Black People... After Christ - by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian

BLACK PEOPLE
AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY

by DR. LEROY VAUGHN, MD, MBA, HISTORIAN

AFTER CHRIST

WHO ARE THE DOGON?

GREAT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS

THE MOORS

BLACK POPES

AFRICAN MEDICINE

THE BLACK MADONNA

CHRISTMAS PAGANISM

WHO ARE THE DOGON?

An illiterate West African tribe known as the Dogon, who live in the Bandiagara Cliffs of southeastern Mali, startled the scientific world in the 1950’s when it was discovered that their priests have had extremely complex knowledge of astronomy for at least 700 years. They have known for centuries about the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, the spiral structure of the Milky Way Galaxy, and intricate details about the stars including their mass and orbits.
Much of the complex astrological knowledge that the Dogon have had since the 13^th century either can not be confirmed by modern scientists or was not discovered until the 20^th century. Kenneth Brecher of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was dumbfounded and stated bluntly: “The Dogon have no business knowing any of this.” Robert Temple, an acclaimed member of the Royal Astronomical Society, speculates in his book “The Sirius Mystery” that “space-beings from the Sirius star-system must have brought this marvelous knowledge down to the Africans.”
Two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen, lived and worked with the Dogon from 1931 to 1956 and eventually became so loved and trusted that they were initiated into the tribe. After 16 years of stage by stage initiations, the Dogon called a conference and revealed to these Europeans their intimate secret knowledge of the solar system that was eventually recorded in a book entitled “The Pale Fox.” The Frenchmen were told that our solar system consists of a fixed star with planets rotating around this star and moons rotating around the planets. They said a force we describe as “gravity” was responsible for holding the planets and moons in place. The Dogon gave names and a complete description of the properties and behavior of the planets, moons, and fixed stars such as Polaris, Sirius, and the Pleiades. Mars, for example, was called “Yapunu toll” meaning “planet of menstruation” perhaps because of its red color. A calendar based on the six positions or phases of Venus determined when the Dogon would plant and harvest their food for best results. However, no aspect of Dogon knowledge has created more astonishment than their description of the properties of the star known as Sirius B (“po tolo” to the Dogon).
It is incomprehensible to modern scientists how the Dogon could know so much about Sirius B, an invisible star to the naked eye, located 51 trillion miles away. The Frenchmen were told that Sirius B is the sky’s tiniest and yet heaviest star and has a 50 year elliptical orbit around Sirius A, the brightest star in the sky. The Dogon said that this dwarf star (Sirius B) is the most important star and the origin of all other stars and that it is composed of a metal heavier and brighter than iron. Although Sirius B is invisible to the naked eye, the Dogon have chosen a new astronomer-priest every 60 years when the orbits of Sirius B, Jupiter and Saturn come into synchronization.
A ceremony called the “sigui” is held and a mask is carved to celebrate this 60-year event. Griaule and Dieterlen said they were shown a cave in Ibi, Mali that contained 12 sigui ceremonial masks, which would date the ceremonies back to the 13^th century. The first Western report of Sirius B was not until 1862 by Alvan Clark who observed the companion star through his new telescope. The Dogon told of several other companion stars around Sirius A that were not confirmed by modern astrophysicists until 1979 with the “Einstein” orbiting observatory. The Dogon also have an annual “bado” celebration that honors the one year period in which Sirius B rotates on its own axis. Modern scientists still can not confirm this one-year rotation on its own axis.
Charles Finch in his book entitled “The Star of Deep Beginnings” says that the Dogon have never been proven wrong in any of their descriptions of the properties and behavior of Sirius B and that they are also probably correct in calling Sirius B the mother of all stars. Finch says that Sirius B is as old as the universe (12 billion years) and the closest star to our solar system. Moreover, he states “since all newborn stars (like our sun) are created from older stars, our solar system including Earth and everything in it may owe its very existence to Sirius B as the Dogon say.”
The advanced scientific knowledge of the Dogon makes them the most astonishing and enigmatic people in all Africa. Hunter Adams III of the Argonne National Laboratory admits that in certain domains of astronomy and cosmology the Dogon have no historical peers. He says there is nothing remotely similar to the knowledge of the Dogon in the literature of the ancient Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks, Chinese, or Medieval Arabs. It’s truly a shame that entrenched Western racist attitudes towards African scientific knowledge can only attribute Dogon knowledge to the presence of space aliens. Unfortunately, most agree with Robert Temple of the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain that “space-beings from the Sirius star-system must have brought this marvelous knowledge down to the Africans.”

