects—should somehow manufacture a uniform dialect that would be used in writing to avoid all these different dialects.

Because the missionaries were powerful, what they wanted to do they did. This became the law. But the standard version cannot sing. There's nothing you can do with it to make it sing. It's heavy. It's wooden. It doesn't go anywhere."

Achebe's choice to write in English has caused controversy. While both African and non-African critics agree that Achebe modelled Things Fall Apart on classic European literature, they disagree about whether his novel upholds a Western model, or, in fact, subverts or confronts it.

Achebe continued to defend his decision: "English is something you spend your lifetime acquiring, so it would be foolish not to use it. Also, in the logic of colonization and decolonization it is actually a very powerful weapon in the fight to regain what was yours.

English was the language of colonization itself. It is not simply something you use because you have it anyway."

Achebe is noted for his inclusion of and weaving in of proverbs from Igbo oral culture into his writing.

This influence was explicitly referenced by Achebe in Things Fall Apart: "Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten."

Things fall apart is the most read African literature and has been translated into more than 50 known world languages. You can find it in libraries all over the world. This classic African masterpiece sits amongst some of the finest piece of literary works of all time.


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The One Time Richest Man In Africa; Richer Than Both Dangote & Otedola Combined

"Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu (1909-1966) was a notable Businessman/ Transporter and one of the wealthiest men in Nigeria. Born in Nnewi Anambra State, Ojukwu attended Primary school in Asaba and went on the Hope Waddell Training Institute Calabar. He started work in the Colonial Agriculture dept and later joined John Holt as a Tyre clerk. He soon left to set up a Textile business and also a Stockfish import business(the first in the country). He later diversified into Transportation and soon amassed the largest fleet of 'mammy-wagons' (named due their popularity with market women)in Nigeria. He was knighted by the Queen in 1960. Ojukwu served on the boards of the Nigerian National Shipping Line, Nigerian Coal Corporation, Shell Oil, D'Archy, and African Continental Bank." He rose so high that in today's dollars, he's considered to be about $40 billion wealthy---which is more than Dangote and Otedola combined.

Ojukwu died in 1966, just a year before the Nigerian Civil War. His son the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the leader of the secessionist state of Biafra.

A viral original post from HistoryVille has captured his rise to wealth here

"THE INSPIRATIONAL STORY OF SIR LOUIS OJUKWU

A lot of people may not know who Sir Louis Philip Odumegwu Ojukwu is besides the fact that he was the father of late Biafran Warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. But the fact is that he was one of the greatest Business men ever produced in Africa and one of the richest. It beggars belief that Sir Ojukwu went to lagos with nothing in 1929 aged just 20 but 10 years later aged just 30, he was already managing his own chain of businesses which included, Ojukwu Stores, Ojukwu textiles and Ojukwu transportation company. By 1950, just Ojukwu Transportation company had over 200 trucks in its fleet. How did he do it?

Born Louis Philip Odumegwu Ojukwu in Nnewi in 1909, the only boy and second of four children,Sir Ojukwu went to Government primary School Asaba. In 1922, he proceeded to the only secondary School in the Eastern region at the time, Hope Waddell training institute, Calabar. After completing his secondary School education in 1928.

Sir Louis secured a job as a tyre sales clark with John Holt lagos in 1929. It was working as a tyre clark the Sir Louis Ojukwu noticed that many Igbo traders who came to lagos to buy tyres also bought textiles as well. With his meagre saving, Sir Louis travelled down to Onitsha where he opened his first business venture called "Ojukwu stores" and employed one of his relatives to oversee it. He then returned to lagos and started sending down textiles on Lorries to his shop while still working for John Holt. Sir Louise's textile boomed.

By 1930, Louis bought a second hand truck and employed a driver in other move his goods himself and 'Ojukwu transport company' was born. Sir Ojukwu worked tirelessly and by end of the 1930's, was the major transporter on the East-West Road. In 1939, on the outbreak of world war 2, the British Government requested the use of Sir Ojukwus fleet of trucks for the War effort to which he agreed.

