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Mansa Musa I of Mali was already worth $400B
700 years before Bezos' 'paltry' $199.3B |
Forbes magazine just declared Jeff Bezos the first person to ever amass a personal fortune of $200 billion.This is a lie.
This is yet another classic case of rewriting history. This is precisely how Africans are lied to in an attempt to paint the white man as superior.
Mansa Musa (1280 - 1337), also known as Musa I of Mali, Musa Keita I of Mali and Musa Keita I, was the tenth Sultan of the great Mali Empire which covered modern day Ghana, Timbuktu and Mali in West Africa, and the richest human being in history, with a personal net worth of $400 billion after adjusting for inflation.
Mansa Musa became famous in Europe and West Africa after he made the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which was an impossible proposition in his day. His cavalcade consisted of about 60,000 soldiers, slaves and followers who escorted him through the kingdoms en-route, where he spent lavishly and distributed alms to the poor, upsetting the economy of the region.
Another fact that is so often overlooked and has been conveniently whitewashed from history is that Abubakari II, Mansa Musa's predecessor, led sailors from the Great Mali Empire to the Americas in 1311... almost 200 years before Columbus arrived!
That an black African explorer reached the Americas before Columbus happens to be very inconvenient for the white man. And yet there's alot of work to be done in educating the world, particularly Africans, about this remarkable history.
Now it turns out that the gold that Columbus himself found in the Americas has been demonstrated to be the same alloy as that of West Africa. The word used for gold by Native Americans was 'guanin' - which is practically the same word in Mandinka for gold: 'ghanin'.
In his journals, Columbus cpncedes that Native Americans confirmed that “Black skinned people had come from the South-East in boats, trading in gold-tipped spears."
Other pieces of evidence include corn and cotton (indigenous to the Americas) being grown in Africa before Columbus made his journey, thus direct evidence that there was trade between the two continents.
Skeletons of black people were found in pre-Columbus graves in the Virgin Islands. Archaeologists have also discovered other skeletons in Central and South America. Other than Columbus, other European explorers, including Vasco Nunez de Balboa, made record of seeing black people when they reached the New World.
Abubakari's intention was to explore the limits of the Atlantic.To do this, he had to abdicate his throne, a decision that did not go down very well. The griots, (West African oral historians), who act as repositories of oral traditions, are said to have imposed silence on this voyage. They found his abdication a shameful act not worthy of praise, and for that reason they refused to sing praise or talk of this great African explorer. This is why Abubakari's voyage to the Americas has never been told or publicised as it should be.
I find it interesting that Abubakari's voyage to the Americas is one that has been silenced in one way or another, both in written and oral record.
Abubakari was succeeded by the famous Mansa Musa who, after assuming the throne, spoke of his predecessor: "The ruler who preceded me did not believe that it was impossible to reach the extremity of the ocean. So he equipped two hundred boats full of men, and many others full of gold, water and victuals sufficient enough for several years. He ordered the chief (admiral) not to return until they had reached the extremity of the ocean, or if they had exhausted the provisions and the water. They set out. Their absence extended over a long period, and, at last, only one boat returned."Musa inherited the Kingdom left behind by Abubakari, and it was under his rule that the Kingdom of Mali grew significantly, stretching from the Atlantic ocean all the way to modern day Niger, and taking in parts of what is now Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Ivory Coast. With such a large land mass came great resources such as gold, and all of it belonged to the King.
There are multiple strands of historical sources indicating that African explorers reached the Americas prior to its European discovery and prior to slavery.
Let this then be a reminder to all that history is not neutral; we often think of history as a passive subject with little implication on the present. But we also must actively understand how it affects our identity, our sense of place and our understanding of the world around us.
There are many conflicting theories about who arrived in the Americas 'first', including the Vikings, Chinese, Irish monks and more. The point I'm driving at is not to prove that Africans were the first, but to show that they were present in the Americas long before we thought. (See They Came Before Colombus by Professor Ivan Van Sertima.)
African people have made significant contributions to world history in ways that we may probably never understand. As we continue to explore our existence, we must remember to ground ourselves in the multiplicity of our being, bearing in mind that what has been taught in the past is not necessarily what is true.
It is therefore bang out of order for this white people magazine to tell us that Jeff Bezos is the first person to be worth $200 billion. Far from it. There was an African called Mansa Musa and he was worth much more! The white man can no longer be allowed to whitewash history just to suit his narrative. Not in the 21st century.
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