WHO ARE THE DOGON BIBLIOGRAPHY

Charroux, R. (1972) The Mysterious Unknown. London: Neville Spearman
Finch, C. (1998) The Star of Deep Beginnings. Decatur, Georgia: Khenti, Inc.
Ford, D. (1954) African Worlds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Griaule, M., Dieterlen, G. (1986) The Pale Fox. Afrikan World Book Distributor
Hawking, S. (1990) A Brief History of Time, New York: Bantam Books
Michanowsky, G. (1977) The Once and Future Star. New York: Hawthorn.
Rawlinson, G. (1885) Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World. New York: John B. Alden.
Smoot, G. & Davidson, K. (1993) Wrinkles in Time, New York: Avon Books.
Temple, R. (1976) The Sirius Mysteries. New York: St. Martins Press, Inc.
Tompkins, P. (1978) Secrets of the Great Pyramid. New York: Harper Colophon Edition.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1991) Blacks in Science. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books.
Wolf, F. (1988) Parallel Universes. New York: Simon and Shuster.

GREAT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS

The conquering nations throughout history have always rewritten or destroyed the history of the conquered nations. Racism and the brutal and devastating effects of slavery only intensified the need to change African history. It was argued that Africans were pagans, savages, and heathens in need of salvation and that the best thing the slave traders did for Black people was to have dragged our ancestors to the Americas in chains, because we lacked the intellectual capacity to succeed. Nothing could be further from the truth! While the Moors were re-civilizing Europe, great empires were thriving in western Africa and frequently traded with the Moors. These included the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, which prospered between 700 A.D. and 1600 A.D.
The founders of Ghana were known as the Soninkes, and they are experts in making tools and weapons with iron. In fact, their iron weapons helped them to conquer the neighboring tribes and to form their empire. They are also said to have had an inexhaustible supply of gold. It was so plentiful that the emperor passed a law, which said that all gold in nugget form belonged to him and that the people could only use gold dust. It was said that without this precaution, gold would have become so plentiful that it would have lost its value. One gold nugget was so large that it was used as a hitching post for the ruler's favorite horse. Ghana was also famous as a trading center where locally produced metal tools, jewelry, leather, and cotton clothes were traded for imports from Moorish Spain and Morocco.
The Mali Empire began in 1230 A.D. with King Sundiata. He gained control of all the trade that had been monopolized by Ghana. In 1342, Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca, which made the Mali Empire world famous. He took a caravan of 60,000 people to Mecca and gave away so much gold as presents that the gold market in the world was devalued for 12 years. When he was asked in Cairo how he became emperor, he said that his brother, Emperor Abubakari II took 2,000 ships in 1311 A.D., sailed west, and never returned. Ivan Van Sertima in his book “They Came Before Columbus,” acknowledges Abubakari II as one of the discovers of America who preceded Columbus. The Mali Empire had a standing army of 100,000 men and is said to have included an area the size of Western Europe.
The Songhay Empire rose to supremacy approximately 1457 A.D. and eventually became as large as the United States of America. The Songhay Empire was also a prosperous trading center but became world famous as a center of advanced culture and higher education. Famous universities were established in the cities of Gao, Jenne, and Timbuktu, which employed thousands of teachers who offered courses that included astronomy, mathematics, medicine, hygiene, music, and many others. Jenne also had a medical school that was especially famous for training surgeons in difficult operations such as cataract surgery. Professor Ahmed Baba, who was chancellor of the University of Sankore in Timbuktu, was the author of more than 40 books and had a personal library of 1,600 volumes; which he said was small, compared to the libraries of his colleagues. During the slave trade, many of the slaves from the former Songhay Empire were highly educated and were credited with teaching Caribbean and American farmers successful agricultural techniques. They also invented various tools and equipment to lessen the burden of their daily work.
The Songhay Empire prospered until 1591 when it was finally conquered by Moorish invaders from north Africa.

