Africans

"[P]ersons of African ancestry... achieved distinction in Moorish Iberia and later in Spain and Portugal, the European societies that first saw a large influx of blacks. Most... were mulattos... Cristóbol de Meneses, a Dominican priest; the painters and Sebastian Gomez; and Leonardo Ortiz, a lawyer. ...In 1306 an Ethiopian delegation came to Europe to seek an alliance with the "King of the Spains" against the Moslems. King Anfós IV of Aragon considered arranging a double marriage with the of Ethiopia in 1428. And the Portuguese sent Pedro de Corvilhao to Ethiopia in 1487 on a similar mission."

"[L]iving experience of blacks in Europe appeared to be marked by smooth integration into European society... The 140,000 slaves imported into Europe from Africa between 1450 and 1505 were a welcome new labor force in the wake of the Bubonic Plague. On the whole, blacks in Christian Iberia were not limited to servile roles; but... were... not influential as a group. ...Free blacks living in and Lagos in the southern edge of Portugal owned houses and worked as day laborers, midwives, bakers, and servants. Most were domestic servants, laborers (including those on ships and river craft), and petty tradesmen. Some free blacks, especially women, became innkeepers. Blacks in Spain served as stevedores, factory workers, farm laborers, footmen, coachmen, and butlers. ...A few Africans active in the Americas during the early Iberian expansion were among returnees to Portugal and Spain from America and Africa from the 16th to the 18th centuries. These included free mulatto students, clerics, free and slave household servants, sailors, and some who attained gentlemen’s status. ...[M]any black women slaves as domestics and concubines led to mulatto offspring who received favored treatment, and ...some ...attained middle-class and even aristocratic status."

"[L]ater... in the northern, central, and eastern European societies... with smaller populations... it became fashionable... to employ blacks as house servants and in ceremonial roles such as military musicians."

"Black saints were proclaimed in parts of medieval Europe when the Holy Roman Emperors, beginning with Charles IV... 1346, adopted blacks into the ... The statue of in the chapel of St. Kilian at Magdeburg and the 17th-century bust of St. Gregory the Moor at the church of St. Gereon in Cologne testify..."

"There were... protagonists of black 'race' in the conquest of America and some... stood out enough to improve their social standing and even to have left their names for posterity."

"Manumission was not rare and many achieved it, establishing themselves as colonists with typical jobs as peculiar as doorman (the most common, in addition to guarding the door, he also called the councillors to meetings), town crier, auctioneer, executioner or... bagpiper. But some preferred to take the risk and enlist in the conquering forces."

"Possibly the most famous black conquistador... he was... a slave when in 1533 he asked his master, , a landowner from Puebla (Mexico), for permission to go on a four-year journey in search of fortune with the promise of returning and paying for his freedom with the profits... The Spaniard agreed and Juan enlisted... with two hundred other Africans (most of them slaves) in the expedition [to Peru] that Hernán Cortés' former lieutenant, , was preparing... Once at his destination... there was no opportunity because Pizarro had gone ahead. paid Alvarado... in exchange for his leaving... hiring the men who wanted to stay. Juan Valiente was one of them and in 1535 he was in Chile with... [the] new leader, fighting against the Araucanians. Five years later he had managed to rise to captain and amass some capital, including an and a property on the outskirts of , as well as a wife, Juana de Valdivia, an alleged former slave of... the famous . ...[H]e died in combat, along with Valdivia himself, in the (1553)."

"[A] parallel life, enslaved by the Portuguese but converted to Christianity in Lisbon... allowed him to acquire freedom and travel to , where he embarked in 1503 for Santo Domingo as a servant under... Pedro Garrido. ...[H]e fought [for eleven years] in the conquest of Cuba and Puerto Rico, as well as participating in the discovery of Florida. In 1519 he joined Cortés' expedition to Mexico... [I]n a letter to the King he boasted of having been the one who introduced the cultivation of wheat in those parts. He later returned to military life, during Antonio de Carvajal's [[w:Nuño de Guzmán#As conqueror of western Mexico|incursion [under Guzmán's command] into]] Michoacán and Zacatula. In 1525 he was granted a property in the new Mexico City, where he worked as a doorman, town crier and guard of the Chapultepec aqueduct... three years later... leading an expedition to exploit the gold mines of Zacatula. After another break, he enlisted under Cortés when he explored Baja California; he was responsible for—and co-owner of—a battalion of black and indigenous slaves. He died in 1547, leaving behind a wife and three children."

