Steps for the Progress of the Black Race

By Richard Nimako

 
"...This book is a book of identity, a perfect one that dwells on the Black race. The challenges of Black people are strenuously conveyed for the curious mind. The skill in which the author digests the issues confronting the Black race makes it a delight to read. His extensive travel across the world has placed him in a privileged position to share his rich and practical experiences with his readers.

Despite the negative picture painted across the globe about the Black race, the author persuades the reader with a forceful impact and unrivalled feats chalked by some Black people in the past. Their successes serve as the rallying point for propelling the youth of today for the attainment of tomorrow's economic, psychological and spiritual emancipation.
It is hoped that the mentality and perspective of the reader would completely change after reading till the last page of this book that highlights the brave Asante Queen Mother, Yaa Asantewaa, who organised the Asante women to fight against the British towards the end of the 19th century when the men had fled. Metaphorically, it draws home the point that female equality, which is recently trumpeted across the globe, had long been the story of the Black woman, reiterating the point that Black people had always set the examples in many fields when it mattered most.

Furthermore, the lesson from the great Queen Mother's story justifies the clarion call to all Black women to get on board in the struggle ahead for racial identity, because the Black race cannot develop without their involvement. The book is a must¬ read for all, especially Black people, who have lost hope in regaining their identity. Spend some time to read it, enjoy it and learn from it."
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Nimako
• Release date: Jan 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201789268

Book preview

STEPS for the Progress of the BLACK RACE

Guides for Black Man's Redemption

R. D. Nimako

Copyright© 2021 by Richard Danso Nimako

Richard Danso Nimako has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this book.

All sources used for writing this book have been duly acknowledged in reference columns which appear at the end of every chapter. Photos sourced from Google have also been acknowledged.

Nimako, Richard Danso

Steps for the Progress of the Black Race: Guides for Black Man's Redemption / by Richard Danso Nimako

Includes Index

ISBN: 9789988314682

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

Cover design by Rutty Nyame Text design by Ebenezer Anim Edited by Isaac Awuku

Say it loud: I'm Black and proud.

- James Joseph Brown, African American musician (3 May 1933 - 25 December 2006)

As long as you are a Black man, you are an African. No matter your nationality, you have the identity of an African.

- Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert McIntosh), a Jamaican musician (19 October 1944 - 11 September 1987)

'Only the best is good enough for Africa. My people of Africa, we were created in the image of God, but men have made us think we are chickens, and we still think we are, but we are eagles. Stretch forth your wings and fly! Don't be content with food of chickens.

- James Kwegyir Aggrey, a Ghanaian scholar (18 October 1875 - 30 July 1927)

EXCERPTS FROM MARCUS GARVEY'S ADVICE TO BLACK PEOPLE IN 1923

"But you (Black people), you have hated yourselves as you have done in previous years. You have shown malice, prejudice and hate to each other; and the result is that while other races have made progress-while India has made progress towards nationalism, while Ireland has made progress towards republicanism, while the whole world has made progress in man's accomplishments-you still stand fighting yourselves, dishonouring yourselves, showing no disposition towards a higher life so that you will be abundantly blessed.

"So, reflect and think that you were created for some purpose other than exhibiting malice towards your neighbour or fellow men of your own race. What a pity it is that we cannot stand united without a written law! There is no written law compelling other races to stand together. They are brought together by the gentle touch of nature. The unwritten law of nature causes them to stand together on all occasions. So, wheresoever you find them in the field, that one gentle touch of nature causes them to stand together, if need be, die together.

But with the Black man, you can preach to him from the pulpit; you lecture from the platform, from the byways and the hedges the spirit of cooperation, but he will not cooperate. You talk to him gently, you try to talk to him harshly, he will still not cooperate. The result is that he falls prey to those who understand themselves and walk through the world making you their serfs and slaves.

"You must acquire understanding yourselves. Look around you. See the smiling pictures of nature-the beautiful hedges, the wonderful mountains, the wonderful vegetation-all around but because of your disposition to each other, you are living in suffering and wanton penury and in debt. You lack the gentle touch of nature, love for each other. You hate yourselves. Black men and Black women, what is wrong with you? Why have you no affection for yourselves? Could I hope to see you living among yourselves like the people I have spoken of-living in charity, love and in sympathy with each other? It can be done. I wonder if you would adopt that cause. Isn't it easier to enjoy prosperity than to live in ignorance and darkness?

"Why select the worst of nature? Nature never gave pain, suffering and debt to the world. It was man himself who selected debt, pain and sorrow. I wonder if I cannot inspire you to select between good and evil. Let me impress upon you once again that whatsoever your hardships may be, whatsoever your difficulties in life, they are your own selection. And so, if you encourage them, if you husband them and take to your bosom, they will abide with you. Nature will not take them away from you, as Mother Nature did not give them to you. She is not responsible for your sorrows. Mother Nature will present all that is beautiful. She gave you the highest personality in the real divine. Your sorrows are your own. If you want joy, if you want sunshine, it is before you abundantly in nature... We must acquire the higher knowledge of life.

