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.

It's All In a Name

Food for thought. Take it, or leave it alone. Is it really what they call you, or is it what you answer to? I have read many instances where things, and even creation itself are brought into being through the verbalization of words. Many scholars say that when ancient texts speak of “words, ” it's a symbolic representation of sound waves. Dr. Masaru Emoto conducted research on the physical effects words have on water (Hado).

I shamelessly borrowed excerpts from “Historical Deception, The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt” and “Egyptian Cosmology, The Animated Universe” by Moustafa Gadalla to try and make a point. PLEASE feel free to send me more quotes and Iwill add them to the post – even if they are contrary to what I’ve sited.

Oh, and don’t get caught up in the european terminology he uses. I think he does it on PURPOSE. If you have a problem with words like “magic, spirits” and“spells” you need to run the anti-virus and spy ware programs in your mind and reclaim your TrueStory.

Historical Deception, The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt
Chapter 42 – The Science of Magic

“It is known that musical vibrations induce organic and inorganic substances into patterns and forms; such as plants responding to sound.”

My comment: “hmmmm.”

“The powers of sound were important in several treatments. By pronouncing certain words or names of powers, in the proper manner and in the proper tone of voice, a priest/doctor could heal the sick, and cast out the evil spirits (inother words the contrary/incompatible energies) which caused the pain andsuffering.”

My comment: “Hmmmm.”

“The power of the sound vibrations was important in performing Egyptian chants, spells and calling a person’s name. Everything has a ‘real’ name, a name that enshrines the essence of the thing, which is the thing. To know and pronounce the real name of a NTR, a man or an animal is to exercise power over it.”

My comment: “HMMMMM!” (ya’ll didn’t know I was so deep did you.)

Egyptian Cosmology, The Animated Universe
Chapter 15 – Tehuti, The Divine Tongue
Name Calling

“The name of a NTR, person, animal or principle represents a resume or synopsis of the qualities of that person or object. To know and pronounce the real name of a NTR, man, or animal is to exercise power over it. It is therefore that Ancient … Egyptians have real “secret” names for everybody and everything in order to protect the person and thing.”

My comment: “Ah Ha!”

What I’m trying to say is:

It IS what they call you:
Power full:
Remember when you were a child and your mother would call your FULL name? Ursa Maat Ra Sen Tep En Ra! Where you at, bwoi! Yikes! You knew your butt was in trouble and you had an EMOTIONAL response to it.

Power less:
On the flip side, if you tried to get the attention of a person, shouting out“Hey YOU!” doesn’t always work (it never works with me). Calling out the wrong name almost never works (with anyone).

AND

It IS what you answer to:
Power full:
What happens when your music, your language and your cultural practices denigrate women? Advocate killing? Disregard the children? It’s not wise to become desensitized to abhorrent behavior, and it’s never good to accept andbegin practicing abhorrent behavior as moral behavior. Another example of this is, some people respond positively to positive words. You know, catching more bees with honey. Tell people that they are intelligent and trustworthy, and some will always try to produce that face for you – even if they did the research five minutes ago on the Internet. None of us wants to be perceived as stupid and shady.

Power less:
If you’ve danced to it, made love to it, snapped your fingers to the beat, or shouted, “heeeeeeeeey, that’s my song!” it has power. Even if it didn’t cause you to have an emotional response, if you’ve answered to it, it has power - sorry!

Thank you for you "listening,"

Sesa Woruban
"I transform my life"

jaaja_Knower of Self

Sesa Woruban: HTP jaaja_Knower of Self.
jaaja_Knower of Self: htp to you SESA


Sesa Woruban: Question #1: What does it mean to "Know Thyself."
jaaja_Knower of Self: The Self. There is the true Self (pure consciousness or pure awareness) and there is that which most people come to identify with as the ego self (mind, body, senses). The former being absolute reality, the only reality that ever was and is. The later being an illusion or reflexion of the former. To Know Thy Self is not to identify with one’s ego identity (mind, body, senses) as being primary, but to identify with that which transcends and goes beyond the finite state of the mind, body, and senses.

jaaja_Knower of Self: True reality (Self) is that which is eternal, without ending, unchanging. To know one’s Highest Self is to know what is truly real, to identify with one’s true essence, that which is eternal, pure and all knowing. To come into understanding of this knowledge not only intellectually but most importantly, through incorporating it into one’s character and personal nature paves the way towards immortality. This is the ultimate aim of all individual souls. To finally know (through experience of) the answer to the question, “Who am I ". To identify with what is truly real.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Letting go of the world of illusions, the individual soul is now free and able to re-submerge its individual awareness into eternal awareness, bringing about a boundless sense of clarity and inner peace (htp), while still living in physical form and beyond.


