This Cycle I am Nuna

The Nuna

The Nuna are one of several people called “Gurunsi." The others are the Winiama, the Lela, the Sisala, and others who live in Burkina Faso and Ghana. The Nuna speak Nuni and the population is estimated at around 100,000 people.

Village communities are organized such that homes are built close together and surrounded by farm fields. Nuna territory was also surrounded bushes in which the tsetse fly lived. This insect killed the horses raiders depended on. This was a military strategy designed to thwart the Mossi efforts to raid the villages . The Nuna have no system of chiefs or other political leaders, although the French attempted to create such centralized power during the colonial period. The French established local puppet rulers, and the families of some of these maintained nominal political power until the revolution in 1983.


Cosmology

Belief in Yi, the Supreme Creator, is central to Nuna beliefs. A shrine to Yi occupies the center of every village. An element the Creator God is Su, the mask spirit which is enshrined in the oldest and most sacred mask in the community. The spirit of Su can be harnessed to benefit the community or to cause harm to their enemies. When Su is properly appeased, communal harmony is achieved. He is responsible for providing women with fertility and is recognized for his role in the continuity of life. Each extended family maintains its own hut, in which the lineage magical objects are kept. The objects allow the family to maintain contact with the vital forces of nature. These objects are inherited by the ancestors and are the communal property of the lineage, providing protection and social cohesion among all members of the family.

Culture

Men participate in hunting during the long dry season. This is important for ritual reasons, since it is during this time that men may interact with the spirits that inhabit the bush. The mask play a particularly educational role in the initiation of the young boys who reached the age of 10. Young people learn the history from their community, as well as the rules and morals required to enter adulthood. Initiation also reveals the significances of the mask. The initiatory ordeal of each initiate is filled with obstacles: physical, morals and spiritual tests.

REFERENCES

movie trailer on Nuna masks:
http://www.customflix.com/Store/Trailer.jsp?id=207403
Nuna drum music: http://artqtserver.art.uiowa.edu:8080/Nuna%20drum%20mu56K_Aud_Str001.mov
artwork of the Nuna:
http://www.africans-art.com/index.php3?action=album&id_class=141

http://www.zyama.com/nuna/index.htm
http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Nuna.html

This Cycle I Am BaKongo

THE BAKONGA

The BaKongo people are located in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and the Congo Republic. The Vili, the Woyo and the Yombe form the vast Kongo cultural complex. The language is called Kikongo which is a Bantu language. Ntu is the word for man. Ba makes things plural.

We were a very friendly people, and as we settle along the banks of the Congo River, we did not rule lord over people, but they were accepted as our own. The BaKongo were ruled by the manikongo, or king, and was divided into six provinces, each administered by a governor appointed by the manikongo. We where among the first people on the west coast of Mama AfuRaKa to be visited by the european. We were too kind to the foreigners. We admired them much to much.

COSMOLOGY

In Kongo cosmology, the cosmos exists as two words the nza yayi (this world) and the nsi a bafwa (the land of spirits). The two worlds are separated by a body of water. Kalunga is the deity that repesents that body of water known as nlangu, m'bu or nzadi. In Kongo spitirual practies, life is cyclical. Life does not end because death is a transitional state in the process of change. It is said that a man's soul does not cease to exist after his death but travels to the nsi a bafwa to becomes n'kuyu (spirit) in ku mpemba a fula (the land of the ancestors). The repetitive movement between nza yayi and nsi a bafwa resemble the path of the sun as seen below.

Listen to the words of Dr K. Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau

Nzambi is the supreme god, and the intermediary representations included land and sky spirits and ancestor spirits, all of whom were represented in nkisi objects. When we encountered hardship and feared that a spirit had been offended, it would be necessary to consult an nganga (diviner) , who would often instruct the afflicted to add medicines to certain nkisi in order to achieve well-being. Nkisi means "medicine" and these talismen are representative of empowering materials or "medicines" called bilongo.

There are four main types of nkisi, used for different purposes. Nkondi are talismen of ill omen, usually brandishing a spear or a knife, while npezo are just as evil, but less menacing in attitude. Na moganga are benevolent figures, which protect against sickness and dangerous spirits. They help the hunter and the warrior; while mbula protect against ill-will. All nkisi can be used for a variety of purposes and their meaning is ambivalent. The talismen may be animals: two-headed dog, sometimes monkey. Nail and mirror talismans are a unique and important phenomenon of Kongo sculpture. The commemorative statues known as phemba were designed for women who had lost a child and wanted another. As constant sources of life and well-being, both the land and the matrilineal ancestors buried in it form the basis of Kongo deep thought. Kongo thought is also very focused on fertility and the continuity of the community.


BAKONGO FOLKTALE

Ntinu Lukeni (or Wene), arrived at Mbanza (town) Kongo after crossing Nzadi from his father's kingdom on the north bank, the historical kingdom of Vungu. The original inhabitants of the area were large-headed dwarfs called BaMbakambaka, Mbwidi-Mbodila, and BaFula Mengo. The king of Kongo thereafter was the embodiment of the cosmological world of the Bakongo, he had direct links with the forces that affected its prosperity, he controlled the weather, he could summon the dead, and he was able to bless his subjects with a movement of his fingers.


BAKONGO PROVERB

Nkome kakinda: Teka vútula mbusa.(Kongo)
To punch with a strong fist, you need to turn over your hand. (English)

OTHER FACTS
- Mpemba is the Kikongo word for "kaolin" and for "white," the color that is linked to death, to human bones, and to the ancestors.

- Nzambi Kalunga or Nzambi Mpungu Tulendo is the creator and the ultimate source of power (he is the supreme being and is thought to be omnipotent)

- Lesser spirits and ancestors mediate between humanity and the supreme being.

- Evil, disorder, and injustice are the result of such base human motives as greed, envy, or maliciousness

REFERENCES

http://www.zyama.com/kongo/pics..htm
http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Kongo.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/K/Kongo-ki.asp
http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/sub/kongo.html
http://dickinsg.intrasun.tcnj.edu/diaspora/kongo.html
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/Exhibit/Archive/longsteps/f1.htm
Listen to the words of Dr K. Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau

view the art of the BaKongo.
music sample - copy link into browser.
video of dance - copy link into browser. (7 seconds long)

Sesa Woruban

"I transform my life"

FX

FX Wrote:

Ok I've been quiet about this long enough. What the FUCK!? I don't even know where to start with this Millions More Movement rap show this weekend. I know that I am sick and tired of Black "leadership" and their BULLSHIT!! The bottom line is this:

You don't march or vote to get power, YOU BUILD IT AND/OR TAKE IT!

You don't beg & march for reparations, YOU BUILD YOUR OWN INSTITUTIONS, INDUSTRIES AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS, THEN FORCE THE REST OF THE WORLD TO STOP FUCKIN' WITH YOU! but ya gonna need land first.....JACKASSES!!

You don't dilute your power by uniting with er'ry body else. AFRIKAN PEOPLE AREN'T EVEN UNITED ON THE CRUCIAL AREA'S WE NEED TO BE UNITED ON. FAMILY FIRST!

This is nothing more than a negro push for mainstream legitimacy with religious validation, all while making money in the process. A nice little chapter in the Negro history books won't hurt either. It took me a while but I've figured it out......I, FX have figured Black leadership out, and I'm mainly talking about the so-called nationalistic religious groups / organizations like the N.O.I., the Hebrews, the Moors, the Black Liberation Theology Christians ( a paradox of words and concepts if I ever heard one), the Nuwabians, Black Jews, and AAALLLL the rest......their game is simple......here it be:

These religious groups preach and wait for prophecy to be fulfilled in order for there to be radical change, and then the Black man is free from oppression.......MEANWHILE until that prophecy comes, until that messiah (or mothership) comes back to take the heads of the unrighteous, the oppressors, the devils, the sinners, the gentiles......LET'S MAKE MONEY WITH THESE VERY SAME DEVILS, GENTILES, SINNERS, OPPRESSORS, THE UNRIGHTEOUS.

THAT'S THE GAME THEY PLAY WITH THE BLACK MASSES! And to make it worse.....these negroes really deep down do not believe in any such "prophecy" or "messiah" to return, they just preach that to the masses. THAT'S COWARDLY! I don't know why it took me soooo many years of dealing with these FUCKERS to finally see this. And to top it all off they utilize religious belief systems that ARE NOT Afrikan people's religions nor culture.

These sexist, chauvanistic, hypocritical, ego-maniacal, power hungry, status seeking, skeletons in the closet-yet righteous indignation elitists should never have an audience again. I will say it here and from now on and let this be the mantra.....

BLACK LEADERSHIP......YOU'RE FIRED!!!!!

Hell, who hired them in the first place? Was it god? Then we need to kick his celestial ass! No maybe it was US! Afrikan people are responsible for the type of leadership they allow to represent them. It's a simple equation: if the leadership sucks then......(you know the rest) And I'll be fair, there have been many, many things that many Black leaders have done that was positive, I'll be the first to give credit where credit is due, and I still love many (not all) of these negroes......BUT WHEN IT COMES TO PACIFYING BLACK PEOPLE IN THE FACE OF GENOCIDE....WE GOTTA CALL'EM TO THE FLOOR!

Don't like what I typed? Whoop my ass!

Your thoughts?

Here are some damn articles regarding this show this weekend.
http://www.millionsmoremovement.com/news/program10-08-2005.htm
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/12838427.htm
http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2005/10/
diddy_dash_support_millions_more_movement/
http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/001586.html#list
http://www.blacknews.com/pr/problems101.html
http://www.gay.com/news/roundups/package.html?sernum=1230
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46720

L.T.B.H.T.F.
FX - There are very few conscious people, and even less revolutionaries.

