Marimba Ani: Objectivity

[Baba Ahmed]

(2Aug2005)
To continue with Marimba Ani's aggressive critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior, I offer another random excerpt from her Afrikan Classic, YURUGU. For those who get it, remember her advice to me on reading it: two introductions, one each of Professor John Henrik Clarke and her own, a few charts and her conclusion. The book's structure centers in an European asili and approached from an Afrikan perspective. This is what led me to make random selections: the entire contents are circular and return to this asili. I suggest to also read its 4 page Glossary, so as to become familiar with some major terms used. We often see and hear the word Modern today. In major media productions, including schools, movies, advertisements and social conversations. Lets look at it from an Afrikan perspective, and redefine it. I also have in mind those of us who speak about this devilish concept inside Pan Afrikan Centerness; who learn foreign systems and seek to transplant it among Pan Afrikanists. The scales of social/political/economic/spiritual life has been imbalanced for too long now. Mama Marimba flatly states & I agree: Academia---a European misconception--- has no place among us. We're to be scholars/revolutionaries/workers as well as intellectuals. Not in the dominating EuroCentric forms. If u've been educated in a European country u too have been poisoned. Some of us stand apart as knowers while our battles are the objects. We, methink, seek to remove the emotional, the self interest w/i the groups to effectively blunt our Nationalists natural concerns: Black Peoples! Let Mama Marimba's point show now...

"Is European synonymous with 'modern?' Is it, after all, a stage in universal cultural development? The answer depends on one's perspective. The question is, therefore, moot. part of the difficulty is with the definition of terms. The significant point from an Africa-centered perspective concerns what happens if we say that European culture merely represents what will be the eventual form of all cultures. The answer is that there is no possibility for a viable critique of what Europeans have created, because there is no other ('non-European') perspective. Other idologies become impotent, because to identify 'Europeanness' as an inevitalbe stage in 'non-European' development is to say that they ('non-Europeans') do not exist --- certainly not as directives, as influences, or as agents of change.

"Most of the potentially valuable critques of European culture --- of which there are a precious few --- have suffered from a common malady. Since they syntactically make European culture into a representation of a universal stage in human development, they are left with no place to look for solutions or creative alternatives. 'Western' problems become the problems of 'modern man' in these critiques. Thereby they are superficially universalized, and Africans must become 'modern' before they can even deal with them.

"Europeans are, in this view, the only ones with the authority to criticize their culture, and the criticisms they make and the solutions they find are said to have universal significance. European imperialism, in this way, is not seen as the product of the behavioral patterns of a particular cultural group nor of certain kinds of people, but rather of the 'natural' tendencies of all people at a particular period of cultural development. The argument continues: 'Every culture becomes European as it becomes modern,' so there is really only one valid culture and the only ideological alternative is the 'more-than-modern' one.

"To be useful, 'modernity' has to be redefined, so that, for instance, we can speak of modern African dress or modern African art using an African-centered frame of reference. Presently, the concept of modernity is much too Eurocentric to be either practical or of theoretical value in a critique of European culture. We must begin with the assumption that Europeanness is not inevitable. And since we wish to describe 'a certain mode of cultural being as opposed to a certain level of history.'(35) European development is a product of European ideology. Consequently, it represents a particular view and approach to the world --- as partial as any other. And, as any other ideological construct, it can theoretically, therefore, be rejected, critiqued or replaced. This is not to say that the rejection of Europeanness is an easy task, or that Europe does not give the illusion of being ubiquitous. But the question of the universal validity of European forms must not be confused with the successful expansionism of European culture. And the resistance to Europe, as it is now defined, can only be achieved through a commitment to that resistance. Those who begin with the assumption that they are simply dealing with the character of 'modernity' are doomed from the start, for they have already accepted the terms of European ideology.

"Some problems in terminology arise in referring to other cultures. The term 'non-European' is used reluctantly because of its usual negative connotations, and because it implies a Eurocentirc frame of reference. But in this case it is appropriate since the focus of the study is Europe exclusively: So that what is 'other' is indeed a negation of what is 'Europen' (i.e., 'non-European'). This fact not withstanding, I have felt more comfortable using other terms, and they require some explanation. The term 'First World' is used to refer to the descendants of the oldest civilizations know to us: Africa and its Diaspora. 'Primary cultures' is also used in this way. European in this sense represent a secondary, derived, and younger people. I have sometimes borrowed Chinweizu's term from the title of his book, The West and the Rest of Us(1978) and refer to those of us who are not European as 'the rest of us.' And I have referred to these 'other' peoples and cultures as 'majority,' since Europeans and the culture they have created represent a small 'minority' when viewed in the world context.