"Juan Beltrán This mulatto became famous in the Chilean wars, where for his brave actions and his collaboration in the founding of the city of Villarrica he was entrusted with the construction and position of captain of a fort on the outskirts, in addition to... a commission of half a thousand Indians. Beltrán led several victorious malocas (...raids in the language of overseas soldiers), but... died fighting against the indomitable Araucanians."

"Juan García Another mulatto... born free in around 1495. He was part of Pizarro's expedition to Peru, travelling with his wife and daughters. He was a town crier and bagpiper, his main mission being to weigh the precious metals collected in for the ransom of . He was also present at the successive distributions of gold and silver among the troops. ...[W]ith his earnings he bought an indigenous slave from another soldier and with her he had an illegitimate daughter. He lived in Cuzco, where he [participated] in its urban reform... then moved to with the idea of ​​returning to Spain. He did so in 1536, triumphantly, settling in the area where he was born and adopting the name of Juan García Pizarro."

"Other black conquerors The list of black conquerors in America is... [e]ndless... except that we lack sufficient data about their lives. ...Juan Bardales, an African slave ...participated in the expeditions to Panama and Honduras (where he said he received a hundred arrow wounds), obtaining his manumission and a pension of fifty pesos granted by the King. ...Sebastián Toral ... for his work in the exploration of Yucatán achieved freedom, tax exemption and... [a] royal pension, working as a porter. ...Antonio Pérez ...was free and participated with in the conquest of , where he rose to captain. ...Miguel Ruiz ...was with Pizarro in and obtained his share of the loot. ...Gómez de León ...received an in Chile."

"[T]housands of people of colour... were omitted by the chroniclers (although Cieza de León usually mentions them generically), such as the two hundred who helped put out the fire in Cuzco during the siege of Manco Inca in 1536 or the similar number sent from as armed reinforcements; or those who collaborated in the conquest of New Granada, of whom only the identity of a mulatto called Pedro de Lerma has been revealed."

"Scores of black men and women set up home in England as early as the 16th century—many arriving from Iberia, as the Spanish and Portuguese laid claim to swathes of Africa."

"... in the Westminster Roll of 1511, sound[s] his trumpet at the festivities marking the birth of a... son to Henry VIII and... Catherine of Aragon."

"Blanke... performed at Henry VII’s funeral and... coronation (...1509) ..."

"Blanke—like all Africans in England—was a free man."

"He received... twice... [what] most servants would... earn... before successfully petitioning... for a pay rise, doubling his wages..."

"In 1596, a black man... Edward Swarthye whipped John Guye... future first governor of Newfoundland. They were both servants... of Sir ..."

"It was... that such a high-status, educated servant as John Guye had been publicly humiliated that upset... onlookers, not the colour of Swarthye’s skin."

"Swarthye... [was] one of many Africans who fled their Spanish enslavers to join the English."

"The fact that Swarthye was allowed to testify in court demonstrates that he was... a free man... Swarthye’s testimony was taken by the Court... without demur."

"Reasonable Blackman was a silk weaver... probably... from Antwerp... which had a sizeable African population and was a... centre for cloth manufacture."

"Around 50,000 refugees fled to England from the southern Netherlands between 1550 and 1585, as war raged between Dutch rebels and Spanish forces occupying their country."

"Blackman had a family of at least three children... Edward, Edmund and Jane... we can assume he was married... As with ’s wife... she was probably an Englishwoman."

"[I]n... 1592... his daughter... and one of his sons, Edmund, died of the plague that struck London..."

"1614... "Edward Blakemore of , silkweaver" was married in Stepney."

"’s possessions... each tell us something of her life. But the fact that she had them... tells us..l. Africans in England were not owned, but themselves possessed property."

"The role of people of African descent in the colonization of Latin America... is a pivotal one. Starting from the earliest Spanish activity in the New World, Africans were present both as involuntary settlers and as voluntary conquistadors. The acquisition of status and privilege by African officers... reflected the active role of leadership played by these men..."