Oath To The Ancestors

OATH TO OUR ANCESTORS
By Pastor Ray Hagins 

O Ancestors! Blacker than a thousand midnights.
Afrikan Ancestors! It is to YOU that we, your children, give respect and honor.

O Ancestors! We call upon YOU and welcome you in this place.
Afrikan Ancestors! Let your presence fill this place.

O Ancestors! Who have been purposely excluded from the history books, so that the world would not know of your greatness.

Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave civilization to the world.
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave the arts to the world.
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave music to the world!
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave the sciences to the world.
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave mathematics to the world!
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave medicine to the world!
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave literature to the world!
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave philosophy to the world!
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave God consciousness to the world!

O Ancestors! We thank you for devoting your life to make a future for us, your children, grand children, and great grandchildren.

Now, stand with us; strengthen us; guide us; teach us, and protect us from the snare of our enemies!

Rise up, O Afrikan Ancestors, and let our enemies be scattered! And give us the wisdom and the boldness to deal with our oppressors and those who would hinder the liberation and empowerment of our people.

Rise up, O Afrikan Ancestors, and live in us.

We will not fail to honor you;
We will not fail to respect you;
We will not fail to hear you;
And we will NOT betray you!

Ase!

Also see:
http://www.wblr.com/
http://thetruthcenter.com/

The Afrikan Pledge

I pledge allegiance to my African People.

I pledge to develop my mind and body to the greatest extent possible.

I will learn all that I can in order to give my best to my people in our struggle for liberation [resolution]* through revolution.

I will keep myself physically fit, building a strong body free from drugs and other substances which weaken and make me less capable of protecting myself, my family and my African Brothers and Sisters.

I will unselfishly share my knowledge and understanding with others in order to bring about changes more quickly.

I will discipline myself to direct my energies thoughtfully and constructively rather than wasting time in idle hatred.

I will train myself not to hurt or allow others to harm my African Brothers and Sisters, for I recognize that we need every African man, woman, and child to be physically, mentally and psychologically strong.

These principles I pledge to practice daily and teach to others in order to unite my people in the struggle for freedom through independence.

UHURU!
Received from Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., Chairman POCC

*Added for my understanding

Sagacious Femininity

Sesa Woruban: Question 1: In your opinion, what is spirituality?

Sagacious Femininity: Spirituality, in my opinion, is having the ability to connect to that which is the origin of your spirit. The practice of getting back at ONE.


Sesa Woruban: Question 2: What does it mean to be on a path?

Sagacious Femininity: Being on a path to me, means moving in a particular direction to get to a specific goal. Spiritually speaking, "The Path" is what we walk upon for spiritual evolution. It is where we experience our bumps and bruises and growing pains.

"The Path" is just like a road that has many different twists and turns. The condition of our spiritual path, just like paths in the physical realm, is sometimes, concrete, grassy, rough, smooth, littered with garbage, sometimes, clear and clean.

These conditions rely heavily on our ability to do what we have to do, to keep our path clear as possible. We do that by being consistant with those things/rituals that help us to grow spiritually.

How we walk the path is also important.

Something I wrote dealing with Esu comes to mind when discussing the path. This excerpt may bring light to this question:

(...It is my hope and prayer for everyone to realize that, while we move towards understanding our connection to the BIGGER PICTURE, via the path we have chosen, or for some of us, the path that has chosen us, (inclusive of all African Traditional Religions), that we don't get so caught by the "trappings" of the path, that we lose sight of what the path is ultimately leading us/you to.

Sometimes, the path grows weeds and we stop to pluck them believing within ourselves that we are making the road clear. All we have really done is slowed our progress, thereby missing "The Wow," for that second, for that minute, for that hour, for that day.

The path, in and of itself, is tricky. Sometimes, we're following it so diligently, that we keep our eyes squarely on the road. We don't look up at the stars as a guide or compass, we don't look behind us, or around us for so long, that when we do, we find that we haven't moved at all, but instead, simply gotten stuck at the crossroad...*giggle*... but..if we don't follow it...our eyes paying attention to every detail, making sure we don't trip, we will get lost on a path that we may have chosen.

All of this as Baba Esu laughs at you from his belly, while holding you on his lap like a protective father.)

To me, the phrase "being on a path" is literal and metaphoric as things that happen metaphorically on the path, can "literally" have anor around us for so long, that when we do, we find that we haven't moved at all, but instead, simply gotten stuck at the crossroad...*giggle*... but..if we don't follow it...our eyes paying attention to every detail, making sure we don't trip, we will get lost on a path that we may have chosen.

All of this as Baba Esu laughs at you from his belly, while holding you on his lap like a protective father.)

To me, the phrase "being on a path" is literal and metaphoric as things that happen metaphorically on the path, can "literally" have an affect on your life. When we elect to move closer to the self, we are embarking upon a journey. All journeys begin with one step.


Sesa Woruban: Question 3: What advice would you have for someone who is seeking a spiritual system to practice?

Sagacious Femininity: Be True To Your God-Self and first. Go within, before you go with-out. *smile* My advice would be for the individual to be true to her/himself and feel what resonates as truth with him/her on a deeper level.


Sesa Woruban: Question 4: Can you name some of the common threads that run through Afrikan spiritual practices?

Sagacious Femininity: Ancestral Veneration. Acknowledgement and respect of the masculine and feminine energy. A deeper understanding of how one fits into the universe.Belief in "mysterious" things.Respect for nature. Respect for the family, both living and deceased. Comprehension that "God" is not outside of ones self. Ebo (Sacrifice).


Sesa Woruban: Question 5: How do the common threads of Afrikan spirituality differ from those religions derrived from it?

Sagacious Femininity: Well, from my observation, the religions that have been derived from Afrikan spirituality lack some very basic foundations. Most of the religions force their practioners to look outside of themselves to find truth and deliverance. Most of these religions also do not instruct their practioners to trust themselves.

In regard to the world view, these religions are not tolerant (even though they claim to be) are not tolertant of other believe systems and world views. There was a Yoruba scholar who once shared that, it was un-heard of to ask a person to give up his religion and take on another, for a persons religion is tied into his culture. These religions do not take these things into consideration when they demand the blind loyalty of the practioner.


Sesa Woruban: Question 6: Please give us a brief overview of the Yoruba culture. ( what does it mean to be Yoruba? what distingishes someone who is Yoruba from someone who is Akan? please include what the word Yoruba means if that makes sense).

Sagacious Femininity: Yoruba is a culture. Yoruba is a language. The Yoruba are people from Nigeria.The religion of the Yoruba is actually Orisa Worship. We learn from Orunmila through Odu Ifa.

Everyone who is called to be a priest or priestess of Orisa, does not automatically go to Ifa.

What does it mean to be a practioner of Orisa Worship? To me, it means Everything.

I don't know what distinguishes me from a person who is a practioner of Akan, other than the names of the dieties and the geographic destination of the origin of Akan as an Afrikan Traditional System of Belief. The foundation is basically the same as "the dieties" of Akan, are also representations of nature.


Sesa Woruban: Question 7: Will you tell us your favorite Yoruba "parable" (we can change this to the proper name) and let the reader try to derrive the "moral."


Sagacious Femininity: The parables, if you will or moral stories are called, "pataki". Pataki are defined as "sacred" stories told orally about the Orisa and are passed down from generation to generation. The interesting thing about patakis are that they bring the Orisa to life by involving them in very human situations and having to learn very human lessons.

I have so many favorites, I don't know where to start. I do, have one that touches my heart everytime I read it.

Oshún's Flight: How She Came To Be Messenger of Olodumare (God)

In the early days of the world, and of Ile Ife the orishas became tired of serving Olodumare. They began to resist the Lord of Heaven's edicts and even plotted to overthro Olodumare's kingdom in heaven and earth. They felt they didn't need Olodumare and that as the Lord of Heaven was so distant anyway, they could merely divide the ache or powers among themselves and that things would go much better that way.

When Olodumare caught wind of their attitude and plots, the Lord of Heaven acted simply and decisively: Olodumare simply withheld the rain from the earth. Soon the world was encompassed by a staggering draught, the ground became parched and cracked, the plants withered and died without water. And it wasn't long before all on earth, orishas and their chidren alike began to starve.

After a short time, growling bellies and sallow faces began to speak louder than their pride and rebelliousness. They nanimously decided to go to Olodumare and beg for forgiveness in hopes that this would bring rain back to the world. But they had a problem: none of them could reach the distant home of Olodumare. They sent all the birds one by one to attempt the journey but each and every one of them failed, tiring long before reaching the palace of the Lord of Heaven. It began to appear that all hope was lost.

Then one day, the peacock, who was in reality Oshun herself, came to offer her services to save the world from this draught. Once again there was general upheaval and laughter as the orishas contemplated the idea of this vain and pampered bird undertaking such a journey. "You might break a nail", said one. But the little peacock persisted and as they had nothing to lose, they agreed to let her try.

So the little peacock flew off towards the sun and the palace of Olodumare. She soon tired of the journey, but she kept flying ever higher, determined to reach the Lord of Heaven and to save the world. Going yet higher, her feathers began to become scraggly and black from the withering heat of the sun, and all the feathers were burned from her head, but she kept flying. Finally, through sheer will and determination she arrived at the gates of Olodumare's palace.

