COMIN' TO THE AMERICAS: NO APOLOGY NECESSARY

By Clarence Ogans and Jennet Brewer

History is never complete, for it is created every day. The people, places, and events presented in this episodical manuscript will demonstrate how important history is to a nation. In retrospect, a nation cannot move constructively forward into the future unless it is understood. Thus, the future can benefit from the past and gain from it knowledge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798369414583

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 by Clarence Ogans. 843274

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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844-714-8691

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2024901213

Rev. date: 03/13/2024

To

sweet Geraldine Annette, my wife, and of course all that follow:

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And a special thanks to my beloved mother, whom I miss so very much. Love you,

Momma.

A special thanks to the men and women who gave their precious lives to correct the evils of the past and present throughout the world!

He that stealeth a man, and selleth

him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be

put to death.

—Exodus 21:16

Western Hemisphere N/S& C

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Akebu-Lan

(Mother Africa)

Mother of Mankind

Garden of Eden

We

are your offsprings,

mirrors of your past; reflections of your future. Torn from your bosom, so many centuries ago; stretched across the seas resting upon the isles and lands of

afar!

We

are strangers when we meet; the distant lands, have strangled our relationship. The longing of your tenderness has caused a deep void in our hearts. We longed for you and missed your loving

caress!

We

are your offsprings image of your strength. The Lands in which we have embarked; have prospered by your presence. We are called many Names by our Benefactors; yet we answer only to

one!

We

were deprived of

your gentle touch. The years that have gone by, have left us weeping and moaning. We awake in the midnight hours to echoes of sorrow that fill the midnight skies, wondering if there will be a morning

rise!

We

are your offsprings

shadows of your presence. During the days of our departures; severed from your warm embrace, submerged into the abyss of disparagement of hate. Crying as a child longing to be

held!

We

are your offsprings,

betrayed by our fathers: stripped of our dignity and crammed aboard the merchant ships awaiting out at sea. No gentle voice to assure us all will be

well!

We

are your offsprings,

The doors of no return was our departure gate, only then will our fate be known to us of our final resting

place!

We

were taken away from home and forced by our surrogate mothers to adopt a new way of life. But your omnipresence is always there to remind us we cannot

forget!

We

are your offsprings

The new lands are foreign to all but home to many. But by our arrival many will survive. The hunger and lust for riches has decimated the minds of those who call this land

home!

We

are your offsprings,

builders of mighty kingdoms. The land has not been gentle to us but your enduring strength has sustained us. Vanquished from the pages of history but never to be forgotten. Your Silent groans of afar ripple upon the ocean

waves!

We Hear You!

Clarence Ogans, 1987

CONTENTS

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List of Illustrations

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

African History: Lost, Stolen, Forgotten, or Forbidden?

Chapter 2

The Beginning: Land of Ham

Chapter 3

Prelude Before the Deluge

Chapter 4

Vanguards of the Faith: Saint Peter the Apostle

Never has so few, caused so much misery, to so many.

Chapter 5

Father Africa: Shame, Shame, Shame!

Chapter 6

Gateway to Paradise: Tropical Escape

Paradise Lost

Chapter 7

People from Heaven: Death and Destruction Followed After

Chapter 8

Unsung Hero(es) and Heroine(s)

Chapter 9

Bon Voyage: Carnivore Cruise Liners #666

Chapter 10

Western Hemisphere or Bust

Chapter 11

The Arrival: Welcome!

Chapter 12

Viva la Mexico

Where You See an Eagle Perched on a Cactus Eating a Snake, This Is Your Home

Chapter 13

New Gran Colombia: Kingdom of Granada

Chapter 14

Federation Republic of Brazil

Chapter 15

Viceroyal of La Plata

(Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay/Bolivia/Chile/Brazil)

Chapter 16

Viceroyalty

Chapter 17

The Forgotten Corner

Chapter 18

United States

Land of the Free Home of the Brave

Chapter 19

We Hold These Truths

Chapter 20

Canada

Chapter 21

Fantastic Voyage

Chapter 22

Clouds of WarBirthing Place of New NationsUnder New Management

Chapter 23

The Awakening!

Chapter 24

Epilogue

Sources

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

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Chapter 1

Eden

Top: Annuit Coeptis (He [God] favors our undertaking)

Bottom: Novus Ordo Seclorum (New Order of the Ages)

Symbol of protection, royal power, and good health

Obelisk

Africanus

Biladal-Zanj

Zeus and Company

General Hannibal

The Great Sit-Down

India

King Amenhotep III and the missus (Queen Trye)

India’s earliest civilization (Indus Valley)

Mohenjo Daro Man

The great Gautama Buddha

Master Samurai

Master of the Sea

Men of valor

Back in the good olden days in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)

(Isardom, 1547–1721)

Conrade Kizlar Agasi

Commander Piter Elaiev, a.k.a. Petro Seichi

General Abraham Hannibal

Alexander Pushkin

Chapter 2

Solomon and the queen of Sheba

Emperor Manus Musa

Timbuktu

"Upon this rock . . ."

King Shaka

Comment le Ray de Congo donne audience aux Ambassadeurs

The Forgotten African Catholic Kingdom

Simon the Canaanite (Zealot)*

The Twelve

Chapter 3

ItalianRenaissance.org

Brother against His Brother!

Platonum Affair

Augustine of Hippo

Forward toward the Light

You Be the Judge

Ras Tafari (1892–1975)

In the Name of the Lord/Allah!

Exodus moving lots of peoples

The Morning After

Stand by your man!

Twelve Tribes of Israel

Emmanuel

Scramble for Africa

Simon, son of Jonas, loves thou me?

Pope Eugenius

Pope Leo XIII

Chapter 4

Duke of Viseu

Silk Road

Adahu the Informant

May he RIP

Web of Deception

Blessed

Queen Nzinga Mgande, a.k.a. Ana de Sousa Nzinga Mbande

Built Congolese Strong

Chapter 5

Just Pull the String!

Foreign exchange

Battle of the River Mbwila

Benin, a.k.a. Dahomey, dba Slave Coast, 1999, Reconciliation Conference seeks forgiveness:

Chapter 6

O! What a relief! Eureka!

