Arthur Schomburg: Global Blackness
By: Mal' akiy 17 Allah
Jan. 24 th marked the 151 st bornday anniversary of renowned Harlem historian Arthur (Arturo) Schomburg. As an adopted Harlemite he became an integral contractor to the fledging African consciousness which was sprouting there around the dawn of the 19 th century. Along with several other African-American & African-Caribbean activists and educators, they helped lay down the foundation for the progressive Harlem Renaissance (1918-1937).
Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Jan. 24 1874 to a Black Cruzan mother and Puerto Rican fatter of German ancestry, he spent his youth there, and began calling Harlem home on April 17, 1891; where he worked odd jobs while also researching the Motherland's true history and traced it through his Caribbean lineage.
"He was one of the first, when asked his heritage, he replied 'I am an Afro Puerto Rican, Afro Borinqueño'," noted Dr. Georgina Falu, former director of CCNY’s Afro-Latino Studies program. "The reason that's important is because it's rare for people of Latino heritage to identify themselves with Africa."
He bonded with several other like-minded activists of that era like Marcus Garvey and John E. Bruce. Two youthful scholars were sparked by him, and would go on to forge their own intellectual legacies.
Dr. Falu, recalled having conversations with African scholar warrior, Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan a.k.a. Dr. Ben in recent decades, where he shared info about he and Dr. John Henrik Clarke meeting with Schomburg during the 1930s, and the 3 having many in-depth intellectual conversations regarding the Motherlands true heritage, as they learned at his feet.
She concludes: "We owe to him for going around the world and archiving artifacts so that African descendants can research and learn about our history, heritage & contributions to civilization. Not only was Schomburg learning about it, in his wisdom he was compiling those artifacts so that future generations can find them. That should inspire us to do the same and collect relevant history throughout the African diaspora.”
In his own words, Schomburg: "We need the historian and philosopher to give us with trenchant pen, the story of our forefathers, and let our soul and body, with phosphorescent light, brighten the chasm that separates us. We should cling to them just as blood is thicker than water."
There was an event Friday, January 24 · evening titled Annual Arturo A. Schomburg Lecture and Conversation at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd New York, NY 10030.
To support the campaign to co-name the Brooklyn intersection of Nostrand Ave. & Kosciusko St. as "Arthur (Arturo) Alphonso Schomburg Place", go to Facebook.com/arthur.schomburg.
