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2

3

This second issue of EboniGram celebrates two

aspects of our history as Black People. First, our

team thought it befitting to join the rest of the black world

and those who, in one way or the other, have had to share

some aspects of our history, in commemorating the single

most devastating event in human history—the enslave-

ment of African peoples. We decided to tell this story by

focusing on one of the less-known regions that supplied

slaves to Europe and America , the Bimbia coast of Cam-

eroon.

As we remember the adversities that our ancestors had to

endure, we also reflect on the role of some of our ances-

tors in the dehumanizing trade that has defined our histo-

ry for four hundred years. We reflect on the nations that

had to bear on the challenges of enslavement, leading to

their historic, even though denied, contribution in the

building of some of the greatest civilizations of modern

history.

As part of their laborious legacy, our ancestors, whether in the motherland or on exile, left

us behind with a task; to engrave their name, lost or current, in the tablets of history. That is

why, as part of our collective action to live by that dream, this issue of EboniGram is fea-

turing the stories of triumph of five of our young women. These young black women, mak-

ing their name in technology, are a testimony that the travails of our ancestors were not

suffered in vain.

As you join us in reading and reflecting on these stories, we hope that you keep in mind

that the sacrifices of our ancestors can only be brought alive in the good return of our own

enterprise. Like the women, whose stories illuminate the pages of this publication, may

your black light shine brighter than any star in the night sky.

Blessed E. Ngoe

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Editorial

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CONTRIBUTORS

Fatimah Behin is a freelance writer who has

worked with several renowned publications

around the world. She is a law student from Sunny

Region of South Africa. Behin is a conservationist

who aims to reform animal welfare legislation up-

on beginning her legal practice.

Danhatu Njodzeka is a news re-

porter for TWIF News and Eb-

oniGram in Cameroon. His training

is in print and broadcast journalism,

although he is making enormous

contributions in digital media as

well.

Paul Njie is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of TWIF News. Njie’s train-

ing is in broadcast and print journalism, but he has made strides in digital

journalism as well. He also consults for EboniGram in Cameroon.

Cover photo: © WeWork

5

Black Tech Women

Angelica Ross……………………………………………………….…………6

Stephanie Lampkin…………………………………………………..……….10

Melissa Hanna………………………………………………..……………….14

Bimbia

The Slave Trade Village in Oblivion…………………………………………18

Black Tech Women cont’d

Arlan Hamilton………….……………………………………………………26

Kellee James………………………………………………………………….29

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In this Issue

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Photo: ©LGBTQ Nation

Blac

k Te

ch W

omen

7

By Fatimah B.

The brilliant smile and warm demeanour do little to hide a fierce intelligence lurking

just beneath the surface. Angelica Ross is not only a modern-day pioneer but can be

regarded as an advocate for several movements currently making headlines around

the globe.

Whether you're interested in #BlackLivesMatter, #LGBTQequality,

#GenderEquality, or African tech pioneers of the female persuasion, one thing is cer-

tain – Ross has fingers in all these pies.

Born in the 1980s, Ross has seen and experienced both the “old” world and new, just enough to realize that biases carried over and change was slow in the making. As a child of the 80s and 90s, Ross found herself bullied for being different – a common experience for many of us who have always felt like outsiders. After opening herself up as transgender, Ross was disowned by her parents. Homeless and alone, she en-tered the Navy, where she found herself discriminated against. Ross was discharged under the Navy’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rule. Not one to dawdle over negative experiences, she relocated to Florida, and taught

herself to code while taking acting classes. Ross’s life thus far had prepared her to

don several hats, including that of businesswoman, actress and transgender rights

advocate.

Many of us with access to social media noticed the mostly overwhelming support

Caitlynn Jenner’s Vanity Fair article received in 2015. While Jenner has been re-

garded as the world's most famous transgender shining the spotlight on an important

issue, it can be said that Ross’ view of transgender equality is not merely about equal

rights but what happens after you've made the decision to fully immerse yourself in

your true identity.

Soon after her transition in 2000, Ross noticed a huge discrepancy in transgender

employment opportunities. The battle to “fit in” extended to numerous spheres, in-

cluding the social and professional scene. Ross knew she was staring at an uphill

climb – transpeople are treated differently by the majority, so how do you interact

with society? How do you apply for a job when discriminatory practices are not only

alive but thriving? How do you live your best life if you're constantly facing preju-

dice for merely existing?

Angelica Ross

8

In trying to answer these questions, Ross founded Transtech Social Enterprises in 2014, a non-profit company that is spearheading the movement to train and place transpeople interested in the I.T. industry. Transtech is an incubator, a company dedicated to “economically empowering the transgender people in our community,” and Ross’ influ-ence is clearly worded in the brief introduction provided on the homepage. Ross and her parents managed to somewhat repair the rift between them. They were pre-

sent at the premiere of the innovative and pioneering TV series, Pose, but the memory of

their rejection is not something that merely haunts Ross but many LGBT people as

well.

