Evolution of African Collective Consciousness An Integral ...

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Evolution of African Collective

Consciousness

An Integral View of African Development

by

Roland Lucas

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Copyright 2019 Roland Lucas

ISBN: 9781713240464

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,

recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission

in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to all spiritual warriors who have never given up the struggle for

freedom and justice for African people. It is also dedicated to the warriors in training.

May they too ever reflect the vindication of Africa and its sons and daughters

throughout the African diaspora.

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Acknowledgement

This book is a collage of wise teachings I've been blessed with being exposed to.

These teachings come from the rich vanguard of African spiritual and liberation

traditions, past and present. For their work, upon which my own learning has grown,

I’d like to give special credit to Jacob H. Carruthers, Dr. Maulana Karenga, Dr.

Chancellor Williams, Dr. Ben Jochannan, Dr. Muata Abhaya Ashby, Dr. Amos Wilson,

Dr. Francis Cress Welsing, and our ancestors, Dr. Henrik Clark and Cheikh Anta Diop.

This book is also composed heavily of teachings from the Taoist tradition, as elucidated

by Master Ni Hua Ching, and the Hindu spiritual tradition, as elucidated by Sri

Aurobindo. I am not a historian or psychologist by training. I am a student and

schoolteacher with an appreciation of wisdom teachings and I hope to share them out

of love and fidelity to truth to uplift African peoples, and by extension, persons from

all walks of life. I approach this work then from an African-centered education stance.

Essentially, all credit for this work goes to the Universal Divine One Who moves

through the souls and intellects of the giants I mentioned above and Who has inspired

me to further, in whatever way and to whatever degree, the human evolution of the

Divinity within. Though I am not an historian nor writer by training, I could not help

but share the inspiration I received with others, particularly with our youth, who need

any authentic Afrocentric teachings we have to offer them. Failure to share our

authentic African centered teachings with our youth, will result our losing them, and in

a retardation of our collective evolutionary push to be unfettered expressions of the

Divine on earth.

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Foreword

As the wise ancestors of most traditions point out to us, there is a natural, balanced,

and integral way of life that leads to a higher spiritual realization. Life is a Great Unity,

and we only need to be receptive to its instruction. This integral way of life ultimately

leads us to the realization that we all share in the essence of the Supreme Being and, in

fact, are part of the Supreme Being that is manifesting through our own beings. From

this perspective, it is erroneous to think that it benefits us to hurt, dominate, murder,

or otherwise abuse others or nature; for we are that other and we are nature. Can a tidal

wave harm the ocean? Can a fierce storm harm the sky that accommodates it? Can an

exploding star harm infinite space? We are the ocean expressing as both the calm and

the turbulent waves. We are infinite space containing the countless stars. We are one

with the Supreme Self that contains and manifests as the selves of all people. What we

do to others, therefore, we do to ourselves. This is the basis of the imperatives, "Love

your neighbor as you love yourself,” and “Do unto others, as you would have them do

unto you.” When we do so, we come to realize that we and the others are the same self.

The error in our thinking is we accept only that which our limited senses and intellect

tell us is real, despite knowing first-hand the limitations of the senses. We make

assumptions and rationalizations based on the partial perception of our senses. Doing

so leads us far from the ocean of truth and into a small, isolated pond of limited vision,

into a limited self-identify.

The oneness of life is evident from the fact that all things in life can communicate

with each other, which we see as the powers of attraction and repulsion. The electron

of an atom is attracted to the proton of the atom because there is a medium shared by

the essence of the two that facilitates their interaction. If not for the shared medium,

the electron and proton would not attract and nothing in life could be formed. This

shared medium that facilitates the attraction and repulsion of all things speaks to the

underlying oneness of all life. However, because we cannot normally perceive this

shared medium with our five senses, or with the instruments that we've created to

extend sense perception, we discount its reality. We discount the reality of the integral

oneness of life.

By going beyond the limitations of the senses, the limiting thoughts, and the partial

belief systems derived from the senses, we can directly perceive the oneness of life that

we truly are. As taught in the ancient spiritual traditions of Khemit, China, India,

esoteric Judaism, and Christianity, attainment of this perception is a great achievement

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ultimate in life. Meditation, virtuous living, chi gong, yoga, and many other spiritual

practices facilitate this goal.

Once we transcend the dualistic concepts of Black versus White, Male versus

Female, Me versus You, Life versus Death, etc. and realize these apparent differences

are just facets of the whole, then we can effectively build societies based on balance,

harmony, justice, peace, love, and high virtuous expression. This is called living Maat

by our Khemitian, or Egyptian, ancestors. We can start by listening to the essential

message shared by most wisdom traditions: that behind its apparent diversity, life is a

unity. As we sincerely open ourselves to the messages of the wisdom traditions, we will

begin to attract wise ones living in our lifetime who are willing to elucidate the wisdom

teachings in ways we can comprehend in our time and place. Through inner awakening,

may we all come to know that we are one with the Father/Mother Supreme Being.

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Table of Contents

Dedication: ......................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgement: ............................................................................................................ iv

CHAPTER 1: Introduction .................................................................................................9

CHAPTER 2: Collective African Expression Through Spiritual Culture ........................41

CHAPTER 3: Decline of Indigenous African Spiritual Cu;ture in the East ....................64

CHAPTER 4: Cultural Unity and African Collective Consciousness in Pre-Colonial

Western Africa .......................................................................................................77

CHAPTER 5: Assimilation of Christianity into African Spiritual Culture ......................92

CHAPTER 6: The Maafa and African Resistance to it Essential to Evolution of

Consciouness........................................................................................................108

CHAPTER 7: African Worldview as a Lived Experience .............................................137

CHAPTER 8: Education ................................................................................................151

CHAPTER 9: Groundings with My Brothers & Sisters - Reorientation .......................164

CHAPTER 10: Organization for African Power ............................................................180

African-Centered Education for the Evolution of Collective African Consciousness

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Attitudes when Identified with the Outer Being .............................................. 26

Table 1.2: Identification with Inner Being ........................................................................ 29

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1: Pre-Colonial Trade Routes in West Africa ..................................................... 67

Figure 3.2: Africa’s Major Trade Routes in Ancient Times ............................................. 68

Figure 3.3: The Beja People of Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia .............................. 74

Figure 3.4: The Beja People of Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia .............................. 75

Figure 5.1: Excerpt from the Black Manifesto................................................................ 103


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Chapter 1

Introduction

There exists, spearheaded by a critical mass of spiritually evolved Africans, the

evolving higher consciousness of the African collective, or the Ausarian Self. This Self

of higher spiritual consciousness can be fully known when the higher consciousness of

one's individual self is known. As the ancients of spiritual culture have taught,

knowledge and effectuation of one's higher Self is a supreme undertaking of life.

Knowledge and effectuation of the collective Self or Ancestral consciousness is an

equally supreme undertaking. The reason this must be so, is that life is a Unity behind

its marvelous diversity; thus, one's individual higher Self is one with any collective Self

(i.e., national soul) that the Supreme Being is poised in. The status of the whole is always

relevant to the status of the individual, and vice versa. Our individual spiritual

achievement is not complete if we isolate ourselves from the condition of others or

from our ancestral heritage, self-content with our supposed state of Nirvana. We must

see the evolving spirit in ourselves and in others of our collective as the same.

Ultimately, there is only one Self that expresses through the unity and evolving diversity

of life, the Universal Integral Divine One. The higher African Self has given to the

World its first great humanity and civilizations; this same evolving higher African Self

has a role to play in giving to the world its next higher expression of humanity and

civilization.

Individual spiritual development naturally occurs over the course of several

lifetimes. The individual soul puts on physical and mental forms throughout multiple

lifetimes, not unlike how a person puts on different clothes for different occasions.

Individual spiritual development can be accelerated in each lifetime by concerted

individual efforts, combined with the descent of Divine Truth Thought/Will Force

from higher planes of vibratory existence. In the Hindu tradition, there are forms of

Yoga used by initiates called Kriya Yoga and Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo that serve

this grand purpose.

Likewise, the evolution of higher consciousness of any collective occurs over the

course of centuries, even millennia; it can also be accelerated in each period with a

concerted effort by the collective, an effort typically spearheaded by a highly conscious

and spiritually evolved cadre (i.e., spiritual elders or selfless leaders). For the African

collective, which is the focus of this writing, the concerted effort needed to further its

spiritual evolution in the current era must be solidly organized, span all levels of


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collective action (i.e., culture, economics, education, politics, etc.), and be guided by

already spiritually evolved individuals. These spiritually evolved individuals have the

objective of not only transcending immediate obstacles that face the African collective,

but also strive for the highest ideal of unfettered Divine expression through the African

collective. A kind of Kriya Yoga under the tutelage of African adepts is needed today

for the African collective to accomplish this ideal in our lifetime. Indeed, this spiritual

evolution of the African collective will be part and parcel of the evolution of all

humanity, as it was before its interruption by negative external forces.

