Common Era history would have you believe that there is no history from the continent of Africa that would require chronicling.

I disagree.

There is rich valuable information that can be determined from this history. It just needs to be presented so that each individual can make up their own minds.

We have established through a biblical context that people of African descent have been viable since history keeping began. After walking the road with Jesus and Simon of Cyrene, we move to another part of the continent and a little later in time.

Between the 2 and 3^rd Century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum (which is now present-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia) traded gold and ivory into Middle East, India, and China. This was a wealthy civilization that thrived for centuries. They also exported frankincense, myrrh, emeralds, salt, and live animals. It established economic strength, noted in the image as the coin, which held the image of its leaders.

Meanwhile a tribe of about 4,000 people in 200 AD grew to about 26,000 by 800 AD in a settlement in Northern Nigeria. They developed a method to grow rice using tools made of iron. This system would become a game changer later in history. It is noted in the image as white mountain. The other mountains represent gold and copper which were also items other nations wanted.

Different tribes throughout the continent of Africa would gather their natural resources and trade them with countries around the world. Although many of the tales will never be told, Africans began globalization by 150 BC as notes from Chinese Courts tell of ambassadors from Ethiopia bringing goods.

By 1000 AD, Madagascar was part of the route to trading with China through the town of Kilwa on Tanzania. Archeological digs in the town reveal Chinese porcelain.

Stereotypes of people from African countries show them as primitive uneducated people who didn’t know how to manage their own lives, less alone build booming economies.  For a very long time they have been the innovators that make the world a better place.

This year I am going to tell you a story. It is a very long story but deserving. I am going to add some color to history. Many of these stories you know, you might have put them all together. Allow me to.

People of African descent have always been here. Racism tries to make us believe that Africans were not smart enough to leave the continent until a European or Asian showed them how. Not true.

Simon was from a city in Northern Africa in Libya. It was settled during the time of Greek reign. It was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region.

The first story I share goes back to 33AD where a Jew name Jesus is carrying the weapon of his destruction down a road. Beaten and exhausted, Jesus needs help, so they get a man who is fresh in from the country, a man from Cyrene. This man is from a Greek city on the continent of Africa. He used his two feet to get from one place to another.

Something about this man made him stand out from the crowd of people following Jesus. Something obviously physical because they thought he would be able to bear the burden. Here is the beautiful thing, God knew he would be able to carry it. Simon’s two feet and strong back carried the cross.

I don’t know if Simon was on a trade route or maybe he was visiting Jerusalem as a practicing Jew, but he was far from home. He was bigger and stronger than any in the crowd. His sandaled feet followed the path God had him on. It changed everything for his family.

God wrote us into this story. People from Africa were there. We weren’t standing on the sidelines. We had a role to play.

Where we came from didn’t limit where we were going. It never has.

In 2022, I am going to add some color to history.