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Queen Nanny an Ashanti heroine for Ghana and Jamaica

Queen Nanny and her brother Captain Cudjoe blazed a freedom trail in Jamaica

Not unlike Ghana's matriarch / queen mother Yaa Asantewaa, who led a siege that starved the British soldiers, Queen nanny was an Ashanti matron who laid a foundation of pride and honour in Jamaica.


Queen nanny, leader of the Maroons

The Maroons were defiant Jamaican slaves who fled their oppressive existence on plantations and formed their own communities in the rugged, hilly interior of the island. They were considered skilled fighters and hard to defeat. Under Spanish rule, up to the 1650s, slaves escaped and intermarried with the native islanders, Arawaks, in their communities. Later, when the British assumed control of the colony, more slaves were able to escape from plantations to join the two main bands of Maroons in Jamaica: Leeward and Windward Maroons, headed respectively by Nanny of the Maroons and Captain Cudjoe.

The Maroons mainly consisted of people from the Akan region of West Africa. The Ashante tribe, from which Nanny came, lived in this region. However, slaves originating from other regions of West Africa joined the Maroons in their escapes. For over 150 years, the Maroons helped to free slaves from the plantations whilst they damaged land and property belonging to the plantation owners.

Nanny was born c. 1686 in Ghana, Western Africa, into the Ashanti tribe, and was brought to Jamaica as a slave.[citation needed] It is believed that some of her family members were involved in intertribal conflict and her village was captured. Nanny and several relatives were sold as slaves and sent to Jamaica. Upon arrival in Jamaica, Nanny was likely sold to a plantation in Saint Thomas Parish, just outside of the Port Royal area. Such plantations grew sugarcane as the main crop, and the slaves toiled under extremely harsh conditions.

As a child, Nanny was influenced by other slave leaders and maroons. She and her brothers, Accompong, Cudjoe, Johnny and Quao ran away from their plantation and hid in the Blue Mountains area of northern Saint Thomas Parish. While in hiding, they split up to organize more Maroon communities across Jamaica: Cudjoe went to Saint James Parish and organized a village, which was later named Cudjoe Town; Accompong settled in Saint Elizabeth Parish, in a community known as Accompong Town; Nanny and Quao founded communities in Portland Parish. She was married to a Maroon named Adou, but had no children.

Nanny and her brothers became folk heroes. The most famous of her brothers, Cudjoe, went on to lead several slave rebellions in Jamaica with the aid of her other brothers.

By 1720, Nanny and Quao had settled and controlled an area in the Blue Mountains. It was given the name Nanny Town, and consisted of the 500 acres (2.4 km²) of land granted to the runaway slaves. Nanny Town had a strategic location as it overlooked Stony River via a 900 foot (270 m) ridge making a surprise attack by the British practically impossible. The Maroons at Nanny Town also organized look-outs for such an attack as well as designated warriors who could be summoned by the sound of a horn called an Abeng.

Maroons at Nanny Town and similar communities survived by sending traders to the nearby market towns to exchange food for weapons and cloth. The community raised animals, hunted, and grew crops, and was organized very much like a typical Ashanti tribe in Africa. The Maroons were also known for raiding plantations for weapons and food, burning the plantations, and leading slaves back to their communities.
Nanny was very adept at organizing plans to free slaves. For over 30 years, Nanny freed more than 800 slaves,[2] and helped them to resettle in the Maroon community.



Captain Cudjoe, super-hero of the Caribbean

Cudjoe, also known as Captain Cudjoe, was a Maroon leader in Jamaica, and the brother of Nanny of the Maroons. He has been described as "the greatest of the Maroon leaders."[1] In the discussion of important and outstanding leaders in history, one must include Captain Cudjoe. He refused enslavement and freed thousands of captives.
The Jamaican Maroons are descended from runaway slaves who established free communities in the mountainous interior of Jamaica during the long era of slavery in the island. African slaves imported during the Spanish period may have provided the first runaways, apparently mixing with the Native American Taino or Arawak people that remained in the country. Some may have gained liberty when the English attacked Jamaica and took it in 1655, and subsequently. For about 52 years, until the 1737 peace treaty with the British rulers of the island - which is still in force - the Maroons stubbornly resisted conquest.

The two main Maroon groups in the 18th century were the Leeward and the Windward tribes, the former led by Cudjoe in Trelawny Town and the latter led by his sister Queen Nanny (and later by Quao). Captain Cudjoe had endless energy and was greatly motivated to stay a free man. He was strong, courageous and relentless. Cudjoe was also a very skillful, tactical field commander and a remarkable leader.
When the British attempted to recapture the runaways, Cudjoe defeated them on every occasion. Not only did Cudjoe successfully defend his communities, but also, similar to what Harriet Tubman would do in the nineteenth century, he freed many captives by raiding Britain’s plantations. Sometimes his raids were non-confrontational, but most times they were vicious, bloody encounters.

