Port of Harlem magazine and the Black Camisards donated a
limited edition drawing of Martin Robison Delany,
the father of Pan-Africanism, by John A. Nelson, to the National Museum of the Gambia.
The picture will hang in the Slavery Museum in Juffureh, home of Alex
Haley’s ancestor, Kunta Kinte. Like Kinte, Delany
was Mandingo. The picture will hang in museum’s Diaspora
section. Attitude
Exact Gallery completed the museum-quality framing. Nestor
Hernandez prepared the text panel.
During
the presentation of the picture Momodou C. Joof, Executive Director of
the National Council of Arts and Culture, announced that the International Roots Festival will
take place in The Gambia, Saturday,
June 3 to Saturday, June 10, 2006.
The
Father of Pan-Africanism 
Martin
Robison Delany, the American-born grandson of Mandingo paternal and
maternal grandparents, once declared, “Our policy must be Africa for
the African race, and Black men to rule them.” His friend, famed
abolitionist Frederick Douglass said of him, “I thank God for making me
a man simply, but Delany always thanks him for making him a Black man.”
Around
1859,
Delany entered a treaty with King Abbeokuta of Nigeria. The
treaty
secured the right of free and enslaved Africans in the United States to
locate in the King’s unoccupied territory and share it with the
locals. On the advice of an Anglican priest, Reverend Henry
Townsend,
the King reneged on his promise.
Though
Delany’s
most ambitious plan failed, he led a remarkable life. He was a
physician, author, the first Black to achieve the rank of Major in the
U.S. Army, a statesmen, and newspaper editor.
From Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania USA, he published The
Mystery. On the paper’s masthead,
he chose the Biblical scripture, “And Moses was learned in all his
wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22), to remind readers of the West’s
dependence on African culture.
Provided
by Port of Harlem magazine and Black Camisards
(www.BlackCamisards.com). Artwork by Master pencil artist John A.
Nelson. Metro Washington, D.C. USA.
Photo: POH publisher
Wayne Young, POH Banjul
Representative Amadou
Baba Galleh Jallow, museum officer Hassoum Ceesay, Executive Director of the National Council of Arts and Culture Momodou C. Joof, POH Banjul Representative Ebrahim Cham, and contributor Kevin Turner,
Esq. (Young's shirt by Khismet Wearable Art)
Join POH when we return to The Gambia,
February 2007. Watch future Snippets for more Gambian highlights.
