Anonymous asked: Don’t you just hate when people say that african Americans don’t have a culture???….

They attempted to disconnect us from homeland, erase our native tongue, and shun our native religions. They attempted to beat us physically, emotionally and spiritually into submission. But we held on. We held on to our ways of life, our creativity, our spirituality and our dignity.

Outlawing and denying us the rights to read and earn an education, we relied strongly on our long African oral tradition. This tradition manifest itself in the black church, as well as in our music today.

Oh, our music.

We created jazz, rock & roll, rhythm and blues and hip hop. Sounds that influenced many, transcending races. Giving joy and hope to millions. Robbed to the point its now American Music, drop the African and hyphen.

We created cuisine from scraps during slavery and economic hardships thereafter.

Hughes knew rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of blood in human veins. And Maya Angelou spoke how a cage bird, wings clipped and feet tied, still sung of freedom.

The persistence of Black Life to survive in the face of annihilation. Turning, bending, leaping, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations told a story of faith to endure slavery to freedom. Jacob Lawrence with vibrant Harlem colors in The Great Migration, showed what the Black experience is, a Beautiful Struggle.

Alvin Ailey

Nina Simone

Malcolm X

Fats Domino

Little Richard

Maya Angelou

Gordon Parks

Prince

Carol Weems

Toni Morrison

Stevie Wonder

Ella Baker

Black Panthers

Billie Holiday

Ray Charles

Assata Shakur

Langston Hughes

James Baldwin

Tina Turner

Angela Davis

Jimi Hendrix

Dr Martin Luther King

Josephine Baker

Harriet Powers

Richard Wright

Kara Walker

Sam Cooke

Diana Ross

and the list goes on. We have culture. Our culture is deep. Deeper than the rivers. Born from our struggles in America, but still suckling from our Mother Africa.

Don’t let no one tell you different.

Black Love

Have you ever been told African Americans do not have a culture?What would you say to those that believe we have no culture?

We sought to gather a list of African American quotes that inspire and uplift. We hope you enjoy the the quotes and find that it illuminates the strength and beauty that embodies our people.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King Jr

“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” –Muhammad Ali

“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” - Angela Davis

“In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed… It means facing a system that does not lend its self to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.” – Ella Baker

“The thing to do is to get organized; keep separated and you will be exploited, you will be robbed, you will be killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you.” - Marcus Garvey 

“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” –James Baldwin

“One had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.”- Ida B. Wells

“When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

“There is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise. The human soul cannot be permanently chained.”- W.E.B. Dubois

“The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.” - bell hooks

“If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs.” – Mary McLeod Bethune

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.” – Frederick Douglass 

“The walls, the bars, the guns and the guards can never encircle or hold down the idea of the people.” – Huey P. Newton

“You have to be taught to be second class; you’re not born that way.” – Lena Horne

“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” - Coretta Scott King

“I’m not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner.” - Malcolm X 

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” - Maya Angelou

“We ask for nothing that is not right, and herein lies the great power of our demand.” Paul Robeson

“A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for.” – Josephine Baker

“Powerful people never educate powerless people in what they need that they can use to take the power away from powerful people; it’s too much to expect. If I was in power, I would not educate people in how to take my powers away.”  - Dr. John Henrik Clarke 

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King Jr

“You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.” - Marian Wright Eldelman

“Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.”– Sojourner Truth

“If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress. If you pull it all the way out that’s not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven’t even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound. They won’t even admit the knife is there.” – Malcolm X

“I did not get on the bus to get arrested I got on the bus to go home.” - Rosa Parks

“Freedom is to come to the Negro, not as a bequest, but as a conquest.” - Carter G. Woodson 

“I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves.” - Harriet Tubman 

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” - Alice Walker

What are your favorites in the list? Do you know of another quote about Blackness that should be included in this collection? Share it in the comments and if it’s worthy, we’ll add it in!

There are so many different regimes for people to follow to maintain their hair and its health. I find these five things that I DO consistently have helped me maintain my hair and its health.

TRIMMING:

SO ESSENTIAL, yet, often neglected. People sometimes go months, even years before they give their hair a good trim. Why is it so important? Because it prevents the split end from continuing up the hair shaft and this can cause severe breakage. How often do we see products that say “Repair Split Ends”(which is false advertisement)? Can you bring the dead back to life?! NO, and neither can you do the same with split ends. They’re inevitable, but can be controlled. Limiting the amount of heat (i.e. curling irons, flat irons, blow dryers) can cut down on how bad your split ends can get. For those ladies natural and relaxed please do not forget this step! Every 4-6 weeks!