Before he attacked a plantation, Cudjoe would send spies among the captives to gather information from them at the markets and on the plantations. Once his spies collected sufficient evidence of the slave-owners’ plans, they sent them to Cudjoe. Then he determined the time and place of his attacks. During his strikes, Cudjoe and his men burned down mansions, destroyed cane fields and killed many whites along with faithful slaves who refused to help him.

Cudjoe’s attacks were so devastating that many of the early English settlers abandoned their plantations and returned to England. He often killed faithful slaves during these attacks because he despised them. According to one of England’s commanders on the island, General Williamson, it was commonly said, “the British rules Jamaica by day and Captain Cudjoe by night.”

In an attempt to capture Cudjoe and the Maroons, British leaders built forts near Maroon communities. They imported Native American tracking specialists from Central America to hunt down the Maroons. In addition, they formed an army of more than 1,000 soldiers to fight Cudjoe’s weapon-deficient military.

However, even with the tracking specialists and formidable army, Cudjoe out-maneuvered the British commander when one of Cudjoe’s spies told the commander that Cudjoe established settlements in a particular valley. As the British soldiers marched into the valley, Cudjoe’s four-sectioned forces watched them from behind the natural boundaries. When Cudjoe’s men attacked the soldiers from all sides, the crossfire surprised and debilitated them. The British soldiers fled the area and left behind guns and supplies.

For the next decade, Cudjoe caused considerable damage to the slave structure of Jamaica. When he raided, he often burned sugar cane fields, houses and barns, and he continued to kill slaves who were loyal to their masters. This latter measure put a great deal of pressure on every African captive to abide by Cudjoe’s advances. Therefore, Cudjoe’s peer-pressure tactic led the British to distrust just about every captive on the island.

To finally stop Cudjoe, the British government planned an elaborate expedition against the Maroons. The British recruited every fighting-eligible man on the island to move against Cudjoe. However, after considering the fact that if all the men went to fight against the Maroons, there would be no one left to protect the women and children. The British had a serious dilemma and they did not know what to do.
Faced with a very disturbing problem, Governor Sir Edward Trelawney weighed the possibilities. Eventually, he decided not to attack Cudjoe. He, instead, opted to make a treaty of peace with the Maroons. To carry out Governor Trelawney’s orders, a rather large army escorted Colonel Guthrie to meet with Cudjoe in Maroon territory. Once he convinced Cudjoe and his men that he would neither attack nor trick them, Cudjoe met with the colonel.

After talking for an hour or so, both men worked out a satisfactory treaty. They agreed that the British must recognize the Maroons as an independent nation; that the Maroons receive a very large tract of land and would not have to pay any taxes on it. Maroon societies still exist in Jamaica today.

Antelope crashes cyclist in South African race

Have a look at this video, and be surprised at the fact it looks like the antelope took the cyclist down on purpose (more likely he was focused on something further in the distance):

Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize winning “Tree Mother”, Passes at 71

Wangari Muta Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya.



In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights.




In 1984, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005.




Wangari was an inspiration to many, and may her work strengthen and carry on through her many admirers and followers. Green Panthers everywhere, it is up to us!

Global factors spur war in Africa

International roots of African warfare

by Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, Chair and Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania; host, PBS’ 'History Detectives'

from HuffingtonPost.com

The International Side to War in Africa

I recently tried to explain to a friend why Africa had so much war from a combination of domestic and international pressures. The domestic African causes of war are obvious; however, it was difficult to explain the international roots, and these words are an attempt to show how these hidden roots in Africa are not simply artifacts of African incompetence.

If we recognized our common humanity, the continent of Africa would be the mother that keeps giving, overworked and underappreciated. Yet there are those who continue to marginalize this important continent in considering real motivations in international relations.

It is in Africa that humans first experienced life and civilization. During the eras of colonialism, the greatest world crisis occurred in Africa. This was true from the period of the Roman Empire to Great Britain, and from the defunct United Soviet Socialist Republics to the sole world power of today -- the United States of America with China close on its heels.


Berlin Conference divided continent in 1884

The 1880s were the heyday of European imperialism when Africa had only a few nation-states. During this period of colonial rule, African traditions of place and identity were greatly altered by the European colonial masters, and restructured along political lines drawn in Europe for the benefit of the colonial powers. It was at the Berlin Conference held in 1884 that the lands and riches of Africa were divided by and allocated to the Western colonial European states. Africans had no say in this new imperial world that left them servants of the world, and as usual for people in such a situation, Africans were left poor, hungry, unhealthy, and uneducated.




Despite all these interventions, the collective consciousness of Africa possesses hope and patience that proved significant in 1957 when the people of Ghana ignited an independence movement that spread throughout the continent. This movement declared a new African voice in the world, and so many nations had gained independence that the United Nations declared 1960 the Year of Africa.

