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memynissanandi · 1 year

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Catching Up With Nissan South Africa

The head of Nissan SA speaks about African strategies, new product line-ups and other innovations

Nissan, the Japanese brand founded 89 years ago, can get playful while maintaining its membership in the top 20 global automotive brands.

Seemingly this is prevalent in eastern brands as some of its peers are into humanoid robots, some into boats and motorcycles, while Nissan also dabbles with offbeat inventions such as bedroom slippers that autonomously park themselves under your bed.

This is the offshoot tech the company uses to research and refine vehicle-bound features, such as sharpening the self-parking of cars in the autonomous future. We reflected on some of these unorthodox technologies, including Shwii by Nissan during an interview with Kabelo Rabotho, of Nissan SA.

Shwii is an innovative collaboration between Nissan SA and satellite navigation app Waze to enable Nissan product owners to communicate with their cars using local languages such as isiZulu to navigate everywhere.

Rabotho ascended to the top spot of the local subsidiary when Nissan reorganised its SA operations under one region with Egypt, succeeding Mike Whitfield who has been with the brand since 1989 and now heads the Africa Regional business unit.

The incumbent MD, or Country Manager as preferred by the company, joined the company in 2016 as MD of marketing. His competencies were crafted through more than 25 years of local automotive industry experience, which included management stints at BMW and Toyota SA. He has been in product and brand management, sales and fleet management sales.

He says Nissan SA's targets for the next five years include achieving full plant capacity but with the economy’s downturn and effects of the recent coronavirus pandemic, vehicle sales have been struggling for all OEMs and Rabotho’s company sold 2,625 passenger models in July 2022.

The NP200 half-tonne LCV remains the company’s best-seller with 1,213 units sold in the same month 561 of the new Navara one-tonner were sold locally and 479 were imported last month. The R3bn investment for the manufacture of the Navara has so far led to about 7,000 units finding homes in SA and about 3,500 to export markets.

One of Rabotho’s many priorities is to ensure success for the company’s continental ambitions for the Navara through the 2018 establishment of the Nissan Navara assembly plant in Tema, Ghana. The Nissan plant in Tshwane provides semi-knock-down Navaras to the new plant in Tema in a new Ghana Automotive Development Policy. This includes satisfying the more than 45 African countries Nissan SA already supplies vehicles to in its bid to become the light commercial vehicle hub for the African market.

Still on products, we asked him about the thinking behind the discontinuation of the electric Leaf, an unusual decision given the global move to electric vehicles (EVs). Rabotho says the introduction of the Leaf back in November 2013 was pioneering but was part of ongoing research the company does. The strategy is to gear up to introduce e-POWER, a bridge to full electrification which the company feels is more suited to the needs of the SA market as it takes away the immediate need for infrastructure and addresses range anxiety issues.

The plan is to kick off with e-POWER before introducing the latest generation of electric vehicles, and it will start with the e-POWER Qashqai within the next 12 months and ramp up with more models within the next 24 months, which could see the introduction of the Ariya, the company’s new full-electric SUV and the Nissan Micra EV, both not yet confirmed at this stage. The new third-generation Nissan Qashqai is expected in SA within the next few weeks.

Commenting on women’s month, he says his company has set employment equity targets to be reached by 2025, prioritising the recruitment and empowerment of women at all levels, with a focus on the inclusion of women of colour. These targets include an increase in female representation at the top management or executive level to 25% and an increase in overall female representation at both senior and middle management levels.

Interview sourced from https://www.businesslive.co.za/

#Nissan #nissan news

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powertrumpeter · 1 year

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Can They Allow Peter Obi: The Exemplary Leader To Be President

We have observed the antecedence of Peter Obi, right from the period he was Governor of Anambra State, as far back as 2013. He is an exemplary leader, who can be compared with Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, in simplicity, honesty and integrity.

He chose to live simple lifestyle, devoid of long convoy of vehicles; excessive travelling with multiple allowances claims, inflated contracts, etc. There was a time he rejected free lands allocated to him. As well, he turned down inflated budgetary allocation to Government House. He was impeached by State Assembly for his integrity; as he refused to mismanage or share state fund. He was later reinstated by law Court.

He lectured political office holders on prudent spending and accountability. He took the decision to leave People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as he refused to join Ghana-Must-Go money sharing bazaar, which overwhelmed delegates at the party’s Presidential Primary Election.

It appears he is the only Governor, from Southern Nigeria, who didn’t have issues with EFCC, or any other Anti-Corruption Agencies. They have not found any sharp corrupt practices against him, to warrant his arrest and prosecution. The fact remains he is easily the best, among all those contesting to be President of Nigeria come 2023. But, will he be allowed to occupy the seat, even if he eventually wins the election, being an Igbo man? There is a long standing conspiracy in the country, against Ibos to rule Nigeria. It started with the brutal assassination of Aguiyi Ironsi in 1966, after being barely 6 months in power. At the end of Nigerian civil war in 1970, Northern leaders in collaboration with Yorubas, held meeting and resolved that nobody from Ibo tribe will ever rule Nigeria. That was about fifty-two years ago. And it has remained so till date.

Our people have been excluded from the scheme of things, to the extend we are merely part of Nigeria by territory. There has been systematic repression and killings of Igbos, even in this current government. The few Igbos who made spirited efforts to contest and clinch power at the centre, have been blackmailed, accused of one embezzlement or the other, arrested, tried, humiliated and frustrated. They have remained at the corridor of power for more than half a century; picking crumbs which fall from their slave masters’ tables.

From the look of things, it appears Obi may break through the barrage of obstacles, and become the next President. He and his Labour Party, are having overwhelming support, across the length and breathe of the country. Virtually, people of all tribes are fed up with this tribal and retrogressive government. Killings everywhere! Terrorists and Bandits have even penetrated Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. Just recently, they broke into Kuje Prisons in Abuja, to release their colleagues held there. Nobody is safe anywhere in the country.

Now, enemies of progress are laying all forms of stumbling blocks against Peter Obi. His magnificent superstore at Abuja was burnt down by strange fire outbreak. His goods were looted in the inferno. He is being warned by sponsored armed gangs, not to campaign anywhere in the North. These are calculated attempts, to weaken and intimate him to quit the presidential race. Voter registrations are going on in Northern neighbouring countries like Niger Republic and Chad. They are predominantly Muslims. It could be recalled during the last Presidential elections, those nationals flooded the country to vote. Large number of them still remain in Nigeria, engaging in banditry and other criminal activities. Can they quench this lone voice from the East? Time shall tell.

Igbo man being President of Nigeria, will go a long way in addressing some of the injustice meted out to us. However, it can never be a lasting solution, to what we are passing through in the hands of our taskmasters; who will eventually come back to take power in near future. The way out of our problems with Nigeria, is to eventually leave the country. If not, we will still be back to square one.

Take a cue from the Yorubas; and there present situation, after their sons have ruled Nigeria for long. Obasanjo governed the country for a total of almost 12 years: both as Military Head of State, and as Civilian President. Apart from him, Ernest Shonekun was Interim President for three months, before he was kicked out of power. Osinbajo will soon complete his tenure of eight years as Vice President. He was Acting President, most of time the incumbent President was abroad for medical treatment.

