Monday, March 28, 2016

Ethnocentric Consciousness

                                                 


                                               
                                                From The Ramparts
                                               Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                            Ethnocentric Consciousness


            "If we look at our relationship to the Koreans, to Dominicans to other groups we will see the same relationships where these groups have entered into the Afrikan American nation, set up shop, and shipped out its wealth day by day, night by night. Yet the Afrikan American entrepreneurial nation is not permitted to set up shop in their midst, is not permitted to carry wealth from their nations. They then grow fat  on the surplus they gain from the Afrikan American nation. This means then that of we think of ourselves as a nation we must protect our internal markets from the intrusion of outsiders. We must not permit them entry into our nation. As I look down 125th Street (in Harlem) and see our people locked out on the outside, I agree with our vendors that if black men and black women cannot make a living on that street then no other people should be permitted to make a living on that street. We are not obligated in any kind of way to feed the children of other people before we feed our own!" Amos Wilson Afrikan Centered Consciousness Versus The New World Order Afrikan World Infosystems page 124

            As  this election cycle (some call it a circus) plays out it should be abundantly clear to us that as a group of people we are on the margins of this whole thing. Dr Ben Carson's brief participation as a candidate on the Republican Party aside, this election makes it crystal clear all we do as a people is talk and maybe vote. But by now it is becoming obvious that in most cases, particularly during presidential campaigns voting is a farce and a sham.
            Voter participation is up in 2016 for the Republicans because Donald Trump is in the race, he has name recognition and his message resonates with whites who feel betrayed, disaffected and alienated from the system , they are people who see their nest eggs and their future dwindling or gone altogether. They feel helpless and in many instances powerless. The see the system is not on their side.  Research is bearing their feelings out, the findings clearly show this system is not responsive to their wishes or needs.  "A new Pew Research study reports some 61 percent of Americans feel bothered 'a lot' that 'wealthy people don’t pay their fair tax share'. Besides just campaign finance reform, poll, after poll, after poll, after poll, after poll, after poll, shows most Americans also favor raising taxes on the very wealthy. So if Congress is supposed to represent the majority of the people in a democracy, why haven't they raised taxes on the wealthy — or reformed campaign finance laws? It's because members of Congress usually do the bidding of their biggest campaign contributors (the wealthy), those who would see their taxes increased. Not to mention, wealthy members of Congress (meaning most) would also see their own taxes increased." Studies Show Congress Favors the Rich, Bud Myers http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/studies-show-congress-favors-rich-5733
            The system is rigged against common folks. In addition to the class dynamics we also have the issues of color, race and racism to contend with.  We are so accustomed to it, we fail to acknowledge it in our personal and collective lives, because we have been duped into acquiescing to it and accepting it as our norm.  The leaders the white oligarchs have  foisted upon us do not view the structure and operation of the US system from a ethnocentric perspective, they lump everyone together in an assimilationist agenda which is a huge mistake. The framers of this system were rich white men mostly White Anglo Saxon Protestants, members of secret societies such as the Scottish Rite Masonic Order. The early colonial population included a smattering of other ethnic groups such as the Jews, Swedes, Dutch, Irish, Germans along with Native Americans and Africans who were excluded from citizenship. The white ethnic groups tended to live, trade and socialize with each other (if they weren't indentured servants) then outreached to a larger community once they established their own bases of operation or business.
