African Americans BEFORE the Cotton Fields

[tabitha448]

Really, All African americans should read history about ancient Africa. Because African ain't just about African living in the wild jungle and being naked. African made alot history down the line as well as African American. Here in America, that African Americans are being brainwash by American saying that all African are ugly and living in the Jungle. That's not true at all, because Africa more than meet the eyes. That's why I am so proud of being African then being an slave american.

[TubaGlider2]

3:16 lol

[ronguell]

To be proud of your nakedness in the jungle is to be proud of you amebaness in the primordial pond. It's just the way it was. You had nothing to do with it. The journey from there to here and what you decided to do or not do, thats special. And where have you arrived? "Disamashit ritehere!" A bonafide fieldhand of the democratic party. You are a slave sista, and the best kind too. You don't even know it. It gets no betta fa dem. Keep woikin on dem eyebrows, dats impotent!!!

[ronguell]

You would make a perfect slave! You'd talk a bunch of shit with your kin but dats all!

[ronguell]

To be proud of nakedness in the jungle is akin to being proud of your amebaness in the primordial pond. It's something you had nothing to do with. It just was. It's how the "journey" is delt with that is special about a being. We all come from the pond. We all come from jungle nakedness. Where have you arrived? Disamashit right hear. Not Impressive at all! What a disappointment!

[ronguell]

To be proud of nakedness in the jungle is akin to being proud of your amebaness in the primordial pond. It's something you had nothing to do with. It just was. It's how the "journey" is delt with that s special about a being. We all come from the pond. We all come from jungle nakedness. Where have you arrived? Disamashit right hear. Not Impressive at all! What a disappointment!

[resurrectedmichael]

Pay attention to those "made-up" names! Slaves were given names from their masters, but they kept nicknames that linked them to their parents and in some cases to ancestors in Africa. So when you do your genealogy be sure to look into it.

[blackfalcon702]

try checking out bobby hemitt and bro panic they have alot of good info about our story

[nocturnaltongue]

Its all good, we get brainwashed through WHITE SUPREMACY. Then we see facts our ancestors in america - which not even a real country nor is canada where i am from, its all africa. so you are in africa. change your vocab hun. its not slave its the enslaved. we were never slaves. We were all KINGS AND QUEENS in KMT which is now called AFRICA - a white man's name. You're a descendant of ROYALTY. so love your history. don't get brainwashed about who we are.

[ladyjosephinelover]

you should read the river where blood is born it's a beautiful book about our ancestors and our origins and it doesn't sugar coat anything it tells it like it is it's wonderful it's beautifully written the author is very intelligent the imagery you get from just reading the words is wonderful and even the COVER ART is beautiful and colorful and spiritual just a great book

[itsafreecountryfyppl]

It is interesting to find out about your ancestory but after you do you should know we are all of Gods children whether you are black, white, red, yellow, brown, whatever. It is best to feel good about yourself and look into your future. Ask Jesus to help you with any hurt or resentment or whatever feelings you have. I am a white girl and I think people of all colors are beautiful especially if it shows on the outside coming from within.

[PaulUmbarger]

Blacks in America live longer, healthier lives than their counterparts that are in Africa. If anything, slavery was just a way of paying the dues to be here.

I worked with a Mexican 5 years ago that now speaks English as well as me but, I still meet blacks that can't... after a supposed figure of 400 years.

BTW, does this poster know any words other than "F**k" & "S**t"? Just curious.

[xXHeLLzSheLLzXx]

When the last time you were FORCED to go out and LABOUR in a cotton field? EXACTLY so stop hiding behind some 'crippled mentality'.. and get on with THE WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES you're living in here IN AMERICA, and take this bull junk up off you tube!!

[xXHeLLzSheLLzXx]

First of all YOU were never a slave. Secondly, YOUR religious ANCESTORIAL history is paganism. Even if you were a decendant of one of Solomon's concubines. Lastly, it isn't that you cut your eyes brows too thin, it's that you have one thicker than the other. AGAIN, 'Erica'.. You were NEVER in the 'cotton field'.. You don't hear 'us' saying I wonder what it was like BEFORE we were tax slaves of the british.. we're educated on history to keep from repeating history.