When Obasanjo was in power, Yoruba land was peaceful: devoid of terrorist activities. Things were moving smoothly for them that period. He has since left the stage; and the Northerners have resumed the stranglehold of the country. Are the Yorubas smiling now, despite the fact that their son Obasanjo, presided over Nigeria longtime ago? The answer is no. They are at the mercy of Jihadist terrorists who have taken over their forests. The so-called bandits from the North, are killing people in every part of the country including South West. Those at the helm affairs pretend to be ignorant of what is happening. There’s a grand plan to allow those cattle rearrers living in the forests (disguised Jihadists), to drive away the inhabitants from their ancestral homes and take possession.

Biafra project is unstoppable. We are like Israelites who were living under bondage in Egypt. Later, God rescued them out of the land to a place He prepared for them. We need a country to call our own, to enable us attain our full potentials, unhindered. Biafra is the future of our unborn generation. The earlier we leave the better for us. Had it been Israel remained in Egypt till today, they wouldn’t have been able to reach such enviable heights in development, freedom of worship and expression.

If somebody from South East becomes President of Nigeria, it is good. We all pray for that. It will be a temporary relief, from the terrible condition we have found ourselves in. It can never be a permanent solution. We wish Peter Obi success in his endeavours. And let the will of God be done in his life. However, Nnamdi Kanu has an edge as Biafra leader. He and his colleagues are highly committed, to the emancipation of our people from that forced marriage called Nigeria. Our oppressors have the grand design to continue to hold us under bondage perpetually, even after the expiration of the tenure of the Igbo man as President.... https://powertrumpeter.org/blog1/monumental-corruption-and-bloodshed-in-nigeria.

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bitcofun · 2 years

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This is a transcribed excerpt of the "Bitcoin Magazine Podcast," hosted by P and Q. In this episode, they are signed up with by Lightning Lab's head of service advancement, Ryan Gentry, to speak about how the business is developing the capability to utilize stablecoins on the Lightning Network with their brand-new Taro procedure. Watch This Episode On YouTube Or Rumble Listen To The Episode Here: Apple Spotify Google Libsyn Q: I wish to discuss stablecoins with you and have this discussion of: Are they essential within the Bitcoin community and why or why not? Ryan Gentry: It's a terrific concern, and it's one that truly drove our choice to concentrate on Taro this year. Rewind to Bitcoin 2021 when we got news of the El Salvador bitcoin legal tender law, we got Jack Maller's remarkable discussion. That kick-started this huge wave of emerging markets' adoption of Lightning, Lightning apps and Lightning wallets all over from Brazil to Argentina to El Salvador, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Vietnam, like all around the world. I believe the coolest part of my task is that I get to deal with Bitcoin business owners and Bitcoin designers all around the world who are all attempting to get Lightning embraced. In talking about with them all of in 2015 as they were getting struck with lots of brand-new signups, lots of brand-new adoption, we were extremely delighted. As the year began ending, we kept hearing this duplicated thing from these business owners in emerging markets that resembled, "OK, this has actually been the very best year ever, big adoption, numbers all up and to the right and I have actually now effectively gotten all the Bitcoiners, like in Chiang Mai, Vietnam." Neutron Pay: "We got all the Bitcoiners. We have actually gotten all of 'em. They're all utilizing our app. It's fantastic. This is fantastic. The next tier of users that we're aiming to obtain, they desire the dollar." That was simply something that we kept hearing from all around the world, from South America to Africa to Southeast Asia was that there's this next group of users that we wish to onboard into the Bitcoin environment, however utilizing bitcoin for daily payments was a little excessive and they actually wished to utilize the dollar. Of course, being at Lightning Labs, by meaning, you're a Bitcoin Maximalist. I believe everyone on the group is incredibly bullish on bitcoin. We would not be developing a payments procedure on top of Bitcoin if we weren't bullish on bitcoin the possession. We simply kept hearing from these genuine individuals out in the world, attempting to resolve genuine issues and attempting to grow adoption of their apps that they truly require the dollar. I believe that that's simply among those things where if we can offer the very same Lightning experience, we can onboard more users to the Lightning Network, we can assist all of the start-ups that are pressing Bitcoin facilities and bringing users in and attempting to inform users on why bitcoin is essential, if we can provide this tool that enables them to reach the next 50,000 users, 100,000 users, million users, I believe that's an outright win. I believe that's a big, big boom to the environment and it's simply following user need, which I believe is actually essential. One side advantage of this that I believe is not talked about quite is since Taro is working on Bitcoin rails, since it needs a complete Bitcoin node, since it needs a Lightning node also, if we offer the marketplace what it desires in stablecoins, we are getting the advantage as these brand-new business embrace of spreading out Bitcoin facilities and spreading out Bitcoin nodes and spreading out Lightning nodes and Lightning channels into all these locations that perhaps they would not always embrace if it was simply bitcoin just. I believe that's an underappreciated point, simply the spread of Bitcoin facilities. Since if we're ideal about what bitcoin the property is, then in time, need for the dollar

will decrease anyhow and this Bitcoin facilities will remain in location for users to change their need from USD to BTC. I believe that's a minute that we're all truly thrilled for and actually promoting, however there's simply this bridge action in the middle where we got ta offer individuals what they desire. Read More

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coochiequeens · 2 years

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Female scientists in Africa are entrepreneurial and resourceful. They are finding innovative solutions to problems that affect their communities, and many are actively seeking to engage others in their work. But for more women on the continent to achieve in science, they need policies that help to lower the barriers to their success and that incentivize international collaborations. These are among the findings of a special series of articles in Nature, as well as a poll that received responses from 249 African researchers. The majority (217) work in African countries, and 103 identified as female.

Our series shows that women working in research in African countries are thriving — founding businesses, launching non-profit science-education efforts, training the next generation of scientists and joining their countries’ health, agricultural and space ministries.

They include Khady Sall in Senegal, who in 2020 led a project to manufacture face shields against COVID-19, and Veronica Okello in Kenya, who is researching green approaches to cleaning up heavy metals such as chromium and arsenic. We also profile Aster Tsegaye, an HIV/AIDS researcher helping to train researchers in Ethiopia, and Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, who studies malnutrition in Nairobi’s urban communities.

Pontsho Maruping has switched from working in South Africa’s mining sector to helping to develop the country’s astronomy and space programme. Meanwhile, Angela Tabiri in Ghana studies quantum algebra and founded a network of female mathematicians. Adidja Amanihelps to run vaccination programmes at Cameroon’s public-health ministry, and Nigerian microbiologist Amina Ahmed El-Imam researches the production of fuels from microorganisms.

Many also work in community empowerment, are helping to communicate science to wider audiences or are working to boost science education. And their achievements have often come after a period of study or research abroad — a finding echoed in our poll. Of our poll’s 103 female respondents, 59 had studied abroad; their reasons for doing so included gaining international experience, building professional networks and bringing back specific expertise.

It is also clear from the profiles that many of the women made huge personal sacrifices to obtain their PhDs — those who studied overseas and are mothers, for example, often spent months at a time away from their children, leaving them in the care of others, such as fathers and grandparents.

Women in Africa experience greater barriers to developing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) than do women in high-income countries, with lack of funding a particular problem. Some challenges, however, will be familiar to women the world over. Many women need to take time out for pregnancy, maternity leave and breastfeeding, and women also tend to do a higher share of childcare and domestic duties.

