By Abayomi Azikiwe
Born in 1874 in Puerto Rico, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg entered a whirlwind of anti-colonial struggles which were inextricably linked to the abolition of African enslavement.
Legalized slavery in Puerto Rico and Cuba existed many years after the United States Civil War during 1861-1865. Uprisings erupted in Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1868, the same year in which the 14th Amendment was enacted by the U.S. Congress, ostensibly designed to provide full citizenship rights to African people.
During the war between the states, the-then President Abraham Lincoln, as a political and military maneuver, issued the Emancipation Proclamation taking effect on January 1, 1863. However, it would take the decisive defeat of the Confederacy in April 1865 to secure the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which was ratified by the conclusion of 1865.
Dhaka Courier
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Dhaka Courier
dhakacourier.com.bd - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dhakacourier.com.bd Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Every February when we celebrate Black History Month in the United States, and when we teach it in the classroom or to our youngsters at home, the perfect accompaniment to books and stories is Black music. Black music here was born out of trouble and strife, out of uplift and joy, out of resistance and survival. It has existed since the beginning of our time here in the United States and the diaspora. Black music is rooted in the continent of Africa, and it will carry us into the future.
Though Black music has taken many forms over time, changed with each generation, and been performed in many different cultures by ethnic and racially diverse artists, many of whom are not Black, there is a fundamental thread that ties it all together: Black spirituality. When I speak of spirituality, I do not mean religiosity, though many Black musicians and their music have come out of the Black church. I speak of a force that combines both the will to endure and survive with the joy of life.