February 12th: Chevalier de Saint-George, the "Black Mozart"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8-sIoTQfio

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-George (December 25, 1745 – June 10, 1799) was an important figure in the Paris musical scene in the second half of the 18th century as composer, conductor, and violinist. Prior to the revolution in France, he was also famous as a swordsman and equestrian. Known as the "black Mozart"[1] he was one of the earliest musicians of the European classical type known to have African ancestry.

Joseph Bologne was born in Guadeloupe to Nanon, a Wolof former slave, and a white French plantation owner, Georges Bologne de Saint-George.

He studied music in Saint-Domingue with the black violinist Joseph Platon before emigrating to Paris in 1752. Platon would later play an unspecified Saint-George violin concerto at Port-au-Prince (Haiti) on April 25, 1780.
After 1764, works dedicated to him by Lolli and Gossec suggest that Gossec was his composition teacher and that Lolli taught him violin. Saint-George’s technical approach was similar to that of Gaviniés, who may also have taught him. In 1769 he became a member of Gossec’s new orchestra, the Concert des Amateurs, at the Hôtel de Soubise, and was soon named its leader.

While still a young man, he acquired multiple reputations; as the best swordsman in France, as a violin virtuoso, and as a composer in the classical tradition. He composed and conducted for the private orchestra and theatre of the Marquise de Montesson, morganatic wife of the King's cousin, Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. In 1771, he was appointed maestro of the Concert des Amateurs, and later director of the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the biggest orchestra of his time (65-70 musicians). This orchestra commissioned Joseph Haydn to compose six symphonies (the "Paris Symphonies" Nr. 82-87), which Saint-George conducted for their world premiere. In respect of his skill as both a composer and musician, he was selected for appointment as the director of the Royal Opera of Louis XVI.

Despite his noted talents and success, Chevalier de Saint-George was not immune from the racism. When he was proposed as music director of the Opéra in 1776, many protested and made a petition to the queen declaring that “their honor and their delicate conscience could never allow them to submit to the orders of a mulatto.” In spite of these noted objection, he persevered on and became one of the biggest stars in 18^th century France.
Bob Marley advised “Don’t gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold…”. Only through gaining knowledge of our rich culture and history will we be able to quire the wisdom Bob Marley spoke of. The story of Chevalier de Saint-George provides not only as an important part of African world history, but it also serves as an inspiration for aspiring artists.

February 11th: Did You know --- Ludwig Van Beethoven was half black

http://open.salon.com/blog/ronp01/2009/09/27/the_african_heritage_of_ludwig_van_beethoven

I recently found out that Ludwig Van Beethoven, long considered Europe’s greatest classical music composer was a black man. Specifically, his mother was a Moor, that group of Muslim Northern Africans who conquered parts of Europe. Emil Ludwig, in his book “Beethoven,” says: “His face reveals no trace of the German. He was so dark that people dubbed him Spagnol [dark-skinned].” ” Frederick Hertz, German anthropologist, used these terms to describe him: “Negroid traits, dark skin, flat, thick nose.”

Moors: The Moors came from the North African country of Morocco and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to get into the Iberian Peninsula. In Spain, modern colloquial Spanish use of the term "Moro" is derogatory for Moroccans in particular

and North Africans in general. Similarly, in modern, colloquial Portuguese, the term "Mouro" was primarily used as a designation for North Africans and secondarily as a derogatory and ironic term by northern Portuguese to refer to the inhabitants of the southern parts of the country (Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve). However, this designation has gained more acceptance in the South.

In speaking of the immortal Haydn, who was Beethoven's teacher, Andre de Hevesy says: "Everybody knows the incident at Kismarton or Eisenstadt, the residence of Prince Esterhazy. In the middle of the first allegro of Haydn's symphony, His Highness asked the name of the author. He was brought forward. "'What!' exclaimed the Prince, 'the music is by this Blackamoor? 'Well, my fine Blackamoor, henceforward, thou art in my service.'"
Carpani, who originally related this says that "Haydn's complexion gave room for the sarcasm." And that Haydn had the title of "second professor of music but his new comrades called him "The Moor"." (G. Carpani: Le Haydn, etc. Letter 5. Milan, 1812).