A Spiritual Evolutionary View of African Historical Development

Individual spiritual development rarely progresses in a straight upward slope, but

rather in a spiral that sometimes loops downward before ascending to ever-higher

levels. The same can be said of collective spiritual development. It is important for us

to at least have an overview of this sometimes hidden, yet ever-rising spiral of collective

African spiritual progress. It is also essential to keep in mind that spiritual consciousness

is the basis of and gives proper value to all mental and material realities.

The Universal consciousness that has become involved with material matter also

evolves to higher expressions of itself through physical matter. Hence, physical matter

supports but is not an ultimate cause nor limiting substance of individual and collective

spiritual growth. We must take stock of our historical spiritual progress through the

ages, along with apparent setbacks, so that we may better know where we are and what

development remains towards reaching our collective ideal as unfettered, unlimited

expressions of the Divine Will/Force in the world.

The underlying view promoted in this book is that historical events relating to the

African collective should be seen from the perspective of serving as material for the

growth and development of the higher African collective consciousness, just as

experiences are food for individual spiritual growth. We must note that individual

experiences of a person can be assimilated on the surface and utilized for superficial

egoistic gains of the being with the mind, body, or vital force as the nexus of identity

formation. Collective group experiences can likewise be interpreted on an analogous

superficial level, leading to a decadent and immature society.

In this work, we focus on the assimilation of historical experiences by the deeper

inner or higher Self of the African collective, the group-Soul. Most traditional African

societies have developed an understanding that individuals have a higher Self or Soul

that experiences the changes of life on the mental, physical, and vital levels. So too is


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there a real group-Soul when individuals gather together in synchronicity, solidarity,

symbiosis, and strive for collective goals. There is also a hereditary DNA basis for a

shared collective group-Soul, a phenomenon recently termed epigenetics.

We should not view our collective African history in surface terms of apparent

ascension and decline or of isolated events. Rather, we should look beyond the surface

at how the deeper African collective consciousness, the group-Soul, has assimilated

historical events to increase its collective Self-awareness as an embodiment and agent

of the Divine. In this work, only the general lines of some African historical and current

movements are mentioned to encourage the reader to view them—and the plethora of

details they relate to—from the perspective of the evolving higher African Collective

Self.

An individual can go through periods of regression and ignorance with respect to

knowledge of his/her true higher Self. So too can the African collective forget its prior

grand accomplishments of high divine expression and become exteriorized in

superficial grooves of expression. This is what has happened to the African Collective

to varying degrees, and with planned intent, for the past several hundred years with the

advent of European and Arab warring into Africa, and up to the modern era with the

rise of global White racism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism.

If we recall our collective spiritual experiences of past progress, for the essence of

these experiences is always available to us, then our collective higher Self will be

invoked. It will come to the forefront of our collective consciousness to govern our

collective life and actions in the world. We will move in more forceful, enlightened, and

universally life-affirming steps towards expressing the Divine through our collective

higher Self in all modes of life—spiritual, mental, or material.

It appears that the European collective understood the ramifications of Africans

knowing our story, knowing our true Self. They demonstrated a rudimentary

understanding of the inverse relationship between a people who know their higher

collective Self via historical memory and the European’s ability to control such a people.

Thus, they undertook every means to cut off Africans in the diaspora from our

culture—our collective memory—and blot out or revise African history. Africans must

not rely on Europeans for making his-story, the European story, into the collective

African story. The European collective world-view must not be the African collective

point of reference.


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All peoples have their own group-Soul to discover and authentically express. If

Africans on the African continent and in the diaspora supplant their own worldviews

with Eurocentric world perspectives, we will continue to be exteriorized, and flounder

in ignorance of our collective higher Self, which I call the Collective Ausarian Self. The

reason for the name reference to Ausar is that in Ancient Egyptian spiritual culture.

Ausar represents the true Self of the individual. This true Self has an integral view of

life that understands the Indivisible Unity always supporting the diversity of life. The

Ausarian Self knows itself to be one with all things. This Self resides in the individual

while also existing as the unifying essence of life. In its poise as the higher collective

African Self that has witnessed the entire sweep of African historical development, I

refer to it as the collective Ausarian Self.

The reason for the name reference to Ausar is that in Ancient Egyptian spiritual

culture, Ausar represents the true Self of the individual. This true Self has an integral

view of life that understands the Indivisible Unity always supporting the diversity of

life. The Ausarian Self knows itself to be one with all things. This Self resides in the

individual while also existing as the unifying essence of life. In its poise as the higher

collective African Self that has witnessed the entire sweep of African historical

development, I refer to it as the collective Ausarian Self.

How can we assess whether the collective African Self-consciousness is indeed

expanding and that we as African people are becoming more Self-realized as powerful

agents of the collective Ausarian Self?

➢ One important measure is the degree to which we honor our collective historical

culture and experiences as a basis for future collective action, or Sankofa. (Measure

1) Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana that translates generally as "Go

back and get it." Kame Agyei & Akua Nson Akoto (2000)give a more extended

meaning to the word:

“Sankofa is an ancient concept. Though the work is ostensibly Akan, it is a

timeless principle of all creation, and applies to both spiritual and material

aspects of creation. Sankofa is not merely “going back to fetch that which you

have lost.” It is a dual process of internal and external development. This

concept of Sankofa is analogous to a forest of giant oaks with a linked and

intertwined root system. Sankofa is that process epitomized in an ever-

expanding root system that develops almost imperceptibly. That root system of


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timeless historical tradition anchors and nourishes our cultural reality, the

flower of our existence.

The expansion of that root system is facilitated by and facilitates, in turn, the

expansion of the tree’s crown of limb and foliage. This dynamic and

expansive rooting system that is Sankofa, is the process of recapturing the

essence of our Africkanity and thereafter immersing the personal and collective

self in that Afrikanity, and simultaneously ridding the self of non-Afrikan

elements. Sankofa is that concept that invokes that spiritual/metaphysical

entity/energy that gives life and form to the processes of reAfrikanization. It is

a process of re-convergent energies, of the spiritual, ideational, moral and

physical dynamics of rebirth. It is this reality of rediscovery and reactivation of

that root system that lies at the basis of this current movement of cultural

revival.”

Such appreciation demonstrates an awareness of our collective African Self-

evolution along a continuum. One method of honoring ourstory is through invoking

the continued presence of our honorable ancestors who have, through their good deeds,

paved the way for our progress. In doing so, we give evidence of our awareness of a

collective consciousness that transcends physical realities. Other indications of the

expansion of collective African Self-consciousness are:

➢ When we embrace cultural structures, sometimes old and sometimes new, which

transcend previously constructed distinctions among us in our societies (Measure

2). When we do this for the greater good of African people everywhere, it can be

said that this is an evolutionary growth of collective African Self-consciousness.

When various African groups are concerned with only their group’s capacity for

development and expression, this demonstrates a limiting growth condition.

o This value was an imperative as Africans were taken from different nations

on the African continent, enslaved in the Americas, and had to submerge

their superficial ethnic differences to provide mutual support for surviving

the Maafa, or great destruction of their African way of life. Africans, in doing

the “Ring Shout” in bush harbors on plantations, were not concerned with

what African nation one was stolen from.

➢ When we individually and collectively refuse to be defined by others or to take on

uncritically the cultural values of other groups, whereby in doing so we facilitate


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their survival thrusts at the expense of our own group (Measure 3). Our collective

resistance to enslavement, and our collective effort to raise our condition beyond

that or servitude to Europeans and what they have insisted is our lot, is an example

of this value.

➢ When we develop material self-sufficiency (Measure 4). Material development

serves as a foundation for higher spiritual development. It is a positive sign when

African people achieve self-sufficiency, intercontinental trade agreements, and

independence from external domination of African resources, the prerequisite for a

harmonious society and for unlimited spiritual growth.

➢ When we practice cultural expressions, develop cultural traditions and institutions

that affirm our unity as a people (Measure 5). The creation of independent Black

Churches and Kwanza based on the Nguzo Saba, are prime examples.

➢ When we resist the cultural intrusion by alien cultures (Measure 6), even if this

requires accommodating their dominant structures, as through syncretism of

African spiritual systems and expression with dominant Christian and Islamic

religions.

➢ When we project our African-centered values and gifts in our relations with other

peoples for our mutual uplift and for a more harmonious world community

(Measure 7). Black Gospel, Jazz, and popular music or examples of our sharing

with the world our cultural gifts. Africans have maintained a moral high ground in

the practice of religion, ethics, and provided value for true democracy for the world.

➢ When we create, maintain, and defend cohesive nations/kingdoms that allow

freedom of its peoples to thrive materially and spiritually (Measure 8).

o Collective consciousness has traditionally been deeply involved with

developing the individual through rites of passage. The individual is taught

early and throughout life how to evolve into a fully functioning member of

the collective society. Individual rights are balanced with the motives of the

collective. Every individual, even if born into the lower rungs of society, are

afforded opportunities to develop spiritually, materially, and psychologically,

as integrated members of the society.

o On a macro level, we can trace the evolution of the collective African spirit

through the evolution of African nations and kingdoms, even as they declined

or adapted through syncretism in the face of overwhelming pressures from


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Asiatics/Arabs and Europeans. In cases where one nation/kingdom/empire

was not able to survive these pressures, the Spirit took up its evolution in

succeeding nations/kingdoms/empires in areas removed from these

immediate pressures of invaders. It is worth studying how after Kemet was

overrun by Arab invaders, where the collective Spirit of the indigenous

Africans moved to. Surely the Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eretria, as well as

West Africa (Hausa States, Ghana, Mali, Songhai,) were some of these

destinations. The Dogon of present-day Mali, trace their lineage to Kemet.