GREAT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brooks, L. (1971) African Achievements. Stamford, CT: De Gustibus Press.
Chu, D. & Skinner, E. (1990) A Glorious Age In Africa: Story of 3 Great African Empires. Trenton, NJ
Davidson, B. (1959) The Lost Cities of Africa. Boston: Little-Brown.
Davidson, B. (1964) The African Past. Boston: Little-Brown.
Davidson, B. (1965) A History of West Africa. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.
DeGraft-Johnson, J.C. (1954) African Glory. Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
Dobbler, L. & Brown, W. (1965) Great Rulers of the African Past. New York: Doubleday.
Drachler, J. African Heritage. New York: Collier Books.
Hyman. M. 1994) Blacks Before America. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Jackson, J. (1990) Introduction to African Civilization. New York: Carol Publishing Group.
Motley, M. (1969) Africa: Its Empires, Nations, and People. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Robinson, C., Battle, R., & Robinson, E. (1987) Journey of the Songhai People. Philadelphia: Farmer Press.
Rogers, J. A. (1972) World’s Great Men of Color, New York: Macmillian Publishing Co.
Williams, C. (1987) The Destruction of Black Civilization, Chicago: Third World Press.

THE MOORS

During the European Dark Ages, between the 7^th and 14^th century A.D., the Moorish Empire in Spain became one of the world's finest civilizations. General Tarik and his Black Moorish army from Morocco, conquered Spain after a week long battle with King Roderick in 711 A.D. (The word ‘tariff’ and the Rock of Gibraltar were named after him). They found that Europe, with the assistance of the Catholic Church, had returned almost to complete barbarism. The population was 90% illiterate and had lost all of the civilizing principles that were passed on by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
The Moors reintroduced mathematics, medicine, agriculture, and the physical sciences. The clumsy Roman numerals were replaced by Arabic figures including the zero and the decimal point. As Dr. Van Sertima says, "You can't do higher mathematics with Roman numerals." The Moors introduced agriculture to Europe including cotton, rice, sugar cane, dates, ginger, lemons, and strawberries. They also taught them how to store grain for up to 100 years and built underground grain silos. They established a world famous silk industry in Spain. The Moorish achievement in hydraulic engineering was outstanding. They constructed an aqueduct, that conveyed water from the mountains to the city through lead pipes from the mountains to the city. They taught them how to mine for minerals on a large scale, including copper, gold, silver, tin, lead, and aluminum. Spain soon became the world center for high quality sword blades and shields. Spain was eventually manufacturing up to 12,000 blades and shields per year. Spanish craft and woolen became world famous. The Moorish craftsman also produced world class glass, pottery, vases, mosaics, and jewelry.
The Moors introduced to Europe paved, lighted streets with raised sidewalks for pedestrians, flanked by uninterrupted rows of buildings. Paved and lighted streets did not appear in London or Paris for hundreds of years. They constructed thousands of public markets and mills in each city. Cordova alone had 5,000 of each. They also introduced to Spain underwear and bathing with soap. Their public baths numbered in the thousands when bathing in the rest of Europe was frowned upon as a diabolical custom to be avoided by all good Christians. Poor hygiene contributed to the plagues in the rest of Europe. Moorish monarchs dwelled in sumptuous palaces while the crowned heads of England, France, and Germany lived in barns, lacking windows, toilets, and chimneys, with only a hole in the roof as the exit for smoke. Human waste material was thrown in the streets since no bathrooms were present.
Education was made mandatory by the Moors, while 90% of Europe was illiterate, including the kings and queens. The Moors introduced public libraries to Europe with 600,000 books housed in Cordova alone. They established 17 outstanding universities in Spain. Since Africa is a matriarchal society, women were also encouraged to devote themselves to serious study, and it was only in Spain that one could find female doctors, lawyers, and scientists.
Moorish school teachers knew that the world was round and taught geography from a globe. They produced expert maps with all sea and land routes accurately located with respect to latitude and longitude; while also introducing compasses to Europe. They were such expert ship builders that they were able to use their geography expertise to import and export as far away as India and China. It was not by accident that a Moor named Pietro Olonzo Nino was the chief navigator for Christopher Columbus on the flagship Santa Maria. He is said to have argued with Columbus as to who really discovered America. One of the worst mistakes the Moors made was to introduce gun powder technology from China into Europe, because their enemies adopted this weapon and used it to drive them out of Spain. Europe then took the 700 years of civilization and education re-taught to them by the Moors and used this knowledge to attack Africa.
While the Moors were re-civilizing Europe, great empires were thriving in western Africa and frequently traded with the Moors. These included the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, which prospered between 700 A.D. and 1600 A.D. Africa was not a dark continent awaiting European civilization. In fact, Black African Egyptians and Black African Moors are credited with civilizing Europe.

