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bamba
Sweden
401 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Feb 2006 : 18:09:35
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Thesaurus defines PROBLEM as something that causes trouble or difficulty. That is the definitional dimension of problem. In this piece, I intend to move further, beyond definitional dimension, to the colourisation and personification of PROBLEM. I intend to give problem both a colour and a personality. No oversimplification of the definition of problem is needed to see how it fits the situation of blacks on this our planet called earth. Therefore, going beyond definitional dimension over to colourisation and personification would land me to one colour and person, namely, blackness and the black person. If the situation of blacks on this planet can’t be described in any other way than problematic, then the colour that problem bears cant be anything other than black. A look at the situation of blacks in every corner of the globe would reveal more of problems than otherwise. Blacks suffer everywhere and face huge problems in their daily lives. Even blacks in Africa their own continent, where they are supposed to take sanctuary, face worst problems there than anywhere else on the globe.
The problems blacks face can be catalogued, the list can be very long. Problems ranging from family to societal levels, the two go hand in hand. The family is the society’s bedrock. Dysfunctional families make up dysfunctional societies. Economies in black African countries are being squandered. Few people are filthy rich, those that thrive on the exploitations of their respective African economies, against the abject poverty and sorrow of the masses. The rich few in black Africa are seemingly in connivance with powerful forces outside Africa to hold black Africa fast to its present state of poverty. That’s what one can really call a problem.
The list of black African problems can be very long, allow the cliché. But this piece is meant to deal with crucial black problems; the heavyweight black problems that make problem bear black pigments. Blacks realize from early childhood the problem of their rejection and condemnation by other races because of their skin colour. In early childhood the problems that await black through life begin to manifest themselves. The more dark skin blacks are, the more problems they have to confront in later life. Within the black race itself the problems of light skin against dark skin blacks can express themselves in the forms of conflicts with dire and tragic outcomes.
Another stupendous black problem, a heavyweight one too, is the diabolical slaughter of one and other within the black race on religious basis. Many black countries are divided between a Muslim north and a Christian south. A division that, when militated against, can cause civil wars. Both religions, Islam and Christianity, were forced upon blacks. The prophets of both religions were light skin. Apparently, god or Allah would never reveal himself to be a black person. Yet, religions like Islam and Christianity are the abstract rulers of black minds. Blacks’ identities, even today, have Islamic or Christian bearings. What more can one call problem?
The problems of the black skin colour, like I said before and will always continue to say, are very many and very tantalizing to many blacks. The tantalizing effects of the black skin colour are seen in many blacks that succumb to derogatory methods of skin bleaching to remove their dark skin colour. What can be more problematic than people painstakingly trying to remove, with chemicals, their natural skin colour? Blackness, to skin bleachers, is what one runs away from and not what one runs to. Oh what a problem!!!!!
Problem solutions, especially black skin problems, call for mechanisms to define, avoid if possible, and finally solve them. Without the ability to tackle the problems blacks face due to skin colour, problem will ever remain black in both colour and personality.
To wrap up, allow me to make this declaration. I am a Bantu black, a Negro if you like. Therefore, if this piece offends any black person, I am also offended. Offensive pieces and articles fit well in the domains of democracy. Bamba.
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2006 : 19:29:41
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Hi Bamba what you have written depicts a state of mind reflecting an inferiority complex. I would say to those who are of the same opinion you have expressed is for them to get to know yourself."Emanicipate yourself from mental slavery,( as Bob Marley said) none but ourselves can free our minds!" I would say within the darkness their shines light. So those who see black as being negative and white as being positive in skin colour spectrum have no real value of self. Black is beautiful. And I'm sure what ever skin colour one has if they love themselves they will know that they are beautiful too.