➢ When we join in common cause with other Africans on the continent of Africa and

throughout African Diasporas for freedom, justice, and mutual uplift (Measure 9).

This was always the aim of the Marcus Garvey movement. Today it is exemplified

with the incorporation of the diaspora nations as the 6th region of the African Union.

➢ When we establish integrated supranational organizations and institutions that foster

common security, economic, and political practices to elevate the African collective

on the continent of Africa and in the African Diasporas. (Measure 10). The OAU

and its predecessor the African Union (AU) are examples, as will be the United

African States envisioned by the AU.

As we consider what further milestones we would look to that show an individual has

achieved higher spiritual attainment, we can relate and extend those markers to

important indicators of the evolving collective African Self-consciousness.

An Overview of Individual Spiritual Development

It is reasonable to generally associate the stages of individual spiritual development

to that of collective spiritual development since a collective is made up of individuals.

The group-Soul is the unity behind individual Souls working and living together. At a

deeper level, the individual and the collective are an undifferentiated whole, with the

Supreme Being manifesting in all individual beings. There are some essentials to know

about individual spiritual development that in turn can be applied to understanding and

actualizing any group spiritual development.

The undifferentiated Divine Being, the One Self without a second, became involved

in physical reality, matter, and through the eons has evolved increasingly higher forms

of individualized vehicles of being, capable of expressing the unity and integral nature

of Life with greater facility. The human being is one such vehicle. The human Soul is

an apportionment or extension of the Divine Soul inhabiting matter. This integral view


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of life is expressed by the ancient African ancestors of Kemet (Egypt) in the following

passage from The Book of Coming Forth by Day, Chapter 83, Changing Into a Bennu

(Phoenix):

“I came into existence from unformed matter; I created myself in the image of

God Khepera, and I grew in the form of plants. I am hidden in the likeness of

the Tortoise. I am the essence of every god and goddess. I am the origin of the

four quarters of the world. I am the seventh of those seven Urei who came into

existence in the East. I am the mighty one Heru who illuminates the world with

his person. I am Pa Neter (God) in the likeness of Set and Djehuti who dwelleth

among us in the judgment of Him who dwells in Sekhem, and of the spirits of

Anu. I sail among them, and I come; I am crowned. I have become a shining

one-glorious. I am mighty. I am holy among the gods and goddesses …”

Foundational to understanding the processes of individual and collective

development of consciousness is knowing the makeup of man. The ancient Egyptians

recognized seven dimensions of the human, the Ba, Ka, Khaibit, Ab, Khat, Sahu, and

Khu. The Ka and Ba relate more to spiritual and transcendent aspects of our being,

whereas, the other dimensions are more of the mental, vital, and physical aspects of our

being. The Ab refers to our will, which can be enlightened by Divine Truth (Tehuti)

and merged with the Divine will, or overshadowed by our desires, intellectual will to

selfish power, and otherwise by the lower aspects of our being if we allow it. The Ka

refers to the abstract personality structure of a person that gives form to substance and

creates matter. It is a thread of consciousness between man’s tangible and intangible

being. It can be disintegrated upon death unless it is divinized through spiritual

cultivation and become transcendent. R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz (1981) gives these three

aspects to the Ka:

1. Divine Ka—the original Ka which is the creator of all the others.

2. Intermediate Ka—Kas of nature, mineral, vegetable and animal.

3. Inferior Ka—individualized Ka; inherited characteristics of psychological

consciousness. Consciousness of the Ka evolved from the Inferior to the

Divine Ka.

Schawaller de Lubicz (1981) expounds on the individualized and universalized aspects

of the Ka:


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“A man ignorant of his own spiritual world has little or no contact with his

Divine Ka. His personal Ka is brought down to the whole of his lower Kas;

therefore, after death, he will become his own shade or ghost … the quest for

spiritual springs of action and the enlargement of consciousness, can modify the

character of his “personal” Ka until the spiritual faculties are awakened and it

makes contact with the Divine Ka.”

The Ba represents the vital principle or spirit contained in all life in Kemet. When it

was represented by a bird with a human head, it symbolized the human soul that goes

between heaven and earth. It is the most spiritually transcendent aspect of the human.

It is unlinked with the Creator—free, unfixed, and unaffected by the human being

whose only link to it is a link of consciousness. It too has individual and universal

aspects in the human being. Schawaller de Lubicz (1981) gives these three aspects of

the Ba:

1. Ba (universal soul) the spirit of fire, which gives life to the world in all its

parts. The spirit Ba is in all constituents of the world and in its final perfection.

2. Ba (natural soul) stabilized the bodily form (Ka), and its character is Osarian

(Ausar), this is, it is subject to cyclic renewal (rebirth).

3. Ba as the human soul is represented by a bird with a human head.

Na’im Akbar (Akbar, 1994) gives the Egyptian etymology of the word Psyche, which is

very revealing of the Ancient African study of man.

“Psychology is a Greek word revealing its most recent origins among the Greek

students of the Ancient African masters. “Psyche”, frequently identified with a

Greek goddess of the same name actually means “soul.” According to Massey

(1974) the word Psyche is actually derived from the Egyptian in which Khe is

the soul and Su is she; hence the feminine nature of the Greek Psu-khe. Without

the article “P”, Saku means the “understanding, the illuminator, the eye and soul

of being, that which inspires.” Not only is the study of the mind derived from

ancient Egypt, but even the word used to characterize that study (psychology).”

(p. 2)

Our Ancient African ancestors gave us the injunction “Know Thy Self.” We can see

they have studied the nature of man deeply and have much to teach us about our Selves.

The Divine has provided for the individualization of people through the formation of

the individual ego-sense. But as we have seen from the Egyptian divisions of man, this


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ego-sense is not the determiner, the true support, nor the highest aspect of our being.

It is only an outer layer of the human dynamic, an evolutionary mental construct that

needs to be transcended to get to realization of the REAL. I relate the Egyptian Ka and

Ba to what I call the Psychic Being, the Soul as well as Ausar. Our Soul, Ba, which is an

immortal apportionment of the Divine, is the highest aspect of our being. The ego-

sense is a surface organizing expression of our being that is sustained by our

identification with the individual body, vital force, and mind as being our true self. To

reach the higher essence of our being we must instead identify with the Soul as our

higher Self, viewing the mind, body and vital as instruments of the Soul; thus, shifting

the organizing control of our lives to a higher principle.

The Soul is immortal and resides in a field of perfection. It has no real limitation

and is not at all separate from the Supreme Being. It thus has access to all Knowledge,

all Power, and all Presence of the Supreme Being. It is one with all things, one with the

Divine Will/Force. This Soul resides in all people but is not expressed through most

people in unfettered, non-egoistic terms. In most people, the Soul is hidden, unengaged,

and only a few rays of its brilliance pass through to the externalized being. The Soul

puts forth an ever-faithful representative of itself, the Psychic Being, (Ka) which actively

engages life, and evolves throughout the journey of life. The Soul can be thought of as

presiding over our nature, while the ever-faithful representative, the Psychic Being, is

actively involved with transforming our nature to a higher principle. This representative

pierces through the ego-sense, giving the outer centered person some glimmer of the

Soul's magnificence. This ever-faithful representative, the Psychic Being, is our True

Self navigating the world of differentiation and change.

The Psychic Being is located behind the energetic heart center, which is in the middle

of the chest. It is not to be confused with the emotions of the heart, or imaginings of

the mind. It is a higher principle than these, yet ideally gives them their true value and

expression. It is because of the inherent connection and fidelity the Psychic Being has

with the Soul that we can grow and accomplish anything on earth. For most of us, the

rays of light from the Soul are distorted and diffused by the ego-sense, causing our

actions, in turn, to be distorted and diffused. The Psychic Being can reveal the Soul in

increasingly wider degrees as it uses life's experiences for that exact purpose.

By shifting our identity and center of consciousness from the ego to the Psychic

Being, we can increase the Psychic, Universalizing influence in our lower instruments

of mind, body, and senses; over our lives. Our outer being will thus be illuminated,


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transformed, and guided by the Soul's light that funnels through its evolving delegate,

the Psychic Being. I may refer to the Individual Soul and the Psychic Being

interchangeably as people are more familiar with the Soul, verses its delegate the Psychic

Being.

A Soul-centered life vs. an ego-centered life is accomplished by our identification

with our inner Soul and moving our consciousness to the Psychic Being. The Psychic

Being will then take charge of the outer instrumentation of our being (body, vital and

mind), and utilize it correctly for the purposes of our inner Soul. The Soul and Psychic

Being are indestructible and survive the death experience until the previous life's

experiences are assimilated and the Soul puts forth another life form of itself (body,

vital and mind). The growth and essential experience of the Psychic Being are never

lost. Once an individual is living a Soul centered life, there is no sense of personal self

vs. the self of others.