            Africans from various tribal groups mostly from West Africa were kidnapped and brought to these shores lumped together and forced by law into subordinated, dominated non-citizen status from colonial times that carried over once the colonies broke free from England and set up their own government. It took centuries of agitation, struggle and sacrifice to dismantle slavery and the subsequent forms of quasi-slavery the ruling classes imposed upon us following a very brief period of integration and citizenship called Reconstruction.  
            Our African tribal and cultural heritage was obliterated by the slave experience. Unlike European Americans most of us have no idea what areas of Africa we originally came from, what languages we spoke or what spiritual traditions we held. What little we retained was mixed in with the norms of whatever European or Native Americans we lived around. For the most part the European oppressors forbade the retention of African norms and culture and did everything in their power to stamp them out via ridicule, Euroentric indoctrination and violence.
            With the end of slavery and the imposition of color and racial apartheid in America, we attempted to forge some semblance of self-sustained community and identity. We called ourselves African, colored, Abyssinian, Ethiopian, Negro, Afro-American, Black and now African-American. We've attempted to raise ourselves up socially and economically, we started all Black towns when we left the South and migrated West and we returned to Africa to resettle and start over there. We've struggled to forge a place for ourselves here in the midst of virulent oppression and hatred. We've met struggle and obstruction at every turn.
             Despite the unrelenting violence visited upon us, the willful destruction of incorporated Black towns (yes we had our own towns in the Mid West and West after the War Between the Sates), whole African-American sections of white towns like Tulsa Oklahoma the countless attacks and race riots visited upon us, we persisted.  Leaders like Martin R. Delaney, Booker T. Washington Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad urged us to be self-sufficient, proud of who we are and to build on our greatness.  Two generations out of slavery we were attempting to build a viable economic infrastructure in the midst of vicious state sanctioned and enforced racial oppression.
            We were on a roll. In the early 1900's we had more back owned banks and insurance companies than we do today! Unlike today, Black leaders in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries called for building businesses and creating economic opportunities for our people. In 1898 John Hope said, "To the finite vision, to say the least, the policy of avoiding entrance in the world's business would be suicide for the Negro. Yet as a matter of great account we ought to note that as good a showing as we have made, that showing is but as pebbles on the shore of business enterprise." Hope served as President of Morehouse and Atlanta Universities and was a staunch advocate of Black entrepreneurship.
            Men and women like John Hope, Booker T. Washington and Madam C.J. Walker thought in ethnocentric terms, they realized we live in a pluralistic society made up of numerous ethnic and racial groups who have their own social and economic organizations and institutions and they wanted Africans in America to thrive and be able to stand on our own economically. They promoted business and entrepreneurship as a means of  elevation and advancement.
            Today we need to rethink and reenergize that philosophy, strategize and work towards being self-sufficient and forming a viable economic base within our communities. We have to think in terms of service, supplying the basics such as: start up capital, savings and thrift promotion, providing food, clothing, shelter and land ownership so our people can thrive instead of  just being consumers and spenders. This will require a group or ethnocentric orientation, a consciousness of thinking doing and being for self based upon our love of ourselves and our people! If we don't ,we'll end up worse off than we were during slavery: dependant, deprived and dominated but without the righteous leadership that pushed for self-sufficiency.