Moreover, some women told Nature that they have not been promoted as quickly as their male counterparts, even though they are publishing at the same rate and bringing in as much research funding and equipment to their institutions as men. The reasons vary, but include being evaluated according to outdated criteria. Often, for example, adjustments are not made for the gaps in publication and funding records that result from women taking parental leave. Although the gender gap is closing, the World Economic Forum forecasts that, at current rates, this could take 95 years in sub-Saharan Africa (go.nature.com/3i9oxb9).

Our series also illustrates the impacts of chronic funding shortages in Africa, and the resourcefulness needed to push many projects forwards. In countries where universities lack access to national grant programmes, some researchers and students pool funds from their salaries to buy reagents and small items of equipment. They are willing to make these and other sacrifices, knowing that research experience will both make them valuable and benefit their communities.

Africa’s researchers badly need long-term, stable investment from internal and external funding sources, including venture capital. In our poll, 56% of respondents (122 of 217) working in science in Africa cited a lack of funding as their greatest career challenge, and it was the top concern for both men and women. Work–life balance was the second-most mentioned concern for women. If only Africa’s governments and the international donor community could do more to help scientists to realize their ambitions: even modest funding increases could go a long way towards accelerating nation-building.

That said, some continent-wide initiatives are helping to address systemic challenges for female scientists in Africa. Since 2011, the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), based in Nairobi, has sponsored 228 doctoral and postdoctoral fellows, 57% of whom were women, across a number of countries. CARTA has two women at its helm: co-directors Catherine Kyobutungi and Sharon Fonn.

Similarly, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a pan-African network of centres that has trained almost 2,500 students in intensive, residential mathematics master’s programmes, with more than 800 going on to get PhDs. AIMS is led by the educationalist Lydie Hakizimana, and its main goals include increasing the continent’s number of maths students and the representation of women in STEM fields. One-third of its alumni are women.

Such networks are further strengthened when researchers in high-income countries, which tend to have more-mature scientific infrastructures, get involved. Researchers in such countries have an important part to play by collaborating with researchers in Africa.

Such partnerships would benefit scientists not just in Africa, but throughout the world. African researchers include leaders in their fields; scientists on the continent can also bring fresh perspectives, informed by their knowledge and experiences, to research projects. International collaboration needs to be more common. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, such exchanges can happen seamlessly on virtual platforms. Africa’s female scientists are on the rise — and partnering with them could give sky-high returns.

Nature 602, 547-548 (2022)

#Africa #Women in science #women in STEM

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goloyieng · 3 years

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Yiep Ever wonder why the movie, Black Panther, did so well at the box office; young children for the first time saw a super hero they could identify with. BlackTech Community is a forum of like minded individuals who wish to advance the careers of black techies in the industry. Zoom in with us in the launching of BlackTech official Community Launch on Thursday (July 15th, 2021, 11 PM WAT and 6 PM ET). Theme: Building the Next Generation of Tech Leaders Register here to attend the online event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blacktech-official-launch-building-the-next-generation-of-tech-leaders-tickets-160030727213 The Nigerian - Canadian Computer Scientist Rita Orji and Colin Lynch will talk part in the launching of the forum. By Christabel Ikpen Consulting and Poise Nigeria Extra Accessory Conversation: Join us on Facebook and YouTube Live with the Ghanaian show this coming Sunday, July 11th a 5:30 pm and Wednesday, July 14 at 8:30 pm on Eye on Port Ghana; panelists will talk about the global shortage of containers and its impact on Ghana economy. The social innovators program at Leap Africa is looking for applicants: the deadline is August 6th, 2021. Apply at www.leapafrica..org/sip-apply. There is also the UN World Youth Skills Day Conference on July 15th at 11:00 am WAT. The theme of the day is: Driving Africa's Growth Through Technology. This zoom in forum will include high level speakers. Register at http://bit.ly/SSAfrica-UNWYSD2021. Yiep In what is now, the republic of South Sudan, president Salva Kiir Mayardit is the man of the yeople. Leum has been mined by South Sudanese for close to two decades and foreign hotel enterprises were springing up in Juba, the national capital for the corrupt licy makers, however, in the eastern equatoria state, lies a border town of Yiep, which is not really far away from Gualyek, Yekker, where Goloyieng lives ; in reality, it is some 250 miles apart by road; it is also close to the Kenyan town of Lokichoggio. In Yiep, a new mineral which coincidentally goes by the same name was getting earthed up by the local Toposa yeople. If leum and silver were worth a few thousand dollars; 7 lbs of Yiep was now getting sold for $250, 000 to the Chinese. The governor of the state, Lorong, lives year round in the state capital of Kapoeta. No one knew that this mineral ever existed, and so the rush here is creating brand new leaders on all fronts. Security is always the rity for anyone who plans on living. The commissioner of duty who deputizes for the state governor is the most influential man in town. Yeople say the state governor is only a figure head to Yuoto, the CD of Yiep and eastern equatoria. A few years back, this town was only a village during the war of liberation between the Southern Sudanese and the Yemenes of Sudan. The CD brought the top state secretaries to Yiep. The secretary of Mining & Sustainability was Lokwero; that of defense was Loyip; the secretary of interior was Maduk; the secretary of finance was Yuoi; the secretary of trade went by the name of Lotiem; the secretary of lic works, was Lomurde. No doubt securing life and mineral resources was the most urgent and demanding task to the commissioner of duty. The Dinka Bor knew this area like a good loving pussy during the war of liberation between Maliduonei and Yemenese. This time, Bor Dinka meant business and were prepared to go to enormous lengths to include as many as the fearsome and dreadful Toposa yeople in every town enterprising activity to make sure everyone benefits. If these lads were enjoying the sweet ayemu of their many wives at night; then they were upto tactful mind-boggling tasks once they enter the bldg of the commissioner of duty, the next morning; here, they meant business to work for building infrastructure and national institutions for their yeople. Water wells were springing up in town; Kenyan and Ugandan traders were bringing in trade commodities. South Sudanese were creating affordable suburban neighborhoods as compared to Juba. Those South Sudanese of all tribes who once were

using local materials to manufacture goods, had money now to scale up their businesses to create wealth for their families, nation and become the pride of civilization. For Dinka Bor to keep wealth where life needs it the most; they intelligently collaborated with the local Toposa yeople; tribes within the state and various influential sectarian groups to create wealth in Eastern Equatoria and at home in Jonglei state.

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artandfeminism · 4 years

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[View of a lobby with people milling about in the background; sandwich board in foreground advertises an edit-a-thon. Photo taken at the 2020 YEG Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon at Allard Hall, MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada. Photo by Viola-Ness / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).]

2020 Campaign: Art+Activism

When we selected the theme of Art+Activism for the 2020 campaign, we could not have imagined what has happened this year. Despite the fact that many of our events were forced to be canceled due to the global pandemic, there is still much to celebrate!

In 2020, we celebrated Art+Feminism events in 6 continents, in 27 countries and 20 different languages.

[Map of the world, marked with red dots indicating where Art+Feminism events took place in 2020.]