The true Self of others is one with one's own Self. As mentioned earlier, the Ka and

Ba have universalized dimensions to them, not just individualized. This one Self is the

Ausarian Self of not just the individual, but also of the African collective, and extends

to all people. However, when I refer to the Ausarian Self in this work, I am speaking

mainly of the Universal Divine Being in the poise of the African group-Soul, witnessing

and enacting the historical development of African peoples the world over. For a deeper

understanding of the Psychic Being, the individual and group Soul, I refer the reader to

works written by Sri Aroubindo, particularly his books, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of

Human Unity, War and Self-Determination, The Synthesis of Yoga, and The Psychic Being.

Discussion on Ni Ching’s version of Hua Hu Ching

I have discovered that the esoteric teachings of both the Hindu religion and Taoism

are consistent with African views on the integral nature of life and on individual as well

as collective spiritual development. For this reason, I include here my reflections on

Hua Ching Ni’s (1995) version of some sections of the Hua Hu Ching, an ancient

Chinese classic originally attributed to Lao Tzu. I’ve found this version of the original

text to be an excellent guide to personal spiritual cultivation. I have summarized some

of my understandings of the lessons for individual spiritual development for selected

Books enumerated in the Hua Hu Ching. Keep in mind that practices on individual

spiritual development are applicable to collective spiritual development. It would be


12

instructive as one is reading the below teachings to consider how these teachings can

be extended to the spiritual development of the African Collective.

Book 1

Referring to the master teacher … “His instruction was neither ordinary religion

nor worldly wisdom, yet it revealed the truth of every aspect of the universe.” To

realize our unlimited life, we need not add things external to our nature, as in religious

creeds, doctrines, and domineering human intermediaries to our own divinity. Our

inner nature already has everything needed. Adding externals to our nature is like trying

to wash water or adding a finger to our hand.

Book 2

“How should men and women who are motivated to attain correct awareness

of their true nature calm their minds?” Being motivated to achieve correct awareness

of our true nature is a start; however, knowing how to calm and manage the mind is

essential. The mind can be an instrument of liberation or imprisonment. It can imprison

buy being stuck in the past, living in an imagined future, and trying to preserve the

moment. It is said the way to manage the mind is like imagining a smooth ball rolling

along a smooth disk (not stuck on any limiting conceptions). Then let go of this image

of a ball and disk and all other attachments of the mind. Added to the difficulty are all

the dualities created by the mind that separates us from perception of the Real.

Intellectual symbolic knowledge and direct perception of the Real are not one and the

same. A symbol is merely a stand-in for the actual reality but is never the reality itself.

In our runaway information age, there is a lack of guidance on how not to clutter or

fixate the mind in groves of partial perception.

Book 3

"All lives are one life that can be called the One Great Universal Life.” It is

the same Source that courses through all forms. So, no life form should be disrespected.

Again, it is the mind that establishes dualities, and notions of superior VS inferior, more

sacred and special than the other, self-verses other. To achieve awareness of the true

nature of life and Self, these dualities of the mind must be dissolved. You may ask why

treat others as yourself? The reason is because, in ESSENCE, you and “other” are the

same. Namaste. Yes, there is diversity and distinction. Yet there is unity behind all

diversity. Even more, there is a great Equality of the many and the One Source. Both

the many and the One must be embraced as equal. God and man are one. Embracing


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is not even the best way to put it. We need not embrace who we really are as in reaching

out. We need to just realize who we really are with inner, integral awareness. This

process is more of a removal of the obstructions to our integral vision. This is not the

same as intellectual awareness. It is direct perception beyond thought and symbol.

We are the many and the One at once. Embrace that, but ultimately, just be that

which you already are with integral awareness. I think at the core of this instruction is

that we must maintain a non-discriminating mind. That is, maintain an awareness of the

underlying unity behind diversity. To value one lifeform above another is harmful to

achieving this awareness. I don't think it means to ignore the fact that some need FIRST

aid over others. There are people, groups, whose conditions are so poor or oppressed,

that they demand our service first. If someone or some group is dying, regardless of

color, nationality, social status, or any other distinction, that person or group needs our

focused service FIRST.

Dr. Claude Anderson, who wrote Powernomics, speaks against Blacks getting

involved in horizontal issues or issues that affect all groups like poverty, or the

environment. He says Blacks need to focus on vertical issues that affect Blacks uniquely,

like economic racism. I understand his point and I refer to it when I say that if someone

or some group is bleeding, that they should receive first aid. Blacks need to service

ourselves first in those areas that we are bleeding in, which is practically all areas of

people activity. This does not contradict the instruction of unconditional service. It's a

fine line. Equality and balance are not always in the middle. Some need more, and with

a greater frequency, to strike a balance to the whole.

Book 5

"Kind prince the mind can be just as immeasurable as the universe itself. An

integral being ... unites his mind with the Subtle Origin and its expression in

which there is no past, present, or future. This is how an integral being deals

with his mind." This tells me that to un-tie the knots of the mind, the hang-ups, the

habitual grooves, or whirlpools we get stuck in, requires joining our minds with that

which is above these limiting mental constructs, the Subtle Origin. This goes back to

the previous injunction of having a non-discriminating mind that does not regard the

dualities of life as irreconcilable and all definitive. One then rises above the countless

dualities, gain/loss, success/failure, beauty/ugly, and life/death, becoming free and

unlimited. For the African, it also means aligning one’s consciousness with the African

Ancestral consciousness or the African Group Soul. African invocation of and


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communion with Ancestral spirits are expressions of going beyond the mental

limitations of past, present, and future

Book 7

"To hold the mind with any rigid framework is to immediately become

trapped in the bondage of duality. If one does not discriminate between what is

labeled as sacred and profane, one is liberated from the bondage of all

concepts." Again, the instruction is not to be fixated on any mental constructs. Allow

the mind to move freely like a smooth ball on a smooth disk, and don't be fixated on

the image of a smooth ball and disk. Religious doctrine causes the mind to get stuck,

fixated and crystalized. This state becomes a self-accepted prison from the wider

realization of universal oneness and Being. This injunction speaks to the spiritual

traditions of across Africa, that defy supersede religiosity or doctrine. Not everyone will

break free from the bondage of religions and other mental crystallizations; yet there are

beings that support unlimited evolutionary growth beyond the three gunas (Hindu

term) of mind, body, and vital force.

Book 8

"All the far-reaching, un-faded teachings of the ancient sages come from the

same source: the subtle truth of great oneness.” Behind the words, the sacred texts,

recorded experiences, are the same un-faded Source that sustains all life, that IS all life.

This Source exists without the need of our individual minds to image or fix it into

concepts, precepts, or doctrines. It outstrips these, and so can we, with a non-

discriminating mind. This same Source, which sustains us, is within us. We need only

go past the symbolic language and images created by the mind to perceive it. It IS our

TRUE SELF, for we are one with IT.

Book 15

"Kind prince, to a universal integral being there is nothing that needs to be

tolerated or labeled tolerance. Tolerance exists only in the relative sphere. Why

is this? If you have risen above the relative concepts of the mind, there is no self

and others, no longevity or brevity, no life or death in your mind, so there is no

hatred or resentment. What, then, is the necessity for tolerance? One who is

highly evolved is attached to nothing and does not depend on any particular

mental concept or form in his relations with people or in serving them." The

practice of this way of perception would almost be like starting life over. We must


15

unlearn so much to have correct perception. We must let go of so much to embrace an

unlimited life. The place to start is our insistence on holding on to the dualities of the

mind that separates us from the underlying REALITY of oneness. All dualities are

expressions of the same essence between the opposites. Though focusing on one end

of the pole is a means of rising above the other pole, as in focusing on the positive to

rise above the negative, this keeps us bound to the relative realm of dualities.

Once we keep to one end of a pole, there will always be the suggestion in the mind

of the opposite end of the pole. The way out is to see the oneness that is behind the

dualities. Don't reject the many for the One, or the One for the many. That is another

dichotomy. See the many and the One as an integral WHOLE. In seeing THAT, realize

THAT as your essence because all of existence and non-existence is THAT.

Book 32

"The world and the particles are not separate, isolated things. The particles

could be gathered to become the world, and the world could be dispersed to

become particles. One small particle contains the nature of the world, and the

world contains the nature of each small particle; the nature of each is the same.

Although they are not one and the same, neither are they different." I’ve pondered

over this question deeply for many years in early stages of my quest for spiritual

understanding. Here is the position I arrived at on this question after much mental

struggle. The force of attraction and repulsion speaks to the pervasive oneness of life

that is behind all diversity. The universe is made of particles, electrons, protons,

neutrons, quarks, etc. How do these particles know to organize themselves in relation

to the “other?”

It is by the force of attraction and repulsion. Now for one particle to relate to

another, to know the other through attraction or repulsion, there must be a medium

between that shares in the essence of each. If this were not so there could be no

communication, no relation. More so, this medium, sharing in the essence of each

particle can thus be said to be on some level, identical or indistinguishable from the

particles they join. If this were not so there would be a break in the path of

communication, preventing communication. But what we see is that everywhere, all the

time, there is communication of attraction and repulsion. Therefore, all that exists is

integrated in oneness by this shared subtle medium. Life is backed by oneness, while at

the same time expresses in diversity. Because of the integral oneness of life, I am one

with all, and life is unlimited. From this understanding springs my courage, clarity,


16

peace, strength, power, and transcendence of ego, pain, and even the dissolution of

death.