                                                            -30-

Monday, March 21, 2016

Classism The Root of Trump and Sanders' Popularity

       
                                     

                                                From the Ramparts             
                                               Junious Ricardo Stanton
                             Classism, The Roots of Trump and Sanders Popularity

            "Classism is the systemic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class. It includes individual attitudes and behaviors; systems of polices and practices set up to benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes, resulting in drastic income and wealth inequality; and the rationale and the culture that perpetuates these systems and unequal valuing. Classism is differential treatment based on social class or perceived social class. Classism s the systemic oppression of subordinated groups (people without endowed or acquired economic power, social influence or privilege) by the dominant groups (those who have access to control of the necessary resources by which other people make their living). Classism is the systemic oppression of subordinated class groups to advantage and strengthen the dominant class groups. Classism is held in place by a system of beliefs and cultural attitudes that ranks people according to economic status, family lineage, job status, level of education and so on. " Economic Apartheid in America by Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel The New Press Revised and Updated Edition page 143

            The ruling class and their minions in the media, government and social control apparatus are extremely distressed and apoplectic about the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders on the political scene. These two are exposing the endemic graft, corruption and inequality in the American system despite the 1%'s best efforts to mock and marginalize them, discount them and use dirty tricks to get them out of their respective races for their party's nomination. Thus far they have not been able to dissuade the rabble (that's what they call common folks) from joining the growing resistance against the status quo. Now the ruling oligarchs are getting really desperate, they sense a genuine uneasiness and angst amongst the masses and they fear they will not be able to keep us in check much longer. The last thing the blue bloods want is a return to the 1960's and 70's style of wholesale opposition and resistance against the system. They will do anything in their power using their vast resources to derail or co-opt any grass roots opposition to the political duopoly of the Democrat and Republican con game.
            In the past anyone who dared to openly speak about class warfare was demonized and eventually eliminated. Remember how Obama bum rushed the Occupy Wall Street movement all over the country in 2012? North Carolina Senator John Edwards was run out of the 2008 presidential race because he was talking about income inequality and classism. The ruling class used their corporate media to expose his extramarital affair to turn public opinion against him. They did the same thing to Elliot Spitzer the former New York Governor when he started talking about the Wall Street shenanigans and going after the big wigs. They used the fact he was frequenting a high class brothel to turn public opinion against him and force him to resign.
             Going back further the ruling class murdered Robert Kennedy and had former Alabama Governor George Wallace shot to get them out of the 1968 presidential race because they were challenging the establishment's agenda. Earlier they murdered Martin Luther King Jr. because he was talking about income and wealth inequality defying the system, calling for an end to the war in Southeast Asia, radical changes at home and income redistribution! The ruling class in America is psychopathic, ruthless, and cold blooded. They think nothing of assassinating people to maintain the status quo and keep their power and control in check
            Now the Democratic Party shot callers are rigging the primary elections using party rules about "super delegates" who are not bound by the will and vote of the people to steal votes from Bernie Sanders just like the Republicans did to Ron Paul in 2012. The Republican Party a white bread political party known for its exclusion, snobbishness and racism has the audacity to vilify Donald Trump and call him xenophobic and racist. That's like the kettle calling the pot black!
            The Republicans are desperate to stop Donald Trump who they regard as an outsider even though he is part of the 1% crowd.  Trump uses his own money so he is neutralizing their rules, he can't be bribed or bought off, his life is an open book so they can't white-mail him with anything. The ruling class is so desperate, they have enlisted their good ol boy buddy George Soros to manipulate MoveOn.org, Black Lives Matter two of the  organizations he directly funds and some other dissidents he pays to disrupt Trump's campaign rallies so the media can blame Trump for the ruckus!