Sesa Woruban: Question #2: Explain the concept of "htp"?
jaaja_Knower of Self: Htp (…:…) is symbolized as a loaf of bread (divine food) placed on an offering mat. It symbolizes divine offerings made to the Neters (Gods) who are responsible for maintaining order and balance in the world. Metaphorically speaking, if the Neters are content, then peace and harmony is to be found throughout creation.

jaaja_Knower of Self: To go one step further, Htp symbolizes inner peace. It is the unshakable inner peace that is experienced when the heart (consciousness) is free of all desire, wanting for nothing, knowing that one’s true nature is full, lacking in no way whatsoever.


Sesa Woruban: Question #3: How important is the concept of self determination to Afrikan independence?
jaaja_Knower of Self: If I had to compare the concepts of self-determination and independence to an apple tree, self-determination would be the beginning stages, the roots and body of the tree while independence would represent the fruit. One representing the foundation while the other being an end result. You can’t have one without some form of the other. Adding to that, what determines how successful the end results will be depends on what surrounding conditions the tree must bear. If the seeds of the tree are planted in rich fertile ground, then one could reasonably expect a healthy outcome.

jaaja_Knower of Self: If the seeds on the other hand are planted in depleted, unfertile soil, the end result will be distorted and stunted at best. Self-determination is a mindset that has to be developed just like anything else. It cannot be assumed that Afrikans will be born knowing it. Also, wanting it is not enough. We also have to be clear on how to go about obtaining it.


Sesa Woruban: Question #4: Do you think working within the system to create positive change is a viable option for Afrikans?
jaaja_Knower of Self: Working within the system is an option and to some degree can and has brought about some forms of change, but we should ask ourselves what degree of change are we expecting to achieve by working within this system. The history speaks for itself in my opinion. America has been able to destroy more Afrurakan potential at a faster rate than we have been able to produce positive change for Afrurakan people by working within its system. Our children are being mis-educated in their schools and are dropping out completely.

jaaja_Knower of Self: We are being locked up in their prisons at record numbers, high unemployment, etc. The list goes on. Generation after generation has been born into this system, and with each generation few are able to make it while the many fall to the wayside. If this were a business strategy, with these kinds of results, any rational thinking person would have fired the management a long time ago. We have worked within the American system long enough. It has and continues to fail us terribly.

jaaja_Knower of Self: We can continue to do what is possible by working within the system but must at the same time begin to broaden our perspective.


Sesa Woruban: Question #5: Will you speak a little on the dual nature/mind of the Afrikans in the states?
jaaja_Knower of Self: Today, there seems to be two mindsets that exist within the so-called Afrikan American. First there are the majority of us who’ve been mis-educated and misinformed about our history, the world, and ourselves. The dominant Western culture in the past few centuries has been able to successfully recondition large numbers of us to see the world in a way that places the European on top while leaving Afrikaans with a very distorted view of them selves.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Europeans have promoted Western culture as the most refined and most valued culture in the world, while at the same time promoting the false image that the Afrikaan has contributed virtually nothing to human civilization. In the process they’ve falsely convinced far too many Afrurakan people that in order to get ahead, we must subjugate our own systems and beliefs, and incorporate more western values into our ways of thinking.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Sadly, far too many of us have bought into this false notion. As a result, this kind of Afrikan holds a very distorted image of him self and having no self-identity strives to become more westernized in mannerism. While this group does have some complaints about the system, fundamentally they see nothing wrong with the way in which it functions, at least not to such a degree that would require major revolutionary change.

jaaja_Knower of Self: They believe that through assimilating within the system the imbalances that exist will eventually disappear. So far time has proven them wrong. On the other hand there is another group of Afrikans living in America who have not been comfortable with the arrangement between themselves and westerners.

jaaja_Knower of Self: This group has chosen a different approach. Their path has been one based on the study of our own history, our own experience, and our own image of the world. Through development self-determination will become a reality. This group is skeptical, and in my opinion rightfully so, that the imbalance of power that exist in America and around the world will probably never be equitably distributed if left up to westerners.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Strangely enough, a large number of Afrikaans who belong to the first group feel the same way, but at the same time feeling as though there are no other viable options. They continue to go along trying to make the best of the situation. Both groups fundamentally say they want the same things (freedom, self-determination, independence). At the same time it’s clear that both have chosen two different ways of going about it. Neither group in my opinion knows with absolute certainty the best road to travel. One thing is certain though, the first group is operating on a false premise and therefore in my opinion is destined to fail. You cannot build an image of yourself based on someone else’s image. Self-determination is the opposite of that. It’s about building based on one’s own view of oneself and of the world. The first group’s definition of freedom and self-determination in my opinion is distorted. They seem to believe that freedom and self-determination is to be found in the adopting of Western values.

