1.
Cuanza River
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The Cuanza River, also known as the Coanza, the Quanza, and the Kwanza, is a river in Angola. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean just south of the national capital Luanda, the river is navigable for about 150 miles from its mouth, located 60 kilometers south of Luanda. Its tributaries included the Cutato and Lucala, the rivers navigable lower course was the original route of Portugal invasion into northern Angola. The Capanda Dam in Malanje Province was finished in 2004, providing power to the region. The Cambambe Hydroelectric Power Station also lies on the river, with the Lauca Dam under construction, the Barra do Kwanza, the mouth of the river, is gradually being developed for tourism, including a golf course. Rich biodiversity has been found in the Angolan river, according to research reported on the Science, angolas first biodiversity tally of the Kwanza River has so far found 50 fish species. Researchers from the National Fishing Research Institute and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity say genetic testing may reveal new species, angolas currency, the kwanza, is named after the river. The river is also the namesake of the provinces of Cuanza Norte, quissama National Park, to the south of the river Coanza, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. Vol. VI, New York, Charles Scribners Sons,1878, p.81. Map of the Cuanza River basin at Water Resources eAtlas
2.
Kinara
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The kinara is the candle holder used in Kwanzaa celebrations in the United States. During the week-long celebration of Kwanzaa, seven candles are placed in the kinara - three red on the left, three green on the right, and a black candle in the center. The word kinara is a Swahili word that means candle holder, the seven candles represent the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. Red, green, and black are the colors of the holiday. During the week of Kwanzaa, a new candle is lit on the each day. The center black candle is lit first, and the lighting then proceeds from left to right, in this way each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to the contemplation of one of the Seven Principles. Each of the candles also has a meaning, the black one symbolizes the African people, the red their struggle, and the green the future and hope that comes from their struggle
3.
African Americans
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African Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. The term may also be used to only those individuals who are descended from enslaved Africans. As a compound adjective the term is usually hyphenated as African-American, Black and African Americans constitute the third largest racial and ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved peoples within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of 73. 2–80. 9% West African, 18–24% European, according to US Census Bureau data, African immigrants generally do not self-identify as African American. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants identify instead with their own respective ethnicities, immigrants from some Caribbean, Central American and South American nations and their descendants may or may not also self-identify with the term. After the founding of the United States, black people continued to be enslaved, believed to be inferior to white people, they were treated as second-class citizens. The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited U. S. citizenship to whites only, in 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States. The first African slaves arrived via Santo Domingo to the San Miguel de Gualdape colony, the ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic, the settlers and the slaves who had not escaped returned to Haiti, whence they had come. The first recorded Africans in British North America were 20 and odd negroes who came to Jamestown, as English settlers died from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought to work as laborers. Typically, young men or women would sign a contract of indenture in exchange for transportation to the New World, the landowner received 50 acres of land from the state for each servant purchased from a ships captain. An indentured servant would work for years without wages. The status of indentured servants in early Virginia and Maryland was similar to slavery, servants could be bought, sold, or leased and they could be physically beaten for disobedience or running away. Africans could legally raise crops and cattle to purchase their freedom and they raised families, married other Africans and sometimes intermarried with Native Americans or English settlers. By the 1640s and 1650s, several African families owned farms around Jamestown and some became wealthy by colonial standards and purchased indentured servants of their own. In 1640, the Virginia General Court recorded the earliest documentation of slavery when they sentenced John Punch. One of Dutch African arrivals, Anthony Johnson, would own one of the first black slaves, John Casor
4.
African diaspora
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Some scholars identify four circulatory phases of migration out of Africa. The term has also commonly been used to refer to recent emigration from Africa. Its constitutive act declares that it shall invite and encourage the participation of the African diaspora as an important part of our continent. The phrase African diaspora was coined during the 1990s, and gradually entered common usage during the 2000s, use of the term diaspora is modelled after the concept of the Jewish diaspora. Much of the African diaspora was dispersed throughout the Americas, Europe, beginning in the 15th century, Europeans captured or bought African slaves from West Africa and brought them to the Americas and Europe. The Atlantic Slave Trade ended in the 19th century, and the Arab Slave Trade ended in the middle of the 20th century, the dispersal through slave trading represents the largest forced migrations in human history. The economic effect on the African continent was devastating, as generations of people were taken from their communities and societies were disrupted. Some communities created by descendants of African slaves in the Americas, Europe, in other cases, blacks intermarried with non-blacks, and their descendants are blended into the local population. In the Americas, the confluence of multiple ethnic groups from around the world created multi-ethnic societies, in Central and South America, most people are descended from European, indigenous American, and African ancestry. In Brazil, where in 1888 nearly half the population was descended from African slaves, in the United States, there was historically a greater European colonial population in relation to African slaves, especially in the Northern Tier. There was considerable racial intermarriage in colonial Virginia, and other forms of racial mixing during the slavery, one of the results of this implementation was the loss of records of Indian-identified groups, who were classified only as black because of being mixed race. See Emigration from Africa for a treatment of voluntary population movements since the late 20th century. From the very onset of Spanish exploration and colonial activities in the Americas, juan Garrido was such an African conquistador. He crossed the Atlantic as a freedman in the 1510s and participated in the siege of Tenochtitlan, Africans had been present in Asia and Europe long before Columbuss travels. Its constitutive act declares that it shall invite and encourage the participation of the African diaspora as an important part of our continent. Their descendants are now found around the globe, but because of intermarriage they are not necessarily readily identifiable, a long line of scholars has challenged conventional views of the African diaspora as a mere dispersion of Black people. For them, it is a movement of liberation that opposes the implications of racialization and their position assumes that Africans and their descendants abroad struggle to reclaim power over their lives through voluntary migration, cultural production and political conceptions and practices. It also implies the presence of cultures of resistance with similar objectives throughout the global diaspora, from this view, the daily struggle against what they call the world-historical processes of racial colonization, capitalism, and western domination defines Blacks links to Africa
5.
Pan-Africanism
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Pan-Africanism is a worldwide intellectual movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all people of African descent. It is based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, the ideology asserts that the fate of all African peoples and countries are intertwined. At its core Pan-Africanism is a belief that African peoples, both on the continent and in the diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny. The African Union Commission has its seat in Addis Ababa and the Pan-African Parliament has its seat in Johannesburg, Pan-Africanism stresses the need for collective self-reliance. Pan-Africanism exists as a governmental and grassroots objective, du Bois, and others in the diaspora. Solidarity will enable self-reliance, allowing the potential to independently provide for its people to be fulfilled. Crucially, an alliance would empower African people globally. that would unsettle social and political structures. in the Americas. United, African nations will have the economic, political and social clout to act and compete on the stage as do other large entities, such as the European Union. Pan-Africans or Pan-Africanists—often champion socialist principles and tend to be opposed to external political, critics accuse the ideology of homogenizing the experience of people of African descent. They also point to the difficulties of reconciling current divisions within countries on the continent, as a philosophy, Pan-Africanism represents the aggregation of the historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic, scientific, and philosophical legacies of Africans from past times to the present. Another important political form of a religious Pan-Africanist worldview appeared in the form of Ethiopianism, in London, the Sons of Africa was a political group addressed by Quobna Ottobah Cugoano in the 1791 edition of his book Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery. The group addressed meetings and organised letter-writing campaigns, published campaigning material and they wrote to figures such as Granville Sharp, William Pitt and other members of the white abolition movement, as well as King George III and the Prince of Wales, the future George IV. Modern Pan-Africanism began around the start of the 20th century, the African Association, later renamed the Pan-African Association, was established around 1897 by Henry Sylvester-Williams, who organized the First Pan-African Conference in London in 1900. With the independence of Ghana in March 1957, Kwame Nkrumah was elected as the first Prime Minister, Nkrumah emerged as a major advocate for the unity of Independent Africa. The Ghanaian President embodied a political activist approach to pan-Africanism as he championed the “quest for regional integration of the whole of the African continent”, Nkrumah’s pan-African principles, intended for a union between the Independent African states, upon a recognition their commonality, suppression under imperialism. The Conference invited delegates of political movements and major political leaders, with the exception of South Africa, all Independent States of the Continent attended, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan. The Conference signified a monumental event in the movement, as it revealed a political and social union between the those considered Arabic states and the black African regions. Further, the Conference espoused a common African Nationalist identity, among the States, of unity, frantz Fanon, journalist, freedom fighter and a member of the Algerian, FLN Party attended the conference as a delegate for Algeria
6.