             For added measure they are now sending threatening letters to his sister who is a Federal appellate judge and his daughter. That is some low life stuff. It's not like the oligarchs don't know the people are pissed off, the approval ratings of the US Congress are at historical lows almost single digits!
             Last month a poll of potential voters showed only 11% think the Congress has not sold hem out.  "Positive reviews of Congress just barely crack double-digits this month, while voters continue to believe that most representatives - including their own - are selling their votes. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 11% of Likely U.S. Voters think Congress is doing a good or excellent job. That’s up slightly from nine percent (9%) in the previous two surveys which was the lowest positive rating since the start of the new Republican-led Congress in January of last year. Sixty percent (60%) say Congress is doing a poor job, showing little change from the previous survey and generally in line with findings over the past year." http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance
            The rabble is waking up to the distain and contempt the super rich and their governmental flunkies hold for us. The Sanders and Trump candidacies are feeding on the angst and anger of the people. Sanders is capitalizing on the idealism of young people, mostly college students who don't trust they system, who find themselves in humongous debt, unable to find good jobs and many are living at home with their parents because they can't afford to venture out on their own.
            On the other hand Donald Trump is resonating with older voters who feel betrayed by the system, especially whites who see their incomes going down, their standard of living in decline and their sense of national pride fading. Trump uses simple slogans and nationalistic rhetoric to boost hope in a morally rotten socio-economic-political system. The question is will the Republic Party big wigs even allow him to be the nominee? They are back room dealing, sharpening their knives doing everything in their power to demonize him and derail his campaign; but nothing seems to be working!
             Both Sanders and Trump are pointing fingers at the system, at the status quo and are calling for the very thing the ruling elites fear most, real change. We've heard this before and I suspect we'll experience the same results in 2016. Barack Obama's presidential campaign team won PR/Advertising awards for the way their slogans swayed the masses. "The campaign that drove Barack Obama to victory in the US presidential election has claimed two top awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Awards. The campaign, submitted by Obama for America, has been hailed as a masterful combination of new media, door-to-door and community grass roots campaigning with a clever tactical use of traditional TV advertising. The campaign won two grands prix in the Titanium and Integrated Lions categories. To win the Titanium grand prix, a campaign must involve a breakthrough idea that is 'provocative, challenges assumptions and points to a new direction'". http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/29/barack-obama-cannes-lions. It was classic mind entrainment and we fell for it hook line and sinker.
            It's unlikely this election will bring substantive change even if Trump or Sanders were to win any more than electing Barack Obama changed things for Black folks (it hasn't see http://blackagendareport.com/content/expansion-black-american-misery-under-barack-obama%E2%80%99s-watch). Presidential elections won't work because we are in an all out, full fledged class war in this country and the 1% control the whole process. They always have since the founding of this nation. But they keep the delusion that this is a democracy that every vote counts going.  
            The wolves don't want the sheep to know we are the main menu, or at least we are getting constantly sheared by them and their system. In 2016 America it goes beyond color and race, it's us the 99% vs the 1% crowd. The only way a small group of plutocrats can maintain their death grip on the world's resources and people is to keep the rest of us divided distracted, discombobulated and dumbed down. But now many see beyond the veil and they crave real change.
            There are some who are enthusiastic about Sanders and Trumps' candidacy while others are prepping for a revolution, buying guns and ammunition. Black folks seem to be the only group not strategizing, organizing, making plans or doing anything except foolishly looking to Hillary Clinton the Queen of political opportunism, a virulent warmonger ("We came we saw he died." referring to Muamar Gaddafi) and racist in the vain hope she will help us. Probably won't happen. The Clintons sold white folks out so why would we think she'll help us?!
            If Sanders or Trump are derailed by the ruling class will there be open hostilities, riots or "revolution"? What will the ruling class do to assuage the masses after Sanders and Trump exposed the corruption in the system? Time will tell.