One may believe that focusing on the African Collective Self is exclusionary of and

separate from the Soul of other groups. Consider the injunction to “Know Thy Self.”

This injunction does not negate the Self of others. It implies that to truly know your

Self, is to know the unity of life, and your oneness with it, with others. Indeed, then

there is not a dichotomy of Self vs. other, as the “Hua Hu Ching” mentions. This mental

construct is an impediment we must dissolve. Put another way, for a person to know

the world of existence, and even the Divine he/she must use the senses and

individualized intuition of his/her individual vehicle and Soul. The same applies to the

group-Soul. The group-Soul must come to know the world of existence and the Divine

through from its own Self-realized poise. This is the basis of the injunction, “man Know

Thy Self”, as the beginning of all knowledge, even knowledge of the Divine. From that

poise, we recognize the oneness of our Self with all and THE ALL.

An Overview of Collective Spiritual Development

Collective spiritual development, just as in individual spiritual development, is a

natural progression of the Spirit of the Universal Divine One involved in matter and

Life, to higher forms that have a greater capacity to express the One Being. The destiny

of humanity is to evolve collective social life to levels that will increasingly reveal and

more freely express the indwelling Spirit of Oneness. The Divine One is the All, the

only thing that really exists, THAT has become involved in all of matter, and is evolving

through matter to higher expressions of itself. The Higher Self of the African collective

is one with the Universal Divine One and is currently spearheading the evolution of

indwelling Consciousness that resides in physical matter.

Stages of collective spiritual development are generally aligned to the social

development of a people going from family, to clans, to powerful nation-states, to

country. In the Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu, it states that if an individual knows how to

guide his individual life, he knows how to guide the life of his family, the state, and the

country. Implied in this statement is that if a society is organized by un-enlightened

individuals, then the family, state, and country is based on an unsteady foundation and

likely has embedded within it the seeds of decay, disintegration, and transformation.

There are notable examples where societies have grown large, perhaps based on their

domination over other collectives, and imploded from the lack of internal cohesiveness


17

that comes only by recognizing the inner divinity of all people inside and outside the

collective. The Roman Empire is just one such example. Even societies that lasted for

millennia (i.e., the Nubian and Egyptian civilizations) where transformed from their

relatively stable structures, to other forms, as the Unlimited Being cannot be

permanently limited to any organizing structure. It must evolve to wider expressions of

the Divine.

A whole spiritual movement can begin with just one spiritually evolved adept, where

his/her energy is disseminated throughout the society starting with a few faithful and

self-realized disciples. A spiritual group may flower and become a significant sector in

a society over time, seeking to influence the society in subtle or overt ways. The spiritual

energy may later be disseminated over a larger number of people; however, the intensity

or vibration levels of this energy may become diffused from the original core group, as

the number of members increase. A common historical occurrence has been that the

purity of the original insights and energy of a founding spiritual teacher become

distorted as they passed through many minds over time.

The original expanding spiritual awareness may have become limited in crystalized

forms of creed, doctrines, sayings, and prohibitions, and the original insight lost. The

faithful may be split into various stratum of spiritual development, ranging from those

who have reached the highest esoteric understandings and spiritual attainment, to those

who tend to make the teachings into mere formulas and creed of good social behavior.

In the latter case, there is little transformation towards higher consciousness taking

place; but it is a start. Since spiritual development in a society is guided by a group of

individuals of self-mastery who have dissolved their egos, collective spiritual

development need not detract from individual development and vice versa. Individuals

support collective development, and the collective supports individual development

without stifling proscriptions. Collective development, however, occurs at a slower rate

than individual development. Collective spiritual development is more along the lines

of an average or common denominator of the development of its members.

As mentioned, an individual can live an egoistic superficial life of his/her outer

being. With individual spiritual cultivation, the person shifts the center of identity to

the inner being, or true Self. The same is the case with collective spiritual development,

since the collective is made up of individuals acting in some form of solidarity and

synchronicity. The progressive Impetus of the Divine Spark is for larger collective to

take on attitudes of collective inner being, as opposed to that of collective outer being.


18

When the collective identity is placed with the outer being, a manifestation of collective

egoism, the collective espouses attitudes that can be very destructive to all people in the

world, as in imperialism and racism. Imperialism is egoism played out on the world

stage.

Ultimately, the individual or collective that is living mostly in the outer being is

evolving, however slowly, towards Divine revelation in the world; for the true

determiner of life and evolution of consciousness is the Universal Integral Soul of life.

Below is a chart listing some attitudes/perspectives of the individual and collective inner

and outer being.

Table 1.1 Attitudes when Identified with the Outer Being

Perspectives of the

Individual

Perspectives of the

Collective

Attitudes Towards Life

Identified with

Physical Life

Everything is separate.

Matter is eternal; hence

matter is God.

Truth is only what can

be verified with the

physical senses.

One’s body is one’s self.

“I am sick; I am dying”

Species, including

humans, are fortuitous

accidents, as in chance

mutations that give rise

to natural selection and

the survival of the fittest.

Society highly values

extending sense

perception and ability to

analyze the physical

world with technological

instruments.

Society seeks short-term

material gain with little

to no concern for long-

term damage to the

environment.

Measures collective well-

being by physical

possessions, i.e., land,


19

minerals, human labor

force.

Champions members

with physical beauty.

Discrimination against

its own members based

on superficial

characteristics.

Members’ value

measured in ability to

make things; products

over people.

Material possessions are

acquired by any means

necessary with little to

no regard for other,

except for the other’s

capacity to resist and

retaliate.

Identified with the

Vital Energy

Absorbed with pursuit

of wealth, sex and

power.

Life governed by

emotions, desire and

personal preferences.

Everything is a resource

for the powerful

individual, whose limits

are only the more

powerful.

One’s emotions and vital

energy are identified as

one’s self. “I am happy”;

Indiscriminate forces of

nature control life;

precipitating their need

to be controlled by man

(man VS Nature).

Society lives beyond

sustainability of

environment. This leads

to coveting resources of

other sovereign groups.

The vitally strong of

society are most

cherished, whereas the

sick and weak are


20

“I am sad”; “I am

strong”; “I am weak.”

devalued, exploited, or

ultimately eliminated.

Champions members

with vital prowess as in

sports or hunting.

Promotes instant

gratification, the pleasure

principle.

Seeks progress by having

highly motivated and

productive members

who work and sacrifice

for the collective, even at

expense of individual

growth.

Seeks to secure and

enlarge its self by vital

means or charisma.

Seek power relations in

society where a few

benefit at the expense of

the many.

Identified with the

Mental Faculty

Life governed by moral

and mental principles.

Mind is a product of

physical matter.

Absorbed with one’s

own perspective and

conceptions.

One’s mind is one’s self

– “I think therefore I

am”

Society governed by

moral and intellectual

precepts.

Logic and reason is God,

Logos.

Extols the virtue of

mind over matter and

behavioral psychology.

Theories of mentally

superior races.


21

Sets up society where the

mentally adept are

rewarded far above all

other members.


22

Table 1.2 Identification with Inner Being

The Individual

Perspectives

The Collective

Perspectives

Attitudes Towards Life

All things are connected,

though in appearance

separate.

Search for the purpose

and meaning of life in

one’s Self, rather than

external to one’s self.

Death is viewed as a

transition to another

phase of life and being.

The disintegration of the

body is viewed like the

changing of clothing.

Life governed by what is

intuited to be the truth

of one’s inner being.

Life is a Divine

revelation.

Aspiration for human

perfection as an

embodiment of the

Divine on earth.

The infinite is in the

finite but not limited by

the finite; and the finite

is in the infinite and can

identify totally with it.

Humankind is a Divine

manifestation.

Matter is the Divine

Spirit in manifested

form.

Truth is what can be

verified by the inner

being, and by collective

progress.

The environment is not

a possession but a means

of support granted by

the Divine.

A Divine Will ultimately

controls the forces of

Nature.

Humans can engage

nature to further the

Divine expression.

Society engages in

sustainable modes of

production that do not

harm the environment.

The forces of Nature are

viewed as powers of the

Divine and are honored

as such.


23

The Divine is the

ultimate cause, sustainer,

executer and benefactor

of actions.

The body, the vital and

the mind are instruments

in service of soul, which

is an apportionment of

the Divine on earth.

Recognizes the

limitations of sense

perception.

One’s life is an evolution

of the Divine that is

involved in life.

The mind is used to

organize society based

on Divine revelation.

Pursues and measures

collective wellbeing by

fostering collective

identification with

Divine.




identification with

Divine.

Promotes initiation into

higher God knowledge

and expression.

The talents of all

members are respected

equally.

Men and women are

viewed as inherently

equal.



and expression.

The talents of all

members are respected

equally.

Men and women are


equal.


24

As above so below;

society is to be a mirror

of Divine order.