The Return of Christopher Columbus from the New World (1839), an oil painting on canvas by Eugene Delacroix; the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, Gilt of Thomas A. DeVilbiss Enquest Fund.

Pope Alexander VII

"We are the world!"

The Dread Fort San Felipe de Morro

House of Horror

Rastaman good vibration

Oil painting on canvas (about 1880) by Lorenzo Delleani; Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Genoa, Italy ISCALA/Art Resource.

Chapter 7

Hawking’s Great Adventure

The Queen’s Slave Trader

Gloriana

Go ye unto the world!

Battle for the Americas

Battle for the Americas

Queen Anacaona

Last Will and Testament

The Treaty of Cacique Henri

The Crossing

Agueybana

Honorable Cacique Jumacao

Chapter 8

Alonso Pietro (Prieto)

Frequent Travels

Greetings and Salutations

Amber fields of gold (wheat)

Isabel de Olvera

Replacement Workers?

Bond of Solidarity

Chapter 9

Rachel weeping for her children (Jer. 40:1; Matt. 2:18).

Doors of No Return

Barcode Tracking System

Art of Negotiation

Ed Lloyd’s Coffee House Tower St.

Motto: Fidentia (Latin for confidence)

Holding pen and security guard posted

The silent majority

The Lunatic Express

Zanzibar

Chapter 10

La Rochelle slave ship Le Saphir ex-voto, 1741.

Pack ’em, stack ’em, and rack ’em!

All Aboard

Physical Insanity

Insurance fraud on the high seas

Chapter 11

MPEMBA: The Land of the Death

Chapter 12

(Mexico City)

Oh! How the mighty has fallen!

Hern’an’s main squeeze and son

"To the victor belongs the spoils."

Mankind Has Got to Know His Limitations!

Primer Liberator de America

Infantry Regimento of Pardo Militias

Father Costilla

Guadalupe Victoria

Augustin Iturbide

Vicente Guerrero

United Mexican States

Ghost of the Past

Remembering the . . . Cry

Chapter 13

Gateway to Riches

Chief Careta

Once upon a time in a land not so far, far away.

Real-Life Action Figures!

Miguel’s Army

Will and Sharper

Chapter 14

Brazil

How Sweet It Is

Treaty of Tordesillas

Martin

Go ye unto all the world

The Answer

A texture adventure in colonial Brazil

Ganga Zumba (Great Lord)

Bilai

Chapter 15

Argentina

The Slave

Seventh, Eighth, and Eleventh Infantry Regiments

666?

The Good Doctor Jose

Frozen in Time

Republic of Paraguay

El Supremo

Uruguay

Overland Express

Maestor Ansina Simbolo De La Lealtad Artiguita

Immortal 33

Chapter 16

Colombia

Venezuela

Ecuador

Peru

Bolivia

Chile

Meicuchuca

Saguamanchica

Sagipa

Nemequene

Tisquesusa

King Benko

Domingo and Jane

Venezuela

Ecuador

It’s a family affair

The Arobe’s family album

Mother of the Faithful

Taura Taura!

Republic of Peru

Francisco, Herando, and cous Pedro

End of the Trail

God Save the King

The road to Hades is paved with gold!

Prayer to Saint Martin de Porres

Major Anzurez and Vice Major of Arcia

The Chosen One

Freedom Fighters

Somos libres. Seamosic s empre. (We are free. May we always be so.)

Charcas

Tupac

Republic of Chile

This here land is our land!

We have a friend . . .

The Illustrious African

Chapter 17

Guiana

The Unforgotten

French Guiana

Anachronistic vestige of the colonial era

"Now is the time for all good men . . ."

Suriname a.k.a. Dutch Guiana

United We Stand

General Cuffy

Honorable Quamina and Jack Gladstone

Chapter 18

Living in America by James Joe Brown Jr. From St. Augustine, Florida (1582) / Jamestown, Virginia (1619) to Africatown, Alabama (1860).

Gran Real de Santa Teresa de Mose

The Bloody Mose

Chief Powhatan a.k.a. Wahunsnaock

Love is in the air

The landing of the first Negroes

Mark of Approval

Massasoit

Brother Squanto

Why can’t we be friends?

Cruel and unusual punishment

Chapter 19

We Hold These Truths

Jemmy the Liberator

One out of ten thousand

Freedom, how sweet the sound.

Crispus

Black Regiment

Salem Poor’s stamp, 1975

Trail of death!

Old Dominion

God save the king.

Denmark Vesey

Sojourner Truth

The Prophet

Captain John Brown

The Great Orator

The Emancipator

Lady Liberty

The Black Hills

Chapter 20

Kanato,thelast frontier

Greeting!We come in peace.

Fresh Catch of the Day!

North American Beaver (Castor canadensis)

Weapon of mass destruction

Mathieu Da Costa (courtesy Dr. Henry Bishop/Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia)

Oliver Le June

Founder of Eschikaou a.k.a. Chicago

Madam Chloe Cooley

Captain Pierpointa.k.a.Captain Dick/Black Dick

Canada’s best!

Image of William Hall

Keeping the flame of freedom alive

Chapter 21

Home again!

Exodus

Chapter 22

Vincent Oge

Theshoutthat shook thegates of hell

Oath of Blood

Jean-Baptiste Belly

The Opener

Tula, Karpata, and friends

General Wladyslaw Franciszek Jablonowsla

Christophe

Toussaint

Petition

Dessalines

Boyer

Chapter 23

The Defiant One!

Nanny, Queen of the Maroons, the Mother of all Jamaicans

Freedom Fighter and Hometown Hero

Chapter 24

Emancipated Man

The infamous Mason-Dixie Line

Free at Last, Thank God Almighty, Free at Last!

