National Observance for Christopher Columbus?
Just in case somebody out there stumbles across this blog today; I thought I’d provide a friendly reminder that Christopher Columbus did not discover “America”. (How do you “discover” a place where others have already taken up residence?) Columbus was actually a genocidal murderer who helped to spread European imperialism and usher in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
My favorite book about Columbus is written by Ivan Van Sertima. The book is entitled: “They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America.” Sertima provides archaeological, linguistic, and literary evidence that Africans had been visiting and engaging the natives of the land that would be called the Americas long before Columbus.
I needed this book like 20 years ago when my teacher was indoctrinating my young, impressionable mind with poetic grounding for Columbus’ greatness.
Another great read on Columubus and many others: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.
Strange is the land that gives murderers, rapists, and slave traders/owners national holidays.
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Brother Heber,
Until the people decide, as Woody Allen so aptly put it, that “tradition is the illusion of permanence”, then we as a society will continue to embrace holidays and traditions that are not only inaccurate and incorrect, but are culturally and humanistically destructive. There is no reason, in 2007, after all the information that has been disseminated to the public by the truth tellers about the real history of Christopher Columbus that this atrocious holiday is allowed to continue. But then, look at the corporate controlled mainstream media. They are complicit in the ongoing cultural colonialism, infecting all of our children with the garbage that they will carry for the rest of their lives unless at some point they liberate themselves. All we can do is continue to do the work that we do to inform, inspire, agitate, incite, educate and enlighten as many as we can so that the message and the truth grows exponentially.
I remember when I studied Colombus when I was a kid… They used to talk about him as he was a saver or something, but my country was also the home of thousands of natives that were killed or becomed into slaves… (as the entire continent).
I totally agree with you Heb, people should be tought the truth about what we call “el descubrimiento de America” (America’s discovery).
Leti
Columbus was a savage. Million dollar question, Who financed Columbus? 2 Million what is Columbus Heritage?
[...] G~man to death and nothing is better than him!! Monday, as you all should know, was Columbus day [HebHeb wrote a very interesting blog about that by the way…swing by and check it out when you ...] so I sat in the house with my mind set on doing some major things in my room. So, thats what I [...]