Many Black folks— some historical, some currently alive—have often lamented the depth of the dangerous survival curve we, as a race, seem to have inherited and cannot shake off. Whether it is imminent missile-bomb warfare in the Middle East, constant police brutality seemingly everywhere, or daily – threats on school campuses nationwide, being Black even in the modern context is an on-going struggle for survival with extra hot sauce. And, added to the point, we very often do ourselves no favors in the on-going tumult surrounding our everyday Blackness. We too often forget, a constantly looming hell needs no help from us.
Most often, we assume we are cursed, tagged, and born to be abused and bothered simply because we are and will continue to be Black in this world. In our Blackness, trouble is to be our collective fate, we too often perceive. But there are reasons to look upwards. Here, we will mention two of them from nature.
Every year, the U.S. and the Western world are bombarded by high-flying African winds that flow from the Sahara Desert in Egypt to the Caribbean and into the American South and Southwest. These winds often help kill tropical storm clouds and nullify hurricanes and thunder storms through July and August. That’s their positive mojo.
Typically occurring between April and October annually, Saharan dust clouds regularly reach the United States and the Caribbean with their highest concentrations annually in June and July, according to researchers and climate scientists. Several of the latter have recently reconstructed a 2,000-year history of Saharan dust clouds traveling into this area and have concluded that the size of these Saharan dust clouds has been greatly increasing over the past 100 years. In 2020, for example, there was what has been called the “Godzilla” dust cloud that wreaked havoc in the Southwest, and which brought dangerous levels of air pollution to parts of the southeastern U.S.
The dust can contain fine particulate matter that has been shown to be very dangerous to the respiratory and cardiovascular health of Americans and others. At the beginning of June, 2025, a national weather report said that a gigantic cloud of this Saharan Dust (known better as the Saharan Air Layer) was about to sock the southern U.S. and cause all kinds of havoc, as well as to suppress some potential Caribbean hurricanes. Africa—get back !!
The second Black cause celebre is called the Africanized bee problem. Africanized honey bees, which to the naked eye look just like regular honey bees, are most often referred to as the “killer bees.” They are found in 13 American states and their population is slowly spreading northward, attacking, and often killing, people, livestock and pets along the way. They are relentless.
While there’s no national database of deaths related to bee stings yet, a 2023 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that at least 72 people died a year from hornet, wasp and bee stings. The Africanized honey bee is increasing that statistic greatly as the bee population increases and expands its territory northwards.
The 13 states with large African bee populations are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California(including San Diego County, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Madera, and Inyo Counties), Florida ( Southern Florida has the highest numbers in the country), Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.
Africanized honey bees are not necessarily more aggressive, nor more poisonous than regular honey bees in normal situations, but they are unusually cut-throat and in greater numbers when they perceive danger. While most honey bees disturbed in their hives may send out 3 or 4 “scout bees” to assess the situation, the Africanized bees will generally send out 20 or 30 bees, and they will pursue whatever the problem is relentlessly, calling out reserves without hesitation. Though their sting and venom are no more potent than other honey bees, it is this instant massive attack that characterizes them. People, animals, whatever—they attack in numbers and won’t stop even when the threat tries to leave their premises. They are organized, relentless and stubborn. They won’t quit, killing animals and chasing humans. Listen and learn.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