When the war ended in 1945, the British Goverment recognised the sacrifice he made and he was awarded a KBE (Knight of the British Empire). The end of the war also created a high demand for raw materials from West Africa and sir Ojukwus Transport business exploded sky high and he diversified into other businesses.

Some of Sir Ojukwu's early drivers such as Chief Ilodibe (Ekene Dili Chukwu) and Chief Izuchukwu (Izuchukwu Transport) would later become Transport moguls themselves.

Sir Ojukwu was so rich that in 1956 when the Queen visited Nigeria, the British authorities had to borrow his Rolls Royce and personal driver to chauffeur the Queen around. Sir Louis was also a financial pillar of Ziks NCNC party and when the party came to power in 1960, Sir Louis was offered the position of Finance Minister which he turned down, the position ultimately went to Okotie-Eboh. Sir Louis died in Nkalagu, present day Ebonyi state, in 1966. Sir Louis CV is the most intimidating I have ever seen and probably will ever see. He was:

1)The first President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

2) President, African Continental Bank

3) Chairman, Nigerian cement company (NIGERCEM)

4) CEO, Ojukwu Transport company...over 5000 fleet of trucks

5) Chairman, Nigerian National Shipping Line...over 100 ships and vessels

6) Chairman, Lion Of Africa Insurance Company

7) Chairman, BISCO Nigeria Limited

cool Chairman, Nigerian Industrial Development Bank...founded to specifically give loans to industries

9) Vice President, lagos Chamber Of Commerce

10) Chairman, Palmline Shipping company

11) Chairman, Nigerian Produce Marketing board

12) Chairman, Eastern Nigerian Development Corporation

13) Chairman, Costain west Africa

14) Director, Shell D'Arcy Petroleum

15) Director, Thomas Wyatt & Son

16) Director, Nigerian Coal corporation

17) Director, Guiness Nigeria Limited

18) Director, Nigerian Tobacco Company

19) Director, Daily Times of Nigeria

The man was simply larger than life. Sir Louis also owned numerous building, landed properties and stocks. It is estimated that as at the time he died in 1966, he was worth about 40 Billion Dollars in today's money."

OJUKWU WAS SO RICH, NIGERIA GOVERNMENT BORROWED HIS CAR TO HOST THE QUEEN?

This classic 4-door convertible sits on a chassis made by Hooper & Co

There have been rumors that Nigeria borrowed the vehicle used to convey the Queen from Ojukwu. The Queen got around in a 1952 LWB Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith LWB.

Read More About Sir Louis Ojukwu

Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, OBE,(1908-September 1966) was a Nigerian business tycoon from the Ojukwu family of Nwakanwa quarters obiuno umudim Nnewi. Sir Louis, who was considered the wealthiest person in Nigeria and the whole of west Africa at the time, was Nigeria's first recorded billionaire with his networth reaching equivalent of 4 billion dollars using today's currency, and he was the founder of Ojukwu Transport, Ojukwu Stores and Ojukwu Textiles. At his peak, he was the first and founding president of The Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as president of The African Continental Bank. He was also either chairman or on the board of directors of some of Nigeria's most profitable companies such as Shell Oil Nigeria Limited, Guinness Nig. Ltd, Nigerian National Shipping Lines, Nigerian Cement Factory, Nigerian Coal Corporation, Costain West Africa Ltd, John Holt, Nigerian Marketing Board amongst others. He won a parliamentary seat during the nation's first republic. He attended a primary school in Asaba and the Hope Waddell Institute. His son Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was a Nigerian military governor and the president of the secessionist state of Biafra.

Life and Career 

In 1936 he met Bishop John Cross Anyogu - then a parish priest at Nnewi. Louis was a Roman Catholic.