(Quisqueya)

This book is an exposé of past events that redefined the future of the Americas and shaped world events for centuries to come. Those individuals embarked upon a journey, a journey that would see them enter a door and never return again. As we study the travels of one special group to the Americas, we are submerged into the depth of a tainted trail of money, stained with blood streaming from the streets of Europe flowing along the African coast to the isles of the Caribbean and North, Central, and South America. Those who expired at sea were routinely discarded to be devoured by the creatures below. Names unknown, they answered to many given names by their oppressors. But no surname was given. All shared the same emotional feelings of pain and anguish as did their perpetrators, but no one really cared. As the sands swirl along the ocean floor, the silent cries emerge from its depth. As the swirling winds of dust blow across the shores of unmarked graves throughout the Americas, a still small voice can be heard. Although silent to the unhearing ear, to the fine-tuned ear, the sounds of weeping were their last will and testament, as reminders to us that they did not die in vain. That assurance is what I hope to accomplish!

Professor Edward Alsworth Ross states in The Old World in the New, Were the Atlantic dried up today, one could trace the path between Europe and America by the cinders from our streamers; in the old days it would have revealed itself by human bones (Dow 2002, xxvi)

In loving memory of those who have gone before and those who will follow.

Hold in your mind the memory of the land and, with all your mind the memory of the land and, with all your strength, with all your might, and with all your heart—preserve it for your children.

—Words of Chief Seattle to the United States president Franklin Pierce in 1855

Descendants of Africa in Retrospect, Past, Present, and Future

From the desk of Clarence Ogans

FOREWORD

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I have been given the opportunity, which I consider a privilege, to be the first to read this magnificent historical masterpiece, Comin’ to Americas, as seen through the eyes of the Sentinel. His granitelike pose would dominate world headlines for centuries. Clarence examined the past to reach the present by considering the other side of the story. In my nearly three decades of association with Clarence, I can attest to his perseverance to uncover the truth of the matter. He and only he could take on such an enormous undertaking and countless hours spent reading and compiling research to compose a book of such historical significance. To the millions who will read this work of art, I feel they too will agree and confirm its authenticity, which will shed a glimmer of light on events in history that have never been openly acknowledged nor accepted. I believe that this epochal will clarify all those unanswered questions that evaded and eluded us for so long. I can corroborate as an Afro-Caribbean immigrant the authenticity and contents of this publication. My island as well as others were first to experience the initial wave of marauders that began their march westward, and my ancestry was part of that imported citizenry. In my own personal travels throughout the region, it is evident that there are many black faces bearing the crude acculturation marking of their oppressors who came from the South, Central, and North Americas and in all shapes and sizes and complexities to make history. The timing of such work could not have been presented any better, as many nations had long since celebrated their sesquicentennial years ending the world’s most hideous crimes against humanity.

Now we are waiting and watching as more nations are approaching that hollowed day of atonement. We can only hope and pray for Christ’s sake that those atrocities never happen again. Clarence writes history in his own style that resonates from jovial to melancholy. He reports moments of downright criminal thinking that reveal the intent to inflict pain upon others. Clarence takes his work seriously, always probing and pondering, and looking for answers to the questions and the reasons for this mayhem. How could men be so sinister and driven to inflict pain without just cause? The answers, my friends, can be found in this book that reads like yesteryear’s news, capturing the real live drama as it unfolds, bringing to life the heroes and heroines of the untold world. Those patriots who risked their lives for a better day for you and me were the first responders who suffered the depths of hell to bring enlightenment to those who are willing to read and absorb this wonderful novel.

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Ron Steele, LCSW

PREFACE

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History (his-t[E]re)

1:       Tale, story

2 a: chronological record of significant events (as a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes

3: a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events (Webster’s II)

History is a sequel of events swirling in a vacuum of internal changes of volcanic proportions, a seismographic blimp leaving its legacy to be deciphered, a compass searching the cosmos in search of destiny and forging its presence without prior warning upon mankind’s vulnerable state of being.

I am writing as a novice historian navigating through the turbulent waves of the past, with hopes of discovery and disclosure from years of research that required the utilization of many thoroughly examined historical documents compiled by learned scholars.

In my research, you may agree or disagree with my fact-finding attempt to construct a scenario of truces and acknowledgment that these events did or did not occur. Feel free to challenge the facts: with compelling and reasonable arguments. The era of my manuscript that I have selected may suggest that the Homo sapiens (Ho’mo sa’pe enz’) (the modern man being, the only extant species of the genus Homo) cannot reasonably comprehend these extensible moments of insanity toward its fellow Homo erectus.

Let’s take a ride on the historical railroad. Follow the tracks laid down as a fact-finding journey into the lives and times of our fellow humankind. We will follow their petrified footprints embedded into the sands of the earth. Have a nice ride!

Approximately 50 million took that ride between the 1500s and the 1800s, and it may be understood that 60 percent died in transit, and another 5 million chose suicide rather than endure a life without freedom.

INTRODUCTION

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History is never complete, for it is created every day. The people, places, and events presented in this episodical manuscript will demonstrate how important history is to a nation. In retrospect, a nation cannot move constructively forward into the future unless it is understood. Thus, the future can benefit from the past and gain from it knowledge.

I grew up in rural central California’s agricultural heartland of cotton country in the fifties. It was there that I was introduced to many biblical characters and places that were seemingly of another world by my beloved mother, Pearl, and her mother, Lela Harris. But Grandma Harris took center stage. I would listen attentively as she spoke about a place called Jerusalem and a man named Jesus. It was a city she would never see nor visit in her lifetime; and this man Jesus, whom she often spoke of, would eventually carry her home to heaven someday—a city she had no earthly knowledge of nor of its existence on planet Earth. But she had faith in the man Jesus, the savior of the world.

Grandma didn’t know how to read or write. Born in the apartheid state of Mississippi, she held steadfast to her faith in Jesus and never relinquished that hope. It is this significant part of my life that inflamed my desire to study history. She was a grandchild of former slaves and heard firsthand accounts of the atrocities. As a very young child, she would listen to her mother talk about her grandfather, Alac Bush, as he told of the hardships that he and others endured. As she tried to process and understand the whys of it all, the cruelty imposed against her ancestors, she would become so overwhelmed with sadness she would begin to cry.

Years later, Grandmother Harris would pass the stories on to her grandchildren. Even then the thoughts of terror imposed, in the not-so-distant past, her eyes would well up with tears as she tried to explain to us the stories of bondage in the days of yesteryears. However, through it all, she would somehow express a sense of strength and solemnity to her sadness by reciting over and over how God brought the children of Israel out of four hundred years of bondage in Egypt.