African-American culture
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The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in the historical experience of the African-American people, including the Middle Passage. The culture is distinct and enormously influential on American culture as a whole. African-American culture is rooted in West and Central Africa, understanding its identity within the culture of the United States it is, in the anthropological sense, conscious of its origins as largely a blend of West and Central African cultures. Elaborate rituals and ceremonies were a significant part of African Americans ancestral culture, many West African societies traditionally believed that spirits dwelled in their surrounding nature. From this disposition, they treated their environment with mindful care and they also generally believed that a spiritual life source existed after death, and that ancestors in this spiritual realm could then mediate between the supreme creator and the living. Honor and prayer was displayed to these ancient ones, the spirit of those past, West Africans also believed in spiritual possession. In the beginning of the eighteenth century Christianity began to spread across North Africa, the enslaved Africans brought this complex religious dynamic within their culture to America. This fusion of traditional African beliefs with Christianity provided a place for those practicing religion in Africa and America. After emancipation, unique African-American traditions continued to flourish, as distinctive traditions or radical innovations in music, art, literature, religion, cuisine, 20th-century sociologists, such as Gunnar Myrdal, believed that African Americans had lost most cultural ties with Africa. But, anthropological research by Melville Herskovits and others demonstrated that there has been a continuum of African traditions among Africans of the Diaspora. The greatest influence of African cultural practices on European culture is found below the Mason-Dixon line in the American South, Today, African-American culture has become a significant part of American culture and yet, at the same time, remains a distinct cultural body. From the earliest days of American slavery in the 17th century, African cultures, slavery, slave rebellions, and the civil rights movement have shaped African-American religious, familial, political, and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in a myriad of ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion, cuisine, in turn, African-American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on many elements of mainstream American culture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization, over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world culture as well. Slaveholders limited or prohibited education of enslaved African Americans because they feared it might empower their chattel, in the United States, the legislation that denied slaves formal education likely contributed to their maintaining a strong oral tradition, a common feature of indigenous African cultures. African-based oral traditions became the means of preserving history, mores. This was consistent with the practices of oral history in many African. Many of these elements have been passed from generation to generation through storytelling
7.
Maulana Karenga
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Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga is an African-American professor of Africana studies, activist and author, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Karenga was a figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Ron Everett was born in Parsonsburg, Maryland, the fourteenth child and his father was a tenant farmer and Baptist minister who employed the family to work fields under an effective sharecropping arrangement. Everett moved to Los Angeles in 1959, joining his brother who was a teacher there. After earning his degree, he matriculated at the University of California, Los Angeles and earned BA. He studied Swahili, Arabic and other African-related subjects, among his influences at UCLA were Jamaican anthropologist and Negritudist Councill Taylor who contested the Eurocentric view of alien cultures as primitive. During this period he took the name Karenga and the title Maulana, while pursuing his doctorate at UCLA, he taught African culture classes for local African-Americans and joined a study group called the Circle of Seven. The Watts riots broke out as Karenga was a year into his doctoral studies, Karenga and the Circle of Seven established a community organization in the aftermath called US. The organization joined in several community programs and was featured in press reports. As you know, towards the end, when Malcolm is expanding his concept of Islam, and so that’s a tremendous impact on US. US developed a component with para-military aspects called the Simba Wachanga which advocated and practiced community self-defense. Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 to be the first pan-African holiday and it is inspired by African first fruit traditions, and the name is derived from the name for the Swahili first fruit celebration, matunda ya kwanza. Kujichagulia —To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, ujima —To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers and sisters problems our problems and to solve them together. Ujamaa —To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses, nia —To make our collective vocation the building and development of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Kuumba —To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. Imani —To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, US engaged in violent competition with the Black Panther Party in their claim to be a revolutionary vanguard. This heightened level of conflict led to a shoot-out at UCLA in 1969 in which two Panthers were killed. Following the UCLA shootout, Panthers and US members carried out a series of shootings that resulted in at least two more deaths among the Panthers
8.
Ronald McKinley Everett
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Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga is an African-American professor of Africana studies, activist and author, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Karenga was a figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Ron Everett was born in Parsonsburg, Maryland, the fourteenth child and his father was a tenant farmer and Baptist minister who employed the family to work fields under an effective sharecropping arrangement. Everett moved to Los Angeles in 1959, joining his brother who was a teacher there. After earning his degree, he matriculated at the University of California, Los Angeles and earned BA. He studied Swahili, Arabic and other African-related subjects, among his influences at UCLA were Jamaican anthropologist and Negritudist Councill Taylor who contested the Eurocentric view of alien cultures as primitive. During this period he took the name Karenga and the title Maulana, while pursuing his doctorate at UCLA, he taught African culture classes for local African-Americans and joined a study group called the Circle of Seven. The Watts riots broke out as Karenga was a year into his doctoral studies, Karenga and the Circle of Seven established a community organization in the aftermath called US. The organization joined in several community programs and was featured in press reports. As you know, towards the end, when Malcolm is expanding his concept of Islam, and so that’s a tremendous impact on US. US developed a component with para-military aspects called the Simba Wachanga which advocated and practiced community self-defense. Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 to be the first pan-African holiday and it is inspired by African first fruit traditions, and the name is derived from the name for the Swahili first fruit celebration, matunda ya kwanza. Kujichagulia —To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, ujima —To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers and sisters problems our problems and to solve them together. Ujamaa —To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses, nia —To make our collective vocation the building and development of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Kuumba —To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. Imani —To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, US engaged in violent competition with the Black Panther Party in their claim to be a revolutionary vanguard. This heightened level of conflict led to a shoot-out at UCLA in 1969 in which two Panthers were killed. Following the UCLA shootout, Panthers and US members carried out a series of shootings that resulted in at least two more deaths among the Panthers
9.
Juneteenth
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Celebrated on June 19, the word is a combination of June and nineteenth. Juneteenth is recognized as a holiday or special day of observance in most states. The holiday is observed primarily in local celebrations, celebrations may include parades, rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, or Miss Juneteenth contests. During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22,1862 and it declared all slaves to be freed in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands. More isolated geographically, Texas was not a battleground, and thus its slaves were not affected by the Emancipation Proclamation unless they escaped. Although most slaves lived in areas, more than 1000 resided in both Galveston and Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns. By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 slaves in Texas, as news of end of the war moved slowly, it did not reach Texas until May 1865, and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not surrender until June 2. On June 18,1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston Island with 2,000 federal troops to occupy Texas on behalf of the federal government. On June 19, standing on the balcony of Galvestons Ashton Villa,3, announcing the total emancipation of slaves, The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and they are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets after the announcement, but, the following year, freedmen organized the first of what became annual celebrations of Juneteenth in Texas. Washington Park, and Emancipation Park in Austin, although the date is sometimes referred to as the traditional end of slavery in Texas it was given legal status in a series of Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874. In the early 20th century, economic and political forces led to a decline in Juneteenth celebrations, from 1890 to 1908, Texas and all former Confederate states passed new constitutions or amendments that effectively disenfranchised blacks, excluding them from the political process. White-dominated state legislatures passed Jim Crow laws imposing second-class status, the Great Depression forced many blacks off farms and into the cities to find work. In these urban environments, African Americans had difficulty taking the day off to celebrate, as historian Isabel Wilkerson writes, The people from Texas took Juneteenth Day to Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and other places they went. By the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement focused the attention of African-American youth on the struggle for racial equality, but, many linked these struggles to the historical struggles of their ancestors. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the holiday has more widely celebrated among African-American communities. In 1994 a group of community leaders gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans, Juneteenth informal observance have spread to many other states, including Portland, Maine, in part carried by Texans
10.
Swahili language
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Swahili, also known as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language and the first language of the Swahili people. The closely related Comorian language, spoken in the Comoros Islands, is considered a dialect. Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers vary widely, from 50 million to over 100 million. Swahili serves as a language of three nations, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Shikomor, the language in Comoros and also spoken in Mayotte, is related to Swahili. Swahili is also one of the languages of the African Union. A significant fraction of Swahili vocabulary is derived from Arabic through contact with Arabic-speaking Muslim inhabitants of the Swahili Coast, Swahili is traditionally regarded as being the language of coastal areas of Tanzania and Kenya. It was formalised after independence by presidents of the African Great Lakes region and it spread as a fishermans language to the various islands surrounding the Swahili Coast. Traders from these islands had extensive contact with the peoples from at least the 2nd century A. D. There is also evidence of early Zaramo people settlement on Zanzibar from Dar es Salaam in present-day Tanzania. Clove farmers from Oman and the Persian Gulf farmed the Zanzibar Archipelago, the earliest known documents written in Swahili are letters written in Kilwa in 1711 A. D. in the Arabic script that were sent to the Portuguese of Mozambique and their local allies. The original letters are now preserved in the Historical Archives of Goa, the British did not do so in neighbouring Kenya even though they made moves in that direction. Swahili was the only candidate in the two colonies. In the aftermath of Germanys defeat in the First World War, Swahili was to be subordinate to English, university education, much secondary education and governance at the highest levels would be conducted in English. One key step in spreading Swahili was to create a written language. In June 1928, a conference took place at Mombasa, at which the Zanzibar dialect. Swahili has become a language spoken by tens of millions in three African Great Lakes countries where it is an official or national language. In 2016 it was made a subject in all Kenyan schools
11.