Ojukwu started his professional career at the Agricultural department before leaving to join John Holt as a tyresales clerk. He also incorporated a textile company in Onitsha to supplement his income during this period, already exhibiting a little bit of his entrepreneurial spirit. While at John Holt, he noticed the severe strain a lack of adequate transportation had on Eastern textile traders. He later left John Holt to create a transport company to improve the trading environment for Nigerian traders. As a transporter he was a tireless worker and meticulous to detail; he was usually the first to inspect his transport vehicles for oil and leakages. Apart from his work ethic, his success was also oiled by the economic boom after World War II, working with the West African Railway Company and the newly inaugurated produce boards, he provided his fleet for commodity transportation and for other traders use. As a transporter he had his own transport company (Ojukwu Transport Limited)which was the first major transport company to move the easterners to Lagos from the Asaba end of the Niger river after they might have crossed over from Onitsha on a boat.

During the 1950s, he diversified his interest, bought some industries, invested heavily in the real estate sector and became a director in numerous major corporations including the state-owned Nigerian National Shipping Line. He was a member of the board of Nigerian Coal Corporation, Shell Oil, D'Archy, and African Continental Bank.

During the period of pre-independence and in the First Republic, Ojukwu was an active member and donor to the political party, NCNC. He was a one-time member of the House of Representative. In 1958, he was chairman of the Eastern Region Development Corporation and the Eastern Regional Marketing Board.[4] On May 1, 1953, he was appointed head of an NCNC peace committee and given power to choose most of the committee's members. The committee was charged with the responsibility of restoring peace in the regional House of Assembly. His views on policy were a little bit capitalistic and right of Zik's socialist undertones.[5] He was a co-author of a report on the Economic Mission to Europe and North America with Azikiwe, the report recommended the investment of extra funds from the produce marketing board in a regional bank and public corporations to stimulate economic development.[6] Ojukwu died in 1966, just a year before the Nigerian civil war. His son Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the leader of the secessionist state of Biafra. The Ojukwus have produced a family history that bucks the trend in at least one respect: birthing a famous son who became more widely known than his famous father. Most people who know anything of the Ojukwu will only have heard of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, the leader of the old secessionist state of Biafra, or his wife, Bianca. Not many know a certain Louis, father of the better known Emeka, and (here's where he has a bragging right) Nigeria's first billionaire.

Louis Philip Odumegwu-Ojukwu was a man of significant accomplishments. It's perfectly understandable why his achievements currently lie in the shadows of his military commander son's engagements. However, a case can be made for a wider recognition of all the firsts he notched up.

There's a good deal of inspiration to be derived from Louis's story. His many wins were more the product of a strong work ethic than of anything else. Starting off as a low-level employee at the agricultural department and then at John Holt, he beat a path through the uncertain business terrain of pre-independence Nigeria and wound up at the zenith of the country's entrepreneurial ladder.

Perhaps there was something about his background which spurred him on. Nnewi, the town he hailed from, has produced an unusually long list of naira billionaire business people (Innoson's Innocent Chukwuma and Ibeto Group's Cletus Ibeto are just two examples). Whether he had a gene for spotting opportunities or not, he certainly sensed a promise beaconing when he left John Holt to found his own company.

Louis's first big venture was his transport company, which he named after himself. His trucks helped to facilitate cross-country trade by moving products between different regions. Because his transport business was plugging a hole that was still considerably open at the time, he made a significant fortune from it.

Throughout the era of the World War and after, the Ojukwu trucks carried goods and raked in income for their owner. At a point, the British had their supplies for the war moved by Louis's trucks- a service for which Louis was later rewarded; years later, he was conferred with an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II.

The relatively upbeat economic environment of the post World War years presented an opportunity to diversify into other business concerns, and Louis seized upon it. Besides shipping stockfish to Nigeria, he also got involved in real estate and sold textiles and cement.

As his wealth grew, his influence and clout began to extend beyond the industry. He was active in pre-independence politics and was a donor of the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC), a political party which had Nnamdi Azikiwe as one of its members. At a point, he was elected to the House of Representatives.

Back in his familiar terrain of commerce, Louis became even more influential. He sat on the boards of many of the country's biggest companies and was also a founder and first president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

By the time of his death in 1966, Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu's wealth was worth $4 billion by the current value. But beyond his riches and bourgeoise culinary tastes, he had lived his entrepreneurial life in an exemplary way, at least in one sense: his meticulousness with his business dealings. The very mindset that gave rise to his successes was the one which caused him to inspect his trucks with such keenness and punctuality. It was the oil that lubricated his business's history-spinning machine.

