We live in a country where blackness is told that they have never created anything and if they did create something, it was with the help of whiteness! *Yes, this is going to be racial, I apologise now, but I am trying to reach out to black kids and tell them that’s a lie* on a daily I have read comments like “If it was not for Europeans then South Africa would not be the country that it is” There is truth in that statement and that, I can’t deny! My problem though is, this is used to make us feel like we are worthless without whiteness, because if you take that same argument and say “Yeah! You are right, my people would be far ahead without you, my people would never had been slaves in their own country and my people would have done fine” you then hear stupidity spilling over, but this is not an article about that, this is an article for my kids about the awesome black creators!
Our stories are not told right! But I guess we can’t really blame anyone but ourselves, if we are not telling our stories who should? That’s why I write, I write to document! My feelings, thoughts, reality, experiences, opinions and my history!
Do ya’ll know Rock ‘n roll….*yes that one sung by white people* was created by black people? Chuck Berry has been accredited with the creation *google him* but whiteness decided to push their own idols like Elvis Presley and that’s how they took it from black folks! So boom, another thing taken from my people! See when you see artists like Azealia Banks complaining about the appropriation of black culture and music, know that they’re not spewing just busllsh*t coz they want relevancy, it’s because it has happened and it can happen again! I mean look at the Grammies & billboards, they’re constantly celebrating whiteness over blackness! Do tell how Iggy Azalea can win the top rap artist and top rap song over Drake and J.Cole, see Nicki Minaj and Rae Sremmurd I can forgive but DRAKE and motherfuck*n J.COLE!!!! Really?
Banks “I feel just like in this country whenever it comes to our things – like black issues or black politics or black music or whatever – there’s this undercurrent of kinda like a ‘fuck you’.” This is not unique to the US, in SA shit like this happen! On a daily and these “American shows” get watched by our kids and they’re constantly being told whiteness is better! Banks also went on to say “the message to white kids, is, ‘You’re great. You’re amazing. You can do whatever you put your mind to.’ And it says to black kids, ‘You don’t have shit. You don’t own shit, not even the shit you created yourself.”
My nigga stay Woke! Stay woke! Teach your kids about black excellence whenever you get the chance and make the chance! I was also lax about such things, until I realised I don’t know any black creators, especially in fields I was not interested in! And when I finally got tired of reading idiotic comments like “if it was not for the white man building infrastructure blacks would still be in the dark” that’s when I decided to slowly change that, as I had no answer to that *Ignorance on my part!* I want to read and teach my kids about people such as Elijah McCoy, Lewis Howard Latimer, George Washington Carver, Madame C.J. Walker, Kofi Afolabi A. Makinwa and many more! * Which is why I am gonna get this book and learn ‘Black Inventors, Crafting over 200 Years of Success’ -Written by Keith C. Holmes*
Elijah McCoy had 57 patents, inventing (US patent #129,843 issued on July 12th, 1872) a cup that fed lubricating oil to machine bearings through a small bore tube. Solving the problems of engine lubrication and overheating. Leading to the phrase “The real McCoy” because machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators might have used the expression “the real McCoy.”
Lewis Howard Latimer contributed to the patenting of the light bulb and the telephone. The interesting thing about all this is it was done during slavery, makes you wonder if Latimer just contributed or actually came up with the whole thing instead of assisting the credited Bell and Edison!
My people! I implore you to stay woke and know thyself, see if you know these things you will be confident in your abilities and understand white fear, understand why they build systems to keep you locked out, understand why Kanye and Azealia are not crazy when they RAGE AGAINST award shows and the winners they keep choosing! Taylor Swift over Beyoncé over Rihanna etc.! So, next time you see a black rocker applaud that motherfucke* coz he is trying to reclaim what was once ours!
Article By Nthabiseng Lucia Tselapedi
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