Thursday, May 23, 2019

Evidence of Early Black Asians

The true history of mankind has not been told.


The World of Sakanouye No Tamuramaro: Black Shogun of Early Japan‭



DEDICATED TO WAYNE B.‭ ‬CHANDLER‭

“‬For a Samurai to be brave,‭ ‬he must have a bit of Black blood.‭”
— ‬Japanese Proverb‭


‬In‭ ‬1994‭ ‬I was invited to Japan to lecture at two United States military bases.‭ ‬It was to be my initial trip to east Asia and my second travel experience in Asia overall.‭ ‬I visited India for the first time in‭ ‬1987.‭ ‬Japan turned out to be an exceptionally important trip for me,‭ ‬and the lectures themselves went very well.‭ ‬I gained a great deal of information,‭ ‬and for the first time I had the opportunity to interact with the Ainu‭ — ‬some of Japan’s most ancient residents.‭ ‬I also attended a really excellent exhibit on women in ancient Egypt while it was on tour in Tokyo.‭

‬Now I have always thought of Japan as a fascinating country and felt extremely fortunate to be able to travel there.‭ ‬But I felt that I knew quite a bit about the Black presence in early Japan even before I first touched down on Japanese soil.‭

‬THE BLACK PRESENCE IN EARLY JAPAN‭

‬Although the island nation of Japan,‭ ‬occupying the extreme eastern extensions of Asia,‭ ‬is assumed by many to have been historically composed of an essentially homogeneous population and culture,‭ ‬the accumulated evidence‭ (‬much of which has been quietly ignored‭) ‬places the matter in a vastly different light,‭ ‬and though far more study needs to be done on the subject,‭ ‬it seems indisputable that Black people in Japan played an important role from the most remote phases of antiquity into at least the ninth century.‭

‬Meaningful indications of an African presence in ancient Japan have been unearthed from the most remote ages of the Japanese past.‭ ‬To begin with,‭ ‬and as a significant example,‭ ‬a Feb.‭ ‬15,‭ ‬1986,‭ ‬report carried by the Associated Press,‭ ‬chronicled that:‭

“‬The oldest Stone Age hut in Japan has been unearthed near Osaka.‭ … ‬Archaeologists date the hut to about‭ ‬22,000‭ ‬years ago and say it resembles the dugouts of African bushmen,‭ ‬according to Wazuo Hirose of Osaka Prefectural of Education’s cultural division.‭ `‬Other homes,‭ ‬almost as old,‭ ‬have been found before,‭ ‬but this discovery is significant because the shape is cleaner,‭ ‬better preserved‭’ ‬and is similar to the Africans‭’ ‬dugouts.‭”

‬In‭ ‬1923,‭ ‬anthropologist Roland B.‭ ‬Dixon wrote that‭ “‬this earliest population of Japan were in the main a blend of Proto-Australoid and Proto-Negroid types,‭ ‬and thus similar in the ancient underlying stratum of the population,‭ ‬southward along the whole coast and throughout Indo-China,‭ ‬and beyond to India itself.‭” ‬Dixon pointed out that,‭ “‬In Japan,‭ ‬the ancient Negrito element may still be discerned by characteristics which are at the same time exterior and osteologic.‭”

‬In his last major text,‭ ‬Civilization or Barbarism:‭ ‬An Authentic Anthropology‭ (‬published posthumously in English in‭ ‬1991‭)‬,‭ ‬the brilliant Dr.‭ ‬Cheikh Anta Diop‭ (‬1923-1986‭) ‬pointed out that:‭

“‬In the first edition of the Nations negres et culture‭ (‬1954‭)‬,‭ ‬I posited the hypothesis that the Yellow race must be the result of an interbreeding of Black and White in a cold climate,‭ ‬perhaps around the end of the Upper Paleolithic period.‭ ‬This idea is widely shared today by Japanese scholars and researchers.‭ ‬One Japanese scientist,‭ ‬Nobuo Takano,‭ ‬M.D.,‭ ‬chief of dermatology at the Hammatsu Red Cross Hospital,‭ ‬has just developed this idea in Japanese that appeared in‭ ‬1977,‭ ‬of which he was kind enough to give me a copy in‭ ‬1979,‭ ‬when,‭ ‬passing through Dakar,‭ ‬he visited my laboratory with a group of Japanese scientists.‭

“‬Takano maintains,‭ ‬in substance,‭ ‬that the first human being was Black‭; ‬then Blacks gave birth to Whites,‭ ‬and the interbreeding of these two gave rise to the Yellow race‭; ‬these three stages are in fact the title of his book in Japanese,‭ ‬as he explained it to me.‭”

