AFRICAN WARRIORS
“Given Allah’s grace, that which was Lost is now-Found.” As a result of modern technology and gathering information, many martial practitioners begin to discover that some ancient forms of fighting existed in Africa long before any existing styles present today. It is from Africa’s civilization that all Nations came, and it is believed that from the wealth and enrichment that Africa afforded, brought many disciplines of security and from those gave birth for many martial art concepts; and was thus the bases and origin for many existing styles in foreign lands outside Africa. Since westerners have only had the opportunity of witnessing the refine styles of the martial arts from an oriental point of view, they have decided
…show more content…
The Animal System attributes consisted of; the Lion, Snake, Phoenix, Ape, Crocodile, Panther or Leopard and the Bull. The Ritual of the initiations has sacred items of power used from the Animal clan’s beliefs; such as certain stones, animal teeth, skins and herbs, which are the elements used to enhance and develop their mental, physical and spiritual bodies. As in most African tribes the warrior dance and songs are passed down from generation to generation. When a warrior places his spirit in the animal he becomes that animal and attacks as such. These animal societies symbolically represented the inner powers one can identify within nature from whence man’s instincts emerge with the animal’s soul. He becomes a warrior from within and a master at “Guerrilla/Gorilla warfare.” For instance the lion (who walks like men) uses the spirit of a brave determined fighter. It is said only the bravest of the brave and strongest of the strong are permitted to wear the lion’s skin and roar on-and-on; after proving themselves worthy (Inside Karate’s Master Series/Martial Arts Masters 20th anniversary magazine, Volume II, No. 6 November 1993, pp.
The American culture is define to everyone in their own way. Everyone grows up differently in a particular community that shares the same languages, values, rules, and customs. The American Culture on that is consider to be a “melting pot”, because of all the different cultures that reside inside of it making it so diverse. Race in this country has never been a great topic throughout history. African Americans play a huge role into defining what our culture is as a whole, as well as being a part of racism for the past 250 years.
Music is a creative art form that allows the artist to construct something that expresses a purpose. It evolves over time and changes as the world changes, taking on many different motivations behind the melody and lyrics. In today’s society, anger, oppression, racism, and negative opinions rule the media and popular culture. I believe that African Americans need to show their self worth and not let white people hold them back. With the music in white culture often mocking African American culture and portraying negative stereotypes, African Americans have to find ways to gain respect. In acknowledgement of the negative portrayal of their culture, African Americans respond by creating songs and videos that express their pride in their culture and heritage, react to white oppression, and communicate their independence.
As Americans, we are privileged with diverse experiences. With this comes a perceived understanding of many cultures and their influences but in fact full cultural literacy is impossible to achieve.
During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American
Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.
A few war dances prepared young men physically and mentally for war by teaching them discipline while getting them in to the spirit of battle. Prior to soldiers going out for battle, they appeased the war gods and the ancestors in hopes to obtain their blessings. Designated warriors, in the areas of West Africa that recognized war gods, often carried symbols of these deities onto the battlefield similar to the flag bearers of the color guard. War dance and music were fundamental to the military culture in West Africa. Battle hymns were composed to cultivate camaraderie among the warriors. Wars songs and drumming acclaimed the skill, bravery, and military valor of ancestors. These types of songs and rituals educated young soldiers to copy the bravery and valiance of the past heroes. One of the main ancestral dance-drumming collection of Anlo-Ewe military culture is Atamga meaning "The Great Oath." The name came from the dance being a representation of the greatest oath of commitment and patriotism among Anlo-Ewe people. The movements were taken from Anlo-Ewe war fighting tactics and the skills of traditional heroes. One of the most characteristic aspects of African dance is to raise ordinary gestures to the level of art thus showing the grace and rhythm of daily activities. Over the last three hundred plus years the Anlo-Ewe state evolved slowly but surely into a peaceful coexistence with the
African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated; that is 60% of 30% of the African American population. African Americas are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. “Between 6.6% and 7.5% of all black males ages 25 to 39 were imprisoned in 2011, which were the highest imprisonment rates among the measured sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age groups." (Carson, E. Ann, and Sabol, William J. 2011.) Stated on Americanprogram.org “ The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison.” Hispanics and African Americans make up 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population. (Henderson 2000). Slightly 15% of the inmate population is made up of 283,000 Hispanic prisoners.