Ross recalls her mother saying, “Oh, I didn't really throw you out the house” and acknowledges this brushoff cripples the healing process – as if that moment didn't cause

a fundamental shift in their relationship.

Pose is honest, uncomfortable, soul-baring viewing that truly harnesses the pain, an-

guish, bravery and determination held by so many in the trans community – not just in-

dividuals like Ross, but their friends and staunch advocates. Ross faced her own demons

undertaking the role of Candy, her struggles with her own body insecurity is another

struggle many transpeople undergo and she says, “It was hard to see my body the way

that I want it to be versus the way that it

is. Back in the day I sat on that doctor's

table getting pumped with silicone out

of some unlabelled jar of whatever. It

could've easily turned out different.”

Ross’s attitude is something to admire –

she’s unapologetic in her thoughts and

powers through any potential barriers.

When talking about the perceptions

faced by transgenders on the tech scene,

Ross mentions surprising words, like

elitism and classist perspectives. The

discussion takes an almost philosophical

turn as you don't really expect to hear

these ideologies brought into the picture

– but that's exactly what she's done.

©T

wit

ter:

An

gel

icaR

oss

9

The tech field is normally shrouded in a “men’s club” only vibe, something Ross is

breaking down one brick at a time. For her, Transtech is the start of something we have-

n't seen. The foundation is less about gathering donations and more set on training the

transcommunity to explore their potential in a safe space.

The email from

MSNBC’s “Melissa

Harris-Perry” congrat-

ulating on Ross being

the first “Soldier “was

a welcome one, a sign

that perhaps others

were finally open

to understanding the

fragile and ongoing

battle the trans com-

munity faces every-

day: trying to live

openly in a world that

hasn't exactly accepted

or respected you.

The hats she proudly waves have shifted over the years, from one of pure survival to advocating publicly and proudly for equality.

We hear you Angelica!

You look back and think, “How did I survive?” And it’s

always because you just do. I feel I’m still sort of

grappling with things, but I know that all of these

experiences are for a reason; they were to condition me

for a certain level of leadership. It’s almost like in the

time of Donald Trump—or you think about the

Holocaust or slavery—it’s fertile ground for a certain

type of leadership. We’re in an extreme time right now.

I know I’m being prepared to take responsibility and

that the world is ready for me. It’s taken me a long time

to be able to talk about myself like this and talk about

these things this way.

- Angelica Ross

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By Fatimah B

Stephanie Lampkin’s entire demeanour screams trailblazer and that's no surprise. The

young entrepreneur and tech maven grew up in a surprisingly tech-free home but thanks

to 2 major female influences, her aunt and mother, Lampkin got the hang of computer

coding at the tender age of 13.

Sounds like a fluke? Not really. She then went on to study management science and engineering at Stanford University, a mostly male-dominated field that still tends to

smirk around individuals from the gentler (and prettier) sex. After majoring in Engi-neering, Lampkin went on to gain her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at MIT – if your eyebrows have raised to your hairline, don't worry. Her achievements

tend to do that!

It was probably this mix of business and technology that led her to create Blendoor, a

recruiting app geared to eliminate discriminatory practices when hiring. Truth be told,

hiring managers should be impartial to everything save the potential candidate’s qualifi-

cations and level of experience.

Unfortunately, this is the real world where anything from your weight to your race can get you eliminated from the competition. Lampkin’s idea for Blendoor was innovative in itself. She used “blend” to mean diversity and “doors” representing transparency and

opportunity. Combine those and you have the potential to turn the hiring process on its ear.

Like others in her position, Lampkin has faced discrimination many times, “There were

so many experiences. [Laughs] I interviewed for an analytical lead position at [a ma-jor tech firm]. I was referred by an MIT classmate. The interview went well—I made it to the final round—but the recruiter’s feedback was that the team didn’t feel that I

had enough analytical skill and that I wasn’t technical enough. I was told they would hang on to my résumé in case a sales or marketing position opened up. I thought, I’ve been in computer science since I was 13. What more can I do? I have

degrees from both Stanford and MIT and you’re telling me that I’m still not quali-

fied? It was a big “aha!” moment for me. And one of the catalysts for Blendoor.”

Make no mistake, she's worked for companies like Microsoft and Lockheed during the past decade and a half so it's astounding that Lampkin still faced such an incredibly lame excuse based on underlying prejudices. Can you guess which tech firm? We did a little digging around, and apparently it's Google!

Stephanie Lampkin

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This was not only a gender and race issue, but one based on

such ridiculous traditions that it's almost laughable if it were-n't so frustrating. The tech in-

dustry is mainly dominated by white males, and while we're not throwing any shade, the exclusive “boys club” scene is

not only outdated but sadly, they're missing out on brilliant achievers and innovators in

their female counterparts.

