AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY Profile picture
Feb 15 10 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Sarah Saartjie Baartman was cruelly exploited in Europe by being exhibited as a freak show attraction because of her protruding butt. After her death, her body was displayed in a Paris museum for over 100yrs.

The exploitation of Sarah Baartman.

A THREAD! Image
SARAH "Saarjte" Baartman of the khoikhoi people of South Africa was born in 1789 and was one of 2 women put on display as a "FREAK SHOW" act in England and then later France. Image
The men who promised her a life of pride in sharing her culture with the World tricked her, and though she was given pay she often was at the expense of verbal, sexual, and physical abuse. Image
You see the HOTTENTOT VENUS (Hottentot is very derogatory) had a very distinct look, because the women of her people had extremely large buttocks, and an abnormally elongated labia.
Nude photos of khoikhoi women with steatopygia were collected by white colonialists. Steatopygia is the accumulation of large amounts of fat on the buttocks, especially as a normal condition in the Khoikhoi of Southern Africa. Image
She was made to wear a coloured skin tight outfit revealing what was to be a naked black woman for the paying public to inspect, view, and allegedly at times for extra coin... have a "Private Showing".
When sold to another manager, she was taken to France where she was forced to perform at private parties in homes of the most affluent and wealthy, with the final act being an invitation to the party attendees to approach, touch, feel, and inspect a laid down SARAH'S GENITALS
She was to be later handed off to medical professionals who drew the details of her body. She died penniless from diseases in Paris, as a sex slave in 1815.
Her body had a molded cast made, her brain & pelvic bone put in PRESERVING JARS with her flesh & corpse being discarded. Image
Her remains were finally reclaimed by South Africa, and was given a ceremonial burial in 2002 (187 years later after her death). SARAH never saw her homeland again... Only parts of her body in death Image
If you love my content though sometimes triggering, You can support my history page/project here through donations/tips to keep up on: africanarchives.supportImage

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More from @AfricanArchives

Jun 14
Gert Schramm, aged 15, was arrested and imprisoned in Nazi Germany for the 'crime' of being Mixed Race. He was the only Black prisoner at Buchenwald.

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In May 1944, the Gestapo( official secret police of Nazi Germany) arrested Schramm in Erfurt under Rassenschande (racial defilement) laws, which criminalized relationships between “Aryans” and “non-Aryans” to enforce Nazi racial purity.
Schramm’s heritage—Black American father, Jack Brankson, an engineer, and German mother, Marianne Schramm—made him a target. His existence defied the Nazis’ hateful ideology of purity.
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Jun 10
The 'Real Life Mulan', Cathay Williams.

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Cathay was born and enslaved in 1850 in Jackson County, Missouri. In September 1861 Union troops impressed Cathay and she joined the Army to work as a cook and washerwoman for Union Army officers.
On November 15th, 1866 Williams disguised herself as a man and enlisted as William Cathey, serving in Company A of the 38th Infantry, a newly-formed all-black U.S. Army Regiment, one of its earliest recruits.
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Jun 7
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Jun 5
Successful black communities and towns. A THREAD!

Did you know that an entire Manhattan village owned by black people was destroyed to build Central Park.

The community was called Seneca Village. It spanned from 82nd Street to 89th Street. Image
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—THREAD— Image
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May 29
British exploiters displaying their loots after the punitive expedition of the Benin Kingdom, West Africa. The 1897 Benin Punitive Expedition saw Britain loot 4,000 artworks and massacre people. The invasion, driven by trade control, exiled Oba Ovonramwen(The Ruler)

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The Kingdom of Benin, often referred to as the Great Benin Empire, was one of the most powerful and influential African states in pre-colonial West Africa. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975.
The British were driven by both economic interests and the desire to expand their colonial influence. They aimed to establish control over the region and gain access to its abundant natural resources.
Read 10 tweets

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