THE MOORS BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bennett, N. (1975) Africa and Europe. New York: Africana Publishing Co.
Bovill, E. (1970) The Golden Trade of the Moors. London: Oxford University Press.
Davidson, B. (1971) Discovering Our African Heritage. Boston: Ginn & Co.
DeGraft-Johnson, J.C. (1954) African Glory. Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
Jackson, J. (1990) Introduction to African Civilization. New York: Carol Publishing Group.
Lane-Poole, S. (1990) The Story of the Moors in Spain. Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
Rogers, J. A. (1968) Sex and Race. St. Petersburg, FL: Helga Rogers Publishing.
Rogers, J. A. (1972) World’s Great Men of Color, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.
Scobie, E. (1994) Global African Presence, New York: A & B Books Publishers.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1991) Moorish Conquest of Europe. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Williams, C. (1976) The Destruction of Black Civilization. Chicago: Third World Press.
Windsor, R. (1969) From Babylon to Timbuktu. New York: Exposition Press.
Woodson, C. (1939) African Heroes and Heroines. Washington, EC: Associated Publishers.

BLACK POPES

Black Roman Africans made significant contributions to the growth of Christianity and the development of the Roman Catholic faith. The three greatest scholars and founding theologians of Christianity were all Roman Africans including Tetulian, Cyperian, and St. Augustine. However, the greatest contribution was probably made by the three Black popes who were Pope Victor I, Pope Miltiades, and Pope Galasius I.
Pope Victor I was the 14^th pope and served from 189 A.D. - 199 A.D. In 189 A.D., the date of Easter was a matter of great controversy. In Asia, Easter was celebrated on the 14^th day after the full moon, which meant that some Christians were celebrating lent while others were celebrating resurrection. Pope Victor I declared that Easter would only be celebrated on Sunday and that he would excommunicate all of the Christians of Asia if they failed to abide by his ruling. Easter has been on Sunday ever since. Under the influence of the Black theologian Tetulian, the Black Pope Victor I also declared that Latin would replace Greek as the official language of the Roman church. Both Victor and Tetulian only wrote in Latin thereafter. Pope Victor at the same time that Black Romans controlled the world religiously with Victor and Tetulian, the Black Romans gained control of the world politically and militarily in 193 A.D., when the Black Roman African Septimius Severus became the Roman Emperor. He remembered his roots by making large donations to the urban poor and employing them in extensive building campaigns. The month of September was named after Septimius Severus who was seceded as emperor of the Roman Empire by his Black son Caracalla from 211 A.D. until 217 A.D.
The second Black pope was Pope Miltiades who served from 311 A.D. until 314 A.D. as our 32^nd pope. All Christians were persecuted when Miltiades took office until he obtained an edict of toleration signed by Emperor Galerius, which put an end to the great persecutions and allowed the Christians to come out of their catacombs. Pope Miltiades also convinced Emperor Maxentius to return all church buildings and possessions, which had been confiscated during the persecutions. It was also during the reign of Pope Miltiades that the Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity after he saw the cross in a vision.
Constantine's army marched into Rome in 312 A.D. and overthrew the tyrant Maxentius. He subsequently made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Miltiades was made a saint with his feast celebrated on December 10th. The Black Roman theologian St. Augustine called Pope Miltiades "an excellent pontiff, a true son of peace, and father of Christians."
The third Black pope was Galasius I, our 49^th pope, who took office 492 A.D. (exactly 1,000 years before America was so-called "discovered"). He is described by his contemporaries as "famous all over the world for his learning and holiness." Galasius I was devoted to uplifting the poor and weak and commanded his bishops to donate 25% of their revenue to charity, stressing that "nothing is more becoming to the priestly office than the protection of the poor and the weak."
Pope Galasius I is also credited with ending the pagan ritual of Lupercalia in which young men would dress in skins and strike any woman they met with a whip, which was supposed to confer fertility and to chase away bad luck. He replaced Lupercalia with the "feast of the purification of the blessed virgin" now called "Candlemas". Galasius I is most famous for his firm letter to Emperor Anastasius about the need for independence of church and state. He told the emperor that the world is governed by two great powers: that of the popes and that of kings; but the authority of the popes is so much greater because on judgment day, popes will have to render an account to God for the soul of kings. As were the other two African popes, Galasius I was also made a saint and his feast day is held on November 21st.
Contrary to the belief of those who call Christianity a White man's religion, Christianity was founded with the genius of three Black theologians, and further developed and propelled by devoted contributions from three Black Roman African popes.