Google has over 55 000 em-

ployees with few African wom-

en in tech roles – like any true

champion, Lampkin didn't let

that rejection take root and set

to work creating Blendoor.

Blendoor’s clients currently

include AirBnB, Salesforce,

Facebook, Twitter, Intel and,

here's the kicker, Google itself.

Lampkin seems to relish chal-

lenges, in part because over-

coming stereotypes can free souls trapped in specific mindsets, but also to unleash po-

tential. One of her main fears is that discrimination can prevent untapped human capital

from achieving their true potential, “I fear that there are many people in this world

(including myself) who may never be able to reach their full potential, due to poverty,

homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and many other “isms.” The kind of potential

that finds cures for diseases and other unprecedented breakthroughs.”

Her fears should make us sit upright – a 2014 report found that foreign-sounding names could hurt your chances from landing an interview, let alone a job offer. Think about that for a moment. Lampkin was turned down for the analytics job at Google but of-fered one in sales, despite having amazing credentials. Her research led to additional discoveries, where ‘according to the National Bureau of Economic Research study, a “white sounding” name can return as many job call-backs as an additional eight years of experience from someone with an “African American sounding” name.’

©LinkedIn Stephanie Lampkin

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How many of us wonder whether we’ve been turned down for jobs based on our sex,

race, religion, orientation or some other insane criteria? More than half we bet.

As someone working and residing in the heart of the tech industry, Lampkin wants to see

Blendoor adopted by Silicon Valley where recruiters focus on what’s important (skills,

education, experience) compared to insignificant factors (your name, physical appear-

ance, gender, religion and more).

Blendoor’s tagline, “The Future of People Operations is Here” is no doubt catchy and

effective. By combining artificial intelligence and people analytics, Blendoor manages to

remove unconscious bias in its entirety, a “technology that enhances the ability of hu-

mans to judge other humans based on merit, not molds.”

Her talk on creating female legacies delved into the heart of the matter: “Your company strug-

gles with finding diverse talent; it’s not a pipeline problem. It’s a buy-in, bias, branding and

business case problem.”

Whatever she decides to tackle next, one thing is for sure – Stephanie Lampkin’s determina-tion to achieve equality in the workplace is something that benefits us all.

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By Fatimah B

Melissa Hanna is exactly what you pictured, a warm and friendly personality that instantly

engages you. But don't let the charming beauty deceive you from realizing that underneath

the mass of curls lies a brain equipped with a JD (law), and an MBA to boot.

Hanna is known for pioneering “the world-class maternity programs at Cedars-Sinai Medical

Center and Kaiser Permanente” but understood that the opportunity to digitize her work

could “fundamentally change the structure of health care in this country.”

A few months ago Hanna’s company, Mahmee, closed a $3 million funding round that in-

cluded the likes of Tennis star, Serene Williams and billionaire, Mark Cuban.

Hanna and her mother, Linda, co-founded Mahmee, a digital gamechanger in the maternity

health care field. The company “uses predictive analytics to provide personalized, on-

demand support to new mothers and infants.”

Members can book their appointments in-home and virtual, which makes the system quite

convenient for new mothers. Mahmee’s professional network is increasing rapidly, where a

range of highly qualified professionals are available. These include “registered nurses, board-

certified lactation consultants, registered dietitians, certified massage therapists, sleep train-

ers, emotional wellness counsellors, and more.”

Hanna has made sure to create a system that works proactively with “a private messaging

hotline, online support groups led by experts, and a personalized dashboard of content and

advice that evolves with mom and baby through every age and stage.” These tools and fea-

tures make Mahmee the ultimate solution in post-natal homecare, especially during those

critical 6 weeks post-delivery. She recognized a major gap in maternity care after the typical

48-72 hour mandatory hospital discharge and confirmed these via studies that indicate early

discharge can negatively affect both mother and new-born. The data also confirms a trend in

Western countries “to shorten the postpartum length of stay in hospital driven by cost con-

tainment, hospital bed availability and a movement toward ‘demedicalisation’ of childbirth.”

How did Hanna develop such a valuable and revolutionary idea? “Mahmee embodies the

legacy of my mother’s work. I realized her approach created much better outcomes for every-

one involved in the maternal care journey. I told her that it should be happening at scale and

technology is the solution.”

Melissa Hanna

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Apparently the United States have the worst record regarding maternal death rates of any developed

country – some 700 mothers due annually with another 50 000 “becoming severely injured.”

You have to wonder why these issues weren't addressed before. It's not like the early days where women

had to fight for the vote, fight to gain a job that was not “secretary” or decide she could have both a ca-

reer and a family, right? Unfortunately, while we have come a long way, old prejudices die hard and

women are still treated as inferior in many environments.

In bringing this issue up, Hanna not only shines the spotlight on the inadequacies in maternal healthcare

but also dares to point out that this isn't a priority. Think about this: our mothers are dying or becoming

seriously ill due to poor maternal healthcare policies, and though many emphasize we can't find long-

term solutions that can turn these stats around, we're trying to plan a human mission to Mars... Boggles

the mind!

