America, the land of the free and the land of the Brave has a dream

Dr. James Taylor explains that our laws affect our history. Our laws are interwoven in the self understanding of Americans and their relationship toward each other. He points out that what makes Americans different from every other nation in the world is the fact that every race of the world is integrated in the American fabric of society.

As the society developed and new waves of immigrants or in case of the African Americans, slaves, were integrated our society developed many attitudes in different population segments. All Americans have to come to grips with our history if we wish to heal from the mistakes in the past and move forward as a healthy and truly integrated society.

By looking back and learning about our Black American forefathers' we can learn a lot about ourselves. How did it all begin?

Europe during the 15th and 16th century

Until 1492 Spain which had been under Moorish rule became free. The Moors were a very educated people of Muslim-African descent. Spain was comprised of several kingdoms at that time.

Isabelle ruled one of them she was a devoted Christian. At that time Iberia - the Spanish peninsula was a melting pot of Celts, black Africans, Romans, Moors, Goths, Arabs, and Hewbrews and many others that came and interbred. It was a Roman province considered to be a thriving center of intellectual learning and a for art and high culture.

As early as 711 A.D., the Moors, who were African-Arab Muslims, invaded and conquered Southern Spain and Portugal, placing them under Muslim rule. During the Moorish reign of the region, they benefitted from a culture that consisted of highly evolved agricultural systems, religious architecture, artistic skill, mathematics, medicine, scholarship, astronomical and maritime knowledge.

Spain was largely, as a result of their presence, ushered out of the Dark Ages into a period of rapid growth, grandeur and power. This period of intensified learning, coupled with the decline of feudalism, greatly influenced the development of the European cultural Renaissance and ensuing colonial expansion.

During the later part of the 13th and 14th century the Roman Catholic church became very powerful throughout Europe. Partially due to the Black Death, the plague which wiped out entire communities. The Roman Catholic church was in a fierce competion with the Moors. This all ended in 1492. Next