We’ve spotlighted a few events in Peru, Brazil, Turkey, and Germany on our website. Participants this year created articles for Irma Poma Canchumani, Mavi Doñate, Rhina Toruño, Group Material, Kantarama Gahigiri Hertha Sponer, Marian Pastor Roces, Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill, Ingeborg Kahlenberg, People's Flag Show, Anne Marie Komissar, Kasturba Gandi, Guadalupe Rosales, Jota Mombaça, Bety Reis, Joana D’Arc da Silva Cavalcante, Djuena Tikuna, Olga Mariano, Lina Bögli and Anne Boyer, to name a few. We also want to acknowledge and thank all the organizers and partners whose events, unfortunately, weren’t able to move forward this year as planned. We recognize and celebrate your labor and efforts, as well. We are truly thankful for our global community!

As we continue to navigate virtual space together, we’ve created a Collaborative Virtual Resource Guide, along with Accessibility Considerations. We’ve also created a Remote Learning Resource List for teachers and professors preparing for the fall semester and beyond. We are actively creating and consolidating information for organizers for our next campaign.

And as we find ourselves simultaneously in a pandemic and in a civil rights movement, art + activism seem more pertinent than ever. We created a Collaborative List around the George Floyd Uprisings. We also recognize our own internal learning and unlearning that is necessary within our organization as we all strive to center interactional feminism and anti-racist practices. As part of that journey, we’re currently engaging internally with restorative practices training facilitated by harp+sword and the first phase of strategic planning with Wayfinding Partners.

Leadership Transition

[Screen capture of an Instagram post. Two people stand on a subway platform, with their heads inclined toward each other.]

Jacqueline Mabey and Siân Evans, co-founders of Art+Feminism, are stepping down from their roles as co-lead organizers involved with the day-to-day operations at the end of August. Even though this has been a planned transition for over a year, it’s bittersweet for the organization. What they started as a passion project among friends has grown into a global organization, and we’re forever grateful. They have both graciously served for seven years and we wouldn't be the organization we are today without their kindness, dedication, activism, and collaboration. They’re both already doing big things - Jacqueline is starting a PhD in History of Art at University College London. Siân has recently stepped into the role of co-chair for the Staff Empowerment Council at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where she is a librarian, and wants to spend more time on her writing and research. You can stay up to date as they both enter their next chapters at https://failedprojects.net/ and https://sianevansmls.com/. Please join us in celebrating them both and extending gratitude for all their tireless efforts. They will be missed.

We are delighted to share that in Fall 2020, the co-lead organizing team will consist of Amber Berson (Montréal, Quebec), Mohammed Sadat Abdulai (Accra, Ghana), and Melissa Tamani (Lima, Peru). We are also happy to share that Project Administrator Nina Yeboah (Stone Mountain, GA) will be joining Kira Wisniewski (Baltimore, MD) as Art+Feminism’s full-time staff in the role of Program Manager starting this fall.

2020-2021 Regional Ambassador Interest Form

[A person stands in library in front of a screen, pointing at text projected onto it. There is an Art+Feminism banner in close proximity. Photo taken at 2020 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Women's Library, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Yagmurkozmik / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).]

Regional Ambassadors play a key role in the development and success of a project that promotes editorial and content inclusivity in Wikipedia. At the core, Regional Ambassadors work with their region by establishing and nurturing relationships and managing communication and project pipelines alongside the leadership team. Regional Amabssadors have strong project management skills, a demonstrated history of work in social justice/community organizing, an interest in the arts and feminist work, and a working knowledge of the Wikipedia community or other online technology community. Read more here. If you’re interested in joining us in this capacity, we invite you to complete this form.

Special Thanks to our 2019-2020 Regional Ambassadors!

Regional Ambassadors: United States of America

Stacey Allan, California

Amanda Meeks, Southwest & Midwest

Megan O’Hearn, New York

Jaison Oliver, South

Gabrielle Reed, New England

Sophie Reverdy, Mid-Atlantic

Taryn Tomasello, Northwest & Midwest

Richard Knipel, Wiki Regional Ambassador

Regional Ambassadors: International

Daniela Brugger, Europe/UK

Medhavi Gandhi, South Asia

Gisselle Giron, Latin America

Walaa Abdel Manaem, Middle East

Jessie Mi, Asia

Juliana Monteiro, Lusophone countries

Athina Petsou, Europe/UK

Sofia Stancioff, Canada

Dominique Elaine Yao, Francophone Africa + France

Zita Ursula Zage, Anglophone Africa

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lukeskywaker4ever · 4 years

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Christopher Columbus: Master Double Agent and Portugal’s 007

Henry IV of Spain – known as "The Impotent" for his weakness, both on the throne and (allegedly) in the marriage chamber – died in 1474. A long and inconclusive war of succession ensued, pitting supporters of Henry's 13-year-old heir, Juana de Trastámara, against a faction led by Princess Isabel of Castile and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon. Portugal, Spain's much smaller antagonist for centuries already, sided with the loyalists.

(Wedding portrait of King Ferdinand II of Aragón and Queen Isabella of Castile.)

The civil war ended in 1480, with the Treaty of Alcáçovas/Toledo, whereby Portugal withdrew support for Juana; in exchange, Isabel and Fernando promised not to encroach on South Atlantic trade routes that Portugal had long been exploring and wished to monopolize.

Treaty Not Worth Much

Spain immediately began to violate the Treaty of Alcáçovas. Portugal's gold trade with Ghana was a powerful enticement, but the Spanish were also lured by the priceless knowledge that Portugal had painstakingly gathered about the currents, territories, winds and heavenly bodies relative to the Atlantic regions. The Portuguese were far advanced in the sciences of geography and navigation pertaining to the Atlantic Ocean, both south and west of Portugal itself.

Meanwhile, João II ascended to the throne of Portugal in 1481, reversing the policies of his father, another weak, late-Medieval ruler who'd surrendered excessive estates and privileges to the nobility. Large swaths of the noble class rebelled, but João II was an astute diplomat, with powerful alliances among the military and religious orders across Europe, along with an extensive network of spies. He sprang a trap on his adversaries, capturing and executing the ring leader.

(João II of Portugal)

Conspiracy!

Queen Isabel supported the traitors in Portugal, having obtained their promise to annul the Treaty of Alcáçovas. When the conspiracy was exposed, numerous traitors among the Portuguese nobility fled to Spain, where they found asylum, along with a base from which to continue their hostilities against João II. Prominent among the defectors were two nephews of the highly-born wife of Christopher Columbus – who would himself sacrifice the next twenty years of his life to join this exodus, faking desertion to his sovereign's most bitter foe. The internecine strife was so keen that after another occasion when his agents had tipped him off, which resulted in João II personally executing the Duke of Viseu, he threatened to charge his own wife with treason for weeping over her brother.

(Christopher Columbus was arrested at Santo Domingo in 1500 by Francisco de Bobadilla and returned to Spain, along with his two brothers, in chains)

The Mother of All Secrets

It's now been amply proven that evidence of hostility between Columbus and João II was fabricated. Columbus was, in fact, a member of João II's inner circle, in addition to being one of the most seasoned of all Portuguese mariners. After his false defection to Spain, Columbus attended three secret meetings with João II, the second of these, in 1488, being prompted by the mother of all maritime secrets: Dias having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, thereby establishing the shortest route to India by sea.

Now, the Holy Grail of all commercial bonanzas was a sea route to the riches of India – sought because Christendom was at war with Islam, and Muslim armies blocked the much shorter land routes across the Middle East. What the most knowledgeable Portuguese pilots knew was top secret, state of the art, a scientific prize for international espionage.

