Thread by @michaelharriot

Before Brian Kemp...
Before Reconstruction
Before America
Even before 1619

Black people were fighting for liberation and equality in Georgia.

A thread.

In 1521, Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón landed on the present-day SC coastline on a land-stealing reconnaissance trip for Spain. While looking around, some of his crew stole one of the indigenous people and loaded him on a ship.

Of course, they gave him a white name – Francisco.

They took him to Spain so they could get the Spanish King to grant them exclusive rights to the land that neither of them owned.

Frank assured the King that his people would welcome the white colonizers with open arms because he was willing to vouch for them, so they returned.

They loaded up ships with 600 people, including soldiers, wives, farmers, laborers and, of course, dozens of stolen Africans. There was just one problem:

Ayllon wasn't an explorer.

He was just a rich white boy who was loyal to the crown.

They lost passengers in storms, some deserted in present-day Cuba, and he crashed a WHOLE SHIP filled with supplies.

As soon they pulled up to the coast of SC in their late-model ship, Francisco took off and disappeared into the woods. They never saw him again.

It turns out, Frankie just wanted a ride home.

But Lucas found a place to build his colony on the coast of present-day Ga. On Sept. 29, 1526, they christened San Miguel de Gualdape–the first European settlement in the continental US.

Because they arrived too late to plant crops and had crashed a supply ship, the white folks were hungry AF and forced the natives to give them food. They would send the enslaved Africans to pick it up every day (This was before doordash).

The Africans would get their own water while they were out hunting and refused to drink the white men's water.

While the whites thought it was a dumb way to protest, they didn't care. They had free food & water (technically, it was welfare).

Then the white people started dying.

It turns out, you're not supposed to drink water from the same place you poop in. By winter, 350 of 500 died. And the sickness, disease & conflict caused them to break into two political "parties"– some thought they should leave, others thought they should stay. Then Ayllon died.

One night, when the two factions were arguing over leadership, they smelled smoke. San Miguel Gualdape was on fire. Apparently, the Africans were communicating with the native Shakori.

They burned that motherfucker to the ground.

Then, like Frank, the Africans disappeared.

The white folks hauled ass up out of America. Curiously, when they got back to the Spanish territories in the Caribbean, they never mentioned what happened to all the Black people who left with them.

Historians speculate that they joined the indigenous REAL Americans.

Some say they became part of the Lumbee and Cheraw tribes in the Carolinas. Now, I grew up about 30 mins from Cheraw, SC and not far from Lumberton, SC. And if you meet the native Lumbee, you might assume you were just meeting a light-skinned Black person
washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/…

The Spanish came back and tried again. This time, they had a better idea. They were gonna turn the natives on to this thing called Christianity.

They forbid the Guale from dancing, divorcing, playing drums and praying to any God but theirs

In 1597, Guale leader Juanillo (his white name, of course) was tired of white Jesus ( You know their choir sucked. There were NO DRUMS. I bet they had a guitar, though.) So on September 13, 1597, Juanillo and his homeboys started killing white people.

Not ALL white people

They let ONE LIVE...

As a slave, just to set an example.

During the Revolutionary War, hundreds of Black Georgians joined the BRITISH SIDE. Some even came from HAITI and the Caribbean. Same with the Civil War, enslaved Africans fought with the North.

After the Civil War, white supremacists flooded into Georgia to slaughter Black people who dared vote. I know I've pointed this out before, but it is always worth repeating:

Georgia is the only state to be kicked out of America for being too racist

politico.com/story/2014/07/…

Why? Because too many Black people were voting.

So they rigged the electoral system for the next 90 years

Here's my point:

What's happening in Georgia is NOT about politics. It is & has always been about race.

It's the textbook definition of white supremacy.

The ONLY reason white people in Georgia have EVER been in control is that they have been willing to lie, cheat and kill LITERALLY since they first stepped foot in Georgia.

But maybe there's a solution

Maybe someone needs to reset the whole thing back to factory settings.