The struggle to be taken seriously is another issue Hanna came up against, “one of the challenges un-

derrepresented founders, like myself, are facing today is we don’t have the typical backgrounds compared

with the previous generation of founders in Silicon Valley. We don’t fit into the San Francisco, Palo Alto

white boys club."

Ouch, but absolutely true. Apparently, Hanna was questioned relentlessly about her background, qualifi-

cations and credentials. This isn't an unusual phenomenon –many female entrepreneurs of color face an

extraordinary amount of discrimination within the tech industry. Exactly what portion of capital designat-

ed for start-ups are awarded to black women? “0006% of the $424.7 billion in total tech venture funding

raised since 2009,” according to Project Diane.

Hanna recalls a fundraising meeting she attended a few years ago. During her pitch to a largely male

group of investors, a senior investor began questioning her law degree where she had received a full

scholarship. "He made it difficult for me to pitch to the rest of the group, and the other men, because he

was older, they didn’t say anything or stop it from happening," she said.

An article in Business Insider coined it perfectly: “transactional inequality among capital gatekeepers

toward minority entrepreneurs.”

Instead of letting stereotypes and prejudices weigh her down, Hanna powered through to co-create a valu-able, relevant and desperately needed organisation that has the power to make great waves in the healthcare industry. Much like her peers breaking through pre-defined molds and stereotypes, Hanna ensures her organisation represent diversity in every department.

17

In fact, according to Hanna, “Pipeline Angels has brought even more women’s voices to the

table: 46% of the group that invested in us are women of color, 15% Black women."

Ultimately, Hanna’s work covers many issues politicians prefer to avoid. Her reasons for

doing this, at the most basic, are a blend of gender and race equality meets the desire to safe-

guard women at their most vulnerable.

“In the maternity healthcare process, on the surface there are generally three or four people

involved: The mother, the baby, and each of their physicians. We don’t see the many other

people helping them: Nurses, lactation consultants, midwives, nutritionists, therapists, dou-

las, home health aides, social workers, and more. This industry is lacking the IT infrastruc-

ture needed to connect these professionals, and to monitor patients across practices and

health systems. This creates gaps in care. Mahmee is the glue that connects the care ecosys-

tem and closes the gaps.”

Melissa Hanna and Mahmee are going places – watch this space!

Image Courtesy: The Helm; Business Insider

18

By Paul Njie and Njodzeka Danhatu

Towering above the limits of economic and social progress, the nations of the West are glorified for their state-of-the-art architecture, science, technology, and well, democracies. They are not only known for these wonderful contributions to modern civilization, unfor-tunately. 400 years ago, a ship, full of the wretched of Africa’s soil, landed the shores of the United States. Broken from fatigue, sagging under the weight of the chains of their captivity, and shaken by the frantic fear of the fate that lay ahead of them, these men and women, once free, would become the slaves whose labor built the America of today.

It is estimated that about 25 million Africans were reportedly sold into slavery and shipped to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. Over the years, the new nations that have emerged on the west coast of Africa, notably Ghana and her adjoining neighors, have witnessed a celebrated surge in the number of African American returnees who hope to find their roots through several doors of no return. Yet, there remains a good number of such doors that sent out their sons and daughters on the perilous journey into slavery, which have not been so well advertised as to attract the return of those who passed through them, centuries ago.

Earlier in September, EboniGram went to one of such gateways through which a great number

of slaves left the shores of Africa to the Americas. The Bimbia Slave Trade Village is a historic

slave market in Limbe III subdivision, South West Region of Cameroon, which served as a

depot for several slave vessels that plied the Gulf of Guinea. The mission was to investigate the

nations where slaves were taken from and traded around this region. With the political flux that

we have to deal with in today’s Africa, it is important that we clarify a particular usage. The

term, nations in the context of this piece refers not necessarily to countries, but to groups of

people who share a common culture, language and heritage.

The Bimbia Slave Trade Village

This slave trade site, which is one of the largest in Central Africa, hosted close to 1,000, at a

time, slaves from within and out of the region today known as Cameroon. It was the main cen-

ter where slaves from that part of Africa were held in keeping before being ferried away into

the land of no return. The site was created in the mid-15th century, as an avenue to buy, camp

and ship human beings abroad to work as slaves for white plantation owners in North and

South America, as well as in the Caribbean and Europe.

Today, the slave trade village of Bimbia rests on a piece of land about 1 kilometer away from

the Atlantic Ocean. Considered a historical monument, the village yet suffers the enclosure of a

lengthy fence, laden with symbolic murals that call the bitter experience of the ancient trade to

mind.

