The Tribe of Judah and Reparations.
*Disclaimer* This article is about how black people reclaiming the tribe they come from, can help with the fight for Reparations.
The trillion dollar Covid 19 stimulus package and million dollar Covid 19 relief funds, given to corporations, revealed that America does indeed have the money to pay reparations to the black community. They just do not want to. It also revealed that the past and current discrimination has made the black community extremely vulnerable during times of disaster.
Before his death Malcolm X was trying to turn the struggle for “civil rights” into a international humans rights issue. He spoke to African leaders at a conference in Cairo, Egypt asking them to bring up charges against America at the United Nation.
Officials believed that if Malcolm X was able to get one African Government to bring up the charge at the United Nations, the United States Government would have trouble on their hands. If you are at a store and an employee is being rude or disrespectful, you usually will ask to speak to their manager. The United Nations is the manager.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, states that indigenous people have a right to autonomy and restitution. Autonomy is when a group of people have their own government and are not under control of the higher government of the that colonized them. Restitution is just another word for repaying somebody for what was stolen.
In order for black people to receive autonomy and reparations , we must :
1. reclaim our indigenous tribe (Judah)
2. pick up where Malcolm X left off and bring our case to the United Nations.
International law states that all we need is just one country to recognize African Americans as a tribe/nation of people, in order to get autonomy. The evidence below will show that black people descend from the indigenous tribe of Judah, in Africa, thus making us eligible for autonomy and reparations.
Before black people were colonized by Europeans, we were known as members of the tribe of Judah. One of the largest slave ports in West Africa, where many of our ancestors were stolen from was labeled the Kingdom of Juda. Below is a 1747 map of Africa, created by an English cartographer named Edward Bowen(1693 or 1694–1767). This map, shows specifically where the ancestors of many African Americans come from.
You can view the full map on the link below. It is from website for the Library of Congress.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2018585377/?source=post_page-----c6848f36112e----------------------
The Kingdom of Juda was in what is now called, Benin. According to the Washington Post, it was once West Africa’s largest slave port.
In the 1870’s, a French public research university called, the University of Montepellier, put out a book(below)on geography.
The book talks about the Kingdom of Juda, stating,
“Juda is a old city frequented since the 16th century by the Portuguese slavers, who gave it its name. It’s inhabitants were said to be Judaic, “and they were indeed considered as a remnant of scattered tribes of Israel”
In other words, the black people stolen and brought to America are the indigenous people of Israel, aka Israelites.
*Side note*
Many people today believe that the Israelites were/are white.
Over a thousand years ago, around 100 AD, a Roman historian named Tacitus wrote about the race of Jews in his book, Histories.
In the book, Tacitus wrote about Jews,saying: “Many assure us they were a race of Ethiopian origin.”
An English historian named Godfrey Higgins, (1772 — 1833) stated,
“According to many testimonies the inhabitants of Sudan, Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, Western Asia, and India were Ethiopians, therefore Africans”
As we know, Palestine has become another name for Israel.
*End of side note*
In 1876 a French geographer named, Élisée Reclus also , wrote about the same Kingdom of Juda, on the slave coast in West Africa, in his book called, The Earth and Its Inhabitants.
He wrote: “Known to Europeans by various names of Fida, Heredah, Whydah, Wida. The old writers called it Juda, and it’s inhabitants were said to be Jews.”
There was also a Jew community in Timbuktu, Mali.
In 1820 an English traveler named James Gray published his book “An account of Timbuctoo and Housa”,
This book states:
“This place is reported to be inhabited by one of the lost tribes of Israel, possibly an emigration from the tribe of Judah. Yahooda, in African Arabic, signifies Judah. Yahoodee signifies Jew. It is not impossible, that many of the lost tribes of Israel may be found dispersed in the interior regions of Africa”
-El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny collected and formatted by James Gray Jackson: An Account of Timbuctoo & Housa (1820)
The quotes below are from an article from 1853, out of the Weekly Raleigh Register.
“A Jew who had accompanied a German traveller,as far as Timbuctoo, found near the boundary of Bambara a large number of Jewish negroes. Nearly every family among them possesses the law of Moses, written upon parchment.”
