During a time when black America was subjected to Jim Crow laws and Africa was even more heavily afflicted by white colonialism, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out to bring about change for every black and brown person worldwide.
Less than a year after bus desegregation in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1957, King visited Africa for the first time, going to Ghana for the nation’s very first Independence Day after freeing itself from Britain.
It wasn’t until after his visit that King noted that segregation in America and colonialism in Africa were based on the same thing: white supremacy and contempt for life.
The Ghanaian experience confirmed to King that nonviolence was an effective strategy, and he returned to America more determined than ever to bring about change.
Today, schools, streets and children in Africa are named in his honor, and now more Africans and African-Americans work together through various organizations in an attempt to completely free one another from ancient oppressors.
Ethiopian Religious Manuscripts Make Way To D.C.
The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., recently welcomed some of Ethiopia’s most important religious manuscripts, donated by Chicago-based collectors Gerald and Barbara Weiner, who gave the handmade leather manuscripts in hope of allowing Ethiopians in the U.S. to use them for prayers and study.
In total, the collection is comprised of 125 Christian manuscripts, including liturgical books, hagiographies, psalters, over 350 handwritten “magic” scrolls — which are traditional Christian prayer talismans — and 215 Islamic manuscripts, including the Quran and commentaries on Quran, the Catholic News Agency reported.
According to Dr. Aaron M. Butts, Catholic University professor of semitic and Egyptian languages and literature, the collection “provides unparalleled primary sources for the study of Eastern Christianity” and is the largest collection of Ethiopian Islamic manuscripts outside of Ethiopia.
Woman Becomes 1st Female Fighter Pilot in Zambia
In a historic first, 2nd Lt. Thokozile Muwamba recently became the first female fighter pilot in Zambia.
The achievement, considered a major step toward ending gender disparity within the profession, has also been viewed by many as motivation to women everywhere.
Intent on pursuing her dreams, the 24-year-old shed light on her personal victories.
“I look at the fact that when I am in the airplane, the aircraft knows no sex as it depends on my input even if I am a woman,” she said. “I can also give it the right steering for it to respond correctly.
“Men are not a competition but counterparts that one should work with, and hence women should begin to participate and realize their abilities,” Muwamba said. “Because of this understanding, I am ready to undertake this task ahead of me.”