Attitudes Towards Self The Individual The Collective Self

I am not my body, my

mind, nor my vital

energy. These are

instruments in service of

my Soul, which is an

apportionment of the

Divine on earth.

Recognizes the

limitations of sense

perception.

One’s life is an evolution

of the Divine that is

involved in Material

existence.




identification with

Divine;



and expression.

The talents of all

members of society are

respected equally.

Men and women are


equal.

Attitudes Towards

Others

The Individual The Collective

All people are

expressions of the

Divine;

All people are treated

with the dignity, equality,

respect, and honor that

one would give to the

Divine because the

Divine resides in each

person. Ubuntu.

Honors the concept of

the human family and

respect for its diversity

as expressed through

other collectives.

Embraces cultural

structures that transcend

previously established

divisions among us in

our societies.


25

Respects the sovereignty

of other people’s land.

Seeks symbiotic power

relations with other

collectives, and views

these as an indicator of

the society’s health and

progressive nature.

Warfare is only for

checking aggressive,

imbalanced forces.

Spiritual aspiration and

Divine grace are the

world’s salvation.

Honors the equal rights

and protections of other

collectives in the world.

Uses its granted powers

of life to further

harmonious

development of Diverse

expressions of the

Divine via other

collectives, while

fostering unity amongst

the diverse collectives.

Pays recognition to our

honorable ancestors,

who through their good

deeds have paved the

way for our progress.


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Bases progress upon

higher principles taught

by ancestors.

One example of how negative attitudes of an individual can be related to that of a

collective is where an African, continental or diasporic, lives life simply for material

gain, mimicking their colonial oppressors, thereby missing the greater meaning of life.

So too would the espousal of exclusively materialistic or exploitative goals by the

collective African value system, be a misunderstanding of the meaning and the

collective goal of African life. A specific example of this is embracing extreme capitalism

consumerism at the expense of collective national development. Material gains are

indeed a primal and necessary foundation for the promotion of a healthy society;

however, they are not to be mistaken for the ultimate purpose of life or to be acquired

and the expense of others. Materialism in a society leads to coveting the resources of

others at all human costs, not seeing the other as one’s self.

The African collective must, like the individual, strive to be nothing less than the

embodiment of the Divine on Earth, the Collective Ausarian Self. All activities of the

collective must support this objective. All that contradicts, restricts, hinders, or confuses

this objective must be either transformed to support this objective or else extracted

from the body of the organized African collective. Nature and its resources are to be

used in harmonious ways to support the development of the collective consciousness

to higher levels, as well as to express the underlying harmonies of life in more elastic

terms that do not interfere with the health of the environment and the healthy

development of group members, nationals, or neighboring peoples. Now that we have

some measures of collective growth, we can try to get a better understanding of the

evolving collective Self, particularly the African Ausarian Self, as we look at some

common expressions of it throughout ourstory, or even in contemporary life.

The collective Self is revealed wherever there is a massing of individuals with a

common purpose that is somehow relevant to the indwelling Divine Aspiration. This

is a broad description; however, the collective Self has a wide and deep field to operate

in, and any singular description of this Self is bound to be limited. If anyone stops to

think about experiences where he or she was functioning in a group situation, one could

recall the sensation of a collective group consciousness. The following are just a few

examples that come to mind:


27

➢ The simple cohesiveness of open fluid cooperation, communication, and

coordination within a family and extended family.

➢ The joy and solidarity felt by Black folks in church gatherings, as they

collectively sing spirituals or freedom songs. This was evident in the pervasive

practice of the “ring shout” in early Black churches and bush harbors.

➢ The collective solidarity felt by Black folks when working and/or completing

a group or community uplift project or marching for justice.

➢ The nationalistic feelings of people in a country when they work towards a

collective goal of national uplift, as was the case with members of the

Universal Negro Improvement Association, headed by Marcus Garvey.

➢ The collective psychical effect when a collective is bracing for an attack or

pending disaster or the collective psychical sense when collective works

collaboratively to recover from a disaster.

➢ The collective psychical effect when a collective successfully fends off a group

threat or disaster.

➢ The collective psychical effect experienced, particularly in a stadium, when a

national sports team wins a world championship game and starts a group

chant.

➢ The collective pride felt at seeing the development of the OAU and its

successor organization, the African Union (AU).

There are countless examples of the above. To get a real sense of collective Being,

one only needs to think back on when he/she was a part of a collective as it asserted

itself to accomplish group motives of high ethical significance. One experience that I

relate to personally is participating in African drum circles. There is a collective Spirit

present during these drum circles that defies description; however, I can say that during

these events, I feel a sense of family, welcoming, of collective vitality, a sense of security,

healing, acceptance, peace, and encouragement. I also feel at ease talking to ancestors

and higher spirits, guides of the African collective, and invoking their positive energy

for support. It is not uncommon for me to call on my African drum teacher who

transitioned, Papa Ladji Camara, and say “Papa Ladi, please show me how to drum to

make the people happy and dance.”


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A collective can also manifest in less enlightened ways when there is diminished

employment of the higher collective will and consciousness. In such a case, there is a

greater influence of the outer shell or egoistic dynamic of the collective. Some examples

of this are as follows:

➢ When members of a collective band together to forcibly take material resources

from the indigenous or traditional users of those resources.

➢ When a collective seeks to bolster its collective self-esteem by diminishing the

accomplishments, value, or rights of other collectives.

➢ When a collective, having achieved some measure of internal success and surplus,

does not seek to assist other collectives to reach a similar status.

➢ When a collective loses its impetus to adapt to changes or integrate fresh

perspectives of life and growth into its collective life.

➢ When a collective view itself as the chosen group by God above all others and

closes itself to the insights and knowledge achieved by others.

The higher collective African Self, the witness to the full range of experiences by the

African collective through the ages, is available to each of us to broaden our

understanding of life, to fortify us for the difficult struggles immediately confronting us

and ahead of us into the future. Part of what the African leaders and priests of high

consciousness mean when they speak of invoking the assistance of the ancestors is that

we have an African spiritual Self that is always available for support of our individual

and collective journey of life.

The Collective African Self Consciousness Recognized in African-centered

Psychology

Many African-centered scholars, psychologists, and activists have illuminated in

their works the perception and expression of oneness that is found in traditional African

societies and social constructs. The below excerpt from Daudi Azibo (2014) lends

support to my understanding of the collective African Self that is evolving through the

distant past, into the present, and through the future. We each are enfoldments of this

Self, eddies of the collective Ocean Self.

"Now since the African is the original human being, the consubstantiation

principle states “we [Africans] are one people, we are of [we share] the same

[spiritual] essence’ … transmitted biogenetically at conception.” This shared


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spiritual essence is the basis for the African self-extension principle: the

contemporary African person is a direct extension of the (presumed) Divine

(Creator, One God, etc.) by virtue of begetting through the Ancestors and the

immediate line of progenitors. Her or his progeny are equally and likewise

extended into the distant, infinite future through the required continuation of

progeny. Taken together, since they are inseparable, the consubstantiation and

self-extension principles give rise to the African extended self-concept."

This all can be encapsulated with the African Proverb, “I am because we are, and

because we are I am.” (p. 5)

Kobi Kambon’s (1998) definition of African Self extends to include the collective

African Self or “African Self-Extension Orientation,” which Azibo referred to as the

consubstantiation principle.

“The African Self-Extension Orientation (ASEO) refers to the deeply rooted,

unconscious, genetically based African Spirituality reflecting a continual-

unending urge/striving for collective-communal expression of African cosmic

(spiritual) wholeness or unity. African self-consciousness (ASC) represents the

conscious expression of African Spirituality (ASEO); which affirms African life,

self-determination, and preservation.” (p. 308)

The basic traits of African personality, according to Kambon (1998) refer to those

beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors; which reflect, project, and reinforce African

Spirituality. These are the cognitive-emotional and behavioral qualities that are

natural/indigenous to African people, irrespective of social-environmental conditions

(i.e., living in under white supremacy domination). There are four components of ASC

(African Self-consciousness). Implied in these components is the recognition of

collective African consciousness. The four components are as follows:

a) Awareness/recognition of one’s (collective) African identity and cultural

heritage.

b) General ideological and activity priorities placed on African survival, liberation,

and proactive/affirmative development.

c) Specific activity priorities placed on (collective) self-knowledge and self-

affirmation, i.e., Afrocentric values, customs, institution-building, etc.

d) A posture of resolute resistance/defense against “anti-African/Anti-Black”

forces and threats to African survival in general.


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Howard Bruce Bynum (2012), lays bare a perception of an African Soul, the African

Unconscious that is like an ocean of consciousness that enfolds to become the

individual lives of each of us. This consciousness transcends time and space, yet

manifest into personalized beings located in time and space, us. It is thereby one with

the Universal Consciousness. Referring to the unconscious Bynum says,

“It also, like Jung’s fuller conception, embraces deep and primordial racial

memories that are pass across the waves of human generations and are implicate

or enfolded in each of us. The ego is a local and boundary-setting process/ The

unconscious or the ancient Kemetic Amenta is a nonlocal phenomenon. The

basic “building block” of the psyche and soma is not the isolated, egoic “atom,”

so to speak, but rather the interconnected, nonlocal “quantum of action.” (p. 84)

Wade Nobles (1985), in his work “Africanity and the Black Family,” gives insight

into to the collective African Self as expressed in extended family and societal relations.