The blackness you experience seems to be that of delusion depression and depression. Not of beauty, strength, integrity and dignity.The blame game is a waste of time its good for us to understand the dynamics of the past and weed out those elements of it that are destructive, and keep the positives to strengthen us in the present, and plant the seeds for the future.
however by preaching doom and gloom about the African race is negative to say the least. Bamba your piece reinforces stereotypes instead of mashing them up and breaking them down. you have the tools at your desposal to learn more about Africa, its people and their accomplishments go for it, and don't waste money on skin bleaching.
Have you read Why Yuh want fi Bleach Up your skin. Check it out. Also old bantabaa articles you might find educative.
Peace
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Peace
Sister Omega |
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BornAfrican
United Kingdom
119 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2006 : 19:16:32
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Hmmmm...
what a piece of writing. i found some derogatory but with all respect i am only trying to critique your posting.
its true that black people have done a lot of wrong things that have and are still affecting us all in many negative ways. but Bamba, i think if all black people think as you put it in your posting, then they are right to bleach their skins. with all due respect; are you a proud black man? i am pretty puzzled.
i think there is a great inferiority complex in your posting as sister omega put it. it starts from a long time. sometime back, my brother bought dolls for his children and they were white dolls. as they were playing with the dolls, one of his friends asked him why he didn't buy then black dolls and my brother thought thats racist. my brother got it very wrong. clildren admire their toys a lot and most of the time, these toys influence their future lives a lot. this is one source of inferiority mentality that most black children grow up with.
i really found it distressing for you to associate a color to "problem", which for that matter is black. i wonder if you are truly an African decendant.
The fact that Africans are hated fills me with pride. You hate a person when you fear him/her. You normally see some potentials in that individual that threatens you and you hate him. Remember we are the only race that read and write using other people's language and still compete with them (in most cases, we even do better). I know this is nothing to be proud of, but it shows you how smart we are as black people.
You need to do more reasearch on black people. This race is too strong. With all that black people have faced and are still facing, we are still going strong. unfortunately, our own brothers turn to be our worst enemies. but believe in me, black is beautiful and if you truly are African origin, i would like you to lift up you head and hold it up high. |
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Formby
United Kingdom
246 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2006 : 00:32:05
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At first I saw 'Africans are hated and it fills me with pride' and thought, what? But then I saw what you meant. 'Hatred', or 'mistrust' or whatever you see it as, it's insecurity pointed out.
I don't like the word 'hate' though. And everone who rejects the pointless mentality of racism, everyone who sees beyond it (and surely that is most of us by now) should not think in terms of hate either. |
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kassma
334 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2006 : 07:30:11
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i honestly think you guys are being too hard on Bamba. let us not be so blind, a lot of black people hate being black and probably would change it if were possible. a good example is America where all the men are running to white girls and black girls literally go out with white guys just so their baby will be light skinned and have "good" hair. i have had a black girl tell me that she wished that she was "high" yellow and that she's always wanted that, also that she wants a high yellow baby. she said she didn't know why but that she's always liked the "high" yellow skintone. the funny think is, she is not even dark - not in my standards anyways. in her situation, as with many other blacks, she grew up with white images being positive and beautiful while black images ugly and negative. someone like her, i think should be pitied because she is a victim of internal racism. i feel that instead of jumping on people who are victims really, we should eduacate them and not critize them for their ignorance. the only reason why i have no issues with skin color or hair texture, is that i was raised in the Gambian until i was nine and that i had a father who really hated skin bleaching and relaxers and things of that nature.but i think were i raised here in america, i would have the lowest self esteem, cause i am Mandinka, in other words, very dark and very pretty  lol. but anyways lets be gentle and not jump on anyone. |
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Galo Sowe
Sweden
116 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2006 : 23:47:55
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"Author Unknown" This is a story of a little boy named Theo, who woke up one morning and asked his mother: what if there were no black people in the world? Well, his mother thought about that for a moment, and then said: son, follow me around today, and let's just see what it would be like if there were no black people in the world. Now go and get dressed and we'll get started.