Source: Wikipedia, HistoryVille

Best Quotes On Life And Business From "Mafia Manager: A Guide To Corporate Machiavelli" By V

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Have you come across the book “The Mafia Manager? This masterpiece was written by V an anonymous writer who failed to make himself known because of the level of enlightenment poured into this classic masterpiece.”If you are an entrepreneur or business owner and you have not read The Mafia Manager, then you are probably denying yourself knowledge of some no-nonsense leadership and business management techniques for accelerated business growth.

Few years ago I bought this book on a road trip. I think that was the first time ever I finished a book in just one read. I was lost in its vast knowledge of the corporate world. Today, I want to share with you 40 famous quotes about life and business from The Mafia Manager.

Some sample pearls of wisdom: 
- "Be sure you understand what your boss has ordered before you act on his command. What if you whack the wrong guy, or bomb the wrong joint...Learn the art of asking questions". 
- "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer". 
- "Don't become involved in any office political battle without first asking yourself, 'what’s in it for me?' and then 'What's in it for them?" 
- "If you must lie, be brief". 

The Mafia Manager is a book containing the distilled wisdom of men who have managed one of the largest, most profitable and long lived cartels in the history of capitalism. The Mafia Manager gathers for the first time in one book the knowledge and percepts of the ruthless bosses whose genius at organization and management contributed far more to profitability and growth than the brute strength or conventional wisdom of the legitimate CEO.

So if you are ready to learn from the unconventional wisdom of The Mafia Manager; then read on as I share with you 40 famous quotes about life and business from The Mafia Manager.

1.            “The best way to enter our business is to be born into it.”

2.            “The business of the mafia is business.”

3.            “If the pot is boiling over, use a long spoon. If the house is on fire; warm yourself.”

4.            “Our principles are highest; honor, solidarity and vengeance. We know there’s no justice for us except we earn it. We earn respect.”

5.            “All problems resolves themselves; given time.”

6.            “Extreme problems often require extreme solutions.”

7.            “Men stumble on stones, not mountains.”

8.            “Friends are not as important as family. Do not confuse the loyalty of friendship with the bond of blood.”

9.            “The problem with friends is their candor. They will betray you if you let them and then they will tell you to your face why: ‘it’s nothing personal, just business.”

10.          “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.”


11.          “A man without enemies is a man without qualities. Even Jesus Christ had many enemies.”

12.          “The world belongs to the patient man.”

13.          “If you can’t win by fighting fair, fight foul. Or have a third party do your fighting.”

14.          “Even a mouse keeps three holes.”

15.          “God will provide, but you must provide till he does.”

16.          “It takes a thousand blows to drive a nail in the dark.”

17.          “The best defense against the treacherous is treachery.”

18.          “A thousand enemies is not enough; a single enemy is. There is nothing as a ‘harmless’ enemy.”

19.          “The best armor is to keep out of range.”

20.          “The best friend of a hungry buzzard is a dead horse. That is in another way of saying; even the son of a bitch has his uses.”

21.          “When you are riding a fast fresh horse, don’t get off and walk it. Ride it as long as it lasts.”

22.          “Eagles don’t hunt flies.”

23.          “When you skate on thin ice, skate fast.”

24.          “In a storm, pray to God but row for shore.”

25.          “When you must cut, persuade the victim you are a surgeon.”

26.          “Good medicine is always bitter.”

27.          “Every remedy of a bad situation has its bad side effects. Choose the remedy with the least.”

28.          He who pays well is well served.”

29.          “The big drum sounds good only from a distance.”

30.          “Never worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow, you might inherit a million dollars or be run over by a truck. Or inherit a million dollars and be run over by a truck.”

31.          “Money never goes to prison.”

32.          “You can be rich without knowing how to be powerful but you cannot be powerful without money.”

33.          “Never reinforce failure; never marry a losing hand.”

34.          “If you are the anvil, be patient. If you are the hammer; strike.”

35.          “When you compromise, you lose. When you seem to have compromise, you have taken a step towards winning.”

