THE TAMARIND GALAXY
"Tamarind Galaxy is the aspect of my astronomy education provision, that focuses on the African and African American contributions to astronomy, past and present.
Speaking to every Black person, especially the educators and activists, we are in danger of
perpetuating the lie, that ''Blacks people don't do science.'' If we continue to celebrate creative
spirits such as Burning Spear and political activists like Angela Davies, but not figures from the
fields of science, such as astrophysicist and educator Thebe Medupe, or aerospace engineer and
astronaut Guion Bluford, we offer a one-sided view of our contributions to global knowledge. Fromthe ancient Nubian astronomers, to present day figures such as Harris Yao Marc, the first Ivorian to receive a PhD in astrophysics, we have made our contributions to the study of the night sky.
Space.com, EarthSky News, et all, regularly update on the initiatives of the Americans, Canadians Europeans, Chinese and Japanese, but rarely of African endeavours. The last thing that I recall from this year, were short pieces about the inauguration of the African Space Agency, headquartered in Egypt. Because of this and the above, to bring balance to the story of celestial research, a major part of my astronomy sharing, concerns the input from Africa; hence the name Tamarind Galaxy, after one of the iconic trees of the continent."
Natty Mark Samuels
from the 7th SHAW-IAU workshop summary
Speaking to every Black person, especially the educators and activists, we are in danger of
perpetuating the lie, that ''Blacks people don't do science.'' If we continue to celebrate creative
spirits such as Burning Spear and political activists like Angela Davies, but not figures from the
fields of science, such as astrophysicist and educator Thebe Medupe, or aerospace engineer and
astronaut Guion Bluford, we offer a one-sided view of our contributions to global knowledge. Fromthe ancient Nubian astronomers, to present day figures such as Harris Yao Marc, the first Ivorian to receive a PhD in astrophysics, we have made our contributions to the study of the night sky.
Space.com, EarthSky News, et all, regularly update on the initiatives of the Americans, Canadians Europeans, Chinese and Japanese, but rarely of African endeavours. The last thing that I recall from this year, were short pieces about the inauguration of the African Space Agency, headquartered in Egypt. Because of this and the above, to bring balance to the story of celestial research, a major part of my astronomy sharing, concerns the input from Africa; hence the name Tamarind Galaxy, after one of the iconic trees of the continent."
Natty Mark Samuels
from the 7th SHAW-IAU workshop summary
Natty Mark at the Thomas Sankara Celebration, delivering a workshop on Charon.
The Cocoa Nebula; from the Tamarind Galaxy series, part nine.
Pineapple Dust; from The Tamarind Galaxy series part one
Cassava Consciousness; from The Tamarind Galaxy part two
Grapefruit Asteroid; from The Tamarind Galaxy part three:
African Treasury: Moongazer - Daily Info | Daily Info
Pineapple Dust; from The Tamarind Galaxy series part one
Cassava Consciousness; from The Tamarind Galaxy part two
Grapefruit Asteroid; from The Tamarind Galaxy part three:
African Treasury: Moongazer - Daily Info | Daily Info
In January 2026, Natty Mark will begin an Open University degree: BSc Natural Sciences: Astronomy and Planetary Science.