To back up more of my facts, referring to the above incident, Alexander W. Thayer, perhaps the foremost authority on Beethoven, says, "Beethoven had even more of the Moor in his features than his master, 'Haydn.'" (Beethoven, Vol. I, p. 146). By "Moor" was meant "Negro." Until recent times, the German for "Negro" was "Mohr."

Beethoven's family originated in Belgium, which had been ruled for centuries by the Spaniards, who had large numbers of Negro soldiers in their army there. Theophile Gautier speaks of a Belgian type characterized by brown skin and dark hair "a second race which the soldiers of the Spanish Duke of Alva have sown between Brussels and Cambrai."

In short, the general description of Beethoven, even to his frizzly hair, fits that of many an Aframerican or West Indian mulatto. In the Southern States Beethoven would have been forced to ride in the jim-crow car.

Everything indicates that Beethoven, one of the greatest musical composers of all times, was Black. Why aren't we generally taught this? What are your opinions on this?

February 10th: The Creamy Crack

As women we KILL ourselves to fit an impossible standard of beauty. As a woman who falls guilty to the same standards, I was shocked to find that a popular product used during my childhood could possibly be a source of uterine fibroids. I'm 100% natural now. I've natural for a year, and I love my natural, kinky texture.

Chemical relaxers or “ creamy crack” as they are playfully called, are a lotion/ creamy based hair styling substance composed of Sodium Hydroxide. This chemical has many negative effects. It is is used to break down the natural bond in hair and turn curly/coarse hair into straight and silky hair. The crack refers to the addiction women feel when their hair straight and the length we will go to ensure our hair is straight

Relaxers are advised to be applied by a professional, but I like many other young African women have had my living room and kitchen turn into a hair salon and have them applied at home.

The effects of this creamy crack include but are not limited to follicle damage, thinning and permanent hair loss! ( Why did I do this again?) These are all facts I knew but as I became more involved in science I started doing more research myself and I realized that relaxers or perms are doing more damage than I thought.Hydroxide does more than straighten you hair. It can burn the scalp and enter your blood stream.

Sounds beautiful right?

Hydroxide does more than straighten you hair. It can burn the scalp and enter your blood stream. Sounds beautiful right?

So I stumble across an article posted on the internet saying that there is correlation between Uterine fibroids and Relaxers. Uterine Fibroids are reported highly in the African American female population. Read more about Fibroids here.. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001912/

Uterine Fibroid
Between 1997-2009, A Black Women’s Health study, was composed and they studied women in 17 states including, New York, California and Georgia. Scientists found higher levels of Fibroid diagnoses in women who used relaxers frequently.

Like all research, biases must be taken into consideration. Polling black, women who already high cases of Fibroid diagnoses’ can skew results and how do you explain fibroids in White women, who have never used a relaxer?

It is your job to ensure that products that you use are not killing you!

February 9th: Put This in The History Books

Mandla Maseko, 25, is getting the chance of a lifetime to travel to space after beating out more than 1 million entrants in the Lynx Apollo Space Academy competition. He will be the first Black African to accomplish the feat and only the second South African to see the stars up close.

In 2015, he and 22 other young people will board a Lynx mark II shuttle and blast off 62 miles up for a sub-orbital flight. The DJ first learned of the opportunity when he saw an advertisement for it on television and then on the radio.
He sent a photo of himself jumping off a wall in mid-air. "I want to defy the laws of gravity, and go down history as the first black South African in space," he told the organization when they asked him why he wanted to make the trek into the outer limits.
After being selected as a finalist, he traveled to Orlando, Florida, for a test on physical endurance that included assault courses, skydiving, air combat and a written aptitude test.
Maseko, who calls himself a "future generation astronaut" on Twitter, told The Guardian that it is exciting to be remembered as one of the first to accomplish something. "When you think of the firsts, the first Black presidents – Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela – just to know your name will be written with those people is unbelievable," he said.




http://www.bet.com/news/global/2014/02/05/mandla-maseko-to-be-first-black-african-in-space.html?cid=socialHardNews_20140208_18263604


BET Global News - Your source for Black news from around the world, including international politics, health and human rights, the latest celebrity news and more. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. 