Theo ran to his room to put on his clothes and shoes. His mother took one look at his room and said: Theo, where are your shoes? And your clothes are all wrinkled son, I must iron them. But when she reached for the ironing board, it was no longer there. You see Sarah Boone, a black woman invented the ironing board and Jan E. Matzelinger, a black man, invented the shoe lasting machine.
Oh, well, she said, please go and do something to your hair. Theo ran to his room to comb his hair, but the comb was not there. You see, Walter Sammons, a black man, invented the comb. Theo decided to just brush his hair. But the brush was gone. You see, Lyndia O. Newman, a black woman invented the hair brush.
Well, this was a sight: no shoes, wrinkled clothes, hair a mess, even Mom's hair. Without the hair care inventions of Madame C.J. Walker. . . Well you get the piture, Mom told Theo.
Mom asked Theo to go around and get a pencil and some paper to prepare the list for the market. So Theo ran for the paper and pencil, but noticed that the pencil lead was brpken. Well, he was out of luck because John Love, a black man, invented the pencil sharpener. Mom then reached for the pen but it was not there, because William Purvis, a black man, invented the fountain pen.
As a matter of fact, Lee Burridge invented the typewriting machine, and W.A. Lovette, invented the advanced printing press.
Theo and his mother decided to jead out to the market. Well, when Theo opened the door, he noticed that the grass was as high as he was tall. You see, the lawn mover was invented by Jon Burr, a black man.
They made their way to the car, and found that it would not go. You see Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gear shift, and Joseph Gammel, invented the supercharge system for internal combusstion engines. They nopticed that the few cars that were moving, were running into each other and having wrecks, because there were no traffic signals. You see Garret A. Morgan, a black man, invenmted traffic lights.
Well, it was getting late, so they walked to the market, got their groceries and returned home. Just when they were about to put away the milk, eggs, and butter, they noticed that the refrigerator was gone. . .You see John Standard, a black man, invented the refrigerator. So they left the food on the counter.
By this time, Theo noticed that he was getting mighty cold. Mom went to turn on the heat, and what do you know, Alice Parker, a black woman, invented the heating furnace. Even in the summertime, they would have been out of luck, because Frederick Jones, a black man invented the air conditioner.
It was almost time for Theo's father to arrive home. He usually takes the bus. But there was no bus, because its precursor, the electric trolly, was invented by another black man, Elbert R. Robinson.
He usually takes the elevator from his office on the 20th floor, but there was no elevator, because Alexander Miles, a black man, invented the elevator.
He usually drops off the office mail at a nearby mail box, but it was no longer there, because Phillips Dawning, a black man, invented the letter drop mailbox and William Barry, another black man, invented the post marking and canceling machine.
Theo and his mother sat at the table, with their heads in their hands. When Theo's father asked: why are you sitting in the dark? Why? Because Lewis Howard Latimer, a black man, invented the filament within the light bulb.
Theo quickly learned what it would be like if there were no black people in the world. Not to mention if he were ever sick and needed blood, because Charles Drew, a Black scientist, discovered the way to preserve and store blood, which lead to the first blood bank.
And what if a family member had to have heart surgery, this would not have been possible without Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a Black doctor, who performed the first open heart surgery.
So if you ever wonder, like Theo, where would we be without Black people? Well, it's pretty plain to see. We would still be in the dark.
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"Soldiers are experts at camouflage but that is on the battle field not the political one, were transparency is the watch word" Kaaniba |
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Galo Sowe
Sweden
116 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2006 : 23:54:29
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New African
APRIL 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------BLACK INVENTORS AND SCIENTISTS
COVER STORY
So black people can't invent? Has a black person ever invented anything? Well, the answer must be no - that is, if you believe conventional wisdom. But the facts tell a different story. A black man, in fact, invented the very traffic lights that the world cannot do without. And more... Baffour Ankomah reports. A Ghanaian secondary school teacher visiting London recently would not believe that a black man invented the traffic lights. "What?," he asked in utter incredulity. "How can a black man invent the traffic lights?"
