Have you ever been frustrated when an email from an organization uses their acronym, asks for a donation; but never reveals what their acronym stands for? In honor of Black History Month, I want to introduce some acronyms, not ask for money, explain what it stands for and what role it played in African American History especially with relation to Liberia and Egypt.

Part 2 will be about Black History being the first history of humankind!

One acronym is KSCS. It stands for Kwaatonoma School of Continuing Studies. One goal of KSCS was to bring ancestral storytelling to the heart of Liberian education. LIBELP, the Liberian Endangered Language Project emphasized the richness of a Liberian education which taught children the cultural richness of their language, wisdom, and heritage despite competing colonial narratives.

The ACS was the American Colonization Society, formed in 1816 and lasting until 1964. It organized the migration of freed slaves from the USA to the Liberian ‘colony’. Many controversies plagued the ACS with disagreements about many aspects of their mission. Meanwhile, back on the west coast of Africa, there were the native societies of Liberia who questioned why their land was given to others without their consent.*

The most-involved state in Liberia in the USA was Kentucky which had both abolitionists and pro slavery factions. Some abolitionists believed in ending slavery as a ‘process’ and Liberia was seen as part of that process. Such was the position of some members of the Clay family. “Kentucky in Africa” was founded in Liberia in 1828 and settled in what they named “Clay-Ashland”—named after Henry Clay’s Ashland plantation in Kentucky. ‘Kentucky in Africa’ was annexed by Liberia around 1847.

If you are wondering where Cassius Marcellus Clay enters our story, he descended from slaves in Kentucky but did not go to Liberia. He became well known way beyond Kentucky as a world champion boxer, and he made more news headlines when he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. When asked why he did so, he replied that he did not want to continue his career with a slave name.

Muhammad Ali became the de facto ruler of Egypt (1805-1848). He is considered the founder of modern Egypt.** There is some irony that his roots were Ottoman-Albanian when Albanians had been a major source of slaves for Egypt. The parallel lies in Cassius Clay’s slave origins. History does not often repeat itself, but it more often rhymes!

Black History Month is also celebrated in Canada and The United Kingdom (since 1987). In the UK, it is even more difficult to celebrate Black History Month without referencing Africa and the UK’s history of colonization throughout the continent.

*There are some parallels here with the creation of Israel in 1948.

**He ruled not only Egypt but also Sudan, Hejaz, the Levant, Crete, and parts of Greece.

Thanks to Wikipedia for some data used in the above op-ed.