As an aspiring history buff, the Bible has always been an inspiring manuscript. From its sacred writings, literally millions of lives have been altered in heaven and on earth. The list of people, the list of places, and the power of its far-reaching spiritual consciousness are awesome. What a magnificent God we serve—a.k.a. Jehovah, a.k.a. Yahweh, a.k.a. Elohim, a.k.a. Allah, a.k.a. I Am That I Am (Exod. 3:6)! His omnipresence keeps on going and going and going and going.

However, by examining the past, I have discovered that the past is strewn with wreckage of human remains all with a story to tell. I have admired the works of archaeologists since high school—the painstaking efforts to study fossil remains and the study of the coexistence within their elements, uncovering secrets that have been frozen in time for thousands and thousands of years, the uniqueness of being able to examine bones through carbon testing that can predate their age and with modern technology can determine their gender. After further examination of these long-forgotten relics, the time of their demise can be determined. Corporations, educational institutions, and private sponsors pledge millions and millions of dollars to avid adventurers to unearth human artifacts of the past. The past is the holder of hidden treasures, but once unlocked, it can reveal the secrets of mighty empires—empires that rose to greatness only to subside into obscurity. It can expose the frailty of man’s failed attempt to immortalize himself to live forever.

What is it about an archaeologist’s find that intrigues modern man? Was Eve’s curiosity to partake of the tree of good and evil a prelude to the future ongoing appetite of mankind to satisfy his inquisitiveness (Genesis 3)? An example is the excitement generated by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. King Tut was the boy king of Egypt. Illuminating the limbic system with that unquenchable thirst harnessed within all quest seekers. Most recently in 1991, when the remains of Otzi, the Ice Man of the Alps, were stumbled upon, it was amazing how it became a world phenomenon. It intensified an interest in history throughout the world. Of the many questions surrounding the perplexities of this man? Three major mysteries regarding this discovery remain: (1) Who was this man found on the hillside of the Alps? (2) How did he survive in such a rugged and desolate terrain? (3) What could have contributed to his demise?

It’s this inquisitiveness and curiosity of human nature that entreats us all. Archaeologists glory in the past. Anthropologists thrive on the past. Historians love to write about the past. Paleontologists desperately try to reconstruct the fossil remains of the past. Forensic reconstructionists accept the challenge of reconstructing facial profiles to get a better look at them. Pathologists will attempt to examine the health and welfare of people to discover the societal cause of a disease or illness. Sociologists dream of studying human development as it relates to organized groups or societies. Psychologists drool over the opportunity of a lifetime to diagnose the temptation of the madness that may led to mankind’s deplorable behavior. Psychiatrists salivate at a chance to diagnose and treat mental illness as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS), then prescribe medication as a deteriorate method to treat the abnormalities for future generations.

From the exploratory findings, we stumbled upon the possibilities of their exerted efforts to become better than the previous generation. Last, but not least, two prevailing factors seem to always find a way to explain it all: inspired by religious dogma or philosophical jargon and man’s frail attempt to ascend to the highest level and to become like God, only to succumb and become collectible relics of the past!

There is another form of temptation, even more fraught with danger. This is the disease of curiosity . . . It is this which drives us to try and discover the secrets of nature, those secrets which are beyond our understanding, which can avail nothing and which man should not wish to learn. (Augustine, late fourth/early fifth century AD)

As we have discovered that modern man is so intrigued with the past, he will spare neither expense nor effort to re-create the storyline of times long gone. But memory seems at times to lose sight of how to avoid the pitfalls of the past. From it, we can gain insight into the future. As one writer states, They who fail to know the past are doomed to repeat it. My interpretation of this writer’s prophetic message is it is wise to become familiar with the past to avoid those disasters in the future. From it, we must build upon the ideas that enrich life’s expectancies. I am living in a time when we admonish the names of great men and women engraved in marble, statues of men and women carved from stone, and prehistoric paintings on caves indicating I was here.

We can literally, with our technological advancement, point the finger, to bring relics of the past to life, as if it were yesterday’s news. We can take a glance at Hammurabi’s Code of Laws (circa 1760 BC) where it was preordained that Anu and Bel, (Illil) lord of heaven and earth called him, Hammurabi: the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land. The laws of approximately three hundred dealt with everything that affected the community: religious, agricultural, arms services, crime, kidnapping, business, property exchanges, and marriage and family relationships. His law can be considered to be the first known written to form a fair and just society.

The strong shall not injure the weak. (John W. Snyder, World Book, 1994, 36)

We can scroll down and examine the contents of the commandments of Jehovah, as Moses so carefully scripted every word that proceeded from the mouth of God (circa 1300–1150 BC) and a later version reiterated by Jesus (Matt. 22:39, KJV).

Love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

On these two hang all the laws and the prophets. The question is who is my neighbor? To find that answer, turn to Luke 10:29 (KJV). Jesus expounded upon the life of a man who was attacked and robbed and left for dead on the roadside. Several practicing religious hypocrites passed by and gazed but did not have the time to stop. Many felt that he was not of their social nor religious order: unclean. But there was one guy, a lone stranger, who saw the need and stopped to administer assistance. Then Jesus posed the question: which one?

We can study the Dead Sea Scrolls. Carbon testing indicates that a portion of the scrolls may have been written around 200 BC. From the scrolls, we can be assured, without a shadow of a doubt, of the proof of the authenticity of the Bible, held so dear to the hearts of all practicing Christians. From it, we can catapult forward thousands of years and review the writings that have helped modern-day nations reach their full potential.

From these advancements, we gain insight into England’s Magna Carta of AD 1215, placing a new spin on the birthing of the ideals of liberty excluding no one. We can read the contents of the Declaration of Independence of 1776, rights endowed by their Creator. We can recite the Bill of Rights of AD 1788, guaranteeing all citizens the fundamental inalienable rights in the United States. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens AD 1789, as adopted by the French, bestows upon every citizen basic fundamental rights.