East Africa
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East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. The first five are included in the African Great Lakes region. Burundi and Rwanda are sometimes considered to be part of Central Africa. Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia – collectively known as the Horn of Africa, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles – small island nations in the Indian Ocean. Réunion and Mayotte – French overseas territories also in the Indian Ocean, Mozambique and Madagascar – often considered part of Southern Africa, on the eastern side of the sub-continent. Madagascar has close ties to Southeast Asia and the islands of the Indian Ocean. Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe – often also included in Southern Africa, Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan – collectively part of the Nile Valley. Situated in the portion of the continent, and Egypt. Also members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa free trade area, the geography of East Africa is often stunning and scenic. Shaped by global plate tectonic forces that have created the East African Rift, East Africa is the site of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya and it also includes the worlds second largest freshwater lake Lake Victoria, and the worlds second deepest lake Lake Tanganyika. The climate of East Africa is rather atypical of equatorial regions, in fact, on the coast of Somaliland and Puntland, many years can go by without any rain whatsoever. Unusually, most of the falls in two distinct wet seasons, one centred on April and the other in October or November. Annual rainfall here ranges from over 1,600 millimetres on the slopes to around 1,250 millimetres at Addis Ababa and 550 millimetres at Asmara. In the high rainfall can be over 2,500 millimetres. Temperatures in East Africa, except on the hot and generally humid coastal belt, are moderate, with maxima of around 25 °C, at altitudes of above 2,500 metres, frosts are common during the dry season and maxima typically about 21 °C or less. The unique geography and apparent suitability for farming made East Africa a target for European exploration, exploitation and colonialization in the nineteenth century, today, tourism is an important part of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, and Uganda. The easternmost point of the continent, that is Ras Hafun in Somalia, is of archaeological, historical and economical importance, there are differing theories on whether there was a single exodus or several, a multiple dispersal model involves the Southern Dispersal theory. A growing number of researchers suspect that North Africa was instead the home of the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent
12.
Atlantic slave trade
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The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 15th through the 19th centuries. This was crucial to those western European countries which, in the late 17th and 18th centuries, were vying with each other to create overseas empires, the Portuguese were the first to engage in the New World slave trade in the 16th century. In 1526, the Portuguese completed the first transatlantic voyage from Africa to the Americas. The first Africans imported to the English colonies were classified as indentured servants, like coming from England. By the middle of the 17th century, slavery had hardened as a caste, they and their offspring were legally the property of their owners. As property, the people were considered merchandise or units of labour, the major Atlantic slave trading nations, ordered by trade volume, were, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch Empire. Several had established outposts on the African coast where they purchased slaves from local African leaders and these slaves were managed by a factor who was established on or near the coast to expedite the shipping of slaves to the New World. Slaves were kept in a factory while awaiting shipment, current estimates are that about 12 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic, although the number purchased by the traders is considerably higher, as the passage had a high death rate. Near the beginning of the century, various governments acted to ban the trade. In the early twenty-first century, several governments issued apologies for the slave trade. The Atlantic slave trade arose after trade contacts were first made between the continents of the Old World and those of the New World, between 1600 and 1800, approximately 300,000 sailors engaged in the slave trade visited West Africa. In doing so, they came into contact with societies living along the west African coast, historian John Thornton noted, A number of technical and geographical factors combined to make Europeans the most likely people to explore the Atlantic and develop its commerce. That leadership later gave rise to the myth that the Iberians were the leaders of the exploration. Slavery was practiced in parts of Africa, Europe, Asia. There is evidence that people from some African states were exported to other states in Africa, Europe. The African slave trade provided a number of slaves to Europeans. The Atlantic slave trade was not the slave trade from Africa, although it was the largest in volume. As Elikia M’bokolo wrote in Le Monde diplomatique, The African continent was bled of its resources via all possible routes
13.
West Africa
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West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost subregion of Africa. Early human settlers from northern Holocene societies arrived in West Africa around 12,000 B. C, sedentary farming began in, or around the fifth millennium B. C, as well as the domestication of cattle. By 1500 B. C, ironworking technology allowed an expansion of productivity. Northern tribes developed walled settlements and non-walled settlements that numbered at 400, in the forest region, Iron Age cultures began to flourish, and an inter-region trade began to appear. The desertification of the Sahara and the change of the coast cause trade with upper Mediterranean peoples to be seen. Local leather, cloth, and gold also contributed to the abundance of prosperity for many of the following empires. Also, based on the archaeology of city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem, the Sosso Empire sought to fill the void, but was defeated by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali, further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in the present-day southeastern Nigeria, the Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, the Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters. The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western, established in the 15th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade. The Benin Empire was an empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo and it should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey. The Benin Empire was one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the hinterland of West Africa. Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa and its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion, in the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa
14.
December solstice
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The December solstice, also known as the southern solstice, is the solstice that occurs each December, typically between the 20th and the 22nd day of the month according to the Gregorian calendar. In the southern hemisphere, the December solstice is the summer solstice and it is thus the length of time between adjacent December solstices. The length of the December solstice year has been relatively stable between 6000 BC and 2000 at 49,30 to 50,00 in excess of 365 days and 5 hours, after 2000 it is getting shorter. In 4000 the excess time will be 48,52 and in 1000046,45, the following tables contain information on the length of the day on the winter solstice of the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice of the Southern Hemisphere. The data was collected from the website of the Finnish Meteorological Institute on 22 December 2015, the data is arranged geographically and within the tables from the shortest day to the longest one. The figures in the show the differences between the Gregorian calendar and Persian Jalāli calendar in reference to the actual yearly time of the Southern solstice. The date of the solstice is not the same as the date of the latest sunrise, because the Earth is moving along its solar orbital path, for each solar day the Earth has to do more than one full rotation. Because the Earths orbit is elliptical, the speed at which the Earth moves along its orbit varies, consequently, solar days are not the same length throughout the year. Mean time is our way of modifying this, for our convenience, making each day the same length, the maximum correction is ±15 minutes to the mean but its value changes quite rapidly around the solstices. Christmas Dies Natalis Solis Invicti Brumalia Dongzhi Festival
15.
Communitarianism
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Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. However, it was not until the 1980s that the term gained currency through association with the work of a small group of political philosophers. The term is used in two senses, Philosophical communitarianism considers classical liberalism to be ontologically and epistemologically incoherent, and opposes it on those grounds. Communitarians believe that the value of community is not sufficiently recognized in liberal theories of justice, ideological communitarianism is characterized as a radical centrist ideology that is sometimes marked by leftism on economic issues and centrism on social issues. When the term is capitalized, it refers to the Responsive Communitarian movement of Amitai Etzioni. While the term communitarian was coined only in the mid-nineteenth century and they are found in some classical socialist doctrine, and further back in the New Testament. Communitarianism has been traced back to early monasticism, but in the century began to be formulated as a philosophy by Dorothy Day. In an early article the Catholic Worker clarified the dogma of the Mystical Body of Christ as the basis for the movements communitarianism, Communitarianism is also related to the personalist philosophy of Emmanuel Mounier. Both authors warned of the dangers of anomie and alienation in modern societies composed of atomized individuals who had gained their liberty but lost their social moorings. Modern sociologists saw the rise of a society and the decline of communal bonds and respect for traditional values. Among those who raised these issues were Robert Nisbet, Robert Bellah, further, author David E. Pearson argued that o earn the appellation community, it seems to me, groups must be able to exert moral suasion and extract a measure of compliance from their members. What is specifically meant by community in the context of communitarianism can vary greatly between authors and time periods, historically, communities have been small and localized. This has led to the quest for more-encompassing communities, such as the European Union, whether truly supra-national communities can be developed is far from clear. More modern communities can take different forms, but are often limited in scope. For example, members of one residential community are also members of other communities – such as work, ethnic. In moral and political philosophy, communitarians are best known for their critiques of John Rawls political liberalism, communitarians uphold the importance of the social realm, and communities in particular, though they differ in the extent to which their conceptions are attentive to liberty and individual rights. Even with these general similarities, communitarians, like members of other schools of thought. There are several schools of communitarian thought
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Ujamaa