36.          “Fortune is on the side of the strong.”

37.          “For peace to reign, be ready for war.”

38.          “Better your enemies overestimate your stupidity than your shrewdness.”

39.          “After a victory, sharpen your knife.”

40.          “When you hunt, let the game come to you.”

Steve Jobs: The Apple CEO Became An Atheist Because of Biafra's Agony

Steve Jobs is the late American magnate and renowned founder of Apple products like iPhone before his death. And it would seem surprising to see his name appear alongside Nigeria, but in 1968 during the first years of the Nigerian civil war, Steve Jobs whose father was a Syrian immigrant from Aleppo , saw pictures of malnourished children in Nigeria that would change his life forever.

And his journey away from religion began after seeing pictures of two kids emblazoned on the cover of Life Magazine.

Jobs who was just 13 at that time and living with his adopted parents, accosted his Lutheran Church pastor with the magazine and wanted to be made sure if God actually knows everything and does everything in his acclaimed capacity as omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, to which the preacher replied in the affirmative.

As a teenager, it would appear, Jobs wasn't patient enough to understand why God would permit evil to happen to kids , and the preacher didn't do enough to enlighten Jobs about the inevitability of the occurrence of good and evil. Jobs walked out of the door in 1968 during the Nigerian Civil War and never looked back till his death in 2011.

An incerpt from his biography reads:

"Even though they were not fervent about their faith, Jobs’s parents wanted him to have a religious upbringing, so they took him to the Lutheran church most Sundays.

"That came to an end when he was thirteen. In July 1968 Life magazine published a shocking cover showing a pair of starving children in Biafra.

"Jobs took it to Sunday school and confronted the church’s pastor. “If I raise my finger, will God know which one I’m going to raise before I do it?”

"The pastor answered, “Yes, God knows everything.”

"Jobs then pulled out the Life cover and asked, “Well, does God know about this and what’s going to happen to those children?”

"“Steve, I know you don’t understand, but yes, God knows about that.”"

"Jobs announced that he didn’t want to have anything to do with worshipping such a God, and he never went back to church."

George Stinney: Untold Story Of The 14 Year Old Wrongfully Convicted & Electrocuted For Murder

George Stinney Mugshot of George Stinney In 1944 after his arrest.

George Stinney was the youngest American to be executed in the past century, at 14 years old; before he was Inmate No. 260, his baleful countenance captured in a monochrome mugshot; before he was hauled away by white men in black cars, George Stinney was the beloved older brother of Amie Ruffner.

George and Amie lived with their siblings and parents in a three-room house owned by the lumber company that dominated Alcolu, South Carolina. Alcolu was like countless segregated communities across the Jim Crow South, a place where white and black laborers worked side by side in the saw mill but retreated to separate neighborhoods and churches at day’s end, separated by a set of railroad tracks.

On March 25, 1944, the bodies of two white girls who’d gone missing the day before were found in a watery ditch on the property of George Burke Sr., a prominent manager at the saw mill where most of the men in Alcolu earned their living. It was Burke’s search party that discovered the corpses, bludgeoned to death and pinned beneath a bicycle the girls were seen riding. George and Amie were among the last people to see the girls alive.

That afternoon, George Stinney was led from his home in handcuffs as Amie cowered in the family’s chicken coop, terrified. “George,” she screamed after him, “are you leaving me?” They were the last words she would say to her brother. As news spread of his arrest, George’s father was fired from his job at the saw mill. His family was forced to flee town ahead of a lynch mob.

George Burke Sr. served as foreman of the coroner’s inquest jury and was a member of the special grand jury convened to hear Stinney’s case despite also being a named witness. Stinney’s family was too afraid to attend the trial, so George faced his accusers alone. The local authorities pointed to Stinney’s confession, 

"It may be interesting for you to know that Stinney killed the smaller girl to rape the larger one. Then he killed the larger girl and raped her dead body. Twenty minutes later he returned and attempted to rape her again, but her body was too cold. All of this he admitted himself."

likely coerced; Amie, who could have provided her brother with an alibi, was not called to testify. At the end of a three-hour trial, a jury of white men took just 10 minutes to find Stinney guilty. He was sentenced to the electric chair. His court-appointed lawyer didn’t bother with an appeal.