                                                            -30-  


Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Real Struggle

                                      




                                     
                                       From the Ramparts
                                    Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                      The Real Struggle

            "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12


            As the political circus plays itself out, thinking people can see the psychopathy, mendacity and hypocrisy of this culture on full display in living color.  The crass quest for power and the weaknesses and corruption of the American political system are apparent to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. The campaigns feature several distinct styles and approaches. For the Republicans except for Donald Trump their approach is to maintain the status quo, to talk tough on foreign policy to keep the military industrial complex humming along making record profits off of the totally bogus War on Terror, to continue the failed trickle down policies of Reagan and Bu$h II, the tax cuts and corporate welfare for the rich while sawing away at social programs and the safety nets of the "New Deal" and "Great Society".
            Donald Trump exploded on the scene and upset the Republican Party's apple cart using slogans like: "America doesn't win anymore", "we have to negotiate smarter" and "make America great again", and the crowds love it. His rhetoric appeals to the very people Republican big wigs dismiss, misuse, abuse and manipulate: disaffected blue collar workers, people who have lost their jobs or who are working two and three jobs just to make ends meet who see their standard of living imploding out from under them, whites who under an Obama administration cannot relate at all to the government because of their own racism. Trump's convoluted message of populism and nationalism resonates with white folks of all ages and demographics. He tells the truth about how he uses  a corrupt and rigged system to do business and he has been successful at it. He tells the truth about how he contributes to both political parties, so that when he calls they answer the phone. He tells the truth about how the government has left the borders open and defenseless while wasting lives and money conducting regime change overseas that has made the situation worse! Trump has hit upon a formula to get the people out, he is a part of the 1% but he claims he wants to give back, that he empathizes with the masses, unlike the other empty suit Republican candidates who want to continue the NeoCon agenda of perpetual wars and trickle down economics. Even if Trump wins the nomination the Republican big wigs view him as a serious threat to their agenda and they will do almost anything to derail his momentum.
            On the Democratic side of the coin we have Bernie Sanders a Socialist who rails against income inequality, wealth disparities and corrupt campaign financing against Hillary Clinton the personification of  political opportunism, corruption and all that ails this nation. Sanders' appeal is to young folks who more and more see themselves as debt slaves with limited opportunities and possibilities for their lives. Hillary Clinton appeals to older folks, the ubber rich and the traditionalists within the Democratic Party. Wall Street, the Pharmaceutical industry, the big insurance companies, international investment houses, the bio-tech industry and military industrial complex all are for Hillary. Rank and file Democrats too lazy to think for themselves, too brain dead to connect the dots on how Bill and Hillary Clinton sold organized labor and American workers out with their "international trade deals" like NAFTA and GATT, who set up the machinery and laid the foundation for the mass incarceration of Black and Brown people with their support for the anti-crime and anti-welfare legislation and how the Clinton-Gore embrace of corporate fascism set the stage for what was to come after the Clinton Presidency will go for the Hillary Clinton okey-doke.
            Senator Sander's is calling for a "political revolution" by asking young people to sign up, vote and support the very system doing them in! This system is too corrupt to be fixed by either political party because they are the problem! Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is scrambling to redefine her message and rebrand herself as a "Progressive" as opposed to the crass opportunist, money grubbing, corporate sycophant and warmonger she has been the past several years.
            Trump poses a threat to the Republican oligarchs and they are funneling mad money to take him down. He is being demonized as a racist, demagogue and the New Hitler by the very political party made up of patriarchal chauvinists known for their racial exclusion, whiteness, sexism, warmongering and class warfare!? During the last presidential cycle their standard bearer was Mitt Romney who was so out of touch with the common folks he couldn't tell us how many houses he owned. Mitt Romney the man who made his fortune as a corporate raider, plunderer criticizes Trump for not revealing his income tax returns but Romney only reveal his a few weeks before the presidential election in 2012. We can't make this stuff up, the hypocrisy is on display for the whole world to see.
            I point these things out to show just how deceitful and corrupt the US political and economic systems are. We have been brainwashed to believe the American political system is fair and democratic; nothing is further from the truth. We do not need a political revolution we need a change in consciousness, values and behavior.  Martin Luther King Jr  remarked in a speech exactly one year to the day before the US government assassinated him, “We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin … the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
            Today the triplets of unrepentant racism, gross materialism and hubristic military misadventure are metastasizing throughout this nation far more aggressively than they were in 1967. In 1967 there was organized and strident opposition to the ruling class' insanity. That level and energy of resistance is lacking today. The ruling elites using their mind control apparatus and mind entrainment technology have seduced us with their fear mongering, their xenophobia and marginalization of criticism into accepting economic apartheid, debt peonage, wage serfdom and imminent socio-economic collapse. We can do better we have an obligation to do better!
            The embers of resistance are flickering. The dynamic human spirit abhors stultification. We have been DIVINELY designed to be expansive and unstoppable. We cannot do it alone we need to come together. This is what Occupy Wall Street, the original unco-opted Tea Party, the militia movements, the original unfunded Black Lives Matter and the Trump and Sanders campaigns reflect a desire for real change, to do and be better.
            But it is not enough. Discontent and dissatisfaction are only the catalysts. We have to move beyond slogans, rhetoric and protest to a commitment to real change, a change of consciousness, values, behaviors and action.  We each have to know intuitively we have intrinsic value and worth. We have to know what this means for us and others. We have to see it in ourselves and each other, respect it nurture it and encourage it in all of us, even those we differ with or may not like. This is the beginning of a spiritual and psychological movement requiring a change of mind a refocus on the important things self neighbor and the world. This change will result in institutional changes and a new way of living. We can do this.