When Olodumare came upon her she was a pathetic sight, she had lost much of her feathers and the ones that remained were black and scraggly. Her once beautiful form was hunchbacked and her head was bald and covered with burns from flying so close to the sun. The Lord of Heaven took pity on her and brought her to the Palace where she was fed and given water, and her wounds were treated.

He asked her why she had made such a perilous journey. She explained the state on earth and went on to tell Olodumare that she had come at risk of her own life so that her children (humanity) might live. When Olodumare looked to the world and to Oshun's plaintive look, it was obvious that everything she had said was true. The Lord of Heaven then turned to the peacock who was now what we call a vulture, saying that her children would be spared from this draught and ordered the rain to begin again.

Then Olodumare looked deeply into Oshun's eyes and into her heart, then announced that for all eternity she would be the Messenger of the House of Olodumare and that all would have to respect her as such. From that day forward in this path she became known as Ibú Ikolé , the messenger of the House of Olodumare. Ikolé also is the name for the vulture in Lukumi­. And from that day the path of Oshun known as Ibú Ikolé was revered and became associated with her bird, the vulture.

The vulture then returned to earth, bringing with her the rain, where she met with great rejoicing. As befits a queen or Iyalode, she graciously refrained from reminding them of their jibes and abuses as she could see the shame on their faces. This is why, whenever a person is to become initiated as a priest in our religion, no matter which orisha they are having seated in their heads, they must first go to the river and give an account of what they are to do as Oshun is the Messenger of Olodumare.


Sesa Woruban: Question 8: Please explain why Yoruba is not simply a "spiritual practice" or religion.

Sagacious Femininity: Because it encompases your life. Every single part of it. Delegating Ifa to a particular part of your life is like trying to assign the ocean to a particular place in the world.


Sesa Woruban: Question 9: Please give a 5 or 10 words in Yoruba we can use in our conversations with one another and our children.

Sagacious Femininity:
Ase - And so it is.
Be ni - Yes
Oti - No
E kaabo ... Welcome!
Abi na wetin - what is it?
Se Alaafia ni -- I greet you with peace and prosperity
E kaaro - GreetingOdaaaa - Good bye (Actually Odaabo, but we just say, O daaaaa)
Bawo ni? How are you?
Oyinbo - White person
Da da ni - Good (in response to Bawo ni)


Sesa Woruban: Question 10: Can you recommend 3 books that a person might read to expand their knowledge of Yoruba?

Sagacious Femininity: I know you asked for three, but spirit moved me to give you five.

Fundamentals of Yoruba Religion (Orisa Worship)
by Chief FAMA (Chief Farounbi Aina Mosunmola Adewale-Somadhi)<-a woman. Black Gods: Orisa Studies in the New World by John Mason and Gary Edwards Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa: A West African Spiritual Tradition. by Tobe Melora Correal. Yoruba Beliefs and Sacraficial Rites by J. Omosade Awolalu and while it is truly not about Yoruba religion, but will help a person in understanding the transition from westernized religions to those of our ancestors, I would highly recommend Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and the Initiation in the life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some'

Sesa Woruban: Thank you Sagacious Femininity!

Sagacious Femininity: Thank you very much Sesa Woruban for asking!!!!

Counterspin - A Black View of the Tragedy in New Orleans

I am a 55-yr-old BLACK female! I have lived through the assasinations of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and Malcolm X! I have lived through the moon walk, and the inventions of computers and the internet. MY generation has witnessed the best AND worst times this nation has ever known!!! Living Black in this nation has ALWAYS been a struggle!! We have been treated as 4th Class citizens since slavery was abolished!! Hurricane Katrina is a tragedy of ENORMOUS proportions!!! The slow response of the govt to aid the 99% Black citizens of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi is CLEARLY a statement not only to the Black citizens of this country, but to all the citizens of the WORLD, that the USA most definitely does NOT value the lives of Black people!!! GOD IS WATCHING!!! The slow response was not an ACCIDENT!!! The USA will have to PAY for this atrocity!! The WORLD now knows that the government of this nation has NO COMPASSION, NO HEART, and no LOVE for it's Black citizens, and I use the word "citizen" with tongue in cheek!!!!

Wisdom47
============


black love black power ! I am not confused/ I know that the black people of new orleans are ME and WE are One . I'm not confused . I know we are at war with white power / And if you do not know that, you are totally confused . Right now my heart is on fire / for US / WE who are being needlessly killed and left to die . Our lives are worth more than depicted in the american media. I know that we are being studied right now & that we are being purposefully genocided. I am beyond sadness/ I am over hearing anything that is not about destroying white power. Long before this present round of genocide & long after, I will continue to fight against white power & for black love & black power . We are at war and we will win - I know it in my heart. 1

blackarmy
===========


Many people hungrily await the media's coverage of New Orleans as they would a popular mini series. Now largely due to the constant, negative depiction of African descendants in media, and in the psyche of the privilaged class in this system, the illusion the world sees is a people who are 3/5 of a human being. African descendants living in the diaspora are being continually traumatized, victimized and marginalized by a system that denies its citizens justice soley based on the color of their skin - and those citizens are dying. Grandmothers, Mothers, daughters, sister and neices are being destroyed. Grandfathers, Fathers, sons, brothers, and nephews, are being sentenced to a heartbreaking degradation of the spirit, mind and body. There is a biased sentiment that the horrors African descendants endure daily are merely apparitions left over from the days and nights of chattel slavery. However, as the new atrocities unfold before the eyes of the world, even those who doubted our generational pain are stunned into recognition.

rootzhouse
=========


It's true. The President does not care about black people. One of the National Guard's purposes is to help in natural disasters. Why don't we have enough Guardsmen to help out? Because they are in Iraq taking care of Iraqis. The United States helps other countries, but seem to have trouble cleaning up it's own backyard. But, I would say to the President that charity starts at home.
People are really desperate to save themselves and their families, but what the media effectively shows us is, if a Black Person has food in his hand, it was a result of looting. However if a white person looks for food, then it is called survival. Why is the media focusing on "looting" when there are people dying of dehydration? Why does the media have to spin the news and hide things from American people? Why are they hiding what is really going on.
They need to come out with the truth and stop showing the same footage over and over again.
Why do the people have to be called refugees (the definition of this is One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.)? These people are not war victims nor are they oppressed or being religiously persecuted. They are survivors of a hurricane and they should be respected for their perseverance. Why has the military has been sent to New Orleans with orders to Shoot To Kill when these people are supposed to be CITIZENS!!! Is property that more important than human life? For the first time in my 40 years of life, I am seeing how the United Snakes Of America is. Then when Kanye West stands up for Black People, they want to shut him up and call him racist. Well look at the evicence, New Orleans it is mostly made up of Blacks and most of those left behind where Black people who could not get out. Why did the city not have a evacuation plan? This is a DAMN shame. All off this senseless death could have been mitigated or avoided.

Platinum
=========


Kanye was visibly shaken by the media's protrayal of blacks as "looters" and refugees while hailing whites as merely trying to survive a horrific tragedy. I wasn't shocked by their behavior, but then I don't put any faith in america's media or their leaders. I applaud the mayor of new orleans, ray nagin, for venting his frustrations on the radio. I appreciate Kanye for making an impassioned plea for his people on TV.

I feel that these two men shook the government out of their stooper and caused them to moblized after five days of innaction. I thank both of them for their courage and open honesty.
With all her education and income, one would think Condi knows the definition of racist, or at least owns a dictionary. Perhaps she does, but I can only wonder why such a supposedly power female can be drawn into the feasting frenzy instead of being guided by her higher self. Kanye West neither has the power nor position to be a racists. But Condi does. If she wants to hear real hatred and racism, she should tune into the programs Bill O'Reily, Pat Roberston, and Sean Hannity. Well, she probably does watch and most likey considers it "freedom of speech"
and damned entertaining.

Sesa
======


They are looting the streets. They are shooting. The refugees are lawless. Why does our media take what a few does and spin it into something that everyone is doing. Focus on what's good. Focus on providing for those who now have nothing. Focus on what we can learn from them. Focus on planning an evacuation before the disaster strikes. Focus on telling the truth. Tell the world the real reason you don't care whether the people in new Orleans lives or dies. They black, the colored people you all love to hate. You enjoy seeing them in a bad light. You want them to stay in poverty. If they were to rise up and ban together..... you know that you would be out numbered and you would find yourself without the riches and power you love so much. Did they say that they blew up the levy so that the french corridor would go unharmed? Did they say that they told the black people(refugees as they calling them) to go into two schools that were sure to be flooded by the levy breaking? Maybe if you knew this, you would understand that the people were scared when they saw helicopters. They thought they was there to kill them. I would do what I had to do to keep my family alive. If I had to break into a store I would. If I had to steal from that store, I would. It is not like the government is there handing out supplies. They had the fend for themselves. My hats are off to those who did what they had to do for the survival of them and theire families.How does the president and media sleep at night?


Jabbar Gibson should be rewarded for commandearing that bus and driving 13 hours to houston with 70 people on board. The government should have reacted in the same way.

Tweety
=========

Open Letters to Kanye West

Kanye, I applaud you for speaking your mind and the truth. Don't let the spin that the media is giving your truth bring you down. Keep your head up brother. I feel the same way you feel, "BUSH DON"T LIKE BLACK PEOPLE". If there was no truth to what you said they would not have cut you off. Know that you are not alone in your thoughts and feelings.

Tweety
=========


Kanye,
I saw the pain on your face and heard it in your voice as you made your impassioned plea for the lives of our people. You were absolutely correct in pointing out the media's bias towards us. We only have to observe the unfair and unbalanced reporting in the media to come to that onclusion. STAND - for as you stand for us, we will stand with you. Thank you!