BLACK POPES BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brusher, J. (1959) Popes Through the Ages. Princeton.
Holtzclaw, R. (1980) The Saints Go Marching In. Keeble Press Inc.
Khamit-Kush, I. (1983) What They Never Told You in History Class. Bronx, NY: Luxorr Publications.
Loomis, L. R. (1916) Book of the Popes, New York.
Ottley, R. (1952) No Green Pastures, London: John Murray
Scobie, E. (1994) Global Afrikan Presence. New York: A & B Books Publishers.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1993) African Presence in Early Europe. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

AFRICAN MEDICINE

Although Africans and people of African descent are seldom given credit in standard textbooks, African wisdom contributed greatly toward the development of modern medicine. For example, in western Africa during the Songhay Empire, about 1457 A.D., (when Europe was still in its "Dark Ages") the city of Jeanne had a medical school which employed 100's of teachers and was world famous for training surgeons in difficult operations such as cataract surgery. They also taught the pharmacological use of over 1,000 animal and plant products for the treatment of medical illnesses. Many of these same medicines in pill or liquid form are used today. For example, castor seeds, the source of castor oil, was used for constipation and castor oil is still used today. Kaolin was used for diarrhea and is still used today in Kaopectate®. Night blindness caused by Vitamin "A" deficiency was treated with ox liver, which is rich in vitamin "A". Vitamin "C" deficiency was treated with onions, which have a high vitamin "C" content.
The antibiotic penicillin (produced by penicillium mold) and its therapeutic properties were well known by the ancient Egyptians who far exceeded the rest of the ancient world in medical knowledge. However, the presence of the antibiotic tetracycline appears only in the bones of farmers from northern Sudan about 1,500 years ago. The ancient Sudanese farmers discovered that streptomyces molds can easily produce tetracycline on stored grain and purposefully used tetracycline to treat infection. There is no evidence that tetracycline antibiotic has been used anywhere else in the world. Tetracycline was not rediscovered until the twentieth century.
More than 40% of modern pharmacological medicines are derived from traditional African medicinal herbs. For example, the Yoruba of Nigeria used the plant Rauwolfia vomitoria as a sedative or tranquilizer to calm agitated or psychotic patients. Modern medicine was able to isolate a substance called reserpine from this plant that was marketed for the same purpose. Reserpine was also discovered to profoundly lower blood pressure and consequently, became one of the antihypertensive medications.
In America, in 1721 an African slave named Onesimus taught his master an age old African technique for smallpox inoculation in which a pustule from an infected person was ruptured with a thorn and then used to puncture the skin of a normal person. Subsequently, during a smallpox epidemic in the Boston, MA area, Dr. Boylston inoculated 241 healthy people by this African technique and only six caught smallpox. During the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington ordered his entire army inoculated against smallpox by this African method. In the 1790's, the British Dr. Edward Jenner only changed the African smallpox inoculation technique by using a less dangerous kind of smallpox germ.
Finally, as recently as 1880 A.D. in Europe, the mortality rate was almost 100% for mothers delivering their babies by caesarian section (that is, delivering babies through the abdomen). Consequently, the operation was only performed to save the life of the infant. Dr. R. W. Felkin, a missionary, shocked the European medical community when he published in the Edinburgh Medical Journal in 1884 that the Banyoro surgeons in Uganda performed caesarian sections routinely, without harmful effects to the mother or the infant. A group of European surgeons went to study in Uganda for six months before they could successfully learn the advanced surgical techniques demonstrated by the Africans. The Europeans were also taught sophisticated concepts of anesthesia and antisepsis. For example, they were taught to routinely wash the surgeon's hands and the mother's abdomen with alcohol prior to surgery to prevent infection. This antisepsis technique had not been practiced in Europe prior to this African visit.
In summary, Africans have contributed greatly toward the development of modern medicine and deserve to be better acknowledged in our medical textbooks.
Dr. Leroy Vaughn
Ophthalmologist, Eye Surgeon
MD, MBA, HISTORIAN, AFRICAN CHIEF