(The Portuguese discovered numerous territories and routes during the 15th and 16th centuries. Cantino planisphere, made by an anonymous cartographer in 1502.)

The Portuguese had been the first Europeans to launch expeditions in search of the Equator, which they reached around 1470, discovering while they were at it, the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. By 1485, expert Portuguese technicians had invented charts and tables – based on the height of the sun at the Equator – which allowed navigators to determine their location in the daytime. While King João II was keeping Columbus up to date with all of the cutting-edge developments in maritime science, he was at the same time spreading so much disinformation elsewhere—among friends and foes alike— that we are still unraveling it.

(This secret letter, written by King João II was found in Columbus’ archives. Here is the exterior, addressed in the hand of King João II to, “Xpovam Collon, our special friend in Seville.”)

João II’s agents spent years pursuing the most important traitors across Spain, France and England. With that in view, the following comparison is revealing. Both Columbus and his nephew Don Lopo de Albuquerque (Count of Penamacor) fled Portugal at the same time, took refuge at Isabel's court under false identities, and fostered invasions of the Portuguese Atlantic monopoly from foreign shores. Lopo was tenaciously pursued, finally cornered in Seville and assassinated; in contrast, Columbus disposed of Portuguese secrets, exchanged letters covertly with King João II throughout his eight-year residence in Spain, stopped in Portugal on three of his four voyages, and lied to the Spanish Monarchs about these secret contacts.

A Secret Identity

Christopher Columbus is the garbled pseudonym of a very wellborn, learned, seafaring Portuguese nobleman. The antidote to all subsequent confusion about this man's true identity and character is simply to recognize that the news of his "discovery," which broke like a thunderbolt across the rest of Europe, was in fact nothing more than the release of information that the Portuguese had been hoarding for decades, laced with a linguistic insinuation that Spain had just pioneered the shortest route to India.

Everything Falls into Place

This new perspective on Columbus – as a Portuguese double agent – results in a major paradigm shift. All of the lies perpetrated by Columbus, his family, and the royal chroniclers suddenly begin to make sense as elements in a single, grand design, whose architect was King João II.

It is remarkable that the wave of treasons occurring in Portugal during the mid-1480s – engaging both Queen Isabel and Columbus so deeply – has never been linked by Portuguese historians to the biography of Columbus. Yet, no serious historian today accepts that Columbus was the first European to reach the Americas. There is no excuse any longer for maintaining that he was, or for sustaining the obsolete, pseudo-historical pretense that Columbus invented the idea of sailing west or that he ever really believed he'd landed in India.

(The secret Memorial Portugués, advising Queen Isabel that Portugal engineered the Treaty of Tordesillas specifically to safeguard the best territories for herself. Note how King João II is called (A) “an evil devil,” malvado diablo , and (B) how the “Indies,” Indias”, that Columbus visited are described as NOT the real India)

Having skirted the western lands from Canada to Argentina, the Portuguese understood there were no established commercial ports, no ready-made commercial goods, and was thus no trade potential there to compare with that of India. Columbus – and his many other co-conspirators in Spain, easily identified in retrospect – guarded these secrets faithfully, secrets they had to be privy to if they would guide the Spanish Monarchs to the counterfeit of India. The trade for gold and other goods along the west coast of Africa was immensely profitable, but still more jealously guarded was knowledge that the sea route to India lay also in this direction. The Portuguese were intent on keeping Spanish ships out of these waters. With both war and treaties having failed, João II and Columbus launched an audacious ruse to obtain their objective through less obvious means.

How History is Shaped

Colossal planning, nerve, and effort went into this accomplishment – seven years of convincing knowledgeable skeptics that the voyage was possible, outfitting a fleet and loading it with merchandise for trade (including cinnamon that would later be presented as evidence of contact with India). On a secret mission to Germany, Martim Behaim, another Templar knight member of the Portuguese Order of Christ, built a false globe based on Toscanelli's theory that East Asia lay just across the Atlantic. This globe still exists; it is the oldest one in the world. Genuine Portuguese traitors warned the Spanish Monarchs that they were being deceived.

(Martin Behaim’s globe intentionally placed the Azores islands, where Behaim lived and was married, on top of the Americas. This made Asia appear much closer to Europe than it really is, thus supporting the project that Columbus was advocating for: Map of Atlantic Ocean)

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), observed fairly well by both sides, achieved João II's strategic objective: to engage the Spanish in the west while keeping them out of those regions that Portugal wished to dominate. Its effect on the linguistic, racial and cultural substance of an immense portion of the globe has scarcely been rivaled by any other treaty between two nations. No single factor did more to realize this outcome than the erudite seamanship, cunning, ruthless persistence, loyalty and sangfroid of the man whom we still remember today as "Christopher Columbus," a real-life 007, on May 20th, 1506.

(Cover from the master spy and sailor's Book of Privileges , which clearly shows that the owner's pseudonym was "Colon." An international transmission of the stunning "discovery," in March of 1493, distorted the name in such a fashion as to leave us with "Columbus" in English today. Technically speaking, "Colón" as the Spanish still call him, is correct, and it will someday most likely replace "Columbus" in common usage)

Another particularly factor that King João II knew of existence of land on the west was that when the first Treaty of Tordesilhas came, the line that separate Spain and Portugal territory was just near the Cape Verde territory (already belonging to Portugal). King João II refuse that line and asked for more 370 nautical miles west from that line. The Spanish Monarchs, not knowing anything about the globe, accepted, thinking that it was just more water. When the new Treaty came, the line that King João II asked put Brasil over Portuguese domain. How King João II knew exactly the number of miles to put Brasil in Portugal territory? Because he already knew there was land on the west. The “discovery” of Brasil was NOT an accident.

#King João II of portugal #cristovao colombo #christopher columbus #portugal #treaty of tordesilhas

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mykindof · 5 years

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Decks of a Slave Ship of the Middle Passage

The Middle Passage was the leg of the Atlantic slave trade that transported people from Africa to North America, South America and the Caribbean. It was called the Middle Passage because the slave trade was a form of Triangular trade; boats left Europe, went to Africa, then to America, and then returned to Europe. They also made a stop in the West Indies for food, supplies, or traded molasses or rum for the slaves.

Slave traders acquired slaves by purchasing them from numerous ports in Africa. They were able to pack nearly 300 slaves and approximately 35 crew into most slave ships. The men were normally chained together in pairs to save space - right leg to the next man's left leg - while the women and children may have had somewhat more room. The captives were fed very small portions of corn, yams, rice, and palm oil, normally just enough to sustain them. Sometimes captives were allowed to move around during the day, but many ships kept the shackles on throughout the journey.

It is estimated that of the 15 million that made the journey, 3 million did not survive. Disease, starvation, and the length of the passage were the main contributors to the death toll. Many believe that overcrowding caused this outrageously high deathrate, but amoebic dysentery and scurvy were the main problems. Additionally, outbreaks of smallpox, measles, and other diseases spread rapidly in the close-quarter compartments. Slave ships might take anywhere from one to six months to cross the Atlantic depending on the weather conditions at sea. The death rate rose steadily with the length of voyage, as the risk of dysentery increased with longer stints at sea, and the quality and amount of food and water diminished with every passing day.