Bimb

ia The Slave Trade Village in Oblivion

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© Wikimedia Commons

Several concrete structures to host slaves from across the Bight of Biafra, right up to the Lake

Chad region, were built on this land through the patronage of the European parties that fed from

the trade. Cameroon history books mention, as chief protagonists of the inhuman trade, Great

Britain, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Germany, and the various

coastal and near coastal royalties that ruled over the territories close to the Atlantic.

How Did Slaves Get to the Bimbia Slave Market?

The story of how slaves came to Bimbia is not so different from the ones you may have heard

about slavery in other places. We can hardly imagine, for example, that people would freely

hand themselves over to be enslaved, although it is not also refutable that such a practice may

have existed among the Africans who practiced what may be called domestic slavery even be-

fore the arrival of Europeans. While such a practice, widespread as it was, is said to may have

involved debtors handing themselves over in servitude to their lenders, the trans-Atlantic slave

trade was a forceful removal of people from their communities. Local rulers were lured by

promises from European slave dealers, to trade their subjects for a token.

Some villagers including women and children were kidnapped from their farmlands or villages,

chained and taken on foot to Bimbia.

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They were beaten as they went along, until they arrived the main slave depot on the Atlantic

coast.

When local rulers made the long journey with slaves to Bimbia, they were received in specially

constructed houses, where they were entertained, and would negotiate the terms of exchange for

the slaves. In exchange for slaves, European slave buyers coaxed local rulers and other middle-

men with gifts such as guns, gunpowder, sugar, beer, whisky, mirrors, shoes, clothes, walk-

ing sticks, iron bars, bicycles (Iron horse), ointments, cotton, tobacco, jewelry, among other

trinkets.

How were Slaves Treated While in Captivity?

A survey of the Bimbia slave structures gives you an idea of the physical and psychological

pain that captured slaves endured prior to their shipment to the West. These people were forced

to endure and experience the most dehumanizing treatment one could imagine. Hundreds

crammed in small rooms with chains on their necks, wrists and feet. Separate buildings were

constructed to host slaves and others for white dealers who lodged to wait for slave consign-

ments from local rulers.

“The white people could not mingle themselves with the slaves,” our guide, Godlove Kawob, a

worker with the Limbe III council told EboniGram.

The slaves who were chained could not fight back. They could not resist the brutality of white

slave dealers who were armed with guns, whips and all forms of torture implements. Those who

tried to resist the vile treatment were taken to a torture chamber several miles from the detention

facility, where they were strictly chained on their hands, necks, stomachs and feet; they were

left in chains until the arrival of the ships that had to take them away, said our guide.

Other slaves who proved untoward and recalcitrant towards the slave masters were taken far off

across the Bimbia waters to an isolated area called "Nicole Island," where they were further

served with even more severe psychological and physical torture. This area being a rare and

small island about 800 meters from the mainland, was one of the most vicious of the detention

facilities.

The captured humans were fed under unhealthy conditions; they were tightly chained in groups,

leaving just their heads free to scoop food off a cemented floor. While at the slave camp, they

were subjected to forced labor for long hours. They were forced to produce palm oil at a local

oil mill in the slave trade village — oil which was taken to Europe and the Americas by the

trade companies that enabled the vicious barter in humans.

Before finally shipping slaves overseas, they were thoroughly inspected and measured on a

scale like commodities, to determine whether they were fit for manual labor abroad, or for

whatever other purposes they were being taken.

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The area where the weight measurement was done was called “Open Air Market of the En-

slaved: Weighing and Inspection Section.” Slaves who were deemed unfit were returned to

detention centers and kept to mature before being shipped off to western hemisphere. However,

some of the resistant slaves who were taken to "Nicole Island" were put aboard the ship directly

from there, given that it is centered in the Bimbia waters.

“The Door of No Return”

Arguably the most symbolic of all places at the Bimbia Slave Trade Village, the aptly named

“Door of No Return” is the main exit point from where slaves were ferried out of the village.

Small boats were sent to this point to carry slaves and transport them to a far-off distance where

the main ship was moored, awaiting several consignments of slaves to make the journey to Eu-

rope and the Americas.

The exit point has a special significance to the collective memory of Cameroonians. It symbol-

izes the point at which a great number of the country’s population was sacrificed to the ordeal

of a journey that would not only take away their names and the memory of their homeland, but

also one that would seek to take away their very humanity. That door signaled the point where

families lost loved ones without a clue about where they were being taken to, or how and when

they would see their loved ones again. Parents were separated from their children; husbands

from their wives, and friends from their companions. Once slaves passed through the symbolic

door, little or nothing was ever heard of them again. Over four centuries after, some descend-

ants of these slaves are yet to know their exact roots, ancestry, and home. From this door, hu-

mans who had been traded for basic commodities were shipped to work in plantations, indus-

tries and homes under the most horrific and unthinkable conditions, the same that would build

the edifices of modern America.

During the recent commemorations marking 400 years since the first slaves arrived America,

Terry E. Brown, 50, who has traced his ancestry to Cameroon and enslaved people in Virginia

and North Carolina said in an interview with The Guardian: "Once I learned that I was from

there, it changed something in me.”