"Nationalism" as a cultural phenomenon is a very significant aspect of European culture and therefore of this study. Nationalism in this sense is not limited by the concept of 'nation-state,' rather it refers to the commitment on the part of the members of a culture to its political defense, its survival, and its perpetuation. In the case of Europe it also involves a commitment to its supremacy, to its expansion, and to the destruction of other cultures. But it is very important to understand that this does not mean that nationalism is a negative phenomenon universally. It is indeed 'natural' to be centered in one's culture and to seek to preserve it. That is part of the essence of culture. But the content of European nationalism becomes problematical: (1) because it implies imperialistic aggression; and (2) because it is usually not recognized as the expression of group interest, thereby making it difficult for other groups to defend themselves against its effects. An important objective of this work, therefore, is to make European nationalism recognizable as such.

Perspective and Objectives

"This study was not approached objectively. It is not possible to be objective towards Europe. Certainly the victims of its cultural, political, and economic imperialism are not objective, if they are sane. And Europeans cannot be 'objective' about their own cultural history. The question, then, becomes: What could objectivity possibly mean in terms of human mental attitudes? The implications of the concept of objectivity are discussed critcally in this study and elsewhere.(36) It is a concept that acts to mystify Europe's victims: one of the most effective tools of European ideology.

"The claim to an absolute ultimate truth is a psychological necessity for the European mentality. And since we have accepted it, it is an edict that has constrained most of us who have been trained in European academies. But African-centeredness breaks that hold by recognizing the truth as a process in which we immerse ourselves because of a commitment, not to some universal abstraction, but to a certain quality of life. From an African-centered perspective, we understand truth to be inseparable from the search for meaning and purpose --- the unique concern of human consciousness. As african scholars, it is our responsibility to create systematic theoretical formulations which will reveal the truths that enable us to liberate and utilize the energies of our people. In this view, the self-determinist, the revolutionary, and the scholar are one, having the same objective, involved in the same truth-process. The claim that we make is not to a spurious 'objectivity,' but to honesty. I, therefore, have made no attempt to camouflage either my relationship to Europe or my goal in undrtaking this study."
================================================== ==========================

35. Stanley Diamond, Search for the Primitive, Transaction Press, New Brunswick, N.J., 1974,p. 118.
36. Dona Marimba Richards, "Toward the Demystification of Objectivity,' in Imhotep, Journal of Afrocentric Thought, Vol. I, No. 1, department of African American Studies, Temple University, 1989.

[Akyeame Kwame]

More ammo 4 tha AK-47...hey Baba do u get these from the net or do you take the time to type these out yourself? stay BlackNificent!!!

AK

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

(2Aug2005)
To continue with Marimba Ani's aggressive critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior, I offer another random excerpt from her Afrikan Classic, YURUGU. For those who get it, remember her advice to me on reading it: two introductions, one each of Professor John Henrik Clarke and her own, a few charts and her conclusion. The book's structure centers in an European asili and approached from an Afrikan perspective. This is what led me to make random selections: the entire contents are circular and return to this asili. I suggest to also read its 4 page Glossary, so as to become familiar with some major terms used. We often see and hear the word Modern today. In major media productions, including schools, movies, advertisements and social conversations. Lets look at it from an Afrikan perspective, and redefine it. I also have in mind those of us who speak about this devilish concept inside Pan Afrikan Centerness; who learn foreign systems and seek to transplant it among Pan Afrikanists. The scales of social/political/economic/spiritual life has been imbalanced for too long now. Mama Marimba flatly states & I agree: Academia---a European misconception--- has no place among us. We're to be scholars/revolutionaries/workers as well as intellectuals. Not in the dominating EuroCentric forms. If u've been educated in a European country u too have been poisoned. Some of us stand apart as knowers while our battles are the objects. We, methink, seek to remove the emotional, the self interest w/i the groups to effectively blunt our Nationalists natural concerns: Black Peoples! Let Mama Marimba's point show now...