Black men and Black women, your feet are not put on the opposite sides, nor your hands turned the other way. But because you 've failed to use your will, your knowledge and mental faculty to the point where you'll enjoy life around you ... "Make up your mind that you'll rise to the knowledge of your soul. The early Africans were able to beat the fathers of our civilisation because they persevered in their object. When we heard the civilisation of the Alexandrias, of the Timbuktus, the creation of the Black man in the early ages, do we realise that the civilisation we know and enjoy was handed down to the present century? But the Black man went back to sleep and is

still sleeping.

"You young Black man, you young Black woman, reject the ignorance, the foolishness, the childishness that has been your path for many years. No serious tag can we see registered on your continent but the tag of vulgarity. Can I appeal to the Black man to turn over a new leaf? A race that cannot conduct itself any better than that is bound to go down in defeat.

"As I come into contact with my race from both financial and social point of view, I realise how weak we are in these essentials that make for success. You are your worst enemy. The Black man goes to business and tries to do the right thing but what do we find? He gets no support from his fellow man. They lie on him, they rob him and the next thing you hear, he is out of business, pulled down by you, his brothers. There is no love for the man in Black. See how we are struggling as strangers in a foreign land where men look upon us not with love.

"The prejudice against us as African people is not because of our colour, it is because of our condition. If we must have justice, we must be strong; if we must be strong, we must come

together; if we must come together, we can only do so through

the system of organisation. The African race became strong in Africa, it could be strong everywhere.

"We are men. We have hopes, we have passions, we have feelings, we have desires just as any other race. The Negro is a man, we represent a new Negro. His back is not yet against the wall, we do not want his back against the wall because that will be a peculiar and desperate position. We do not want him there. It is because of this that we are asking for a fair compromise. We are men-human beings-capable and the  same  as  any other race. Africa has been sleeping, not dead, only sleeping.

"We must canonise our own saints, create our own martyrs, and elevate to positions of fame and honour Black men and women who have made distinct contributions to our racial history. God made man lord of His creation, gave him possession and ownership of the world. And you have been served on the lazy that you have allowed the other fellow to run away with the whole world and now he is bluffing you and telling you that the world belongs to him and that you have no part in it. God Almighty knew exactly what He was doing when He made me Black.

Any leadership that teaches you to depend on another race is a leadership that will enslave you.

- Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Foremost Black Emancipator and Pan-Africanist

(17 August 1887 - 10 June 1940)

Source: YouTube. Marcus Garvey speaks about his trial and persecution.

Accessed 20 March 2021

A newspaper publication confirming the relevance of Garvey's ideology for modern Black people.

Source: The Voice, February, 2020. P12

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my late grandmother, Elizabeth Akosua Sarpomaa, who adopted and brought me up and played a big role in my education-from primary school to university-until she passed away on 14 May 2000. May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

FOREWORD

For many, the year 2020 will linger on in their memories for a long time for all the bad reasons. It was a year everything under the sun came to a virtual standstill. The ubiquitous doors of schools, churches and other social gatherings that were opened and closed now and then were for once shut down one after the other for months due to the imposition of a ban by governments around the world. Airports and borders were not exempted. These were the doings of one dreaded 'Trojan horse,' a coronavirus codenamed 'COVID-19'.

It is often said that every misfortune is a blessing. Indeed, one good thing COVID-19 brought to us was the opportunity to reflect, the opportunity to discover and the opportunity to rejuvenate. It was, indeed, gratifying to hear from the author of this great book that he gathered his ideas and organised his thoughts during the season of the universal lockdown necessitated by the inauspicious pandemic.

Looking through this magnificent volume, I was amazed at Richard's talent and what he achieves with a pen. It is more than a book of lovely illustrations. It is a mine of information,

demonstrating his technique in the minutest detail. The author needs to be highly commended for the very incisive and methodical approach in dealing with an otherwise complicated subject matter. Going through the pages, I found myself emotionally energised.

This book is a book of identity, a perfect one that dwells on the Black race. The challenges of Black people are strenuously conveyed for the curious mind. The skill in which the author digests the issues confronting the Black race makes it a delight to read. His extensive travel across the world has placed him in a privileged position to share his rich and practical experiences with his readers.

Despite the negative picture painted across the globe about the Black race, the author persuades the reader with a forceful impact and unrivalled feats chalked by some Black people in the past. Their successes serve as the rallying point for propelling the youth of today for the attainment of tomorrow's economic, psychological and spiritual emancipation.

It is hoped that the mentality and perspective of the reader would completely