Scapegoating and prejudice flow through history like a disfiguring cut through a beautiful painting. Objects of this perversion include every race, gender, philosophy, religion and political point of view and exemplify one of the most effective Machiavellian tactics for maintaining power. It solidifies the herd instinct and prevents creativity, openness, true progress, and the evolution of consciousness. A physical, identifying feature makes this process easier and for this reason Blacks have perhaps suffered this indignation the most. As this list demonstrates, however, that has not always been the case and even when it was, Blacks made significant contributions to world culture.
Imhotep
2650 – 2600 BCE
First Western architect, engineer and physician
Considered the first architect, engineer and physician of early Western history, Imhotep invented tools, made great sculptures, and built the first Egyptian pyramids. High Priest, Chancellor, Chief Doctor and Carpenter; he was also revered as a poet and philosopher and was one of the few figures in history born a commoner and deified after his death. "Father of Medicine,” formulator of wise sayings, patron saint of scribes; his legacy and influence helped form the beginnings of ancient Greek culture. His fame continues in modern times disguised in movies, TV shows, comics and video games.
Hatshepsut (Hatasu)
1507 – 1458 BCE
"The Queen Elizabeth of Egyptian History"
Called by historians "the first great woman in history” and “one of the most powerful women in the history of the world,” Hatshepsut was also one of the most successful and compassionate pharaohs and set the stage for the zenith, the most golden age of Egyptian culture. Credited with the first transplanting of foreign trees, the first use of resin (making a kohl eyeliner), and one of the most prolific builders; she made the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth, buildings not rivaled for a thousand years, and so many statues that almost every major museum in the world includes them.
Queen Tiye
1398 – 1338 BCE
First proponent of monotheism
Royal Wife of pharaoh Amenhotep III, mother of Akhenaten, and grandmother of Tutankhamun; little known Queen Tiye changed history by proclaiming for the first time a single god and inspiring the monotheism of Moses. A foreign-born, legendary beauty of black descent with a powerful, wise personality; she was worshipped as a goddess and helped rule Egypt for 37 years bringing her country to it’s highest point of international power and prosperity while creating a revolution and peak in Egyptian art.
Makeda, Queen of Sheba (Bilkis, Rainha de Sabá)
10th C. BCE
Embodiment of Divine Wisdom
Viewed as the embodiment of Divine Wisdom in the Kabbalistic and mystical Christian traditions, immortalized in the Hebrew Bible and the Muslim Koran, in Persia considered a daughter of a Chinese king and a fairy spirit, part of the founding myths for the modern states of Israel and Ethiopia; Makeda is the first person referred to as Queen in the Bible and ruled over Upper Egypt, Ethiopia, and parts of Arabia. Extremely wealthy and known as a wise prophetess, she challenged Solomon’s wisdom and later had his son, Menelk who became the first emperor of Ethiopia.
Menelik I (Ebna la-Hakim, "Son of the Wise")
c. 900-820 BCE
First Jewish Emperor of Ethiopia
According to traditional sources and memorialized in the Bible’s the Song of Songs, Menelik was the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, Queen of Sheba. Solomon wanted Menelik to rule Israel after him but instead (with Solomon’s blessings) he secretly brought the Ark of the Covenant (symbol of alliance between the two races, white and black) to Ethiopia where it remains today in Aksum. This made Ethiopia “God's chosen country” and established Menelik as the first Jewish Emperor of Ethiopia and founder of the Solomonic dynasty that ruled Ethiopia for almost 3000 years, includes the Magi said to have visited the manger at Jesus’s birth, and continued until the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 when it transformed into the Rastafari movement, the Lion of Judah as symbol of black pride, and the mythology of Bob Marley.
Aesop
620 – 546 BCE
Hero of the oppressed and downtrodden
Known as a strikingly ugly slave who by his cleverness became free and an adviser to kings and city-states, some historians believe Aesop was a black from Ethiopia and became Uncle Remus in the Cherokee, Algonquin and American slave tradition of Br'er Rabbit. In many cultures he symbolizes a hero of the oppressed, disadvantaged and downtrodden who with wisdom and understanding outsmarts and wins over the rich and powerful. Famous throughout the world - from China to Africa, from Europe to Japan, from ancient times until today; Aesop’s fables and sayings remain a profound influence of goodness and insight.