Sesa
=========


kanye my brother......i have the utmost respect for you as well as your heart felt cry for our people......the media has demonstrated that black people are thought of as sub-cultured, and are not loved or respected by the white masses in the us..... i am a witness to the devastation that has taken place in new orleans, and it's much worse than the media let's us see.............brother, i am writing you this message to say you have my support as well as many many more bros ans sisters..........thank you my brother stay strong in your beliefs..and spirit.............ps d--- nbc news

bimini
=========


To my young warrior brother, Kanye!! THANK you for your heartfelt comments about Katrina!!! THANK you for being brave enough to STAND and tell the TRUTH!!! I am a Black woman who has a son right around your age, and I would be proud to call YOU my son!!! Do NOT be discouraged. And don't EVER let anybody make you feel bad about telling the TRUTH, or standing up for what you BELIEVE in!! Stay BLACK!!! Stay STRONG!!! Be ENCOURAGED!!! Keep the FAITH!!!!

Wisdom47
=========


Your emotional and heart-felt proclamation of the disingenuine dipiction of afrikan descendants by media showed courage, and hopefully your words will stir the spirits of us all. You spoke for all those, the victims of government inadequency, who wil not be allowed to be heard and have for too long been ignored. Know this, You are not alone.. More Power!

rootzhouse
=========


George Bush does not care about black people ..
Peace / With positive projection nothing can defeat us ...Our thinking guides our actions. I saw you break through the invisable mental chains we wear - the chains that are suppose to keep us from speaking our minds /Chains of fear / I know you were probally surrounded by white people/ It took great courage for you to stand up for us as no one has since Malcom X and the Black Panthers/ Even the white person that was standing next to you cound not hide his true nature/ /That was the realest thing I seen from TV in a long time. maximum respect / more power !! You spoke the pure & uncut thinking of the people . 1

blackarmy

Olorun

Sesa Woruban: Question 1: Why do you say you are African centered? What does that mean to you?
Olorun: I say I am African centered because I try to put my African self at the center of all that I say and do. I try to make all my judgments based on what it has historically meant to be African, what it means to be African now, and what it will hopefully mean to be African tomorrow. Now by no means do I mean to portray myself as a beacon of African manhood. I am an African, twisted daily by the matrix of white supremacy, who is trying to see his way to a more African conscious existence. We must all realize that what we say or do doesn’t just effect us but it reflects and effects the whole of us. Sadly American born Africans do not seem to notice the poison we are spreading to the world. Surely living in the belly oft he beast has made us filthy the question is will we listen like Jonah to the voice of god and be spit out on the shores to speak the truth to these devils, or will we come out the other end and just be more excrement on the bottom of the sea? Consciousness is not some abstract thought. It is the principle that guides your daily walk in life. To say you’re an African is to state an abstraction with consciousness. It means all differences are irrelevant when placed against the over riding factor of ones African being. When I say I am African centered I am saying I am of an African conscious that is guided towards black power (i.e. all of us working collectively for the betterment of Africans).

Sesa Woruban: Question 2: Is African consciousness a religion?
Olorun: People within the so called African conscious movement make the mistake of thinking African consciousness is their religion, whatever that maybe. Its not! You are no more African conscious if your Yoruba, than you are if you Christian. Pastor Nat Turner killed his enslaver and a few dozen others because Jesus told his African centered mind to do so. Elijah Muhammad built his nation of Islam based on the black man because Allah told his African centered mind to do so. The rebels of Haiti fought and won their freedom because the gods of Voudun told their African centered minds to do so. Its not your god that’s the problem its your mind. Having said that, your god maybe an indication that your mind has a long way to go but that can only be told thru conversation with you. You can't judge a book by its cover. I’ve met some of the most eurocentric Ausar Auset brothers and some true African centered muslims.

Sesa Woruban: Question 3: Why do you sometime say “we are not our problem we are our solution.”
Olorun: We have to learn how to talk to each other better and in victorious manors. Racism white supremacy has us tearing each other down when we should be looking to lift one another. Black folk to this, black folk to that, WE ARE NOT OUR PROBLEM WE ARE OUR SOLUTION. It takes more energy to rethink our negative thoughts about ourselves and reprogram our minds to be uplifting but we have to do it. We have got to get out of these schools that teach us to degrade one another and begin to teach ourselves how to be uplifting using African centered approaches. Let me give you an example of what I mean. It has become common for some of us to say we need to be more like the Arabs because they have back bones, they fight and are ready to die for what they believe. This is silly king died, Malcolm died the Haitians fought, enslaved Africans fought for their freedom, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom and came back for others and then became a spy for the north. Why would we ever look to another group of people and wish we were like them. No man on this earth has a more glorious story to tell and we had better be about the business of learning it and telling it fast. Amos Wilson points out to us that to a great extent the white man can’t be who he is if we just stop being who we have become. It is our own lust and desires that sustain a large part of his control over us. He teaches us that we waist time trying to transform them when if we transform us, they are automatically transformed. You see they can't have what they have unless we are who we are. We must believe that the power to change the world is in us and that we aren’t destined to be servants. God would not have blessed the black man with the African home land if he meant for us to be servants of others. For Africans to be starving and in debt means something must be wrong with our consciousness. He says thru our refusal to discriminate in our spending we subsidize the suffering of our own people. African color blindness in a white supremacist world is tantamount to self genocide.

Sesa Woruban: Question 4: In your opinion what is will?
Olorun: For me will is simply a figment of our imagination. Our “will”, will only react according to how we educate ourselves and therefore it is limited or broaden by our knowledge . I believe most of the talk of a” will” is simply mental masturbation. Really just someone trying to say I’m better than you because I have this great will and you succumbed to whatever . There’s a saying “when you know better you do better” this truism is what we vainly call will. If as a community we grasp this concept we will stop allowing those who have historically been our enemy train our children to do their work for them. If will is a subconscious reaction to given stimuli based upon prior knowledge then if we are given all our prior knowledge of self from our historical enemy then it is predictable that our actions will manifest themselves in the manor in which they do.

Sesa Woruban: Question 5: Why do you think we must regain the feminine god principle?
Olorun: Amos Wilson once said that man is a nurturer. The African male, due to his conditioning in a white supremacist objectifying world, has lost his nurturer side. It is the destruction of the African female goddess principle that has allowed this to happen. When you view man as a reflection of god and the woman as a reflection of man then you have set for yourself a hierarchy that ultimately leads to the devaluing of the woman. This is a double destructive process when we include that the African has already been devalued in the culture by the larger culture. Then we as African men add to our sisters woes. We must regain the wisdom of the ancestors and see God in both male and female forms that demands respect for both the feminine and the masculine aspects of self. No man hits his god. He adores his god. The African woman needs the return of her feminine god principle also. No goddess allows her man to beat her or degrade her. She is not less then a man she is next to her man. God with God, equal yet different and to be respected for her differences because her differences are just as godly as his differences are. When we refuse to respect the feminine god principles we belittle her spirit and expect her to soar. We tie her wings down then tell her to fly. She was there on the slave ship, she took the same beatings for the same reason we took them “our skin”. She was raped by the devil and still found love in her for us how dare we turn around and treat her like he treats his. Sista if he wont praise you, then praise your damn self, for you are worthy to be praised.

Sesa Woruban: Question 6: What is your opinion on passing correct knowledge onto future generations?
Olorun: This is the call of the ancestors, this is the only viable way to an enduring future for our children. If not us then who. Who can we trust to love us more than us? Who will see us as more than we been portrayed to be if we don’t make the stand to portray us as more? We have no future if we don’t explore our past in our present. I know that many Africans argue that we can't live in our past and that is true in some sense but, we also can't survive as a people much longer if we don’t understand how we got here and what we must do to get further. Our children deserve a correct view of their story and not his story. No African child deserves to be taught that George Washington was his great forefather when georgie was a racist white supremacist slave owner. How is that a great education for the African child. It benefits the white child to distort his past and make god like figures of his ancestors so we should expect them to ever change that approach to their past. The question then become what shall we do? Passing on correct knowledge isn’t a choice.

Sesa Woruban: Question 7: Remember those carefree days as a child? Will you tell us about 1 day in your life as a child that is particularly distant from the situation you were really in? (a day that felt really good where the cares of the world seemed so distant).
Olorun: Any day with my grandmother was a carefree day. There was never a moment in my life that I didn’t know in my heart or doubt in my mind that that woman loved me. Till this day the most beautiful thing in this world is the face of an African female elder. All praise be to the creator and her most beautiful creation which is herself in you, the black woman.

Sesa Woruban: Question 8: What does it mean to be an Afrikan man in america?
Olorun: For me it means that we are called to bring down Babylon from within. We are called to “help” free Africans from a European tyranny that ironically was made possible by the riches made off the blood of our African American forefathers. I am not blaming our forefathers for the actions of white folk, but I am stating that the situation we find ourselves in “is what it is” so we must do, what we must do to“destroy it”. We are going to change the world but we must decide for ourselves whether that change will be good or bad. If we continue allowing these people to lead us it will clearly be for the bad. Being eurocentrically conditioned has caused Africans in America to act in ways unproductive to our own mental and physical liberation. We are a colonized people believing in a eurocentric framework that doesn’t fit our African reality. FYI when I say Babylon I don’t mean any nation in particular I mean the system of racism white supremacy that overrides all nations upon the earth. We must end this system and we must stop anyone who thinks they will start another system based on them and have us under their foot also be he arab asian or whatever.