[MrLeoRamos]

"FUCK YUR COTTON MAKE ME SUM LEMONAD BITCH" lmao that was funny

[Chrisnoscrub047]

SintualEvents:"What was life like for our ancestors before they came to America! That's the history I want to learn! "

If only for the reason that they're your ancestors. this seems slightly nonsensical. ( I haven't watched the video yet.)

[lepndahood]

I found it interesting in their spiritual beleifs. And that was a great way for me to learn about my african ancestors, and its cool to compare it to my white ancestors. That the races that make me up, their cultures are comple. different.

[newmanntoday]

goddamn quit crying you fucking black bitch you have never done shit you have no legacy GO TO FUCKING AFRICA IF IT'S SO SHITTY HERE

[HieroPharaoh]

Thas what im talkin about! How can "savages" be so in tune with the earth? We got hunters that dont even need to use weapons (the kalahari)! No other people have that. We the only people that have that. I loved this vid.

HOTEP

[RonRabbit69]

On SintualEvents vid, Africa here I come, You said...Is Ghana a nice country as well? Every1 goes there! It leads the reader to believe that you haven't gone b4. Anyway, We ALL are doin' wat we can to gather as much info & see as much as possible of God's planet earth b4 we check out, so as I said b4, I wish you well on ur journey. See you on the other side...lol

[vmwye]

Peace my sistah as an AFRICAN centered sistah in amerikka let me suggest somehtings 2 u. READ!!! THE miseducation of the negro, Roots, 2000 seasons, the isis papers & the quest for spiritual transformation by NANA AKUA KYEREWAA OPOKUWAA to start. WATCH DVDS like 500 years later & SANkofa. CULTURE/CIvilaization began in AFRICA we taught them. B PROUD

HOLLA BLACK

YAA

[antonioPerrettos]

im not racist, i live in britain, born and raised here. i come from an extremely mixed background from all over europe, parts of asia and probaly other places aswell. my closest and tightest friends are black.

BUT BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA NEED TO FUCKING MOVE ON AND STOP LIVING IN THE FUCKING PAST!!!!! ALLWAYS FUCKIN TALKIN BOUT SLAVERY AND ALL THAT SHIT THAT HAPPEND EVEN WHEN THEIR GRANDPARENTS WASNT EVEN ALIVE. HOW DOES THAT FUCKIN DIRECTLY AFFECT YOUUUU! FOCUS ON THE FUTURE!!!!!!

[vmwye]

1st why curse? not classy. 2nd its not the past it is the present. Western society was built & funded by the Atlantic slave trade. EVER here of SANKOFA? WELL it means to go back & fetch... we as blacks in US have been stripped of our culture, language, spirituality, etc. We still suffer from those adverse affects. We live in a world that was formed & defined by SLAVERY. U live in UK how would U know or even care.

LEARN AFRICAN HISTORY then speak

YAA

[ama00010]

I agree w/ vmwye, ur provocative lang. isn't classy! Now, my reason 4 not moving on from da past of my ancestors is bcause da root of their enslavement is da reason why I face discrimination and prejudice eachday n the U.S. I am there4 constantly reminded of it. Why am I looked at as different? Is it not bcause of my past history of my ppl...how they were treated? Da other reason is bcause of Africa's poverty. My past will nver rest until the white man stop & reap his plaqued ideologies!

[p2pjoe]

im defintely not proud of picking cotton

[Aimyaah]

The bottom line is that Blacks in America need to move on. Stop living in something they don't really know anything about. It is messing your head up.

Your video is ridiculous! You are cursing and things like that! How is that uplifting? What good books have you read lately? Read about the "Bacon Rebellion" You may learn alot from that story.

[ama00010]

I do agree dat ma is trippin'...u know she's drinkin & mad @ da same time. If u have an open mind...know that every1 expresses themselves differently. you may read books and be more formal about yours. Just don't expect every1 to row ur way. Her message may appeal & get da attention of so called "ghetto" persons but it's out there. She is making sense of what she's sayin & explaining it in her own way. Let's respect not put 1another down 4 lifting ourselves up as been more educated. Thank you.