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AFRICAN MEDICINE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brothwell, D. & Sandison, A. (eds.) (1967) Disease In Antiquity. Springfield, MA: Charles C. Thomas.
Bryant, A. (1966) Zulu Medicine and Medicine-Men, Cape Town: C. Struik.
Finch, C. (1992) Africa and the Birth of Science and Technology. Decatur, FA: Khenti Inc.
Finch, C., (1990) The African Background to Medical Science. London, UK: Billing and Sons Ltd.
Harley, G. (1970) Native African Medicine. London: Frank Cass.
Imperato, P. (1979) African Folk Medicine. Baltimore, York Press.
Johnston, H. (1902) The Uganda Protectorate. London: Hutchison and Co.
Osler, W. (1982) The Evolution of Modern Medicine. Birmingham: The Classics of Medicine Library.
Pankhurst, R. (1990) The Medical History of Ethiopia. Trenton, New Jersey.
Rogers, J. (1991) Africa’s Gift to America. St. Petersburg, Florida: Helga Rogers Publishing.
Sofowara, A. (1982) Medicinal Plants & Traditional Medicine in Africa. NY: John Wiley and Sons Limited.
Stetter, C. (1993) The Secret Medicine of the Pharaohs, Trenton, New Jersey: Red Sea Press.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1991) Blacks in Science. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Brooks.
Zaslavsky, C. (1973) Africa Counts. Westport: Lawrence Hill & Co.