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“I have a fire in me to just learn about why and who I am. There’s something deep down and spiritual

about it and I want to connect to it. I’m American, and I believe in this structure that we have, but I’m

emotionally and spiritually tied to Africa now that I know where I came from," he averred.

Some unfortunate slaves who died en route to their host countries owing to pains and injuries sustained

in the packed and crammed ships, or at the slave trade village, were jettisoned overboard the ship.

Nations from Where Slaves Were Whisked

According to figures at the Slave trade center in Bimbia, at least 987 people were transported from

several nations within and out of Cameroon. These estimated figures were documented by Sierra Leone

Liberated Africans Registers, and referenced by Dr G. Ugo Nwokedji.

An effigy in commemoration of the enslaved from Bimbia. ©Limbe City Council

1) Bakweri

This nation is comprised of indigenous people who mainly hail from the Fako division — the

area where the slave center was built. At least 66 Bakweri natives were held captive as slaves.

They were captured from several villages in Fako, including the host village Bimbia. Owing to

the closeness of Bakweri villages to Bimbia, it was relatively easier to get slaves from these are-

as.

2) Douala-Bimbia

Locals who had their roots from Cameroon’s Francophone Douala, were transported to the Bim-

bia slave site. Douala is a neighboring nation to Bimbia, and both peoples share similar cultures.

About 107 people were taken as slaves from Douala as well as the host nation Bimbia.

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3) Tikari

About 205 people were whisked away from the Tikari clan to Bimbia and sold like goods. This

nation originates from Cameroon’s Anglophone North West region, about 374.7km away from

Bimbia. Local chiefs and trade engagers travelled the long distance on foot with slaves.

4) Bayangi

An estimated 93 people from this clan in the Manyu division of the South West region were sold

as slaves to foreign dealers. They were camped at the Bimbia slave center, until they were taken

away to serve their foreign masters.

5) Bakossi

Some 91 people from this nation are believed to have been bought and transported through the

Bimbia trade area.

6) Chamba

It is believed that 41 captives from this clan were traded as slaves. They all passed through the

infamous Bimbia slave trade area before being shipped abroad.

7) Other Nations

Other nations in and out of Cameroon equally had a good number of slaves at the site: Beti, 24;

Bafo, 25; Widikum, 30; Wum, 31; Balundo, 36; Ngemba, 47; Minor Nations, 69; Ambiguous

nations, 43; Nations from out of the region, 21; Unidentifiable nations, 58.

European Vessels Transporting Slaves across the Atlantic Ocean

According to research findings carried out by Arizona State University’s Dr Lisa Aubrey and her

students’ research team, at least 20 ships went to Bimbia and ferried slaves to the West between

1783 and 1844.

Their research reveals that out of the 20, 9 of the ships carried British national flags. Between

1783, and 1788, the following British ships were actively involved in the transatlantic slave busi-

ness: ANT, 1783; ANT, 1785; MARIA, 1786; SEARLE, 1786; RUBY, 1787; COMET, 1787;

YOUNG HERO, 1788; BEATRICE, 1789; MARIA, 1788.

Some of the vessels belonged to other nationals also involved in the business: EXPERIMENT,

1807, Netherlands; GALEO, 1811, Portugal; CONCEICAO de MARIA SANTISSIMA, 1813,

Portugal; CONCEICAO de MARIA SANTISSIMA, 1814, Portugal; NINFA (a) MANTAN-

ZERA, 1835, Spain; ANTONINA, 1836, Unknown; COBRA da AFRICA, 1837,Portugal; VI-

BORA de CABO VERGE,1837 Spain; GABRIEL (a) DOIS AMIGOS 1838, Portugal; CARO-

LITA, 1842, Unknown, CAROLITOS, 1844, Unknown.

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The slaves in these ships were disembarked in Grenada, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Ja-

maica, Martinique, Caribbean, Brazil, Cuba, Sierra Leone, and other countries which are yet to

be determined.

Present Nature of the Village

The site is almost a shadow of itself now. The structures when compared to other slave trade

villages in Africa, might not stand a chance at recognition. Inside the village, some structures are

only being recognized based on the visible foundation. The slave trade village which serves as a

national monument is now very bushy, unkempt and surrounded by bamboo trees.

Our guide told EboniGram that most of this slave site was destroyed during the abolition of the

“inhumane” business, as it was bombarded and demolished by the anti-slavery war ships to dis-

suade further capture and camping of slaves there. In a very calculated location, a British cannon

was strategically placed to bomb ships that were still smuggling the slaves despite its abolition

— a residue of this cannon is still visible close to the waters.

The municipalities of Tiko and Limbe III have through the Cameroonian government, construct-

ed fences on the site. Some electric lamps have been planted in the village, with taps built to

make movement easy for visitors who go there.