[Inside6the6Horror6]

just shut the fuck up and pick my cotton bitch!

[RonRabbit69]

Can't relate to black feelings, espec. on slavery. 1 memory sticks with me about Africa tho. Served in the Navy yrs. ago,we stopped in Mombassa Kenya after wks. in the Indian Ocean,Iran just released 50 US Hostages. My ship had marines aboard. We made port, started down the pier into town & noticed people passin by me headin towards the ship, i looked back to see about 50 people surrounding this one 6'5" muscle fit black marine,touching him as if he were a god,i thought WOW wat he must be feelin

[ama00010]

what does this have to do w/ this video. If you need to vent go to psycho therpy or write a book! please stick to the topic @ hand.

[RonRabbit69]

ama00010, This video is about going to Europe & Africa, I am sharing a nice experience I had when I went over seas. If my memory serves me correctly, this is still an open forum & freedom of speech still does exist...correct. Get over ur jealousy.

[ama00010]

"African Americans before the cotton field!" Not, Europe and your memory does serve you correctly about an open forum & freedom of speech but it doesn't serve you correct to elaborate on unrelated topics. As 4 getting over this so called jealousy you speculate I have, I wouldn't waste ma time on giving you such behavior if it is not in ma intrest. It was boring to hear! It was...irrelavent! Don't u get it? Maybe your on the wrong page.

[RonRabbit69]

I was on the wrong page, ty for taking the time to comment on my comment after reading my comment on the video that i thought you were commenting on. I thought you were speaking on the vid "Africa here i come", bcuz i had just made a comment. Ur comment, Is Ghana a nice country as well? Every1 goes there! I don't think she's gone to that one yet to give you her opinion. Boring lol

[ama00010]

Thanks 4 acknowledging I was right! It's gud 2know u also took your time out to go thru other comments I've made...wanna c what kind of person I am & c how I think? mmm...yes! Your last comment was lame. My questions about Ghana was 2 c what an African thought of Ghana. I have family that live there and my husband is a Ghanian as well. I am happy that I can stick 2 a topic @ hand...in ur case...I wouldn't bet on it! lol

[RonRabbit69]

I was lucky to see many places in the world while in the Navy & as for Africa, I visited Tunisia,Egypt & Kenya.Beautiful places,ur right,I should write a book.My wifes fam is from Jamaica, I visited Haiti & Porto Rico in the Caribbean, but not Jamaica. We will go some day, on a cruise. I am happy ur happy on sticking to topics, my wife says that I go along way around the barn when I talk on subjects so yeah,dont bet on me sticking. I wish you well on ur journey back to Africa, youll luv it.

[ama00010]

I am not taking a journey to Africa. I have lived in Ghana 4 5 yrs. We r building a house there! My family lives in Accra and my husband was born there, he was also a Airforceman. I have also been to Egypt as well as Togo, Nigeria, Cote d'ivoire, Gambia and lots more. My father-in law is a Rev. Dr & I am a RN,so we travel for christian health mission's. As for da Islands, my sis-n-law is from the USVI. I have been there as wll as Trini&Tobago & St. Lucia. I didn't have 2 b n da Navy 2 do so.lol

[RonRabbit69]

On SintualEvents vid, Africa here I come, You said...Is Ghana a nice country as well? Every1 goes there! It leads the reader to believe that you haven't gone b4. Anyway, We ALL are doin' wat we can to gather as much info & see as much as possible of God's planet earth b4 we check out, so as I said b4, I wish you well on ur journey. See you on the other side...lol

[aundrae4]

black history did not start in 1776 ninjas knights spartans then we make slaves movie? it hard to trace but we can know who was tooken during the tran atlantic slave trade we can clame them all were mix there over 40 group from west africa tooken some are the mande people help build the ghana, mali, and songhai empires timbuktu is real place the yoruba people mythology had so many gods they compare to the greek gbe(fon,ewe,aja,gen) people is the root of voodu but the wolof people are muslim

