The Rule of the Sun originates from African Cosmology in the Yowa, Dkenga where it is also referred to as the Kongo Cross. The Kongo Cross works on the symbology of the sun. For example, the human soul rises like the sun rises in the morning, it sets in the evening, and is reborn again to create another dawn (REF 4). In regards to spirituality this is considered as a rise and peak in our awareness. However when we experience problems such as setbacks, dishonour, calamity, African Americans claim it to be a spiritual death due to impurities from living in the physical world of selfishness and fear (REF 4). Early African Americans believed that when someone personally experiences a spiritual death, it was their calling to the spiritual world
America has come a long way since Columbus began his voyage in 1492. In “Beyond 1492: Encounter in Colonial North America,” James Axtell explains that when it comes to the Indian-European encounter, there’s more to the story than what the average person grasps. Most people know of how the Natives were mistreated and killed off by the Europeans with biological warfare and that a couple thousands of years later the Pilgrims and Natives had their first feast together known as “Thanksgiving”. However, in chapter four, Axtell’s essay describes that surprisingly, there was a “variety of ways Indians responded to the Europeans that invaded their lands in the wake of Columbus.” Axtell chronologically recapitulates the history of the Indian reactions to the European encounters up until the 1700’s and categorizes them into 5 strategies.
1. “Root metaphors” from the Aztec and Spanish worlds have combined through the how these two cultures view sun and light and how they associate them with divine beings. Long before the Spanish arrived, Aztec civilization had a cosmic system of five time cycles that included five different suns which they believed influenced results of regarding creation or the apocalypse. Furthermore, they came to believe that their god(s) used the sun as divine messages for them. Because of this conclusion “root metaphor” they feared that the god(s)’s punishment for them would be that the day would turn to night forever unless human sacrifices were made. In contrast, the Spanish used solar imagery as divine representation in relation to the Psalms
The Five suns is creation story of the Aztec based on the mythological account of space, time, universe, people, animals and the world they lived in, as they understood it. The myth explains life’s unknowable obscurities to the Mesoamerica Mexica and Azteca people and it deeply rooted in their culture. Per the Archaeologist Nicoletta Maestri, “they believed their world had been created and destroyed four times before, and the current age, the fifth sun, would also end in violence at the end of the calendric cycle.” The mythologies claims that human have the responsibility of making sense of their surrounding as well as live by the god’s rule who have made human existence possible by sacrificing their blood and bones. The story begins with the primary maternities couples named Tonacacihuatl and Tonacateuctli known as Ometeotl or the gods of duality. They created the nine level of the universe and instructed their four
The religious context of The Sun Also Rises is mostly based off of Naturalism in some cases it can even be viewed as Nihilism. Naturalism is the belief of a “soulless universe”
One of the things I noticed in the chapter was that slave owners would use the beliefs of African American slaves to control them to not escape or conspire together (or the “ghosts”/night doctors would take them for research). I found it interesting how racial tension played a major role in the science industry.
African Americans have fought a great battle to become a part of society in America. Since being taken from African as slaves in the 1600’s there has been a continuous battle for equality since. Since the end of slavery Black Americans have had many accomplishments along with hardships. In this paper I will discuss some of the Major events in African American history beginning with the end of slavery which has lead to the America we know today.
Lynchings were a real threat to African Americans in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They created a lot of fear in the African American community especially in this time period. Between 1882 and 1969, 4,743 people lynchings occurred. In 1882, African Americans accounted for forty-six percent of lynchings. Yet from 1900 to 1910, African Americans represented eighty-nine percent of lynchings.
There are two different types of courage, physical and moral. Physical courage is facing fear using force or other physical means, while moral courage is defending what is right, even in the face of popular opinion. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, moral courage is a significant theme. Atticus Finch teaches his children, Jem and Scout, the importance of moral courage. Throughout the novel each character discovers courage in their unique experiences. By the end of the story, Jem and Scout’s idea of courage shifts and they learn the importance of moral bravery. Atticus, Jem, and Scout all learn or demonstrate the meaning of moral courage throughout the novel.
When James Weldon Johnson retired from the NAACP in 1929, white was elevated to the position of secretary. In this capacity he energetically led the association in its pursuit of full legal equality for African Americans. In 1930 he designed the campaign the successfully blocked President Herbert Hoovers Nomination of John J. Parker to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a candidate for governor of North Carolina, Parker had gone on record as favoring the continued disenfranchisement of African Americans, and he was known to be hostile to organized labor. The campaign produced enough popular opposition to Parker to defeat his nomination in the Senate. In the 1930 and 1932 elections the NAACP followed up this victory by working to defeat northern senators who had cast votes for Parker.
The texts taken together describe the development of African Americans from the 16th century to the 19th century. They reveal how their status changed to one of complete submission and their lower position codified within the law. However they also reveal how they were able to make a difference and help secure their own freedom. Common themes present in the texts are resistance and creolization.
The life of African Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries has been a truly storied past. One of the most astonishing aspects of African American life, in this period, is the degree to which it was heterogeneous. The experiences of African Americans differed widely based on geographic location, class, gender, religion, and age. Despite a high degree of variability in the experiences of Blacks in America, if one were to consider the sociopolitical fact that Black people as a group in America were a subordinate caste in dominant society, then it becomes possible to make certain overarching connections. One such connection is the presence of secretive subversive ideologies and actions. The existence of these secretive subversive activities is apparent if one examines the labor tendencies, the folklore, and the outward societal projections of black people. By briefly examining the labor practices of Black women in Atlanta during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, The Uncle Remus tales, and cultural icon Louis Armstrong, one can deduce that secretive subversive actions and beliefs were an integrated aspect of Black existence during this period.
The political action and social reform during the late 19th and early 20th century ultimately lead to the Civil Rights movement and the end of racial segregation. The Civil Rights movement dealt with problems of inequality and disenfranchisement of African Americans that began in the post-civil war era. W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington are considered by historians, two of the prominent leaders of the black community in the late 19th and early 20th century who sought inclusion and equality through social and economic progress. While their end goals were the same, the means in which they utilized their platforms and their philosophy on how best to accomplish this varied. Among other accomplishments, DuBois’ efforts in the civil rights
In their demands for liberty and equality, African Americans would point to their role in all of America’s wars. Many fought for liberty in the American Revolution, like Philadelphia’s James Forten who served aboard an American privateer.
When most western people think about Native American or African religions there is a certain stigma that comes with the topic. This is in part because there is a lot of misinformation in the world about Native American and African religions. When most westerners think of African religions they think of voodoo and black magic. Likewise, the view of Native American religions is still looked at through the lens of the pilgrims who wrote about Native Americans as being savages and less than human. These stereotypes were all formed from a lack of accurate information. African and Native American religions are very similar. It is difficult to find a lot of accurate information on African and Native American indigenous religions because of the lack of written history but there is a lot of oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation. From this information, it is clear that Native American and African religions have many more similarities than they do differences. Three of these similarities will be discussed in this paper. The first topic of discussion is the similarity between African and Native American people when it comes to their perception of the spirit world. Following this topic are the similarities between Native American and African views on the afterlife and finally, the diversity of beliefs within African and Native American religions.
Within any group of people there is always going to be some form of judgment and African American people of the early twentieth century Harlem are no different. Throughout this course students have been immersed into the culture of 1920s Harlem and through this immersion many significant issues have surfaced from the artist of the time period. A major issue that has been repetitive throughout all forms of art during this period is colorism. Colorism which can also be called color conscientiousness, intra-racism, being color-struck, or having a color complex is a long standing epidemic focusing on physical appearance with a large concentration on