Vintage Malcolm X "Afrikan" T-Shirt

Vintage single stitch shirt in great condition

Four Reasons for Using "K" in Afrika*

• Most vernacular or traditional languages on the continent spell Afrika with a K; therefore the use of K is germane to us.

• Europeans, particularly the Portuguese and British, polluted our languages by substituting C whenever they saw K or heard the K sound - as in Kongo and Congo, Akkra and Accra, Konakri and Conakry - and by substituting Q wherever they saw KW. No European language outside of Dutch and German have the hard C sound. Thus we see the Dutch in Azania calling and spelling themselves Afrikaaners. We are not certain of the origin of the name Afrika, but we are sure the name spelled with the C came into use when Afrikans were dispersed over the world. Therefore the K symbolizes our coming back together again.

• The K symbolizes us to [sic] a kind of Lingua Afrikana, coming into use along with such words and phrases as Habari Gani, Osagyfo, Uhuru, Asante, together constituting one political language, although coming from more than one Afrikan language.

• As long as Afrikan languages are translated (written) into English, etc., the European alphabet will be used. This is the problem. The letter K as with the letter C, is part of that alphabet, and at some point must be totally discontinued and the original name of Afrika be used. The fact that Boers (peasants) in Azania also use the K, as in Afrikan (to represent the hard C sound) demonstrates one of the confinements of the alphabet.

Dimensions: 21.25" Wide by 26.50" Long 

Tag Size: L

Country of Origin: N/A

Brand: N/A

*Source: Haki R. Madhubuti, “"Four Reasons for Using 'K' in Afrika",”The State of History, accessed August 20, 2020,https://soh.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/692.