Precise records are not available to provide an actual death toll, but it is estimated that as many as 8 million slaves may have perished to bring 4 million to the Caribbean islands. This number does not include the slaves brought to North or South America. Here we have a holocaust that is hardly mentioned and acknowledged by the western world. yet is ever bit as significant as the Jewish holocaust. And has had far more a impact on a group of people, than the vile acts of the second world war

The Atlantic

The Atlantic slave trade was the purchase and transport of Africans into bondage and servitude in the New World. It is sometimes called the Maafa by African Americans. This term means holocaust or great disaster in kiSwahili. The slaves were one element of a three-part economic cycle-the Triangular Trade and its infamous Middle Passage-which ultimately involved four continents, four centuries and the lives and fortunes of millions of people.

Research published in 2006 [1] reports the earliest known presence of slaves in the New World. A burial ground in Campeche, Mexico suggests slaves had been brought there not long after Hernán Cortés completed the subjugation of Mexico. Contemporary historians estimate some 12 million individuals were taken from west Africa to North, Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands by European colonial/imperialist powers.

Origins

The slave trade originated in a shortage of labour in the new world. The first slaves used were Aboriginal peoples, but they were not numerous enough and were being decimated by European cruelty and diseases. It was also difficult to get Europeans to emigrate to the colonies, despite incentives such as indentured servitude or even distribution of free land (mainly in the English colonies that became the United States). Massive amounts of labour were needed for mining, and especially for the plantations in the labor-intensive growing, harvesting and (semi-)processing of sugar (also for rum and molasses), cotton and other prized tropical crops which could not be grown profitably - in some cases, could not be grown at all - in the colder climes of Europe. (It was cheaper to import them American colonies than to import them from the Ottoman empire, etc.) To meet this demand for labour European traders thus turned to Western Africa, especially Guinea as a source of slaves.

There, Europeans tapped into the African slave trade that saw slaves transported to the coast of Guinea where they were sold at European trading forts in exchange for muskets, manufactured goods, and cloth. As a rule [citation needed], they were not stolen by the Europeans but captured in tribal wars, in many cases even started with a view to the capture of fellow Africans- given the modest prices they asked, African labor was clearly considered abundant, not very valuable.

The principal areas of the slave trade in Africa were Senegambia (present day Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau), Sierra Leone (including the area that later became Liberia), Windward Coast (modern Ivory Coast), Gold Coast (Ghana), Bight of Benin (Togo, Benin and western Nigeria), Bight of Biafra (Nigeria south of the Benue River, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea), Central Africa (Gabon, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Southeast Africa (Mozambique and Madagascar).

The number of slaves sold to the new world varied throughout the slave trade. The most widely accepted statistics [citation needed] claim Senegambia provided about 5.8%, Sierra Leone 3.4%, Windward Coast 12.1%, Gold Coast 14.4%, Bight of Benin 14.5%, Bight of Biafra 25%, Central Africa 23% and Southeast Africa 1.8%.

The first slave traders were Portuguese who desired workers for their mines and sugar plantations in Brazil. When the Dutch seized much of Brazil and became the dominant trading power in seventeenth century they became the leading traders selling slaves to both their own colonies and to British and Spanish ones. As Britain rose in naval power and controlled more of the Americas they became the leading slave traders, mostly operating out of Liverpool and Bristol. By the late 17th century, one out of every four ships that left Liverpool harbour was a slave trading ship [citation needed]. Other British cities also profited from the slave trade. Birmingham was the largest gun producing city in Britain at the time, and guns were traded for slaves. 75% of all sugar produced in the plantations came to London to supply the highly lucrative coffee houses there.

The slave trade was part of the triangular Atlantic trade, which was probably the most important and profitable trading route in the world. Ships from Europe would carry a cargo of manufactured trade goods to Africa. They would exchange the trade goods for slaves which they would transport to the Americas. In the Americas, they would sell the slaves and pick up a cargo of agricultural products, often produced with slave labour, for Europe. The value of this trade route was that a ship could make a substantial profit on each leg of the voyage. The route was also designed to take full advantage of prevailing winds and currents. For example, the trip from the West Indies or the southern US to Europe would be assisted by the Gulf Stream. The outward bound trip from Europe to Africa would not be impeded by the same current.

The slave trade was supported by church teachings and the introduction of the concept of the black man's and white man's burdens. Under this black men were expected to labour because they were not Christian and white men were charged with the duty of imposing the conditions of labour upon them.

Slavery was involved in some of the most profitable industries of the time: 70% of the slaves brought to the new world were used to produce sugar, the most labour intensive crop. The rest were employed harvesting coffee, cotton, and tobacco, and in some cases in mining. The West Indian colonies of the European powers were some of their most important possessions and they went to extremes to protect and retain them. For example, in 1763, France agreed to giving the vast colony of New France in exchange for keeping the minute Antillian island of Guadeloupe (still a French overseas département).

By far the most successful West Indian colonies in 1800 belonged to the United Kingdom. After entering the sugar colony business late, British naval supremacy and control over key islands such as Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados and the territory of British Guiana gave it an important edge over all competitors; while many lost their shirt, some made enormous fortunes, even by upper class standards. This advantage was reinforced when France lost its most important colony, St. Dominigue (western Hispaniola, now Haiti), to a slave revolt in 1791 and supported revolts against its rival Britain, after the 1793 French revolution in the name of liberty (but in fact opportunistic selectivity). The British islands produced the most sugar, and the British people quickly became the largest consumers of sugar. West Indian sugar became ubiquitous as an additive to Chinese tea. Products of American slave labour soon permeated every level of British society with tobacco, coffee, and especially sugar all becoming indispensable elements of daily life for all classes.

End of the Atlantic slave trade

In Britain, and in other parts of Europe, opposition developed against the slave trade. Led by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and establishment Evangelicals such as William Wilberforce the movement was joined by many and began to protest the trade. They were opposed by the owners of the colonial holdings; despite this Britain banned the slave trade in 1807, imposing stiff fines for any slave found aboard a British ship. That same year the United States banned the importation of slaves. Denmark, who had been very active in the slave trade, was the first country to ban the trade through legislation (1792) to take effect from 1803. The Royal Navy, which then controlled the world's seas, moved to stop other nations from filling Britain's place in the slave trade and declared that slaving was equal to piracy and could be punished by death.

For the British to end the slave trade, significant obstacles had to be overcome. In the 18th century, the slave trade was an integral part of the Atlantic economy. The economies of the European colonies in the Caribbean, the American colonies, and Brazil required vast amounts of man power to harvest the bountiful agricultural goods. In 1790 the British West Indies, islands such as Jamaica and Barbados had a slave population of 524 000, while the French had 643 000 in their West Indian possessions. Other powers such as Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark had large numbers of slaves as well. Despite these high populations more slaves were always required. Harsh conditions and demographic imbalances left the slave population with well below replacement fertility levels. Between 1600 and 1800 the English imported around 1.7 million slaves to their West Indian possessions. The fact that there were well over a million fewer slaves in the British colonies than had been imported to them illustrates the conditions in which they lived.

