| Archives Page 7 Past Features of Southern Scene Magazine |
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Eight Recent & Historical
Reasons African Americans
Don't Trust the Government
Reasons African Americans
Don't Trust the Government
| Summer 2011 Issue |
| Part III |
| 5. IS AIDS GENOCIDE? |
During Medieval times in
Europe AIDS would have been
known as the Black Death.
Ironically, it could be called that
today with the reported high
rate of African Americans
afflicted with the disease. The
symptoms, as they were back
then, consisted of swollen
glands, cysts, tumors, bumps,
colds, flu, weight loss, skin rot,
chronic fatigue, and subsequent
death. In the current age, this
sort of pandemic would easily
be labeled immune deficiency.
The virus, also identified as the
bubonic plague and smallpox,
was used as a weapon of war –
a tactic practiced throughout
history.
These human engineered
plagues were often spread
using methods like placing toxic
garments in wells and tipping
arrowheads with feces. During
the mid 14th century the
Mongols catapulted dead
bodies ravished with disease
across a wall into European
Europe AIDS would have been
known as the Black Death.
Ironically, it could be called that
today with the reported high
rate of African Americans
afflicted with the disease. The
symptoms, as they were back
then, consisted of swollen
glands, cysts, tumors, bumps,
colds, flu, weight loss, skin rot,
chronic fatigue, and subsequent
death. In the current age, this
sort of pandemic would easily
be labeled immune deficiency.
The virus, also identified as the
bubonic plague and smallpox,
was used as a weapon of war –
a tactic practiced throughout
history.
These human engineered
plagues were often spread
using methods like placing toxic
garments in wells and tipping
arrowheads with feces. During
the mid 14th century the
Mongols catapulted dead
bodies ravished with disease
across a wall into European
teritory. Within five years a third of the continent’s population was wiped
out. Centuries later, European settlers would give Native Americans
blankets filled with smallpox.
The idea of government conspiracies against blacks isn’t at all a
ridiculous one. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment alone is reason to
wonder about the manufacture of AIDS, a disease no one heard
anything about until the 1980s. The infamous, racist experiment was
called the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. It
was conducted from 1932 through 1972 on poor, illiterate black
sharecroppers unknowingly infected with syphilis. Six hundred men were
used to learn the differences in its effects on blacks and whites (399 had
syphilis, 201 did not). They were refused treatment even after a penicillin
cure was discovered in the 1940s. It was never the doctors’ intention to
cure the disease but examine the viral effects through autopsies.
Tragically and shamefully, without the enduring support of Alabama’s
black medical community the experiment never would have been able to
take place.
Disproportionate numbers of black people around the world are
dying each year from the mysterious infection of HIV/AIDS. Where did it
come from all of a sudden? The African monkey theory is a little hard to
swallow since primates and humans have existed for thousands of years
in the Motherland without the presence of a deadly autoimmune
deficiency. This confirms how much scientists and medical practitioners
rely on the public’s profound ignorance.
Perhaps maybe it’s too far-fetched to think the developed world
created this evil to reduce the enormous population of dark peoples –
then again perhaps not, particularly when an excessive populace is
considered a burden on most any power structure. Furthermore,
Caucasian numbers are diminishing. While white women aren’t
producing as many births, so-called minorities are.
There is strong speculation that AIDS was spread throughout
central Africa by means of a mass inoculation program performed by the
WHO (World Health Organization) in the 1970s. The U.S. Department of
Defense is also presumed to have done research on biological weapons,
which included diseases that destroy the immune system.
Weather or not you believe AIDS is a diabolical predator born from a
petri dish, you must in any case recognize that the persistent data
promote fantastic tales about African Americans. In order for blacks, who
account for merely 12% of the U.S. population to carry the vast majority
of new AIDS cases, they would have to be by far society’s most immoral,
self-destructive citizens. Surely other races engage in infidelity,
unprotected sex, and drug abuse.
Despite the reports, African Americans and all peoples living with
and threatened by the possibility of contracting HIV/AIDS can be
encouraged as well as proactive. In Rwanda AIDS cases have dropped
tremendously due to the promotion and practice of non-premarital sex.