‬As to linguistics,‭ ‬in‭ ‬1987‭ ‬former Senegalese president Leopold Sedar Senghor noted that,‭ “‬The people who populate the island of Japan today are descendants from Blacks‭ … ‬Let us not forget that the first population of Japan was Black‭ … ‬and gave to Japan their first language.‭”

‬SAKANOUYE NO TAMURAMARO:‭ ‬SEI-I TAI-SHOGUN OF EARLY JAPAN‭

‬Of the Black people of early Japan,‭ ‬the most picturesque single figure was Sakanouye no Tamuramaro,‭ ‬a warrior symbolized in Japanese history as a‭ “‬paragon of military virtues,‭” ‬and a man who has captured the attention of some of the most distinguished scholars of‭ ‬20th century America.‭

‬Perhaps the first such scholar to make note of Tamuramaro was Alexander Francis Chamberlain‭ (‬1865-1914‭)‬.‭ ‬An anthropologist,‭ ‬Chamberlain was born in Kenninghall,‭ ‬Norfolk,‭ ‬England,‭ ‬and was brought to America as a child.‭ ‬In April‭ ‬1911,‭ ‬the Journal of Race Development published an essay by Chamberlain titled The Contribution of the Negro to Human Civilization.‭ ‬While discussing the African presence in early Asia,‭ ‬Chamberlain stated in an exceptionally frank and matter of fact manner:‭

“‬And we can cross the whole of Asia and find the Negro again,‭ ‬for when,‭ ‬in far-off Japan,‭ ‬the ancestors of the modern Japanese were making their way northward against the Ainu,‭ ‬the aborigines of that country,‭ ‬the leader of their armies was Sakanouye Tamuramaro,‭ ‬a famous general and a Negro.‭”

‬Dr.‭ ‬W.E.B.‭ ‬DuBois‭ (‬1868-1963‭)‬,‭ ‬perhaps the greatest scholar in American history,‭ ‬in his book,‭ ‬The Negro(first published in‭ ‬1915‭)‬,‭ ‬placed Sakanouye Tamuramaro within a list of some of the most distinguished Black rulers and warriors in antiquity.‭

‬In‭ ‬1922,‭ ‬Carter G.‭ ‬Woodson‭ (‬1875-1950‭) ‬and Charles Harris Wesley‭ (‬1891-‭?) ‬in a chapter calledAfricans in History with Others,‭ ‬in their book,‭ ‬The Negro in Our History,‭ ‬quoted Chamberlain on Tamuramaro verbatim.‭ ‬In the November‭ ‬1940‭ ‬issue of the Negro History Bulletin‭ (‬founded by Dr.‭ ‬Woodson‭)‬,‭ ‬artist and illustrator Lois Maillou Jones‭ (‬1905-1998‭) ‬contributed a brief article titled Sakanouye Tamura Maro.‭

‬In the article Jones pointed out that:‭

“‬The probable number of Negroes who reached the shores of Asia may be estimated somewhat by the wide area over which they were found on that continent.‭ ‬Historians tell us that at one time Negroes were found in all of the countries of southern Asia bordering the Indian Ocean and along the east coast as far as Japan.‭ ‬There are many interesting stories told by those who reached that distant land which at that time they called‭ `‬Cipango.‭’

‬One of the most prominent characters in Japanese history was a Negro warrior called Sakanouye Tamura Maro.‭”

‬Very similar themes were expressed in‭ ‬1946‭ ‬in In the Orient,‭ ‬the first section of Distinguished Negroes Abroad,‭ ‬a book by Beatrice J.‭ ‬Fleming and Marion J.‭ ‬Pryde in which was contained a small chapter dedicated to‭ “‬The Negro General of Japan‭ — ‬Sakanouye Tamuramaro.‭”

‬In‭ ‬1940,‭ ‬the great Joel Augustus Rogers‭ (‬1883-1966‭)‬,‭ ‬who probably did more to popularize African history than any scholar of the‭ ‬20th ‭ ‬century,‭ ‬devoted several pages of the first volume of his book,‭ ‬Sex and Race to the Black presence in early Japan.‭ ‬He cites the studies of a number of accomplished scholars and anthropologists,‭ ‬and even goes as far as to raise the question,‭ “‬Were the first Japanese Negroes‭?” ‬In the words of Rogers:‭