"[U]nlike who most probably travelled to Portugal on his own, was enslaved... acquired... by the Portuguese... and... sent... to Mexico. In Mexico City, he was purchased by ... a cousin of Hernan Cortes. ...[H]e was baptized and given the name "Juan Valiente" and accompanied Alonso Valiente as a servant back to Spain."

"[H]e signed a contract that allowed him to work for others as a conquistador... after four years, he was to return... and pay... Alonso... to gain his freedom. It was a time where a large number of Africans were sweeping through Latin America, the Caribbean and South America under different captains and commanders."

"While Juan Valiente is the most famous of African Conquistadors in Chile, he wasn't the only African Conquistador... but... one among many... sixteenth-century armed African-born or Spanish-born free Africans and servants who actively participated in the... expeditions and conquests... Juan Garrido... participated in the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. Other African conquistadors... include Sebastián Toral in Mexico, Juan Beltrán in Chile, Estevanico in Florida, Pedro Fulupo in Costa Rica, and Juan Bardales in Honduras and Panama. For participating in these expeditions, most enslaved men gained their freedom while others who joined in as free men were awarded minor posts in their new homelands."

"Many sources promote the idea that Africans who went to the New World were only mass slaves who were forcefully sent... to work... on plantations. The conquistadors’ names formerly mentioned and the accounts of how they were compensated... including money, land and slaves... demolishes this idea and shows instead that Africans... were... a great asset and played a vital role throughout the... Spanish expansion."

"There were black/African people in pre-modern Europe during the Medieval and Tudor times! ...Some were affluent members of the society, iconic fictional characters, revered Saints, and... Knights."

"[P]re-modern Europe was more diverse than most of us have been led to assume."

"[P]eople of African descent were a part of the Tudor society... accepted and given the same rights as anyone else."

"While is... the most well-known Black Tudor... Others include (a salvage diver), Diego (a circumnavigator), (a servant), Dederi Jaquoah, (a prince and a merchant), Anne Cobbie (prostitute), Edward Swarthye (porter), (silk weaver), and of (an independent single woman)."

"In 1632, an Ethiopian traveler named Ṣägga Krǝstos arrived in Cairo and introduced himself to Franciscan missionaries as the legitimate heir to the Ethiopian throne. Following conversion to Catholicism, he embarked on an epic journey throughout the Italian peninsula and France, where he was hosted and supported by the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, multiple northern Italian rulers, and the French monarchy. Ṣägga Krǝstos was an impostor, but... thanks to... skilled self-fashioning, he was extensively supported by his... hosts."

"March 10, 1632, an African youth knocked at the door of Cairo’s Venetian consulate, asking to be treated by its resident physician... [H]e introduced himself as Ṣägga Krǝstos... son of the slain Ethiopian Emperor Yaʿǝqob... and told of his escape... after... Catholic Emperor Susǝnyos... killed his father. The story intrigued Paolo da Lodi... prefect of the Franciscan mission in Egypt since 1630... aware of the religious and political turmoil... Father Paolo saw the young Ethiopian as a valuable asset... Ṣägga Krǝstos visited Jerusalem, converted to Catholicism, then traveled to Rome, where Propaganda Fide vetted him in anticipation of his return to Ethiopia at the helm of a Franciscan mission. Instead, he would spend the rest of his life in Europe, as a guest of multiple courts, until his death in 1638 at Cardinal Richelieu’s mansion in Ruel."

"The first municipal reference to a free black man dates from 1539, when the municipal council acknowledged "Juan de Ordáz, negro" as a ', a title... with... civic rights. Acquiring ', the status and privileges of formally acknowledged residency, carried great significance... [V]ecinos could petition the council for plots... to erect... residences or cultivate orchards.... what Juan de Ordáz did. He... twice in the historical record... selling the urban plots... he had been granted... In 1546, Francisco Díaz, a black freedman, was also included on the city’s list of registered residents. Two other black men, Juan de Montalvo and Diego Monte, had their vecindad[s]... in 1550 and 1571, respectively."

"What... allowed these men... vecino status? ...freedom and a wife. Ordáz received a 200-peso dowry from his wife, Catalina Díaz. Montalvo... Puebla’s towncrier... [b]y 1555... had... enough money to send... Pedro de Padilla... to Guatemala... to bring his wife back... Montalvo’s standing as a free black vecino with connections to elite Poblanos distinguished him in a city where the overwhelming majority of people of African descent were enslaved."

