cultural modification

As always people are people. People create traditions and customs.  Depending on the nature and character of people, we will either seek to work with each other cultures or conquer them.

Currently the Afrikan is in the midst of modification.  Unconsciously many of our people are seeking a return to our roots.  Consciously many are awaking to the reality of our condition worldwide.  Aside from the down to earth practical matters such as providing food, clothing shelter we need a complete analysis of our status worldwide.  Specifically the Afrikan in the geopolitical location known as America must really analyze who we are and our political status.

Culture is much more than clothes, slang and tradition.  It is a state of mind.  A healthy culture invites self critical study and self development.  A powerful culture encourages self determination not dependency.  Culture builds, and culture protects.  But builds and protects what?
In my view, culture builds nations. The traditions, the morals codified into law combined with a process for succession of leadership are some objectives of building a nation.
For the record:
Status according the Black’s Law Dictionary online is
 -Total of a body’s legal capacity, liabilities, duties, standing and rights. 2. Hierarchy’s relative ranks. 3. Present state of affairs.

Political according to Wikipedia is.
- The practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. A variety of methods is employed in politics, which include promoting its own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to international level.
A political system is a framework which defines acceptable political methods within a given society. History of political thought can be traced back to early antiquity, with seminal works such as Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics and opus of Confucius.
Now there are many other texts on politics from Afrikan culture far older than these, one only need find them.

Brothers and sisters please ask yourself: What are you holding on to by claiming to be American? Logically, if you view history through sane eyes it is apparent that those who founded this country and their children who benefit from our defeat view us either as a problem or as commercial property.  Do we as a whole feel we are not capable of governing ourselves?
Rampant poverty, constant war, and imperialism disguised as progress coming from a foundation of savagery.  This is the truth of our current condition.  How is it that our people within a span of 400yrs have abandoned our birthright of sovereignty? Alas, lamenting our apparent lack of clarity will do nothing without a clear objective.
I propose simple modification; a slight shift in our thinking. Simply begin to see ourselves as a nation under siege.
 Siege according to dictionary.com is
Noun
1.
the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in suh a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of     the defenders and thereby making capture possible.
2.
Any prolonged or persistent effort to overcome resistance.
3.
A series of illnesses, troubles, or annoyances besetting a person or group: a siege of head colds.
4.
A prolonged period of trouble or annoyance.

I chose the online dictionary for a reason family. Understand these definitions are common knowledge. Look them up from many sources and correlate the variations.  But let’s get back to us being under siege. Is that too big of a leap to make?  I hope not.

Amos Wilson in Blueprint for Black Power expounds on the notion of a nation.  “These White American trading/transnational/political powers are interconnected by a maze of rivers, roads, bridges…electronic communications networks… These networks form the nervous system of the nation.”  He further explains “This sense of nation is not founded in the terrain or the infrastructure of other networks or systems.  It is only founded in the minds of the members of self identified populace.” Let’s key in on the term self identified populace for a moment.  From the beginning we had a unique culture and identity.  However through an extensive program of manipulation and coercion we have been made to feel as though properly separating our selves from the very people who committed this act of savagery is somehow counter productive!
We are not speaking of armed rebellion.  Although, to be clear, violence is an enviable fact; Power is a seductive force that men and women kill to hold on too.  We simply need to reshape how we conduct the business of life among each other.  Inclusion, integration, with a people who have historically benefited from our enslavement is foolish.  However the control they exert over said infrastructure precipitates this.  An old adage: “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” comes to mind.  Yet if that same hand feeds you poison, what then?