Remembering to love oneself and take care of oneself is most essential.
On the flip side, there are many health experts out there who are both
skilled and humane willing and able to help those who suffer get through
this turbulent journey. Seek them out. In life no matter what we face
there is always hope!
out. Centuries later, European settlers would give Native Americans
blankets filled with smallpox.
The idea of government conspiracies against blacks isn’t at all a
ridiculous one. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment alone is reason to
wonder about the manufacture of AIDS, a disease no one heard
anything about until the 1980s. The infamous, racist experiment was
called the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. It
was conducted from 1932 through 1972 on poor, illiterate black
sharecroppers unknowingly infected with syphilis. Six hundred men were
used to learn the differences in its effects on blacks and whites (399 had
syphilis, 201 did not). They were refused treatment even after a penicillin
cure was discovered in the 1940s. It was never the doctors’ intention to
cure the disease but examine the viral effects through autopsies.
Tragically and shamefully, without the enduring support of Alabama’s
black medical community the experiment never would have been able to
take place.
Disproportionate numbers of black people around the world are
dying each year from the mysterious infection of HIV/AIDS. Where did it
come from all of a sudden? The African monkey theory is a little hard to
swallow since primates and humans have existed for thousands of years
in the Motherland without the presence of a deadly autoimmune
deficiency. This confirms how much scientists and medical practitioners
rely on the public’s profound ignorance.
Perhaps maybe it’s too far-fetched to think the developed world
created this evil to reduce the enormous population of dark peoples –
then again perhaps not, particularly when an excessive populace is
considered a burden on most any power structure. Furthermore,
Caucasian numbers are diminishing. While white women aren’t
producing as many births, so-called minorities are.
There is strong speculation that AIDS was spread throughout
central Africa by means of a mass inoculation program performed by the
WHO (World Health Organization) in the 1970s. The U.S. Department of
Defense is also presumed to have done research on biological weapons,
which included diseases that destroy the immune system.
Weather or not you believe AIDS is a diabolical predator born from a
petri dish, you must in any case recognize that the persistent data
promote fantastic tales about African Americans. In order for blacks, who
account for merely 12% of the U.S. population to carry the vast majority
of new AIDS cases, they would have to be by far society’s most immoral,
self-destructive citizens. Surely other races engage in infidelity,
unprotected sex, and drug abuse.
Despite the reports, African Americans and all peoples living with
and threatened by the possibility of contracting HIV/AIDS can be
encouraged as well as proactive. In Rwanda AIDS cases have dropped
tremendously due to the promotion and practice of non-premarital sex.
Remembering to love oneself and take care of oneself is most essential.
On the flip side, there are many health experts out there who are both
skilled and humane willing and able to help those who suffer get through
this turbulent journey. Seek them out. In life no matter what we face
there is always hope!
| Runaway Slave |
| Summer 2011 Issue |
| Does Prison Turn Black Men Gay? |
by Rhoda Walker
I don’t take this subject at all lightly. One of the main reasons
many black women with HIV suffer is due to their commitment to the
sexually recycled, disease-carrying males of long-term prison. How
is the alpha male to dodge the sexual abuse and ultimate
temptation of incarceration? Society is often ready to excuse male
infidelity as a natural, unavoidable impulse. Moreover, men
traditionally express their preference and ability to be able to
separate love from sex. Isn’t it far easier to achieve this in prison?
Today homosexuality is far less forbidden. It’s well on its way to
being viewed as a third sex – an alternative lifestyle in regular
society, and behind bars it’s practically the norm.
Among the many things wrong with the penal system is its
allowance of countless rapes. After serving a long sentence, most
will definitely have been a victim or willing participant of the
homosexual experience. Some masculine males who resign to
having sex with other men in jail, often feel they have no choice. But
for some (maybe even most), upon their release, those old desires
inevitably return.
The “downlow” reflects the secret life many bi-sexual black males
in heterosexual relationships choose to lead. A clear driving-force
behind this paradigm is prison. Most African American men are in
prisons for non-violent infractions and petty crimes with high
recidivist rates. Based on the statistics or notion that more black
men go to jail than college, there are possibly more of them having
sex with other men than there are those actively pursuing
productive careers and willing to share their lives with women.