How sweet the sound of liberty for all: well, almost ALL! (The Addendum)

From moments of past enlightenment, we can follow mortal man’s frivolous attempts to restore various groups of people whose God-given and endowed rights were hijacked. Decades later, the first judicial principle of liberty began to resonate throughout several South American countries. The first sound heard throughout the European world was the rumble of Haiti in 1807: "We are all free. There were more soon to follow. The liberty of wombs" (Libertad de vientres), as implemented by the Chilean Congress law in the early nineteenth century, states that all children of enslaved Africans born on Chilean soil from this day forward would be free. The law of rescue between the years 1812 and 1853 in Argentina allowed a bond person to obtain manumission after five years of military service. In North America, the Gettysburg Address of 1863 was eloquently written and spoken by the United States president Abraham Lincoln to remind all its citizenry of those God-given rights. It was followed by the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 to again lay claim to God’s will and testament. The Golden Law of Brazil in 1888 reassured us that all men are created equal and commissioned by the Supreme Being to go into the world and spread the good news. The Civil Rights Act of the 1960s in the United States, with all deliberate speed, to do the right thing. Then the renowned prince of Akebu-Lan, the Honorable Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, was released from the dungeon of doom after his arrest in 1962 to 1990. Precondition upon release: willingness to contribute to the creation of climate which would promote peace in South Africa (World Book/M 1994, 136). It was a climate of hate created and manifested by the overlords themselves.

Now, as an avid student of history, I have often wondered and asked the following question: Who exactly were those men, women, and children who crossed the Atlantic Ocean that would require such special attention and demand a series of special exceptions to coexist? Of the estimated 100 million abducted, approximately 15–20 million completed the trip. Who were those individuals who survived? Better yet, how did they manage to survive a universal campaign of dehumanization, demoralization, and degradation? Individuals who were subject to severe and unwarranted injustices, so much so that special laws, codes, and amendments of the constitution of governments have to be enacted? Who were these Homo sapiens that demanded so much attention, time, and monies earmarked: to study their social habits, behavior, origin, cultural development, and anatomical studies of the bodies, from the size of the brain, both physical and intelligence quotient (IQ) tests, the length of feet and fingers, and a shared common area of special interest to the male genitalia? Better yet, one should pose the following question: who were those perpetrators that spared no expense to prove that the Africans’ mere right to coexist only to be labeled the beast of burden on planet Earth?

It is the hypocrisy of those laws and codes implemented as a just and honorable gesture of redemption. These failed attempts to soften the crudeness of the genocidal experiments to develop a more pacific theory seem obtuse and intrusive to the household of faith. Were the children of the Africans’ holocaust not children of God?

To my knowledge, they were not seeking a shorter passageway to the riches of Cathay, Zipangu, or India—been there, done that!—or longing for religious freedom or a better existence. They came to the Western Hemisphere with the exception of one or two, shackled from ankle to neck in the bowels of disease-infected clipper ships. Ships that were financed by well-established financial institutions prospered from the cargo of human flesh, cargo received the blessing of the church and most religious orders and with the approval of heads of state. Those ships that were instrumental under the guise of the divine mission of bringing Christianity to the heathen, as was foretold by the prophets of the Old and New Testaments, were in fact profit driven. The ships were returned clean and refurbished, completely absent of the stench that previously occupied their bowels below. A stench that provided undeniable evidence of the inhumane, cruel, and sinful treatment of the human cargo that had formally occupied the vessel.

They carried goods such as sugar, rum, tobacco, cotton, rice, and of course gold, after a very successful exchange of their human cargo. Oh yes, the gold, as best described in a January 2009 article in National Geographic, among the first to bear the scorn of its fiery were the Aster, as defined by the Incas. The Incas viewed this perpetually lustrous metal as the sweat of the sun, then came the Spaniards, whose lust for gold and silver spurred the conquest and destruction of many nations and spared no measures necessary to gain those precious minerals.

The divine rights of man hung in the balance versus man’s financial lust or greed. Oh yeah, greed is so definitively defined in the movie Wall Street by the minacious character Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Kirk Douglas.

Greed is . . . good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

In contrast, King Solomon viewed it differently:

If sinners entice thee consent thou not . . . for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood . . . So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of owners thereof. (Proverbs 1:10–19)

But we all can agree to not agree: money is good!

In the wake of the twenty-first century, many rumors have resurfaced surrounding reparations to make amends. Yes, to somehow let it be known to all living on this planet, Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). We the peacemakers will find a way to bring about solicitude to the hurt. How can we justify mankind’s diabolical behavior? We cannot. We have written proof of the various laws inactived in the Americas. I often wonder and entertain the thoughts of what will happen to those responsible for the cold-blooded, unmerciful, and unjustifiable savagery imposed on God’s children. How will they fare when facing the Almighty God? Regardless of the graven images of men stamped on the pages of history and in mankind’s failed attempts to eradicate the past, I will let God be the judge. As we look at those of the cloth, we find that they too fail to pass go. But as so stately pronounced by a twentieth-century pope, Popes have faults conditioned by history. Also, as recorded in the New Testament, Jesus said,

When the Son of man shall come in all his glory . . . He will gather all nations before him . . . He will separate them as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats . . . all of the sheep on the right side and all the goats on the left side . . ., And say to the goats on the left Depart from me. (Matt. 25:41)

The task I have undertaken is to try to unravel the myth from the reality. Who were these souls who bore the brunt of this genocidal onslaught? Who do we blame? How do we attempt to correct centuries of distorted facts to arrive at an authentic and professional equation of sincere regret? No man or woman is immune from the temptation of self-destructive behavior. The Almighty God at one point from within His divine nature was grieved that He had made man (us). To what extent will mankind construe an argument based on blame to justify their actions or to make an evil right? The first recorded disputed conflict negotiation on planet Earth was between man and God (God vs. Adam). Adam said, It was the woman that You [God] had given me. Eve, his significant other, in retrospect said, It was the serpent. We do not have to hold special counsel to decipher the futility of mankind’s untiring efforts to justify his defiant behavior. Both Adam and Eve made a gallant effort, which is a biblical example of a contemporary societal plaque. Both parties presented a compelling argument and a notable defense but failed in their attempt to convince and sway the all-knowing and all-seeing. Verdict: Failure to take responsibility for one’s actions.

