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Local News: Man releases Black History Month trading cards Black Habits Articles TAMARA SHEPHARD (Inside Toronto) Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks. Nelson Mandela.

Black icons, leaders and visionaries who battled discrimination and fought for equality for all.

The fact their names elicit blank stares from some of today's youth compelled a 28-year-old Etobicoke entrepreneur to write, design and produce The Official Black History Month Trading Card Set.

Luanga Nuwame was riding a bus last fall when he overheard a conversation between five black and two white youths talking about hip hop lyrics and whose lyrics were the most profound. He asked them how they thought the lyrics compared to the "I Have a Dream" speech, not mentioning its author Martin Luther King Jr. by name.

Their conversation stopped abruptly, looks of confusion crossed their faces.

He repeated the question, naming King.

"Oh yeah," said one boy, "that guy. Yeah, his s#$@ was tight for back then. He's old school. Fifty Cent, he really knows what's going on."

Nuwame was shocked.

"You see the shootings. People have this view that we have this gangster culture. I hate when people put gangster and culture in the same sentence because that is not black culture.

"That's what possessed me to come out with this trading card set - to dispel this pop culture nonsense that that is what it means to be a black man or that's what black culture is. No, we've done so many great things for society and people don't know about it."

To make the set exclusive, Nuwame is limiting production to 5,000 units. Already, 3,894 sets have been sold in pre-orders. Orders can be placed exclusively through his website: www.lanuwame.ca. Order forms may be requested by phone at 416-556-3462 or by email: lue@lanuwame.ca.

The sets are $19.99, including shipping and handling. Two dollars from every set will be donated to Scarborough-based agency Tropicana Community Services, a not-for-profit agency providing culturally appropriate social services for youth in the Caribbean and black communities.

The 5,000 sets of the cards are only available in February (Black History Month) and in March before being permanently discontinued. Sets will then be printed, based on demand.

Who's his market? Anyone, he says: "Collectors, parents see it as a great way to get their kids into black history. Many buyers are just curious. One older European couple who bought a set told me they don't have grandchildren, they just wanted to support a young guy trying to do something positive."

To further increase the set's value, Nuwame purchased rights to the signature of Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation and freed American slaves. Autographed Abraham Lincoln cards may be randomly inserted into every 10th pack.

Initially, there were 150 names in his list of contenders for the Official Black History Month Trading Card Set. He whittled it down to the 24 he believed to be the most influential.

There are two Canadians in the set: Mary Ann Shadd and George Dixon.

Nuwame said he was most fascinated by Madame C.J. Walker. "She went door-to-door selling hair products at the turn of the century when women didn't even have the right to vote," he said. "She overcame two substantial barriers yet she became a multimillionaire."

Depending on the set's success, Nuwame said he could release another set of different black heritage cards next year.

Little-known facts also mark the cards. A black man invented traffic lights and another completed one of the first open-heart surgeries.

"These are the first Black History Month trading cards. It doesn't matter who comes out with some after this. These are their rookie cards. It will always be their first."

Nuwame released a few hundred units of two other trading card sets last year. The 30 Most Evil People of All Time and The 30 Greatest People of All Time.

Some Jewish groups opposed the Evil pack's inclusion of a Hitler card. Other groups expressed appreciation, he said. "Some groups thanked me and said their suffering wasn't quiet anymore."

Pre-orders for the Evil pack outstripped the Greatest pack by 3:1, he said. Nuwame's cards mark a new genre of trading card, he argued.

"I wanted to come out with trading cards that are conscious, that make you think about the world around you."
Posted on Wednesday, February 22 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen



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