Well, you can imagine the sort of education this secondary school teacher has imparted, or is imparting, to his students, not out of malice but sheer ignorance. Which speaks volumes about the kind of education Africans receive. All said, this Ghanaian secondary school teacher genuinely believes that black people "cannot or do not" (his words) invent things, they buy other people's inventions. Well, there is something here for him.
A new textbook, Black Scientists and Inventors Book One, published in London recently by BIS Publications dismantles the notion that black people are not inventors.
Co-authored by Ava Henry and Michael Williams (both directors of the London-based BIS Enterprises Ltd), the book is designed for use by children aged 7-16. "It is our hope that parents and teachers will help the children on this journey of knowledge and discovery," say the authors.
The issue of black inventions, like slavery and reparations, is now top of the topics in the Black Diaspora. Black people are finding it increasingly difficult to understand why, even in the Internet era of openness and liberalism, black inventors and scientists are still denied their due recognition. And this is despite the fact that there are records showing that right from ancient times, a number of key inventions that the world now takes for granted were made by black people.
The old era Writing about African inventions and discoveries, Count C. Volney, the renowned French historical researcher, wrote: "A people now forgotten, discovered, while others were yet barbarians, the elements of the arts and science. A race of men, now rejected from society for their sable skin and frizzled hair, founded on the study of the laws of nature those civil and religious systems which still govern the universe."
To which Dr John Henrik Clarke, the African-American historical researcher adds: "First, the distortions must be admitted. The hard fact is that most of what we now call world history is only the history of the first and second rise of Europe. The Europeans are not yet willing to acknowledge that the world did not wait in darkness for them to bring the light. The history of Africa was already old when Europe was born."
Dr Clarke is supported by the German scholar and explorer, Leo Frobenius, who wrote in his principal work, Und Afrika Sprach, published in 1910: "In that portion of the globe, the stalwart Anglo-Saxon [Henry Morton] Stanley gave the name of 'dark' and 'darkest'... [But] before the foreign invasion, Africans did not dwell in small clusters but in towns with 20,000 or 30,000 inhabitants, whose highways were shaded by avenues of splendid palms, planted at regular intervals and laid out in an orderly manner."
Frobenius' exposé was even bettered by Thomas Hodgkins, the British historian, who wrote later:
"When people talk, as they still sometimes do, about Africa South of the Sahara as a 'continent without history', what they really mean is that Africa is a continent about whose history we Europeans are still deplorably ignorant... One must admit, we are all to some extent still victims of a colonial mentality: we find it hard to realise that Africans possessed their own indigenous civilisations for many centuries before we Europeans, beginning with the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century, conceived the idea of trying to sell them ours."
Most historians now accept that the ancient African empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhay were highly civilised empires that developed scientific societies. In his 1864 work, A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, J. W. Draper wrote freely about the vastly superior social and artistic development of the Moors [blacks] who "might well have looked with supercilious contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France and England, which were scarcely better than stables - chimney-less, windowless and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape like the wigwams of certain Indians."
Recently the British TV, Channel 4 anchorman, Jon Snow, who made his name as a journalist in Africa in the 70s, was amazed to find in a library in Timbuktu (Mali), stacks of books dating back "more than 500 years" (his own words on camera). "We [meaning Europeans] like to think we brought books to Africa, but here in my hands is evidence showing the contrary. They gave us the books", Snow said as he leafed through one of the ancient books.
Records show that the very first university in Europe, Salamanka in Spain, was founded after the fashion of the University of Sankore in Timbuktu whose professors were all Africans.
Ancient Egypt Right from Ancient Egypt, which was essentially a black empire whose great glory has now been mischievously attributed to Arabians, black people have led the way in the sciences.