The same can be acknowledged today as one of the writers of the scare scripture that addresses Mother Eve’s shortcomings: (1) the lust of the flesh: she desired to be wise, (2) the lust of the eyes: it looked good, and (3) the pride of life: it would establish her as the "one and only." A toxic mixture is as deadly as a vial of anthrax: silent and odorless, reaping total spiritual devastation upon all of mankind, to be like God. Embedded within the subconscious mind is the thirst for knowledge: curiosity, ready to strike and exert its potent venom. Thrust deep inside the cerebral cortex of all primates lies the thrill of being number 1. Curiosity, as quoted in the New Times, is the world’s most vital resource to stimulate that inquisitive nature: to make one wise. In Mother Eve’s first encounter with the stranger, as noted, she seemed unrestricted in her demeanor. Satan, a.k.a. Lucifer, taking a page from the basic college course Negotiation and Mediation 101, also presented a very convincing and compelling argument. He posed a simple question, Did God say . . . ? Sensing a momentary lapse in her reply, he then proceeded to assure her that there was more, hinting at the fact that during God’s brief and direct conversations with her, God failed to disclose the rewards. However, to learn more, he insisted that a very small and insignificant act of self-will must be performed. We know the rest of the story. As in the case of Eve’s failure to take heed to be aware of strangers, her offsprings have failed miserably. But through failure, the march to excel and to be like God keeps going on. Jesus also encountered a similar situation in His moment of temptation. Satan said, All these things will I give unto you . . . if you . . . (Matthew 4:8–9, circa AD 30).

As I embark upon this journey of discovery of yesteryears’ events, I am confronted and reminded of the remains of extinct and forgotten fossils scattered among the depths of the ocean floor that stretch from the golden shores of Africa to the shining shores of the Americas. George Francis Dow recites Professor Edward Alsworth’s The Old World in the New:

Were the Atlantic dried up today, one could trace the path between Europe and Americas by the cinders from our steamers; in the old days it would have revealed itself by human bones. (Dow 2002, xxvi)

And the millions of unmarked graves that litter the landscapes whose names were not listed among the ships’ manifests but listed on bills of lading acknowledging property received. Any human losses were merely seen as a delay in delivering their remaining human commodity to the awaiting buyers at ports of entry. Hence, Lloyd’s of London and associates would once again make good on their premium to the policyholder. Upon arrival, the buyers would be again assured that policies can be purchased to provide cover against unforeseeable losses. Runaways were considered one of the most frequent and high-risk considerations to the buyers. One such company, Aetna Insurance Company, provided such coverage and in recent years has acknowledged their role as coconspirators and offered an apology.

In my research regarding the first major European players in the holocaust era, the findings were a bit disturbing. The ports of Lisbon, Portugal, at the zenith of the carnage of souls in 1552, consisted of sixty slave markets and a population of one hundred thousand, including ten thousand victimized Africans. The irony of these numbers is that as I was reviewing the pages in a major encyclopedia, World Book (1999), I noted a major miscalculation in the article reporting the most recent census of the population of Portugal. It states that since the mid-1960s, thousands of Africans from its former colonies immigrated to Portugal and formed the country’s only minority group. What happened to the millions who were descendants of the first group of African slaves of 1441, the men and women who were captured and shipped to Portugal, prior to Portugal’s mad dash for cash, to supply the Americas? What about the thousands of descendants of the original victims? Did they just disappear? Or did they, through assimilation and miscegenation, become the hidden minority afraid of societal wrath? According to Jonathan Spence’s The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Lisbon was the place to be—the international trading city for the overseas Portugal empire. It was filled with local merchants and workers bound for the Indies or Brazil. Slaves were everywhere, Africans plus a sprinkling of Chinese and Japanese. The local residents observed and were entertained by the daily ritual offered by flesh peddlers exhibiting their human wares, by putting them through drills in the streets of Lisbon: run, jump, and dental exam (open wide).

Kent C. William’s research paper Afromestizo quotes A. J. Rogers, an African diaspora scholar, suggesting that over the centuries, close to four million Africans arrived in Spain and Portugal between the third century and the abolition of slavery in Portugal in 1773. He adds that in the southern regions of Spain and Portugal adjacent to the African continent, the evidence cannot be disputed of the strongest influence of the large numbers of Africans who settled or were forcibly brought to the Iberian Peninsula. Go figure.

To all—individuals of the past, present, and future generations—I salute you and give thanks. But it is those who are past victims of a long-gone history who will never to be forgotten. I revere them with a special place in history—those who lived and died after a life of misery, who never gave up their rightful place in history, who survived and dared to dream of their forty acres and a mule or a plot of land and tools. We must address them, honor them, admire them, and pay tribute to them.

I will close with a borrowed inscriptive phase, as recorded by the late Edna Wade of Tulare, California. She recorded the remarks of the late Jack Kelly, former Tularean and one of the founders of the African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley.

Let it be known that history of the African of the Western Hemisphere is more than a Day of Celebration or Week of Festivities or Twenty Eight Days. Both Edna and Jack names are engraved inside the ring of honor, Those Individuals: ordinary individuals doing extraordinary things. Let’s remember, it was not the stroke of a pen on that day that set our ancestors free, it was the struggle and perseverance of our brothers and sisters who fought the good fight for freedom and equality that made emancipation possible!

It can be truthfully said, a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but History is a sad thing to erase. For it can be said of those things accomplished in the past, will never last, unless they are carried forward. (Jack Kelly; emphasis added)

Debt of Gratitude

As I prepare to wade through the pages of history, I will end this section with the words of an extraordinary individual who was a major player in the lives of many:

Only the strong survived the ride. (Cecil W. Berkeley, 1906–1992)

I am mindful of the faith, hope, and dream spoken by my great-great-grandmother to her granddaughter Lela, Jesus will make a way. I made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1972. I told Grandma Harris that I placed my feet in the Jordan River. She was elated and thrilled. She responded with her favorite joyful proclamation, Thank You, Jesus. She passed in 1995 at the blessed age of ninety. She now has a front-row seat with Jesus in heaven—with all the benefits and perks. Amen! I will see her when I get there with more to tell.