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Ujamaa was the concept that formed the basis of Julius Nyereres social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. The Swahili word ujamaa means extended family, brotherhood or socialism, Nyerere used Ujamaa as the basis for a national development project. The villagization of production, which essentially collectivized all forms of local productive capacity, the fostering of Tanzanian self-reliance through two dimensions, the transformation of economic and cultural attitudes. Economically, everyone would work for both the group and for him/herself, culturally, Tanzanians must learn to free themselves from dependence on European powers. For Nyerere, this included Tanzanians learning to do things for themselves, the implementation of free and compulsory education for all Tanzanians in order to sensitize them to the principles of Ujamaa. However, Ujamaa decreased production, casting doubt on the projects ability to offer economic growth. Nyerere used a law, the Preventive Detention Act, to crush opposition. In 1967, nationalizations transformed the government into the largest employer in the country, purchasing power declined, and, according to World Bank researchers, high taxes and bureaucracy created an environment where businessmen resorted to evasion, bribery and corruption. In 1973, a policy of forced villagisation was pursued under Operation Vijiji in order to promote collective farming, eventually a number of factors contributed to the downfall of the development model based on the Ujamaa concept. By 1985 it was clear that Ujamaa had failed to lift Tanzania out of its economic state. The hip-hop scene in Tanzania was greatly influenced by the key ideas, at the turn of the century, the principles of Ujamaa were resurrected through an unlikely source, rappers and hip hop artists in the streets of Tanzania. In response to years of government leaders and political figures after Nyerere, themes of unity and family. This was in response to the working class oppression and in some sense a form of resistance, the principles of cooperative economics —local people cooperating with each other to provide for the essentials of living— can be seen in the lyrics of many Tanzanian hip-hop artists. They promote self-business and self-made identities in an effort to raise the spirits of the youth, harambee Ubuntu Distributism A collection of essays on Ujamaa villages, by Kayombo, E. O. Paul Collier, Labour and Poverty in Rural Tanzania, Ujamaa and Rural Development in the United Republic of Tanzania. New York, Oxford University Press,1986, ISBN0198285310 Nyerere, dar es Salaam, Oxford University Press,1968. The Ujamaa village programme in Tanzania, new forms of rural development, the Hague, Institute of Social Studies,1971. Beyond ujamaa in Tanzania, underdevelopment and an uncaptured peasantry, kijanga, Peter A. S. Ujamaa and the role of the church in Tanzania
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Cooperative economics
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Co-operative economics is a field of economics that incorporates socialist economics, co-operative studies, and political economy toward the study and management of co-operatives. Notable theoreticians who have contributed to the field include Robert Owen, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Charles Gide, Beatrice and Sydney Webb, Mitchell, Peter Kropotkin, Paul Lambart, Race Mathews, David Griffiths, and G. D. H. Additional theorists include John Stuart Mill, Laurence Gronlund and modern work by Benjamin Ward, Jaroslav Vanek, David Ellerman. Additional modern thinkers include Joyce Rothschild, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Corey Rosen et al, william Foote Whyte, Gar Alperovitz, Seymour Melman, Mario Bunge, Richard D. Wolff and David Schweickart. A major historical debate in economics has been between co-operative federalism and co-operative individualism. In an Owenite village of cooperation or a commune, the residents would be both the producers and consumers of its products and this in turn led to a debate between those who support Consumers Co-operatives and those who favor Producers Co-operatives. Co-operative Federalism is the school of thought favouring consumer co-operative societies, historically, its proponents have included JTW Mitchell and Charles Gide, as well as Paul Lambart and Beatrice Webb. The co-operative federalists argue that consumers should form co-operative wholesale societies, and they argue that profits from these co-operative wholesale societies should be paid as dividends to the member co-operators, rather than to their workers. Co-operative Individualism is the school of thought favouring workers co-operative societies, the most notable proponents of this latter being, in Britain, the Christian Socialists, and later writers like Joseph Reeves, putting this forth as a path to State Socialism. The Mondragón Co-operatives are an economic model cited by Co-operative Individualists. Please note that two schools of thought are not necessarily in opposition, and that hybrids between the two positions are possible. James Warbasses work, and more recently Johnston Birchalls, provide perspectives on the breadth of co-operative development nationally and internationally, Benjamin Ward provided a formal treatment to begin an evaluation of market syndicalism. Jaroslav Vanek wrote a work in an attempt to address cooperativism in economic terms. David Ellerman began by considering legal philosophic aspects of co-operatives, developing the theory of property. In 2007 he used the classical economic premise in formulating his argument deconstructing the myth of capital rights to ownership, anna Milford has constructed a detailed theoretical examination of co-operatives in controlled buyer markets, and the implications for Fair Trade strategies. In addition to customer vs. worker ownership, retailers cooperatives also utilize organizations of already constituted corporations as collective owners of the produce, all the members of a society are considered to be both producers and consumers. Although there is debate as Bakunin and the collectivists favored market distribution using currency, collectivizing production. Left libertarians collectivize neither but define their leftness as inalienable rights to the commons, not collective ownership of it, some participants in the kibbutz movement and other intentional communities fall into this category
18.
Pan-African flag
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The Pan-African flag — also known as the UNIA flag, Afro-American flag and Black Liberation Flag — is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of red, black and green. Variations of the flag can and have used in various countries and territories in Africa. Several Pan-African organizations and movements have often employed the emblematic tri-color scheme in various contexts, in song and mimicry they have said, Every race has a flag but the coon. But that was said of us four years ago, the flag later became an African nationalist symbol for the worldwide liberation of people of African origin. As an emblem of Black pride, the flag became popular during the Black Liberation movement of the 1960s, in 1971, the school board of Newark, New Jersey, passed a resolution permitting the flag to be raised in public school classrooms. Four of the nine members were not present at the time, and the resolution was introduced by the boards teen member. In the United States, the flag is widely available through flag shops or ethnic specialty stores. It is commonly seen at parades commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, civil rights rallies, the incident resulted in the university president, Wayne Frederick, issuing a statement disapproving the flag-raising by unauthorized personnel. The Bendera Ya Taifa, in reference to its usage during Kwanzaa, the Biafran flag another variant of this one, with a sunburst in the center. The flag of Malawi is very similar, changed in 2010 to reflect the pan-African flags order of stripes, the African National Congress flag is three horizontal stripes, descending black, green, and dark yellow. The family members are holding food, gifts, and a flag, in 2000, artist David Hammons created a work called African-American Flag, which is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Based on the standard U. S. flag, its stripes are black and red, the field is green, the Flag of Kenya of 1963 is also very similar to the red, black and green flag. The Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis is also similar, august 17 is the birthday of Marcus Garvey. Vexillology Pan-African colours Black Flag, unattributed article in TIME Magazine, the Rick James album The Flag opens with an A Capella track named Freak Flag which references a green, black and red flag. S. Postage depicting similar flag, with explanatory press release MoMA Learning an educational exercise based on David Hammons African-American Flag UNIA official website Nusouth website and flag
19.
Maize
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Maize, also known as corn, is a large grain plant first domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, the leafy stalk of the plant produces separate pollen and ovuliferous inflorescences or ears, which are fruits, yielding kernels or seeds. Maize kernels are used in cooking as a starch. Most historians believe maize was domesticated in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, recent research modified this view somewhat, scholars now indicate the adjacent Balsas River Valley of south-central Mexico as the center of domestication. The Olmec and Mayans cultivated maize in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica, cooked and its believed that beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of the Americas. The region developed a network based on surplus and varieties of maize crops. Nevertheless, recent data indicates that the spread of maize took place even earlier, according to Piperno, A large corpus of data indicates that it was dispersed into lower Central America by 7600 BP and had moved into the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia between 7000 and 6000 BP. Since then, even earlier dates have been published, the study also demonstrated that the oldest surviving maize types are those of the Mexican highlands. Later, maize spread from this region over the Americas along two major paths and this is consistent with a model based on the archaeological record suggesting that maize diversified in the highlands of Mexico before spreading to the lowlands. Before they were domesticated, maize plants only grew small,25 millimetres long corn cobs, Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 361 million metric tons grown in the United States in 2014. Approximately 40% of the crop—130 million tons—is used for corn ethanol, genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009. After the arrival of Europeans in 1492, Spanish settlers consumed maize and explorers and traders carried it back to Europe, Spanish settlers far preferred wheat bread to maize, cassava, or potatoes. Maize flour could not be substituted for wheat for bread, since in Christian belief only wheat could undergo transubstantiation. At another level, Spaniards worried that by eating indigenous foods, which they did not consider nutritious, that not only would they weaken, despite these worries, Spaniards did consume maize and archeological evidence from Florida sites indicate they cultivated it as well. Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates and it was cultivated in Spain just a few decades after Columbuss voyages and then spread to Italy, West Africa and elsewhere. The word maize derives from the Spanish form of the indigenous Taíno word for the plant and it is known by other names around the world. The word corn outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand refers to any cereal crop, in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, corn primarily means maize, this usage started as a shortening of Indian corn. Indian corn primarily means maize, but can more specifically to multicolored flint corn used for decoration
20.
Kente cloth
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Kente, known as nwentom in Akan, is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan ethnic group of South Ghana. Kente is made in Akan lands such as Ashanti Kingdom, and it is also worn by many other groups who have been influenced by Akans. It is the best known of all African textiles, Kente comes from the word kenten, which means basket in Akan dialect Asante. Akans refer to kente as nwentoma, meaning woven cloth and it is an Akan royal and sacred cloth worn only in times of extreme importance and was the cloth of kings. Over time, the use of kente became more widespread, however, its importance has remained and it is held in high esteem with Akans. The Ewe people especially those from Agortime-Kpetoe of Ghana also claim that, according to their history weaving was the skill they came with when they migrated from Egypt through Nigeria to their present location in Ghana. Per the oral history of the people, during the Ashante wars they captured some of their men who were skilled in the weaving of Agbamevor. For that reason, the Ewes believe that the name Kete originates from the used to weave such cloths which is also the same name that has been corrupted into kente. The icon of African cultural heritage around the world, Akan kente is identified by its dazzling, multicolored patterns of colors, geometric shapes. Kente characterized by weft designs woven into every available block of plain weave is called adweneasa, the Akan people choose kente cloths as much for their names as their colors and patterns. Although the cloths are identified primarily by the found in the lengthwise threads. Names are derived from sources, including proverbs, historical events, important chiefs, queen mothers. West Africa has had a weaving culture for centuries via the stripweave method. Kente cloth has its origin in the Ashanti kingdom, and was adopted by people in Ivory Coast, the origin of kente is in the Akan empire of Bonoman. Most Akans migrated out of the area that was Bonoman to create various states, the Ewe people think that weaving of Kente originates with them although they are not claiming they for most invent the art of weaving. In addition, the Ewes suggest that the name Kente is derived from Kete which relates to the two alternating rhythmic actions associated with the weaving of the loom. The Pangi cloth made by the Maroons is a fabric with multi-colored vertical and horizontal stripes. With the female essence of life, a mild, gentle aspect of red purple—assoc, with feminine aspects of life, usually worn by women red—political and spiritual moods, bloodshed, sacrificial rites and death
21.