Sir J. G. Wilkinson admitted in his book, The Ancient Egyptians, published in 1854: "That the [ancient] Egyptians possessed considerable knowledge of chemistry and the use of metallic oxides, is evident from the nature of the colours applied to their glass and porcelain; and they were even acquainted with the influence of acids upon colour, being able, in the process of dyeing or staining cloth, to bring out certain changes in the hues, by the same means adopted in our own cotton works."
In his 1907 book, Ancient Egypt the Light of the World, Gerald Massy freely admitted that Imhotep, the black multi-genius, was the real "father of medicine", not the Greek physician Hippocrates now commonly regarded as the father of medicine.
Imhotep was an Ancient Egyptian who lived about 2300 BC. Records show that both Greece and Rome had their knowledge of medicine from him. He was worshipped in Rome as the "Prince of Peace in the form of a black man". He was also the foremost architect of his time, and served as prime minister to Ancient Egypt's King Zoser. The saying, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" has now been traced to Imhotep. Hippocrates, the so-called "father of medicine" lived 2,000 years after Imhotep. Yet, the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors in the modern era to observe a code of medical ethics is derived from that of Hippocrates, not Imhotep.
This denial or mis-attribution of black people's inventions and discoveries is the reason people like the Ghanaian secondary school teacher can say black people cannot or do not invent. Yet the inventions of paper, shoe-making, alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, libraries, architecture, and many more, were all made by black people long before the rise of Europe.
Arthur Weigall, in his book, Personalities of Antiquity, published in 1928 admits that Akhnaton, the black monarch of Ancient Egypt, was the first person to preach the belief in one God who was all-powerful, all loving.
"In the early years of his reign," Weigall wrote, "while he was still a boy, [Akhnaton] promulgated a doctrine which was in its outward aspect a worship of the invisible and formless Power, named the Aton. It was made apparent to mankind in the life-giving energy of sunlight, but which, in its inner meaning, was simply a belief in one God, all-powerful, all-loving, the tender father of every living creature, by whom all things had their being, and to whom cruelty, hatred, warfare and the like were utterly abhorrent."
Weigall is supported by J. A. Rogers in his own book, World's Great Men of Colour. About Akhnaton, Rogers wrote: "Living centuries before King David, he wrote psalms as beautiful as those of the Judean monarch. Thirteen hundred years before Christ, Akhnaton preached and lived a gospel of perfect love, brotherhood and truth. Two thousand years before Mahomet, he taught the doctrine of the One God. Three thousand years before Darwin, he sensed the unity that runs through all living things."
At the time Akhnaton was preaching his belief in a one, almighty God, it was heretic to believe in such a thing. Thus the modern belief in an almighty God, so beloved by both Christians and Muslims, in truth, is a carry-over of Akhnaton's work whose origins go much further back than the Judean or Christian eras.
More black inventions In the Roman era, a now forgotten black man, Tiro (born circa 103 BC) was the first to invent shorthand writing. Various historians have recorded Tiro as having become secretary to the Roman knight, Marcus Tullius Cicero.
In the book, Shorthand (Heffey Collection, New York Public Library), Tiro is recorded to have "first followed with his own peculiar method of signs, the words of the human voice with a stroke for every sound. He also published a collection of his letters, the fragments have been preserved to us [by] various authors; but it is not so much these that have rendered his name imperishable in the history of Roman literature, as the invention of the Roman shorthand writing, the inception of which, as before remarked, we may date back at most to the year 63 BC."
Cicero loved to dictate his letters to Tiro who wrote them down in shorthand. Now how many centuries is that, from 63 BC to 1837 AD, when the Englishman, Sir Isaac Pitman, "invented" his (Pitman) shorthand.
Writing about Mathematics in his book, The Ancient History, Charles Rollin said:
"Mathematics holds the first place among the sciences, because they alone are founded upon infallible demonstrations. And this undoubtedly gave them their name. For Mathesis in Greek signified science. The [ancient] Egyptians are said to have invented it on account of the inundations of the Nile. For that river carrying away the landmarks every year, and lessening some estates to enlarge others, the Egyptians were obliged to measure their country often, and for that purpose to contrive a method and art, which was the origin and beginning of geometry. It passed from Egypt to Greece, and Thales of Miletus is believed to have carried it thither at his return from his travels."