Follow Natelege Whaley on Twitter: @Natelege.

February 8th: The African History Network

If you do not understand European White Supremacy, what it is and how it works, everything else that you think you understand will totally confuse you.

This story is about Nigerian (Nollywood) actress Thelma Omone O’khaz who is accused of bleaching her skin but denies it. Read the article. Look at other pictures of her online or her Facebook page and you realize something is really going on here. Also, notice her blond hair and green eyes. A recent study revealed that 77% of Nigerian women bleach their skin. This is what happens when you hate who you are and love who you can't be.

 

This isn't beauty. This is low self-esteem

If you want to learn more about African History and African-American History to counteract the negative images we see of ourselves on the TEL-LIE-VISION (TV), please visit
http://theafricanhistorynetwork.net/

They have information to Educate, Empower and Inspire people of African Descent throughout the Diaspora and around the world.

Listen to The African History Network Show with host Michael Imhotep as we interview some of our top Scholars on African History and much more every Thurs, 8pm-11pm EST at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theafricanhistorynetworkshow or www.TheAfricanHistoryNetwork.com by phone, when we are LIVE at (914) 338-1375. Episodes are also archived on www.Itunes.com.

January 30, 2014 ‐ By Charing Ball

"The topic of skin whitening has become so monstrous in the global black community (and for good reason, I might add) that even the mere accusation of bleaching has the potential hurt careers.

Just ask Fantasia. Or Beyonce. Or Tempestt Bledsoe. And more recently Nigerian (Nollywood) actress Thelma Omone O’khaz. If the name doesn’t sound familiar than you might be better acquainted with the picture of a ghostly white version of her face, bleached blonde hair and green eyes, which have been blowing up on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and on the blogs."

 

"However not everyone is familiar with O’khaz this side of the Atlantic. Moreover, the topic of skin bleaching on the continent, as well as elsewhere in the black Diaspora, has recently garnered lots of attention among Western black audiences. The most recent example is the viral images of Cameroon pop star Dencia, whose recently lightened skin, hair and eyes served as pitch person for a cosmetic line of skin bleaching creams called “Whitenicious.” Black folks in the West, scared by legacy of slavery as well as continued systematic racism and colorism, generally frown upon the practice and associate skin lightening with an extreme example of self-hate (Dr. Yaba Blay has a litany of great essays and research on various topics related to colorism). As such O’khaz thought it best to not be introduced to new Western audiences by rumors of skin bleaching."

http://madamenoire.com/345791/nigerian-actress-thelma-omone-okhaz-sets-record-straight-on-skin-lightening-pictures/

The topic of skin whitening has become so monstrous in the global black community (and for good reason, I might add) that even the mere accusation of bleaching has the potential hurt careers.
Just ask Fantasia. Or Beyonce. Or Tempestt Bledsoe. And more recently Nigerian (Nollywood) actress Thelma Omone O’khaz. If the name doesn’t sound familiar than you might be better acquainted with the picture of a ghostly white version of her face, bleached blonde hair and green eyes, which have been blowing up on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and on the blogs.
The blogs accused O’khaz of skin bleaching and features earlier pictures of a much more natural and darker version of the Lagos-born actress as proof. By yesterday morning, outrage and disgust over the skin changing pictures have managed to seep out of the usual network of Naija based bloggers and gossip sites and into the horrified yet poorly contextualized eyesight of mostly Western black viewers, who prior to the lurid picture, had no idea who she was. Admittedly, I too was part of the confusion.
Hoping to make sense of what I was seeing, I reached out to O’khaz via Facebook, about the controversial images. Initially, she was hesitant about speaking out on the rumors, citing the age old adage: “they can talk as much as they want and believe what they want.” And she has been pretty much mocking the controversy on both her Facebook and Twitter accounts with such tweets as:

“My nose doesn’t fit my new white skin so I need a very good plastic surgeon 2 fix it up. Who has Dr 90210′s number? Money no be problem.”