Wrapper (clothing)
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The wrapper, lappa, or pagne is a colorful womens garment widely worn in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles, the formality of the wrapper depends on the fabric used to create it. In West Africa, a kaftan or caftan is a womans robe. In French, this robe is called a boubou, pronounced boo-boo, the boubou is the traditional female attire in many West African countries including Senegal, Mali and other countries. The boubou can be formal or informal attire, the formality of the kaftan depends upon the fabric used to create it. In Yorubaland, Nigeria the wrapper is common, called an iro in the Yoruba language, the wrapper is usually worn with a matching headscarf or head tie that is called a gele in Yoruba, pronounced geh-leh. A full wrapper ensemble consists of three garments, a blouse, called a buba, pronounced boo-bah the iro and a called a head tie in English. Traditional male attire is called a agbada, a wrapper takes metres of quality fabric. White wrapper sets are worn during wedding ceremonies, pagne designates a certain cut and type of untailored cotton textile, especially in Francophone West and Central Africa. Enormously popular in much of tropical Africa, the pagne cloths usage and patterns may be used to by convey by the wearer a number of social and it is similar—though distinct in size, expected pattern, and usage—to the Khanga, Kikoy or Chitenge of East and Southern Africa. From the pagne any number of garments may be created or it can be used untailored as a wrap, headtie, skirt, the Portuguese pano for cloth has become the French pagne, Dutch paan, and others. It appears to have referred to East Asian textiles traded in East and West Africa. In the UK and North America, a wrapper is also a term for an informal house garment. Today, words such as housecoat and bathrobe or dressing gown are usually employed instead, batik—created with hot wax and dye. Fancy print—created by printing patterns on cloth, unlike expensive wax prints, the design is printed on one side of the cotton fabric. Fancy prints are made in Europe, India, and West Africa, the most popular fancy print is known as the traditional print. Kente is a fabric for anyone who is not a member of the Akan people. For Akans and many Ewes, kente is a formal cloth, mudcloth—created by making mud drawings on cotton
22.
Libation
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A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a god or spirit, or in memory of those who have passed on. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today, various substances have been used for libations, most commonly wine or olive oil, and in India, ghee. The vessels used in the ritual, including the patera, often had a significant form which differentiated them from secular vessels, the libation could be poured onto something of religious significance, such as an altar, or into the earth. In East Asia, pouring an offering of rice into a stream, symbolises the unattachment from karma. Libation was part of ancient Egyptian society where it was an offering to honor and please the various divinities, sacred ancestors, humans present and not present. It is suggested that libation originated somewhere in the upper Nile Valley and spread out to other regions of Africa, isaiah uses libation as a metaphor when describing the end of the Suffering Servant figure who poured out his life unto death. Libation was a central and vital aspect of ancient Greek religion and it is one of the basic religious acts that define piety in ancient Greece, dating back to the Bronze Age and even prehistoric Greece. Libations were a part of life, and the pious might perform them every day in the morning and evening. A libation most often consisted of mixed wine and water, but could also be unmixed wine, honey, oil, water, the form of libation called spondē is typically the ritualized pouring of wine from a jug or bowl held in the hand. The most common ritual was to pour the liquid from an oinochoē into a phiale, after wine was poured from the phiale, the remainder of the contents was drunk by the celebrant. A libation is poured any time wine is to be drunk, the etiquette of the symposium required that when the first bowl of wine was served, a libation was made to Zeus and the Olympian gods. Heroes received a libation from the second krater served, and Zeus the Finisher from the third, an alternative was to offer a libation from the first bowl to the Agathos Daimon and from the third bowl to Hermes. An individual at the symposium could also make an invocation of, the Greeks stood when they prayed, either with their arms uplifted, or in the act of libation with the right arm extended to hold the phiale. In conducting animal sacrifice, wine is poured onto the victim as part of its ritual slaughter and preparation and this scene is commonly depicted in Greek art, which also often shows sacrificers or the gods themselves holding the phiale. The Greek verb spendō, pour a libation, also conclude a pact, derives from the Indo-European root *spend-, make an offering, perform a rite, the noun is spondē or spondai, libation. In the middle voice, the verb means enter into an agreement, blood sacrifice was performed to begin a war, spondai marked the conclusion of hostilities, and is often thus used in the sense of armistice, treaty. Libations poured onto the earth are meant for the dead and for the chthonic gods, in the Book of the Dead in the Odyssey, Odysseus digs an offering pit around which he pours in order honey, wine and water. For the form of libation called choē, a vessel is tipped over and emptied onto the ground for the chthonic gods
23.
Pan-African colours
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The term Pan-African colours refers to two different sets of three colours, red, gold, and green, and red, black, and green. They are used in flags and other emblems of countries and territories in Africa. The Rastafarian movement and many Pan-African organisations also often employ the colours for their activities, green, gold and red are now found on the national flags of many African nations. The colour combination was borrowed from the flag of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian flag has influenced the flags of many Pan-African organizations and polities. Except for a period of occupation by Italy under the Fascists. As a result, the country drew the admiration of many independent states in Africa. The adoption of the Ethiopian national colours by many Pan-African entities is a consequence of this, the first African state to adopt a red, gold and green flag upon independence was Ghana in 1957. The UNIA flag was designated the official colours of Black Africans by the UNIA at its convention in Madison Square Garden on August 13,1920 in New York City, the World Encyclopedia of Flags, The Definitive Guide to International Flags, Banners, Standards and Ensigns
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Christmas
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In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
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New Year
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New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendars year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner and the 1st day of January is often marked as a national holiday, in the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on 1 January. This was also the case both in the old Roman calendar and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it, other calendars have been used historically in different parts of the world, some calendars count years numerically, while others do not. Beginning in 1582, the adoptions of the Gregorian calendar and changes to the Old Style and New Style dates meant the local dates for New Years Day changed to using one fixed date. The widespread official adoption of the Gregorian calendar and marking January 1 as the beginning of a new year is almost global now, regional or local use of other calendars continue, along with the cultural and religious practices that accompany them. In Latin America, various native cultures continue the observation of traditions according to their own calendars, israel, China, India and other countries, continue to celebrate New Year on different dates. The most common dates of modern New Years celebrations are listed below,1 January, The first day of the civil year in the Gregorian calendar used by most countries. Contrary to common belief in the west, the civil New Year of January 1 is not an Orthodox Christian religious holiday, the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar makes no provision for the observance of a New Year. January 1 is itself a religious holiday, but that is because it is the feast of the circumcision of Christ, while the liturgical calendar begins September 1, there is also no particular religious observance attached to the start of the new cycle. Orthodox nations may, however, make civil celebrations for the New Year and those that adhere to the revised Julian calendar, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Syria, and Turkey, observe both the religious and civil holidays on January 1. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, the exact date can fall any time between 21 January and 21 February of the Gregorian Calendar. Traditionally, years were marked by one of twelve Earthly Branches, represented by an animal, and one of ten Heavenly Stems and this combination cycles every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese celebration of the year, the Korean New Year is a Seollal, or Lunar New Year’s Day. Although January 1 is, in fact, the first day of the year, Seollal, celebration of the Lunar New Year is believed to have started to let in good luck and ward off bad spirits all throughout the year. With the old year out and a new one in, people gather at home and sit around with their families and relatives, catching up on what they have been doing. The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which most times is the day as the Chinese New Year due to the Vietnamese using the Lunar Calendar. The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March, the Mizo in northeast India celebrate their Pawl kut. 29-30 sep Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Northward equinox. Ancient celebrations lasted for eleven days, nava Varsha is celebrated in India in various regions in March–April
26.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D. C. The Center, which opened September 8,1971, is a multi-dimensional facility, both an enduring memorial to John F. Now in its 45th season, the Center presents the greatest examples of music, dance and theater, supports artists in the creation of new work and it is both the nations public memorial to President John F. Kennedy and the national center for the performing arts. Its activities include educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely funded through sales and gifts from individuals, corporations. The building, designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, was constructed by Philadelphia contractor John McShain and it receives annual federal funding to pay for its maintenance and operation. The Library of Congress added an auditorium, but it had restrictions on its use. A congressional resolution in 1938 called for construction of a building which shall be known as the National Cultural Center near Judiciary Square. In 1950, the idea for a national theater resurfaced when U. S, representative Arthur George Klein of New York introduced a bill to authorize funds to plan and build a cultural center. The bill included provisions that the center would prohibit any discrimination of cast or audience, in 1955, the Stanford Research Institute was commissioned to select a site and provide design suggestions for the center. From 1955 to 1958, Congress debated the idea amid much controversy and this was the first time in history that the federal government helped finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts. The legislation required a portion of the costs, estimated at $10–25 million, Edward Durell Stone was selected as architect for the project in June 1959. He presented preliminary designs to the Presidents Music Committee in October 1959, along with estimated costs of $50 million, by November 1959, estimated costs had escalated to $61 million. The National Cultural Center was renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1964, the National Cultural Center Board of Trustees, a group Eisenhower established January 29,1959, led fundraising. Fundraising efforts were not successful, with only $13,425 raised in the first three years, President John F. Kennedy was interested in bringing culture to the nations capital, and provided leadership and support for the project. In 1961, President Kennedy asked Roger L. Stevens to help develop the National Cultural Center, Stevens recruited First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as Honorary Chairman of the Center, and former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower as co-chairman. The total cost of construction was $70 million, Congress allocated $43 million for construction costs, including $23 million as an outright grant and the other $20 million in bonds. Donations also comprised a significant portion of funding, including $5 million from the Ford Foundation, other major donors included J. Willard Marriott, Marjorie Merriweather Post, John D. Rockefeller III, and Robert W. Woodruff, as well as many corporate donors. Foreign countries provided gifts to the Kennedy Center, including a gift of 3,700 tons of Carrara marble from Italy from the Italian government, President Lyndon B. Johnson dug the ceremonial first-shovel of earth at the groundbreaking for the Kennedy Center December 2,1964
27.