Ziryab أبو الحسن علي ابن نافع, زریاب (Abu l-Hasan, “Blackbird”)
789 – 857 CE
Singer, poet, polymath, freed slave, teacher, and one of the greatest influences on world culture; Ziryab’s name is almost unknown in most of the world although the traditions and styles he initiated are commonplace. He invented and popularized the early form of toothpaste, the three-course meal, asparagus, the use of tablecloths, wearing hair in bangs, and using glass containers for drinks. Founder of the 500-year Andalusian music tradition, he laid the early groundwork for classic Spanish music, revolutionized the musical instrument design that became the lute, and created a musical style that influenced European minstrels, troubadours, and the course of European music.
Alexandre Dumas
1762 – 1806 CE
The first black to become a French general, the highest-ranking one ever in a European army, and until 1975 the highest ranking one in all the Western world; Alexandre Dumas’ mother was a slave, his father a nobleman who sold him but then bought him back and provided an exceptional education. Dumas became a pivotal leader during France’s Revolution Wars, greatly respected by Napoleon Bonaparte, but known by his enemies as the ”Black Devil.” His grandson, also named Alexandre Dumas used him as an inspiration for his most famous characters and became one of France's most popular writers of all time. Sarah Bernhardt promoted his memory and symbolism of breaking shackles.
Frederick Douglass
1818 – 1895 CE
International symbol of social justice
Escaped slave, most influential 19th century black leader, adviser to Abraham Lincoln, champion of the working class, author, orator, and newspaper editor; Douglass eloquently agitated for the abolition of slavery, racism and capital punishment; for women’s rights, free public education, and land reform. Calling racism a “diseased imagination,” he convinced Lincoln to let blacks fight in the Civil War and helped enlist troops. Internationally famous, author of an American classic autobiography, a father of liberation theology, and the first African American in many political positions; his memory symbolizes and inspires the spirit of people everywhere to resist oppression and work for social justice.
Harriet Tubman (Araminta Ross)
1822 – 1913 CE
Beaten, whipped, and escaped slave; US armed army spy, nurse and scout during the Civil War; and soon to replace on the $20 bill slave-owning Andrew Jackson who illegally broke treaties with native Americans and refused to support Supreme Court rulings in their favor; Tubman was the first woman to lead an armed war campaign (that freed 700+ slaves), used the Underground Railroad to secretly rescue over 70 slave families, found work for the newly freed slaves, and became an important part of the women's suffrage movement. A devout Christian considered by many a saint, although living in constant poverty, she never stopped her humanitarian work and is now a shining symbol for courage and freedom.
Ellen Craft
1826 – 1891 CE
A slave secretly married to a slave with a different master and fearing their forced separation, Ellen (at least ¾ European) cut her hair short and disguised herself as a white man traveling with his servant who was really her husband. The elaborate disguise included facial bandages and a sling so she wouldn’t have to sign papers since she couldn’t read or write. She had to act a different gender, race, and social class. After many days traveling by train and steamer they arrived safely in the north and then - fearing slave hunters - went on to England where they wrote a popular account that became an important influence for abolition. After the war, they returned to Georgia and started an agricultural school.
Robert Smalls
1839 – 1915 CE
In a dramatic escape from slavery, Smalls commandeered a Confederate steamer during the Civil War, disguised himself in the captain’s coat, picked up the families of his fellow slave sailors, and made a mad dash for a Union blockade where they were welcomed as heroes. He later helped recruit over 5000 blacks to help in the North’s war effort, served as a captain in the US Navy. After the war he returned to South Carolina, bought his former master’s house, served in the US House of Representatives, founded the Republican Party of South Carolina, and authored the state legislation that gave his state the first US free and compulsory public school system.