"Is European synonymous with 'modern?' Is it, after all, a stage in universal cultural development? The answer depends on one's perspective. The question is, therefore, moot. part of the difficulty is with the definition of terms. The significant point from an Africa-centered perspective concerns what happens if we say that European culture merely represents what will be the eventual form of all cultures. The answer is that there is no possibility for a viable critique of what Europeans have created, because there is no other ('non-European') perspective. Other idologies become impotent, because to identify 'Europeanness' as an inevitalbe stage in 'non-European' development is to say that they ('non-Europeans') do not exist --- certainly not as directives, as influences, or as agents of change.

"Most of the potentially valuable critques of European culture --- of which there are a precious few --- have suffered from a common malady. Since they syntactically make European culture into a representation of a universal stage in human development, they are left with no place to look for solutions or creative alternatives. 'Western' problems become the problems of 'modern man' in these critiques. Thereby they are superficially universalized, and Africans must become 'modern' before they can even deal with them.

"Europeans are, in this view, the only ones with the authority to criticize their culture, and the criticisms they make and the solutions they find are said to have universal significance. European imperialism, in this way, is not seen as the product of the behavioral patterns of a particular cultural group nor of certain kinds of people, but rather of the 'natural' tendencies of all people at a particular period of cultural development. The argument continues: 'Every culture becomes European as it becomes modern,' so there is really only one valid culture and the only ideological alternative is the 'more-than-modern' one.

"To be useful, 'modernity' has to be redefined, so that, for instance, we can speak of modern African dress or modern African art using an African-centered frame of reference. Presently, the concept of modernity is much too Eurocentric to be either practical or of theoretical value in a critique of European culture. We must begin with the assumption that Europeanness is not inevitable. And since we wish to describe 'a certain mode of cultural being as opposed to a certain level of history.'(35) European development is a product of European ideology. Consequently, it represents a particular view and approach to the world --- as partial as any other. And, as any other ideological construct, it can theoretically, therefore, be rejected, critiqued or replaced. This is not to say that the rejection of Europeanness is an easy task, or that Europe does not give the illusion of being ubiquitous. But the question of the universal validity of European forms must not be confused with the successful expansionism of European culture. And the resistance to Europe, as it is now defined, can only be achieved through a commitment to that resistance. Those who begin with the assumption that they are simply dealing with the character of 'modernity' are doomed from the start, for they have already accepted the terms of European ideology.

"Some problems in terminology arise in referring to other cultures. The term 'non-European' is used reluctantly because of its usual negative connotations, and because it implies a Eurocentirc frame of reference. But in this case it is appropriate since the focus of the study is Europe exclusively: So that what is 'other' is indeed a negation of what is 'Europen' (i.e., 'non-European'). This fact not withstanding, I have felt more comfortable using other terms, and they require some explanation. The term 'First World' is used to refer to the descendants of the oldest civilizations know to us: Africa and its Diaspora. 'Primary cultures' is also used in this way. European in this sense represent a secondary, derived, and younger people. I have sometimes borrowed Chinweizu's term from the title of his book, The West and the Rest of Us(1978) and refer to those of us who are not European as 'the rest of us.' And I have referred to these 'other' peoples and cultures as 'majority,' since Europeans and the culture they have created represent a small 'minority' when viewed in the world context.

"Nationalism" as a cultural phenomenon is a very significant aspect of European culture and therefore of this study. Nationalism in this sense is not limited by the concept of 'nation-state,' rather it refers to the commitment on the part of the members of a culture to its political defense, its survival, and its perpetuation. In the case of Europe it also involves a commitment to its supremacy, to its expansion, and to the destruction of other cultures. But it is very important to understand that this does not mean that nationalism is a negative phenomenon universally. It is indeed 'natural' to be centered in one's culture and to seek to preserve it. That is part of the essence of culture. But the content of European nationalism becomes problematical: (1) because it implies imperialistic aggression; and (2) because it is usually not recognized as the expression of group interest, thereby making it difficult for other groups to defend themselves against its effects. An important objective of this work, therefore, is to make European nationalism recognizable as such.