This is yet another means of destroying the black family. We
must control this if we are to survive as a race. Black women have
fewer and fewer good options as it relates to black men, but there’s
always the hope of turning things around.
many black women with HIV suffer is due to their commitment to the
sexually recycled, disease-carrying males of long-term prison. How
is the alpha male to dodge the sexual abuse and ultimate
temptation of incarceration? Society is often ready to excuse male
infidelity as a natural, unavoidable impulse. Moreover, men
traditionally express their preference and ability to be able to
separate love from sex. Isn’t it far easier to achieve this in prison?
Today homosexuality is far less forbidden. It’s well on its way to
being viewed as a third sex – an alternative lifestyle in regular
society, and behind bars it’s practically the norm.
Among the many things wrong with the penal system is its
allowance of countless rapes. After serving a long sentence, most
will definitely have been a victim or willing participant of the
homosexual experience. Some masculine males who resign to
having sex with other men in jail, often feel they have no choice. But
for some (maybe even most), upon their release, those old desires
inevitably return.
The “downlow” reflects the secret life many bi-sexual black males
in heterosexual relationships choose to lead. A clear driving-force
behind this paradigm is prison. Most African American men are in
prisons for non-violent infractions and petty crimes with high
recidivist rates. Based on the statistics or notion that more black
men go to jail than college, there are possibly more of them having
sex with other men than there are those actively pursuing
productive careers and willing to share their lives with women.
This is yet another means of destroying the black family. We
must control this if we are to survive as a race. Black women have
fewer and fewer good options as it relates to black men, but there’s
always the hope of turning things around.
| Black Native American Mound Builders of Georgia |
| Summer 2011 Issue |
| Ancient Lamar Spiral Mound of Macon,GA |
| Ancient Nsude Spiral Mound Pyramids of Nigeria |
The state of Georgia has one of the most unique, varied landscapes
in the entire country with mountain ranges in the North, rolling hills and
valleys in the center, and coastal plains in the South. Among the more
distinctive, historically significant features of this region are the numerous,
ancient shell mounds and earthen mounds built by the multi-cultural, multi-
complexioned, pre-Columbus people.
These mound settlements can be found in warm and coastal climates
around the world. Along the eastern shores of America and western
shores of Africa are many shell mounds, which were created by the
original people often used for protection during flood seasons. One of the
largest shell mounds of the Southeast exists on Sapelo Island near
Darien, Georgia.
Most of the southeastern earthen mounds were destroyed by European
settlers. They were used for burial grounds, religious temples, as well as
urban settlements. The largest earthen site in North America is located
near St. Louis, Missouri. It is called Cahokia, an ancient city which had 120
mounds built along the Mississippi River spanning more than 2,000 acres.
The city is dated from 700 to 1400 AD having had over 20,000 residents. A
pre-Islamic culture, known today as Mali, built their houses on an 82-acre
mound along the Middle Niger River called Jenne-jeno. This ancient
settlement existed from the 3rd century BC through the 9th century AD with
as many as 27,000 people at one time during its occupation. Jenne-Jeno
is the largest known ancient mound of Africa, as well as its oldest sub-
Saharan urban civilization.
In Macon, Georgia there is the Lamar spiral mound site, similar to the
ancient circular stepped pyramids of West Mexico and West Africa. The
ancient Nsude circle stepped pyramids built by the Igbo culture of Nigeria,
were discovered in 1935. Georgia’s ancient mounds like those throughout
North America, Africa, and the rest of the world all bear a striking
resemblances. These mounds were built by the original black and brown
people in warm climates across the globe. This clearly shows us that
blacks existed in America long before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
in the entire country with mountain ranges in the North, rolling hills and
valleys in the center, and coastal plains in the South. Among the more
distinctive, historically significant features of this region are the numerous,
ancient shell mounds and earthen mounds built by the multi-cultural, multi-
complexioned, pre-Columbus people.
These mound settlements can be found in warm and coastal climates
around the world. Along the eastern shores of America and western
shores of Africa are many shell mounds, which were created by the
original people often used for protection during flood seasons. One of the
largest shell mounds of the Southeast exists on Sapelo Island near
Darien, Georgia.