On June 16, 1944, George Stinney, standing 5-foot-1 and weighing a scant 95 pounds, was strapped into a chair designed for adults. Contemporary news clippings claim the executioners sat him on books so he would reach the headpiece. Until the end, Stinney was bewildered. “Why,” he asked his cellmate, “would they kill me for something I didn't do?”

Stinney's trial had an all-white jury, as was typical at the time. As most blacks were still disenfranchised and prohibited from voting, they could not be selected as jurors. More than 1,000 whites crowded the courtroom, but no blacks were allowed.

Other than the testimony of the three police officers, at trial prosecutors called three witnesses: Reverend Francis Batson, who discovered the bodies of the two girls, and the two doctors who performed the post-mortem examination. Conflicting confessions were reported to have been offered by the prosecution. The court allowed discussion of the "possibility" of rape although the medical examiner's report had no evidence to support this. Stinney's counsel did not call any witnesses, did not cross-examine witnesses, and offered little or no defense. The trial presentation lasted two and a half hours.

The jury took less than ten minutes to deliberate, after which they returned with a guilty verdict. Judge Ph sentenced Stinney to death by electrocution. There is no transcript of the trial. No appeal was filed by his defense attorney.

Miller Shealy, a professor at the Charleston (S.C.) School of Law, announces in August 2016 that attorneys plan to file a civil rights lawsuit stemming from the 1944 execution of George Stinney. (The Associated Press)

To weigh the weight of history directly and calls for a reckoning with the ongoing ways in which “the descendants of slaves are still very much enslaved.”  240 years before George Stinney was executed, many Southern settlements, “enslaved and freed Blacks outnumbered Whites. Threats to the institution of slavery (i.e., revolts, escapes) and maintaining the supremacy of Whites over Blacks were significant regional concerns.” Carolina, established on land occupied by indigenous peoples, was also a frontier space. Law enforcement was of paramount concern for white settlers, who sought “to regulate spaces that they did not own or fully control.”

Then and now, bondage was business, incentivized by economic concerns and a desire for profit. Today connecting our history of racialized social control and oppression to the present, noting that “when you look at the leading incarcerators on the planet today, they’re in the South.” The old masters sought wealth through plantation agriculture and trade in human chattel; today, mass incarceration is a $182 billion industry built on the backs of poor black and brown communities.

Then and now, questions of criminal justice and public safety were inextricably bound up in ideas of who deserved citizenship and inclusion, and whose bodies would lie outside the protection and status bestowed by the law. Black people have “existed either at the margins of citizenship…or have been excluded entirely,” .

In “My Dungeon Shook,” James Baldwin’s famous 1963 letter to his nephew and namesake, Baldwin wrote that white people are “still trapped in a history which they do not understand and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.” Indeed, all Americans persist in darkness about our shared history, a painful record casting shadows and preventing us from seeing ourselves clearly today. But, piece by piece, the truth comes to light, its acknowledgement offering another opportunity to imagine our country anew—to make its promise whole.

Rather than approving a new trial, on December 17, 2014, circuit court Judge Carmen Mullen vacated Stinney's conviction. She ruled that he had not received a fair trial, as he was not effectively defended and his Sixth Amendment right had been violated. The ruling was a rare use of the legal remedy of coram nobis. Judge Mullen ruled that his confession was likely coerced and thus inadmissible. She also found that the execution of a 14-year-old constituted "cruel and unusual punishment", and that his attorney "failed to call exculpating witnesses or to preserve his right of appeal." Mullen confined her judgment to the process of the prosecution, noting that Stinney "may well have committed this crime." With reference to the legal process, Mullen wrote, "No one can justify a 14-year-old child charged, tried, convicted and executed in some 80 days," concluding that "In essence, not much was done for this child when his life lay in the balance."

