Last week, The Philadelphia Tribune reported that a group of American-born Melanoid people met with The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (a U.N.-sanctioned panel) to discuss recommendations on how to compensate Black Society with the long overdue reparations.

The current–and longstanding–climate in which Melanoid people have dwelt since the onset of slavery has become cause for alarm among U.N. officials, prompting Mireille Fanon Mendes-France of France (a U.N. chairperson) to express “extremely concern about the human rights situation of African-Americans”, as it was stated in a report that was discussed in the aforementioned meeting.

 The irony of the story yet again exposes the U.S.’s blatant denial of the gruesome history of slavery/racism that has crept into every nook and cranny of its 50 states. It also illustrates how this nation has gone to great lengths to deny Melanoid people the resources we deserve.

B. Clark

]]> https://www.melanoidnation.org/the-united-nations-is-in-favor-of-reparations-for-black-people-in-u-s/feed/ 233 https://www.melanoidnation.org/new-childrens-book-portrays-george-washington-as-a-beloved-slavemaster/ https://www.melanoidnation.org/new-childrens-book-portrays-george-washington-as-a-beloved-slavemaster/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2016 20:55:44 +0000 http://melanoidnation.org/?p=3121 If there’s been any doubt about the power of media, than perhaps this children’s book will cause you to reconsider your skepticism.

With the celebration of former U.S. president George Washington’s birthday approximately a month away, a book has been released that depicts a highly disturbing narrative. The title of the book is A Birthday Cake For George Washington. In the book, readers will almost be immediately discover that the main characters in the book are Melanoid house slaves who are scrambling throughout the book to bake a cake for Washington, whose birthday is the occasion.

The featured characters are named “Hercules” (the first White House chef), his daughter Delia (who narrates the story), and a goofy little child simply named “Kitchen Boy” who follows Delia around for the duration of the story. The book was written by New York Times food writer Ramin Ganeshram, and it has already received rave reviews from organizations such as the Children’s Book Council.

The premise of the book emphasizes the featured characters’ sense of urgency to appease their slavemaster, which in this case involves them attempting to bake a cake.As it relates to the topic at hand, the question for those in Black Society should be: Are you ok with your Black children consuming literature such as A Birthday Cake For George Washington?

While much concern has been expressed over the need for more empowering Black narratives (especially for our youth), you can be sure that a solution is right around the corner.

B. Clark

Black workers of a Sara Lee plant in Paris, Texas–which closed in 2011–suffered atrocious mistreatment at the hands of white supremacist supervisors and staff. The workplace conditions that the Melanoid employees suffered were so vile and disrespectful, it was stated in the settlement (filed by 74 former Black employees at the factory) that the workers were subjected to “environmental racism”.

The Hillshire Brands Company, (formerly known as the Sara Lee Corporation), is slated to pay $4 million to the former Black employees who were mistreated. Reports reveal that the factory’s premises were covered in grafitti, with white extremist phrases and words such as “we hate these niggers”, “KKK”, and apes hanging from nooses–littered throughout the facility.

Not only was the blatant racism seen throughout the factory, it was also heard on numerous occasions, with the former Black employees recalling accounts of them being verbally assaulted by supervisors and co-workers with a barrage of racial epithets. The grievances of the Black workers were ignored by management.

The Black workers of the now-defunct Paris, TX plant were under the thumb of white supremacy at their job so much that it physically affected their health. CBS Chicago reported that the Blacks at this job were forced to do jobs in areas which were infested with black mold, asbestos, and other deadly substances. As a result of being railroaded into working in such deadly conditions, several of the employees developed cancer in the process.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) opened a two year investigation which concluded that the Melanoid people who were the victims of discrimination at this factory were entitled to the payout.

Follow this link to watch a video clip of a statement given by Suzanne Anderson, Attorney for the Dallas Chapter of the EEOC in regards to the settlement that is owed to the former Black employees of the Sara Lee plant in Paris, Texas.

B. Clark

Many of these locations were called “contraband camps”, and they were hastily built internment camps that were generally in proximity to Union army camps.

One gruesome camp in particular was located in Natchez ,Ms. The Devil’s Punchbowl is a place located in Natchez, where during the Civil War, authorities forced tens of thousands of freed slaves to live in these American death camps. Researcher Paula Westbrook said that, “The union army did not allow them to remove the bodies from the camp. They just gave ’em shovels and said bury ’em where they drop.”

“When the slaves were released from the plantations during the occupation they overran Natchez. And the population went from about 10,000 to 120,000 overnight,” Westbrook said.

“So they decided to build an encampment for ’em at Devil’s Punchbowl which they walled off and wouldn’t let ’em out,” Don Estes, former director of the Natchez City Cemetery, said.

In Natchez Mississipi alone, official estimate that in the time span of just one year, over 20,000 free Black people were killed in the concentration camp called The Devil’s Punchbowl.

Here is a news story about these death camps for Black people.

President Obama recently earmarked millions of dollars in reparations to Jewish survivors of the Nazi Germany holocaust.  When are Melanoid Americans going to received reparations for antebellum slavery, the contraband camps after slavery, the Jim Crow era terrorism, 100 years of ritualistic lynchings, and other state sanctioned terrorism aimed at Black people today still?

An article in the New York Daily News reveals that Oscar-winning actor Ben Affleck has some antebellum skeletons in his closet that he prefers the rest of the world not see.  Affleck’s ancestors were discussed on the popular PBS special titled, Finding Your Roots, which is hosted by Black scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates. During the filming of the episode which featured Afflecks genealogy, it was discovered that his family tree had slave-owning relatives. Affleck–like many white celebrities and public figures who use the system of white supremacy to deny their white privilege with the illusion that their success is based entirely on hard work or merit–demanded that his slave-owning ancestors be edited from the show.

In seeing to it that his wishes were granted, Affleck got help from executives at Sony by way of Henry Louis Gates when it was reported that Gates “nervously asked a top Sony executive for ‘advice’ in handling Affleck’s special request.”

Here is a video clip of Ben Affleck’s appearance on Finding Your Roots, which originally aired on PBS.

by B. Clark

The exact location where the transactions were made occurred on the corner of of Wall and Pearl Streets from 1711 to 1762, and played its part as sole industry in the United States which jump started its nearly 240 years of economic prosperity.

A 16-inch-by-24-inch metal sign is scheduled to be erected this upcoming June, which commemorates 150 years since the official ending of slavery in the U.S.  As we all know, however, Wall Street’s open acknowledgement of slavery alone will not erase the traumatic memories connected with the evils of slavery, and its lingering effects on Melanoid people in the U.S. to this day.

Here is a link to story.

by B. Clark