Most of the southeastern earthen mounds were destroyed by European
settlers. They were used for burial grounds, religious temples, as well as
urban settlements. The largest earthen site in North America is located
near St. Louis, Missouri. It is called Cahokia, an ancient city which had 120
mounds built along the Mississippi River spanning more than 2,000 acres.
The city is dated from 700 to 1400 AD having had over 20,000 residents. A
pre-Islamic culture, known today as Mali, built their houses on an 82-acre
mound along the Middle Niger River called Jenne-jeno. This ancient
settlement existed from the 3rd century BC through the 9th century AD with
as many as 27,000 people at one time during its occupation. Jenne-Jeno
is the largest known ancient mound of Africa, as well as its oldest sub-
Saharan urban civilization.
In Macon, Georgia there is the Lamar spiral mound site, similar to the
ancient circular stepped pyramids of West Mexico and West Africa. The
ancient Nsude circle stepped pyramids built by the Igbo culture of Nigeria,
were discovered in 1935. Georgia’s ancient mounds like those throughout
North America, Africa, and the rest of the world all bear a striking
resemblances. These mounds were built by the original black and brown
people in warm climates across the globe. This clearly shows us that
blacks existed in America long before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Reference:
-Pauketat, Timothy R. Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi.
Vikings Books, 2009.
-Pauketat, Timothy R. Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi.
Vikings Books, 2009.
References:
AIDS Genocide: The Crime That Dare Not Speak Its Name!
http://aidsbiowar.com/page2.htm
Foundation of AIDS. http://dmc.members.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon1.html
Jeffery Amherst and Smallpox Blankets.
http://www.lenapeprograms.info/Wisdom/smallpox.htm
Los Angeles Times. Minority Population Growing in the United States,
Census Estimates Show.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/10/nation/la-na-census-20100611
Study Reveals a Decrease in the Cases of HIV in Rwanda.
http://topnews.co.uk/29209-study-reveals-decrease-cases-hiv-rwanda
The Great Plague. http://www.rotten.com/library/history/plague/
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762136.html
AIDS Genocide: The Crime That Dare Not Speak Its Name!
http://aidsbiowar.com/page2.htm
Foundation of AIDS. http://dmc.members.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon1.html
Jeffery Amherst and Smallpox Blankets.
http://www.lenapeprograms.info/Wisdom/smallpox.htm
Los Angeles Times. Minority Population Growing in the United States,
Census Estimates Show.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/10/nation/la-na-census-20100611
Study Reveals a Decrease in the Cases of HIV in Rwanda.
http://topnews.co.uk/29209-study-reveals-decrease-cases-hiv-rwanda
The Great Plague. http://www.rotten.com/library/history/plague/
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762136.html
| November 2011 Tour Guide Issue |
| Remembering Captain Sam |
Long gone are the days of the slow cruises up and
down the Savannah River to places like Daufuskie Island,
SC. An endearing, adventurous man had a vision that
would provide lasting, good and wholesome memories for
African Americans throughout the Southeast. His name
was Captain Sam Stevens, and he owned Cap’n Sam
Cruises, Inc. on River Street in Savannah, Georgia. Cap’n
Sam was affectionately known as the “Mayor of River
Street”. He operated his tour boat business from the
1950s to the late 1980s.
He was born in 1911 in Darien, Georgia. In 1926 he
joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Survey Team.
He also joined the Coast Guard during WWII, after which
time he began making plans for his dream. Eventually he
would come to own three river boats, the 350-passenger,
Cap’n Sam; the 317-passenger, the Waving Girl; and the
150-passenger, the Harbor Queen. In addition he owned
his own oil company, Stevens Oil.
The captain died in 1991. This African American has left
an incredible legacy of innovation, enterprise, and
kindness.
down the Savannah River to places like Daufuskie Island,
SC. An endearing, adventurous man had a vision that
would provide lasting, good and wholesome memories for
African Americans throughout the Southeast. His name
was Captain Sam Stevens, and he owned Cap’n Sam
Cruises, Inc. on River Street in Savannah, Georgia. Cap’n
Sam was affectionately known as the “Mayor of River
Street”. He operated his tour boat business from the
1950s to the late 1980s.