"Other notable black men undoubtedly spent time in Puebla... but Pedro López de Villaseñor’s listing suggests... few were able to claim vecindad.[T]he black was... [b]orn on the African mainland around 1505... purchased by Hernan Cortés's cousin and... conquistador, ... [who] took Juan Valiente to Puebla... in 1532. ...In an emerging settlement defined for its anti-conquistador stance, it is not... clear that he benefited from his owner's social standing. ...Valiente asked his owner to grant him four years "to seek opportunity" as a conquistador in 's expedition to Guatemala. ...By 1534 ...[he] had made his way to Guatemala and Northern Peru. He would fight for in Chile the following year. Over the next two decades, Juan Valiente received an estate near de Chile, married Juana de Valdivia, and... received an for his military feats."

"Africans were already known to have been living in Roman Britain as soldiers, slaves or even free men and women. Kaufmann shows that, by Tudor times, some were... present at the royal courts... and ...in households of courtiers ..."

"William Shakespeare... wrote several black parts... two of his greatest characters are black... [T]hat he put them into mainstream entertainment reflects... that they were a significant element in the population of London."

"[T]hey were employed... as domestic servants, professional businessmen, musicians, dancers and entertainers. ...[T]hey were not slaves."

"[I]n Elizabeth's reign, the black people of London... were free; some... married native English people."

"Abortion was an expedient way to frame their campaign to create monopolies on women’s bodies for male doctors. The American Medical Association explicitly contributed to this cause through its exclusion of women and Black people. Today, as people debate whether anti-abortion platforms benefit Black women, the clear answer is no. The U.S. leads the developed world in maternal and infant mortality. The U.S. ranks around 50th in the world for maternal safety. Nationally, for Black women, the maternal death rate is nearly four times that of white women, and 10 to 17 times worse in some states."

"It is clear to see how deeply abortion bans are rooted in white supremacy and patriarchal strongholds when we look at the history of Black women in this country. The tradition of disregarding the humanity of Black people is part of more than 400 years of white supremacist systems in America. Although abortion was legal throughout the country until after the Civil War, there were different rules for enslaved Black women than for white women. Enslaved Black women were valuable property. They didn’t have the freedom to control their bodies, and slave owners prohibited them from having abortions. Under the law, white men owned Black women’s bodies. So, enslaved women who had access to emmenagogic herbs — plants used to stimulate menstruation — had to make remedies to induce their own abortions in secret. When slavery was abolished in 1865, the societal control over Black women’s bodies remained. Today, our white supremacist culture judges Black women for both having children and for having abortions — besetting them with blame for virtually any decision they make and any form of agency they take about their bodies."

"We have to consciously study how to be tender with each other until it becomes a habit because what was native has been stolen from us, the love of Black women for each other."

"The threat of difference has been no less blinding to people of Color. Those of us who are Black must see that the reality of our lives and our struggle does not make us immune to the errors of ignoring and misnaming difference. Within Black communities where racism is a living reality, differences among us often seem dangerous and suspect. The need for unity is often misnamed as a need for homogeneity, and a Black feminist vision mistaken for betrayal of our common interests as a people. Because of the continuous battle against racial erasure that Black women and Black men share, some Black women still refuse to recognize that we are also oppressed as women, and that sexual hostility against Black women is practiced not only by the white racist society, but implemented within our Black communities as well. It is a disease striking the heart of Black nationhood, and silence will not make it disappear. Exacerbated by racism and the pressures of powerlessness, violence against Black women and children often becomes a standard within our communities, one by which manliness can be measured. But these woman-hating acts are rarely discussed as crimes against Black women."

"Black women and our children know the fabric of our lives is stitched with violence and with hatred, that there is no rest. We do not deal with it only on the picket lines, or in dark midnight alleys, or in the places where we dare to verbalize our resistance. For us, increasingly, violence weaves through the daily tissues of our living — in the supermarket, in the classroom, in the elevator, in the clinic and the schoolyard, from the plumber, the baker, the saleswoman, the bus driver, the bank teller, the waitress who does not serve us."