Perspective and Objectives

"This study was not approached objectively. It is not possible to be objective towards Europe. Certainly the victims of its cultural, political, and economic imperialism are not objective, if they are sane. And Europeans cannot be 'objective' about their own cultural history. The question, then, becomes: What could objectivity possibly mean in terms of human mental attitudes? The implications of the concept of objectivity are discussed critcally in this study and elsewhere.(36) It is a concept that acts to mystify Europe's victims: one of the most effective tools of European ideology.

"The claim to an absolute ultimate truth is a psychological necessity for the European mentality. And since we have accepted it, it is an edict that has constrained most of us who have been trained in European academies. But African-centeredness breaks that hold by recognizing the truth as a process in which we immerse ourselves because of a commitment, not to some universal abstraction, but to a certain quality of life. From an African-centered perspective, we understand truth to be inseparable from the search for meaning and purpose --- the unique concern of human consciousness. As african scholars, it is our responsibility to create systematic theoretical formulations which will reveal the truths that enable us to liberate and utilize the energies of our people. In this view, the self-determinist, the revolutionary, and the scholar are one, having the same objective, involved in the same truth-process. The claim that we make is not to a spurious 'objectivity,' but to honesty. I, therefore, have made no attempt to camouflage either my relationship to Europe or my goal in undrtaking this study."
================================================== ==========================

35. Stanley Diamond, Search for the Primitive, Transaction Press, New Brunswick, N.J., 1974,p. 118.
36. Dona Marimba Richards, "Toward the Demystification of Objectivity,' in Imhotep, Journal of Afrocentric Thought, Vol. I, No. 1, department of African American Studies, Temple University, 1989.

[Baba Ahmed]

Peeeeeeeeeace Akyeame Kwame!

I was gifted the book, after the donor saw me couldn't put it down, specially after she told me how to approach it. Typing it meself, helps to stick her messages in me soul! I told her what I do: relay works of those much more qualified than me; I let their voices show, with due credit. Her: do yo thang!

Why is there something in particular u'd like me to type for u from Yurugu or of Mwalimu B.'s works? I kinda dig typ'n, something I taught myself. Lemme know. Damnit forgeting me manners, bad habit: how's mama and'nem?

Did u see the message that Jaz arrived safely in Ghana?

[Akyeame Kwame]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

Peeeeeeeeeace Akyeame Kwame!

I was gifted the book, after the donor saw me couldn't put it down, specially after she told me how to approach it. Typing it meself, helps to stick her messages in me soul! I told her what I do: relay works of those much more qualified than me; I let their voices show, with due credit. Her: do yo thang!

Why is there something in particular u'd like me to type for u from Yurugu or of Mwalimu B.'s works? I kinda dig typ'n, something I taught myself. Lemme know. Damnit forgeting me manners, bad habit: how's mama and'nem?

Did u see the message that Jaz arrived safely in Ghana?

htp Baba!

mamenem good! how's Mama Ayeesha? that's BlackTastic work there Baba!!! let me think...i'll let u know but 4 now i'm finding ur selections BlackNificent!!!

i ain't get the message. good news...keep US posted on what she finds in her returnification process...

stay BlackNificent,

AK

[Baba Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Akyeame Kwame

htp Baba!

mamenem good! how's Mama Ayeesha? that's BlackTastic work there Baba!!! let me think...i'll let u know but 4 now i'm finding ur selections BlackNificent!!!

i ain't get the message. good news...keep US posted on what she finds in her returnification process...

stay BlackNificent,

AK

Htp, will keep u posted....

there u go again: returnification! XactBlackNificence... solid on da solid

[Baba Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

(2Aug2005)
To continue with Marimba Ani's aggressive critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior, I offer another random excerpt from her Afrikan Classic, YURUGU. For those who get it, remember her advice to me on reading it: two introductions, one each of Professor John Henrik Clarke and her own, a few charts and her conclusion. The book's structure centers in an European asili and approached from an Afrikan perspective. This is what led me to make random selections: the entire contents are circular and return to this asili. I suggest to also read its 4 page Glossary, so as to become familiar with some major terms used. We often see and hear the word Modern today. In major media productions, including schools, movies, advertisements and social conversations. Lets look at it from an Afrikan perspective, and redefine it. I also have in mind those of us who speak about this devilish concept inside Pan Afrikan Centerness; who learn foreign systems and seek to transplant it among Pan Afrikanists. The scales of social/political/economic/spiritual life has been imbalanced for too long now. Mama Marimba flatly states & I agree: Academia---a European misconception--- has no place among us. We're to be scholars/revolutionaries/workers as well as intellectuals. Not in the dominating EuroCentric forms. If u've been educated in a European country u too have been poisoned. Some of us stand apart as knowers while our battles are the objects. We, methink, seek to remove the emotional, the self interest w/i the groups to effectively blunt our Nationalists natural concerns: Black Peoples! Let Mama Marimba's point show now...