[aundrae4]

really there was slavey in africa but you can't be born a slave and your child was not slave, can't be slave for life and people did not run north they ran home there was no prison dept and wars that how peope became slave they first slaved amerindians but it hard to slave people on there native land they run home so they came to africa to be racist and we was mostly sold by enemies group of ancerstors not are own people kinda like france in germany had been white enemies

[starbabe58]

fuck you niggers grow up and get a life

[aundrae4]

yeah i know i know i need to stop pimping your mom and get a life it just the money she love "niggers" on top you should see her go you be proud like go mommy

[icecurator]

When slave masters came over we had to scatter to avoid being taken and thats when a lot of tribes began to break up into smaller little tribes very backward in comparison to what we are today as the black infrastructure would have been destroyed kind of like mad max the movie where they are out for themselves but still having sharing values many groups could hide in places enslavers would not venture.

[clockmakers55]

Interesting.

[kevinflny]

wow, another one.

fuck you. she never said that black people were the only slaves.

she never said she had it the worst.

but black people did get treated badly..

and didn't deserve it

she's not even saying anything about it, all she's saying is she wants to know more about what her people did before they were enslaved by ignorant fucks like you!

[Cinephile66]

"If Imma get fucked up, I might as well get fucked up before I go to bed."

That's my kinda girl! ;-)

[Cinephile66]

Do you pluck from the bottom or from the top? A wise woman once told me you contour from the bottom and simply clean up on top. Anyhow, it don't matter cuz you're beautiful. I love your earrings!!

Aside from that, I always wanted to trace my roots. I can go as far back as my great great grandparents, and I think my great great great grandparents originally came from Spain. Anyhow, very insightful video. Thanks for sharing!

[ernestlsewell]

You are probably one of the smartest people I know, based on this video alone. It shows how limited other people are in their thinking. Do they still think American Indians are scalping people too? Thank you for this video. It's awesome!

[gsadler82]

i think your friend was trying to point out that you are more cultured now. Look at you youtubin' girl. be proud of where you are. it's good to research your background, but don't deny that you are probably better off right now than the alternatives. appreciate the now, not what 'could have been'.

[icecurator]

I dont think we are more cultured now. I really doubt that we were all some kind of savage mass of people.

We dont know our roots and much has been wiped out during slavery.

It hurts in a subtle but very real way when you dont know your beginings.

I dont think we were all walking naked and killing lions.

[ladyjosephinelover]

we weren't i saw something really interesting that just goes to show you how far white people will go to try to claim something as their own it was talking about great african kings and civilizations and how africans had built these huge structures that were so sophisticated and so well built that every white person in the world refused to believe that black people were capable of building such sophisticated structures it was a really interesting program

[justjayok]

You are so serious in this video. I love your candidness and how you be jammin'! Great vid.

[SintualEvents]

Thank you! *kiss*

[budellonfame]

This is a great video and you can talk about these topics no matter how delicate they are.

You are gorgeous, Erika. Really!

I'm so proud we have a friend in common!

Hugs

[SintualEvents]

Thank you my darling friend. I really appreciate the compliment.

[nsynciz4me83]

OMG AHAHA 'fuck your cotton, make me some lemonade bitch!'OMFG! LMFAO! Thanks for a great laugh! Omg best phrase I heard this week! OMG! But I totaly agree with you. I still hate how people treat African Americans/Blacks today. It's like we are forever stuck in the 60's. But I think it is getting better. Learning history stuff from when the Africans were shipped over to America as slaves, it was so sad to watch or hear. It shows just how inhumane people are. But yeah.. Be A proud Sista!

[SintualEvents]

Thats right, Im definitely a proud sista

[yourmother04]

LMFAOOOO FUCK YOUR COTTEN MAKE ME SOME LEMONADE

HAAHAHAHAHAHHA. THAT MADE ME LAUGH SOOO HARD omfgg that was the besttt.

but i agree with what your sayin! im white but i mean instead wen we learn bout black history in school, id rather learn bout before the slavery time. it just depresses me to kno my ancestors did things like that =/

my boyfriend was born in africa & he couldnt be prouderr!

but good videoo! loved itt

[SintualEvents]

Thank you angel. Hope all is well!