African dance
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African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles. These dances must be viewed in connection with Sub-Saharan African music traditions. African dance utilizes the concept of as well as total body articulation, African dances are largely participatory, with spectators being part of the performance. With the exception of some spiritual, religious or initiation dances, even ritual dances often have a time when spectators participate. Traditional dance in Africa occurs collectively, expressing the life of the community more than that of individuals or couples, early commentators consistently commented on the absence of close couple dancing, such dancing was thought immoral in many traditional African societies. For the Yoruba, to give an example, touching while dancing is not common except in special circumstances. Emphasizing individual talent, Yoruba dancers and drummers, balss example, express communal desires, values, dances are often segregated by gender, reinforcing gender roles in children and other community structures such as kinship, age and status are also often reinforced. Many dances are performed by males or females, indicating strong beliefs about what being male or female means. Dances celebrate the passage from childhood to adulthood or spiritual worship, young girls of the Lunda of Zambia spend months practicing in seclusion for their coming of age ritual. Boys show off their stamina in highly energetic dances, providing a means of judging physical health, master dancers and drummers are particular about the learning of the dance exactly as taught. Children must learn the dance exactly as taught without variation, improvisation or a new variation comes only after mastering the dance, performing, and receiving the appreciation of spectators and the sanction of village elders. Musical training in African societies begins at birth with cradle songs, throughout western and central Africa childs play includes games that develop a feeling for multiple rhythms. The sounding of three beats against two is experienced in life and helps develop a two-dimensional attitude to rhythm. The most widely used instrument in Africa is the human voice. Nomadic groups such as the Maasai do not traditionally use drums yet in villages throughout the continent the sound, shoulders, chest, pelvis, arms, legs etc. may move with different rhythms in the music. Dancers in Nigeria commonly combine at least two rhythms in their movement, and the blending of three rhythms can be seen among highly skilled dancers, articulation of as many as four distinct rhythms is rare. They may also add rhythmic components independent of those in the music, very complex movements are possible even though the body does not move through space. Dancers are able to back and forth between rhythms without missing movements
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National Retail Federation
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The National Retail Federation is the worlds largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, chain restaurants, members also include businesses that provide goods and services to retailers, such as vendors and technology providers. NRF represents an industry that contains over 1.6 million U. S. retail establishments with more than 24 million employees and sales of $4.4 trillion, NRF is also an umbrella group that represents more than 100 associations of state, national and international retailers. ARTS has four standards, The Standard Relational Data Model, UnifiedPOS, ARTS XML, the National Council of Chain Restaurants, the leading trade association exclusively representing chain restaurant companies, which has existed since the early 1960s. Shop. org, an association of retailers who sell online, international Retail Federation, which serves the needs of retailers based outside the United States through networking events, education, products, services and other resources. The NRF also has a research and education arm, The NRF Foundation, STORES also publishes, annually, its Retail Industry Buying Guide and its Software Sourcebook. The organization regularly does sales projections, for example, for the Thanksgiving weekend in 2005, the NRF projected that sales would be 22% above the prior year. Based on a survey on Friday and Saturday of the weekend, a Wall Street Journal article after the weekend questioned that projection. By comparison, ShopperTrak RCT Corp. a Chicago market-research company with a different methodology, reported a decrease of 0. 9% on Friday. In July 2006, NRF predicted an increase in back-to-school sales. For the fourth quarter of 2009, NRF reported spending $460,000 to lobby on a variety of issues, from apparel tariffs to consumer product safety. Its a hard perception to change because people dont see beyond the cash register or aisles being stocked. ”As part of the campaign, beginning in June, ioriginal content will be added such as industry news, retail case studies, and research to the site. “We are looking at ways to counter the rise of a brand of conservatism that, for lack of a better word, is more anti-establishment than it has been in the past. “We have come to the conclusion that sitting on the sidelines is not good enough. ”In April 2014, the United States Senate debated the Minimum Wage Fairness Act. The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the minimum wage for employees to $10.10 per hour over the course of a two-year period. The bill was supported by President Barack Obama and many of the Democratic Senators. Each of the divisions of NRF has one or more conferences annually, in addition, NRF has an annual conference/convention. The 97th, in New York City in January 2007, had more than 15,000 attendees and 500 vendors, attendance in January 2008 was 18,500, in January 2009 it dropped by 8%, to a total of 17,000
29.
University of Minnesota
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The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses are approximately 3 miles apart, and it is the oldest and largest campus within the University of Minnesota system and has the sixth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 51,147 students in 2013–14. The university is the institution of the University of Minnesota system, and is organized into 19 colleges and schools, with sister campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris. Minnesota is one of Americas Public Ivy universities, which refers to top universities in the United States capable of providing a collegiate experience comparable with the Ivy League. Founded in 1851, The University of Minnesota is categorized as an R1 Doctoral University with the highest research activity in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Minnesota faculty, alumni, and researchers have won 25 Nobel Prizes and three Pulitzer Prizes. Notable University of Minnesota alumni include two Vice Presidents of the United States, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, and Bob Dylan, who received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is also a member of the Association of American Universities which is an association of the 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. In its 2017 edition, U. S. News & World Report ranked Minnesota 38th in their Best Global University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2015 ranks Minnesota 46th in the world. In 2015, Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the university 11th in the world for mathematics, the University of Minnesota is ranked 14 over-all among the nations top research universities by the Center for Measuring University Performance. The U. S. News & World Reports 2016 rankings placed the program of the University as the 69th-best National University in the United States. Additionally, nineteen of the Universitys graduate-school departments have been ranked in the nations top-twenty by the U. S. National Research Council, in both 2008 and 2012 U. S. News & World Report ranked the College of Pharmacy 2nd in the nation. 2016 U. S. News & Report now rank the College of Pharmacy 2nd in the nation. In 2011, U. S. News & World Report ranked the School of Public Health 8th in the nation, the University of Minnesota ranked 19th in NIH funding in 2008. Minnesota is listed as a Public Ivy in 2001 Greenes Guides The Public Ivies, the university developed Gopher, a precursor to the World Wide Web which used hyperlinks to connect documents across computers on the internet. However, the produced by CERN was favored by the public since it was freely distributed. The University also houses the Charles Babbage Institute, a research, the department has strong roots in early days of supercomputing with Seymour Cray of Cray supercomputers. Notable faculty of the department are Yousef Saad, Vipin Kumar, Jaideep Srivastava, John Riedl, some notable alumni of the department are Ed Chi, Imrich Chlamtac, Leah Culver, Jeff Dean, Mark P. McCahill, Arvind Mithal, and Calvin Mooers. Puffed rice - Alexander P. Anderson led to the discovery of puffed rice, transistorized cardiac pacemaker - Earl Bakken founded Medtronic, where he developed the first external, battery-operated, transistorized, wearable artificial pacemaker in 1957
30.