THE BLACK MADONNA

Isis was a Black African goddess of Nile Valley civilizations whose worship eventually diffused to most of the ancient world. Isis was worshipped by the Nubians well over 300 years before the first Egyptian dynasty. The Egyptians then gave the Isis religion to Greece, Rome, and western Asia. Gerald Massey says that the religious records of all the world’s religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are nothing more than copies of the religious records of the Black goddess Isis, her son Horus, and her husband Osiris. For example, Horus was the first child born from a virgin mother's immaculate conception, and he was said to have walked on water just as Jesus later did. The Black goddess Isis is also credited with resurrecting Osiris after he was murdered.
The first "Black Madonna and Child" statutes and portraits were of Isis and Horus, and these were taken throughout the world by the Roman Empire. When other religions became more popular, these statues were not destroyed, but simply had their names changed. In India, Isis and Horus became Maya and Buddha in Buddhism or Devaki and Krishna in Hinduism. The Chinese called Isis Kwa-yin, and the Japanese changed the name to Kwannon.
In his 1985 book entitled "The Cult of the Black Virgin", Ean Begg was able to identify over 450 images of a Black virgin and child in Europe with over 190 statutes in France alone. J. A. Rogers says that Paris was actually named for Isis because Para-Isis means "Place of Isis." He also says that Note Dame means "Our Lady" and that the cathedral is nothing more than an enlargement of the original Isis temple.
Millions of pilgrims visit the Black Madonna shrines annually because they are believed to possess magical powers, although the statues are now called Mary and Jesus. It is believed that only the Black statues are magical and all pilgrimages stopped whenever the statues were painted white. The Black Madonnas have been credited with healing towns of plagues, bringing dead babies to life, making infertile women pregnant, and saving nations during wars. Many crutches have been left at the feet of the Black Madonnas, who presumably gave their owners the power to walk. One of the most devoted pilgrims of the Black Madonna shrine in Poland was Pope John Paul II. He prayed to her image while recovering from his gun shot wound. She is credited with thousands of documented miracles including saving Poland from Russia in 1769. In 1968 alone, the Black Madonna shrine in Poland received over 66,000 thank you letters for healing and other miracles. Pilgrims frequently leave gold watches and rings at the feet of the Black Madonnas in appreciation.
Church literature absolutely refuses to acknowledge any association of Black Madonnas with Africa. Church officials claim that the Madonnas are Black because of smoke from candles and from dirt and old age. Church officials would never admit that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans made pilgrimages until 536 A.D. to the Isis temple at Philae, Egypt to seek the same miracles that current pilgrims seek from the Black Madonna shrines. Isis was recognized as a supreme miracle and magic worker and is also credited with teaching mankind the art of curing disease. Isis was able to restore life to the dead as she did with her husband Osiris and later with the infant Horus, who was brought back to life after he was killed by a scorpion's sting. Isis was the goddess of corn and grain, water and navigation, and even clothing. She was also called a divine granter of salvation for souls of mankind. The ancient Black Egyptians acknowledged Isis as the source of all their prosperity, including the Nile River.
Isis worship was so strong in Europe that Roman citizens ignored Emperors Augustus and Tuberous, who outlawed Isis worship and persecuted her priests. Emperor Caligulia finally bowed to public pressure and re-established the Isis worship. Emperor Justinian caused an unsuccessful armed insurrection in 536 A.D., when he ordered all Isis temples permanently closed.
Religion in general (and the cult of the Black Virgin Madonna in specific) is yet another example of the many elements of civilization and civilizing ideas which were brought from Africa into Europe.

THE BLACK MADONNA BIBLIOGRAPHY

Begg, E. (1985) The Cult of the Black Virgin. New York: Penguin Books.
Budge, E. (1969) The Gods of the Egyptians. New York: Dover.
Doane, T. W. (1882) Bible Myths. New York: Truth Seeker Co.
Grabar, A. (1968) Christian Iconography. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jameson, M. (1876) Legends of the Madonna. Boston: Osgood and Co.
MacQuitty, W. (1976) Island of Isis. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Morey, C.R. (1958) Christian Art. New York: Norton.
Patrick R. (1972) Egyptian Mythology. London: Octopus Books.
Rogers, J. A. (1967) Sex and Race. New York: Helga Rogers Publishing
Snowden, F. (1970) Blacks in Antiquity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Van Der Merr, F. (1967) Early Christian Art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1984) Black Women in Antiquity. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Witt, R. (1971) Isis in the Graeco-Roman World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.