jaaja_Knower of Self: They are associating an ideological concept (freedom, self-termination, independence) with a specific group of people, believing foolishly that becoming more like these people; these ideological concepts will become a reality. They are chasing an illusion, and so speaking for myself, I’ll take my chances with the second group of Afrikaans who seek to reach these objectives by regaining knowledge of themselves.


Sesa Woruban: Question #6: What are 3 major forces opposing Afrikans in the states?
jaaja_Knower of Self: One. Our ability to control our own, make our own laws and govern our selves. In America the western power structure makes the rules and to a large extent we are forced to go along. Their rules usually don’t have our best interest in mind, and historically were aimed and designed specifically at bringing about our destruction. There is no doubt that this has been a huge disadvantage that we as so-called Afrikan- Americans have had to endure.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Two. Being subject to their rule we’ve become assimilated into their system losing our sense of self-identity in the process. They for the most part educate us. They provide the majority of information we receive about the world, thereby allowing them to shape our perceptions of the world, of others and of ourselves.

jaaja_Knower of Self: As we should know by now, most of what they have taught us about ourselves and of themselves has been wrong, and was designed to give them a psychological advantage over us and other groups throughout the world. We have to change this perception. We must educate our own. It is our responsibility and privilege, and no one else’s.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Third is the issue of dependency. We are far too dependent on the system. We act as though all the answers to our problems are to be found within the same system that is responsible for producing the problems. Again, they educate us, they feed us, we depend on them for employment, etc. We are far too dependent on this system. We have virtually all our eggs in the western basket. The effect of this has been disastrous and has to be addressed. We need more than just one option. We have more options available. We just haven’t utilized them. All that being said, there is no obstacle facing us that we are not capable of overcoming.


Sesa Woruban: Question #7: What do you see a common thread that could unite Afrikans in the states?
jaaja_Knower of Self: Ultimately, all Afrikans must be fundamentally united, not only in the states, but all over the globe. The common thread that should be used to unite all Afrikaans here in America and around the world is the fact that we are all Afrikaans. We all share a common ancestry, a common history, a common experience. All efforts should be made to point out the commonalities we share as Afrikan people and let what we have in common serve as the glue that binds us together.


Sesa Woruban: Question #8: What is your opinion on music as a cultural expression?
jaaja_Knower of Self: Spiritually speaking music represents vibration. I learned from study of Self that all things in the realm of time and space vibrate. To whatever degree you vibrate is where you shall be. One can change their state of consciousness just by altering the degree in which consciousness vibrates. Concentrating on lower vibrations will place consciousness in that place. Concentrating on higher vibrations will elevate consciousness to that degree. So with that background, yes music is a cultural __expression and can give us clues on the state of mind we are experiencing collectively at any given time.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Not only does it give us clues, but we can also pre-determine what state of mind we’d like to promote just by the music (vibrations) we allow ourselves to create and listen to. If you went back and took a look at the kinds of music Afrikan people played, and created throughout our experience here in America and in the world, you can almost sense the mood or mind state we were in at that specific time in history.

jaaja_Knower of Self: Everything from the drum, gospel, ragtime, blues, jazz, all the way up to present day Hip Hop. You can tell what state of mind we as a people are in based on the kinds of music (vibrations) we produced. The goal is to concentrate on higher vibrations, which will yield a better quality of life for us all. Music is a cultural __expression. Let’s express what is best in us and not the worse.


Sesa Woruban: Question #9: What are the dangers in allowing the hijacking of Afrikan creative concepts?
jaaja_Knower of Self: I don’t believe that all information should be shared with all people at all times. Knowledge in the hands of the ignorant always runs the risk of being misused and mis-applied. Some have taken our concepts and claimed them as their own. Things have been flipped on their head and as a result we have suffered. But what rises will someday fall. No imbalance will remain that way indefinitely. So the thieves can enjoy their moment in the sun for now, but they cannot run for long.