He was born in 1911 in Darien, Georgia. In 1926 he
joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Survey Team.
He also joined the Coast Guard during WWII, after which
time he began making plans for his dream. Eventually he
would come to own three river boats, the 350-passenger,
Cap’n Sam; the 317-passenger, the Waving Girl; and the
150-passenger, the Harbor Queen. In addition he owned
his own oil company, Stevens Oil.
The captain died in 1991. This African American has left
an incredible legacy of innovation, enterprise, and
kindness.
| River Street Savannah, GA |
| DOWN HOME DESTINATIONS |
| Fall 2011 Issue |
Savannah's Freemen
| Slave Owners |
| Rev. Andrew Bryan |
| Rev. Andrew C. Marshall |
Slavery has been a part of civilization for many thousands
of years, existing in some way among all cultures. Africans and
Native Americans had a prisoner of war slave system in which
they never enslaved members of their own tribe. Furthermore, the
enslaved would often marry into their owners’ families as well as
become members of government. The type of chattel slavery
blacks typically experienced in the Americas rarely existed
between the black master and slave, however. Free blacks would
regularly purchase their family members and friends and set them
free, although not all efforts to free slaves were that simple.
Freemen paid higher taxes than everyone else, which made
owning slaves that much more difficult. Also, laws began to
greater limit the process of freeing slaves. Once freed, they had
to leave the state. From the perspective of white society, this cut
down on the freemen population; therefore, reducing the
possibility of uprisings.
Conversely, there were the black slave owners who were
encouraged by their white fathers to adopt the burdensome, gang
slavery method. Like the majority of the mulatto slave masters,
there were also full-blooded African American planters who
utilized slavery strictly for commercial purposes. They even went
so far as to support the confederacy. Most of the freemen in
Savannah, and throughout the South, were both mulatto and
female. This was due to various reasons. Personal relationships
were often formed between slave owners or overseers and
slaves, accounting for the large mulatto population. Many free
blacks immigrated to Savannah from places like Haiti, the
Caribbean, and West Africa. They were usually seamstresses,
pastry cooks, and washer women who owned one or two slaves
to help with these businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit was a
natural part of black women’s identity, as they invented and
controlled commerce before the influence of Islam. The majority of
free slave owners were yeomen farmers, owning not much more
than a couple of slaves with whom they often worked side by side.
These Savannah affluent, free persons of color lived in the
northeast section of downtown. Ironically freemen who weren’t
well off, lived among slaves in Yamacraw, and those who met with
hard times would periodically sell themselves back into slavery.
Savannah’s famous freemen ministers were also slave owners.
Andrew Bryan, the first pastor of the First Colored Baptist Church
(Later known as First African Baptist Church) purchased his
daughter, Hannah, and grandchild, Carolina, whom he sold to a
black church member, Adam Whitefield. He was the husband and
father to the aforementioned slaves. A year later, Bryan
purchased his wife, Rachel. He also owned subsequent slaves
not known to be relatives. Henry Cunningham, pastor of 2nd
African Baptist Church sold one of his slaves to Andrew Marshall,
who was the pastor at First African, succeeding his uncle, Andrew
Bryan. Marshall was also the son of a white slave overseer.
Nominal slaves were those who were hired out by their masters
and lived like freed slaves whom they outnumbered. They could
seek their own employment and even hire other slaves. Slaves
who hired their own time could also hire family members. They
were also able to run their own households, have full names, and
hold jobs of their own choosing. These slaves lived better than
some whites.
Toward the Civil War era Savannah’s number of black slave
owners decreased as it did across the South. Some whites were
less willing to sell slaves to blacks because it reflected badly on
Southern white society, placing blacks on a higher socio-
economic level.
of years, existing in some way among all cultures. Africans and
Native Americans had a prisoner of war slave system in which
they never enslaved members of their own tribe. Furthermore, the
enslaved would often marry into their owners’ families as well as
become members of government. The type of chattel slavery
blacks typically experienced in the Americas rarely existed
between the black master and slave, however. Free blacks would
regularly purchase their family members and friends and set them
free, although not all efforts to free slaves were that simple.