"Is European synonymous with 'modern?' Is it, after all, a stage in universal cultural development? The answer depends on one's perspective. The question is, therefore, moot. part of the difficulty is with the definition of terms. The significant point from an Africa-centered perspective concerns what happens if we say that European culture merely represents what will be the eventual form of all cultures. The answer is that there is no possibility for a viable critique of what Europeans have created, because there is no other ('non-European') perspective. Other idologies become impotent, because to identify 'Europeanness' as an inevitalbe stage in 'non-European' development is to say that they ('non-Europeans') do not exist --- certainly not as directives, as influences, or as agents of change.

"Most of the potentially valuable critques of European culture --- of which there are a precious few --- have suffered from a common malady. Since they syntactically make European culture into a representation of a universal stage in human development, they are left with no place to look for solutions or creative alternatives. 'Western' problems become the problems of 'modern man' in these critiques. Thereby they are superficially universalized, and Africans must become 'modern' before they can even deal with them.

"Europeans are, in this view, the only ones with the authority to criticize their culture, and the criticisms they make and the solutions they find are said to have universal significance. European imperialism, in this way, is not seen as the product of the behavioral patterns of a particular cultural group nor of certain kinds of people, but rather of the 'natural' tendencies of all people at a particular period of cultural development. The argument continues: 'Every culture becomes European as it becomes modern,' so there is really only one valid culture and the only ideological alternative is the 'more-than-modern' one.

"To be useful, 'modernity' has to be redefined, so that, for instance, we can speak of modern African dress or modern African art using an African-centered frame of reference. Presently, the concept of modernity is much too Eurocentric to be either practical or of theoretical value in a critique of European culture. We must begin with the assumption that Europeanness is not inevitable. And since we wish to describe 'a certain mode of cultural being as opposed to a certain level of history.'(35) European development is a product of European ideology. Consequently, it represents a particular view and approach to the world --- as partial as any other. And, as any other ideological construct, it can theoretically, therefore, be rejected, critiqued or replaced. This is not to say that the rejection of Europeanness is an easy task, or that Europe does not give the illusion of being ubiquitous. But the question of the universal validity of European forms must not be confused with the successful expansionism of European culture. And the resistance to Europe, as it is now defined, can only be achieved through a commitment to that resistance. Those who begin with the assumption that they are simply dealing with the character of 'modernity' are doomed from the start, for they have already accepted the terms of European ideology.

"Some problems in terminology arise in referring to other cultures. The term 'non-European' is used reluctantly because of its usual negative connotations, and because it implies a Eurocentirc frame of reference. But in this case it is appropriate since the focus of the study is Europe exclusively: So that what is 'other' is indeed a negation of what is 'Europen' (i.e., 'non-European'). This fact not withstanding, I have felt more comfortable using other terms, and they require some explanation. The term 'First World' is used to refer to the descendants of the oldest civilizations know to us: Africa and its Diaspora. 'Primary cultures' is also used in this way. European in this sense represent a secondary, derived, and younger people. I have sometimes borrowed Chinweizu's term from the title of his book, The West and the Rest of Us(1978) and refer to those of us who are not European as 'the rest of us.' And I have referred to these 'other' peoples and cultures as 'majority,' since Europeans and the culture they have created represent a small 'minority' when viewed in the world context.

"Nationalism" as a cultural phenomenon is a very significant aspect of European culture and therefore of this study. Nationalism in this sense is not limited by the concept of 'nation-state,' rather it refers to the commitment on the part of the members of a culture to its political defense, its survival, and its perpetuation. In the case of Europe it also involves a commitment to its supremacy, to its expansion, and to the destruction of other cultures. But it is very important to understand that this does not mean that nationalism is a negative phenomenon universally. It is indeed 'natural' to be centered in one's culture and to seek to preserve it. That is part of the essence of culture. But the content of European nationalism becomes problematical: (1) because it implies imperialistic aggression; and (2) because it is usually not recognized as the expression of group interest, thereby making it difficult for other groups to defend themselves against its effects. An important objective of this work, therefore, is to make European nationalism recognizable as such.