In order to understand how some things functioned around the slave village, the government has

installed signposts and documented information to help those who visit the village.

Limbe City Council Building. ©The Post Newspaper

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Government Wants It Globally Recognized

For some years now, the government of Cameroon has been struggling to make this village rec-

ognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is seemingly unknown to the rest of the world,

despite its key role in the development of slave trade in West Africa. It is being used as a touris-

tic and cultural site by the Limbe III municipality to raise funds.

Every year, the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC, is being partly celebrated in this

village. This is to remember and pay homage to their ancestors who were being violently and

inhumanely whisked abroad for slavery. There is always a re-enactment of how the slaves were

being chained and taken to the site.

Government’s efforts for the site's recognition by UNESCO, has yielded no fruits as at yet. The

village is somehow neglected and out of mainland. The road leading to this cultural or slave

trade village remains untarred and miry, rendering movement difficult especially in the rainy

season.

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By Fatimah B

Arlan Hamilton can only be described as a force of nature. The story of Hamilton’s ‘rag to rich-

es’ journey is not only inspiring but proves that determination, drive and the will to overcome

limitations is true.

Hamilton represents everything the tech industry is not: African American, Female, Gay, Una-

pologetic, Direct to the point of blunt. Like we said earlier – a force of nature.

“If you were anything but a straight, white man you were honestly not even getting into the

room.”

She's also the first African American woman to have built her venture capital firm, Backstage Capital, from nothing. She's seen as a Silicon Valley disruptor, particularly because she knows how to blaze through long held biases. “It was crazy to me that 90% of venture funding was going to white men, when that is not how

innovation, intelligence, and drive is dispersed in the real world. I had no background in finance,

but I just saw it as a problem. Maybe it’s because I was coming from such a different place that I

could recognize it,” she told reporter, Ainsley Harris.

Hamilton is quite different compared to the rest of the women we highlighted this month. With

no college degree, no money, and no relevant network, her arrival in Silicon Valley had one pur-

pose: “to invest in underrepresented founders by becoming a venture capitalist.”

Blac

k Te

ch W

omen

Arlan Hamilton

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The usual response to a statement as bold as that is complete and total silence, with some shock. How does

one go about creating a venture capital fund in an industry as closed as this, especially when you're not the

‘regular’ tech head?

Hamilton's first real job started at the age of 21. She wanted to see a Norwegian pop-punk group on tour, so

she reached out to them to arrange it. They agreed and she ended up becoming their touring manager. Tak-

ing those valuable experiences, she slowly worked her way up to manage touring for artists like Jason Der-

ulo and Toni Braxton.

Her interest in venture capital (VC) piqued in 2010 when she noticed celebs, like Ashton Kutcher and Ellen

DeGeneres investing in start-ups. Kutcher was a recurring investor on the VC reality show, Shark Tank.

Hamilton noticed that minorities were continuously underrepresented, something that irritated and exasper-

ated her.

She understood the game would not be easy - challenging diversity and equity gaps never is.

She taught herself how to start a VC fund and took off to San Francisco on a one-way flight. During the

day, Hamilton hunted investors like a bloodhound. After darkness fell, she found herself making her way to

the airport where she would camp out on the floor – a period which can only be described as homeless.

“I was going toe-to-toe with people who had an unlimited amount of money, who could wine and dine their

limited partners with lavish events and big productions. It was me and my backpack, going to conferences

and meeting people, sleeping in cars — doing whatever I could to meet with them face to face because I

had to play ball.”

If she was broke and desperate, it never showed, and her tenacity finally paid off when Angel investor,

Susan Kimberlin gave her a check for $25 000 – her first investor check. Kimberlin believed that Hamilton

was right, “it wasn't a talent-pipeline problem as much as a resources problem.”

Ellen Pao, an investor in Hamilton’s company says, “There are a lot of people who are talking about invest-

ing in women and founders of color, but when you look at their portfolios, it’s still majority homogene-

ous.”

With her first endorsement in hand, others followed. Backstage Capital soon started reinvesting the money into start-ups, particularly those often overlooked because their founders were either women, a person of color, or a member of the LGBTQ community.

Hamilton says that 80% of the start-ups they come across are funded by the founders themselves. While the

VC industry might be swimming in capital,

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this capital is available to selected groups, “Every time I look at a TechCrunch or Axios article

that says the ecosystem is flush with capital, with VC capital, there’s a bubble, I’m like where?

Because we’re not seeing it.”

Pao, who filed a ground-breaking sex discrimination lawsuit against VC powerhouse, Kleiner Perkins in 2012, thinks Hamilton is the real deal who has the cajones to not only identify talent but invest and support them directly. Though she has now stepped down in her role as CEO, she's more determined than ever to carry on certain duties, like raising capital, working with founders, creating brand awareness and taking some “Me” time.