CHRISTMAS PAGANISM

Ministers encourage their congregations every year in December to put Christ back into Christmas. The truth is, Christ never was in Christmas nor will he ever be. The "Christmas Spirit" is created each year by mass media, not to honor Christ, but to sell merchandise. Most merchants obtain more than 50% of their annual revenues at Christmas. Christians in the United States did not practice the heathen custom of exchanging gifts at Christmas until the 19^th century, when the merchants revived this Roman custom in order to enrich their coffers.
Everything about the Christmas holiday is false, corrupt, idolatrous, and pagan. There isn't a shred of truth in Christmas. Mary did not look up to her White, blue eyed husband, Joseph, on December 25^th and say “let's call our son's birthday Christmas and celebrate it with a decorated evergreen tree.” First of all, the worldwide images of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were not painted until 1505 A.D. by Michelangelo and represented his aunt, uncle, and first cousin.
Secondly, every priest knows that Jesus was not born on December 25^th. December 25^th, as the birth date of Jesus was not adopted until 325 A.D. at the Nicaean Council where 318 bishops voted on that as the date. The Eastern Orthodox Church never agreed to this date and continued to celebrate January 6^th. Before 325 A.D., most Christians celebrated Christ's birthday on March 25^th or September 29^th. December 25^th was chosen as Christ's birthday because it was the most universally recognized and celebrated holiday in the ancient world. December 25^th is the day after the winter solstice, or the first day in winter when the length of daylight begins to increase. Every nation recognized December 25^th as the birthday of their sun god including: Mitra, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Kristna, Buddha, Adonis, Jupiter, Tammuz, and Saturn.
The Romans called this season “Saturnalia” and celebrated it by exchanging gifts, merriment, revelry, and drunkenness. The sun god Saturn was also the first Santa Claus, which explains why he was omnipresent, that is, could visit every house on Earth in one night; and could know everything about every child's behavior. Santa Claus subsequently became St. Nicholas, a 4^th century bishop of Asia Minor who became the Russian patron saint of children. The St. Nicholas festival was celebrated on December 6^th until Queen Victoria moved the date to December 25^th and made St. Nicholas the father of Christmas. Santa Claus did not have a sleigh pulled by reindeer until 1822 when Clement Moore wrote the poem "‘Twas the night before Christmas."
The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is believed to have originated with the Celtic midsummer eve ceremony when mistletoe was gathered. During that festival the men would kiss each other as a display of their homosexuality. The custom was later moved to December and broadened to include both men and women.
The Christmas tree was first decorated by Pagans with small globes or suns to represent the sun god Adonis, who obtained eternal life as an evergreen tree. Gifts were placed under the tree in his honor.
When the Roman Catholic Church could not persuade the public to give up these idolatrous practices, they simply adopted the pagan celebrations and renamed them. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans had the English parliament ban Christmas from 1642-1662 calling it the "profane man's ranting day." The Pilgrims carried this prohibition to New England. In 1659 Massachusetts passed a law fining anyone caught celebrating Christmas. Public schools remained open on December 25^th in Boston until 1870.
It is estimated that Black people spend over $50 billion during the Christmas season and support an economic power system that never worked in our best interest. African Americans would be better served if we abandoned the European pagan holiday of Christmas and used our $50 billion to feed, clothe, house, and educate our people toward a better quality of life.

CHRISTMAS PAGANISM BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anyike, J. (1994) Historical Christianity African Centered. Chicago: Winston-Derek Publishers Group Inc.
Barashango, I. (1983) African People & European Holidays. Silver Spr., MD: 4th Dyn. Pub.Co.
Ben-Jochannan, Y. A. (1970 African Origins of the Major Western Religions. Balt., MD: Black Classic Press.
Churchward, A. The Origin and Evolution of Religion. Kila, MT: Kessinger Publishing Co.
Conzelmann. H. (1973) History of Primitive Christianity. New York: Abingdon Press.
Doane, T. W. (1882) Bible Myths. New York: Truth Seeker Co.
Graham, L. (1975) Deceptions and Myths of the Bible. New York: Carol Publishing Group.
Graves, K. (1991) The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors. New York: The Cleage Group.
Higgins, G. (1927) Anacalypsis. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books Inc.
Jackson, J. G. (1972) Man, God and Civilization. New York: University Books, Inc.
Massey, G. (1992) The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ. Brooklyn, NY: A & B Books Publishing.
Shabazz, I. A. (1990) Symbolism, Holidays, Myths and Signs. Jersey City: New Mind Productions
Tardo, R. K. The Shocking Truth About Christmas. Arabi, Louisiana: Faithful World Publications.