Sesa Woruban: Question 9: If there were an antidote to cure WHATEVER, a pill of many ingredients that you could give Afrikans in the states, what would 3 of the ingredients be
(metaphorically speaking)?
Olorun: We are at war. And the mind is the battle ground so my three pills are

1. correct Knowledge
2. godly wisdom and
3. African centered understanding.

Without these anything else we would get would only help our enemy. Money would only go to their hands, guns would only go into use against us and land would only go to feed them. But with correct knowledge wisdom and understanding there is nothing you cant get. Nothing we cant achieve.

Sesa Woruban: Question 10: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Olorun: Femi Kuti recently asked in an interview.. “When colonial masters divided Africa in 1884, they knew what they were doing. Do you think it was for Africa they were playing this game? It was for them…” when Africans in america separate ourselves over issues such as religion, income, national origin, or various other issues it only supports the white power structure. If the African centered community is ever going to present its argument to his large brother and sister community it is going to have to learn to look past what side issues we disagree with and toward what should be our unifying purpose the eradication of white supremacy. As Malcolm pointed out we are not persecuted because we’re Muslim, Christian, HebrewI sraelite, Yoruba, or clappin our booty round somepole but because were black. If you and another African cant agree that racism white supremacy exist and needs to be ended your conversation should be limited to giving the other African the correct framework upon which to govern his or her thought process. Not on giving them a new god, a new political party, or any other new way to be just like you. a new way to think for their African self should suffice. And if they get that then you can talk politics because you have now a consciousness then tells you this is no matter what your brother or sister who must be respected. Hotep and respect may Ra shine on you and Ma’at embrace you.

International Declaration of The Basic Rights of All African People

Before I post this, I want to ask a question.

Would YOU recognize a declaration of war by your "open and bitter enemy" and their allies, even when it hasn't been formally announced? Even when it doesn't involve open warfare? Do you know what (actions, speech, thoughts) your "open and bitter enemy" and their allies consider as a declaration of war?

Sesa Woruban

International Declaration of The Basic Rights of All African People
from "TheAfrican World, Dedicated To The Reconstruction of African Civilization and Culture"
a newletter by Dr Batu A Shakari.

1. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to adequate nutrition.
2. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to adequate clothing.
3. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to adequate housing.
4. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to a thorough cultural and technical education.
5. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to prompt and effective medical treatment.
6. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to gainful and productive employment.
7. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to love companionship and familyhood participation and fulfilment.
8. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to collectively define our own reality and determine our own destiny.
9. All African People, throughout the world, have a right and responsibility to establish and maintain our own social systems, so that we can live within our own modern and independent civilization and culture.
10. All African People, throughout the world, have a right to cultural and territorial sovereignty, so that we can live our lives free of all foreign domination and control.

"To Secure These Rights We Must Unite"

Dr Batu A Shakari, African World Research Institute

His Newletter is available via mail

6 times a year

$6.00 a year

Thanks for "listening,"

Sesa Woruban

Transforming yet again

Sekhmet1

Sesa Woruban: Greetings Sekhmet1

Sesa Woruban: Question 1. Many are familiar with the Black experience in the United States, describe your experience growing up as an African in the UK?
Sekhmet1: My experience growing up as an African in the United Kingdom has been ….strange to say the least. Most importantly because we were not taught or encouraged to acknowledge our African heritage. We would rather associate with our “island”. Yet our African heritage permeates all aspects of “island” life. Indoctrination teaches us to ignore it.

Sekhmet1: My siblings and I were in somewhat of a dichotomy as one parent was from Grenada, another from Jamaica. We were seen as “half breeds”. Amazing as it sounds, so it was. Island rivalry existed in my very early childhood – and it was all about the Jamaicans. Now I recognise that Jamaicans - Fanti, Mandingo, etc - were the warrior tribes. They served their purpose especially in the early 50s, through the 60s when blacks were being continually attacked in the UK.

Sekhmet1: My earliest memory of racism was when I was around 5 years old. I cannot for the life of me remember where we were coming from. I know it wasn’t Church, but we had on our Sunday finest – I remember wearing my yellow dress and petticoat which was a stiff as a board most vividly – we were all waiting at the bus stop, Daddy, Mummy and the five of us, like doorsteps.

Sekhmet1: We all put our hand out for the bus to stop. Excited children that we were. The bus slowed down, we moved to get on, the driver accelerated, but not before verbally abusing my parents I have never ever seen my father in such a rage and frustration. That was the moment I knew I was black. I knew I was different. I felt my father’s rage and frustration, a five year old girl in a yellow dress who wanted to fight for and with him.

Sekhmet1: Fast forward circa 1975. Be Coming! – Afro puffs and granny shoes (smile), the Ital reigned. Angela Davis, the black panthers, Rastafarism and Robert Nester Marley suffused the consciousness of first generation black born in UK. Revolution was almost tangible. It was time. We learned the lesson. It was not about inter-island rivalry. We were being treated the same, irrespective of island, we had to unite. The Caucasian saw black and white. Period.
That same year, for an English assignment I wrote a poem, the first line was ..
I did not ask to be born in this land I did not ask to be black but I am…
(I wish I could remember the rest, save to say last line was spirited hallowed call for unity) Anyway, I did not receive a credit for it, but a detention. I was told I was being disruptive to the class. I did the detention.

Sekhmet1: Second floor of the main school building is black. At break times all the black girls in the school congregate on second floor, like an unspoken rule. It just is. Out of approx 1,200 girls, 400 are black. We hang out on second floor. I longed for break times when at school. I was an “A” stream student. The token black. Sitting with people like Penelope (don’t call me Penny) Jarrett whose father was a doctor and others whose parents were professionals. My group had the ethos of hard work and were told and encouraged to go to university. I was discouraged in every single way. My lessons were full of racist teachers talking of people from the “colonies” to a class full of WASPs. They had no expectations of me, I would say, some were quite affronted that I was in that A1 stream. Somehow I maintained my grades. My sanctuary was the break time. I hung with my people. The only other people on second floor were the first years (11yr old) [freshman] and the “bad” white girls.

Sekhmet1: I mention all this to give you a little background, for this is one of the incidents which shaped my life.

Sekhmet1: Everyone congregated in the corridors on second floor, me and a few friends standing not far from the toilets. Some white girls been smoking in the toilets, we can smell it and so can the dinner ladies. They patrol the corridors at break times. People with no real authority, but would dearly like to have some! They enter the toilet and confront the white girls who deny smoking and when asked for their names giving “Gary Glitter”, “David Bowie” and the like.

Sekhmet1: Don’t know what got in to me this day I felt strange all day. I woke up feeling, kind of out of sorts. I was angry and at the same time sad. I didn’t laugh when the girls gave their names, in fact they annoyed me. Anyway, little first years running up and down the corridor like excited rabbits – Sandra (friend) puts out her foot and splat! One of them goes over. She drops in tears by my feet. Bending down to help the girl, at that precise moment, the dinner lady after being totally frustrated by white girl in toilets, turns and vents her rage on me. The woman’s finger was practically in my eye ball, accusing me of hurting the young girl. I asked her quietly at first. Take your finger out of my eye. I admit it, I did get louder. I asked her about 4 times to remove her finger. Even Sandra said to her it wasn’t me. She refused to hear.

Sekhmet1: There has been a few times in my life when just for an instant, time freezes. This was one of those moments. I punched her, just the once. I couldn’t help it. And hell broke loose.
Her sidekick started screaming. Chaos ensued. The corridor was in uproar. I don’t know how they arrived so quickly, but three male teachers were charging down the corridor, arm locked me and spun me around against the wall. It was surreal, but I fought them. I felt all powerful, but not really connected to my body.

Sekhmet1: I refused to move from the corridor to the main office but eventually my tutor came and talked to me in a reasonable manner and I went to the office. Our headmistress, Mrs Zacherwich (Witch as we called her – or Jewish Bitch as I know) did not like black people. Every black girl in the school knew it. We were there because the government said we had to be. And we were getting political on her. She tried to ban afros! How the hell can you ban hair??

Sekhmet1: My parents worked very hard, my father working days and my mother working nights. Mother slept whilst we were at school. Zacerwitch woke my mother from her sleep and told her that she was going to have me arrested for assault.

Sekhmet1: I shall never forget the look in my mother’s eyes when she entered the office. My heart pounded. Such disappointment reflected back at me. Not anger, nor rage as I had anticipated. That look pained me. Zacerwitch related her story, I related mine. I knew she understood, my blue black mother who expected so much of her children but was powerless and somewhat uninformed of her choices. I watched my mother weep and I wept too.
I was escorted out of that school by two police officers, one either side of me, my mother walking and weeping behind. It seemed like all 1,200 girls and teachers were at every available window of the school, waving, as I was frogmarched out of the school. The police station was directly opposite the school – Zacerwitch has always used it as a threat for the students – This was the very first time, that scare tactic was actually implemented. I was put in a cell, intimidated by the police and not allowed to talk to my mother for what seemed like hours. I was 14 years old.
Initially I was suspended from school and charged with (GBH) grievous bodily harm. The following week a incident occurred involving white girl who held a knife to one of the art teachers (male) throat. This girl was given a cup of tea by Zacerwitch and told to calm down.
Some people who had witnessed what happened on second floor, came forward in my defence. Mr Wong (the only black male teacher in the school) came forward and spoke on my behalf as I had a very good academic record. It fell on deaf ears. Within six months he had been removed from the school.