How did the abolition of the slave trade occur if it was so economically important and successful? The historiography of answers to this question is a long and interesting one. Before the Second World War the study of the abolition movement was performed primarily by British scholars who believed that the anti-slavery movement was probably "among the three or four perfectly virtuous pages ... in the history of nations"

This opinion was controverted in 1944 by the West Indian historian, Eric Williams, who argued that the end of the slave trade was a result of economic transitions totally unconnected to any morality. Williams' thesis was soon brought into question as well, however. Williams based his argument upon the idea that the West Indian colonies were in decline at the early point of 19th century and were losing their political and economic importance to Britain. This decline turned the slave system into an economic burden that the British were only too willing to do away with.

The main difficulty with this argument is that the decline only began to manifest itself after slave trading was banned in 1807. Before then slavery was flourishing economically. The decline in the West Indies is more likely to be an effect of the suppression of the slave trade than the cause. Falling prices for the commodities produced by slave labour such as sugar and coffee can be easily discounted as evidence shows that a fall in price leads to great increases in demand and actually increases total profits for the importers. Profits for the slave trade remained at around ten percent of investment and showed no evidence of being on the decline. Land prices in the West Indies, an important tool for analyzing the economy of the area did not begin to decrease until after the slave trade was discontinued. The sugar colonies were not in decline at all, in fact they were at the peak of their economic influence in 1807.

Williams also had reason to be biased. He was heavily involved in the movements for independence of the Caribbean colonies and had a motive to try to extinguish the idea of such a munificent action by the colonial overlord. A third generation of scholars lead by the likes of Seymour Drescher and Roger Anstey have discounted most of Williams' arguments, but still acknowledge that morality had to be combined with the forces of politics and economic theory to bring about the end of the slave trade.

The movements that played the greatest role in actually convincing Westminster to outlaw the slave trade were religious. Evangelical Protestant groups arose who agreed with the Quakers in viewing slavery as a blight upon humanity. These people were certainly a minority, but they were a fervent one with many dedicated individuals. These groups also had a strong parliamentary presence, controlling 35-40 seats at their height. Their numbers were magnified by the precarious position of the government. Known as the "saints" this group was led by William Wilberforce, the most important of the anti-slave campaigners. These parliamentarians were extremely dedicated and often saw their personal battle against slavery as a divinely ordained crusade.

After the British ended their own slave trade, they were forced by economics to press other nations into placing themselves in the same economic straitjacket, or else the British colonies would become noncompetitive with those of other nations. The British campaign against the slave trade by other nations was an unprecedented foreign policy effort. Denmark, a small player in the international slave trade, and the United States banned the trade during the same period as Great Britain. Other small trading nations that did not have a great deal to give up such as Sweden quickly followed suit, as did the Dutch, who were also by then a minor player.

Four nations objected strongly to surrendering their rights to trade slaves: Spain, Portugal, Brazil (after its independence), and France. Britain used every tool at its disposal to try to induce these nations to follow its lead. Portugal and Spain, which were indebted to Britain after the Napoleonic Wars, slowly agreed to accept large cash payments to first reduce and then eliminate the slave trade. By 1853 the British government had paid Portugal over three million pounds, and Spain over one million in order to end the slave trade. Brazil, however, did not agree to stop trading in slaves until Britain took military action against its coastal areas and threatened a permanent blockade of the nation's ports in 1852.

For France, the British first tried to impose a solution during the negotiations at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, but Russia and Austria did not agree. The French people and government had deep misgivings about conceding to Britain's demands. Not only did Britain demand that other nations ban the slave trade, but also demanded the right to police the ban. The Royal Navy had to be granted permission to search any suspicious ships and seize any found to be carrying slaves, or equipped for doing so. It is especially these conditions that kept France involved in the slave trade for so long. While France formally agreed to ban the trading of slaves in 1815, they did not allow Britain to police the ban, nor did they do much to enforce it themselves. Thus a large black market in slaves continued for many years. While the French people had originally been as opposed to the slave trade as the British, it became a matter of national pride that they not allow their policies to be dictated to them by Britain. Also such a reformist movement was viewed as tainted by the conservative backlash after the revolution. The French slave trade thus did not come to a complete halt until 1848.

AS THE JEWS, QUITE RIGHTLY INSIST THEIR HOLOCAUST BE REMEMBERED. SO TO SHOULD THE DESCENDANTS OF SLAVES, BLACKS / NEGROES OF THE AMERICAS INSIST THAT THE WORLD REMEMBER AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE CRIMES PERPETRATED AGAINST THEM IN THIS PERIOD AND SINCE.

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bimbolaar · 5 years

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historybehindassassinscreed · 6 years

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In Game:

Bartholomew Roberts was a Welsh pirate and Sage, who raided ships in the Caribbean and on the West African coast between 1719 and 1722.

The Templar Order located Roberts sometime in 1715, in Spanish lands in South America, and subsequently took him to Havana. The Assassin Mentor Ah Tabai caught wind of the capture and sent his finest student, Duncan Walpole, to free Roberts and bring him to the Assassin city of Tulum. However, Walpole had secretly turned traitor to the Brotherhood and abandoned his mission.

Roberts eventually arrived in Havana, where he was imprisoned in the estate of Laureano de Torres y Ayala. Torres, his fellow Templars Woodes Rogers and Julien du Casse, along with Edward Kenway – who had killed Walpole and taken his identity – met Roberts at the Havana docks before taking him to the prison.

In transit, he managed to break free when the Templars were attacked by Assassins sent by Ah Tabai, but was chased down by Kenway and escorted to Torres' estate. He was moved later that same day, but escaped soon after and took to the sea.

In 1717, the Templars learned that Roberts had been recaptured by a Kingston-based slaver named Laurens Prins. Prins had indeed encountered Roberts, but had actually employed him, allowing him to stay in his Kingston estate while planning to sell him out to the Templars.

Kenway, acting on information given by his fellow pirates, confronted Torres and devised a plan to have the Templar Grand Master meet with Prins in Kingston and lead Kenway to Roberts. However, Prins detected Kenway and the Assassin Mary Read and managed to flee back to his mansion.

When Kenway infiltrated Prins' estate and killed him in his gardens, Roberts appeared, declaring that Prins had been his employer instead of his jailer. Shooting an alarm bell to alert guards to Kenway's presence, Roberts escaped once more. Afterwards, he took to working aboard a merchant ship of Barbadian origin.

Roberts eventually began working on board a slave ship called the Princess, captained by Abraham Plumb; this ship made regular trips between Kingston and the Portuguese colony of Príncipe roughly every eight weeks. When the ship was captured by the Welsh pirate Howell Davis, Roberts chose to become a pirate himself.

Approached by Kenway once again, the two struck a deal: Kenway would free Roberts' imprisoned crew and kill the Templars John Cockram and Josiah Burgess, in exchange for Roberts leading him to the First Civilization site known as the Observatory; Kenway did as he was asked, recapturing the Princess in the process. Roberts then gave a speech to his crew, declaring his intentions to sail as a pirate, and the two captains returned to the West Indies.

Roberts and Kenway met again off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, where they infiltrated a Portuguese camp to steal First Civilization crystal vials that had been imbued with the blood of both pirates and Templars alike. After completing the heist and commandeering the Portuguese flagship, Nosso Senhor da Compreensão, Roberts renamed her to the Royal Fortune. Afterwards, Kenway killed his former comrade Benjamin Hornigold, who had allied himself with the Templars, to ensure the pirates were not followed, before meeting Roberts again at Long Bay, on the northern shore of Jamaica. The two went ashore with four of Roberts's crew in search of the Observatory.