For the avoidance of doubt, Sir J. G. Wilkinson adds in his book, The Ancient Egyptians: "I have also known that Herodotus and others ascribe the origin of geometry to the Egyptians, but the period when it commenced is uncertain. Anticledes pretends that Meoris was the first to lay down the elements of that science, which he says was perfected by Pythagoras; but the latter observation is merely the result of the vanity of the Greeks, which claimed for their countrymen (as in the case of Thales and other instances) the credit of enlightening a people on the very subject which they had visited Egypt for the purpose of studying."
Now where is the Ghanaian secondary school teacher; he would like to know that the Great Thinker, Esop, who lived in the 6th century BC, was black. J. A. Rogers records in World's Great Men of Colour:
"According to Planudes the Great, a monk in the 14th century, to whom we are indebted for Esop's life and fables in its present form, [Esop was] 'flat-nosed, with lips thick and pendulous and a black skin from which he contracted his name (Esop, being the same with Ethiop)'. The influence of Esop on Western thought and morals is profound. Plato, Socrates, Aristophanes, Shakespeare, La Fontaine and other great thinkers found inspiration in his words of wisdom. Socrates spent his last days putting [Esop's] fables into verse."
The modern era Without doubt, the most visible black invention of the modern era by miles is the traffic lights. Garret A. Morgan, an African-American (born in Kentucky, USA, on 4 March 1877) invented the automatic traffic signalling system in 1923, and later sold the rights to the General Electric Corporation (GEC) for $40,000. Morgan, the 7th of his parent's 11 children, had only an elementary school education, but he was smart. His working life started as a sewing machine technician. He soon invented a belt fastener for sewing machines. He sold the invention in 1901 for less than $50.
Morgan went on to invent the first gas mask in 1912 and was given a patent for it by the US government. He subsequently set up a company to manufacture the mask. Business was good initially, especially during World War I, but when his customers discovered that he was black, the orders started to dry up. Morgan tried to circumvent the downturn in business by inventing a cream which he used to straighten his hair, in order to pass as an Indian from the Walpole Reservation in Canada. He died in 1963, aged 86.
Another of the great black inventors was Elijah McCoy (he of the real McCoy fame). He was born on 2 May 1843 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada. His parents escaped slavery from America's South and went to live in Canada with their 12 children.
Young Elijah was great on mechanical devices. After schooling in Edinburgh (Scotland), he went back to Canada but could not find a job. He ended up in the US where he got a job as a railway labourer in Detroit, Michigan. He was put in charge of oiling machinery. McCoy was intrigued when the machines ground to a halt because they needed oiling, and started investigating.
This led to his setting up a manufacturing company in 1870 to work on a solution to stop machinery from grinding to a halt. In 1872, he invented the "drip cup" for oiling factory machinery. He followed it up by inventing the "lubricator cup", a new device for steam engines which allowed them to remain in constant use.
When he died in 1929 he had over 50 patents to his name, including an iron table and lawn sprinkler. His device for the steam engines, says the black magazine, Ebony, "paved the way for the industrial revolution of the 20th century".
The popular phrase, "the real McCoy" was coined when other inventors tried to copy McCoy's inventions. But as they tried to sell the replicas, the prospective buyers realising that the replicas were not as good as McCoy's, would often ask: "Is this the real McCoy?"
Back home in Africa, the Ghanaian scientist, Dr Raphael E. Armattoe (1913-1953), who was runner-up for the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1948, found the cure for the water-borne guinea-worm disease with his Abochi drug in the 1940s. He also carried out extensive research into different species of African herbs and roots for medicinal use.