CONDITIONING:

OH HOW IMPORTANT! CONDITION CONDITION CONDITION!!! Our hair gets thirsty! And if it doesn’t get quenched properly it will let you know. The amount of conditioning is different for everyone. Some may not need intense moisturizers as others, so get to know your hair. Also, switch your products up after while. Your hair can stop responding to the products you use, especially your shampoo. There are so many products out there so do your research! Its worth it.

VITAMINS/HEALTHY DIET:

What we put in is what we get out! I recently just started a new vitamin called Hair Infinity and I have already seen results! I highly recommend them! Biotin is also a good vitamin to take, however be aware that it is also for your metabolism. Drinking plenty of water, is such a cliche thing to say but it is a staple! Fruits & veggies of course are important in your diet. Take care of your inner and your outer will be happy!

CHEMICALS/OVER PROCESSING:

Man, can this be detrimental. Please be careful with the amount of chemicals and what chemicals you choose to use on your hair. If you are relaxed (as I am) try to breakup the time up as long as your hair can allow before you relax it. I have known some people to relax their hair every 3 weeks and wonder why their hair is breaking. Allow for there to be at LEAST over an inch of growth before you decided to relax it again and make sure you ONLY RELAX THE NEW GROWTH and try your best to stay away from the hair that is already relaxed which can cause your hair to be over processed. When it comes to color, wait 3-4 weeks after your initial color or relaxer. Over processing can cause a lot of damage.

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE:

Do your research when it comes to your products! There are so many hair care products on the market and which ever we decided to purchase make sure you pay attention to the ingredients in the back of the product. Mineral Oil, Sulfates, Isopropyl Alcohol are some of the few ingredients to look out for. A lot of products contain these ingredients, so be mindful of what you purchase and use in your hair care regime.

What are some of the  tips you have picked up to maintain  healthy black hair?

Government says patient dies after catching disease in Guinea, where 70 have died in one of worst outbreaks for years.

Guinea has confirmed Ebola cases at hospitals in the capital, Conakry [AFP]

Liberia has confirmed two patients have tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus, which is already believed to have killed at least 70 people in neighbouring Guinea.

Walter Gwenigale, Liberia's health minister, told the Associated Press news agency late on Sunday that one patient was married to a Guinean man and had returned ill from a recent trip there. She died in Lofa County.

The second patient is the sister of the dead woman. Gwenigale said she is alive and has been isolated in a medical centre outside of Monrovia, declining to give further details "because we don't want to cause panic".

Guinea confirmed last week that dozens of victims of hemorrhagic fever in the country's southern region had tested positive for Ebola. Cases have also been confirmed in the capital, Conakry.

Senegal on Saturday said its border crossings to Guinea would be closed "until further notice", while Sierra Leone has also reported suspected cases of the disease.

No treatment or vaccine is available for Ebola, a highly infectious and virulent disease which can cause uncontrollable bleeding. The Zaire strain detected in Guinea, first recorded 38 years ago in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, has a 90 percent death rate.

It can be transmitted to humans from wild animals, and between humans through direct contact with blood, bodily fluids or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

Tell us what you think in the comments section.

We explore the hip side of Congo-Brazzaville with a style icon, a rap artist, a wrestler, and a radio talk show host.

More than a decade ago, Brazzaville was considered the worst city in the world to live in. But beyond the war and suffering, there exists a different side to the Congo.

In Sunday in Brazzaville , young radio talk show host, Carlos La Menace, unveils in his weekend show three figures of Congo's capital, Brazzaville.

The Sapeurs adhere to a subculture of high fashion. While they may be surrounded by extreme poverty, they are always dressed impeccably in Versace or Prada, as Yves Saint Laurent, the president of the Sapeur Association, explains.

Elsewhere, rapper Cheriff Bakala is working on recording his first album in a country with almost no producers. Bakala is not a usual rapper; he mixes hip hop with Congolese folk, and uses local instruments, such as drums made up of water cans. 

And finally, Palmas Yaya, Brazzaville's wrestling champion is relying on voodoo to defend his title at a crucial moment in his life.

Filmmaker's view

By Enric Bach and Adria Mones

Most documentaries about Africa that we watch in the Western media portray a sad and dangerous continent, full of wars, refugees and misery. But there is another side of Africa, and we wanted to show it.

We chose the Republic of Congo, seduced by the phenomenon of the ‘Sape’ (Society for the Advancement of Elegant people), a movement of fashion lovers - known as the Sapeurs - who were born in Brazzaville and who were, until recently, practically unknown.

