This post was originally created by Warren G. I am moving the responses here, so that the entire group may participate.Peace and blessings FAM. I do not know about you but I am on numerous Ning sites and amazed at the depth and scope of the African genius represented. We are a great people. However, why are we a powerless people in the eyes of all the other races of the world? I know I will get 1000s of responses to this question from thousands of different perspectives. Could that be our challenge? While others have a unifying consciousness, we do not? Let me know your thoughts and your solutions. Please do not respond if you do not have real solutions.Warren G.
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Greetings Fam,
First I give thanks for the excellent question raised by brother Warren. Second I would like to speak to the cynicism expressed by brother Roger. It sounds good but I've seen the wind caught in sails that carry great ships from continent to continent. I've seen wind caught and used to produce clean electricity. Just because something has remained beyond our reach for a period of time does not negate the posibilties that exist today. Big ups to sister Ifama for standing strong amongst you brothers and holding it down.Give thanks that our ancestors that built the pyramids did not succumb to that sort of "we can't" its impossible to build something that grand and that perfect attitude; that would be "like trying to catch the wind". We will never do greater works with such and attitude brother Roger and I hope you know that I say this all in love.
Now to answer your question brother Warren; To unite our people it takes a vision and a plan. Martin had a vision to meet the peoples needs; it worked. The Panthers philosophy was to meet the peoples needs. It was the cornerstone of their success. A vision to help our people in their hour of need showing them that we care will unite our people.
Ultimate we realize that the battle is for the mind. We must help our people break the mental and spiritual shackles that replaced the iron (physical) ones. Dominance of Afrikan minds is unacceptable. However there are stages to any endeavor. First things first. Lets get back to basics. We cannot impress our people (with our knowledge) to freedom.
I will end with a paraphrase of an old saying; "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." When we "demonstrate" rather than give lip service to recognizing the gravity of their needs we will find that we will be successful in uniting our people.
Peace,
In Service to the Fam
Minister Adisa Franklin Spiritual Abolitionist
Roger Madison > Adisa FranklinMay 13, 2009 at 12:23pm
Brother Adisa,
I certainly had no intention of being cynical about "chasing after the wind." What I intended, if I am permitted to continue the anology, is this. There are many winds and currents. There is no single "wind of unity." We must be empowered by the wind to organize, build, and set sail in many ships. Often, the questions we pose are cast in ways that seem to lift the ientire diaspora. that is what I meant about "chasing after the wind."
My intention was to focus on the notion that there is no single answer:
"There is no single answer, but I believe there must be an African foundation upon which we build our self-identity. There is no new identity that we can assimilate into called American, or any other national identity where we find ourselves on the planet. We are Africans, no matter how scattered we are across the Diaspora. We can achieve an "African Unity Consciousness" in our scattered state, but that will be difficult. It will require the reversal of the assimilation that so many of us have been subjected to. The result is self-hatred, confused identity, manipulation, and diversion of our capacity for unity."
We must all use the wind at our disposal, as long as our ships are headed in the the direction that serves our "best interests." Just as you site the Panthers, and Dr. King, we must see our individual actions in the "context of African Unity." To use Brother Warren's point, we must see all of these as pieces of the puzzle. Some may not realize the direction they are sailing, but will need assistance along their journey Others will make more progress. My point is that we don't need to slow down in an effort to move in "unity" as lon as we have a sense of collective African Unity. the Diaspora is a reality that we must cope with where we find ourselves on the planet. We cannot put Humpty Dumpty back to gether again.
I recognize that all may not agree with me. I am not trying to convert anyone to my thinking, just sharing my perspective. I am trying to make sure that I am not misunderstood.
Try it and see if it works. Been tried before. Didn't work the last time. Why would it work this time.
It is not about how much any one perosn knows. It is about what a person does not know. If we do not at least study African history on our own, we will never succeed. I know this is hard to understand when you hear it for the first time. But, Nkrumah spent many years studying African history before he was able to formulate a theory and strategy that led to African Independence and will lead to African Unity. No one previously had invested so much time and energy and love and commitment and effort into to making us free and United. This is why none of the previous leaders succeeded. They made progress. But, Nkrumah got some final results: Ghana became independent and the OAU was formed as a step towards eventaul contimnental Unity. And, no other leader has done so much since Nkrumah. This is why he is Osagayfo.
The best we can do is try to follow some of what we learn by studying Nkruamahism. Do not follow me. Follow Nkrumah.
Make a bow and arrows, then learn how to get food with them.
Teach those skills to the youth and give them African names and meanings.
The loss of our African-ness is actually a loss of our human-ness.
