Acknowledging the Life of Dr. Francis Cress Welsing 18 March 1935 - 02 January 2016

Dr. Francis Cress Welsing (Web Image)

Today marks the passing of a great African Woman, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing. "Frances Cress Welsing (born March 18, 1935-January 2, 2016 (REST IN POWER), is an afrocentrist psychiatrist who with her 1970 essay: the Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation and Racism (White Supremacy), offered her interpretation on the origins of white supremacy culture in Washington, D.C. She is the author of The Isis Papers; The Keys to the Colors (1991), in which she posits that white people are the result of a genetic mutation of albinism and are the outcast offspring of the original peoples of Africa.Welsing states that a system is practiced by the global white minority, on both conscious and unconscious levels, to ensure their genetic survival by any means necessary. According to Welsing, this system attacks people of color, particularly people of African descent, in the nine major areas of people's activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex and war. Welsing believes that it is imperative that people of color, especially people of African descent, understand how the system of white supremacy works in order to dismantle it and bring true justice to planet Earth." (Taken from Welsing's Wikipedia Page.)

Whether one agrees in totality with Dr Welsing's revolutionary thesis or not, the fact remains that there is enough evidence that shows African peoples at home, and in the diaspora collectively disavantaged within the areas as outlined by her. If we can honour her life, and those of other such African ancestors, it would be to continue to fight for political, social and economic justice for our peoples. Failure is not an option. Walk good into the afterlife Dr. Welsing, and rest in the knowledge that you have made a valuable contribution to the black community, and left a lasting impression on black women like me, the world over.

Ayo Ololara

Editor