The Sape originated after World War I when Congo was still part of French Equatorial Africa. Many Congolese soldiers defended France against the German army. During their time in France they were impressed by `the style and good manners of Parisian dandies - men who placed particular importance upon their appearance.

The Congolese soldiers not only loved their elegance, but also their attitude against war and violence. Back in Brazzaville, they adopted that style and transformed it into a genuine Congolese expression. Some people think that the Sape is a veneration of colonial style and a rejection of African tradition - and this can be a controversial issue. However, when filming our central character Yves Saint Laurent and his fellow Sapeurs, we decided not to judge them. We only asked them to explain who they were and why they chose the Sapeur way of life.

Filming Cheriff Bakala and his band, the FB Stars, was an inspiring experience. Being with them you realise that great music can be made with very few means. Like many bands in Congo, they cannot afford to have a drum set. Instead, they use big plastic cans and they get a great sound out of them, because of their talent.

We were very lucky because we were filming while the band was in the process of recording their first album. The studio was a 20 square metre room, lit up with only one bulb. There was no distinction between the musicians and the sound engineer and, as is usual in many African countries, power cuts often interrupted work. But even in such poor conditions, it was a great quality recording. Cheriff is still trying to find an international label to distribute the album.

We got into the world of wrestling thanks to our local producer, who got access to the main wrestlers and introduced us to the local champion, Palmas Yaya. He was not the strongest wrestler but he said he relied on magic to defeat his opponents. We managed to film a spectacular night of fighting between Brazzaville and Kinshasa’s wrestlers, where Palmas retained his champion’s title.

We got some of the best shots of the film when we followed the Carnival that announces the fighting event. All the wrestlers stood on top of taxis in a parade that travelled around the city. A brass band followed them playing popular Congolese music and people came out of their houses to watch them pass. It is their unique way of advertising the event and it is truly impressive.

Finally, we met Carlos La Menace, one of the best radio talk show hosts in Brazzaville, who allowed us to film his show during the weekend and ended up becoming the narrator of the film. This was our first documentary and it was a great human experience. We really look forward to showing this side of Africa again.

                            Boko Haram has been accused of numerous attacks in the north

More than three million people are facing a humanitarian crisis in three northern Nigerian states hit by an Islamist-led insurgency, the government's relief agency has said.

The conflict has displaced about 250,000 people since January, it added.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the three states last year to crush the insurgency.

However, the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in recent months.

The group operates mostly in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where the state of emergency is in force.

'Unprecedented crisis'

In a statement, the Nigerian government's National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) said the "needs of the affected population are increasing by the day and the support of all is urgently required".

Borno was worst affected, with about 1.3 million people - most of them women, children and the elderly - in need of aid, Nema said.

In Adamawa, the number stood at around one million and in Yobe at more than 770,000, it said.

The government has vowed to defeat the militants

About 250,000 people were living in camps or with relatives and friends after being forced out of their homes, the agency added.

Nigerian Red Cross Society representative Soji Adeniyi said what has happening in the north-east was unprecedented.

"We have never had this kind of displacement caused by conflicts before in the country,'' he is quoted by Nigeria's privately-owned This Day newspaper as saying.

Earlier this month, Boko Haram fighters attacked an army barracks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Continue reading the main story

• 
  

Its fighters also looted and torched several villages and towns in the state after launching attacks with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

Last month, the group was accused of killing at least 29 people in an attack on a rural boarding school in Yobe.

Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009 to create a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

The president insists that the state of emergency has been effective, saying the militants have been confined to a small area near the border with Cameroon.

Tell us what you think in the comments section !

Source: BBC

Kudzanai Chiurai, Zimbabwe

Kudzanai Chiurai Moyo II 2013. Ultrachrome inks on fiber paper 150 x 100 cm Edition of 10. Courtesy Goodman Galler

Exiled from Zimbabwe after producing an unflattering portrait of the country’s president, Robert Mugabe, Kudzanai Chiurai, the first black artist to get a BA in fine arts at the University of Pretoria, has become an important figure in African art. Chiurai uses dramatic multimedia compositions to confront pressing issues from government corruption, conflict and violence to xenophobia and displacement. Based in Johannesburg, Chiurai’s work is a mixture of digital photography, editing and printing, painting, and, more recently, film. His work is also featured at This is not Africa, this is us, a three part exhibition, organised by West in The Hague and the Kunsthal, Rotterdam, showing the work of the three African artists: Kudzanai Chiurai, Simon Gush and Kemang Wa Lehulere until 29 March 2014.