“‬There is a very evident Negro strain in a certain element of the Japanese population,‭ ‬particularly those in the south.‭ ‬Imbert says,‭ ‘‬The Negro element in Japan is recognizable by the Negroid aspect of certain inhabitants with dark and often blackish skin,‭ ‬frizzly or curly hair.‭ … ‬The Negritos are the oldest race of the Far East.‭ ‬It has been proved that they once lived in Eastern and Southern China as well as in Japan where the Negrito element is recognizable still in the population.‭'”

‬Rogers mentioned Tamuramaro briefly in the first volume of World’s Great Men of Color,‭ ‬also published in‭ ‬1946.‭ ‬Regrettably,‭ ‬Rogers was forced to confess that‭ “‬I have come across certain names in China and Japan such as Sakonouye Tamuramaro,‭ ‬the first shogun of Japan,‭ ‬but I did not follow them up.‭”

‬Sakanouye Tamuramaro was a warrior symbolized in early Japanese history as a‭ “‬paragon of military virtues.‭” ‬Could it be that this was what Dr.‭ ‬Diop was alluding to in his first major book,‭ ‬Nations negres et culture,‭ ‬when he directed our attention to the tantalizing and yet profound Japanese proverb:‭ “‬For a Samurai to be brave he must have a bit of Black blood.‭”

‬Adwoa Asantewaa B.‭ ‬Munroe referenced Tamuramaro in the‭ ‬1981‭ ‬publication What We Should Know About African Religion,‭ ‬History and Culture,‭ ‬and wrote that‭ “‬He was an African warrior.‭ ‬He was prominent during the rule of the Japanese Emperor Kwammu,‭ ‬who reigned from‭ ‬782-806‭ ‬A.D.‭” ‬In‭ ‬1989,‭ ‬Dr.‭ ‬Mark Hyman authored a booklet titled Black Shogun of Japan in which he stated that‭ “‬The fact remains that Sakanouye Tamuramaro was an African.‭ ‬He was Japanese.‭ ‬He was a great fighting general.‭ ‬He was a Japanese Shogun.‭”

‬However,‭ ‬the most comprehensive assessment to date of the Black presence in early Japan and the life of Sakanouye no Tamuramaro is the work of art historian and long-time friend and colleague Dr.‭ ‬James E.‭ ‬Brunson.‭ ‬Brunson is the author of Black Jade:‭ ‬The African Presence in the Ancient East and several other important texts.‭ ‬In a‭ ‬1991‭ ‬publication titled The World of Sakanouye No Tamuramaro,‭ ‬Brunson accurately noted that‭ “‬In order to fully understand the world of Sakanouye Tamuramaro we must focus on all aspects of the African presence in the Far East.‭”

‬Sakanouye no Tamuramaro is regarded as an outstanding military commander of the early Heian royal court.‭ ‬The Heian Period‭ (‬794-1185‭ ‬C.E.‭) ‬derives its name from Heian-Kyo,‭ ‬which means‭ “‬the Capital of Peace and Tranquility,‭” ‬and was the original name for Japan’s early capital city‭ — ‬Kyoto.‭ ‬It was during the Heian Period that the term Samurai was first used.‭ ‬According to Papinot,‭ ‬the‭ “‬word comes from the very word samuaru,‭ ‬or better saburau,‭ ‬which signifies:‭ ‬to be on one’s guard,‭ ‬to guard‭; ‬it applied especially to the soldiers who were on guard at the Imperial palace.‭”

‬The samurai have been called the knights or warrior class of Medieval Japan and the history of the samurai is very much the history of Japan itself.‭ ‬For hundreds of years,‭ ‬to the restoration of the Meiji emperor in‭ ‬1868,‭ ‬the samurai were the flower of Japan and are still idolized by many Japanese.‭ ‬The samurai received a pension from their feudal lord,‭ ‬and had the privilege of wearing two swords.‭ ‬They intermarried in their own caste and the privilege of samurai was transmitted to all the children,‭ ‬although the heir alone received a pension.‭

‬The‭ “‬paragon of military virtues,‭” ‬Sakanouye no Tamuramaro‭ (‬758-811‭) ‬was,‭ ‬in the words of James Murdoch:‭

“‬In as sense the originator of what was subsequently to develop into the renowned samurai class,‭ ‬he provided in his own person a worthy model for the professional warrior on which to fashion himself and his character.‭ ‬In battle,‭ ‬a veritable war-god‭; ‬in peace the gentlest of manly gentlemen,‭ ‬and the simplest and unassuming of men.‭”