We are no longer the land thinking - Homo Sapiens from humus > fertile soil.
We abhor thinking and we hate the earth.
I'm not saying we don't need money, what I am saying is that we don't need money exclusively of everything else.
Understand at the core of ownership, across the diaspora we all voice the same complaint, we don't own any of it. On the most actively conscious level, we have not the ability or desire, to create or replace that which we seek to claim as our own through commerce.
Funny though, we laugh at or frown on people who do have that ownership if that ownership is only on a subsistence level. In attaining whatever social, economic and academic equalities we have and are struggling to hold on to, we threw away too many valuable skills, wealths of wisdom and caches of knowledge, mostly because they didn't earn us the money to buy what we should be building.
Somebody realized a long time ago that you can't get the best thinking from an abused enslaved person, but you can get a lot of hard labor and for that you don't need the best minds.
As a whole we have to trade the same thing that the ancestors that we most focus on had, sweat. We do not acknowledge for what our earlier ancestors were taken out of their lands for, their wisdom, skills and knowledge. And to date we use those strengths to singly escape the conditions of our upbringing and leave the remainder to fend for themselves, because of whatever resistance they put up.
The one thing I'm certain about when it comes to many of us in certain industries, is we don't return from of adventures of seeking wealth to the lands that we were raised in to improve them. That is why there will almost certainly always be two Black Americas, Africas and South Americas.
So, the powers that be conditioned us to be rather proletariat and to have little respect for the thinking of people in non linear pursuits. (sweat equals bread
For those who have managed to escape the diaspora that the media beats us all with, please gather as a collective and return to the places that you were raised in and employ the youth to improve the conditions that they live in. Then take that same process to the rest of the world.
Peace and blessings. This is a great beginning. My piece in this is that we have to create specific action items, leadership traits, and other systems which must be at the forefront of African Unity Consciousness. We need to hold people accountable to deal with unity first before their ideology, religion, philosophy, theory, etc. We must overstand we all have a piece of a puzzle not the puzzle. We have to learn and teach others that their life’s mission, their overall destiny, is to connect their puzzle piece to other puzzle pieces. That has to be a specific life focus.
As I state before, I am specifically focusing on Africans who know much. The many on these different culture based Ning sites and other networks. The Creator has blessed us with this modern day technology which can connect Africans all over the Diaspora who do know what is takes to unify. However, we are more willing to promote our own thing instead of systems of unity.
For example, my specific personal plan focuses on African male development, product manufacturing, and family bonding. However, I put systems of unity first before these other actions. My personal plan is the inside of the puzzle piece while the outer border of the puzzle piece is Unity Consciousness. I connect my puzzle piece with other whose outside puzzle piece is Unity Consciousness however, their inside piece could be teaching, web commerce, farming, etc. Once we connect, we can share our puzzle piece insides and build and grow.
My point is we need systems of unity in order to really build unity then work unity. Overstand, I am only talking about those who should know and do know. The masses will only be taught this from the small group who actually demonstrate it.
Finally, African Unity Consciousness starts with you. Your personal actions on a daily bases is the foundation of unity consciousness. I have written a piece on what actions you as the individual (the God and Goddess) should look at to put your consciousness into a unity framework.
Your question is like asking "How do we catch the wind?"
We view the history of the world through our mortality -- 3 score and 10 years (and more if we are blessed beyond measure). It may appear to us that others have a "unifying consciousness" even when they don't.
I read something that may apply here: "It is not he who has little , but he who wants more who is poor."
We engage in self-fulfilling prophesy when we attribute qualities to others that define ourselves as poor. We are not a powerless people. The pendulum of time has swung away from our sphere of influence, and we are still influenced by the European phase of the pendulum. We know aout our rich history, and that of other peoples on this planet. Our awareness of the challenge should now make it possible for us to galvanize our strengths.
However, we live in a different era. Everybody knows everything in the "information age." So, the time when outcomes were determined in a zero sum game -- I win, you lose -- is long past. We live in a "global society" like it or not. There is nowhere we can go off to to do nation-building in isolation from others. We must now determine how to use our skills and resources in a more collaborative environment.
The African Union represents an opportunity for "unifying consciousness" but the currency of unity is all about hard outcomes, and not ethnic pride. We must educate our children and the leaders of the future to navigate in a global community. That is the answer in a nutshell.
We must end poverty. To do so, we must Unite every square inch of Africa. This means returning to our history and learning that prior to the European encroachment, we had positive and productive relations with most of the world, such as China, India, Japan, Indonesia and especially Arabia. Understanding this is crucial to finding our way to the future.