Sekhmet1: I was subsequently expelled. Not only expelled but Zackerwich started a campaign. She wrote to every secondary school and “advised” them not to take me. My parents not knowing the judicial system were perplexed by it. I am one who slipped through the net. I have no academic validation – save for a computer course which I paid for. I left Caucasian “schooling” at 14. I am self-taught. My love of reading sustained me. It still does.
It was the Black Woman who continued my education. I was not allowed back into the school system, so I lied about my age and started work. Having no qualifications I woke at 4.30am to start work in the kitchens at the post office headquarters. I washed pots as big as bathtubs and I learned. The entire staff consisted of black women whom I consider to be the wisest, strongest women on earth and their consulting rooms are in the kitchens.

Sekhmet1: When I was sixteen I was of legal (recognisable) age to work. I got a job with LCCR – Lewisham Council for Community Relations as an office junior. My parents were happy. I was happy. For a little while. It was there I felt and saw the unjustness of racism. Pensioners terrorised with excrement through their doors and their life made hell by their white neighbours. Helpless and defenceless people trusting that the “law” would help them. The police did nothing when called. Wanting to bust some heads and not having any heads to bust! My black brothers arrested under the infamous “SUS” law. Suspicion! That’s it Suspicion. Of what I ask? Answer = of being black. Once you are black police can stop and search you under SUS law - deliberately made so vague it covered a multitude. It was unadulterated harassment. A black man could not walk 200 yards without police swooping down and stopping and being searched under the SUS law in some areas.

Sekhmet1: The pressure cooker exploded in 1981. A sixteenth birthday party was going on. At least 50 people were in the front room of the Ruddock’s house on New Cross Road. Petrol was poured through the letter box and ignited by a racist arsonist. I lost school friends in the New Cross fire. A party which I was due to attend, but didn’t go to due to the lack of a baby sitter. Thirteen young Africans died. Many were injured, some still bearing the scars today. No one has ever been bought to justice for this attack. Tensions were extremely high amongst the community. Its no wonder there was a riot. It had been simmering for a long time and was overdue. It exploded in Brixton. Being first generation born here, we did not have the restrictive view of some of our parents. We were not as conciliatory and demanded more. We wanted justice. Demanded justice! Burn Babylon, yes burn it Rass!


Sesa Woruban: Question 2. When did your family arrive in the UK and what were the circumstances that brought them there?
Sekhmet1: After WWII, Britain needed rebuilding. High unemployed and poverty existed amongst most, if not all of the islands who were under colonial rule. Their benefactor had been preoccupied with the war. Islanders lost whatever jobs they had connected with the war. Times were extremely hard. People had families to feed. For centuries Britain had ruled them and they missed the nipple at which they used to suckle. From about 1948 onwards there was a concerted campaign in the Caribbean Islands and India. “The Mother Country” needs You. You will be welcomed with open arms. We’ve had a connection with you people for hundreds of years, come live the good life. And Yes, the streets are paved with gold. The British men who returned from war, refused to do what they called the “menial” jobs. The white woman was also, emancipated for she worked whilst her man was at war.

Sekhmet1: My mother arrived here in 1952, my father shortly after. They courted a while and were married in 1956. By this time four of their five years had already elapsed. Most people from the Caribbean came here with a five year plan. Work, earn some money and return home, for they did not class England as home. It was an alien world to most. Grey cold, humourless, people who looked with contempt at blacks. They took the jobs they were offered, mainly in the public service industry. They drove the buses and the trains. The hospitals and the health care sector, the infrastructure of the country.

Sekhmet1: Many many people left their families in the Caribbean, thinking that they would work at few years and return home. There came a time when people had to send for their families. There was a constant influx of new blood all throughout my childhood. It was the children who were breaking down the barriers. Island rivalry was slowly dissipating.
I often wondered why my parents would leave their stunningly beautiful islands to come to a place so cold and foreign to them. Both told me the same thing. They could see no future. Everyone was looking for work. Times were hard, families were growing. My father and uncles left their island and spent some time in Cuba looking for work before coming to the UK. They needed to work like all the people from the islands needed to work. And so, the breathtaking sunrises were exchanged for murkiness of the fog, the kiss of the sun for the chill of the wind as hostile as the people who inhabited the land.

Sekhmet1: My view is that the life blood of the islands was severed with the Exodus of the 50s and 60s. Only the very old or the very young were left on the islands. It caused severe trauma. How can you function with a whole generation – male and female – missing? The life force had migrated to a place they were the reality did not live up to the expectations, but we adapt and we survive. It’s not about the location as some left from the UK and continued their journey to the US and Canada. Africans are everywhere, all still suffering under the system of white supremacy. There is a time and a place for everything. Perhaps we needed to heed the systematic and compartmentalised views of our adversary. We have to learn. I say, with confidence, everything serves its purpose.


Sesa Woruban: Question 3. What are some examples of how living among Europeans has influenced Black British Culture.
Sekhmet1: I’ve been wracking my brain, and cannot come up with how Europeans influenced black British culture? I cannot recall anything black culture has embraced- only, maybe, chips! I grew up with a strictly Caribbean flavour. What I did surmise, I was not very comfortable with. The only person to benefit or who has influenced black culture in Britain is the white woman. She has made herself so attainable, black men ran after her like flies on dodo.
If today you were to take a straw poll, of say 10 black families, 8 out of 10 of them would have some member of their family, with a white woman. Very sad, but very true. I have four brothers, two of which are with white women, two who are not. One’s wife I could thump down, the other I can bear.

Sekhmet1: The white man came “out” of his closet and the wench lacked choices. She needed to procreate. Her fantasy could now be turned into a reality. The black man saw social acceptance and advancement. A little brown baby is a highly desirable accessory for some. For many black women, they watched and endured. Some “bore” up too much and wore themselves out. Some gave up without a fight, and some said, if you can’t beat them join them. Yet some grabbed the brothers by the balls, squeezed it, blessed it and prayed for their Godshipness.


Sesa Woruban: Question 4. What are some examples of how Afrikan Culture has influenced Black British Culture?
Sekhmet1: Afrikan culture has influenced not only British culture but worldwide culture for hundreds of years. Afrikan culture is the “pulse” of this planet. It permeates every culture and is the foundation of most. Our parents carried it with them and passed it on to us. Our music our food our spiritual sense of being, no matter how we manifested it. I don’t feel British. And I don’t know what Black British is. The bearer of a red passport? A generation never knowing or seeing “elders” perhaps, for the disconnection worked both ways. Those left in the Islands did not get to see or greet their grandchildren who lived in foreign lands, some for many years, some not at all. A healthy, functional and productive society needs all the generations in order to oil the cyclic wheels.

Sekhmet1: I feel, that this strategy of separation is utilised most effectively by people who are detrimental to our health as Africans. It is a tool others use for control and manipulation. They do not change their tactics, for they have been using the same ones for hundreds of years. Separate one from another, for it will take them a while to recover. In the meantime ….
In my humble opinion, Britain never really had a “culture” they had a class system, aristocracy, middle class and lower and all aspiring to obtain the unobtainable. If you were born into the middle classes, no matter what you achieved, you could never be an aristocrat. Afrikans didn’t even warrant a category unless it was with the livestock. Their prejudice is in their genes. There are some aspects of afrikan culture that will never be fully grasped by the European due to their compartmentalized thought process. We need to stop forcing square pegs into round holes and leave the European to his own. Be who we are, not who we were told we should be.


Sesa Woruban: Question 5. Where does the name Sekhmet come from?
Sekhmet1: The more I learn the less I know for it seems that Sekhmet is one of the oldest deities, from whence she came, no one knows. Sekhmet is kemetian for “power or might”. She is closely associated with Amun Ra (she wears the solar disc and the Crown of upper Egypt) and she is of the Memphis triad, Ptah (her consort) Sekhmet and Nefer-Tem (son). I am of the view that Sekhmet is and was essential to creation. She is that which turns the inanimate to the animate. The power that animates every living creation and every universal thing. I like to think of her as pure unadulterated “potential”, that spark which sets off a course of events.
Sekhmet is usually depicted as a black skinned woman with the head of a lion. The Goddess of destruction, death and wisdom, yet she is also the Goddess of nurturing and healing. Mythology has her as the vengeful eye of Ra. The Great Mother who will protect her offspring passionately for she has a righteous indignation. She was called upon in battle as she was called upon to fight disease. She is Bast, she is Hathor and she has a thousand other names. She is the Kundalini energy, the coiled serpent or “Shakti” of an individual. The Hindu for Shakti is a direct derivative of Sekhmet. Sekhmet is also the protectoress of the divine order and shields the Gods from evil. Like a lioness, she fiercely protects what she loves and what she is responsible for. She has always existed, for without her, there would be no creation.


Sesa Woruban: Question 6. What personal significance does the name Sekhmet hold to you? Sekhmet1: A few years ago, I asked Auset to do a birth chart for me. She came up with the Goddess Sekhmet as being the deity I am most closely associated. Sekhmet’s festival of purification in on my earth day. I was not that happy with Auset’s deductions. Sekhmet was portrayed and vengeful, autocratic and negative. I did not see my self as such so I dismissed the name. I knew I could not stay as Diva, as I’m a pretender “Diva” although I am Divine. I do not seek acclaim. I do not seek the attention. I do not need the adulation of the crowd. I would rather sit in the background quietly for it is there I learn so much more and blossom. To grow I needed new clothes. Sekhmet’s name called to me. Adopting the name also made me examine aspects of myself which I had not looked upon in a long time. Yes, I have a rage and a fury which I have summoned but only a few times in my life as the intensity was, somewhat overwhelming. I look on it as passion. For I feel things intensely, profoundly and sometimes with such empathy that I am wounded. There are aspects of Sekhmet’s characteristics that I wholly embrace. I also acknowledge Sekhmet’s loyalty – this girl has got your back – I love fiercely and loyally. Would I kill for my family – without the slightest hesitation.
Sekhmet to me, at this stage of my journey, is the “potentiality” for me to step boldly into my Godessness and create what I will. Anuk Sekhmet. Of all the deities, Sekhmet is somewhat of an enigma. Generally, the true essence of her has been misunderstood and she resonates something within me. With hindsight, I feel that she has always been there with me for I have always felt somewhat of an “odd bod”, always a free spirit. Now I know this “potential” is the life force of creation. I embrace it wholeheartedly.


