Essential The Big Thread of Black Excellence

[Patriarch]

They appeal to the conscious
The Paramount
The Caesar, the monsters
The grandiose, the martyrs
The hell on earth pompous
Ellsworth Bumpy Johnsons
The Harlemites the Garveyites
Black as the credit card we swipe
Poppin' Dom tonight

 

[observe]

Palace guards in Egypt in the 1800s AD

A brother auctioning his white slaves

 

[SolesKing305]

SubSub

 

[Danie84]

Richard Overton, 107, oldest living WWII veteran

]http://www.wltx.com/news/article/255426/2/Oldest-Living-WWII-Vet-107-to-Meet-With-Obama

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

http://www.blackenterprise.com/smal...yant-howroyd-built-a-billion-dollar-business/






Entrepreneurs Conference: How Janice Bryant Howroyd Built A Billion-Dollar Business
The founder and CEO of the largest minority woman-owned employment agency to share her 7 keys to business success

by Carolyn M. Brown Posted: May 17, 2012
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Janice Bryant Howroyd is the first black woman to build a billion-dollar company.

Oprah Winfrey may be the first Black woman self-made billionaire, but Janice Bryant Howroyd, CEO of Act•1 Group, is the first Black woman to own a billion-dollar company. In 2011 Act•1, the nation’s largest Black female-owned business, held the No. 3 spot on the BE Industrial/Service list of the national’s largest Black-owned companies, with $1.4 billion in revenues for 2010. Over the last 30 years Bryant Howroyd has steered her Torrence, Calif., based-company through turbulent economic climates to emerge as a leader in the $120 billion staffing industry. The business titan and BE 100s CEO will share her keys to success as a featured keynote speaker at the 2012 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo (BEEC2012) in Chicago (May 23-26).

In 1978, Bryant Howroyd started Act•1 Personnel Services as a single-office operation that evolved into the ACT•1 Group, an expansive global operation that today employs more than 1,300 people in 240 satellite offices in the U.S. and eight other countries, offering a range of services from employee background checks to executive travel management. This growth has earned ACT•1 the distinction of being the largest woman minority-owned employment agency in the United States.

Covering an array of industries and serving corporate giants such as Merck, Sempra Energy, and AT&T, Bryant Howroyd has mapped out an expansion strategy based on understanding the demands of a changing work environment, anticipating client needs and providing customized services that deliver maximum results. The recent economy has wrecked many companies, large and small, yet, Bryant Howroyd continues to grow her business, increasing its international presence. Act•1 is well on its way to becoming a $2 billion by year-end 2012.

Bryant Howroyd represents the enterprising spirit of African American entrepreneurs—men and women—that remains unwavering. She says now is the best time to start a business because opportunities are ripe. “Whenever you have an economic situation that is weakened a bit, whenever you find societies are having challenges, you also have the opportunity to bring solutions people may not have thought about before and you can deliver in ways they’ve never been open to receive it,” she explains.

“You have to ask the right questions and listen for the right answers,” she advises, “Be where you say you’re going to be and how you say you’re going to be there; communicate with clarity and make sure you have full circle communication. Those are the simple ABC’s of business and I think they also serve very well in life as well,” adds Bryant Howroyd who believes vagueness is what causes business failure.

You also have to think and act globally. “No matter what the size of your business, no matter what the generation or iteration of your business, you are in a global business,” she says. “We all compete globally – no matter what we manufacture, no matter what we deliver as a service or a solution, there is someone else in the world also doing that–and technology has brought us together into a single community.”

Bryant Howroyd will share with new and established entrepreneurs her seven ingredients in creating success: competitive edge, dedication, dynamic foresight, resilience, focus and clarity, employee appreciation and, her biggest asset, faith.