Lucy Parsons (Eldine Gonzalez)
1853 – 1942 CE
Political activist “more dangerous than a thousand rioters”
Born a slave to Native-American/African-American/Mexican-American parents; Lucy became a powerful orator, American radical activist, founder of the Industrial Workers of the World, and labor union organizer. She married a newspaper editor and former Confederate soldier—Albert Parsons—but had to quickly leave Texas because of interracial prejudice. In Chicago they became involved in the labor movement and helped organize a peaceful rally striking for an eight-hour day. An unknown person threw dynamite at police but several organizers including Albert were blamed and executed. This became a galvanizing event on the entire world’s labor movements as well as inspiring Lucy and an active life into her 80’s described by police as, “more dangerous than a thousand rioters.”
W. E. B. Du Bois
1868 – 1963 CE
W. E. B. Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt (1868 – 1963)
First African American to earn a doctorate (Harvard), co-founder of the NAACP, historian, peace activist,sociologist, and civil rights activist for minorities world-wide; Du Bois led the Niagara Movement which insisted on equal rights rather than accepting Southern white proposals that traded Black political freedoms for economic and educational opportunities. He protested against the commonly accepted lynchings of his time, wrote a foundational set of African-American essays, and one of the first scientific works in the new field of sociology. Blaming capitalism for causing racism, he proposed and promoted many issues that became law in the US Civil Rights Act, criticized American churches for being primary supports of discrimination, and worked hard for nuclear disarmament.
Langston Hughes
1901 – 1967 CE
Pioneering elevator of Black culture
Social activist, people's poet, author, and journalist; Langston Hughes innovated “jazz poetry,” pioneered the cultural renaissance now called “when Harlem was in vogue,” and helped establish the first department of African-American studies. Dramatically representing American culture, both of his paternal great-grandmothers were slaves and both of his paternal great-grandfathers were slave owners. Some of his other ancestors were Native Americans, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, a Jewish slave trader, and white abolitionists. A classmate of Thurgood Marshall and friend of MLK, he challenged racial stereotypes, protested negative social conditions, and elevated African American self-image in the US and around the world. Martin Luther King carefully channeled Hughes’ poems.
Thurgood Marshall
1908 – 1993 CE
Thurgood Marshall (1908 – 1993) Grandson of a slave, refused admission to a law school because he was black, and first African-American Supreme Court Justice; Marshall was instrumental in the Brown v. Board case that desegregated public schools, helped the United Nations draft the constitutions of Ghana and Tanzania, and - before he became Justice - won more Supreme Court cases than anyone in history. He ruled in favor of Roe v. Wade abortion rights, worked to eliminate the death penalty, and probably more than Malcolm X and Martin Luther King made the Civil Rights Movement successful. He remained a tireless and highly effective voice for human rights, individual freedom, the poor, downtrodden and for all people
Rosa Parks
1913 – 2005 CE
Symbol of the Civil Rights Movement, an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. and called by the US Congress “the mother of the freedom movement;” Rosa Parks sparked the the Montgomery Bus Boycott and as a result was fired from her job and received death threats for years. She dedicated her life to advancing social issues, donated most of the money from her almost constant speaking engagements, and although given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, numerous awards; she lived a very simple, poor and private life and was even evicted from her apartment in 2002. The subject of many books, films, and songs; her legacy continues to inspire efforts toward equality everywhere.
Malcolm X الحاجّ مالك الشباز
1925 – 1965 CE
One of the most influential African Americans in all history, human rights activist, Sunni Muslim minister, the main inspiration behind “Black is Beautiful” sub-cultural esteem building, reconnection to African heritage, and the Black Power movement; Malcolm X grew up an orphan and was soon in jail where he joined the Nation of Islam and soon became its’ public face and one of its’ main leaders. He helped many good causes including a drug rehabilitation program but became disillusioned with the group’s black supremacist and anti-integration stand. He opposed both white and black racism making him a target for both groups leading to his assassination by Nation of Islam extremists.
Maya Angelou
1928 – 2014 CE
From a background that included working as a nightclub dancer, fry cook and sex worker; Angelou climbed to becoming the first poet to recite for a Presidential inauguration since Robert Frost. She worked directly with Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other Civil Rights leaders, received 50+ honorary degrees, dozens of literary awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. An important spokesperson for women and black people, her books are both subject to bans in libraries as well as being extensively used in universities around the world. “America's most visible black woman autobiographer,” her books and poetry both defended and appreciated Black culture, became a powerful influence on modern hip-hop music, and helped further gender and racial understanding.