Perspective and Objectives

"This study was not approached objectively. It is not possible to be objective towards Europe. Certainly the victims of its cultural, political, and economic imperialism are not objective, if they are sane. And Europeans cannot be 'objective' about their own cultural history. The question, then, becomes: What could objectivity possibly mean in terms of human mental attitudes? The implications of the concept of objectivity are discussed critcally in this study and elsewhere.(36) It is a concept that acts to mystify Europe's victims: one of the most effective tools of European ideology.

"The claim to an absolute ultimate truth is a psychological necessity for the European mentality. And since we have accepted it, it is an edict that has constrained most of us who have been trained in European academies. But African-centeredness breaks that hold by recognizing the truth as a process in which we immerse ourselves because of a commitment, not to some universal abstraction, but to a certain quality of life. From an African-centered perspective, we understand truth to be inseparable from the search for meaning and purpose --- the unique concern of human consciousness. As african scholars, it is our responsibility to create systematic theoretical formulations which will reveal the truths that enable us to liberate and utilize the energies of our people. In this view, the self-determinist, the revolutionary, and the scholar are one, having the same objective, involved in the same truth-process. The claim that we make is not to a spurious 'objectivity,' but to honesty. I, therefore, have made no attempt to camouflage either my relationship to Europe or my goal in undrtaking this study."
================================================== ==========================

35. Stanley Diamond, Search for the Primitive, Transaction Press, New Brunswick, N.J., 1974,p. 118.
36. Dona Marimba Richards, "Toward the Demystification of Objectivity,' in Imhotep, Journal of Afrocentric Thought, Vol. I, No. 1, department of African American Studies, Temple University, 1989.

BUMP TIME to the surface; shish get'n a lil deep outchere!

[Baba Ahmed]

"All people, all over the world, throughout history have shared in common the fact that they belong to a culture of origin. That is a universal reality. Another equally important universal reality is that there are many, many different cultures in the world and each of them is unique. The uniqueness of a culture is what gives specialness to its members. The members of a culture are bonded together by their shared culture, which gives them a sense of
collective identity.

"We are an Afrikan people," simply reveals that there are values, traditions and a heritage that we share because we have a common origin.

The cultural process is naturally ongoing, which allows people to continuously affirm their connectedness through being linked to their origins.

However, the continuity of our cultural identity has been interrupted cruelly and unnaturally by the experience of slavery. We as a people are still suffering from this crime because we have not been allowed to find our way back to the sense of cultural identity and continuity which would transform us into a unified and whole people. We have not been able to function in the world with a collective consciousness that naturally imparts a strong sense of
cultural roots.

The term "Maafa" (from the book, "Let The Circle Be Unbroken) is a kiswahili word for "disaster" that we are now using to reclaim our right to tell our own story. Maafa refers to the enslavement of our people and to the sustained attempt to dehumanize us. Because the Maafa has disconnected us from our cultural origins, we have remained vulnerable in a social order that does not reflect our cultural identity.

We are people of African ancestry living in denial of who we are. We have lost our strength as a people. We are losing our children to systems which miseducate them. Our families are disintegrating before our eyes.Our numbers are growing in the statistics of drug addiction and incarceration.

Responsible national Black organizations are seeking remedies to these problems, but we are not speaking with one voice. We need to work together as a family who supports its members and who is responsible for their welfare. We must use the most valuable asset that we have: That is the spirit of our people. It is that spirit that connects us to our Afrikan roots.

Slowly, we are awakening to the need to claim our cultural legacy. The term "Sankofa" from Akan tradition in Ghana, West Africa tells us to return to the Source so that we can go forward with strength and clarity. Culture is a powerful tool for inspiring human beings and bringing them together in a concerted "family" action.

Our cultural roots are the most ancient in the world. The spiritual concepts of our Ancestors gave birth to religious thought African people believe in the oneness of the African family through sacred time, which unites the past, the present and the future.