[augirl4eva]

I am an eyebrow addict, I tweeze every day, then have to use pencil too to correct it, but I think they look good!

[SintualEvents]

Well maybe you can help a sista out. Im terrible with eyebrows and makeup

[sugarandlance]

Is that a black adult toy on your desk? By your stapler?

[SintualEvents]

It does look like a big black dick doesn't it? It's actually my modem! LOL

[mxdmama]

omg i jus saw this..i was too busy listenin and lookin at u lol i want that modem too haha. "fuck yo cotton u pick it, make me some lemonade bitch" aww that had me ROLLiN gurl and i totally agree wit u

[jjlucido]

You NEED to watch Shared History on PBS and for sure African American Lives 1 and 2 on PBS- David got me hooked on AAL and it is really good. They do successfully trace African American's family history in the show and talk about it with the family because, like you said the history is all messed up and that is why the show specializes in that. (It is on the PBS website)

[SintualEvents]

I think I have that on DVD. Is that with Chris Rock and Morgan Freeman, and they trace their family history?

[jjlucido]

Yeah... They are now doing regular people and teach how to do it... Actually, I have a sorta relative that does it for fun for people

[Atti19841215]

You always look like a beauty queen!

[SintualEvents]

My God I just love you! That means a lot coming from you!

[dorotwhy]

Thank God for eyeliner. I think your friend is misdirected. "Savages"!! That is stupid shit. I think it will be a wonderful endeavor tracing your genealogy back to your African heritage. I have a feeling you are from royalty. It will be quite difficult without written records, good luck!!

[silverscreamgrl]

Very interesting video, Ms Erika. It would be incredibly interesting to hear about life prior to slavery/life in Africa. I think it gets blurry because of documentation issues. I know that Hawaiian didn't have a written language prior to missionary contact. My last name is totally made up because the missionaries, when doing their census, didn't know how to decipher our language, so they made the best of what they heard. Thus, everyone with my last name are all related. Our original last name

[silverscreamgrl]

part 2: is about 4 letters longer than it currently is. It made it VERY hard to trace genealogy. But once my uncle was able to talk to elders, and find this out, it was easier to trace.

Anyway, hahaha @ your brows. Girl, go get them done at a salon when they grow in. I wish mine would grow back in so I could have mine done. I messed mine up bigtime when I was a teenager :)

[SintualEvents]

Exactly! I think that's why a lot of blacks find it hard to trace their history because of shitty documentation and hyperbole

[Monsieurlefou]

All the Great civilizations , Greek, ROman, ect modeled their civilizations after the great african civilizations which were Mesopotamian and Egyptian, which coincidentally were the first developed nations in the world. If it were not for their lack of interest in conquering they would have conquered the known world. Humanities 101.

[SintualEvents]

YES, absolutely! This fact is why I have become so fascinated with Africa and it's history and contributions to mankind!

[silverscreamgrl]

Girl, you know you're a Nubian Princess. So find that shit out!

[ladyp2489]

im not from africa, my ancestors are....lol

but yea i feel u. we never here anything about before slavery

[SintualEvents]

LOL..Stand Proud my African Princess!

[scottfaithfull]

do a whoopi! i think it would suit you and then no more frustration. problem solved. africa is an amazing place and everyone i met were so nice..a lot more so than the people in our own country and they are so beautiful and i loved how they took pride in themselves. that's something a ton of people lack here. i hope you get to go there one day. :)

[scottfaithfull]

you could pull a whoopi goldberg and take your eyebrows off. lol. :) africa is one of my favourite places on earth though i was only there once years ago. and learning ones history is a wonderful thing. :)

[SintualEvents]

MY GOD...my eyebrows have always been a source of my frustration because they grow so wild. Anyhoo...Africa is definitely on my list of places to visit! Can't wait!

[yellowlabrador]

The best thing would be to visit Africa. My husband was African and I visited Africa a few times. THey aren't savages.

[SintualEvents]

Africa is definitely on my list of places to visit before I die. Everyone who has visited Africa falls in love immediately. I should be no exception!