At the core of control is ideology.  If we continue to buy into this concept of “America for all”, instead of “war until liberation”, we will always be victims.  The logic is simple.  The racial pain caused by white supremacy runs deep.  The system of perpetual poverty by continuing to give up self determination caused by joining wholesale to the USA’s imperialistic system is a recipe for genocide. Realize genocide need not be sudden. Time, strategy and tactics can be utilized in so many variations.
Seeking to change the landscape and fully buy into (literally) White America is akin to laying siege against a walled city. Better, is to wage a cultural guerilla war. Our weapons are already in place—infrastructure, our genius to innovate, and white people’s need to dominate others. “The same transportation-communication infrastructure systematically serves the white nation and which is a major source of its economic and political prowess is also available to the Afrikan American nation” –Amos Wilson, Blueprint for Black power.
And we are doing!

Yet without the ideology of Pan- Afrikanism we are only fighting half a war, if that.  Culture builds, culture protects remember?  Identifying with our global brothers and sisters will enable a mass metal prison break.  Planning globally and acting locally will connect us back to ourselves.
Marcus Garvey asked us long ago,”Have you ever stopped to think that in the Christian doctrine of today is injected a propaganda that seems to humiliate you and me?” Indeed this question has a broader message.  Have we truly stopped to think this country has in place a system designed to subjugate you and I?  I know so.
The language in which we by and large speak, think, and write in are not our own.  The ideals that we strive to emulate are not our own.  The destiny that we collectively strive for is not our own.  Indeed if we stop and ask ourselves---“Whose world are we building?”  And really answer that question truthfully.  The answer will shock and disgust you.
All is not lost however.  In recognizing that the human needs of food, clothing shelter, language, laws, tradition, communication, transportation, and entertainment can be fulfilled by any and all with the technical knowledge we can again move toward a nation for us and by us.  Material is not the problem. Skills are not the problem.  Ideology and a willingness to implement are.  Our sprits are vast, our memories long, but fear runs deep.  Fear of what exactly?

Fear of failure, fear of death and fear of power. Think of an athlete who dominates the completion, then suffers a grievous injury.  On the road to recovery the hardest battle is not the physical portion.  It is the mental block that limits confidence.  Doubt leads to a failure to give your all. The same can be said of the African here.  Each time we rose up and fought we were crushed (ok crushed is a bit extreme but still…) Nat Turner, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and list of dead Jengas  does go on and on.  To be sure the work they did lives on, but still a loss is a loss.  Half victories in the minds of a people living in a hostile environment are damaging.  So yes, fear of failure and death are some things we must face.
Now, let us examine fear of power.  Do we truly believe we have what it takes to govern ourselves sans the overriding presence of the European?  Afrika for Afrikans indeed! I know we can, but do we have the will to do it?  Power is seductive but the responsibility that comes with is heavy indeed.
Live on brothers and sisters.  Think, act and BE powerful.
Peace.

Are you an American or are you pretending?

Red, white and blue, these colors are now linked to the collective consciousness as America’s colors. Now to anyone who studies history should be familiar with different cultures and societies use of these colors.  However this is not a point by point breakdown of these colors.  No, this is a question of loyalty.

          It is no secret that an atrocity was committed against our people on a global scale.  This unfortunately, in the realm of human experience is nothing new.  Our red brothers were systematically wiped out. 

The Kurds—gassed.  The”Jews” holocaust rings bells everywhere.  We also have “lesser” versions of this same phenomenon: discrimination against Muslims, Christians, Gays come to mind.  Sometimes—quite often actually—these expressions galvanize, unite a group of people to create various proactive measures to ensure this never happens again.

          In fact power grabs often occur after these life/civilization altering events happen.  So, where is our united, sustained effort to seize and hold power over ourselves?  From the time after the so called emancipation of our people, a dual consciousness, created by the divide and conquer tactics employed on the psychological battlefield, emerged. 

          On the one hand, we desired and made real a life in which we determined our own existence.  Then on the other hand we wanted to sit at our oppressors tables as equals.  In a way this was to be expected.  As a people something unique was forced upon us.  We were made out to be less than human, we had our story wiped out and replaced with a pale imitation of our true glory.  Our social system completely decimated, bombarded with images and words depicting us as inferior beings, so we latched on to the only image of success we had—our captors. 