America's black inventors In America alone, thousands of black inventors and scientists have contributed hugely to national, if not global, life, without being acknowledged or celebrated. Here is a sample - a small sample - of black inventors in America in the modern era:
In medicine, Charles R. Drew became a pioneer in the development of the blood bank. In 1940, his work with blood plasma and storage opened the way for the development of the blood bank in the US.
In 1935, Dr William Hinton, published the first medical textbook written by an African-American, based on his research into syphilis.
The physicist, Lloyd Quarterman, played a major role in the US scientific team that developed the first nuclear reactor in the 1930s and thus brought the world the atomic age.
Another physicist Robert E. Shurney developed the wire mesh tires for the buggy used in the Apollo 15 moon landing in 1972.
George Washington Carver, an agricultural genius, developed new farming methods that saved the economy of the US South in the 1920s. In 1927 he made vast improvements to the process of making paints and stains. He also researched widely into soil and plant diseases, and developed 325 different products from groundnut - ranging from printing ink, face power, milk substitute, soap, cheese etc.
Jan Ernst Matzeliger (1852-1889) invented the "Lasting Machine" that greatly impacted on the shoemaking industry of the world. He was given a patent for his invention by the US government in March 1883. He later sold the rights to the Consolidated Hand Method Lasting Machine Co. By the time he died in 1889, he had 37 more patents to his name. America honoured him in 1992 by printing a special postage stamp with his portrait embossed on it.
Dr Ernest E. Just (1883-1941): His study into egg fertilisation and cellular research just before World War I was hailed as a first. He gave the world the insight into how the building blocks of the human body - the cells - work.
Granville T. Woods (1856-1910) began his career as an inventor by improving steam boiler furnaces in 1884. He went on to invent a new telephone transmitter that revolutionised the quality and distance that sound could travel. The Bell Telephone Company bought the patent from Woods whose most memorable work was the improvement he brought to the railways. First, he invented the "railway telegraphy system" used to send messages from train to train. He bettered it in 1888 by inventing the "overhead electric system" to power trains. He followed it up by inventing "the third rail" used today to power trains that do not use the overhead electric system.
Richard Spikes developed the automatic gear shift for cars in 1932.
George Carruthers, an astro-physicist of the US space agency, NASA, developed the Far Ultraviolet Camera used on the Apollo 16 mission which gave the world the groundbreaking view of the moon in the 1970s. His combination telescope and camera is still used in shuttle missions.
Fredrick M. Jones invented the automatic refrigeration system for long distance trucks in 1949 and revolutionised the eating habits of America, and by extension the world. "He secured over 60 patents, including a silent movie projector to accommodate talking films and box office equipment that delivers tickets and change," according to Ebony magazine.
James West, an acoustical engineer, jointly invented the foil-electric microphone with Gerhard M. Sessler in the mid-60s. Commercial production of their invention started in 1968. The knock-on effect was a revolution in the telecoms and broadcasting industries.
In 1986, Dr Patricia E. Bath, an ophthalmologist, invented the Laserphoto Probe, a laser device that has had great impact on cataract surgery since then.
Dr Shirley Jackson, another African-American woman of renown, who once chaired the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is a great theoretical physicist.
In 1989 Dr Philip Emeagwali, a Nigerian emigré in the US performed the world's fastest computer computation - a staggering 3.1 billion calculations per second. His feat has since changed the way global warming and weather conditions are predicted, and has also helped solve one of America's 20 Grand Challenges - understanding how oil flows underground.
Dr Daniel Hale Williams became the first in 1893 to perform an operation on the human heart.
Mark Dean, an electrical engineer with IBM, along with his colleague Dennis Moeller, developed the "ISA systems bus", an interface that enables multiple devices, like modem and printer, to be connected to personal computers".
The chemist, Percy L. Julian, "one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century", according to Ebony magazine, led the way to the developments of treatments for Alzheimer's disease and glaucoma when his experiments broke new grounds in 1933. "His research into the synthesis of physostigmine, a drug to treat glaucoma, improved memory in Alzheimer's patients and served as an antidote to nerve gas," according to Ebony.