[iamthejer]

i want a cd of Erika oneliners

"fuck yo cotton. you pick it..make me some lemonade bitch!" :)

[SintualEvents]

Absolutely JerBear. The CD is in the mail!

[kalacaw]

On a more serious note, I'm really sad from thinking about this, Erika. I heard a similar sentiment and the same language, "savage," several years ago from a friend who is black. I was stunned and thought of her son. He's now about twenty, I think. He has been taught that, when he could have been taught about a rich African heritage and at least general history, if he couldn't discover his precise heritage. I'm on a rant, so hang on ...

[kalacaw]

At least he would understand more about African general history, including that some tribes were goverened by women.  I've heard this attitude though, and I'd often heard the cause (IMO) of it espoused by my own Mother, who dwelled inappropriately on the notion that Virginia slave owners were kind to their slaves. It was infuriating to think of this level of barrier to have to try to defeat. "Mom! Can you say 'Lynchburg?" "First, that just wasn't always true.

[kalacaw]

... Second, don't you understand the insideious nature of that crime where it was true? And can you see how you've come to think of Blacks as a result?" I love my own Mom's memory, but I'm telling you Erika, it was work and a half to try to get through that disasterious misapprehension. There had been racism to spare her whole life, but she couldn't really see a lot of it. She couldn't see the seed of it, I mean, the insideious stuff that is designed deliberately to keep the unaware unaware.

[kalacaw]

And I have seen this over and over again, this thing about kind slave owners, and how that was supposed to be some great thing. Benevolence? NO! It was the cruelist form of slavery, because it was a psychological infliction. A beating raises the ire immediately, but kind treatment does something else over time. The mind becomes enslaved. That has become a generational issue, as evidenced by this attitude that some benefit has been accorded African Americans by the institution of slavery.

[SintualEvents]

Yeah, I even saw one ridiculous made for TV movie that portrayed the slave master and one of his slaves as being "In Love". Now Im not saying that didn't happen but when I listened to the tape recordings of a few 100 year old ex-slaves back in the 30's and 40's, they gave a different account of how they were treated. And it wasn't with love!

[kalacaw]

When I think of how people are beguiled by that, I want to throw up. How can people not see this???

[SintualEvents]

Then I read somewhere that the "kinder" slave owners treated them like employees, which is much more easier to swallow

[SintualEvents]

I get really sad about this also because I've done so much reading and research on particular tribes in Africa that date back HUNDREDS of years, and their lives seem to be so effortless, and full of good health. They didn't have the shit we have today like Heart disease, Diabetes, and High Blood pressure.

[kalacaw]

The word "tragic" doesn't cover it. Well, Erika, all I can say right now is that you are a strong and beautiful woman. You know that I admire you, but your ancesters would be very proud of you, if they could all see you. I don't know how these things work, but maybe they can. :)

[mzsuzuki]

Quite a few AA's feel the same way as your friend. This disconnection or not being aware of the rich history of Africans is the root of the some of the dysfunctions in the AA community.

[SintualEvents]

AMEN sister. Thank God Im a huge reader and researcher because I've learned A LOT about our African heritage that fascinates and excites me.

[ziad1983]

History is very interesting! But it can be overwhelming sometimes...

[GFantastic]

Savages!?

That's like listening to the old Victorian-era British colonial types talking about Africa (and India, and everywhere else that became the British Empire).

It's really bizarre to hear the same language from a black american girl.

[SintualEvents]

YES, it's pretty sad to me as well. I guess it has a lot to do with the images of black Africa that we have today..starvation, poverty, AIDS, and war. We just need to learn to look pass that.

[MeanBlackDude]

There's a few sites like

Roots and heritage dot com available to search your tree.

The others would require some dna to do a in depth search.

[SintualEvents]

You know where else is s good place to search genealogy...The Mormon temples. They have some of the largest databases of American status files. I may go there

[kalacaw]

Wanna make a white girl sweat? Call DAR Constitution Hall and ask the same question. They keep geneology records too.

White Girl Report #647. Collect the set! Do I have the nads to post this? YUP! There they are. BAM! Done!

[SintualEvents]

I seriously need to go there.