Sesa Woruban: Question #10: Please name 3 books that had the greatest impact on who you are today.
jaaja_Knower of Self: If I had to narrow it down to three books that have had the greatest impact on shaping my world perception the first one would be " Mis-education of the Negro " written by Carter G. Woodson. This book woke me up and showed me for the first time just how backward my perceptions of the world and of myself were. This book showed me how the values I had come to believe were my own were not really mine at all, but were the values of those who had programmed me to think and act according to what they saw as my appropriate place in their society. I think I was about 20 years old when I first read this book. From that point on, I knew that all I had learned about the world and myself had to be relearned. This book showed me just how much work needed to be done and gave me a direction in which to begin.

jaaja_Knower of Self: During the course of re-educating myself I found the next book that had a major impact on my life. It was called " Isis Papers" written by Frances Cress Welsing. Before this book, I understood that I was misled and mis-educated about the Afrikan contribution to human civilization. With this book, now for the first time I knew that the damage done to Afrikan people was not only through what was taught or not taught to us through history, but what was also conditioned within us psychologically. She presented many of her theories in this book. Some I agreed with, others I had my questions. But what clearly stood out to me was that we as Afrurakans were damaged psychologically to a degree that to this day most of us still do not completely realize. I began to see that the reason I and so many of my people act out in the counter productive manner in which we sometimes do; it is a result of the deeply rooted psychological effects slavery has had on us. It was another piece of the puzzle that I could now see clearly and begin to correct.

jaaja_Knower of Self: The third book that has had a major impact on me happed just a few years back. I picked up a book called " The Philosophy of Enlightenment" by Muata Ashby and during the course of reading it discovered why after all the years of studying I always felt like something was still missing from the picture. Before this book, I would always reflect on our situation as African people, our struggles, and the struggles of the world in general trying to make sense of it all. I would always end up back at the place I had started, not being able to make sense of the reasons why everything was the way it was. After reading this book it really hit home that the other missing piece of the puzzle for me was the spiritual aspect. I had heard others say it many times, but in my state of mind at that time, being turned off by the current condition of religion in general, I had always dismissed it as escapism.

jaaja_Knower of Self: I had mistakenly associated spirituality with religion, which are two different things, and unknowingly prevented myself from discovering another missing piece to the puzzle. I now know that all knowledge and understand must start from the foundation of what is truly real. What is truly real can only be discovered threw spiritual awakening. Of course, I read many books in between the course of reading these three. I had even read books on spirituality such as the Kybalion and Ra Un Nefer’s books Medu Neter 1 and 2.

jaaja_Knower of Self: All these books had major effect on raising my level of awareness, but the three mentioned above represent major awakening points. The learning process has no ending. I read once where it said, “the one that truly knows, knows that he knows nothing at all ". Thanks again sister SESA for providing me the opportunity to explore my own thoughts. Htp …:…


Sesa Woruban: Thank you for your time God jaaja.
jaaja_Knower of Self: Thank you for having me

Nommo

Sesa: Greetings Sistah Mama Nommo.
Nommo: Greetings Sistah Daughtah Sesa.

Sesa: 1. Will you teach us and explain why you and I address each other this way?
Nommo: When i was a young girl my dad had a serious pet peeve. He could never understand a child who didnt put a 'handle' on the name of an adult. To this day i cannot reference an older person without a handle (i'm 52 yrs old). When i came in touch with the afrikan community' i understood the genetic memory my father was working from. Everyone in the 'community' has a lable, a handle, a way of identifying and distinquishing them from all the others while at the same time indicating the commonality of their 'station' in the community.
Nommo: I find that i often attach a term of endearment to the names of the children.....or reference them in the manner the old folks down south.........."that's wulla mae's gurl"......."that's big tommy and the other one is lil tommy" (actual folks in my family).
Nommo: I believe we had to work very hard to maintain a 'sense' of family during our enslavement and consequently will often repeat phrasing the confirms our understanding of the family relationships we have. I practiced that trauma induced behaviour and can recall my mother doing the same........."that's your sister".....my mother will ask me today....."did you talk to your SISTER?". We had to constantly reinforce the family relationships due to the instability created by enslavement and racism.
Nommo: I must reference you as to train and re-MIND myself of WHO you are to me.....

Sesa: 2. What is counter racists logic?
Nommo: I use the term logic to mean specific thought, speech and/or action.
Nommo: The adjective I attach to the term tells me the type and purpose of that specific thought speech and/or action.
Nommo: Racism is the most widely operated system on the planet and is designed to oppress and exploit people of color. It impacts every aspect of our lives. Prolonged exposure to the particular brand employed in amerikkka has resulted in cases of severe mental illness in the victims.
Nommo: If we as a people can behave in a manner that serves to RESIST the promotion, implementation, maintenance, and / or progress of this system AND/OR heal the resulting pain and illness experienced by the victims, that behavior would be considered COUNTER RACIST LOGIC
Nommo: Dr. Amos Wilson says that our behavior is driven by our consciousness.