Peace Roger,
You have certainly said a mouthful, of which I do agree, by the way. And "We must educate our children and the leaders of the future to navigate in a global community. " seems to be something that we have not done effectively enough that it reflects as an improvement in our overall condition. Either we control the education of Black children for what they must face in the world or we don't. And we don't. However, I think we CAN have control if we take it. Working in an educational (K-12) environment, in the hub, the belly of the beast, otherwise known as "administration" I see Black people all the time who are afraid to press forward and make demands on behalf of Black children. Their mantra is that it is for ALL children, but on the other hand I witness Latinos and Asian (Hmong, Vietnamese, Korean, etc) who are very focused on what THEIR children need in this global community. Many don't view PTSS (Post Tramatic Slave Syndrome) as something that is real. As you know Black people were released from a terrorizing 300 year experience that affected generation after generation. There was no healing period, no therapy afforded them. So subsequently, we still have a people who psychologically suffer in spite of all of our "gains" and we wonder why. As my mentor, Dr. Amos Wilson teachers, we must have a DIFFERENT education. An education which heals and empowers us to stand unaided on the world stage. I have listened to so many solutions but not one that is accepted by everyone. And that, my dear Brother I think is the whole problem in our healing, not everyone will accept the solution of one. So I guess, I pose the question, if there are many solutions, can they all come to the same goal of self actualization, in other words each individual has the individual power to control the decisions they make, the choices and group empowerment (the formation and support of Black business, commerce, education)? I am seeking answers as well.
Roger Madison > Roger MadisonApril 8, 2009 at 2:53am
Sister Ifama,
I think we all struggle with some from of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. However, I don't always consider it to be a disabling syndorme. For me, it is empowering and energizes me never to forget. My struggle is energized with the constant reminder that I must overcome the legacy of our slave heritage. Our former slave masters and their descendants won't liberate us from this consciousness.
As to the question about building an African Unity Consciousness, for those of us who are able to overcome the debilitating aspects of this legacy, we must not abandon our African heritage as we seek liberation. I call it "apologizing for being Black." Some among us actually are striving for some unimaginable "post racial identity." It is imperative that we unerstand the difference between "post racial" and "post racist."
There is no single answer, but I believe there must be an African foundation upon which we build our self-identity. There is no new identity that we can assimilate into called American, or any other national identity where we find ourselves on the planet. We are Africans, no matter how scattered we are across the Diaspora. We can achieve an "African Unity Consciousness" in our scattered state, but that will be difficult. It will require the reversal of the assimilation that so many of us have been subjected to. The result is self-hatred, confused identity, manipulation, and diversion of our capacity for unity.
Forums such as this, and others, that have emerged during the Information Age will help with some of the deprogramming. The key is to continually seek ways to consolidate any gains we make, so that we can work towards greater unity. This is no task for the faint-hearted.
https://theblacklist.net/
Replies
First I give thanks for the excellent question raised by brother Warren. Second I would like to speak to the cynicism expressed by brother Roger. It sounds good but I've seen the wind caught in sails that carry great ships from continent to continent. I've seen wind caught and used to produce clean electricity. Just because something has remained beyond our reach for a period of time does not negate the posibilties that exist today. Big ups to sister Ifama for standing strong amongst you brothers and holding it down.Give thanks that our ancestors that built the pyramids did not succumb to that sort of "we can't" its impossible to build something that grand and that perfect attitude; that would be "like trying to catch the wind". We will never do greater works with such and attitude brother Roger and I hope you know that I say this all in love.
Now to answer your question brother Warren; To unite our people it takes a vision and a plan. Martin had a vision to meet the peoples needs; it worked. The Panthers philosophy was to meet the peoples needs. It was the cornerstone of their success. A vision to help our people in their hour of need showing them that we care will unite our people.
Ultimate we realize that the battle is for the mind. We must help our people break the mental and spiritual shackles that replaced the iron (physical) ones. Dominance of Afrikan minds is unacceptable. However there are stages to any endeavor. First things first. Lets get back to basics. We cannot impress our people (with our knowledge) to freedom.
I will end with a paraphrase of an old saying; "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." When we "demonstrate" rather than give lip service to recognizing the gravity of their needs we will find that we will be successful in uniting our people.
Peace,
In Service to the Fam
Minister Adisa Franklin
Spiritual Abolitionist
I certainly had no intention of being cynical about "chasing after the wind." What I intended, if I am permitted to continue the anology, is this. There are many winds and currents. There is no single "wind of unity." We must be empowered by the wind to organize, build, and set sail in many ships. Often, the questions we pose are cast in ways that seem to lift the ientire diaspora. that is what I meant about "chasing after the wind."