Our Ancestors live with us. They created the first civilizations thousands of years ago and they suffered the pain of the Maafa. And yet, they were able to endure the most disastrous and dehumanizing circumstances ever perpetrated against a group of people, only because of the power of the African spirit. They did not have the freedom to affirm their cultural heritage. We now have that choice.

In the African view of life it is our responsibility to honor their name.

This is perhaps our moment of truth. We must come together as a family. We must do all that we can do to uplift our people. Otherwise, we are still denying who we are and bringing dishonor to our "family name;" to our Ancestors.

The answer to our social dilemma is the resocialization of our people into the cultural value-system that affirms our spiritual being. Our Ancestors are calling us "home", back to our cultural selves. We must begin the process of Sankofa."

Marimba Ani
To Be Afrikan

[Majadi]

Ya'll gonna make me hug my hunting knife! I love Dr. Ani her analysis in Yurugu is brilliant, last night I was reading her excerpt on Aesthetics in it. I was thinking a book like this but viewing Afrikan Cultural Values from an Afrikan Centered perspective would be divine from her!

I am 36 I don't know her age but she is my "play momma!" lmao

Baba Ahmed you are an awesome elder, I pray to be in your presence one day!

[manifestdestiny]

"We are an Afrikan people," simply reveals that there are values, traditions and a heritage that we share because we have a common origin.

-or because of common perception

The answer to our social dilemma is the resocialization of our people into the cultural value-system that affirms our spiritual being. Our Ancestors are calling us "home", back to our cultural selves. We must begin the process of Sankofa."

This is interesting, and I agree...usually I apply the what ever works for us theory of existence, however, this does offer a valid alternative

[Baba Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Majadi

Ya'll gonna make me hug my hunting knife!

That's a spirit from the Maroons!

I love Dr. Ani her analysis in Yurugu is brilliant, last night I was reading her excerpt on Aesthetics in it. I was thinking a book like this but viewing Afrikan Cultural Values from an Afrikan Centered perspective would be divine from her!

That's an extensive section mentioned in roughly 30 pages. Keep in mind that Ena (term of respect for a struggle proven woman) Marimba Ani comes from a background as an activist teacher. I spoke briefly with her last nite and asked when a new edition of YURUGU will come out. She said its in the works. Remember in the book she says clearly that there's no room for academia, per se, in this battle we're living. No Ivory Tower scholars. Re priniciples of actions, to me, that's part of what Yurugu is presenting. It lays out European historical strengths weaknesses and points to Afrikan viewpoints. We begin to see clearly the flim flams yt has laid in and on us, beginning with our mindsets. Then she points to the means used by Euros that have bamboozled the now entire social patchworks. EuroCentric thought is one of the most powerful poisons in existence today. Why? Bcause consciously too many of us help them to perpetrate their paper tiger reality. We generally lack a sound basis in our own cultures; we have less means to not only counter act their constant attacks but moreso the means to establish our Afrikan based works. Imo, many of our respected and learned scholar/warriors are continually digging up our spiritual/mental/physical "soils" preparing them to accept fertilizing components from our Ancient/traditional cultures planting seeds and cultivating them for our futures.

And diggit, allatime struggling to exist today! Altho tomorrow exist in today, it is not tomorrow practically. One more term that's useful in this regard is JEGNA; or at least it was made to appear so. However now, and I give thanks, there has appeared yunguns who're fairly well armed with knowledges and experiences of an Afrikan language that's close to us and lives today. And bleeve it they're making efficient use of time as we know it get'n some to get deeper into Twi, etc. These yunguns are helping us to bring alive ancient teachings via our closest linked sources: West Afrika, from where most here in this Hemisphere came from. I pray that our Pan Afrikan minded sistas and bruthas do not make mistakes I've seen made by Black people who, for whatever reason, chose Islam as a way of life out of this smothering b.s. called Western Society, and flew completely over the vast Continent of Afrika or if not that landed in the NorthEast "corner" of present day Afrika. Our enemies are cunning to say the least. Put a generation of confusion in a people's minds and lives, once awakened there's mucho more looking backwards to update one's self into our Afrikan realities! And more age in us.