Edward cleared the jungle of its protective Guardians while Roberts and his crew followed until they reached the Observatory's door. Upon opening it with an incantation, Roberts suddenly shot his four crewmen dead, telling Kenway he did it to save them from the insanity that was sure to follow if they entered the building. However, he believed that Edward could handle the secrets stored within, and instructed him to take up the case of blood vials before they made their way inside.

Roberts informed Kenway of his past as a Sage and his new life as a pirate as they made their way deeper into the Observatory. He commented on the complex being in much worse condition than what it had been when he last saw it eighty millennia ago, although he still knew how to deactivate the building's security measures once inside.

In the Observatory's antechamber, Roberts showed Kenway exactly what its purpose was, using the blood vials they had taken from the Portuguese and inserting them into a Crystal Skull set into the centerpiece of a golden armillary sphere. Soon, the machine began to operate, projecting the vision and hearing of the individual whose blood was in the vial - a near perfect method of spying on anyone in the world; this was demonstrated as both Roberts and Kenway surveyed through the eyes and ears of Jack Rackham and Woodes Rogers.

Although Kenway agreed with Roberts that the Observatory would be too powerful for the Templars to have control of, Roberts had a different plan on how to stop them, by removing the skull and rendering the Observatory inoperable. Though Edward had hoped to work with Roberts and use the device to increase their wealth, the Sage had other ideas, knocking him into the water below. Revealing that he had only used Kenway to get to the Observatory and acquire the Crystal Skull, Roberts declared Edward's usefulness to be at an end and sealed him inside the temple.

Roberts returned to the shore and ordered his crew to subdue the injured Kenway, who made his way out of the Observatory. Though Edward fought back against the pirates, he eventually collapsed from his injuries, just as the Jackdaw sailed away. Fearing that he would be too dangerous to keep on his crew, Roberts decided to turn Edward over to the British authorities and collect the large bounty on his head.

Over the next two years Roberts captured hundreds of ships, earning the attention of both the British and Spanish navies as well as the Templars; he was forced to retreat to Príncipe, where he was found by Kenway. Roberts attempted to flee aboard the Royal Fortune, keeping the Jackdaw at bay with mortar fire and fire barrels, before moving into open waters where Spanish and British forces engaged him.

Eventually the Royal Fortune was disabled by the Jackdaw and boarded. There, Bartholomew Roberts and Edward Kenway fought one another, with Kenway emerging the eventual victor, having impaled Roberts with a rope dart.

Roberts first noted the aptness of his motto before remarking that he may have misjudged Kenway, and perhaps he was indeed the one 'she' had sought. Roberts expressed regret that like many other Sages of his time and before him, he was born too early, and that he did not have the time to open the door to the Temple, confusing Edward, who demanded he talk sense. Roberts did not elaborate, however, requesting only that Edward destroy his body in order to prevent the Templars from gaining anything from it, before succumbing to his injuries. Edward then complied with his final request.

In Real Life:

Bartholomew Roberts, also known as Black Barty although born as John Roberts, was born sometime around 1682, near Haverfordwest, Wales. His father was most likely George Roberts. It's not clear why Roberts changed his name from John to Bartholomew, but pirates often adopted aliases. He may have chosen his first name after the well-known buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp.

He is thought to have gone to sea when he was 13 in 1695, but there is no further record of him until 1718, when he was mate of a Barbados sloop. In 1719, Roberts was second mate on the slave ship Princess under Captain Abraham Plumb. In early June that year, the Princess was anchored at Anomabu (then spelled Annamaboa, which is situated along the Gold Coast of West Africa, present-day Ghana) when she was captured by pirates. The pirates were in two vessels, the Royal Rover and the Royal James, and were led by captain Howell Davis. Davis, like Roberts, was a Welshman, originally from Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. Roberts and several other of the crew of the Princess were forced to join the pirates.

Davis quickly discovered Roberts' abilities as a navigator and took to consulting him. He was also able to confide information to Roberts in Welsh, thereby keeping it hidden from the rest of the crew. Roberts is said to have been reluctant to become a pirate at first, but soon came to see the advantages of this new lifestyle. Considering the average sailor made only £3 per month in the Royal Navy or a merchant ship with no chance of being promoted to captain it wasn't hard to see the appeal. In fact Bartholomew Roberts is even quoted as saying

In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labour. In this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst is only a sour look or two at choking? No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto.

A few weeks after Roberts joined the pirates, one of the ships the Royal James had to be destroyed due to worm damage. The Royal Rover continued on towards the Portuguese controlled island of Príncipe. Davis hoisted the flags of a British man-o-war, he was allowed to enter the harbor and after a few days requested the governor board his ship for lunch, intending to hold him for ransom. However, the governor had already figured out who Davis was and set a trap.

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The governor requested Davis meet the governor at the fort for a glass of wine first and on their way to the fort the pirates were ambushed and killed, Davis included. With Davis dead and the pirates retreating, a new captain had to be elected. Within six weeks of joining the pirates Bartholomew Roberts was made captain, probably due to his navigational abilities and his attitude which was opinionated and outspoken.

Bartholomew Roberts first action as captain was to lead his crew back to Principe to avenge the death of Captain Davis. In the dead of night Roberts and his crew charged onto the island killing a large proportion of the male population and stole virtually all items of value that they could carry away. Next they captured a few ships and when the ship next took on supplies, it was voted they would sail to Portuguese Brazil to rob them some more.

His acts of avenging Howell Davis along with his bravery and success made most of Davis crew extremely loyal to Roberts and they concluded he was "pistol proof".

Roberts and his crew crossed the Atlantic and watered and boot-topped their ship on the uninhabited island of Ferdinando. They spent about nine weeks off the Brazilian coast but saw no ships. They were about to leave for the West Indies when they encountered a fleet of 42 Portuguese ships in the Todos os Santos' Bay, waiting for two men-of-war of 70 guns each to escort them to Lisbon. Roberts took one of the vessels and ordered her master to point out the richest ship in the fleet. He pointed out the Sagrada Familia, a ship of 40 guns and a crew of 170, which Roberts and his men boarded and captured. The Sagrada Familia contained 40,000 gold moidores and jewelry designed for the King of Portugal, including a cross set with diamonds.

Later on, Roberts also sailed around Devil’s Island, Barbados, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Cape Verde. As such, he became the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy as measured by vessels captured, taking over 400 prizes in his career.

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On February 5th, 1722, Captain Chaloner Ogle of the HMS Swallow came upon the pirate ships Royal Fortune, Ranger, and Little Ranger careening at Cape Lopez. Robert’s plan was to sail directly past the enemy ship, take one broadside but eventually escape to open ocean. However Roberts' helmsman failed to keep the ship on the right course and the Swallow was able to get off two successful broadsides. Roberts was killed by grapeshot which ripped open his neck and killed him instantly. The pirates threw his body overboard as he requested so they could not put his body on display. They wrapped him in one of the ships sails, weighted it down and tossed it off the side. His body has never been recovered.

Sources:

https://www.goldenageofpiracy.org/infamous-pirates/bartholomew-roberts.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_Roberts

http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/bartholomew-roberts/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bartholomew-Roberts

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