“The notion of self, in accordance with the African belief system, was (is) based

on one's individual consciousness taking its reference point, the family, wherein

one's existence is perceived as being interconnected to the existence of all else.

More specifically, we can note that the traditional philosophical notion of

Oneness of Being requires that man conceptualizes his own existence as being

an awareness of his universal connectedness, i.e., man is an indispensable,

integrated, and interdependent part of the universe. The notions of

Interdependence and Oneness of Being allow for a conception of self, which

transcends, throughout the historical consciousness of one's people, the

finiteness of both the physical body, finite space and absolute time. The notion

of self, or more specifically, the awareness of self for African peoples, is,

therefore, not limited to just the cognitive awareness of one's own uniqueness,

individuality, and historical finiteness. In its truest form, it is self-awareness,

which is the awareness of one's historical consciousness (collective spirituality

and the subsequent state or sense of "we-ness). The most compelling property

of the traditional notion of self is the process of cosmologically grounding the

self in the collective, social and spiritual sense of the history of one's people. In

recognition of this kind of self-awareness, which is consistent with a particular

belief system, we can note that the traditional African (and most contemporary

descendants) view of "self" is contingent upon the existence of other." (p. 55-56)


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This is a profound summarization of how our individual consciousness is

existentially extended into the collective consciousness and is expressed concretely in

the organization of family, then community then nation. Agyei Akoto (1992) affirms

the centrality of the family in expressing the Divine order in no uncertain terms saying,

“Family is the first and foremost expression of Odumankoman in the physical

(human) realm.”

In traditional African societies, there was no separation of spirituality from daily

life and so no need for a word religion. All life activities were imbued with spirit. It

was inconceivable for anything, person, modality, place time, or force to be outside

the purview, influence, and direction of Spirit. To speak of religion or religious aspect

then would imply there not being a religious aspect. This was not the case with

traditional African societies, hence no need for the word religion.

One thing that I am critically looking for is to understand African ontology in

general. I have been searching for corroboration of the idea that has come to me

regarding a real existence of a collective African self. I have found consistent

expositions on the communitarian nature of African societies in general. One of the

concepts to give expression to this collective consubstantiation principle is that of

Ubuntu, which means, “I am because we are and because we are I am.” Within the

word Ubuntu is the root NTU; which means ALL Being. The prefix Ubu is to signify

the particularity of being or individual expressions of the Supreme Being. There are

other related Bantu words having the same root ntu, Muntu, Kintu, Hantu, and

Kuntu. These words are meant to categorize all things in existence. These different

categories the same existence or Being in self-extension. With this fundamental idea

that all things are in essence the one Self we have the reason for proclaiming, “I am

because we are and because we are and I am.”

The below is an explication of the root word NTU, as given by Janheinz Jahn in

his “Muntu, African Culture, and the Western World (1990).” It will be important to

investigate the African conception of time and progressive development to further

understand the idea of evolving Self in the world through the evolving collective

African self?


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I Muntu = ‘human being’ (plural: Bantu);

II Kintu = ‘thing’ (plural: Bintu);

III Hantu = ‘place and time’;

IV Kuntu = ‘modality’.

“Muntu, Kintu, Hantu and Kuntu are the 4 categories of African philosophy.

All being, or essence in whatever form it is conceived, can be subsumed under

one of these categories. Nothing can be conceived outside of them…

NTU is the universal force as such, however, never from its manifestation

occurs apart from its manifestations: Muntu, Kintu, Hantu and Huntu. NTU is

Being itself, the cosmic universal force, which only modern, rationalizing

thought can abstract from its manifestations. NTU is that force in which Being

and being coalesce. NUT is – so we many say by way of suggestion – that

Something which Breton probably had in mind when he wrote: ‘Everything

(in Akan society) leads us to believe that there exists a central point of thought

at which living and dead, real and imaginary, past and future, communicable

and incommunicable, high and low, are no longer conceived as contradictory.”

NTU is that ‘point from which creation flows’ that Klee was seeking: ‘I

am seeking a far off point from which creation flows, where I suspect there is a

formula for man, beast, plant, earth, fire, water, air and all circling forces are

once.’

But in NTU Breton’s contradictions have never existed, nor is it something

‘far away’. If we said that NTU was a force manifesting itself in man, beast,

thing, place, time, beauty, ugliness, laughter, tears, and so on, this statement

would be false, for it would imply that NTU was something independent

beyond all these things. NTU is what Muntu, Kintu, Hantu and Kuntu all

equally are. Force and matter are not being united in this conception; on the


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contrary, they never have been apart.” ~ Janheinz Jahn, Muntu, African Culture,

and the Western World

An explication of the word Ubuntu that points to the African conception of the

collective Self, is given by Jacob K Olupona (1991):

“Africans believe firmly that there is a living communion or bond of life, which

makes for solidarity among members of the same family or clan. The fact that

we are born into a family, a clan, or a tribe immerses us in a specific current of

life, “incorporates” us and molds us to the fashion of that community; it

modifies all our being ‘onologically’ and orients us to living an behaving in the

manner of that community. So. Family, clan, and tribe form wholes in which

each member is only a part. The same blood, the same life (spirit) participated

in by all and received from the first ancestor, the founder of the clan, circulates

in everyone’s veins. For the protection, maintenance, enhancement, and

perpetual preservation of this common treasure, it is a duty to work with all our

energy, to wage ruthless war against all that is opposed to it, and to support at

any price anything that favors it. This is the last word on the customs,

institutions, wisdom, philosophy, and religion of Africans.” (p. 121)

Our collective consciousness will express in situations regardless of whether it is

from a poise of higher awareness, Ausarian Collective Consciousness, or from a poise

of unawareness or unconsciousness. The state of unconscious Consciousness can surge

undirected, unfocused, and unaware. In individuals or groups, it expresses as being

reactionary, not valuing oneself, one's group, or one's ancestral tradition. It expresses

as not having awareness of historical continuity. It expresses as being externalized,

seeking validation from foreigners, or seeking external measures of worthiness, beauty,

and godliness. It also expresses as materialism and consumerism. The Divine Spark that

is involved in us continues to evolve out of us. Having discussed some important

aspects to individual cultivation of our higher inner Divinity, and related those aspects

to collective African spiritual development, we are in a better position to assess,

following broad historical lines, how the collective African Consciousness has evolved

through the ages.


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Chapter 2

Collective African Expression Through Spiritual Culture

Since ancient times to the present, African peoples have been known to generally

value inner spiritual life. Collective spiritual expressions abound in Africa. It is my sense

that traditional African religions in general give expression to the depth of the African

group-Soul, rather than, as in far too many cases with Western religions, become

fossilized into a set of proscriptions that have lost their initial spiritual energy and

morphed into tools of social control by an elite sector of the society. It behooves us, in

assessing the levels of Divine expression through African religions, to first assess the

benefits and limitations of religions in general.

Religions have both beneficial and detrimental aspects to them. I view religions as

training wheels for the individual and society. I think they can be essential to helping

people begin the upward movement to the life Divine. However, too often religions

place obstacles in the way of completing this process. Furthermore, religions often

devalue the Divinity that resides within, and minimize the necessity for bringing the

Divine energy down to transform the instruments of our being into unfettered

expressions of Supreme Being on earth.

Below is a listing of some limitations of religions. Not all religions will have these

limitations, but most will have some. When it comes to realizing our full divine

potential, all limitations must in time be transformed or otherwise transcended.

Religions:

➢ Tend to resist adapting to changing times or accommodation of unique

circumstances.

➢ Tend to restrict or delimit that which is limitless, Divine Being and Expression

➢ Tend not have flexibility to embrace other cultures and religious expression. This

attitude can justify gross actions such as war in God's name; i.e., crusades, or

Jihads, and enslavement or eradication of the non-believer.

➢ Tend to worship God as a super human

o This entails projection of human attributes such as emotions to a God

figure. This can limit understanding of God.


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o This attitude can make human life seem insignificant in comparison to

God, thus trivializing the human experience, and reinforcing the false

notion of man being separate from God, instead of being one with God.

➢ Tend toward exclusivity or the chosen people attitude. This gives rise to viewing

a religion as the only bearer of the Truth and Grace of God.

o This attitude then becomes a justification for oppressing others; such as

confiscation of a people’s land because God ordained it.

➢ Tend to foster dependency on an external salvation in place of individual effort,

giving control of life to so-called intermediaries who intercede on God's behalf,

thus circumventing one’s own direct realization of God within. For example, this

dependency can take the form of belief that baptism and profession of faith

guarantees salvation vs. internal spiritual effort and development.

➢ Tend to promote the dualistic view of God vs. man; where there is an

unbridgeable gulf between God’s status of being and humanity. The opposite of

this view is that God and man are one, since God is all that is.

➢ Tend to promote the view that man is born in sin; which loads guilt on members

and can be used to control the psychology of members. This attitude also

depresses the human capacity to transcend limiting conditions of life.

➢ Tend to seek power to interpret and control actions of members, as in racism or

abusive patriarchal domination over women.