Sesa Woruban: Question 7. In your opinion, what is the current state of Afrikan women worldwide?
Sekhmet1: We are maimed hurt and stagnant. We are dysfunctional to the point where we are suspicious of each other and view each other as “rivals” and adversaries. This in turn implies a contest of sorts Who or what are we “contending” for? Indulge me when I say the Afrikan man.

Sekhmet1: After generations of abuse, our psychological welfare is severely damaged. The African woman who adored her man – for he was a walking talking God – watched him be defeated and humiliated. He could no longer protect her or his children. So she grew stronger in order to secure the future of those she bore. 90% of African males have a strong and determined mother or a prominent female figure which affected their lives in someway. It is what hones them into being the men they were supposed to be. The African male will always want to take his rightful place. Rightfully so and as it should be but we are a people in need of healing.

Sekhmet1: The African woman had to compete with the blonde blue-eyed wench which some males aspired to, negating the African woman to someplace of “lesser” importance. Consequently if you are told that you are less worthy, eventually you will view yourself something of “lesser” value. Some, tolerated behaviour patterns that were totally unacceptable to her psyche. But they bore it. African women are notorious for “bearing up”.!
The African woman is tired, dang wore out! Maintaining the survival of your race is not an easy thing to do anytime, anywhere. So, recognising her need, she has substituted “Jesus”, “Allah”, “Buddah” for solace instead of her man.

Sekhmet1: Confused, wary and suspicious we shoot poisonous arrows at each other - seeking to hurt you before you hurt me. It’s a self preservation mechanism. Something we have not quite learned to let go of and which they system in which we live vigorously maintains.


Sesa Woruban: Question 8. How can using the concept of Goddesshood improve any problems that Afrikan women are facing?
Sekhmet1: If we viewed each other as the Goddesses that we are and had and firm overstanding of African spiritual ethics, we would heal our entire race and instantly erase hundreds of years of systematic mental abuse.

Sekhmet1: Sisterhood (Goddesshood) maintained us for millennia. Your sister is not your adversary. Only when we learn the lesson will it change. I want to see my sisters, loved, happy and blessed, for her happiness ultimately affects mine, as our paths are intertwined as African women - that is the principle which structured our society. If I treat my sister like a Goddess, her behaviour would become reflective of the title, for you are what your subconscious believes it is. Every afrikan woman knows at least ONE other woman who they could call a true “sister” (although not linked by blood). That means, there are a multitude of good African sisters around. Why cannot we connect? Dysfunction, mistrust, envy and a lack of trust in each other (self-hate) makes some aspire to be something they are not. The Caucasian woman. We adopt her hair (chemical processing), bleaching creams, and her distrustful attitude of womankind. Little do we realise that her ultimate goal is to be us. For she pays a surgeon for the lips, hips and booty of an African. We need to love ourselves again in order that the Goddess within can shine.


Sesa Woruban: Question 9. What is the importance of balancing reason and emotion?
Sekhmet1: Most people – including me (smile) – sometimes speak “off the top of their heads”, mouth running at 30 mph. That is pure emotion. Emotions can sometimes cloud one’s reasoning ability as it is a more instantaneous response. Emotional responses are just that, emotion. The message being lost within the emotion. People hear, anger, joy, tension – not necessarily the message. The left side of the brain control’s one’s reasoning (logic) ability – the right one’s emotions. To make a reasoned response, one should “detach” the emotion from the response. The “pause” which it takes to detach, usually brings about a new sense of clarity. To balance left/right linear (reason/emotion) we need to breathe before speaking.


Sesa Woruban: Question 10. How can balancing reason and emotion assist Afrikan people in acheiving mental and spiritual freedom?
Sekhmet1: In my opinion, afrikans are predominantly right linear based thinkers. We are emotional people – just take a look at a group of African people having a conversation. We animate our conversations with gestures, arms waiving, hands on hips, roll of the eyes, and gwarfs! (don’t watch ma spelling - smile). Left linear thinkers can hold a conversation with no emotional attachment at all. We have all seen and heard them.

Sekhmet1: In order to achieve mental and spiritual freedom we need to recognise our adversary’s thought process. Cold, logical and devious. It is not natural to the African to think in this way. Of course, many have adopted this process but I would go back to the square peg in the round hole syndrome. To achieve balance, Ma’at should be practiced regularly the virtues of which are truth, righteousness, harmony, balance, reciprocity, justice and order.


Sesa Woruban: Thank you sis Sekhmet1.
Sekhmet1: Thank you.

"12 Basic Things We All Can Do Right Now To Advance The Cause of Our Liberation" by Dr Batu A Shakari

12 Basic Things We All Can Do Right Now To Advance The Cause of Our Liberation

from "The African Word, Dedicated To The Reconstruction of African Civilization and Culture"
A newsletter published
by Dr Batu A. Shakari

1. Learn about Yourself, Your People, Your History, Your Civilization and Your Culture (start buying African-Centered books, video tapes, audio tapes, etc., so that you willl come to Know Yourself, Love Yourself and Be Yourself).

2. Stop inferiorizing Yourself by imitating the appearance of others, and start accepting and respecting your own appearance by loving and wearing your hair the way it naturally grows, cherishing and keeping your skin color the way it naturally glows, and embracing and appreciating your physical features the way they naturally show.

3. Select an African name for yourself and every member of your family, for through re-naming yourself you are taking one of the most important steps towards reclaiming yourself.

4. Purchase African-made and African-oriented clothing for yourself and every member of your family, and wear then as often as possible.

5. Wear African-centered jewelry such as necklaces, rings and bracelets that depict Africa, The Ankh, Nefertari, Rameses, etc and wear them as often as possible.

6. Keep a map of Africa and an African Flag (Red, Black and Green) on display in your home at all times as a constant acknowledgement and reinforcement of your identification with The People, Land and Culture of your origin.

7. Stop Smoking, drinking and using drugs (except for the treatment of legitimate medical conditions), and start treating your body like the holy sanctuary that it is.

8. Understand and internalize the truth that all African People are One People, all African Land is One Land, and all African Knowledge is One Knowledge; and teach these principles to your children.

9. Learn to always seek the highest truth (the best way) in all that you do in life, and always recognize that knowledge and truth are infinite treasures that we must pursue on a constant basis for us to achieve and maintain progressive advancement and empowerment from generation-to-generation.

10. Commit yourself to positive change (both in thought and action), and start contributing on a consistent basis to the building and maintenance of institutions that are working for the total freedom and independence of all African People throughout the world, and the rebuilding of our own modern and independent civilization and culture.

11. Love and want for your African Brothers and Sisters what you love and want for yourself.

12. Always remember that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and therefore we must remain eternally united as a people.

Thanks for "listening,"
Sesa Woruban
Sen-t Ra Sa-t Maat

YahYahKnow

Sesa Woruban: Greetings YahYahKnow.
Sesa Woruban: Question #1: In your opinion, what is revolution?
YahYahKnow: When considering the specific situation of the people all over this planet that are classified as black, the concept of revolution is both simple and complicated at the same time. It is simple in that it is a call for change at the basic level of our situation. There has not been change at the basic level of our situation now for roughly 3,000 years. We are a people who, by our very nature, tend to see the whole first, then the parts to it. We tend to see the sum total first, then the fragments which it consists of. We are an all inclusive people. However, there is not a time that we can point to where we ever extended this understanding to each other [Black people] on a planetary scale. At the peril of our lives, we have sought to include and be at one with those who have only plagued us with suffering and death. We display an infinite amount of patience with our worst enemies and short fuses with those closest to us in our struggles against the same enemy.

YahYahKnow: The change that I speak of which needs to occur at the basic level of our situation is not a new concept. We've practiced it from our beginnings, before there was any other human being on the planet but the African. It is a basic instinct. We are, from the time of conception inside the womb to birth and beyond, dependent on each other. These are the beginnings. Without thought, we knew that in order to survive, we had to care for and protect each other from any manner of harm. Somehow, along the way, we lost that. This concept which was here from the beginning is still here today. It is cyclical and ever occurring around us all the time. It started and starts with the family unit. Protection is paramount in order for any other aspect of our being to flourish. Protection means that we all had to care for each other. The man cared for and was willing to lay his life on the line in order to protect his family. The woman cared for and was willing to lay her life on the line in order to protect her family. The brother felt the same for his other brothers or sisters. The sister felt the same for her brothers or sisters. Everyone looked out for each other. Nothing else matters or could ever come to the point of mattering without this first and foremost. We now have over 3,000 years worth of complications layered on top of this fundamental flaw. It is both simple and complicated.

YahYahKnow: We still have this basic instinct, but because of the complications, we now actively and automatically attempt to suppress it at every juncture where our souls begin to even slightly shake because it yet and still recognizes the outer stimuli that beckons the father in us, the mother in us, the brother in us, the sister in us etc,. This basic instinct that we suppress is the foundation of what will always and can only equate to the idea known, though painfully to some, as African Centeredness. Call it what you will. It's about recognizing who your brothers and sisters are in the world. It's about recognizing who your mothers and fathers are in the world. It's about recognizing who your sons and daughters are in the world. It is based on law. The law we first practiced before even thinking of it. Some may call it a feeling. This law also demands that you recognize everyone and/or everything that may pose a threat to the well being of your family. This is the revolution that needs to take place. I am confident that from that simple basis, we can solve the remaining complicated aspects of our situation all over the globe.