Freemen paid higher taxes than everyone else, which made
owning slaves that much more difficult. Also, laws began to
greater limit the process of freeing slaves. Once freed, they had
to leave the state. From the perspective of white society, this cut
down on the freemen population; therefore, reducing the
possibility of uprisings.
Conversely, there were the black slave owners who were
encouraged by their white fathers to adopt the burdensome, gang
slavery method. Like the majority of the mulatto slave masters,
there were also full-blooded African American planters who
utilized slavery strictly for commercial purposes. They even went
so far as to support the confederacy. Most of the freemen in
Savannah, and throughout the South, were both mulatto and
female. This was due to various reasons. Personal relationships
were often formed between slave owners or overseers and
slaves, accounting for the large mulatto population. Many free
blacks immigrated to Savannah from places like Haiti, the
Caribbean, and West Africa. They were usually seamstresses,
pastry cooks, and washer women who owned one or two slaves
to help with these businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit was a
natural part of black women’s identity, as they invented and
controlled commerce before the influence of Islam. The majority of
free slave owners were yeomen farmers, owning not much more
than a couple of slaves with whom they often worked side by side.
These Savannah affluent, free persons of color lived in the
northeast section of downtown. Ironically freemen who weren’t
well off, lived among slaves in Yamacraw, and those who met with
hard times would periodically sell themselves back into slavery.
Savannah’s famous freemen ministers were also slave owners.
Andrew Bryan, the first pastor of the First Colored Baptist Church
(Later known as First African Baptist Church) purchased his
daughter, Hannah, and grandchild, Carolina, whom he sold to a
black church member, Adam Whitefield. He was the husband and
father to the aforementioned slaves. A year later, Bryan
purchased his wife, Rachel. He also owned subsequent slaves
not known to be relatives. Henry Cunningham, pastor of 2nd
African Baptist Church sold one of his slaves to Andrew Marshall,
who was the pastor at First African, succeeding his uncle, Andrew
Bryan. Marshall was also the son of a white slave overseer.
Nominal slaves were those who were hired out by their masters
and lived like freed slaves whom they outnumbered. They could
seek their own employment and even hire other slaves. Slaves
who hired their own time could also hire family members. They
were also able to run their own households, have full names, and
hold jobs of their own choosing. These slaves lived better than
some whites.
Toward the Civil War era Savannah’s number of black slave
owners decreased as it did across the South. Some whites were
less willing to sell slaves to blacks because it reflected badly on
Southern white society, placing blacks on a higher socio-
economic level.
| The Henry Cunningham House at 117-119 Houston St. (Downtown Savannah on Green Square) A Freeman, slave owner, and pastor of Second African Baptist Church |
SOURCES:
www.connectsavannah.com/news/archive/10692/
www.soulofamerica.com/savannah-black-genesis.phtml
www.connectsavannah.com/news/archive/10692/
www.soulofamerica.com/savannah-black-genesis.phtml
| December 2011 Tour Guide Issue |
| History of the Black Circus |
Centuries before the movie theatres became a common source of
public entertainment, live acts like minstrel shows and circuses
thoroughly satisfied people’s need for fun and excitement. The Big Top
started with the traveling actors and musicians performing in circular
outdoor amphitheatres and coliseums in the style of ancient Rome. The
black circus gets its flavorful roots from many different sources, primarily
ancient African religious festivals celebrating harvests, good spirits, and
ancestors.
The American circus has a firm foundation in minstrels; crude black
face parodies of African American slaves performed by whites. They
consisted of massive productions of dancing, singing, comedy acts, etc.
Minstrels became more popular after the Civil War, concentrating
on the nostalgia of slavery and the twisted perception of the “darky”
longing for the days of cotton. Blacks began performing the wearing
blackface around this time billing themselves as “real coons”. This was
a way to culturally authenticate and distinguish their usually more
entertaining acts from those of white minstrels.
The only black-owned circus in the U.S. is the UniverSoul Circus,
founded in 1994 by Cedric Walker. He started out as a business
promoter for top entertainers like the Jackson Five and plays like “A
Good Man is Hard to Find”. He initially financed the circus with his own
savings. Savannah was thrilled this past Thanksgiving with the last stop
on their season tour.