                                                            -30-


                          

Monday, March 07, 2016

African Concepts of Being

                                      



                                         
                                           From the Ramparts
                                        Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                        African Concept of Being

            "In the eternal cycle of Afrikan life, a human being is acknowledged as having come from the spirit world (the ancestors and the source of life and being.) Spiritual reality manifests as 'human beingness.' Thus, the Afrikan human being (Muntu) comes with a consciousness (‘Kra,). His or her 'destiny' (Nkrabea) is carried within the ‘Kra and contains a 'mission,' a 'message,' an 'intelligence.' We who are Afrikan have chosen to be so. To choose to be Afrikan is to choose to fight for Afrika, otherwise, why come back? We believe that each of us is an ancestor returned. Rebirth into Afrikanness is, then, both a privilege and a duty. We achieve continued connection to the Afrikan family and we become part of the race army. As Afrikans, we have serious work to do. Being Afrikan is not meant to be easy." Dr Marimba Ani A Praise Song for Dr Frances Cress Welsing Our Race Champion http://atlantablackstar.com/2016/02/22/a-praise-song-for-dr-frances-cress-welsing-our-race-champion/

            During the month of February we talked about rethinking African History, reexamining what our African ancestors wrought from antiquity to the present and repositioning African History as the oldest, longest chronicle of human progress on earth. We spoke about huge megaliths throughout the continent that are eons old, that demonstrate an advanced ability to move, carve and arrange stones many weighing tons from one place to another. Not only did they move, carve and arrange those stones but they did so within a metaphysical and astronomic context which showed not only a fascination with the heavens, an attempt to map and track the stars but also a proclivity to arrange their lives in an orderly manner just like what they saw in the heavens.
            Africans are a spiritual people. Out of our spirituality came values and social organization that prioritized an awe of spirit, of nature, harmony, balance, cooperation, mutual aid and exemplary moral character. Our ancestors said the universe was teleological meaning is was intelligently designed with purpose and meaning and everything flowed from this purpose and meaning (Divine Order, Ma'at).
            Africans created the first notions of ethics and morality and their deep thought laid the foundation for what we call philosophy, a Greek word literally meaning the love of wisdom. However this love of wisdom was not what the West means. In the West philosophy is abstract notions of existence from a mostly material perspective, linear thinking or how many angels can dance on the head of a pin for example. For Africans philosophy is practical, pragmatic and applicable on very level.
            African deep thought was about pondering the nature of existence, the universe, how we all are intricately interconnected and related to the universe and its CREATOR. African deep thought was very ancient, holistic and universal. For example almost every ethnic and tribal group had/has a word for the universal life force/intelligence that permeates all creation. The Zulus of South Africa call it Umoya. Umoya is the core essence of existence and it is malleable for the benefit of the people but it's misuse can result in negative consequences. 
            "Zulu tradition explains the world, natural, human, or otherwise as imbued with a force ‘Umoya’, this force is spirit, life force and air, all as one. Nothing is without it, and it affects every state and level of our being. This is an important truth, which corresponds with other shamanic principles all over the world. The super-nature acts are a bending of, or a manipulating of this force, which is mastered by various individuals in Zulu spiritual practice, and this force can be bent for a positive or negative effect, with great consequences. The belief in the super-nature processes is innate in Zulu cultural tradition; it is an intrinsically part of existence and not taken lightly. The Sangoma is not seen as a master or mistress of magick but rather as a healer who knows how to deal with the imbalance of Umoya and the bending or manipulating which may have taken place to cause the imbalance. All in ancient Zulu cultural tradition must lead to balance, equilibrium and an awareness of such harmonies so that the individual and communities can learn from it, correct it and maintain the appropriate balance. It can be tipped so easily through carelessness, ignorance, greed, neglect, lust, negative intent or lack of respect of the ancestors, and when this happens, the lesson or outcome maybe illness or adversity in all its forms; for individuals or the greater community."  The Zulu People http://lightworkers.org/wisdom/julie-miller/186568/zulu-people