‬Throughout his career,‭ ‬Tamuramaro was rewarded for his services with high civil as well as military positions.‭ ‬In‭ ‬797‭ ‬he was named‭ “‬barbarian-subduing generalissimo‭” (‬Sei-i Tai-Shogun‭)‬,‭ ‬and in‭ ‬801-802‭ ‬he again campaigned in northern Japan,‭ ‬establishing fortresses at Izawa and Shiwa and effectively subjugating the Ainu.‭

‬In‭ ‬810‭ ‬he helped to suppress an attempt to restore the retired emperor Heizei to the throne.‭ ‬In‭ ‬811,‭ ‬the year of his death,‭ ‬he was appointed great counselor‭ (‬dainagon‭) ‬and minister of war‭ (‬hyobukyo‭)‬.‭

‬Sakanouye no Tamuramaro‭ “‬was buried in the village of Kurisu,‭ ‬near Kyoto and it is believed that it is his tomb,‭ ‬which is known under the name of Shogun-zuka.‭ ‬Tamuramaro is the founder of the famous temple Kiyomizu-dera.‭ ‬He is the ancestor of the Tamura daimyo of Mutsu.‭” ‬Tamuramaro‭ “‬was not only the first to bear the title of Sei-i-tai-Shogun,‭ ‬but he was also the first of the warrior statesmen of Japan.‭”

‬In later ages he was revered by military men as a model commander and as the first recipient of the title shogun‭ — ‬the highest rank to which a warrior could aspire.‭”


 https://atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/07/the-world-of-sakanouye-no-tamuramaro-black-shogun-of-early-japan/


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Monday, May 20, 2019

To Mommy Sweet Potato

Saturday, was the anniversary of my mother, Sallie Canada's passing, a few days after Mother's Day. i didn't have time to post anything then. So, here is a pic and a poem to my mother, whom I
affectionately call "Mommy Sweet Potato."

(Sallie Canada May 22th, 1936-May 18th, 2016)








Sallie


My earliest memories of you was of a pocket book swing as I waited with baited breath for your beautiful silhouette to show upon the horizon of a dirty Bronx street there’s my pretty mother come to rescue me from the confusion of kids playing hopscotch on the hot summers city concrete

Leather purse holding the wages of food for we hungry children hungry for spaghetti and rice and pinto beans corn flakes along with the remnant of left over milk saved like succor from the breast of a woman who put in more than 14 hours of work to feed the mouths of her little darlings

Nights fill with terror and the screams of daddy who felt it made better sense to beat the hell out of a princes to make up for a hard day’s mafia work

Mommy taught me how to read the bible so I was way ahead of my colleagues who wanted to know how Dick chased Jane mommy got a bachelor’s degree after raising a family while parlaying as a nurse in the ghettos of the South Bronx to become a school teacher she taught bible classed quoted scripture better than the Archbishop of Canterbury we buried her not… she said The flames are my end so burn me like the mustache man burn me like the flames of love that simmered in all your hearts-you feel me?

Sallie I still see you crocheting blankets in the night organ and piano you used to play spiritual cords that wafted into the wee hours like nocturnal serenades now I too play piano but there’s no forgotten memories of the southern roots burrowed deep in the red South Carolinian soil I wasn’t born there like you but I can still remember grandpa walking like a one of the prophets of old through the tall stalks of corn and his thirst for sweet potatoes the lonely waving fields of amber wheat you wanted to come back to that resting place even after your last stage of heart failure your spirit travelled across the parch and arid lands it finally made it there to roost and to repose amongst the house you had built as a monument to the…

Wilson clan a testament to the Samuels DNA which still whispers like antebellum phantoms in my vein I really miss you Sallie Canada you were light shining in dark places you were so stoic and Cherokee you Indian woman you fought off the last spasms of death until alas you gave up your final breath

To fly away toward meridional skies like a winged Corsica o’er Kelly Camden fields of green there you are with your ancestors singing We have overcome for you were strong in life now you are strong in spirit

And there remains the legacy of your love and of your fried chicken like Aunt Sugar Lump and Aunt Mamie’s collard greens and dumpling they endure in me I have pictures of you now smiles frozen in sequential time-but they are not you for you were like the sun that broke through the long night in the early hours of dawn during the stillness of twilight-I still hear you whispering holy words purloined from the scriptures like a cantor before the Torah shields

Alas it’s at this moment I know what the name Sallie truly stood for: it meant Soulful Attributes of Loving Light & Internal Endearment-you see mommy it is at this moment 
I finally recognized what you represented and I apologize ‘cause it took me this long

Post Script: Now I wear your unfinished green blanket as a scarf and I carry your radiant smile with that ole peculiar South Carolinian pride.