“The explanation which they give of themselves, in connection with their black skin, is this — that after the destruction of Jerusalem, at the time of the captivity, some of their ancestors, having neither goods nor land, fled to the desert. The fatigue which they endured so great, that nearly all the females died by the way. The children of Ham received them with kindness and by intermarriage with their daughters, who were black, communicated their color to their children. These children became generation by generation, of a deeper hue, until no differences of color now distinguish the children of Shem and those of Ham.”
Below is a book from the 18th century, called A system of universal geography: or A description of all the parts of the world.
This book is by two French travelers Conrad Malte-Brun and James Gates-Percival. They were French travelers who traveled around Africa during the time of the Slave Trade and documented the tribes in Africa.
While traveling through the Kingdom of Loango, which is present day Congo, they wrote:
“The kingdom of Loango contains black Jews, scattered throughout the country; they are despised by the Negroes who do not even deign to eat with them; they are occupied in trade, and keep the sabbath so strictly that they do not even converse on that day; they have a separate burying ground, very far from any habitation. The tombs are constructed with masonry, and ornamented with Hebrew inscriptions.”
A historical account from the 1700’s describes the connection between West Africans and the Israelites. This account is from an African man from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria, named Oludah Equiano.
He was kidnapped from Nigeria and was enslaved in Barbados and Virginia. He was somehow able to purchase his freedom and went on to become a writer and abolitionist. In his autobiography, he not only documented the horrors of slavery, but he also wrote about his culture back home during the slave trade. He detailed how his tribe practiced the same customs of the Jews in the Torah,
“We practiced circumcision like the Jews, and made offerings and feasts on that occasion in the same manner as they did. Such is the imperfect sketch my memory has furnished me with of the manners and customs of a people among whom I first drew my breath. And here I cannot forbear suggesting what has long struck me very forcibly, namely, the strong analogy which even by this sketch, imperfect as it is, appears to prevail in the manners and customs of my countrymen and those of the Jews, before they reached the Land of Promise, and particularly the patriarchs while they were yet in that pastoral state which is described in Genesis — .”
“Like the Israelites in their primitive state, our government was conducted by our chiefs or judges, our wise men and elders; and the head of a family with us enjoyed a similar authority over his household with that which is ascribed to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The law of retaliation obtained almost universally with us as with them: and even their religion appeared to have shed upon us a ray of its glory, though broken and spent in its passage, or eclipsed by the cloud with which time, tradition, and ignorance might have enveloped it; for we had our circumcision (a rule I believe peculiar to that people:) we had also our sacrifices and burnt-offerings, our washings and purifications, on the same occasions as they had.”
To this day, our people back in Africa, still have the oral history of how we migrated from Israel to West Africa and still practice those customs.
Nigeria :The Igbo Jews
In Nigeria, the tribe called the Igbo say that they are Jews and practice the same customs of the Jews of the Bible.
Here is a quote from a CNN article(below) about them: “ King Eri, like many, claims that the Igbo are the Jews of West Africa. They believe they are descendants of at least one of Israel’s lost tribes. In the eighth century B.C. the Assyrians invaded Israel’s northern kingdom forcing 10 tribes into exile. Historians say it is not unlikely that these tribes migrated westward to Africa.”
Cameroon: The Bani Israel
Quote from the article below “ they trace their lineage to two clans — Sylla and Drame — they say are descended from Egyptian Jews.
“We are all practicing Muslims and we don’t want to become Jewish,” Fadiga says. “In fact, we don’t like to talk too much about our Jewish background, but we don’t hide it either. We know our people came from Egypt to Somalia, and from there to Nigeria, where they split about 1,000 years ago. One branch of the two families went to Mali, another to Guinea, and we settled here.”
Zimbabwe: Lemba
The lemba tribe in Zimbabwe state they are Jews and practice the same customs as the Jews of the Bible. Back in the 1990’s, a black tribe called the Lemba, that resides in Zimbabwe, had their DNA tested in a study done by The Center for Genetic Anthropology at University College London.
The DNA test confirmed, that the Lemba had the same DNA sequences as the Israelite priests, that many believe to be the descendants of Aaron, the older brother of Moses.
The results from the study means that the Lemba tribe share the same DNA as the ancient Israelites. A DNA study done on Sephardic Jews, by Family Tree DNA, showed that the DNA sequences that are found in predominately Sub Saharan Africans and African Americans, were present during the “formation of the Ancient Israelites.”
The oral history of our people migrating from Israel to West Africa matches up with “book history.
