Black History

Black History Month Salute: George Bonga

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — In 1802, George Bonga’s birth marked the beginning of Minnesota’s freed Black experience.

Published

6 years ago

February 25, 2019

Oakland Post

By MSR News Online

In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing short clips highlighting the legacy and history of Blacks in Minnesota. This week, we salute George Bonga, Minnesota’s first African American resident to be born in Minnesota.

In 1802, George Bonga’s birth marked the beginning of Minnesota’s freed Black experience. Born near Duluth, he was the first documented Black person to be born in the territory of Minnesota. By 1850, he was only one of 14 Blacks counted in Minnesota’s 1850 territorial census.

Bonga’s father, Pierre, was a freed African slave and fur trader, and his mother, Ogibwayquay, was Ojibwe. Living close to the Canadian border, he and his siblings were educated in Quebec, where he became fluent in French in addition to English and Ojibwe.

He went on to follow in his father’s footsteps and got a license to trade, earning notoriety as an entrepreneur and voyageur.

He is most well-known, however, for his role in Minnesota’s first murder trial. In 1837, he was hired to track down a man accused of killing a man by the name of Alfred Aitkin. After less than a week of tracking, Bonga returned with Che-Ga Wa Skung, an Ojibwe man, tied to a sled, traveling 250 miles to bring him to Fort Snelling for trial.

Skung was eventually acquitted, as Aitkin was half-Ojibwe and not considered to be a White citizen. However, Bonga’s ability to brave Minnesota’s frigid January and his success tracking what another group had failed to do earned him great respect in the territory.

After the fur trade declined, he then began work as a wilderness guide and opened a lodge on Leech Lake with his wife. He also worked as a translator, helping to translate and negotiate treaties, and he became an outspoken advocate of Native Americans. In the late 1860s, he served as a witness to the signing of the treaty that created the White Earth Indian Reservation.

He died near Leech Lake in the mid-1870s. A small township, Bungo Township, was named after his family in Cass County.

For more info on George Bonga, visit bit.ly/2BHRejX.

This article originally appeared in Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

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Oakland Post: Week of May 14 – 20, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 14 – 20, 2025

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13 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Oakland Post

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The Best Advice for Raising Children: Discipline That Makes Sense

In his book Developing Positive Self Images and Discipline in Black Children, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu suggests that primary aims for socializing Black children should be: establishing goals related to God and the church; familiarizing children with religious texts like the Bible or Quran; educating them of Black culture like Khemetic (Egyptian) Civilization; enlightening them about Black leaders like Malcolm X and Sojourner Truth; and teaching them to strive to be employers, not employees.

Published

3 days ago

May 13, 2025

Oakland Post

Headshot of Dr. William A. Thomas. Photo courtesy of Dr. William A. Thomas.

By William A. Thomas, Ph.D.

In many African societies, the primary aim of socialization is to raise children to be socially responsible and eventually provide economic support to their parents and extended families. Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye taught that children are raised to be respectful of the wishes of their parents and extended adult family members.

In his book Developing Positive Self Images and Discipline in Black Children, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu suggests that primary aims for socializing Black children should be: establishing goals related to God and the church; familiarizing children with religious texts like the Bible or Quran; educating them of Black culture like Khemetic (Egyptian) Civilization; enlightening them about Black leaders like Malcolm X and Sojourner Truth; and teaching them to strive to be employers, not employees.

Effective disciplinary strategies appropriate to a child’s age and development teach them to regulate their behavior; keep them from harm; enhance their cognitive, social, and emotional executive functioning skills; and reinforce the behavioral patterns taught by their parents and caregivers.

Below are some specific guidelines for disciplining children.

Listen to what children are talking about with interest and show them you understand their feelings. Remember, children mirror and learn about their emotional selves by hearing their feelings reflected back to them. Staying on target also means avoiding labels. When children fail to do what is expected, discussing it is helpful rather than saying how stubborn, lazy, dumb, or bad they are. By the same token, more positive labels can be helpful.

Dependability is another essential component of the discipline process. When parents are dependable, their children learn what to expect and are helped to feel secure. When parents are consistent, children learn to trust, that is, predict their parents’ behaviors with certainty. A child thinks, “When I spill something, I will always be asked to wipe it up.” A child thinks, “If I use foul language, I will always be corrected.” A child thinks, “If I take something that doesn’t belong to me, I will always have to give it back.” The ability to predict with certainty leads children to rely on their parents and the village/community in which they live. Children feel safe when they know what to expect.

Conclusions

It takes a village/community to raise the divine gift that is the Black child. Parents look to therapists for guidance concerning a variety of parenting issues, including discipline. Keep in mind that evidence suggests that corporal punishment is both ineffective in the long term and associated with cognitive and mental health disorders. When parents want guidance about the use of spanking, a child therapist can explore parental feelings, help them better define the goals of discipline, and offer specific behavior management strategies. In addition to providing appropriate education to families, the Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists (Bay ABPsi) can refer them to community resources, like parenting groups and classes.

About the Author

Dr. Thomas is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in the SF/Oakland Bay Area and Beaumont. He is a member of Bay ABPsi, a healing resource committed to providing the Post Newspaper readership with monthly discussions about critical issues in Black Mental Health. Readers are welcome to join us at our monthly chapter meetings every 3^rd Saturday via Zoom and contact us at bayareaabpsi@gmail.com.