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Mixed Race Black Activists

In this piece I will write about mixed race revolutionaries who fought against cruelty and oppression that black people face from the oppressors over the years. This idea came to me as many mixed race people I know do not want anything to do with blackness as they are ashamed of the oppression and the hardship that comes with it. This is entirely fair as many full blown black people hate themselves due to the shame, poverty, ridicule etc that people associate with it. In this one I will talk about a minority, mixed race people i.e. people mixed with African and any other race whether it is European, Asian etc. As slavery was an important and detrimental event in our history and it was the Europeans who were enslaving the Africans, obviously some race mixing happened so I will certainly place emphasis on mixed race people with both African and European origin during and after slavery. Less emphasis will be placed on other mixed race people with African and any other race for example African and Asian. The mixed race people I will mention in this article are the ones that saw themselves no different from the full black African people as they share the same struggle and they were proud to be 'black' not like some today who like to be black because to be black is to be popular. These revolutionaries stood up and represent blacks when Africans were the worst of people, shame disgust, repulsion, ignorance

and everything appalling was laid on these people yet these mixed race people stood by their African brothers in the worse of times. Yes I will commend and salute these people. There are several who fought for the cause but in this article I will mention only three.

Frederick Douglas

The first mixed race person of importance to African liberation and upliftment that I will mention is Frederick Douglas. This true revolutionary born to a black slave woman and a white slave master was a prominent figure in the abolition of slavery in the US. He was a brilliant speaker thus he became one of the countries first black speakers. His autobiography was published two years before he brought out an anti-slavery paper called 'The North Star'.

This man served as an advisor to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, which was about the fighting for black voting rights. He stood up for his race as he experienced and witnessed the injustices himself. He was a slave and he saw himself no different from the pure black man. He saw slave masters whipping the African women which was sometimes his own family in one case his aunt. This disturbed him severely. Furthermore his grandmother when deemed too old and no use for the slave masters, she was sent to the bushes to die.

Frederick Bailey changed his name to Frederick Douglas to avoid slave catchers tracing him. He married his black wife Anna Murray who was also a black Abolitionist.

This man was integral to in the ending of slavery in the US he demonstrated his disgust to this inhumane behaviour in his speeches and editorials. He spoke to the president of this oppression towards the Africans and how it has to stop. Under no uncertain terms did Douglas made clear that his sole aim was for the upliftment of African people. He played an integral role in the fight against the confederate government who wanted to uphold slavery. He never stopped till slavery was abolished, then fought for black voting rights and fought for the right for black soldiers to participate in the war against the confederate government who loved slavery and wanted to maintain it. Who knows what would have happened if the Confederate government won and took control of America?

Frederick Douglas brushed shoulders with the President of the Untied States and other important government officials but never forgot where he came from. How many of you Rich Black folks in such important positions can say this today? How many Frederick Douglas' are out there today?

George William Gordon

This special person was also the son of a black slave woman and a slave master. As a child he was not allowed in his father's 'great house' because of the colour of his skin just because he was born of a black African slave mum. George taught himself to read and write and was also very religious.

Born in Jamaica and became a free 'coloured' Gordon used his position to help his people. George William Gordon was doing very well for a coloured person as he was a successful businessman. He was a member of the Jamaica assembly and he lived his life for the upliftment of his people, African people in Jamaica. He was for the morale rights and social standards of the blacks at the time and this did not win him many friends; from the whites running Jamaica to the Middle class wealthy mixed race people in Jamaica who wanted nothing to do with the suffering blacks.

George was not blind, he saw the horrific and terrible times his people were going through. As he was in a high position and was wealthy, he would buy and lease land. He would divide and sell this land very cheaply to the blacks who had problems obtaining land at the time.

George constantly criticised those in charge of Jamaica at the time mainly governor Ewe. His criticism was the way the government and those in authority treated Africans. He organised meetings and sent a petition to Queen Victoria in England about the blacks' oppression and other brutal conditions. Queen Victoria simply replied and said 'the people could not expect schemes of government to better their condition'. After finding this out George held a meeting with his people, the Africans. At the same time Paul Bogle was protesting with his followers which resulted in the killing of 15 'important men' in the famous 'Morant Bay Uprising'. The governor blamed Gordon for this and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested and hanged in 1865 along with 18 ther Africans. George William Gordon is now a national hero in Jamaica for his efforts. How many George William Gordons are out there today?

Bob Marley

Bob Marley had a black African Mum and a European dad, yet he did not forget his African self. He did not become 'white', obviously as he suffered racial discrimination in his time living in the US as a young man. He saw himself as an African and sung about the oppression of African people worldwide. A very talented musician with a message of unity among Africans everywhere, Robert Nester Marley travelled the breadth of the earth to spread this message. He is one of the icons in the history of world music and has his rightful place in history as one of the great Africans. How many Bob Marleys is out there today?

My take on the whole thing

On this topic I could have mentioned several others, however these three are the first that came to mind and I wish to share their greatness with you. Obviously I couldn't have mentioned everything they did, I'm not writing a book. Just giving you an idea of how great these men were. The thing I liked about them is that they showed great courage and big hearts to stand up to the oppressors, governments in the name of Africans who were getting illtreated from the people in charge. At the same time Africans were the bottom of the pile and even blacks themselves did not want to be associated with themselves,even today, yet these warriors did help to fight the ones against black upliftment. These three did their bit to help get us where we are today. Most of us are now resting on our asses thinking 'everything is fine now' 'as long as I and my family are fine the world is lovely' 'its has nothing to do with me'. These men could have said and done the same thing and I must commend them for their fight for the improvement of African people's lives

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