Code Black

Africa, Empire, and Early Christianity

Dr. Clarke’s argument, broadly stated, was that:

* Ancient African civilizations, especially Kemet and Nubia, predated and influenced both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
* The Greek conquest under Alexander the Great and later Roman rule brought Africa, the Near East, and Europe into the same imperial sphere.
* Christianity emerged in a world already shaped by Egyptian, Jewish, Greek, Roman, and other Mediterranean traditions.
* Early centers of Christianity included African locations such as Alexandria and Ethiopia, which played major roles in Christian theology and scholarship.
* He often challenged audiences to question why African contributions to world civilization and Christianity are frequently minimized in popular Western narratives.

When Clarke used phrases such as “the Genesis of the Christ story,” he was generally inviting people to investigate the historical development of Christianity—its origins, cultural influences, political context, and transmission through empires—rather than accepting simplified versions of history.

Wait, huh?

The Greeks did what? Dr. John Henrik Clarke

“Black is Beautiful, it’s Pretty”

“Live each day as if it’s your last.”

They might say something closer to:

“Live each day so that if your ancestors called you home tonight, your work would speak for you.”

Intergenerational, Trans-generational, and Multigenerational Trauma.

Intergenerational trauma refers to the ways the effects of severe trauma can influence the children, grandchildren, and later descendants of those who experienced it directly. Researchers have studied this among descendants of enslaved Africans, Holocaust survivors, Indigenous peoples who experienced forced removals and boarding schools, survivors of war, genocide, and other large-scale traumatic events.

In the context of American slavery:

* Enslaved women had no legal ownership of their own bodies.
* Sexual violence against enslaved women and girls was widespread.
* Families could be separated through sale.
* Children often witnessed violence against parents and relatives.
* Many enslaved people lived under constant threat of punishment, coercion, and exploitation.

Historians have documented these realities extensively through slave narratives, plantation records, court documents, and first-person accounts. The sexual exploitation of enslaved women and girls was a structural feature of slavery, not merely isolated incidents. Enslaved women could rarely refuse advances from enslavers without risking severe consequences. Harriet Jacobs provided one of the most well-known firsthand accounts of this reality in her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

When discussing intergenerational trauma through the lens of slavery, scholars point to several possible pathways:

* Family survival strategies passed from one generation to another.
* Learned responses to danger, authority, and uncertainty.
* Community memories preserved through stories and cultural practices.
* Persistent social and economic inequalities that originated in slavery and continued through segregation and discrimination.
* In some studies, possible biological stress responses that may influence later generations, though this area remains an active field of research.

From an African-centered community perspective, many people frame the issue not simply as trauma being passed down, but also as survival knowledge being passed down. Alongside pain came resilience, creativity, faith, kinship networks, mutual aid traditions, cultural memory, and the determination to protect future generations.

In other words, descendants did not inherit only wounds. They also inherited the tools their ancestors developed to survive those wounds.

A common way some descendants of enslaved Africans express it is:

“What happened to our ancestors did not end with them. But neither did their strength.”

That perspective recognizes both the historical reality of slavery’s violence and the enduring resilience of the people who survived it and built families, communities, institutions, and traditions despite it.

African Polygamy

From an African-centered lens, many traditional African societies did not begin with the question, “Is polygamy morally right or wrong?” The question was often, “How do we sustain the family, clan, land, and community?”

In that context, marriage was usually viewed as a social institution before it was viewed as a romantic institution.

Polygamy in many African societies was connected to:

* Family continuity
* Agricultural labor
* Clan alliances
* Care for widows
* Community responsibility
* Expansion of kinship networks

A wife was not traditionally viewed as private property belonging to a husband. She remained connected to her own lineage, family, and ancestral obligations. Marriage often linked two extended families, not merely two individuals.

From this lens, a large household could mean:

* More hands to cultivate land
* More protection for children
* Greater economic stability
* Stronger family alliances
* Broader systems of mutual support

In many societies, wealth was not measured primarily by money but by relationships, cattle, land, children, and community obligations. A man who entered a polygamous marriage was expected to demonstrate the ability to provide, protect, and maintain balance among multiple households.

The focus was often responsibility before privilege.

Many African traditions placed significant authority in senior wives, elder women, mothers, and grandmothers. The household was frequently governed through age, experience, and communal expectations rather than through the modern Western idea of an isolated nuclear family.

From this perspective, the question was not:

“How many wives does a man have?”

The question was:

“Can he maintain harmony, fulfill his obligations, and care for everyone under his stewardship?”

Different African nations and ethnic groups practiced marriage differently. There was never one single African model. The customs of the Bamileke, Yoruba, Akan, Zulu, Maasai, Igbo, Wolof, and many others all had their own variations.

What is often missed in modern discussions is that traditional African marriage systems generally emerged from communal survival structures rather than individual preference.

The center of the system was usually:

* The family
* The clan
* The lineage
* The ancestors
* Future generations

In that worldview, marriage was not merely about personal happiness.

It was about preserving the life of the people.

That does not mean every polygamous household was successful, nor that every woman supported the arrangement. African societies contained debates, tensions, and disagreements just like any other civilization.

But from a traditional African lens, polygamy was often understood as part of a larger social and communal framework, rather than primarily through the later Western categories of romance, individual fulfillment, or religious controversy.

The core question was usually not:

“What do I want?”

But:

“What sustains the family, the lineage, and the community after I am gone?”

Iran vs Israel & the United States

Colorism within the Asian Community

The Asian experience with colorism is real, but it has its own history, just as the African American, Caribbean, African, and Latino experiences have their own histories and contexts.

What Colorism Means

Colorism is discrimination or preference based on skin tone within a racial, ethnic, or cultural group.

It is different from racism.

* Racism = prejudice between racial groups.
* Colorism = preference or bias based on lighter or darker shades within a group.

In Many Asian Societies

For centuries, lighter skin was often associated with people who worked indoors rather than outdoors in the fields.

Historically:

* Farmers and laborers spent long hours under the sun.
* Wealthier families often worked indoors.
* Over time, pale skin became associated with status and privilege.

This existed in some regions long before European colonialism arrived, although colonialism often reinforced those beauty standards.

Examples

East Asia

In places such as China, Japan, and South Korea:

* Fair skin has historically been celebrated in poetry, art, and beauty standards.
* Skin-lightening products became major industries.
* Many celebrities are presented with very light complexions.

South Asia

In countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh:

* Colorism can affect marriage prospects, employment opportunities, and media representation.
* For decades, advertisements promoted lighter skin as more attractive or successful.
* There has been increasing public criticism of those messages in recent years.

Southeast Asia

In places such as Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam:

* Lighter skin is often marketed as desirable.
* Skin-whitening products remain common.
* Social media has intensified beauty pressures.

Through an African-Centered Lens

One thing that is often missed is that colorism and racism are not the same historical experience.

For many Black communities in the Americas, colorism became deeply entangled with slavery, colonialism, segregation, and systems that rewarded proximity to European features.

In many Asian societies, colorism often has roots in older class structures, labor divisions, caste systems (in some regions), and later colonial influences.

The result may look similar on the surface—lighter skin receiving social advantages—but the historical pathways are not always identical.

The Larger Pattern

When people study colorism across cultures, they often notice a recurring theme:

Human societies frequently create hierarchies and then attach social value to physical traits.

Sometimes it is skin tone.
Sometimes it is class.
Sometimes it is caste.
Sometimes it is lineage, tribe, language, religion, or ancestry.

The specific trait changes, but the hierarchy remains.

That is why discussions about colorism are often really discussions about power, status, beauty standards, and who gets to define what is considered “desirable” in a society.