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African Heritage

100 things African-America/African-diaspora/black/melanated children need to know about their history, lineage and world legacy before adulthood

ORIGINS & ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Know that humanity began in Africa — the cradle of civilization.
Understand the importance of the Nile Valley and Nubia/Kush.
Learn the truth about ancient Kemet (Egypt) as an African civilization.
Study the 42 Laws of Maat — the world's earliest moral code.
Know that African societies had writing systems (e.g., Medu Neter, Ge’ez, Nsibidi).
Learn about the Mali Empire and the university of Timbuktu.
Study the empires of Ghana, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, and Axum.
Understand the advanced sciences, mathematics, and medicine of ancient Africa.
Know about African architecture — pyramids, obelisks, great mosques.
Recognize that ancient Africans mapped the stars and built calendars.
Study the Kingdom of Benin and its artistic mastery.
Learn about the Ethiopian Orthodox Church — one of the oldest in the world.
Understand the African origins of spirituality, cosmology, and philosophy.
Know that African societies had complex governments and social structures.
Learn about matrilineal societies and African views on gender.
Know the role of griots — the oral historians of West Africa.
Understand that Black people were kings, queens, scientists, and builders.
Study the Swahili Coast and East Africa’s trade with India and China.
Learn that Africans sailed and explored before European colonization.
Know that your story began long before slavery.

Understand the transatlantic slave trade — who, why, and how it happened.
Learn about the Middle Passage and the horrors it entailed.
Know that African people resisted slavery at every stage.
Study maroons — enslaved Africans who escaped and formed free communities.
Learn about resistance leaders like Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman.
Know that slavery existed in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe too.
Understand that African traditions survived through language, music, food, and spirituality.
Learn about the Haitian Revolution — the first successful Black republic.
Know how enslaved people preserved knowledge through quilts, songs, and stories.
Understand the coded meanings behind Negro spirituals.
Study the role of Black abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.
Know about the Underground Railroad and those who risked everything.
Learn how slavery shaped modern economies and institutions.
Understand that the end of slavery did not end racism or oppression.
Know about sharecropping and convict leasing after Emancipation.
Learn how Black people built thriving towns after slavery (e.g., Tulsa, Rosewood).
Study the roots of colorism and how colonization divided African people.
Know that resistance also happened through joy, art, family, and faith.
Understand that you come from survivors — not just victims.
Know that your ancestors endured the unthinkable — and triumphed.

Study the Civil Rights Movement — leaders, strategies, sacrifices.
Know about Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and their differences.
Learn about the Black Panther Party and community self-defense.
Study the role of SNCC, CORE, and grassroots organizers.
Understand COINTELPRO and the surveillance of Black movements.
Know about the Nation of Islam and other Black religious movements.
Learn the legacy of Black women like Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Angela Davis.
Study how civil rights changed laws — but not everything.
Understand that resistance happened outside the U.S. too — South Africa, Brazil, UK.
Learn about Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement.
Know about Pan-Africanism and leaders like Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah.
Study resistance movements in the Caribbean (e.g., Bussa's Rebellion, Nanny of the Maroons).
Learn how Black people organized around labor, housing, and schools.
Understand the connection between anti-Blackness and police violence.
Study the Black Lives Matter movement and its global reach.
Know that protest is part of your legacy.
Recognize the power of solidarity across race, class, and gender.
Learn the role of student and youth activism.
Understand that change often starts with a few brave voices.
Know that you are part of an unbroken chain of freedom fighters.

Learn about the Harlem Renaissance — Black literature, art, and pride.
Know the genius of Black writers: Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou.
Study Black music history — blues, jazz, gospel, reggae, hip-hop, Afrobeat.
Learn about African drumming, rhythms, and how they shaped global music.
Know how Black dance styles influence the world — from tap to hip-hop to amapiano.
Understand how hair, fashion, and style are expressions of culture and resistance.
Know that beauty standards are political — and your features are divine.
Celebrate Black joy as resistance and survival.
Learn about Black filmmakers, directors, and creatives.
Know the significance of Black art — from murals to protest posters.
Study culinary traditions — soul food, jollof, callaloo, and beyond.
Understand that Black culture sets trends globally — and is often stolen.
Know how to protect and celebrate your cultural inheritance.
Study Afro-futurism and speculative Black futures.
Learn how Black spirituality blends African and Christian traditions.
Understand the influence of Black creators in science, comics, games, and tech.
Celebrate Black LGBTQ+ history and its contributions to liberation and art.
Know the power of storytelling in shaping your identity.
Understand culture as your inheritance — and your responsibility.
Know that your creativity is sacred — and world-changing.

Learn about African-American inventors and scientists (e.g., George Washington Carver, Dr. Shirley Jackson).
Study Imhotep — one of the world’s first recorded physicians.
Know about ancient African contributions to math, architecture, astronomy, and medicine.
Understand that modern civilization owes a debt to African genius.
Learn about Black Nobel Prize winners, scholars, and intellectuals.
Know that Black excellence is not rare — it’s often suppressed or ignored.
Study Black entrepreneurs, business leaders, and wealth builders.
Know the role of African civilizations in world trade and diplomacy.
Learn about Black engineers, astronauts, and tech pioneers.
Understand that intelligence and brilliance are part of your lineage.

Understand what the African diaspora is — and where your people are globally.
Learn about Afro-Brazilians, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos, Afro-Europeans.
Study Garveyism and the dream of a unified global Black identity.
Know how slavery and migration shaped Black populations in the Americas.
Learn the similarities and differences between African and diasporic cultures.
Celebrate the global rituals, languages, and customs of African people.
Understand the legacy of colonization in Africa and the Caribbean.
Know that African people are not a monolith — they are beautifully diverse.
Build pride in being part of a global, ancient, creative, and resilient people.
Know that you are the descendant of royalty, warriors, survivors, healers, and visionaries — and the future is yours to shape.

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