In this first edition of NuBlack News (live), we’ll reflect on the devastating Bronx fire in New York, USA, and take a look at some of the horrendous conditions of housing faced by Africans and others in the public housing in the UK.
We’ll discuss the long-overdue UK publication of former Trinidadian Prime Minister’s book Capitalism and Slavery. This book makes a very strong case that Europeans enslaved Africans for economic reasons, and that slavery was essential in developing the rise of Capitalism.
I’ll touch on the argument of Frank Wilderson in his book “Red, White and Black” that it would have made far more economic “sense” for Europeans to have enslaved their own rather than setting up the “triangular trade.” He argues that the main purpose of enslaving Africans centred on the libidinal economy rather than political economy.
Staying with history, we’ll look at how the idea that Africans were “illiterate” prior to colonialism is refuted by countless examples of ancient indigenous African scripts from across the continent. We’ll look at the fact that many Kenyans have been leaving the big city of Nairobi and returning to their countryside roots during the last couple of years.
And we’ll look at some recent comments from acclaimed Nigerian author Wole Soyinka on the negative impact of religion in Nigeria, and also discuss what appears to be a resurgence of African spirituality there.
Article Links:
Bronx Fire and Housing Issues facing the African diaspora in US, UK
“Blaming the Victims—Not the System—for Bronx Fire Deaths” – Jan 2022
“Inside estate plagued with so many problems residents have received £1m compensation” – UK Mirror, Jan 2022
cf – Homeownership rates by ethnicity in the UK
Eric Williams’ Capitalism and Slavery Back in print in the UK
“Eighty years late: groundbreaking work on slave economy is finally published in UK” – Manchester Guardian UK, Jan 2022
Frank Wilderson’s counter-argument on the motives behind European enslavement of Africans : https://ctanarchiststudygroup.noblogs.org/files/2016/10/Wilderson-III-Red-White-Black-Cinema-and-the-Structure-of-U.S.-Antagonisms.pdf
Ancient African Writing
“Dispelling the Myth of an Illiterate Pre Colonial Africa” – Mandla Blog, Dec 2021
Religion and Spirituality in Nigera
“Wole Soyinka: Why Religion Is Number One Problem For Nigerians” -Dec 2021
“In Nigeria, Ancestral Spirituality Resurges” – Vice, Dec 2021
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