It was not until the summer of 2016 when I realized that I was trapped. Trapped in the suburbs, surrounded with none of my kind to connect. None to understand. Yet, I was actually trapped inside my own body. Fearing what I am -- a "black" woman. For many reasons now, I cannot be prouder to be who I am. I have been wearing my hair natural for almost 9 months! I feel free! I started to embrace more of my culture and learning about my real history. My brother, Brandon guided me towards Truth of our background as being something way different than what we were told in school. They told us that we were just some Africans on a slave ship that were brought to America. Jim Crow...MLK...the end. Some of that is actually correct, but what is false about this fact, is the kind people that were on the ship. Africans actually dwelled in their own land and were rich beyond measure. This even makes sense because the majority of the world's natural resources and riches came from Africa. Besides, Africans -- more specifically Egyptians -- were the ones who enslaved the people from the neighboring land of Israel (which is geographically proven to be on the African tectonic plate). These people who were slaves in the Bible are the same slaves that are around the world today, especially the ones in America currently.

That's right folks. The same Hebrew Israelite slaves from the Biblical days, are the same ones who were brought over by ship. Considering there is way too much to say about this, I will just try my best to explain how we know the so-called African-Americans who are in America today, are not "African-American" at all. I ask my friends, who are African, "Do you consider yourself to be African-American?"

"(*grins and laughs) No, I'm Ethiopian. Haha. Yet people still get you (Jubilee) and I mixed up all the time," (Yordanos Dessie, Hope College, 2017).

"Not at all. I am Rwandan. Yes, we are all black but we are from different places. It's obvious you (Jubilee) and I come from different cultural backgrounds!," (Stella Teta, Hope College, 2017)

Then I asked a male too, "Is there a difference between Africans and so-called African-Americans?"

And he responds, "Well yeah. Of course, there is! We're different people, but others can't tell. Plus, I am Haitian and people don't know that right away but it's okay!" (Miche Andre, Hope College, 2016).

It's not anyone's personal fault that they can't tell black people apart. Even black people get mixed up too if they do not know their exact origin. In fact, the Israelites used to get mistaken for Africans in the Biblical days all the time! For instance, when Pharoah was super scared about the Hebrew Israelites becoming too strong and numerous that they would overthrow the African Egyptian government, he sent out an order to kill the Hebrew baby boys [1]. Then, to make sure they would stay put, the Africans enslaved the Israelites, "the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour" [2]. But what's ironic, is that Moses -- a Hebrew Israelite, ended up being adopted into Pharaoh's family after his daughter found him in a river that his mother, Yocheved, sent him down to protect him from slaughter. So if Moses lived with the people who were trying to kill his kind, isn't that interesting how they never could really tell him apart from themselves? What does this mean? Even Hebrew Israelites (present day so-called African-Americans) are sometimes physically similar to Africans. Actually, they are still getting mixed up today. I mean, haven't you noticed that when we see blacks, we automatically shove them in the category of being African-American? Yet, if we see whites, we can assume they are possibly German, Irish, Swedish, Dutch, etc. Or when we see Asians, we can assume they are possibly Chinese, South Korean, Japanese, or even Mongolian? As a society, we paint people with too large of a brush instead of playing close attention to the intricate details that make them unique.

So how can we tell that this is not just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo? Well, my friend, the most obvious way to proving the significance of different black people, is looking at how the curses of Deuteronomy 28 align with the present condition of "African-Americans". No matter who you are, I am sure your mind has questioned at least once, why black people are the way they are? Not all black people are in the same category, but on the media, they are displayed in their worst state. Why is this so prevalent? Their lives almost seemed cursed in a way sometimes. Well, what if I told you that's exactly what it is?

After the Israelites were freed from 430 years of Egyptian captivity [3], Moses was the middleman for tying the covenant between the Most High God and His chosen people, the Israelites. In Deuteronomy chapter 28:1-14, He tells them all of the really cool blessings of how they would prosper. However, if they disobeyed and refused to follow His commands, He would reverse all of those blessings and curse them for ages to come, told in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Evidently, all 53 of the curses still apply today. These are mostly in plain sight for the fourth tribe of Israel -- Judah (so-called African-Americans who are actually Hebrew). Here are just a few examples (this is the King James Version just because it's the most accurately translated from ancient Hebrew):

1. 48 "Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he have destroyed thee" [This describes poverty and enslavement. What were the slaves wearing when they arrived in America? Iron chains around their neck and limbs and feet].