Black Power movement
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The Black Power movement was a political movement to achieve a form of Black Power and the many philosophies it contains. The movement saw various forms of some violent and some peaceful. The Black Power movement also represented socialist movements, all with the motivation of improving the standing of black people in society. Originated during the Civil Rights Movement, some doubted the philosophy of the movement begging for more radical action, the cornerstone of the movement was the Black Panther Party, a Black Power organization dedicated to socialism and the use of violence to achieve it. The Black Power movement developed in the criticisms of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s, and over time and into the 1970s, after years of violence, many left the movement and the police began arresting violent actors in the movement. The Black Power movement also spilled out into the Caribbean creating the Black Power Revolution, on June 16,1966, in a speech in Greenwood, Mississippi after the assassination attempt on James Meredith by Aubrey James Norvell during the March Against Fear, Stokely Carmichael used the term. By the late 1960s Black Power came to represent the demand for more violent action to counter American white supremacy. Most of these ideas were influenced by Malcolm Xs criticism of Martin Luther King, the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X coupled with the urban uprisings of 1964 and 1965 ignited the Black Power movement. By 1968 Black Power was a movement with a growing force of people who sympathize. New organizations began to form such as the Black Panther Party each supporting Black Power philosophies ranging from socialism to black nationalism, the organization Nation of Islam began developing a black nationalist movement in the 1930s, inspiring later black nationalist groups. The Nation of Islam continues to function to this day, in the early 1960s the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation gang developed into a Black Power group supporting black nationalism. Malcolm X rose rapidly to become the minister and national spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, highly influenced by Malcolm Xs membership, the Nation claimed a membership of 30,000. In April 1964, one later, Malcolm X founded Muslim Mosque Inc. stating. It was they who conspired with Captain Joseph here in New York to pressure me out of the Nation, Malcolm X would later be assassinated in February 1965. They argued instead that blacks needed to power of their own rather than seek accommodations from the power structure in place. The organization continued its militancy later on and established ties with groups such as the Students for a Democratic Society. In late October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party, in formulating a new politics, they drew on their experiences working with a variety of Black Power organizations. The initial tactic of the Black Panther Party utilized contemporary open-carry gun laws to protect Party members when policing the police and this act was done in order to record incidents of police brutality by distantly following police cars around neighborhoods
31.
White people
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White people is a racial classification specifier, used for people of Europid ancestry, with the exact implications dependent on context. The contemporary usage of people or a white race as a large group of populations contrasting with black, American Indian. It is today used as a racial classifier in multiracial societies, such as North Africa, United States. The term white race or white people entered the major European languages in the later 17th century, in the context of racialized slavery, description of populations as white in reference to their skin color predates this notion and is found in Greco-Roman ethnography and other ancient sources. Scholarship on race generally distinguishes the concept from pre-modern descriptions of collective difference. In the literature of the Ancient Near East and Classical Antiquity and we know that Egyptians were not oblivious to skin color, however, because artists paid attention to it in works of art, to the extent the pigments at the time permitted. Classicist James Dee states the Greeks do not describe themselves as white people—or as anything else because they had no word in their color vocabulary for themselves. Peoples skin color did not carry meaning, what mattered is where they lived. Religious conversion was sometimes described figuratively as a change in skin color, similarly, the Rigveda uses krsna tvac black skin as a metaphor for irreligiosity. The Ancient Egyptian funerary text known as the Book of Gates distinguishes four groups in a procession and these are the Egyptians, the Levantine/Canaanite peoples or Asiatics, the Nubians and the fair-skinned Libyans. The Egyptians are depicted as a reddish brown, the Nubians as black skinned, the Semites from the Levant and Canaan as light skinned. Herodotus described the Scythian Budini as having blue eyes and bright red hair. And the Egyptians – quite like the Colchians – as melánchroes and he also gives the possibly first reference to the common Greek name of the tribes living south of Egypt, otherwise known as Nubians, which was Aithíopes. Later Xenophon described the Aethiopians as black and the Persian troops as white compared to the skin of Greek troops. These color adjectives are found in contrast to the standard set by the own group. According to historian Irene Silverblatt, Race thinking … made social categories into racial truths, Alastair Bonnett argues that white identity, as it is presently conceived, is an American project, reflecting American interpretations of race and history. According to Gregory Jay, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Before the age of exploration, group differences were based on language, religion. … the European had always reacted a bit hysterically to the differences of skin color, in the 16th and 17th centuries, East Asian peoples were almost uniformly described as white, never as yellow
32.
Hallmark Cards
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Hallmark Cards, Incorporated is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States, in 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Joyce Clyde Hall became captivated by a salesman who stopped by his familys store in 1906 in Norfolk, driven by the postcard craze of 1903, Hall decided to venture from retail of various products to wholesale of postcards. He moved his business to the market of Kansas City. As time went on, Hall became convinced that greeting cards would become more prominent than postcards. Greeting cards, according to J. C. Hall, represented class, promised discretion and they were more than a form of communication—they were a social custom. ”By 1915, the company was known as Hall Brothers and sold Valentines Day and Christmas cards. In 1917, Hall and his brother Rollie invented modern wrapping paper when they ran out of traditional colored tissue paper, in 1922, the company expanded throughout the country. The staff grew from 4 to 120 people, and the line increased from holiday cards to include everyday greeting cards. In 1928, the company adopted the name Hallmark, after the symbol used by goldsmiths in London in the 14th century. In the same year, the became the first in the greeting card industry to advertise their product nationally. Their first advertisement appeared in Ladies Home Journal and was written by J. C. Hall himself. In 1931, the Canadian William E. Coutts Company, Ltd. a major card maker, became an affiliate of Hall Brothers, in 1944, it adopted its current slogan, When you care enough to send the very best. It was created by C. E. Goodman, a Hallmark marketing and sales executive, the card is on display at the company headquarters. In 1951, Hall sponsored a program for NBC that gave rise to the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Hallmark now has its own television channel, the Hallmark Channel which was established in 2001. For a period of about 15 years, Hallmark owned a stake in the Spanish language network Univision, in 1954, the company name was changed from Hall Brothers to Hallmark. In 1958, William E. Coutts Company, Ltd. was acquired by Hallmark, until the 1990s, in 1998, Hallmark made a number of acquisitions, including Britain-based Creative Publishing, and U. S. based InterArt. Worldwide, Hallmark has 11,000 full-time employees, about 3,100 Hallmarkers work at the Kansas City headquarters
33.
Synthia Saint James
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She also designed the 2016 Kwanzaa Forever Stamp. Synthia Saint James was raised in both Los Angeles, California, and in the Bronx, New York and she sold her first painting in New York City at the age of twenty. She currently lives in Los Angeles, Saint James had her first solo art exhibition at Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California, in 1977, the school where she studied the performing arts. In 1980, she participated in her first international exhibition in Paris and she received an honorary doctorate from Saint Augustines University, Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 8,2010. Saint James tours annually to colleges, universities and other venues to lecture and conduct master classes, Tukama Tootles the Flute, A Tale From The Antilles Tukama Tootles the Flute, A Tale From The Antilles. How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World, no Mirrors in My Nanas House. Alphabet Affirmations, Positive Affirmations for Children, kids Creative Classics, Book and Cassette edition. Its Kwanzaa Time Its Kwanzaa Time, Dream A World, A Childs Journey To Self-Discovery. A story in The Milestones Project, enduring Wisdom, Sayings from Native Americans. White Plains, NY, Peter Pauper Press, Creative Fixings from the Kitchen, Favorite Multicultural Recipes. Whos Who among African Americans, 13th Edition, Forward, essay in How to Make Black America Better, Leading African Americans Speak Out. Synthia Saint James, a Book of Postcards, living My Dream, an Artistic Approach to Marketing. The I Wills According to SAINT JAMES, Book One, can I Touch You, a Collection of Love Poetry. In and Out of Love, Selected Poetry from the 1970s, Creative Fixings from the Kitchen, Multicultural Delights. I AM EDMONIA LEWIS and I AM WILDFIRE, living My Dream, An Artistic Approach to Marketing, Outstanding Literary Work-Instructional category. Synthia Saint James Official Web site Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipients M. K
34.
Bill Clinton
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William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the Presidency he was the 40th Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, before that, he served as Arkansas Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideogically a New Democrat, Clinton is married to Hillary Clinton, who served as United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and U. S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, and served the Democratic nominee for President in 2016, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham both earned degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the states education system, Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush. At age 46, he was the third-youngest president and the first from the Baby Boomer generation, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history and signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. After failing to pass health care reform, the Democratic House was ousted when the Republican Party won control of the Congress in 1994. Two years later, in 1996, Clinton became the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second term, Clinton passed welfare reform and the State Childrens Health Insurance Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. Clinton was acquitted by the U. S. Senate in 1999, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clintons presidency. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U. S. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U. S. President since World War II, since then, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address international causes, such as the prevention of AIDS, in 2004, Clinton published his autobiography, My Life. In 2009, Clinton was named the United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, since leaving office, Clinton has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U. S. Presidents. Clinton was born on August 19,1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas and he was the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr. a traveling salesman who had died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy. His parents had married on September 4,1943, but this later proved to be bigamous. Soon after their son was born, his mother traveled to New Orleans to study nursing, leaving her son in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the Southern United States was segregated racially, in 1950, Bills mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr. who owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks. The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950, although he immediately assumed use of his stepfathers surname, it was not until Clinton turned fifteen that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward his stepfather. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. Johns Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs High School—where he was a student leader, avid reader
35.