In his book ,The Great Roman-Jewish War: 66 — 70, the Roman historian, Flavius Josephus, stated over thousands of years ago, that the Israelites migrated into Africa. He writes:
“Millions of Jews fled into Africa, among other places, fleeing from Roman persecution and starvation during the siege.”
DNA evidence
Here is the crucial DNA evidence. This DNA evidence actually proves that black people’s ancestors come from Israel. In 2016 a genetic study called, the Genetic Structure of the World’s First Farmers, led by a Professor from the Department of Genetics of Harvard University showed that the same DNA (E1b1A) that African Americans have can be traced back to Israel. The same genetic code can be found in Blacks in Latin America and the Caribbean, many blacks still in Africa, as well as other black people around the world(Asia and Europe etc).
What makes our tribe unique is that our history can be found in the bible.
The bible contains prophecies or “predictions about the future.” God/The Bible predicted the Atlantic Slave Trade, thousands of years before it occurred.
In the Bible, God made a covenant or an agreement with the people of the Kingdom of Judah( our ancestors) and they broke the agreement.
Why did God make a covenant with our ancestors?
*Disclaimer: I do not believe black people are better than anybody, I am simply quoting the bible.*
God selected our ancestors,(Israelites) to be his chosen people. They were chosen to carry out the will of God and to be an example for how the world should act.
Below is talking about the Israelites.
“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6)
Deuteronomy 28 15–68 details the covenant God made with the Israelites. A part of the covenant was that if they followed God’s laws and commandments, they would be blessed, have their own land and would be wealthy.
This can be found in verses 1–14
The other part of the covenant was, if they broke God’s laws and did not keep the commandments, God would allow numerous curses to come upon them. The Bible states that these curses would be a sign upon the Israelites and their descendants forever.
“Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.”
The curses mentioned in the covenant can be found in verses 15–68.
As stated in the verse 46 above, the curses help us identify those who are Israelites are today.
What are some of the curses that would identify the Israelites?
One of those curses would be going into slavery by ships.
Deuteronomy 28:68
“And the LORD shall bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spoke to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall be sold to your enemies for slaves and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you” ( Deuteronomy 28:68).
Egypt is a Greek word. The Hebrew name for Egypt is Mitzraim. Mitzraim means bondage or slavery.
The Egypt being referred to in this passage is not literal Egypt. The curse is saying that the Israelites would go into slavery or bondage by ships, and would be sold to their enemies.
This curse fell upon black people during the Atlantic Slave Trade. During the Atlantic Slave Trade, it is estimated that a total of about 12 million Africans were scattered to the United States and Latin America.
Another one of the curses was having a yoke of iron put on our necks. Yokes of Iron were placed on our ancestor’s necks during slavery.
“Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.”(Deuteronomy 28:30)
Other curses were the rape of our women and the break up of families during slavery.
“Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof” (Deuteronomy 28:30).
“Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand” (Deuteronomy 28:32).
“Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity” (Deuteronomy 28:41).
These passages apply to the Atlantic Slave Trade and Arab Slave Trade, in which the wives of African men were raped by many European and Arab slave owners. It also describes how the children of black men and women were sold away into slavery as well. Many black families were torn apart during slavery.
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always” (Deuteronomy 28:33).
This passage means that the Israelites would labor in a nation, and that the country they were in would get wealthy off their labor. The passages also says that the Israelites would not enjoy the fruits of their labor. The countries that participated in the Atlantic slave trade and slavery, got rich off the free labor of blacks. Blacks did not receive reparations, but many slave owners did.
Other curses were fatherless homes, division between our families, as well as a lack of unity within our race.
“So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave”
Emphasis on the “toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave”
Other curses were illnesses/diseases
“The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.” (Deuteronomy 28:22)
“Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 28:61)
Black people are almost 13 percent of the population but are 42 percent of HIV patients.
Black people have the highest death rate of Cancer and the lowest rate of survival when battling Cancer than any other race in America.
Black people have the highest death rates from heart disease than any other race in America.
Black people are more at risk for kidney disease.
Black people are more risk for lung diseases.
Currently Black people are dying at a higher rate of Coronavirus than any other group of people in America.
Despite the present condition of our people, the bible states that once our people turn back God, the curses will be lifted and we will return to our homeland.
Deuteronomy 30:1–10 King James Version (KJV)
“1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7 And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:”