Martin Luther King Jr.
1929 – 1968 CE
Leading world influence for equality, peace, non-violence, and poverty alleviation
(1929–1968)
Baptist minister, one the the 20th century’s most admired people, “the conscience of his generation,” most famous civil rights leader, and known for one of history’s most influential speeches; Martin Luther King became one of the world’s most effective forces for equality, peace, and poverty alleviation. An enemy of J. Edgar Hoover, investigated by the FBI, and assassinated; his life proved the power and unstoppability of a good and pure heart. Practicing Gandhian nonviolence and Thoreauvian civil disobedience, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, 50 honorary university degrees; and today, a national holiday and hundreds of US streets are named in his honor.
Toni Morrison (Chloe Ardelia Wofford)
1931 – 2019 CE
Story-telling voice of American wisdom
Julian Bond
1940 – 2015 CE
Courageous civil rights leader
Social activist, professor, politician, and leader of the civil rights movement, Julian Bond helped create SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), the Southern Poverty Law Center, and became a 12-year chairman of the NAACP. He served 20 years in the Georgia legislature and 22 years as a University of Virginia professor. A strong and effective supporter of civil, women's, and gay rights, he received the National Freedom Award, the National Leadership Award, the Spingarn Medal, and 25 honorary degrees.
Aretha Franklin
1942 – 2018 CE
“Greatest Singer of All Time”
Dominant spirit of American music, Rolling Stone’s “Greatest Singer of All Time,” Queen of Soul, 1st Rock & Roll Hall of Fame woman singer, powerful and influential voice for Equal Rights and Social justice; Aretha Franklin’s legacy runs deep in both American and World culture. Beginning with her 1st album when only 14 years old, she went on to record 112 charted songs, 18 Grammys, and 17 top ten singles. Growing up and helping her famous father, mesmerizing preacher Rev. C.L. Franklin who recorded dozens of inspiring sermons treasured by blacks and creative spirits across the country, she knew and supported Martin Luther King from an early age. With a challenging life including having her first child when only 12 years old, her second when 14, a marriage filled with domestic violence, and her father being shot in his home at point blank range; her soul-empowering suffering continued in struggles with alcoholism, obesity, and various health issues. Not letting her tribulations stop her, she continued to spread her inspiration and was honored with degrees from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, and many other universities.
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay)
1942 – 2016 CE
Many easy accolades for Mohammad Ali but maybe the best is “A Muslim who put friendship and other people over dogma and belief.” A true citizen of the world, musician, poet, actor, political commentator, Civil Rights leader, counterculture icon, one of the most famous and celebrated sports figures of all time; he was arrested, convicted of draft evasion, mired in a Supreme Court trial but still became the only three-time lineal world heavyweight champion and the only boxer to be named Fighter of the Year five times. Graduating high school # 376 in a class of 391, he received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University. He actively supported Native American rights, the Palestinians, Israelis, poverty alleviation in Africa, peace in Iraq, and numerous philanthropic projects.
Bob Marley
1945 – 1981 CE
International hero of indigenous communities, one of the greatest song lyricists of all time, Rastafarian, father of at least 11 children with 7 mothers including Miss World Cindy Breakspeare, soccer crusader, and Pan-Africanist; Marley - in the lineage of Che Guevara, the Black Panthers, and Muhammad Ali - promoted political freedom, peace and justice. His song ”One Love" was named song of the millennium by the BBC: and, with sales of over 75 million records, he ranks as one of the world's best-selling artists. He used his spiritually infused music, global popularity, and concerts attended by up to 100,000 people to celescalate independence and justice for minorities, political focus on doing good instead of special interests, and marijuana as a sacrament, spiritual medicine, and catalyst for more wisdom. Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations, at his funeral the Jamaican Prime Minister said, “Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of our nation” (and now of the world).