Some might say that Hamilton has a huge chip on her shoulder but in an industry where the priv-

ileged works hand-in-hand with their persons of equal financial status, Hamilton is all the more

raring to go, “How much of a fist in the air would it be to just be obnoxiously wealthy as a gay

black woman? And [how powerful] to be able to help other people do the same?”

Food for thought...

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By Fatimah B.

If the past few weeks have taught us anything about climate change, it's that one soul can indeed

make a difference. With Greta Thunberg inspiring young and old to march for change, Kellee

James is waging a war on a different front, with similar goals.

Why is James’ company, Mercaris, so important? To give you a little background we look at Monsanto - a global biotech giant supplying numerous countries with GMO seeds and poisonous agrochemicals for decades. Heard of DDT or Agent Orange – Monsanto developed them. The company has finally come face to face with their deeds where the proverbial can of worms has sprung a massive leak. During the past year, lawsuits have sprung up all over the continental U.S., concerning one of its most popular weed killer, Roundup, a chemical that has apparently caused an outbreak of cancer cases. So far, estimates claim roughly 18000 lawsuits could cost Monsanto's parent company between $8-10 billion in settlement. Which is where James’ company, Mercaris, steps in. Mercaris is responsible for supplying accu-

rate market data and auctions that are key in growing the organic and non-GMO food move-

ment. James saw organic, non-GMO crop production as an entirely separate field, “The produc-

tion is very different and because consumer demand and consumption has also been so different

these markets behave very differently than conventional ones.”

The fight against Genetically Modified Organisms has suffered badly in the United States where “more than 93 percent of the corn and soy planted in the United States is genetically modified in some way. Most of that ends up as animal feed, ethanol, or corn syrup — and corn syrup gets into lots of foods. Cotton, sugar beets, and canola are also common genetically modified crops. Roughly 60 to 70 percent of processed foods in grocery stores contain at least some genetically modified ingredients.” What's more, the cross-contamination by GMO-crops is usually over-looked. James is not picky when it comes to who gets listed, so long as they are certified organic or non-GMO. This enables small family-run operations to compete on the same level as larger corpora-tions – something we definitely don't see every day. According to James, Mercaris can be re-garded as a combination of Bloomberg and eBay, an efficient subscription-based data service that allows you to trade your goods on the platform in real time.

James’ background as an economist and environmental enthusiast is an unusual one – rarely do we find both in the same space, much less encompassed in one person. Her background as an Aspen Institute Catto Environmental Fellow gives us more insight into her mindset, as does serving on the board of Net Impact, “a membership organization of more than 12,000 MBA pro-fessionals committed to sustainability through corporate responsibility.”

Kellee James

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©WeWork

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For James, seeking true sustainability through corporate responsibility hits the heart of

the matter, and she's not one to shy away from speaking the truth, “The real difficulty

is keeping this going day after day, year after year. Having worked in Federal Govern-

ment what’s nice about a bureaucracy is that it will keep functioning whether you’re

there or not. At a start-up if you don’t show up with your A game then you don’t do it,

it doesn’t get done. If you don’t think of it, it doesn’t get thought of. So, there’s a lot of

pressure that comes with that and that’s the thing that’s really challenging.”

James also realizes that minorities are often overlooked when seeking out potential candidates. As an African American woman and heading a tech company, she makes it a point to look for diversity in candidates. This led her to MANRRS, Minorities in Ag-riculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences which James cites as a good source of undergrads. “If we can get them when they’re undergrads to do internships then hopefully in a few years we can hire them full time so that’s one strategy we use.”

Having spent 5 years at the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), “the first electronic

trading platform and registry for spot, futures and options contracts on carbon, sulphur,

clean energy and other environmental products” James’ work experience was enough

to impress former President, Barack Obama, who appointed her as a White House Fel-

low in 2009. Her job? To advise on environmental matters.

Her academic qualifications include an MBA and a MA in International Development

from American University in Washington. While many of us may have degrees we

never use, James is not in the same category. Her education and field experience ena-

bled her to develop Mercaris as the intersection between “organic non-genetically

modified organism (non-GMO) [in the] agricultural sector, organic non-GMO com-

modity trading/exchanges, the market place and technology. As organizations, from

farms to food companies, adjust to meet growing consumer demand for organic food,

we noted a lack of information, transparency and support along the supply chain [...]

Overall, Mercaris helps to increase the efficiency of that supply chain, which should

ultimately benefit everyone ‘from farm to fork’.”

It is inspiring to see James not only making strides in an unusual field but developing

unique solutions to address a growing concern. Climate change will affect everyone,

and for James, a sustainable future is our best hope.

“Be relentless–entrepreneurship is difficult but rewarding. You really have to have

both passion for the company you’re building and in-depth knowledge of your field.

It’s harder being a woman of color in this field but there are a growing number of re-

sources out there for minority entrepreneurs. Don’t hold back. If this is your dream, do

the research and build the network to give yourself the best chance for success.”

Well said, Kellee James, well said!

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