Tracey Rose, South Africa

Detail from Tracey Rose's Maqueii 2002. Lambda print 118 x 118 cm Edition of 6. Courtesy of Goodman Gallery

Born in Durban and currently living in Johannesburg, Tracey Rose is an established contemporary multimedia artist and feminist, best known for her bold, provocative, narrative-less performances, video installations and photography. Rose confronts the politics of identity, including sexual, body, racial and gender issues. Her themes often convey her multicultural ancestry and experience of growing up as a mixed-race person in South Africa. She skilfully combines popular culture with notions of sociology to evoke powerful emotions and illustrate the disparities of South Africa’s political and social landscape. Rose has held solo exhibitions in South Africa as well as in Europe and America and has participated in a number of international events, including the Venice Biennale.

Meschac Gaba, Benin

Meschac Gaba's Souvenir Palace, 2010. © Julian Stallabrass/Flickr

Meschac Gaba is perhaps best known for his Museum of Contemporary African Art, a travelling exhibition inaugurated at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 1997. Created in the form of a nomadic museum, Gaba’s extraordinary project consisted of 12 exhibition rooms set up in various European art institutions over a period of five years in an ingenuous attempt to create a space for African art. In 2013, the Tate Modernpurchased and showcased Gaba’s entire ‘museum’. With a natural talent for expressing his ideas through the visual arts, Gaba’s museum depicted subjects from fashion in the Summer Collection Room and food in the Museum Restaurant, to excessive overproduction of food in the Draft Room. Employing local craftsmanship with a European flair, Gaba’s works vary from paintings and ceramics to installations, using a range of materials such as paint, plywood, plaster, stones and decommissioned bank notes.

Nástio Mosquito, Angola

A multimedia and performance artist working across music, videos, spoken word and a capella, Nástio Mosquito flirts with African stereotypes in western contexts. Often portraying himself as the central figure of his art, Mosquito’s work makes powerful political and social statements, slightly discomforting at a first glance. Past exhibitions include the 9 Artists show (2013) at the Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis, and Across the Board: Politics of Representation at the Tate Modern in London in 2012.

Julie Mehretu, Ethiopia

Julie Mehretu, Stadia Series. © Allie Caulfield/Flickr

A key young African artist with a growing international exposure, Julie Mehretu’s large paintings draw on elements of aerial mapping and architecture. With an underlying calligraphic complexity, her energetic pieces represent accelerated urban growth, and densely populated city environments and social networks of the 21st century. Mehretu creates each painting by adding consecutive thin layers of acrylic paint on canvas and then finishing it off with delicate superimposed marks and patterns using pencil, pen, ink and streams of paint. She portrays a compression of time, space and place, independent of historical significance. From constructivism and geometric abstraction to futurism, Mehretu describes her paintings as "story maps of no location"

El Anatsui, Ghana

El Anutsai, Nukae (detail), 2006. Image courtesy of cliff1066/WikiCommons

One of Africa’s most influential sculptors, Ghanaian El Anatsui is at the forefront of contemporary artists of his time and has received considerable international attention for his work. A professor in sculpture at the University of Nigeria, Anatsui’s preferred media are clay and wood which he uses to create objects expressing various social, political and historical concerns. In his later works, he has turned to installation art and sewing. Using unconventional tools such as chainsaws and power tools, he has reshaped and given new meaning to materials such as railway sleepers, driftwood and aluminium bottle tops. In an interview, Anatsui said, "the amazing thing about working with these metallic fabrics is that the poverty of the materials used in no way precludes the telling of rich and wonderful stories."

Ibrahim El Salahi, Sudan

Ibrahim El Salahi's Self-portrait-of-suffering. © Ibrahim El Salahi

Often referred to as the godfather of African modernism, Ibrahim El Salahi has created visionary artwork for more than five decades. Former diplomat and undersecretary of the Sudanese ministry of culture in the 1970s, El Salahi was imprisoned for six months without charge after being accused of anti-government activities. An articulate and avuncular figure, El Salahi has developed his own unique art history, pioneering on many art fronts such as being one of the first artists to elaborate Arabic calligraphy in his paintings and the first African artist to get a Tate Modern retrospective. Elementary forms and lines dominated his early artwork, and over the years his work has taken a meditative and abstract turn, with a strong emphasis on lines, and use of black and white

Sokari Douglas Camp, Nigeria

Sokari Douglas Camp, RSW bus & London Eye, Anita Roddick memorial. Courtesy of the artist

-born Sokari Douglas Camp has broken into the male-dominated field of sculpture to become one of the first generation of female African artists to attract the attention of the international art market. Originally from a large Kalabari town in the Niger Delta, Douglas Camp’s work is greatly inspired by Kalabari culture and traditions. Employing modern sculptural techniques with the predominant use of steel, she creates large, semi-abstract figurative works, adorned with masks and ritual clothing, reflecting her close relationship to her homeland despite having lived in London for many years. Douglas Camp has had numerous solo and group shows all over the world and permanent collections of her work can be found in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, and the British Museum in London.