Janice Bryant Howroyd is among the accomplished entrepreneurs who will share their success secrets at the 2012 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide, May 23-26, at the Hilton Chicago Hotel in Chicago, IL. Search and follow the hashtag #BEEC2012 on Twitter for the latest updates on conference speakers and sessions. Expect innovative sessions, high-powered speakers, and an early peek at the products, trends, and services you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve. To register and find out more, visit www.blackenterprise.com/ec/

 

[Blessings]

favorite thread....should be stickied

 

[IronFist]

Britney Exline, Nation’s Youngest African-American Engineer

To say Britney Exline (pictured) is smarter than average is like saying is just another president.

It simply isn’t true and here’s why: Exline recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2011 at the age of 19, making her the youngest engineer to graduate from the school and the youngest African-American engineer in the country.

At a time when young African Americans get too much publicity for violence or having children out of wedlock, Exline is proving to be an example of all the good that is possible.

“I really don’t think it’s been any different, except for in the beginning people are always a little shocked to learn that, but if they get to know me, then they know that it’s just a number,” Exline said at the time of her graduation.

After graduating, Exline decided to take a job as a software engineer outside of Boston. She eventually plans to head back to graduate school, though, to follow up on her Bachelor’s degree in computer science.

In addition to her collegiate success, Exline is one well-rounded young lady: She speaks five languages and graduated with minors in psychology, math, and classical studies. She also has a passion for volunteering to help others, having traveled to Cameroon with the One Laptop program.

And at the tender age of 16, Exline worked on Wall Street and was also a participant in several teen pageants, winning two in Colorado in 2004 and 2006.

Not to mention that Exline was building pyramids with blocks at 6 months old and walking at 8 months.

Exline owes part of her success to her parents, Chyrese and Christopher Exline.

In an interview with Ebony magazine, Chyrese said of her parenting,”I made sure they remained committed even when they wanted to quit. They learned you can’t quit an activity just because it’s hard. Sometimes you need to stick with something. That’s the only way to learn how to persevere and overcome true obstacles. Eventually, it becomes a part of you. I believe this.”

Just imagine the potential this young lady has. With her youth and advanced study, she has the chance to do something great.

But the best part about Exline might be her humility.

“I don’t think of myself as extraordinary,” she said.

http://newsone.com/2099509/britney-exline/

 

[I Lord Justice]

THIS AFRICAN INVENTOR CREATED A $100 3-D PRINTER FROM E-WASTE
KODJO AFATE GNIKOU, AN INVENTOR WORKING IN A TOGOLESE MAKER SPACE, CREATED A 3-D PRINTER FROM DISCARDED SCANNER PARTS THAT CAN BE BUILT FOR LESS THAN $100.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3019880/this-african-inventor-created-a-100-3-d-printer-from-e-waste

BY NEAL UNGERLEIDER

The small West African nation of Togo is one of the last places you'd expect to find a maker space--a workshop where inventors and tinkerers can work on new projects to their heart's content. But inside the capital city of Lome, there's a maker space.Woelab bills itself as “Africa's first space for democratic technology” and it's home to Kodjo Afate Gnikou. Afate's latest invention was recently unveiled, and it's amazing: A3-D printer made from cheap discarded electronics of the kind found all over the world.

Using crowdfunding from Ulule (French-language link), Afate built a workable 3-D printer using less than $100 in parts. Ulule investors provided him with a modest $4,000 to develop the low-cost fabricator, and a functional prototype was completed. In his crowdfunding page, Afate compares the potential impact of 3-D printing on society to that of the steam engine in the 19th century.

“My dream is to give young people hope and to show that Africa, too, has its place on the global market when it comes to technology. We are able to create things. Why is Africa always lagging behind when it comes to technology?" the inventor asked Euronews.

Woelab's YouTube page includes numerous examples of the printer in action. Although it is still only a prototype, it has successfully gone through extrusion tests and is functional.

Afate's 3-D printer, called the W.Afate (The W is for Woelab), is a home-brewed replica of the Prusal Mendel, a popular printer in the United States and Europe. Only, instead of using parts purchased in stores, the W.Afate can be constructed from discarded electronic waste. His $100 3-D printer integrates leftover parts gathered from old computers, printers, and scanners found in local dumping places. A few new parts such as motors had to be purchased, but the vast majority of the 3-D printer was built using repurposed local materials. Much of the W.Afate's core is based around reused rails and belts from old scanners.

