Call of the Twice Removed: The Necessary and Unique Role for the African/Caribbean in the Future of the Americas, Europe and Beyond

That “second removal,” a mass migration from the Caribbean colonies of young men and women coming to help the ‘motherland’, to make their way in life and even to make their fortunes. The “first removal,” that forced migration out of the continent of Africa and into the Americas, the Atlantic Slave Trade. There is no reversal, no going back. In this thoughtful and entertaining work, the author looks at the true legacy inherited from these two removals. We get a chance to see the real lessons of Pan-Africanism, nationalism, socialism, Christianity & religion in general, the Black Muslim movement and traditional spiritual Islam. With such an unquestionably unique heritage it becomes blindingly obvious that the the black man and the black woman have a very significant role to play in positively shaping the future of Europe and beyond. Much too often black people (and others of course) are expected to answer or give thought to the identity question. The trick is not to get sucked in. Other people will define you anyway. If we really want to understand the world and how it works, to understand the reality of the two removals then we have to learn a new language. We have to learn how to "follow the money." Only then can we make sense of what was before and what is now. In his popular book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates that our "inheritances" certainly tend to play a part in who we are and what we do in life. In this book, Call of the Twice Removed, Amal Douglas, shows us that both despite, and because, of what we have inherited from our nearer and further forbears, any of us can escape the restrictions of our "historical selves" and in so doing embrace the unique opportunities that legacy affords us. The author was born in the UK of Jamaican parents and schooled in the UK until age thirteen when the family moved/returned to Jamaica. After high school, university, working in the family businesses (alternating between shopkeeper, bartender and bus conductor), and time as a very young civil servant, he returned to the UK as part of his own personal second removal. After continuing his professional accounting studies he held various posts in that profession and ended up in the city. As an entrepreneur he has never looked back since opening his first travel & shipping agency in fashionable Paddington. His entreprenuerial experience has proved invaluable in his current role as an enterprise and fundraising consultant in which he advises major UK & international charities & NGOs, SMEs, new business startups and trade bodies and organisations. He has also developed and delivered numerous training courses, some of which can be found online at Mu'amalat College and School of Business & Enterprise. He still finds the time to continue his longstanding practice of teaching mathematics, business studies, Islamic studies and English to both children and adults. His work has taken him to across Africa, the Caribbean, North America and throughout Europe. As an author he has written several books and countless articles, and also wrote and produced the play Diary of a 'Son of Africa.' He is Founder of the Open Trade Network, an original member of the League of the Black Stone, a respected community leader and activist, and has served on the board of many charitable and social organisations and enterprises. With such a background it is no wonder that this book is unique in it's approach and insights. The author doesn't tell us to seek or ask for a seat at the table, it's their by default! He doesn't make an apology for slavery, neither does he feel the need for any reparations or apologies from others. He doesn't propagate religion but we get an indication of his own journey to both Islam and African consciousness and that he wants each of us to make our own inward journey. This is how we can individually become better people, but more importantly how we can make the places where we live better for ourselves and those who follow us.