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Lela Harris

1905–1995

Jewel of the Mississippi Delta

CHAPTER 1

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African History: Lost, Stolen, Forgotten, or Forbidden?

Oh, for that historian who, with the open pen of truth, will bring to

Africa’s claim the strength of written proof. He will tell of a race

whose onward tide was often swelled with tears, but in whose

heart bondage has not quenched the fire of former years. He will

write that in these later days, when Earth’s noble ones are named,

she has a roll of honor, too, whom she is not ashamed.

—Pixley ka Isaka Seme (1906)

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Eden

The greatness of this continent’s historical significance needs no formal introduction. Although known by many names, Mother Africa, a.k.a. Land of Ham, etc., is now, was, and will continue to be the major contributor to planet Earth. She holds the keys too many of man’s ills. I am mindful of her contribution to mankind every time I receive a United States dollar bill. The Eye of Providence above the pyramid has its roots dating back to ancient Egyptian’s Eye of Horus, a protective charm relating to the Egyptian sky god Horus. The Eye of Providence was a common Roman Catholic emblem, claimed to symbolize the Trinity, a symbol that was immortalized throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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Top: Annuit Coeptis (He [God] favors our undertaking)

Bottom: Novus Ordo Seclorum (New Order of the Ages)

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Symbol of protection, royal power, and good health

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Obelisk

And to the millions of sightseers that gaze upon the obelisks of France and the United States. Just a few reminders of her profound effects on the planet. Early European scholars knew that the foundation of European civilization was derived from classical Greek civilization. The scholars further accepted what the Greeks had laid down as patently obvious: the Greek civilization derived its religion, philosophy, and mathematics from the ancient civilizations of Africa and above all from Egypt, the land of the pharaohs. To those founding fathers in classical Greece, any notion that the Africans were inferior, morally or intellectually, would have seemed downright foolish.

Biladal-Zanj

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Land of the Black People

The Forbidden Zone: Little was known about her vastness, as many have been induced to believe. The invaders from the east and north didn’t care to acknowledge her true identity; they called her dark and primitive. As revealed in the recent historical documentary Hidden Colors (HC-I), the name Africa was bestowed upon the Land of Ham in honor of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus after his defeat of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca. Africa! What’s in a name? You can learn a lot about a person’s family or origin through their name. Historians have repeated this over and over again. From it, we can unlock the true secrets of its origin and accomplishments.

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Africanus

Unbeknownst to most readers, the name implied to the continent of Europe is named after a mythological Greek god, Europa. The story goes on to say that the all-seeing and all-powerful Zeus set his eyes upon Europa, the daughter of Agenor, and fell madly in love with her. Love at first sight. By disguising himself as a white bull, he wooed her into riding on his back. With her safely aboard, Zeus carried her to the island of Crete. After a brief intimate and heated sexual encounter, it led to the siring of three sons.

Well, as the story goes, the relationship over time ran its course. Europa fell in love with another. Zeus was the possessor of all the powers of the universe. With the power to sail a ship on ground land, he couldn’t turn the tide of love. As the lyrics to the song What’s Love Got to Do with It so eloquently sung by the all-time great, the legendary Tina Turner, love is just a second-hand emotion. The invincible Zeus had succumbed to the unpredictable higher power of love.

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Zeus and Company

Most students of history are familiar with Hannibal Barca of Carthage, hailed as a strategic military genius; and with his magnificent campaigns against the mighty Roman Army, he was no stranger to warfare.

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General Hannibal

Under the tutelage of his father, Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal swore an oath to be an enemy of Rome. Even after his defeat at Zama in northern Africa in 202 BC, Hannibal did not disparage his hatred of Rome with a sworn pledge to his father that he would continue to fight until the day he died.

Now, to sum up, the decisive victory engraved Scipio’s name on the whole continent of Biladal-Zanj. The second-century scholar pinned his thoughts on this rare occasion of greatness:

Punic War II

In the whole history of the Roman Empire there was no more notable occasion than when two generals, greater than any before or since, the one the conqueror of Italy the other of Spain, drew up their armies for pitched battle. But first a conference was held between them about terms of peace, and they stood for a while motionless in mutual admiration. When, however, no agreement was reached about peace, the signal was given for battle. It is agreed from the admission of both sides that no armies could have been better arrayed and no battle more obstinately contested: Scipio acknowledged this about Hannibal’s army and Hannibal about that of Scipio. But Hannibal had to yield, and Africa became the prize of victory; and the world would soon followed the fate of Ham [Africa]. (Spence 1984, 35)

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The Great Sit-Down

The Peaceful Solution

He was beaten but not yielding in his thoughts of revenge. In returning home, he sought solace with King Antiochus III of Syria. Antiochus, himself having his own personal issues with Rome, was contemplating war with Rome, which proved to be a grave and devastating error. After his defeat, Hannibal was given an ultimatum by Rome to surrender. He fled eastward to Turkey, where he chose to commit suicide.

During the era of exploitation of Biladal-Zanji, the legacy of her greatness was replaced with shame and guilt. Plus, the world’s willingness to accept the propagandized manipulation of their worthlessness. There is very little argument against the early development of these types of racial stereotyping intending to dehumanize and demoralize Biladal-Zanji. The African’s conception of himself became distorted and perverted over the centuries, which impaired his ability to grasp the full meaning of his culture and his tradition.

Historian Tariq Nasheed suggested that most other ethnicities can speak with pride and be considered patriotic, but those of African ethnicity are viewed to be militant, rabble-rouser, or Afrocentric, leaving most with the inclination that the Africans did not play any part far greater than Noah’s drunken state of being. The morning-after hangover. The African and his descendants have long been taught that they have no past. No history that they themselves could look back upon with any sense of pride. He was portrayed by the desert merchants as a savage. The Arabian flesh peddlers called them ignorant. The ruling powers of the European Christian powers called them heathen.