The next step for the W.Afate is participation in NASA's International Space Apps Challenge, a competition for technology designed to get mankind to Mars. Afate's entry is part of a mixed Togolese-French team that is offering proof-of-concept proposals for developing custom-fabricated mechanical equipment parts. In his proposal, Afate writes that his printer model can allow 3-D printers to be created in any environment using already-existing equipment, and that “rather than send its computing waste to the poor countries, why the West would not send them on Mars?”

Africa has a massive electronic waste problem; in promotional materials, Afate pointed out the massive Agbogbloshie toxic electronic waste dump in nearby Ghana. Hundreds of tons of discarded computers and industrial equipment end up at Agbogbloshie each month, with usable spare parts and equipment mixed in with poisonous waste.

 

[Thebadguy]

Nadia Lewis and Jamila Ahmed
http://thegrio.com/2013/11/13/2-debaters-named-1st-black-women-to-win-national-competition/
http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2013/10/17/black-female-debaters-make-history/

 

[Sinnerman]

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but she's one of the greatest African rulers ever

Queen Nzinga of modern day Angola

Queen Nzingha of Ndongo belonged to the Mbundu, a large and ancient ethnic group that lived in modern-day Angola. The Mbundu were divided into tribes, including the Songo, Lenge, Libolo, Hungu, Pende, Ndongo, and Imbangala. Every group was made up of clans descended from their mother's side of the family. Every clan was identified with their mother's clan and all the marriages were marriages between clans related maternally. Nzingha's family ruled the Ndongo people.


Nzingha was born in 1582 to Ndambi Kiluanji, the ngola, king, of the Ndongo tribe and territories, and his second wife, Kangela. Kangela had been captured from her tribe as a teenager and brought to the Ndongo capital, Kabasa, where she became a jaga, an outsider. Kiluanji fell in love with her, but because she was a captive and a jaga, she didn't have a clan and therefore she was not fit for the prince in the eyes of his mother, who is said to have been a very powerful person behind the throne, as most mothers were to their ngola sons. To please his family, Kiluanji married a more suitable woman, and then married Kangela. Kiluanji had his first child, a son named Mbandi, in 1579. The boy was useless. He was fat and lazy and showed no interest in athletic or military activity nor in intellectual or diplomatic activity. His mother was a schemer and was hated at the royal compounds in Kabasa, where she plotted to get her son on the throne. In 1582, Kiluanji had a daughter, Nzingha. She was more promising. She was a great athlete and highly intelligent. She was skilled in diplomacy and was cunning. The only problem is that she was a female. Nzingha was followed by two more daughters, Mukambu (born in 1584) and Kifunji (born in 1587). Although Kangela had failed her duty to bear male heirs, Kiluanji still deeply loved his wife.


Nzingha grew up in a world normally suited for males. She was educated in the fields of hunting and archery and in diplomacy and trade. Mbandi also received this training, although his training was more vigorous. He was awful. He never ceased from whining and complaining and eating. The only person who sympathized with him was his mother. Nzingha's relationship with Mbandi was rooted in hatred. She could not stand her half-brother and often picked fights with him (normally winning unless his mother interfered and went crying to Kiluanji). However, Nzingha often could not control herself off the training fields and was even reputed to be banished from attending court when she insulted Mbandi at a meeting in front of all the concubines, children, and government officials. But the people adored Nzingha and she was brought back.


Nzingha's relationship with her sisters was different. They all loved one another and got along well, often joining Nzingha on her hunts and during training. One of Nzingha's childhood friends was a man named Njali, a prisoner from another tribe that became one of Kiluanji's closest confidants. He taught Nzingha the ways of war and hunting, from picking the best poison to put on the tip of her spear to how to sneak up on grazing animals.