Today in Alcolu, thanks to the efforts of local residents, a memorial gravestone to honor George Stinney sits alongside Sumter Highway. Its inscription reads: “George Stinney, Jr. October 21, 1929 – June 16, 1944. Wrongfully convicted, illegally executed by South Carolina. Conviction vacated by court order dated December 16, 2014.” It stands as a commemoration of a recent and wrenching past; as a prescient warning for our troubled present; as an accounting of our collective debt, to ensure that future generations of black boys will not be asked to pay with their lives.

The story of George Stinney is an everyday reminder that as long as black people all over the world wears those colours; black or brown, they remain a threat to the whites. The first thing they should see when they look at an African or a black person shouldn't be his colour rather it should be the part that makes them humans. Racial diversity will continue to influence the world regardless of how much we fight for equality but we must learn to be human beings first before becoming any other thing.

Hope you enjoyed this article? Kindly Drop Your Comments below.

The Orishas Of The Caribbean: Yoruba Religion As Present In Modern Day Cuba

The Shangó dance

The "Transatlantic Slave Trade" gave rise to the presence in Cuba of African slaves, who were brought by force, by the Spanish conquistadors & slave raiders, a phenomenon that was justified at the time by the need for cheap labor force, also marked the beginning of religious traditions brought to the Caribbean Island by members of the Yoruba tribe. From the practice of Ifá to the belief in the legendary figure of the Yoruba mythological god Shangó.

Uprooted from their motherland, the Yoruba slaves made major contributions to the formation of the modern day Cuban society. Their contributions can be found today in the religious syncretism present in Cuban and Caribbean cultures.

The Yoruba religion is based on believing in a supreme being through natural elements, and believers must follow a series of commandments or traditional laws.

Known in the Yoruba culture as "the 16 laws of Ifá", their origin is attributed to the pronouncements of Orunmila, the orisha of wisdom and divinations. The laws of Ifá state that one cannot say what he/she does not know, must avoid unknown rites, refrain from leading others on a false paths, be humble, keep the sacred instruments clean, and respect the weaker and moral laws.

The other commandments state not to betray a friend, to respect hierarchies and the elderly, not to reveal secrets, and not to pretend to be wise when you are not.

IFA Board.

That way, the orishas – the gods of the Yoruba religion – have been worshipped in Cuba for nearly five centuries (500 years). They are represented with human characteristics and their difference lies in the colors they wear, music, animals that represent them, and preferences for certain food and drinks.

Attributes of Orishas.

The so-called Ocha Rule, popularly known as Santeria, derived from the Yoruba culture. Santeria followers worship a group of orishas (deities) characterized by different myths and attributes.

The Santeria rites are controlled by priests known as babalawos, who are consulted periodically for advice on specific situations, the cure for diseases or protection.

One of the events that attract most attention is the so-called Letter of the Year, which is revealed by the most eminent babalawos after a religious ceremony.

The babalawos invoke the Oracle of Ifá to know the recommendations that must be followed to prevent and overcome the obstacles and difficulties predicted for the year.

In Cuba, the African slaves identified their deities with Catholic saints, and that, according to experts, marked the origin of Santeria.

For Santeria followers, each person's life is supervised by a specific saint, who plays an active role in that process, which combines Catholic and African beliefs. Under those precepts, the orishas present human beings with a vision of the past, the present and the future, in addition to helping them to solve everyday problems.

Generations of descendants from the first African slaves who arrived in Cuba have kept alive the Yoruba religion, which is also acknowledged by foreign visitors as a characteristic element in the Caribbean Island.

So the next time you think of the Yoruba tradition & Religion, know that it's not only practiced within the boundaries of Nigeria, but has a huge following around the globe, be it in the Caribbean or in some European cultures.

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The Post Transatlantic Slave Trade: How The Igbo, Ghanaians Dominates Jamaica

Igbo in Jamaica Via The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The continental African presence in Jamaica largely stems from the Akan people in Ghana, underlined by cultural correlations, names, meals and assimilation.

‘Mumu’ derives from both the Ewe and Akan languages. Just like in Jamaican Patois, it is used to describe a dumb or a foolish person.