Abdoulaye Konaté, Mali

Pouvoir et Religion (Power and Religion), Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) Window commission, 2011, Textile. Courtesy of Kate Elliott, © the artist

A prominent contemporary art figure in Mali, Abdoulaye Konaté artwork is a striking combination of installation works and painting. After pursuing a degree at the National Art Institute of Bamako, Konaté completed his painting studies in Cuba. Most of Konaté’s large-scale work is based on textiles, a readily available and cheap medium in Mali. Treating textiles as a limitless palette, Konaté dyes, cuts, sews and embroideries scraps of cotton and traditional bazin fabric to produce his signature monumental tapestries. Konaté's major works have focused on the political tensions in the Sahel region, and, since the start of the millennium, on the devastating impact of Aids in Mali.

Chéri Samba, Democratic Republic of Congo

Chéri Samba, Quelle Solution pour les hommes, 2001. Image courtesy of African Contemporary Gallery and the artist

A leading contemporary African painter, Chéri Samba’s later work often features himself as the main subject. Samba started his career working as a billboard painter and a comic strip artist and gradually moved to painting on sacking fabric, as canvas was too expensive. He began to use the comic style of word bubbles to add commentary in his works, which became recognised as a signature of his style.



Source: thegardian

CNN's African Start-Up talked to some of Africa's brightest business stars to find out their advice on how to make a fortune on the continent. Click on the flashing icons below.

Magatte Wade, CEO and founder of Tiossan

Many Africans are unaware that the "cultural creative" demographic in the U.S. and Europe actively seeks out high-quality products from exotic cultures. With a sophisticated branding strategy that targets this demographic, we can replace the negative connotations of the Africa brand with a positive appeal, and bring the best of African culture into the global marketplace as a prestige brand.

Alpesh Patel, CEO and founder of Mi-Fone

Young entrepreneurs should come into the game with some of their own savings, so get some corporate experience in your chosen field and learn how the system works. Save as much as you can from your income, and create some key relationships. Look for the gaps in what big companies are not doing well, and make sure you take advantage of this to create a niche for yourself.

Use social media as much as possible to raise awareness at a low cost, and build your brand every day.

Issam Chleuh, founder of Africa Impact Group

It's important to carefully think through the whole ecosystem and supply chain of your business to make sure you cover all the steps along your way to success. Be mindful of people's promises and double check their work -- your employees, clients and partners. Africa has a laid back culture, and it's important to have control and oversight over all segments of your operations.

However, opportunities are endless -- dare to innovate in Africa, the rewards will make you forget about all the risks

Heshan de Silva, founder of DSGVenCap

  

Transplanting what works in the West and the East over here doesn't cut it. You need to innovate locally and address challenges that people face on the ground. Make the start-up relevant to the masses in a way that's accessible, and you're on the right path.

You need good market research. Often we think we're "on to something" when we are not. Make sure you're addressing issues that are really affecting people, not just those you think are affecting them.

Ashish Thakkar, CEO of Mara Group

You need to be mindful of the fact that Africa is diverse. The biggest problem that those who are new to doing business in Africa face is that they tend to treat it as a homogenous entity, whereas in fact this is a place where you have many different cultures, parliaments, political and regulatory systems -- it's important to understand this. You cannot engage with Africa from a distance -- you need to be able to gain first-hand knowledge of the environment in order to properly know the market.

Patrick E. Ngowi, CEO of Helvetic Solar Contractors

You should start small, with lean operations, and scale up as you go along. I started my solar company being the only employee, going on roof tops to install one solar panel at a time. I made sure every client got value for their investment and, most importantly, was satisfied. Our clients became our ambassadors, especially at a time when there was no budget for marketing.

Jason Njoku, founder of iROKO

You have to be on the ground in Africa. I personally don't believe that you can start a business in Africa if you don't immerse yourself in the market 100%.

You also have to keep speaking to your audience -- don't make assumptions about what you think they want as you might be wrong, especially if you have moved back to Africa after a long spell abroad -- many Western models do not apply to African audiences and consumers. You need to have African solutions to African nuances and challenges.

Do you have any tips, or comments to share ? Do it in the comment section !

Source: CNN