During Nzingha's teenage years a man named Giovanni Gavazzi, a Portuguese priest, recorded most of what went on in Kabasa and among the Mbundu people. He was captured as a slave before Nzingha's birth and lived at Kiluanji's court for many years. While most Europeans found the tribes appallingly primitive, Gavazzi embraced the culture and set out to educate the people in European ways while educating the Europeans in the Mbundu ways.

However, while one Portuguese man befriended the Mbundu people, the Portuguese slave traders tried their best to destroy the Mbundu culture. Starting in the 1400s, Portuguese traders had set up ports and cities along the African coast, such as Luanda. Their job was simply to capture Mbundu people to sell. The fate of the slaves was horrible. Most died on the three-month voyage from Luanda to the West Indies, or threw themselves overboard while still chained to drown. Those who made it spent their lives toiling under Portuguese slave drivers. Kiluanji's reign was plagued by weak relations with the Portuguese to keep the Mbundu safe. He kept peace, but the Portuguese set out to capture and enslave the innocent and betrayed Mbundu people. Other Mbundu tribes had made deals and alliances with the Portuguese, but Kiluanji refused to give in. Because the other tribes made alliances, the Portuguese advanced closer and closer to Ndongo territory. Thousands of the Ndongo people were captured, and Kiluanji led his people into war with the foreigners.


Nzingha married a fellow royal Mbundu, a prince named Azeze, who had come to Kabasa in 1595 when Nzingha was 13 to make an alliance between his tribe and the Ndongo. Azeze and Nzingha were both deeply in love, and Azeze admired Nzingha's strength and her abilities on the field. They had a son between in the early 1600's, but unfortunately Azeze died in battle a few years afterwards. Although she was a widow, Nzingha still refused to lay down her bow and arrow and often went on hunting escapes, her sister trailing behind her, who also both lost their husbands in battle.


In 1617, Kiluanji died, and the powerless and pathetic Mbandi was given the seat if power over the Ndongo. With his uncles controlling him, Mbandi ordered the deaths of all those who opposed him. Nzingha's son was murdered, as was her mother. Nzingha herself would have been murdered, but the people loved her and an outcry would arise if she were killed. Nzingha had promised her father before his death that she would do whatever was possible to keep the Portuguese out of the Ndongo territory. When she was called to go to the Portuguese city of Luanda, Nzingha reluctantly led a party to make an alliance with the Portuguese. When she met with the governor of Luanda, she was refused a seat. To show the governor her power and that she would not be below him, she sat on the back of one of her male servants and made him a human bench. There, she made a peace agreement. Also while she was in Luanda, she came into contact with Father Giovanni, the priest who had lived among the Ndongo. She had him baptize her and took the name Ana de Sousa, in honor of the new Luanda governor, Joao Carreida de Sousa. It was rumored that Nzingha was only baptized to achieve respect from the Portuguese and establish herself as a leader.


Nzingha returned to Kabasa in 1617, and not too long after her arrival, Mbandi was dead, supposedly murdered under Nzingha's orders. Without a leader, the Portuguese attacked Kabasa and burned it to the ground. Nzingha fled to the mountains with her people and over the next few years, organized an army to fight back.


Seven years later, in 1624, 42-year-old Nzingha rallied her people and led them to take control of their territory. Nzingha was declared Ngola Kiluanji of the Mbundu of Ndongo, a prediction made when she was born. Her closest aides were her sisters, Mukambu and Kifunji. Never had the Mbundu seen a female government, but it proved capable. Nzingha's childhood friend, Njali, helped her make an alliance with the Imbangala tribes.


For the next forty years, Nzingha led her people into battle against the Portuguese from the rocky slopes of Matamba. Her sisters were captured during a battle, but with the help of slaves in Luanda, they escaped from slavery. Later, Kifunji died from battle wounds.