No one took the time nor wanted to take into consideration that the Africans had lived on the continent for thousands of years. The Africans, like all other men, are no different in their innate means of survival. There were those who exploited other men for their land, their material possessions, and their physical strength. However, many Arabs and Europeans preferred to suggest and attempt to place a great degree of emphasis on animalistic behavior rather than their human qualities or elements. Such accepted attitudes were more readily accepted and embedded in their subconscious mind. How well can certain facts be distorted and ignored as the tales that surfaced in the camps of these two rivals: Europeans and Arabs both vying for the wealth of the nations.

The Arabs told of a dark and mysterious land that abounded with savage animals and of men who were more savage than the animals. Men who were giants, cannibals, who performed terrible rituals in the darkness of the night. They also told of horrible deserts, inaccessible jungles, and the most deadly of diseases. So well these fictitious stories spread that the images have changed little over the ensuing years. All of these stories of course were meant to discourage other seekers who might attempt to grab some of the good things that the Arabs had going for themselves. These early warnings justified the need if encountered, served as an excellent excuse for the civilized and superior people of Europe to set up the most ferocious system of super maxx-exploitation of the African people. The truth of the matter is that when the Arabs first came to Africa, they saw civilizations that were highly developed, a culture that was far superior to what they had ever encountered before. They found a highly formed and organized government and socioeconomic institutions. They found highly advanced people who specialized in trade and great kingdoms where merchants traded gold for various items.

Fifth-century BC Grecian historian Herodotus, referred to as the father of Western civilization history, would vehemently and unequally consider any notion of the Africans having no history such a gross error it would be absurd. He wrote extensively about his travels to Africa, providing insight into enlightenment in the life of the Egyptians and Ethiopians. His famous nine books are interwoven with Greek mythology, early Greek social development, and its many wars. He gave a list of names of various other nations that were involved in Grecian struggles. In book 3, Thalia referred to the Table of the Sun. It is a documented account of a Persian king who attempted to infiltrate the Ethiopian forces to locate the Table of the Sun, but the plot was discovered, and the Persian king had to retreat. One writer explained the concept and meaning of the Table of the Sun:

The Ethiopians, father of the Egyptians living on a hot climate, nevertheless adored the god of the Sun, and the god of the Moon . . . All African adored these two gods. It’s in Ethiopia that the Table of the Sun can be found.

Herodotus further referred to the Ethiopians as the most beautiful people on the earth and longest-lived.

The children of Ham’s presence in India, China, and the Far East can be authenticated by the acceptance of the writing of several European travelers whose reports were the focal points of centuries of European exploitation. They wrote of civilizations that were highly advanced in their matter of conducting civil affairs. Venetian traveler Marco Polo gave prudence to their existence. In the late AD 1200s, Polo visited the Pandyan kingdom and the kingdom of Chola of southwestern India. Chola is accepted by many scholars as the region where it is believed that Saint Thomas the Apostle was laid to rest (RIP). Marco’s take was always based on actual firsthand observation of being there. He wrote extensively on his travels and can be viewed as a region of Black people:

The darkest man is here the most highly esteem and considered better than the other who are not so dark. Let me add that in very truth these people portray and depict their gods and their idols black and their devils white as snow. For they say that God and all the saints are black and the devils are all white. That portray them as I have described. (The Travels of Marco Polo, 265)

He referred to the kingdom of Chola as the best province and the most refined in all of India. Reflection of the remnant of her presence even today is visible to millions. Some estimate 150 million. Wow!

The early civilization of the Africans’ presence in India has been unequivocally and undeniably proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. I pose a very simple and elementary question. Where are they now? And how have they fared? Runoko Rashidi, a leading world scholar on Africans’ presence in Asia, wrote an essay titled The African Presence in India: A Photo Essay (Parts 1–9). Mr. Rashidi’s main objective and goal is to give a historical overview establishing the Africans’ presence in India.

He quoted the first-century Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (circa 50 BC) who wrote of Africa in mystical terms:

From Ethiopia he (Osiris) passed through Arbiaia, bordering upon the Red Sea as far as India . . .

He built many cities in India, one of which he called Nysa, willing to have remembrance of that Nys in Egypt, where he was brought up.

Runoko’s collection of various Greek thinkers concurs, shedding new light for modern man to follow.

History is a light that illuminates the past and a key that unlocks the door to the future.

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India

In chapters 1–7 of Siculus’s third book (The Beginning), he equated the Ethiopians as chosen by the god Zeus:

For Zeus had yesterday to Ocean’s bounds. Set forth to feast with Ethiop’s faultless men,… And he was followed there by all the god. (Davidson 1994, 324)

Near the turn of the millennium, Diodorus had this to say, the Third: Retained in arcles of book chapters 1–7 (The Beginning):

They [i.e., the Greek historian relied upon by the writer] say also that the Egyptians are colonist sent out by the Ethiopians [i.e., not the modern Ethiopians but the black peoples from inner Africa south of Egypt], Osiris having been the leader of the colony. For speaking generally, what is now Egypt, they maintain, was not land but sea when beginning to universe was being formed; afterwards, however; as the Nile during the times of its inundating carried down the mud from the [the land of black peoples] land was gradually built up from the deposit . . . And the larger part the customs of the Egyptians are, they [i.e., the Greek historians] hold, Ethiopians the colonist still preserving their ancient manners.

According to another historian, Apollonius of Tyana, who visited the country of India, he was convinced the Ethiopians are colonist sent from India, who follow their forefather in the matters of wisdom.

He further concludes that the literary work of the early Christian writer Eusebium preserves the tradition that in the reign of Amenophis III (the Mighty Dynasty XVIII Egyptian king) a body of Ethiopian migrated from the country about the Indus and settled in the valley of the Nile. (Book 3, Part 2)

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King Amenhotep III and the missus (Queen Trye)

A recovered document called Itinerarium Alexandri also agrees:

India, taken as a whole, beginning from the north and embracing what it is subject to Persia, is a continuation of Egypt and the Ethiopians.

As shown by evidence, these early Africans had established a formidable civilization long before the Dorians and Ionians had settled into the Balkan Peninsula and long before the Etruscans relinquished their hold on the Italian Peninsula to Romulus and Remus. In the Indus Valley, proud and industrious African men and women, known as Dravidians, forged a civilization of superiority along the