“Cooning” was a TV show or Film usually they act like idiot behavior that misrepresents African American culture. I think idiot because that shows a deliberate act. Many people called “coons.” Yes, I saw some examples today’s culture some white people still discriminate black people. Some white people were enjoying it, and that seems to some people they insulted African- American behaves. African-American got angry. It was not fair at all that behavior. All are good examples.
Throughout American history, African Americans fought to establish their own culture. Even though they were silenced by white laws and stereotypes, African Americans created their own distinct culture, to a certain extent from 1800 to 1860. By mixing their African American traditions and Christian ideas, they formed a religion, their own version of Christianity. African American rebellions, though small and infrequent, were used to express their beliefs on slavery and add to their distinct culture. And, with the constant fear of being split up by being sold, African American families managed to form within plantations through marriages and children. Despite
Culture is not a fixed phenomenon, nor is it the same in all places or to all people. It is relative to time, place, and particular people. Learning about other people can help us to understand ourselves and to be better world citizens.
Africans first arrived in the area that later became the United States of America in around 1619 in the Chesapeake area. The large amount of fertile land in the area gave the settlers their biggest cash crop, which was tobacco. As time went by, more and more tobacco was being exported to England. Because of this, more labor was needed. This need for more labor was not only in the north, but in the south as well due to their mass production of cotton. This movement started the institution of slavery in America. Then, the colonies and other countries started to trade slaves and it became a business. The Royal African Company was the first slave trading company, which was started in 1672. The slaves were transported by the Middle
My idea of slavery is, that it is one of the blackest, the wickedest things everywhere in the world. When you tell them the truth, they whip you to make you lie. I have taken more lashes for this, than for any other thing, because I would not lie.One day I set the table, and forgot to put on the carving-fork - the knife was there. I went to the table to put it on a plate. My master said, - "Where is the fork?" I told him "I forgot it." He says, - "You d - d black b - , I'll forget you!" - at the same time hitting me on the head with the carving knife. The blood spurted out - you can see. (Here the woman removed her turban and showed a circular cicatrices denuded of hair, about an inch in diameter, on the top of her head.) My mistress took me into the kitchen and put on camphor, but she could not stop the bleeding. A doctor was sent for. He came but asked no questions. I was frequently punished with raw hides - was hit with tongs and poker and anything. I used when I went out, to look up at the sky, and say, "Blessed Lord, oh, do take me out of this!" It seemed to me I could not bear another lick. I can't forget it. I sometimes dream that I am pursued, and when I wake, I am scared almost to death.{Benjamin Drew was a Boston abolitionist who
I firmly believe that the point of visiting a museum is to educate one on how things once were in the past through its display of artifacts, exhibits, art, cultural objects, etc. Its purpose is to let you imagine what it was like during a time you were not apart of or, in some cases, allow you to look back at a time you were apart of when you were very young. The African-American Museum of Long Island did a great job at presenting some of the many African-American contributions to society. In addition to presenting contributions from the African-American community, the museum was able to show us some of the struggle they were required to overcome as well.
Scholars have dedicated their time and attention to furthering the discipline of African American Studies and can define the field with many different definitions. Through looking at the origins and development in the study we can see how it became a legitimate academic field. As we study the writings of the African American intellect, it will fully explain the importance of the discipline. Their work will justify the study of cultural and historical experiences of Africans living in Africa or the African Diaspora. When examining the scholar’s arguments we can develop our own intellectually informed rationalization of the field of African American Studies.
African-American is a politically correct term used to refer to blacks within the United States. The roots of many African-American rites can be traced back to African cultural rites. However, it is important to note that not all blacks in America identify with African cultural roots. Therefore, some of the rites found within what many in the United States call African-American culture stem from Caribbean and other cultural traditions. For this reason, when making end of life decisions or funeral arrangements the “cultural identification, spirituality and the social class” the individual identifies with must be taken into account. The black majority within the United States identifies with Afrocentric traditions and perspectives. For this