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African Diaspora

100 essential things a child of the African diaspora should know before adulthood

Identity, Ancestry & Origins

Know that you come from Africa, the birthplace of humanity.
Learn what the African diaspora means — forced or voluntary dispersal of African peoples.
Know the country or region in Africa your ancestors most likely came from (West, Central, East, etc.).
Understand that you are descended from people who built civilizations.
Know that Blackness is global — not just one experience.
Learn your family’s story, even if incomplete — and start preserving it.
Be proud of your hair, skin, features, and language — they are sacred.
Understand the concept of Ubuntu — “I am because we are.”
Learn what Pan-Africanism is — unity among African peoples worldwide.
Understand that African identity is diverse, multilingual, and multidimensional.
Know the importance of oral tradition in African culture.
Learn about African naming traditions — including lost names.
Be proud of the names your family carried through enslavement and resistance.
Understand the legacy of colorism and how it was used to divide us.
Learn the difference between ethnicity, race, and nationality.
Recognize the difference between being Black in America, Brazil, France, Jamaica, or Ghana — but also the shared spirit.
Know the power of reclaiming your African name, culture, or language.
Learn what it means to be an African descendant in a world shaped by colonization.
Know that you are not a descendant of slaves — you are a descendant of enslaved Africans.
Understand that your bloodline survived the impossible — and that is your power.

African Civilizations & Indigenous Knowledge

Study ancient civilizations: Kemet (Egypt), Nubia, Mali, Ghana, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, Axum.
Know about Timbuktu, a world center of knowledge and education.
Learn about Imhotep, the world’s first known multi-genius.
Know that African people created advanced math, astronomy, architecture, medicine, and agriculture.
Understand the spiritual systems like Ifá, Vodun, Maat, and others.
Learn about African symbols, cosmologies, and proverbs.
Know how African art, music, dance, and rhythm shaped global culture.
Understand the concept of Maat — truth, balance, justice, reciprocity.
Learn how divination, ancestor veneration, and herbal healing were practiced across Africa.
Study the importance of land, lineage, and elders in African tradition.
Know about African philosophy: interdependence, balance, collective strength.
Learn how African education was done through rites of passage and elders.
Understand how Africa was connected to Asia and the Americas before colonization.
Know that African civilizations were not tribal or primitive — but complex, scientific, and spiritual.
Learn the truth about the Library of Alexandria, much of which came from African temples.
Study African contributions to navigation, metallurgy, and architecture.
Understand that colonial narratives erased or distorted African history.
Learn the story of the Benin Bronzes — and why they were looted.
Know that before colonization, Africans lived with dignity, autonomy, and genius.
Understand that reclaiming this history is part of your healing and freedom.

Enslavement, Resistance & Survival

Understand the Transatlantic Slave Trade — its scale, horror, and legacy.
Know how millions of Africans were stolen and sold to Europe and the Americas.
Learn about the Middle Passage — the deadly journey across the Atlantic.
Study the ways enslaved people resisted — through revolts, escape, culture, and spirituality.
Know the names of freedom fighters: Nat Turner, Nanny of the Maroons, Harriet Tubman, Toussaint Louverture, etc.
Understand that slavery was economic terrorism, not a passive condition.
Learn about Igbo Landing — mass resistance by enslaved Africans.
Know about maroon communities — free Black settlements.
Study Haitian Revolution — the first successful Black-led republic.
Understand the legacy of plantation economies and stolen wealth.
Learn how enslaved Africans preserved culture through music, food, language, and ritual.
Understand the links between slavery and capitalism.
Study the role of Africa in the abolition movements.
Learn how enslaved people created family, community, and faith despite oppression.
Know that slavery was not just in the U.S. — but also in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Study how spiritual resistance sustained our ancestors.
Know that you are the victory of the enslaved — you are their dream come true.
Understand the lasting impact of slavery on economics, trauma, identity, and policy.
Learn how freedom came — but was never fully given — it was always fought for.
Honor the resilience of those who loved, learned, and led through the chains.

Liberation, Movements & Pan-African Pride

Know about the abolitionist movements and freedom struggles in every country.
Learn about the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, and Black Lives Matter.
Study leaders like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Amílcar Cabral.
Learn the roots of Pan-Africanism — uniting Africa and its global children.
Study Marcus Garvey, the UNIA, and the Back to Africa movement.
Understand the importance of Black women in every liberation movement.
Know how youth, students, and artists have always been on the frontlines.
Learn about the role of Black churches, mosques, and traditional shrines in resistance.
Understand the legacy of Jim Crow, apartheid, and segregation.
Study how African music and culture fueled revolutions.
Learn about Black-led political and economic organizations.
Know that liberation includes health, land, education, and joy.
Study how language, schools, and religion were used to erase African identity.
Learn how we’ve reclaimed them — through Black studies, Africana studies, and cultural centers.
Know that Black unity is our greatest weapon against global oppression.
Study the anti-colonial movements across Africa and the Caribbean.
Understand how Black art, dance, and literature shape public consciousness.
Know that Pan-African pride is not separation — it’s reconnection.
Learn how Black liberation is tied to the freedom of all oppressed people.
Know that you are a future ancestor — and you must move with purpose.

Culture, Legacy & Leadership

Know that African diaspora culture is the most imitated, yet least credited.
Learn the roots of hip-hop, jazz, blues, reggae, dancehall, samba, capoeira.
Study Black literature: Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
Know that our hairstyles, rhythms, and fashions are ancestral.
Learn about Black culinary traditions — they carry stories of survival.
Study traditional African religions and philosophies with respect.
Know that Black spiritualities are sacred, not “witchcraft.”
Learn the significance of rites of passage in African cultures.
Respect the power of Black love, community, and family-building.
Know that Black people have always healed, invented, built, taught, and led.
Be proud to wear African fabric, symbols, or regalia — but know their meaning.
Learn to speak at least a few words in an African language.
Know the difference between cultural pride and supremacy.
Practice generosity, integrity, and respect — key African values.
Study the impact of Black women, LGBTQ+ people, and marginalized voices in shaping our story.
Learn financial literacy — our ancestors built wealth and managed kingdoms.
Reclaim African names, traditions, and philosophies.
Create your own version of freedom — rooted in ancestral wisdom.
Pass your knowledge to younger children — be a cultural torchbearer.
Know that your story began long before slavery — and it will continue far beyond oppression. You are legacy in motion.

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