However not everyone is familiar with O’khaz this side of the Atlantic. Moreover, the topic of skin bleaching on the continent, as well as elsewhere in the black Diaspora, has recently garnered lots of attention among Western black audiences. The most recent example is the viral images of Cameroon pop star Dencia, whose recently lightened skin, hair and eyes served as pitch person for a cosmetic line of skin bleaching creams called “Whitenicious.” Black folks in the West, scared by legacy of slavery as well as continued systematic racism and colorism, generally frown upon the practice and associate skin lightening with an extreme example of self-hate (Dr. Yaba Blay has a litany of great essays and research on various topics related to colorism). As such O’khaz thought it best to not be introduced to new Western audiences by rumors of skin bleaching.
O’khaz said that while she is naturally lighter skinned, she is not Casper-white as we see in the picture. She also emphatically denies ever bleaching her skin. Instead, she says that the ghostly white image making its way around the Internet is photoshopped.
- See more at: http://madamenoire.com/345791/nigerian-actress-thelma-omone-okhaz-sets-record-straight-on-skin-lightening-pictures/#sthash.LTuUR9kH.dpuf

 By Charing Ball

January 30, 2014 ‐ By Charing Ball

February 7th: The 13th Amendment

This day in history, January 31, 1865, the 13th Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, was passed. This is a Civil War era photo of freed slaves.

What does this picture capture?

February 6: Throw Back Thursday

 #TBT at the Silent March in New York City, 2012

February 5th: "Father of Black History"

On this fourth day of Black History Month, we honor 1926 NAACP Spingarn Medal recipient and the "Father of Black History,"
Carter G. Woodson, who once wrote: Let us banish fear. We have been in this mental state for three centuries. I am a radical. I am ready to act, if I can find brave men to help me.

Februray 4th: Black Icons

Josephine Baker, Bayard Rustin, Fannie Lou Hamer, El Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X), Harry Belafonte, Michelle Obama, John Legend and NAACP staffer. Black History Month elevates the great history of the United States--people who organized, pioneered, led, sang, fought and worked for freedom. We've featured both past, present and future leaders because Black History is a breathing and thriving history. We hope that you share our cover this month and watch for daily ‪#‎BlackHistoryMonth‬ content.

https://www.facebook.com/naacp

February 3rd: Girl at River. Elisha Ongere

"My themes mainly are African faces...women...maybe a few are men. But the majority are women because beauty is expressed here in Africa through the woman. We don't express beauty using a man. We express beauty by portraying a woman. A woman's beauty often involves their expressions, especially in the eyes. So that's why the majority of my paintings are featuring women exactly as they are."- Elisha Ongere

http://www.trueafricanart.com/african-artists/Elisha-Ongere.html

Beautiful African Art!Learn more about this artist.
Artist:  Elisha Ongere (Kenya)
Title: Girl at River
Dimensions: 14" x 18" (35 x 46 cm)
Medium: Oils on Canvas
Price: $399

http://www.trueafricanart.com/african-artists/elisha-ongere-biography.html

 "In my African paintings, I'm just trying to bring in our continent's natural state of being: unrefined, unpolished. You know, African art and African artists are not frequently refined artists, like it is in European art. That theme of bringing African fine art is not actually our approach all the time. The usual African approach is simply, you put down what you think, what you visualize, and there is no demand for that refinement behind it. It is simply recording the idea...maybe what you have seen, what you would like to feature. And you limit it at that, you don't dive for that fineness. It is just simply doing the African painting, recording it, and then you move ahead and you do another."- Elisha Ongere