It has been a long time since Ghana's historical movement, and today the average person in the US knows Africa more for famine in Somalia, genocidal acts in Rwanda, war in Libya, and the Arab Spring that took place largely in North Africa.

Some may read this and think, "Why should I care about what's going on in Africa?" It is not unusual for Africa to be dismissed as of little consequence, and forgotten.

It is worth remembering that African independence was frozen in the middle of the Cold War, with coup d'état after coup d'état in the struggle to choose sides (USSR or USA), while African leaders were hard pressed to represent the interest of the average African citizen in a context that demanded international allegiance.

The methods those in power used to confront the challenge they saw in African independence were despicable and fraudulent beyond calm expression. Political assassination, rape, torture, and genocide have marked the progress of Africa's integration into the New World Order. The only way the world has been able to justify this calamity is by changing the subject once the issue is clearly placed on the table. With the dirty deed done, politicians and the public shift their focus onto the next issue, and ignore the aftermath of these atrocities.

A few will remember the events in 1960 that found the newly elected Congolese prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, inviting the "neutral" United Nations to the Congo. The newly declassified documents show that Lumumba ended up being completely destroyed by the United Nations and its Western allies, especially the United States and Belgium. In continuation of this historical reality, we read of recent events in Cote d'Ivoire, where the United Nations and its Western allies, especially the French, have removed President Laurent Gbagbo from power.

Here, in the year 2011 the United Nations has authorized the use of military intervention in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya. In both cases, rebel efforts to make regime change were successfully supported with bullets and bombs by the United Nations and its Western allies.

It seems clear that in cases of political conflict the UN has become an instrument of the West. In simple terms, the UN tends to ignore the leadership of Africa in finding solutions to African problems. The African Union time and again has challenged the actions of the UN and NATO in Libya.

I do not want to suggest that Africa does not need the assistance from the UN or the West, nor is the continent about to collapse. But help needs to be more based on Africa's interest, rather than the strategic interest of the US or any other non-African entity.

Current U.S. foreign policy in Africa is a blueprint for disaster. The newly created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mission is to fight terrorism, and guide military intervention when U.S. interests are at stake. This current initiative is known as the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI). Strategic interest refers to Africa's vast natural and mineral resources. Some estimates suggest that African oil will account for as much as 25 percent of U.S. needs by 2015. So, it is not difficult to see why Libya is strategically important to the U.S.

The view of Africa as a pawn on a chessboard is possible when you have as much power as the U.S.; however, it is not a policy that will assist Africa in overcoming the legacy of colonialism, or to become more responsive to the needs of its own people. Even if we believe that the residual wealth from economic trade with the U.S. is a benefit in and of itself, the only way for Africa to advance beyond the legacy of mal-intervention is by representing the interest of Africans.

African societies that represent the interest of the people are the solution to the problems. The organization of these African states will be the pillar that would prevent the associated dislocation of the citizens and the disruptive impact of Africa's relationship with the world.

Perhaps we would benefit from considering the problems of Africa as resulting from the impact of being relegated to the sidelines of empire and the fights of the Cold War. The question is how long the legacy of these malformations is going to serve as obstacles to African democratic and economic progress. The real challenge is for the leading nations in the New World Order to help other nations develop liberty, justice and human rights.


Follow Dr. Tukufu Zuberi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TukufuZuberi

Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, WINS Miss Universe 2011!!!

2011 Miss Universe Pageant final results

Final results Contestant
Miss Universe 2011 - Angola – Leila Lopes


1st runner-up - Ukraine – Viviana Ortiz


2nd runner-up - Brazil – Priscila Machado


3rd runner-up - Philippines – Shamcey Supsup


4th runner-up - China – Zilin Luo


Top 10

Australia – Scherri-Lee Biggs
Costa Rica - Johanna Solano
France – Laury Thilleman
Portugal – Laura Gonçalves
Panama – Sheldry Sáez


Top 16

Kosovo – Afërdita Dreshaj
Colombia - Catalina Robayo
Puerto Rico – Viviana Ortiz
Netherlands – Kelly Weekers
USA – Alyssa Campanella
Venezuela – Vanessa Gonçalves








Way to go Leila; you have made a lot of people proud, and inspired young girls across Africa and around the world! Stay blessed.

Pen Do Not Fail Me

Pen do not fail me
Where are the words
That can heal an ocean
Cleanse the biosphere
Unite humanity

Pen do not rely on me
I am vulnerable
Time is racing
Venus is nearby
Calling humanikind

Pen this is it
Swords have grown toxic
Families are shattered
Lungs are aching
Crying for Truth
Liberation
Justice
Peace


Yuya Joe College
September 2011