          See we really have been tricked.  We have been played by one of the oldest psychological ploys in the book.  It is human nature to desire inclusion.  The group mentality is the reason why nations are formed.  From numbers arise strength, isolation breeds vulnerability.  Factor in this, for centuries we have been mocked, ridiculed, told our culture made us less than human.  We were defeated by an enemy with superior firepower, not intellect; only a nature more viscous than our own.  Once captured, each resistance was met with force.  Force of deed, force of words and force of polices conspired to drum any sense of self determination out of our people. 

          Of course such things are temporary and incomplete, and our struggle continues. Nat Turner transforming into Garvey and the like show our resistance to social engineering. 

Yet here we are, subject to laws restricting our right to self rule, while being held to standards of worth not our own.  See it clearly, by destroying the warrior class by incarceration, chemicals and separating man and woman in terms of solid values a void in our culture defense was opened. Simultaneously providing the bare necessities (and an opportunity for a few to achieve riches) –food, clothing, shelter, transportation, communication and outlets of entertainment-we slowly assimilated to the “American Dream”.

          So now here we are 2013.  Many of our brothers and sisters chase the American dream or the African nightmare.  European capitalistic dreams of wealth, status, and society have corrupted our people!  An authentic African society is the farthest thing from many of people’s mind.  Even the token Black Nationalist sentiment expressed by Booker T Washington, “In all things purely social we can be separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.” This small seed of a Nation built for us and by us has been mutated into a fake brand of co-operation between the human races.  How can we truly co-operate on an equal playing field when we do not speak our own language?  When we do not make nor enforce our own laws and customs?  How can we be equal when pertinent education regarding manufacturing, distribution and economics have been sucked out of our community? And we haven’t even touched on the disparity in political education!

          No, we must seek the root and be not afraid of the bitter taste of separation. A psychological trick being played on a socio-political economic stage is occurring now.  But let us backtrack for a little context. The Atlanta compromise, spoken by Booker T Washington, spoke volumes about the state of the African, then called Negro shortly after slavery.  Booker t was a brilliant man.  His ideas should continue to be studied and implemented. But he was just a man.  In 1895 he was lauded as the leader of the African –American masses.  This template of the dominate structure raising an “acceptable negro” as the spokesperson for our people continued for quite sometime. Indeed in more recent times, one needs to look no further than Jesse Jackson vs. Khalid Muhammad to see what is meant by acceptable vs. uncomfortable!

          In Booker T Washington’s case the psychological trauma of slavery can be seen all throughout his work.  Subservience, humility, and general policy of “don’t rock the boat” are key themes throughout his work; no fire, no anger, no real wish to separate and carve out a nation to rival our ancestors.  If I may, allow me to go slight off point; ask your brothers or sisters: Are you an American or a descendant of African born prisoners? Listen to the answers and don’t be shocked at what you hear.

          Now, the by product of generations of rape, literally and metaphorically runs deeps.  Deep within our genetic code, and deep within the recesses of our mind we know something is just not right.   We are not perfect, nor are we collectively without blame.  But the lack of desire to do for self does not balance well with the desire to adhere to the standards of people who are not us.  This is beyond color.  This is a matter of principle, of culture.  America and her allies are the worst hypocrites.  They profess equality, yet undermine any attempt at self rule.  Division, war and intolerance are the overt weapons of her polices.  A nation founded on the backs of the Original Man, the blood of humans cannot last.  African, wake up and claim your birth rite!

          A nation built by you, run by you for the benefit of humanity is our right to claim. The choice is yours.  So, in closing I ask that you study our story, their story and then answer this:  Are you really or an American or are you pretending?

          Peace. 

people power all day, everyday.

Peace...well 2012 is defiantly heating up.  I n the last few weeks, an explosion of violence is sweeping across the nation, mostly centered where else...in the Black communities( Detroit, the Bronx...).  So to offset that a bit, had to dig up some positive wisdom from the archives... Enjoy.

Time to shift the minds ya'll and stop playin