2. 54 "So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother [black on black crime, #TeamLightSkin v. #TeamDarkSkin, etc.], and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave" [Family trouble where the husband will be crude towards his wife and a mean father towards his children and then he will leave them]

3. 61 "Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed" [blacks are genetically proven to have the worst health i.e. high cholesterol, hypertension, skin cancer, prostate cancer, HIV/AIDS, etc.]

4. 65 "And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind" [No chill. Anxiety, stress, worry, hardship, depression, hopelessness, the constant fear which actually leads to hypertension as well].

5. 68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt [bondage/slavery] [4] again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you [Transatlantic Slave Trade obviously. "No man shall buy you" refers to no one being able to purchase the covenant that He has made with them, despite their curse].

(Isaiah 5:13- "Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge [some black people don't even know where they actually come from and who they are, mainly because after getting to America, they were given labels. These brands change every so years to keep them confused and having the lack of knowledge to identify with a true land and group, i.e: slave, nigger, negro, colored, black, African-American, and nigga... what's next? If we recognize that they are the only group in history where they are called so many different things according to the decade, then maybe they will find the truth and live through it] and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst".)

All of the scripture above is just a little taste to the evidence. The Bible isn't just some boring book of make-believe fairytales after all. Instead, it's actually the history book of Blacks and then the new covenant that God has made through His son that includes the Gentiles too. We are ALL His children, however, it's important to realize that evil and selfish people have lied, switched, and deluded the history of those who are still enslaved to this day. Don't worry, this is not all one person's fault!

They fool us into thinking that slavery is over but it's not. But you don't have to be in physical chains to be considered a slave. Blacks everywhere are still being mistreated, stereotyped, discriminated against, degraded, murdered, and even stigmatized. So is there ever an end to this hardship and slavery?

Most High told Abram that His people would end being taken to an unfamiliar land where they will be treated poorly and will be in servitude for 400 years:

Genesis 15:13 - "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years".

Acts 7:6 - "And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years" [notice how the 400 years of slavery is speaking about the future.An event that did not already take place in the Bible. The closest to 400 years of slavery ever to happen, was 430 years in Egypt [3]. It's been since the year 1619 (Transatlantic Slave Trade) that the Israelites got to the "strange" land (America, etc.) of where they have been mistreated, and it will last for 400 years. Therefore, according to Scripture, 2019 is when they will finally be set free from actual enslavement (1619 + 400 = 2019)].

Wow. Okay, I know that was a ton of things we talked about. There will most likely be some cognitive dissonance [5] as a result of comparing what we were told all of our lives in school to what you just read today. I am not creating all of these theories up in my head or my secret laboratory, I am merely a messenger. I get tired of witnessing my history being mistold and my people mistreated. Even when it's hard, it's better to know the truth than to live a lie. Because when we know heavy facts like these, it is more freeing to realize who you are so you can develop into who you're made to be. This doesn't just go for those of you who are black, but with every single race, and ethnicity. You have a past history and you have a future purpose.

P.S. I genuinely encourage you to take a deep breath and have fun doing your own research on topics like this. The more we know, the less we have to fear.

May the most loving God bless you!

[1] King James Version, Exodus 1:9 - "And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we."

Exodus 1:16 - "And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live."

[2] King James Version, Exodus 1:13

[3] King James Verison, Exodus 12:40 - "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egpyt, was four hundred and thirty years"

[4] King James Verison, Exodus 20:2 - "I AM the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "

[5] "This is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time" http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/cog...

SUGGESTED READS:

1. Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America! By Ronald Dalton Jr

2. Into Egypt Again with Ships: A Message to the Forgotten Israelites, by Elisha J. Israel

3. The Ancient Black Hebrews, by Gert Muller

*There are so many more good reads as well but these are the ones that I have so far. When in doubt, read the King James Bible to discover all of these truths, esepcially the Old Testament history.