My intention was to focus on the notion that there is no single answer:
"There is no single answer, but I believe there must be an African foundation upon which we build our self-identity. There is no new identity that we can assimilate into called American, or any other national identity where we find ourselves on the planet. We are Africans, no matter how scattered we are across the Diaspora. We can achieve an "African Unity Consciousness" in our scattered state, but that will be difficult. It will require the reversal of the assimilation that so many of us have been subjected to. The result is self-hatred, confused identity, manipulation, and diversion of our capacity for unity."
We must all use the wind at our disposal, as long as our ships are headed in the the direction that serves our "best interests." Just as you site the Panthers, and Dr. King, we must see our individual actions in the "context of African Unity." To use Brother Warren's point, we must see all of these as pieces of the puzzle. Some may not realize the direction they are sailing, but will need assistance along their journey Others will make more progress. My point is that we don't need to slow down in an effort to move in "unity" as lon as we have a sense of collective African Unity. the Diaspora is a reality that we must cope with where we find ourselves on the planet. We cannot put Humpty Dumpty back to gether again.
I recognize that all may not agree with me. I am not trying to convert anyone to my thinking, just sharing my perspective. I am trying to make sure that I am not misunderstood.
Roger
It is not about how much any one perosn knows. It is about what a person does not know. If we do not at least study African history on our own, we will never succeed. I know this is hard to understand when you hear it for the first time. But, Nkrumah spent many years studying African history before he was able to formulate a theory and strategy that led to African Independence and will lead to African Unity. No one previously had invested so much time and energy and love and commitment and effort into to making us free and United. This is why none of the previous leaders succeeded. They made progress. But, Nkrumah got some final results: Ghana became independent and the OAU was formed as a step towards eventaul contimnental Unity. And, no other leader has done so much since Nkrumah. This is why he is Osagayfo.
The best we can do is try to follow some of what we learn by studying Nkruamahism. Do not follow me. Follow Nkrumah.
I'm going to make this really simple.
Forget the money!
Build wind turbines
Grow gardens
Darn a sock
Make a bow and arrows, then learn how to get food with them.
Teach those skills to the youth and give them African names and meanings.
The loss of our African-ness is actually a loss of our human-ness.
We are no longer the land thinking - Homo Sapiens from humus > fertile soil.
We abhor thinking and we hate the earth.
I'm not saying we don't need money, what I am saying is that we don't need money exclusively of everything else.
Understand at the core of ownership, across the diaspora we all voice the same complaint, we don't own any of it. On the most actively conscious level, we have not the ability or desire, to create or replace that which we seek to claim as our own through commerce.
Funny though, we laugh at or frown on people who do have that ownership if that ownership is only on a subsistence level. In attaining whatever social, economic and academic equalities we have and are struggling to hold on to, we threw away too many valuable skills, wealths of wisdom and caches of knowledge, mostly because they didn't earn us the money to buy what we should be building.
Somebody realized a long time ago that you can't get the best thinking from an abused enslaved person, but you can get a lot of hard labor and for that you don't need the best minds.
As a whole we have to trade the same thing that the ancestors that we most focus on had, sweat. We do not acknowledge for what our earlier ancestors were taken out of their lands for, their wisdom, skills and knowledge. And to date we use those strengths to singly escape the conditions of our upbringing and leave the remainder to fend for themselves, because of whatever resistance they put up.
The one thing I'm certain about when it comes to many of us in certain industries, is we don't return from of adventures of seeking wealth to the lands that we were raised in to improve them. That is why there will almost certainly always be two Black Americas, Africas and South Americas.
So, the powers that be conditioned us to be rather proletariat and to have little respect for the thinking of people in non linear pursuits. (sweat equals bread
For those who have managed to escape the diaspora that the media beats us all with, please gather as a collective and return to the places that you were raised in and employ the youth to improve the conditions that they live in. Then take that same process to the rest of the world.
Low tech solutions for high tech problems.
It's that simple.
And it's working.
As I state before, I am specifically focusing on Africans who know much. The many on these different culture based Ning sites and other networks. The Creator has blessed us with this modern day technology which can connect Africans all over the Diaspora who do know what is takes to unify. However, we are more willing to promote our own thing instead of systems of unity.
For example, my specific personal plan focuses on African male development, product manufacturing, and family bonding. However, I put systems of unity first before these other actions. My personal plan is the inside of the puzzle piece while the outer border of the puzzle piece is Unity Consciousness. I connect my puzzle piece with other whose outside puzzle piece is Unity Consciousness however, their inside piece could be teaching, web commerce, farming, etc. Once we connect, we can share our puzzle piece insides and build and grow.
