It isn't easy to imagine what it feels like to go from being enslaved to becoming a respected samurai warrior. Yet, Yasuke, the only Black man to ever earn the samurai title, lived that life.
A 6'2" enslaved African, Yusuke landed in Japan with his Jesuit master in the late 1500s. He quickly became a human spectacle to all the locals who had likely never seen a Black man before. His presence caused such a commotion that people were trampled trying to glimpse his impressive stature.
The most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga, wanted to see Yasuke himself. Because he’d never seen a man with skin the color of "charcoal," Nobunaga forced Yasuke to strip down naked and scrub his skin to prove it was not ink.
Nobunaga took Yasuke into his family. He was given a home and his own Katana blade, and invited to eat with Nobunaga. Yasuke won many battles alongside the warlord.
Samurai are one of the most enduring symbols of Japanese culture, and Yasuke’s story reveals our cultural footprint on the world. We are a people with a rich history, and we must never fail to embrace it.