            Africans knew there was energy surrounding, penetrating and resident in them. They also learned how to access and use this energy/intelligence/spirit. Throughout all human history there have been those who were especially adept at recognizing, channeling and manipulating this energy. In European language they are called Shaman, Medicine Men and Women, healers, priests or witches and wizards. Indigenous Africans called them many names. It must be kept in mind that for Africans good character, ethics, harmony, balance and cooperation were essential values they lived by not only within their immediate families but the larger community, their environment and the vast spirit world.
            "The ancestors are not seen as separate from Ubuntu; they are the wisdom keepers of Ubuntu as they pass from body to spirit and maintain contact with those who are still in the physical body. The concept of body, mind and soul and ancestral practice also includes issues of ecology. This issue is an important part of life, especially in the way the Zulu and African peoples relate to nature. The African concept of spirituality is ecological, manifesting, sensitivity towards and solidarity with the earth. The Zulu’s regard Mother Nature not as an object of subjugation, but as a mother and symbol of the divine; in ancient tradition, Zulu and African peoples would not cut a tree without certain rituals, the people are connected to nature. The tree treated no differently in respect than a human would be. The relationship with the whole of nature was important, nurturing it instead of dominating it. Life in an African village is connected to the entire God-source created part of life." ibid
            One reason I say we need to relearn and embrace our Africanity and our deep thought, philosophy and metaphysical legacy is because it was what helped us to thrive and advance and when necessary to fight and defeat our enemies. Calling upon the deep knowledge of the spirit realm is what allowed indigenous Africans like the Ashanti, Zulus, Kongo and Diasporan African settlements in the Caribbean, South America and US called Palmares, Haitians, Saramakas and Maroons to stand bravely against the weapons of mass destruction of the Europeans and hold our own. This is the main reason Europeans don't want us to know who we are or our glorious history. This is why their "educational system" is designed to negate us and African on every level.
            One reason African warriors were so fierce is because our deep thought about the nature of existence taught them life was eternal. We understood when the life force left the physical shell of our bodies, it did not cease, the spirit continued to exist. So the fear of extinction and annihilation was not in them; it did not deter them from their task of defending and protecting the community.
            Most African societies hold that reincarnation is real, that children are ancestors returning to the earth realm to serve the community again.  "It is not widely realized, however, that reincarnation is an essential tenet of many traditional African religious systems and philosophies. Belief in rebirth has been reported amongst peoples scattered the length and breadth of the mighty continent: Akamba (Kenya), Akan (Ghana), Lango (Uganda), Luo (Zambia), Ndebele (Zimbabwe), Sebei (Uganda), Yoruba (Nigeria), Shona (Zimbabwe), Nupe (Nigeria), Illa (Zambia), and many others. There is, of course, a wide variation in understanding of the processes of rebirth: beliefs range from that in a 'partial' reincarnation of an ancestor in one or several individuals strictly within the same family, to that in an endless cycle of rebirths linked to a notion of cleansing and refinement of the inner nature. As there are endless shades of understanding, reincarnation is known by many names: amongst the Yorubas of Nigeria rebirth is referred to in various ways, including Yiya omo, translated as the 'shooting forth of a branch' or 'turning to be child,' and A-tun-wa, 'another coming.' The Aboh-speaking peoples of the Ibo family of nations in Nigeria speak of Inua u'we or 'returning to life,' as they believe death is an end to one life only and a gateway to another; man must be reborn, for reincarnation is a spiritual necessity." Reincarnation in African Traditional Religion by Andrew Rooke  http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/africa/af-rook2.htm
            Africans are a deep and creative people. We need to fully reclaim our deepness and creativity. We have to replace our culturally induced shame and self-hatred with pride and a sense of divine purpose. We need to resurrect the ancient African  ideas about the nature of existence, what it means to be human and our role in the cosmic scheme. We must accept we are the caretakers and custodians of the planet. As such we have to reclaim our spirit, reconnect to THE ONE SOURCE of ALL, restore and live Ma'at, neutralize and nullify the usurpers and restore righteousness to the planet. This is our task, our destiny and our calling anything less is an affront to the ancestors and THE CREATOR.

                                                            -30-