Nzingha led many battles and peace treaties, some with the Portuguese, some with the Dutch, but she never resisted against slavery and the ill treatment of her people. She never returned to the ruins of Kabasa, and many remember her as the Queen of Matamba, because she ruled from the Matamba mountains and countryside, never from the Ndongo territory, despite her titles. When she died in 1663 at age 82, her sister, Mukambu, took over the seat of power as head of the Mbundu people. Mukambu had Nzingha laid to rest in her leopard skins and with her bow over her shoulder and arrows in her hand.

http://nzinghaofangola.tripod.com/

she heard those portuguese cacs were coming for the throne and she said

told her people the white man was the devil and mollywhopped them(very rarely losing a battle) for 40 years until her death(due to old age)

and part of that last paragraph is wrong, because one of the reasons for her going to war was due to the fact that she didn't fukk with the transatlantic slave trade

 

[mr x]

mya reppin black excellence

 

[Danie84]

...everytime I come to this beautiful thread I learn something new about my people

Ben Bratton - 1st Black to win gold Fencing

http://www.eurweb.com/2012/05/ben-b...-to-win-gold-in-elite-sport-of-fencing-video/

 

[Sinnerman]

Queen Nanny of the Maroons of Jamaica

Queen Nanny of the Windward Maroons has largely been ignored by historians who have restricted their focus to male figures in Maroon history. However, amongst the Maroons themselves she is held in the highest esteem. Biographical information on Queen Nanny is somewhat vague, with her being mentioned only four times in written historical texts and usually in somewhat derogatory terms. However, she is held up as the most important figure in Maroon history. She was the spiritual, cultural and military leader of the Windward Maroons and her importance stems from the fact that she guided the Maroons through the most intense period of their resistance against the British, between 1725 and 1740.

Queen Nanny is presumed to have been born around the 1680’s in Africa’s Gold Coast (now known as Ghana). She was reported to belong to either the Ashanti or Akan tribe and came to Jamaica as a free woman. It is possible that Queen Nanny brought slaves of her own, reportedly being of royal African blood. It was not uncommon for African dignitaries to keep slaves. She was said to be married to a man named Adou, but had no children. She died in the 1730’s.

Moore Town is now the primary town of the Windward Maroons – it was founded in 1734 after the British destroyed the original Maroon town, which was known as ‘Nanny Town’.

Historical Maroon Identity and Culture

Slaves imported to Jamaica from Africa came from the Gold Coast, the Congo and Madagascar. The dominant group among Maroon communities was from the Gold Coast. In Jamaica this group was referred to as Coromantie or Koromantee. They were fierce and ferocious fighters with a preference for resistance, survival and above all freedom and refused to become slaves. Between 1655 until the 1830’s they led most of the slave rebellions in Jamaica.

Spiritual life was of the utmost importance to the Maroons which was incorporated into every aspect of life, from child rearing to military strategies. Almost every slave rebellion involved African spiritual practices. Leaders, such as Queen Nanny usually practiced Obeah and were able to instill confidence in their followers. Spiritual practices such as Obeah (and voodoo in Haiti) evolved from Africa, and during slavery times were of great significance to the black population. However, under colonial rule as Western culture was imposed on the Caribbean, these African practices became ‘outlawed’ and took on negative connotations.

Among Maroon culture, their ancestors are revered and their importance to everyday life is recognized. The past is a source of pride which is both taught and shared. Amongst modern day Maroons, the history of their resistance against slavery is an extreme form of pride that forms a large part of Maroon identity. The story of the Maroons endurance and ability to hold off the British troops for almost eighty years is one that has never been repeated in history. What saw the Maroons through to freedom were their unfailing courage and determination. Their resistance to slavery drew on the strength of their memory of Africa and its culture. Their African culture and identity instilled in them great confidence and self esteem. So much so, that this diluted the stigma of inferiority imposed by the plantocracy. Therefore, the resistance against slavery by the Maroons was a defense of their culture and identity, their spiritual and political values and preservation of African civilization. This is why Maroon ancestors are an integral part of their day to day lives. At each annual Maroon celebration of the 1739 Peace Treaties there is a ‘private’ element of the festivities at which only Maroons may attend, where the ancestors are said to visit, including Queen Nanny who is honored.

