I.AM. ARAPI. Challenges Western Notions of Knowledge

Slavery did not end in Southeastern Europe until World War II ended in 1945.

Award-winning scholar-historian, Paula D. Royster unveils new information that is guaranteed to upend all Western notions of knowledge. Based on the true stories of women in Ulcinj, Montenegro, Dr. Royster retraces the footsteps of their Akan ancestors disconnected by the Islamic Slave trade several hundred years ago. “It was sobering to realize that in 2013 I had actually met a person who had been enslaved in 1937 when in my American mind, slavery ended more than 150 years ago,” Royster said. Using cartography to recreate the dislocations of Africans in Ulcinj, Royster stumbled into the deliberate, methodical erasure of Christian archaeology out of Africa into the Middle-East. “The basis for inventing racism and other biases,” Royster said, “has always had its roots in spiritual beliefs. My research reveals the coordinated effort by people in power to justify a system of dominance by simply moving the names and locations of Christian references from one place to another as a rationale for the benevolent violence that followed.” The 267-page book includes maps of the journey from Egypt to Ulcinj, Montenegro, South America, and the Caribbeans and notes the contributions of enslaved communities to Western economies societies such as the Junkanoo Carnival and Halloween. The never before told story re-imagines history using only the evidence left behind.

I.AM.ARAPI. The Journey of Akan Israelites in the Islamic Slave Trade is available at https://iamarapi.com.

The Fairview Agency
Jennifer Kramer-Wine
PO Box 355
Cincinnati, OH 45213
#IAMARAPI, @IAMARAPI

The Fariview Agency is a seasoned publisher located in the Ohio Valley. Other publications include Edible Ohio Valley, a monthly magazine that encourages food sourcing from local farmers.