'Cuse me for side stepping, but now, imo, is not the time for older folk to prepare to be the Priesthood Dr. Clarke called for. Nor are there institutions to use...yet. Our foundations must be earthly based energized by Afrikan spirits who live in us. Then when its seen that my grandchildren needs to be "schooled" in cultural stages everyday the need is naturally fulfilled. Now we, if I may be so bold to say so,...we are in a stage of purifications and must be careful in the stimulants we choose to use. Our "systems" energy levels may be to weaken and thus to tonify'em will send us deeper into sicknesses. I also say that at this point in time, any and all knowledge we have is to be shared with other like minded folk. By knowledge I mean information that's been used and tested. Not just stuff that's been read and repeatedly mouthed day in and day out. Example, at this site I read of many who say they're Queens and others who're Kings, yet neither have a mate and if so they have no children. Those are the underpinnings of nationhood. We study but do we see how powerful "structures" were formed? By ancient and traditional societies? Do we understand why there were times when Kings or Queens weren't necessary and yet we had powerful groupings of Afrikans? And even when such "titles" were used, in actuality, the people were both Queen & King? Each person was carefully reared through the stages of growth, all connected to produce prepared members to deal knowingly with life's problems. I said to one professed learned sista that we're babies in our Sankofa journies. She didn't appreciate b n called a baby. Well what other than babies would still be fumbling around wrapped in trappings of being Afrikan with little or no manifested works of defense, support, maintenance and growth to establish holds on Power... power in our self determinations.
We live in an European "world" using European means for existences! We must do better by realizing what's to be done, now; and realizing that our work needs are comprehensive they begin with self and home. Its a terrible feeling to have a shaky home base. AND like our ancestors, b4 the Maafa, planned for at least eight generations, some say. We can plan for one generation together, can't we?

I am 36 I don't know her age but she is my "play momma!" lmao

She's retired from formal university level teaching.

Baba Ahmed you are an awesome elder, I pray to be in your presence one day!

I'm just a relay man trying to improve my husband, father and grandfather requirements. Bruhman, that's sho'nuf constant work. Y'all build the institutions.


Yebehyia.... Baba Ahmed

[Pain]

Fantastic book. It's one of those books to me that can never truly be read, only studied just like "Blueprint for Black Power" by Amos Wilson. That book and Jacob Caruther's "Intellectual Warfare" has done a lot for my understanding of the enemy and myself.

[Baba Ahmed]

Tru dat! Im with u; needed to dig where me mind's energies were coming from. And u've said it; such books are references and study aids to be implemented.

And re yurugu I dig her use of Europeans to highlight and damn other europeans, while showing limitations of such euros. 'Cause they too b coming from an EuroCentric base. And that's part of what I discovered in myself. My thought forms were EuroCentric. Unavoidedly so; public schools and so called Liberal Arts College plus capitalists mgmt/mktg principles and forms.

What else could I produce even in the wrappings of Islam? For Western religions themselves are tools of a political order. Just look at the crap jumping off now in this War against terroism and terroists. Yet look at Qaddafy? The head of Pakistan. Eygpt sit'n on the side lines seemingly unconcerned that, as I see it, Zionist Isra'el is inching back towards Egypt and will form a pincher for Amerikkka's inroads, e.g., via Djibouti and in the West Liberia, Sierra Leone and indirectly Ghana with its fledging Black Christian fronts establishing a firm base here!

Afrika, Black Afrika, has historically been a jewel to be captured, by Asians, Arabs and Caucasians of differing shades. Its moreso today. Afrika needs its prodigal sons and daughters who were planted here and have gained somewhat Western resources that must be used for the sake of our own souls; to repay our Afrikan ancestors. Not Judaism, Hebrewism, Christianity nor Islam. For all, unconsciouslly as a team, have contributed to our fallen status.

Black Afrikans, not only in skin tones, must aim our focus to our original homelands. And work for total liberations, lil by little.

[SoularFlarez]

i printed out n read the 1st post last nite...i got to check the rest but yeahhh sista is spitten str8 FIYAH !!

[Baba Ahmed]

Mwalimu Bomani Baruti is soon to release ina book an essay titled "Subjective Objectivity." Stay tuned. I have in now but word given not to publicize 'til its officially published.

[Mekeda7]

Originally Posted by Majadi

I love Dr. Ani her analysis in Yurugu is brilliant, last night I was reading her excerpt on Aesthetics in it. I was thinking a book like this but viewing Afrikan Cultural Values from an Afrikan Centered perspective would be divine from her!

She already has a book like that, it's called Let the Circle Be Unbroken