The Significance of Women Maroons

On the plantations women did not escape the brutality of slavery. Marriage and partnerships among slaves were prohibited. For those that managed to form unions in secret, they were forced to endure the removal of their offspring who were separated from their mothers soon after birth and sold into slavery. Many women opted for abortions rather than see their babies endure the same fate (slavery) that had befallen them. Furthermore, women on the plantations were physically exploited by their slave masters by rape and other sexual practices that were often quite sadistic. They too endured hard physical labor within the household doing domestic work and rearing the children of their slave masters. Some occasionally worked on the plantation itself.

By contrast, the Maroon women raised crops and were responsible for most of the agricultural output within their communities. The men hunted wild hogs and raided the plantations for food and supplies and to free slaves. Often, the plantations were ‘raided’ to bring back women into the Maroon communities, without which they would be unable to increase their numbers and ensure the survival of the Maroons as a race. There are legends of great women Maroon warriors who raided the plantations and freed slaves, wielding huge knives that they used to cut off the heads of the British. The strength of women in Maroon communities stemmed from their position within traditional Ashanti or Akan culture. The Ashanti culture was based on a tradition of warrior nations and a history of proud and respected women. Many Ashanti elements were retained in Maroon language and culture.

The Legend of Queen Nanny

Queen Nanny is credited with being the military leader of the Windward Maroons who employed clever strategies which led to their repeated success in battles with the British. She was a master of guerilla warfare and trained Maroon troops in the art of camouflage. Oral history recounts that Nanny herself would cover her soldiers with branches and leaves, instructing them to stand as still as possible so that they would resemble trees. As the British soldiers approached completely unaware that they were surrounded they would swiftly be picked off by the Maroons.

Maroon settlements were sited high up in the mountains with only a narrow path leading to their town. In this way, the British soldiers could clearly be seen on approach as they advanced in single file, allowing them to be picked off one by one. This method was particularly successful with large numbers of British soldiers being killed by a comparatively small number of Maroons.

A famous legend about Queen Nanny is that during 1737 at the height of the Maroon resistance against the British, Nanny and her people were near starvation and she was on the brink of surrender, when she heard voices from her ancestors telling her not to give up. When she awoke she found pumpkins seeds in her pocket which she planted on the hillside. Within a week the seeds grew into large plants laden with pumpkins that provided much needed food for the starving community. To this day, one of the hills near Nanny Town is known as ‘Pumpkin Hill’.

There are two versions of the story of Nanny catching bullets. The first is that Queen Nanny was able to catch bullets with her hands, which was a highly developed art form in some parts of Africa. The other story is that Nanny was able to catch bullets with her buttocks and fart them out again. Renowned historian Edward Braithwaite suggests that the original story took a vulgar twist on account of British colonialists who were known to detest Nanny and were being deliberately offensive about her when they relayed this tale.

The last legend about Queen Nanny is that she placed a large cauldron on the corner of a narrow mountain path near the edge. The pot was said to be boiling even though there was no fire beneath it. British soldiers approaching would curiously look inside, fall in and die. Some were said to collapse and fall over the hill. There have been suggestions that the pot contained special herbs with anaesthetic properties, as Nanny was said to be an herbalist. Contemporary historians maintain that the pot was in fact a circular basin formed by the hollowed out rocks of the Nanny River, joined by the waters of the Stony River. The continuously flowing river kept the water constantly frothy, giving it the appearance of a boiling pot.
Read more: http://www.jamaicans.com/articles/primearticles/queennanny.shtml#ixzz2lbIsjPjj

she at those cacs in Jamaica and whooped their ass everytime they fukked with her people and land.

 

[Danie84]

Ameena Mathews - Puts herself in front of the senseless violence in Chiraq, and try to steer the lost kids growing up in the slaughter on a better path

http://www.wbez.org/series/year-25/year-25-ameena-matthews-105541

http://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...oans-of-the-year-pictures-004,0,6520290.photo

...need more courageous people like her

 

[CASHAPP]

@Blackking @Kritic @Yakno1 I'm getting this for my little sister for Christmas.