Barack Obama
1961 CE –
Winner of honors ranging from the Grammy Awards to the Nobel Peace Prize; Obama is the first African American US President, the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, and first to address the African Union. In spite of single-minded and almost exclusive focus on opposing him by House and Senate Republicans, his accomplishments rival almost any American president. Beginning with one of the most dire financial crises in US history; he turned the economy around, greatly improved foreign relations, passed the Affordable Care Act, killed Osama bin Laden, reigned in Wall Street, restored relations with Cuba and made progress on fighting climate change, prejudice, workplace abuse, and gun control.
Michelle Obama
1964 CE –
An inspiring icon for black women, women and men of all races; Michelle Obama exemplifies quiet courage, dignity, and the deep “Te” described in the Tao Te Ching. Descendant of slaves, daughter of the working class, sister of American educational opportunities, and wife to good government; her influence on American culture is subtle but profound and goes far beyond her focus on poverty alleviation, LGBT rights, promoting good nutrition and healthy life style. Fashion icon on the cover of Vogue magazine and first First Lady to announce the winner of an Oscar; she also advocated for military families. Touring the world, she repaired and uplifted America’s image probably more than anyone since Benjamin Franklin.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
1969 CE –
Powerful voice for Islamic reform
Politician, scholar, powerful and effective voice advocating Islamic reform and the rights of Muslim women; Ayaan Hirsi Ali skillfully opposes the far-too-common practices of forced and child marriage, genital mutilation, and violence against women. After growing up as a devout Muslim, she abandoned her faith and became an insightful critic of Islam and the fundamentalist Islamic laws that oppress women. Her movie Submission precipitated an intense reaction of criticism, death threats, and the murder of her co-filmmaker. Both exemplifying and calling for an Islamic Enlightenment, she exposes the deep and debilitating oppression ingrained in Muslim culture and religion as well as articulating and demonstrating a path toward positive reform.
N. K. Jemisin
1972 CE –
Award winning speculative fiction writer, bimonthly column writer for The New York Times, fearless blogger, psychologist, and first black writer to win a Best Novel Hugo award; Jemisin helps mythologize current event themes in her fiction and carries these messages into the political and social worlds. Though arguably a stretch to include her in our Women of Wisdom Lineage, she’s still young and obviously on the way in that direction. Pointing out that 10% of the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) members voted for alt-right writer Theodore Beale (Vox Day), she called him "a self-described misogynist, racist, anti-Semite, and a few other flavors of asshole” which led to him calling her an “ignorant savage" and his expulsion from the SFWA.
Legends of the old Plantation by Joel Chandler Harris
“He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world.”
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“the horror of lynching, the humiliating rejection from hotels and restaurants, the hopeless poverty... the South, so far as its need of annual laborers would permit, encouraged the black man to go north. He went, dreaming of justice and plenty. For a time he found work where muscle was needed and servility was required; or he lived for a while on public aid, and alarmed the whites with his fertility... Meanwhile the progress of technology deprived most black men of a place in industry; they became dependent upon charity or their wives—who cleaned white homes to maintain black hovels... Do we not owe it to conscience and justice that every person—irrespective of their race—has full and equal opportunity to enter into the promise of American life?”
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“The Egyptians lost themselves in trying to preserve the bodily form, the Greeks in trying to capture the beauty of the human body, the pre-Columbian Americans, by establishing cosmic laws over human considerations, Christianity and Islam—the daughters of Jewish monotheism—by overpowering the human mind through dictatorship of a a partially world-creating and at the same time world-negating spirit.”
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“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? … Or does it explode?”
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“As legal slavery passed, we [black people in the US] entered into a permanent period of unemployment and underemployment from which we have yet to emerge.”
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“Stolen from Africa, brought to America
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival...”
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“Life as a commodity, people as possessions. Enslavement had been a part of the culture of those parts for thousands of years. The Arab slavers had destroyed the last of the great kingdoms of East Africa, while the West African nations had destroyed each other.”
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“Africans were more adapted to tropical climates than Europeans and that's why they ended up as slaves to European masters... It made way more sense for a plantation owner to invest in an immunized African slave than a European slave who might soon die.”
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