In 1980, the Ghanaian emigré in the US, Dotsevi Y. Sogah, a chemist, along with his colleagues Owen Webster and William B. Farnham, developed a new method of synthesising polymers and petroleum compounds used in making plastic paints and synthetic fibers.
Benjamin Banniker was the first notable African-American inventor. He made the first clock in America, and dabbled in astrology. Later he became assistant to the Frenchman LaFlan who was planning the city of Washington. When LaFlan left in a huff with all his papers because he was unhappy with the Americans, Banniker remembered the plans, and as Dr John Henrik Clarke puts it so nicely, "Benjamin Banniker is responsible for the designing of the city of Washington, one of the few American cities designed with streets wide enough for 10 cars to pass at the same time."
Lewis Latimer was one of the greatest talents of the 19th century. A draftsman of great repute, this African-American did the drawings for the world's first telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Later, Latimer improved upon Thomas Edison's light bulb which, until Latimer came in, had a lifespan of only 20 mintues. Latimer created the carbon filament that vastly increased the lifespan of the incandescent light bulb, and in 1882 invented a machine to manufacture the carbon filaments.
The above is by no means an exhaustive list. There are thousands more black inventors and inventions all over the world that cannot be mentioned in this article. Yet if you asked our Ghanaian secondary school teacher: Who invented the "Hot Comb", the "Wonderful Hair Grower", and the "Ecocharger", he might well say: "Not a black person".
Yet Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919), America's first woman millionaire, who invented the Hot Comb, the Wonderful Hair Grower, the Vegetable Shampoo and Glossine, was black. Her parents were ex-African slaves.
And the inventor of the Ecocharger, Ron Headley, was black. He moved to England in 1952 from Jamaica at the age of 13.
The Ecocharger is described in the book, Black Scientists and Inventors, as "a cleaner diesel engine emission system [that] improves the performance of diesel cars because it reduces smoke emission, fuel consumption and allows cars to run for 150,000 miles without major maintenance. Ron's innovation succeeds where others fail. It works on the fuel before combustion, so there is no need for a catalytic converter to clean up the exhaust afterwards. This allows us all to breathe cleaner air."
Black Scientists and Inventors (£5.99) is published by BIS Publications UK.
Tel (0208) 808 1464 0r 365 9515.
Fax: 0208 808 8545.
Email: Bispublications@hotmail.com |
"Soldiers are experts at camouflage but that is on the battle field not the political one, were transparency is the watch word" Kaaniba |
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toubab
Gambia
92 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 00:36:37
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| Here I am again, so lucky to be with a man who has no chip on his shoulder! previous postings you will know I am married to a West Indian for 25 years. He disregards anyone with negative attitudes, although his parents bought him up to be careful of mixing with white people as 'they will always get you into trouble'.We have managed to have a good life by cutting out anyone who has negative attitudes, and just pulling together. Colour is only a problem, if you let it be a problem, rise above and be proud.Please stop being so apathetic, you just reinforce the general view that the world has. Thank goodness for the manufacturers of vodka!!!! |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2006 : 10:17:48
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I found these posting very interesting. In the west we are taught very eurocentric history, generally very badly! I hated history at school, it was SO boring!
Now I am fascinated by it, especially social history.
Ancient Egyptian society is a very interesting case of African society being way ahead of its time.
If we believe that all humans are equal and skin colour has no baring on intelligence or ablilty (as I do).....then it follows that Black PEOPLE (not just MEN!) are capable of anything a white person is capable of given opportunities and education. There is the possibilty of good and evil in every human. Many factors influence the path we take in life.
Black children in school need to be given a positive message that if they work hard and achieve well at school then the world is their oyster. This is regardless of tribe or sex or colour. The self fullfilling prophecy tells us that if we give children self belief that is a most important gift. They will go on to achieve beyond our expectations. |
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