It’s a single ring circus under a big and beautiful old-time tent. In
addition to their famous hip hop and old school flavor they generously
treat audiences to a menagerie of highly deft acrobats and trapeze
artists from the Caribbean, Africa, Russia, China and other exotic
places. One of UniverSoul Circus’ signature acts is the ancient West
African art of stilk-walking.
Black entertainment has always been extraordinary, and the circus is
no different. It is a celebration of clever, funny, skillful, and exciting talent
and culture.
public entertainment, live acts like minstrel shows and circuses
thoroughly satisfied people’s need for fun and excitement. The Big Top
started with the traveling actors and musicians performing in circular
outdoor amphitheatres and coliseums in the style of ancient Rome. The
black circus gets its flavorful roots from many different sources, primarily
ancient African religious festivals celebrating harvests, good spirits, and
ancestors.
The American circus has a firm foundation in minstrels; crude black
face parodies of African American slaves performed by whites. They
consisted of massive productions of dancing, singing, comedy acts, etc.
Minstrels became more popular after the Civil War, concentrating
on the nostalgia of slavery and the twisted perception of the “darky”
longing for the days of cotton. Blacks began performing the wearing
blackface around this time billing themselves as “real coons”. This was
a way to culturally authenticate and distinguish their usually more
entertaining acts from those of white minstrels.
The only black-owned circus in the U.S. is the UniverSoul Circus,
founded in 1994 by Cedric Walker. He started out as a business
promoter for top entertainers like the Jackson Five and plays like “A
Good Man is Hard to Find”. He initially financed the circus with his own
savings. Savannah was thrilled this past Thanksgiving with the last stop
on their season tour.
It’s a single ring circus under a big and beautiful old-time tent. In
addition to their famous hip hop and old school flavor they generously
treat audiences to a menagerie of highly deft acrobats and trapeze
artists from the Caribbean, Africa, Russia, China and other exotic
places. One of UniverSoul Circus’ signature acts is the ancient West
African art of stilk-walking.
Black entertainment has always been extraordinary, and the circus is
no different. It is a celebration of clever, funny, skillful, and exciting talent
and culture.
UniverSoul Circus
Trinidad Carnival 2011
Black Minstrel Show
| February 2011 Tour Guide Issue |
| Shot Gun Houses Ancient African Architecture |
In the early America slaves were responsible for building
their own houses from materials they could find like logs, straw,
and mud. They built the type of shelters they were accustomed
to in Africa. The shogun house, later called shotgun in America
was a rectangular structure meaning “God’s house”, somewhat
similar in appearance to the Native American longhouse. Much
of the cultural and physical landscape of the plantation was
designed by slaves. In Africa villages consisted of the chief’s
house, which was larger and more ornate than the other
dwellings that were often in rows close by.
This African style of building also introduced the concept of
the front porch to America. The house was termed shotgun,
many believe, because of the floor plan. A person could shoot
through the front door and out the back without hitting a wall.
The U.S. began to build many of these homes during and after
slavery, due to their low cost of construction. They can still be
found throughout the South in places like New Orleans, Miami,
Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Reference:
Engines of Our Ingenuity. www.uh.edu/engines/epi820.
htm
their own houses from materials they could find like logs, straw,
and mud. They built the type of shelters they were accustomed
to in Africa. The shogun house, later called shotgun in America
was a rectangular structure meaning “God’s house”, somewhat
similar in appearance to the Native American longhouse. Much
of the cultural and physical landscape of the plantation was
designed by slaves. In Africa villages consisted of the chief’s
house, which was larger and more ornate than the other
dwellings that were often in rows close by.
This African style of building also introduced the concept of
the front porch to America. The house was termed shotgun,
many believe, because of the floor plan. A person could shoot
through the front door and out the back without hitting a wall.
The U.S. began to build many of these homes during and after
slavery, due to their low cost of construction. They can still be
found throughout the South in places like New Orleans, Miami,
Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Reference:
Engines of Our Ingenuity. www.uh.edu/engines/epi820.
htm