Black Canadians
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Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though the population consists of African American immigrants and their descendants. Black Canadians and other Canadians often draw a distinction between those of Afro-Caribbean ancestry and those of other African roots, many Blacks of Caribbean origin in Canada reject the term African Canadian as an elision of the uniquely Caribbean aspects of their heritage, and instead identify as Caribbean Canadian. Black Canadians have contributed to many areas of Canadian culture, Black Canadians form the third-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian and Chinese Canadians. According to the 2006 Census by Statistics Canada,783,795 Canadians identified as black, of the black population, 11% identified as mixed-race of white and black. The five most black-populated provinces in 2006 were Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, the ten most black-populated census metropolitan areas were Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Oshawa. Preston, in the Halifax area, is the community with the highest percentage of blacks, with 69. 4%, according to the 2011 Census, a total of 949,665 Black Canadians were counted, comprising 2. 9% of Canadas population. At times, it has claimed that Black Canadians have been significantly undercounted in census data. One of the controversies in the Black Canadian community revolves around appropriate terminologies. Black Nova Scotians, a distinct cultural group, of whom some can trace their Canadian ancestry back to the 1700s. For example, there is an Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs, the term Afro-Caribbean-Canadian is occasionally used in response to this controversy, although as of 2017, this term is still not widely seen in common usage. The first recorded person to set foot on land now known as Canada was a free man named Mathieu de Costa. Travelling with navigator Samuel de Champlain, de Costa arrived in Nova Scotia some time between 1603 and 1608 as a translator for the French explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts. The first known person to live in what would become Canada was a slave from Madagascar named Olivier Le Jeune. As a group, black people arrived in Canada in several waves, the first of these came as free persons serving in the French Army and Navy, though some were enslaved or indentured servants. At the time of the American Revolution, inhabitants of the United States had to decide where their future lay and those loyal to the British Crown were called United Empire Loyalists and came north. Many White American Loyalists brought their African-American slaves with them, numbering approximately 2,500 individuals, during the war, the British had promised freedom to slaves who left rebel masters and worked for them, this was announced in Virginia through Lord Dunmores Proclamation. Slaves also escaped to British lines in New York City and Charleston and they transported 3,000 to Nova Scotia
36.
Black Awareness Day
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The date is an official public holiday in five Brazilian states. Black Awareness Day has been celebrated since the 1960s and has amplified its events in the last few years, originally, it was celebrated on May 13. It was later moved to November 20 to honour Zumbis death, members of the organization Black Movement organize educational and fun events involving mainly children of African descent. Their focus during these events is to dissolve the perception of Africans inferiority in society, the Day of the Caboclo is observed annually on June 24, in celebration of the contributions and identity of the original caboclos and their descendants. This date is a public holiday in the State of Amazonas. Mixed Race Day is observed annually on June 27, three days after the Day of the Caboclo, in celebration of all mixed-race Brazilians, including the caboclos, the date is an official public holiday in three Brazilian states. Indian Day, observed annually on April 19, recognizes and honours the indigenous peoples of Brazil, Black History Month, United States Afro-Colombian Day, Colombia
37.
Zumbi
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Zumbi, also known as Zumbi dos Palmares, was an important figure in Brazilian history, being one of the pioneers of resistance to slavery. He was also the last of the kings of the Quilombo dos Palmares, quilombos were communities in Brazil founded by individuals of African descent who escaped slavery. Members of quilombos often returned to plantations or towns to encourage their former fellow Africans to flee, if necessary, they brought others by force and sabotaged plantations. Anyone who came to quilombos on their own were considered free and they could be considered free if they were to bring another captive to the settlement. Quilombo dos Palmares was a kingdom of Maroons escaped from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil. At its height, Palmares had a population of over 30,000, Zumbis mother Sabina was a sister of Ganga Zumba who is said to have been the son of princess Aqualtune, daughter of an unknown King of Kongo. It is unknown if Zumbis mother was daughter of the princess. Zumbi and his relatives are of Western African descent and they were brought to the Americas after the Battle of Mbwila, which occurred in modern day Angola. It is very probable that Ganga and Sabina were among these nobles, the whereabouts of the rest of the individuals captured after the Battle of Mbwila is unknown. From there, they escaped to Palmares, Zumbi was born free in Palmares in 1655, believed to be descended from the Imbangala warriors from Angola. He was captured by the Portuguese and given to a missionary, Father António Melo, Father António Melo baptized Zumbi and gave him the name of Fransico. Zumbi was taught the sacraments, learned Portuguese and Latin, despite attempts to subjugate him, Zumbi escaped in 1670 and, at the age of 15, returned to his birthplace. Zumbi became known for his prowess and cunning in battle. By 1678, the governor of the captaincy of Pernambuco, Pedro Almeida, weary of the conflict with Palmares. Almeida offered freedom for all runaway slaves if Palmares would submit to Portuguese authority, but Zumbi was distrustful of the Portuguese. Further, he refused to accept freedom for the people of Palmares while other Africans remained enslaved and he rejected Almeidas overture and challenged Ganga Zumbas kingship. Vowing to continue the resistance to Portuguese oppression, Zumbi became the new king of Palmares, fifteen years after Zumbi assumed kingship of Palmares, Portuguese military commanders Domingos Jorge Velho and Bernardo Vieira de Melo mounted an artillery assault on the quilombo. On February 6,1694, after 67 years of conflict with the cafuzos, or Maroons, of Palmares, the Portuguese succeeded in destroying Cerca do Macaco
38.
Sociology
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Sociology is the study of social behaviour or society, including its origins, development, organisation, networks, and institutions. It is a science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, disorder. Many sociologists aim to research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare. Subject matter ranges from the level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems. The traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, the range of social scientific methods has also expanded. Social researchers draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques, the linguistic and cultural turns of the mid-twentieth century led to increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic, and philosophic approaches towards the analysis of society. There is often a great deal of crossover between social research, market research, and other statistical fields, Sociology is distinguished from various general social studies courses, which bear little relation to sociological theory or to social-science research-methodology. The US National Science Foundation classifies sociology as a STEM field, Sociological reasoning pre-dates the foundation of the discipline. Social analysis has origins in the stock of Western knowledge and philosophy. The origin of the survey, i. e, there is evidence of early sociology in medieval Arab writings. The word sociology is derived from both Latin and Greek origins, the Latin word, socius, companion, the suffix -logy, the study of from Greek -λογία from λόγος, lógos, word, knowledge. It was first coined in 1780 by the French essayist Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès in an unpublished manuscript, Sociology was later defined independently by the French philosopher of science, Auguste Comte, in 1838. Comte used this term to describe a new way of looking at society, Comte had earlier used the term social physics, but that had subsequently been appropriated by others, most notably the Belgian statistician Adolphe Quetelet. Comte endeavoured to unify history, psychology and economics through the understanding of the social realm. Comte believed a positivist stage would mark the final era, after conjectural theological and metaphysical phases, Comte gave a powerful impetus to the development of sociology, an impetus which bore fruit in the later decades of the nineteenth century. To say this is not to claim that French sociologists such as Durkheim were devoted disciples of the high priest of positivism. To be sure, beginnings can be traced back well beyond Montesquieu, for example, Marx rejected Comtean positivism but in attempting to develop a science of society nevertheless came to be recognized as a founder of sociology as the word gained wider meaning. For Isaiah Berlin, Marx may be regarded as the father of modern sociology
39.
Texas A&M University
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Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It is a university and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. The systems endowment ranks in the top 10 in the nation, Texas A&Ms student body is the largest in Texas and one of the largest in the United States. In 2001, Texas A&M was inducted as a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, the schools students, alumni–over 450,000 strong–and sports teams are known as Aggies. The Texas A&M Aggies athletes currently compete in 18 varsity sports as a member of the Southeastern Conference, originally, the college taught no classes in agriculture, instead concentrating on classical studies, languages, literature, and applied mathematics. After four years, students could attain degrees in agriculture, civil and mechanical engineering. Under the leadership of President James Earl Rudder in the 1960s, A&M desegregated, became coeducational, to reflect the institutions expanded roles and academic offerings, the Texas Legislature renamed the school to Texas A&M University in 1963. The letters A&M, originally short for Agricultural and Mechanical, are retained only as a link to the universitys past, the main campus is one of the largest in the United States, spanning 5,200 acres, and is home to the George Bush Presidential Library. About one-fifth of the student body lives on campus, Texas A&M has over 1,000 officially recognized student organizations. Many students also observe the traditions, which daily life, as well as special occasions. Working with agencies such as the Texas AgriLife Research and Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the university offers degrees in over 150 courses of study through ten colleges and houses 18 research institutes. As a Senior Military College, Texas A&M is one of six American public universities with a full-time, the U. S. Congress laid the groundwork for the establishment of Texas A&M in 1862 with the adoption of the Morrill Act. To promote the liberal and practical education of the classes in the several pursuits. In 1871, the Texas Legislature used these funds to establish the states first public institution of higher education, Brazos County donated 2,416 acres near Bryan, Texas, for the schools campus. Enrollment began on October 2,1876, six students enrolled on the first day, and classes officially began on October 4,1876, with six faculty members. During the first semester, enrollment increased to 48 students, admission was limited to white males, and all students were required to participate in the Corps of Cadets and receive military training. Although traditional Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets campusologies indicate 40 students began classes on October 4,1876, enrollment climbed to 258 students before declining to 108 students in 1883, the year the University of Texas opened in Austin, Texas. In the late 1880s, many Texas residents saw no need for two colleges in Texas and clamored for an end of Texas A. M. C
Holidays, observances, and celebrations in the United States