My point is we need systems of unity in order to really build unity then work unity. Overstand, I am only talking about those who should know and do know. The masses will only be taught this from the small group who actually demonstrate it.
Finally, African Unity Consciousness starts with you. Your personal actions on a daily bases is the foundation of unity consciousness. I have written a piece on what actions you as the individual (the God and Goddess) should look at to put your consciousness into a unity framework.
See attached.
Framework for Unity_Final.doc
Your question is like asking "How do we catch the wind?"
We view the history of the world through our mortality -- 3 score and 10 years (and more if we are blessed beyond measure). It may appear to us that others have a "unifying consciousness" even when they don't.
I read something that may apply here: "It is not he who has little , but he who wants more who is poor."
We engage in self-fulfilling prophesy when we attribute qualities to others that define ourselves as poor. We are not a powerless people. The pendulum of time has swung away from our sphere of influence, and we are still influenced by the European phase of the pendulum. We know aout our rich history, and that of other peoples on this planet. Our awareness of the challenge should now make it possible for us to galvanize our strengths.
However, we live in a different era. Everybody knows everything in the "information age." So, the time when outcomes were determined in a zero sum game -- I win, you lose -- is long past. We live in a "global society" like it or not. There is nowhere we can go off to to do nation-building in isolation from others. We must now determine how to use our skills and resources in a more collaborative environment.
The African Union represents an opportunity for "unifying consciousness" but the currency of unity is all about hard outcomes, and not ethnic pride. We must educate our children and the leaders of the future to navigate in a global community. That is the answer in a nutshell.
Roger Madison
www.izania.com
Well stated, Brother.
We must end poverty. To do so, we must Unite every square inch of Africa. This means returning to our history and learning that prior to the European encroachment, we had positive and productive relations with most of the world, such as China, India, Japan, Indonesia and especially Arabia. Understanding this is crucial to finding our way to the future.
Peace Roger,
You have certainly said a mouthful, of which I do agree, by the way. And "We must educate our children and the leaders of the future to navigate in a global community. " seems to be something that we have not done effectively enough that it reflects as an improvement in our overall condition. Either we control the education of Black children for what they must face in the world or we don't. And we don't. However, I think we CAN have control if we take it. Working in an educational (K-12) environment, in the hub, the belly of the beast, otherwise known as "administration" I see Black people all the time who are afraid to press forward and make demands on behalf of Black children. Their mantra is that it is for ALL children, but on the other hand I witness Latinos and Asian (Hmong, Vietnamese, Korean, etc) who are very focused on what THEIR children need in this global community. Many don't view PTSS (Post Tramatic Slave Syndrome) as something that is real. As you know Black people were released from a terrorizing 300 year experience that affected generation after generation. There was no healing period, no therapy afforded them. So subsequently, we still have a people who psychologically suffer in spite of all of our "gains" and we wonder why. As my mentor, Dr. Amos Wilson teachers, we must have a DIFFERENT education. An education which heals and empowers us to stand unaided on the world stage. I have listened to so many solutions but not one that is accepted by everyone. And that, my dear Brother I think is the whole problem in our healing, not everyone will accept the solution of one. So I guess, I pose the question, if there are many solutions, can they all come to the same goal of self actualization, in other words each individual has the individual power to control the decisions they make, the choices and group empowerment (the formation and support of Black business, commerce, education)? I am seeking answers as well.
I think we all struggle with some from of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. However, I don't always consider it to be a disabling syndorme. For me, it is empowering and energizes me never to forget. My struggle is energized with the constant reminder that I must overcome the legacy of our slave heritage. Our former slave masters and their descendants won't liberate us from this consciousness.
As to the question about building an African Unity Consciousness, for those of us who are able to overcome the debilitating aspects of this legacy, we must not abandon our African heritage as we seek liberation. I call it "apologizing for being Black." Some among us actually are striving for some unimaginable "post racial identity." It is imperative that we unerstand the difference between "post racial" and "post racist."
There is no single answer, but I believe there must be an African foundation upon which we build our self-identity. There is no new identity that we can assimilate into called American, or any other national identity where we find ourselves on the planet. We are Africans, no matter how scattered we are across the Diaspora. We can achieve an "African Unity Consciousness" in our scattered state, but that will be difficult. It will require the reversal of the assimilation that so many of us have been subjected to. The result is self-hatred, confused identity, manipulation, and diversion of our capacity for unity.
Forums such as this, and others, that have emerged during the Information Age will help with some of the deprogramming. The key is to continually seek ways to consolidate any gains we make, so that we can work towards greater unity. This is no task for the faint-hearted.
Stay strong,
Roger Madison
www.izania.com
www.izania.com