Sesa: 3. What are the top 3 three things Afrikans do to propagate self hatred?
Nommo:
1. Deny any connection to Afrika.
2. Deny the existence and / or effectiveness of the system of racism/white supremacy. (it implies the desire and hope for assimilation, the state of becoming ‘painted white people’ or even worse ‘invisible.’
3. Mate with Caucasians.

Sesa: 4. Please name 3 things you do to counter racism.
Nommo:
1. Minimize all conflict with other Afrikan people.
2. Acknowledge at all times any instance or incidents that reflect the practice or effects of racism
3. Work on finding ways to heal myself.

Sesa: 5. How important is sistahood in countering racism?
Nommo: Our men are in such a peculiar postion.
Nommo: Conditioned over time to be and demonstrate less than the capacities dictated by their genes.
Nommo: And Sistahs gotta DEAL with THAT. Cause we love them…Our survival as a people depends solely upon the relationships needed between black men and black women.
Nommo: Kwame Nkrumah and Kwame Ture thought that the role, status, and oppression of black women was significant. Consequently, there was a one-of-a-kind separate wing of the AAPRP, All Afrikans Peoples Revolutionary Party just for the Sistahs.
Nommo: If we are to ultimately be a nation of people who thrive we will need to establish a different pattern and tradition of interacting with one another. I hope the sisters can reach a point of agreement that we can NOT harm one another and proceed in our roles as the FIRST TEACHERS to instill this basic behavior in the children.
Nommo: I don’t know if it’s necessary to speak to the power of black women….that’s common knowledge. What I don’t believe is commonly known is that the souls of black women need to be refueled through trusting and loving and healing interactions with other black women. What is also commonly known is our contrived state of competition with one another for the attentions of our maimed men. We got hurdles to cross with each other to get to that point of trust and healing. Hopefully we get there.

Sesa: 6. How do we protect and teach the babies without "willie lynching" them?
Nommo: Before I took Nia home I took her to Granny. I handed her to Granny and said, "Granny tell me how to raise this baby". Granny said, "Baby, they don’t come with instructions, so just do the best you can.".
Nommo: I thought about the world as it was and tried to tell them the truth. I didn’t always tell the truth about my own weaknesses because I was and continue to be ashamed of them. I was consistent. It was very hard work to CONSTANTLY remind them of the terror of a racist society.
Nommo: I was blessed to have come to know some truths about the world. And was determined that my girls would know that truth as well no matter how painful. Dr. Joy Leary says a ‘good mother’ will tell her babies about the horrors awaiting them. That’s what good mothers do. And you have to tell them every day.
Nommo: Every Single Day
Nommo:You have to tell them every time you see it. You have to train the babies to see it when it happens. If they are ever fooled by it they will hurt. So you tell the babies all the time about the bad things. Then you have to hug em and make em smile cause you gave em good food, warm bed, some fun and a moment or two of ‘controlled’ distraction.
Nommo: Then it’s back to work trainin em to see it and teachin em to counter it.
Nommo: Then one day they come and tell you, Mama guess what…
Nommo: Remember when you was talking about how they would treat me and what I should do when they do that ………well listen to this….
Nommo: Then you will smile and get back to work trainin.

Sesa: 7. In your opinon, what are the primary ingredients for building a nation?
Nommo: The NEED and DESIRE for a Nation.

Sesa: 8. How important is it for Afrikans on the continent and Afrikans in the Diaspora to participate in the process building nations, where ever those nations may be?
Nommo: We are the same people based on our gene pools. We need to begin to tell each other our respective culture-based horror stories so we can know we have suffered similarly and that our enemy in each case is really the same enemy.
Nommo: I think we have opportunities to increase our respective capacities with increased knowledge of our respective experiences. Perhaps we have the opportunity to return to an original state of greatness in the same way Auset restored Ausar…traveling about and gathering all the pieces to be put back together. A way of becoming KM WR, Lord of the PERFECT BLACK..

Sesa: 9. In your opinion, what are the 3 books that are a must read for Afrikans?
Nommo: Blueprint for Black Power
Nommo: The Isis Papers
Nommo: Yurugu

Sesa: 10. Is there anything you would like to add? (you MUST add something...anything.)
Nommo: I would like to hear from those who know of effective ways to heal the spirit of a tormented soul.

Sesa: Asante Sana, Mama.
Nommo: Shakitu