Dokunu is of African origin, used in Jamaica to describe a popular dessert cooked in banana leaves. Also called tie-a-leaf and blue draws.

‘Bafan’ is from the Akan language which can mean a child or helpless person or cripple. In Jamaican patois, it is used to refer to a person who hasn’t mastered simple skills that others have. Then there is Ananse (witty Spider) of Akan folktale character.

However, there is a significant Igbo presence in Jamaica. Courtesy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, there were captured and enslaved Igbo people from Nigeria’s south-eastern port towns of Bonny and Calabar and found themselves on the island.

Circumventing the system, slave ships from Bristol and Liverpool ferried the bulk of enslaved Igbo people to the Island between 1790 and 1807, when the British passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act which outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire.

They were used as forced labour on plantations. They populated the northwestern section of the island around Montego Bay and St. Ann’s Bay and soon enough they registered an imprint on Jamaican culture regarding language, dance, music, folklore, cuisine, religion and mannerisms. In Jamaica, they are called “Red Eboe” or “Red Ibo,” because of their light skin. Igbo slaves were distinguished physically by their fair or “yellow” skin tones, a stereotype which persists to present-day Nigeria. Today, in Jamaica, “Red Eboe” is used to describe people with light skin tones with African features.

Jamaican Patois has seen an infusion of some Igbo words. They include:

Patois                Language    Original Word Description                        

Big-eye               Igbo     anya ukwu              “greedy”

Breechee            Igbo       Mbùríchì              Nri-Igbo nobleman

Door-mouth       Igbo       ọ́nụ́ ụ́zọ̀ (mouth + door)               “doorway”

Chink, chinch     Igbo       chị́nchị̀  ‘bedbug’

Country ibo        Igbo       Ị̀gbò       Pluchea odorata or Ptisana purpurascens

Akara (Jamaica) Akàrà (Igbo)– bean cake

Another influence is the yam festival, ‘Jonkonnu’ celebrated in Jamaica. Jonkonnu is a masquerade festival held in Jamaica which is attributed to the Njoku Ji or “yam-spirit cult”, Okonko and Ekpe of the Igbo. Natives also allege that the Ibu Town is named after the Ibo slaves.

The Igbo people are even credited with influencing the pouring of libation, according to The Guardian.

“From Jamaica’s history, the Igbos influenced the culture, music, the pouring of libation, the “ibo” style, idioms, language and way of life of the Jamaicans. The Jamaicans are so akin to the ways of the Igbos such that it is not uncommon to see Jamaicans watch Igbo Nollywood movies. Some of their rural areas take after the Igbo’s in Eastern Nigeria.”

The freedom loving Igbo slaves were reported to have maintained “unwritten rules of the plantation” of which the plantation owners were forced to abide by.

Regarding spirituality, Igbo culture is credited with influencing Jamaican spirituality with the introduction of Obeah folk magic; although enslaved Akan people might have introduced the art or system first.

There is Archibald Monteith, born Aneaso, an enslaved Igbo man taken to Jamaica after being tricked by an African slave trader who issued a journal about his origins and then there is the famous Olaudah Equiano alias Gustavus Vassa whose published autobiography, ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano’ (1789) about the horrors of slavery received reasonable consideration.

Although noted as a prominent member of the movement for the abolition of the slave trade, he worked as an overseer on a Jamaica plantation owned by Dr. Charles Irving. His 1776 Mosquito Shore (Miskito Coast) scheme in Jamaica, for which Equiano hired Igbo slaves is contentious given he was an African-born Igbo ex-slave. Equiano is said to have knowledge of the Igbo language and used it as a tool to maintain social order among his Igbo slaves in Jamaica.

After the abolition of slavery in Jamaica in the 1830s, Igbo people also arrived on the island as indentured servants between the years of 1840 and 1864 along with a majority Kongo and “Nago” (Yoruba) people.

In Nigeria, Igbo people inhabit an area referred to as Igboland, which is divided into two sections along the lower River Niger. They live in most or all parts of five states: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, as well as minor parts of Delta, Rivers and Benue states. Small Igbo communities are also found in parts of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

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