Yasuke a tall African man, arrived in Japan in 1579 and made history as the first foreign-born man to become a #samuraiwarrior . Yasuke was originally a slave from #Mozambique and was brought to Japan by Portuguese traders. The powerful #Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga was fascinated by Yasuke’s tall stature and dark skin, and upon seeing him, ordered his servants to try and rub the “black ink” off his skin. Despite this strange encounter, Nobunaga took Yasuke into his service, granting him a sum of money, a house, and a katana. From then on, Yasuke loyally served Nobunaga as a honored samurai, fighting alongside him in fierce battles. He went from being a piece of Portuguese property to a member of the Japanese elite.

What an amazing story. I don’t know how we went from a society of acceptance like this Japanese man, of this African foreign slave, and making him a Samurai, a member of the Japanese Elite, to a mass resurgence of intense racism, bigotry, xenophobia, and hatred.

There are so many historical stories of the innocently captured, taken, and sold, Africans, and other cultures into a brutal, inhumane way of slavery world wide. Treated like less than property. Many killed. Many generations perpetuated as slaves. However, by pure miracles, escaped, or were freed, saved in life, and prospered. Some becoming reknowned scientist and doctors, some historical inventors, and apparently at least one a historical Samurai.

History has shown we are better when we support each other, learn from each other, and exchange ideas. Rather than us instill fear, hatred, and contempt for one another.