Sesa Woruban: Question #2: In your view, what is the youth's role in a movement or revolution?
YahYahKnow: The role of the youth in any movement, revolution and indeed in life itself, is to think and ask questions. It was pointed out in National Security Study Memorandum #200 that the youth are one of the primary concerns of our enemies. The youth simultaneously serve as one of our greatest strengths and one of our greatest weaknesses. I always welcome new ideas because I'm not disillusioned into thinking that I have it all right. In my view, we can always get better. I see infinite space to improve upon. We get better by challenging ourselves. Well, this concept plays itself out through our children because all the greatest obstacles that children all over the world face are manmade. This means that adults are their greatest challenge. By their nature they ask us questions to challenge our conventional ways of thinking. As we get older, we tend to get use to things being a certain way. We become relaxed. We may even become desensitized to certain things. Children come along and point our attentions to things we may have long since stopped considering in our minds. They haven't fully developed yet so this makes their questions that much more important because they speak to that basic fundamental side of all of us. I consider myself a part of that youth, even though my membership time may be running out. I have questions about the way the world is run. I have questions about the way that my people are behaving and thinking on a basic level.

YahYahKnow: Our enemies seek to try to influence the youth, such as myself, as much as they possibly can to ensure that the young among us follow in line with the adults and continue to think and act in the best interest of a people outside of their own. Without the guidance of the adults worldwide that we are among, acting in the best interest of the family and protecting the youth from outside influences, the enemies will continue to succeed in turning our greatest strength into our greatest weakness. The youth is here to make us better. This is their natural function. That has been and continues to be perverted. A way to correct it is to change the basic level of our situation. Follow the natural law in you as opposed to suppressing it.


Sesa Woruban: Question #3: In your view, what are the elder’s responsibilities to the youth?
YahYahKnow: The elder’s responsibility to the youth is to protect them from all manners of harm. This is done in all aspects of life. Physical protection, emotional protection, spiritual protection and mental protection and anywhere that I have forgotten to mention. That is first, foremost and ever occurring. Once, they are secure, the further role of the elders is to teach the youth what they know about life to enhance their chances of success in all areas of life while they are on the planet. When done in this order, life has no choice but to flourish.


Sesa Woruban: Question #4: Does there exist a "willie lynch" like rift between the youth and the elders?
YahYahKnow: There naturally exists a huge impediment between the old and the young because as children we are that much more closer to a normal way of thinking which usually wouldn't be a problem if we weren't living in a world filled with people with abnormal behavior and thinking. This impediment is a symbol of the disorder that exists among us, but also a great symbol of hope because it means that there is still a chance to change things. As we speak the enemies are carrying out measures to affect our normalcy of thinking and behaving before we even begin to breathe. Before, it was enough that our parents would teach us abnormal behavior the same way as they were taught by their enemies and even give us new and more advanced forms of abnormal behavior. However, our enemies are always trying to become better at the art of war and so now they seek to "kill dem before dey grow" even while inside of the womb. A way to correct it is to change the basic level of our situation. Follow the natural law in you as opposed to suppressing it.


Sesa Woruban: Question #5: Where were you born and when did they gain their independence?
YahYahKnow: I was born in Jamaica. The official record suggests that we gained our "independence" in 1962.


Sesa Woruban: Question #6: Did your country have segregation laws like that of the southern states?
YahYahKnow: To my knowledge, we didn't experience the aspect of the psychological warfare that included all the signs everywhere such as in the south in America, but all other aspects were in tact. Institutional racism was in full effect. Laws that excluded us from land ownership, proper education and jobs. Laws that prevented us from attaining any adequate means of survival and people with guns who were willing to enforce those laws mercilessly. We may have retained aspects of our culture that others haven't but that basic instinct here too has been suppressed. We still haven't learned that lesson. We still haven't learned that we need each other in order to survive and not any other people. No one will care more for Black People than Black People. The situation only becomes more dire, the more exposed we are to "western" culture. The disordered culture of the enemy. A way to correct it is to change the basic level of our situation. Follow the natural law in you as opposed to suppressing it.


Sesa Woruban: Question #7: What role have Afrikans from the West Indies played in the awakening of Afrikans in the states?
YahYahKnow: The same as Afrikans from the states have had on us. We're always trading, borrowing and lending with each other, ideas and concepts that speak to our multidimensionality. We have been to each other on an international level, what we need to be to each other from the family unit on out. We the Afrikans from the West Indies have represented opposition for the most part to white domination. The Afrikans from America, all over the diaspora and Africa have represented and given the same in our own ways defined by the subtle differences that we have experienced in the different parts of the world all at the hand of the same enemy. What I value the most about the interaction is the spirit of unity. Even though we feel this spirit by way of recognizing the similarity of our struggle, sometimes what initializes an action that leads to the desired result isn't as important as the fact that you actually arrived at the goal. Once there, you may even have the luxury of demonstrating what is needed to maintain the unity long after the struggle has ended.


Sesa Woruban: Question #8: Afrikans in the West Indies have a love for Afrika unequalled in the states. What is you opinion on this statement?
YahYahKnow: Everywhere we are in the diaspora, we have our own personal level of trauma from our experiences. The main difference between a lot of the places in the West Indies and America is that after slavery in one form or another ended, the white people in the Caribbean left. Their physical presence for the most part was next to non-existent, though their impact on our lives was still felt. In America, the enemy remained and adapted as needed since they were neither trying to deport blacks back to Africa nor attempting to bequeath to them any form of freedom. In America, there were a lot more whites than blacks, due to their racist immigration policies. Therefore, they had more of a solid hold or grip on black people, most devastatingly on their minds.

YahYahKnow: We all were victims of the degrading and dehumanizing treatment by the enemy. Many of us in the West Indies whether we want to admit it or not, hate ourselves. The self-hatred of black people in America is more prevalent because the enemy simply had a tighter grip. The bottom line of what happened was that a people had their identities stripped from them. Everything that they held sacred was taken away. Anything that possibly remained was simply corrupted. Brainwashing is another term for it. Once that is done, you have a clean slate to begin with, sorta like a child. Like children, how we behaved depended on the behavior of those around us. Well, the people who were around us, were the people who hated us. We took on their qualities to replace our own that was taken away from us. This is why some of us hate ourselves. This is why we hate Africa and Africans and won't hesitate to verbally demonstrate our hatred for the aforementioned all the while thinking that what we are speaking of hating is somehow separate from ourselves.

YahYahKnow: Black people went through a prolonged period of psychological trauma after slavery ended. We went through slightly different forms of psychological trauma everywhere in the diaspora. The only other place that I know of in the world that equates with the level of psychological trauma from racism white supremacy aside from America would be India.


Sesa Woruban: Question #9: In your opinion, how have so many of the culture and traditions of Afrika survived the brutality of slavery in your country?
YahYahKnow: A combination of will and circumstances. Black people in America carried through what little they could considering their circumstances. We brought through what little we could considering our circumstances. We faired a little better in this regard because there weren't as many white people in Jamaica as in America. They took measures to try to stop us from practicing certain traditions but they never had the numbers to enforce those measures. They outlawed the singing of "old negro spirituals" in America once they found out what we were doing in those songs. They outlawed drumming and dancing in Jamaica once they found out what we were doing as well. In time, we've lost even more because of the psychological impact of our exposure to these people. Some would call it voluntarily doing away with some cultural traits, but when you analyze the reasoning behind decisions that we've made to abandon certain practices, the ugly, pale and pasty face of racism (white supremacy) looms through the darkness of the untapped regions of our minds.


Sesa Woruban: Question #10: What advice would you give to the youth today?
YahYahKnow: Hold on, be strong and patient. I know life is hard. I haven't forgotten. I know many of you all are going through tough situations alone. No one is willing to help for whatever reason. Sometimes no one believes you. Sometimes, they don't relate anymore to how it may feel. I know some children are having to deal with things that a lot of grown ups can't handle. I want you to know that you have to hold on somehow. Seek help but the truth of the matter is sometimes, we won't find any. Sometimes, we do have to face situations in life alone. We live in a disordered world right now where this is the reality. If you have to, try to find some place inside of you to cling to in order to survive the ordeal. Find an outlet of some sort. Just find a way to prevent yourself from engaging in self-destructive behavior.

YahYahKnow: My father use to tell me "Don't think!!! Know!!" I would like to try to improve upon this, but I don't think I can. What he meant was, if the knowledge is available to be known, then make it your business to know it and don't think about it or wonder or speculate. I repeat that to the black youth all over the world. Also, my father told me that his one wish for me when I was born was that I would be a thinker. So I also say to the black youth all over the world to think. Think about everything. Find knowledge that is available to be known. Know it, implement it and yet and still think about it. Don't take anything you learn as absolute. Always try to improve upon it. We live in a society full of people who are either too lazy to think or too afraid. Adhere to truth, seek knowledge, practice the knowledge and practice thinking of ways to improve upon the knowledge and you have attained wisdom. Follow the natural law in you as opposed to suppressing it. Protect and nurture your family immediately around you and all over the world.


Sesa Woruban: Thank you God YahYahKnow.
YahYah Know: Htp Afurakanu/ AfuraitkaitnutGreetings YahYahKnow.