➢ Tend to become ritualistic and worship becomes an enacted script rather than a

dynamic merging with Divine consciousness, as with trance or being “mounted

by the deities.”

The below is a listing of some good points of religions. Not all religions will have

these good points, but most will have some. When it comes to realizing our full divine

potential, all experiences can be used as stepping-stones towards realizing the Divine

within and without.

Religions:

➢ Most often are good guides for moral development, thus serving as an incubator

for the developing soul.

➢ Can promote healthy community interaction.


36

➢ Can serve as an introduction to a power greater than the individual ego; thus,

serves as a stepping-stone towards the transcendence of the ego.

➢ With religious devotion one can develop a faith that can surpass the logical

reasoning mind, without abandoning all reason. So, spirituality and reason are

complementary.

➢ Religion can be the springboard to deeper spiritual growth and expansion of

consciousness.

➢ On higher levels of esoteric religious practice, one can transcend the limited view

of the orthodoxy, obtaining a more integral or universal view.

o God and man are one

o The higher motive of a religious body can be not to control the individual,

but rather to bring out latent abilities of individuals; to develop individual

faculties of power and understanding through initiation.

➢ Can organize activities of life to facilitate Divine revelation and expression

through the individual and the collective.

➢ In esoteric religions, objects and man are signatures, signs, or expressions of the

Divine. From this perspective, the powers, forces, forms of life are all seen as

emanations of God. In formal restrictive religions, this perspective is called

polytheism, animalism, paganism, and is condemned.

Capping off this general assessment of religions I include here a prelude that Master Ni

Hua Ching has in many of his books regarding religion. He writes:

“The Subtle Essence conveyed by the teaching of the Integral Way is the deep

truth of all religions, yet it leaves all religions behind to be the clothing of

different seasons or worn in different places. The teaching of the Subtle Essence

includes all things of religious importance, yet it is not on the same level as

religion. It serves people’s lives directly as all religions wish to do, but it surpasses

the boundary of all religions and extracts the essence of all religions.” (Prelude)

I equate the Subtle Essence referred to above with the Higher Individual Self,

the Collective Ausarian Self, as well as with the Higher Collective Self of other national

groups, and of Humanity overall. These are all integral and on the deepest level of

reality, the One Self or Highest Divine Spirit. The Highest Divine Spirit can poise itself

in all these forms simultaneously. Religions are vehicles, instruments, or expressive


37

edifices of the Divine Spirit. Some religions are better conveyers of the Divine Spirit

than others. For Africans, traditional religious or spiritual systems, have always been a

means of individual and group expression of the Divine. Africans have not simply

sought mediators between man and the Divine but sought to transform themselves into

unfettered instruments of the Divine through spiritual rituals and divination, and divine

possession (i.e., being mounted or powerfully influenced by deities).

Commonalities of Traditional African Spiritual Systems in Pre-Colonial Africa

One of the areas of social organization that strongly points to a continent-wide

collective consciousness through the ages in Africa is that of traditional religions. This

is evident by the beliefs that are held in common by traditional African religions in pre-

colonial Africa, whether the religion is of a society located in the North, South, and

East or West of the continent. I am referring here to religious or spiritual systems that

were developed by Africans prior to European or Arab intrusions. Some of these

commonalities are as follows:

➢ Belief in One Almighty Creator of the universe.

➢ Lesser deities are ministers, delegates, forces, or Divine attributes of the Supreme

Being, in charge of various aspects of creation.

➢ The Spirit of the Creator permeates all living and non-physical beings.

➢ The human soul is an apportionment or divine spark from the Supreme Being

and has a destiny to fulfill according the Divine Will.

➢ Belief in immortality or persistence of life after death.

➢ Reverence for the ancestors who have passed, yet still interact and even assist the

living.

➢ All aspects of life are under the influence of the Creator; if not directly, then

through deities and the ancestors.

➢ Disease or imbalance on the individual or societal levels seen as resulting from

past wrong actions and must be atoned for or remedied by sacrifice and

correction.

➢ Respect and deference to priesthood for matters affecting the health of the

society. The priesthood is a powerful force in society.


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➢ Priesthood pushes the envelope of understanding, knowing, and spiritual

expression.

o Divination or reading the signs of nature and seeing developing events

o Management of unseen forces

o Tracking long-term trends effecting all, leading to study of cosmic forces,

Astronomy, and Astrology

➢ Development of song, art, dance, symbols, writing to convey and express

spiritual understanding. This led to a learned sector of society known as scribes

in ancient Egypt.

➢ The temple becomes the center of learning for society and in some cases, attracts

foreigners from distant lands. The inner temple is for developing the spiritual

faculties and divine realization of initiates.

➢ The aspiration of building religiously edifying and revelatory structures brought

about the development of architecture, mathematics, and science

➢ The ancestors are closer to the spirit world and can therefore be effective

mediators between man and the Supreme Being.

The espousal of similar religious/spiritual views and practices by Africans across the

entire continent points to a continent-wide, deep structure, common consciousness that

expresses through the medium of traditional African religions. This collective

consciousness pushes the evolution of humanity to ever deeper and wider levels of

expression. This consciousness has been so definitively established, that base and

egoistic concepts have been nearly transcended completely in most African societies.

One concept that is foreign to the African worldview is the concept that fellow

human beings can be treated as chattel slaves, having no greater status than that of an

animal and devoid of basic human rights and dignity. Where there existed slavery in

ancient Africa, it did not have the quality of stripping a person of all his/her humanity,

freedom, and all of life chances. Even were there strict caste systems for the division of

labor, individuals had an opportunity within that system to not only aggrandize

themselves materially, but to develop a deeper understanding of Self and even elevate

to a higher status socially. Not all members of a given society will have a wide and deep

awareness of their higher Self; just as when we are asleep we usually are not aware of


39

our waking level of consciousness, though it still exists in a recessive state. So, it is with

the less aware members of society.

Not all religions will be a high expression of the Divinity within the collective.

African spiritual systems cannot be viewed as static cultural structures that do not

evolve over time. Not all religious practices will evoke a higher divine expression of the

Divine involved with human experience; though some will develop practices that give

shape to higher expressions of the Divine within humanity, individually as well as

collectively. Africans still have a role to play in giving to humanity ever wider and deeper

expressions of the indwelling Universal Integral Divine One through traditional

spiritual systems.

Higher Divine Consciousness usually remains potent and refined in a few individuals

as a sacred trust (through initiation), and then slowly disseminates its elevating influence

throughout the general society in a controlled or staged manner to the degree that

various sectors of the society can absorb. It seeks to touch all sectors in some way,

however faint. One primary effect of the higher consciousness must be to elevate the

lives of the society in terms that include the physical, psychological, intellectual, vital,

and psycho-spiritual areas. Education, as with life generally, was integrated in wholes

rather than fragmented into separate disciplines.

Whatever the area of study, it is directed to improve the functioning balance of

society overall. In addition, there is usually a benefit to the surrounding environment or

neighboring collectives that meet it. This is so even if these collectives are foes, for this

too is a means that the Spirit can use to widen its scope of Self-awareness and action

through resistance to corruption on earth. So often conquerors, using their current

power, write the story of their conquests and achievements over those they conquered,

but fail to tell how their own society have been enriched by learning from and general

association with those they have conquered. This is particularly true of Asiatic, Greek,

Roman, Arab, and European invasions of Kemet, known more familiarly as Egypt. No

doubt the Industrial Revolution in North American would not have occurred as it did

without the “capital” and life energies, physical, vital, and mental, of enslaved Africans.

Another effect of the African higher consciousness, individual or collective, is that

it offers a model of human interaction. It informs general humanity as to what is

possible on a wider scale (i.e., Egyptian temple and monument building). To remain

spiritually progressive, societies must not ignore negative attitudes and energy

movements, either internal or external. It must honestly and forth rightfully address


40

common human struggles and demonstrate how these problems can be harmonized

and transformed into growth movements. The greater the challenge is that humanity

faces, the greater potential there is for victory over inhumanity; victory of higher

consciousness over chaos. No doubt this is the example that spiritual culture of ancient

Nubia and Kemet served for over ten thousand years of human history.

Deep Thought in Mysteries System of Kemet, Expressive of High Collective

Consciousness

The study of archeology in Kemet, in conjunction with other sciences, has revealed

much regarding the way of life of our ancient African ancestors. However, it is my sense

that the world has yet to fully appreciate that the ancient Egyptians were a black-skinned

African people, remaining so until the infusion of Asiatic hoards into the Nile Delta

after 1645 B.C.E., particularly with the invasion by the Hyksos. Even so, the Egyptians

appeared black up to the day that Herodotus wrote what his eyes witnessed. Subsequent

to the successive invasions by the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Arabs,

there appeared in Kemet the mulatto admixture that progressed to what we see there

today. The ancient Kemetians described themselves from the earliest times as a colony

of Ethiopia, which is South of Egypt.

South of Egypt you have the Nubians who are unquestionably black-skinned. This

is important to state at the onset because I want to be clear that when I speak of the

deep thought of Pharaonic Egypt, I am referring to that of black-skinned Africans

independent of any significant European or Asiatic influence. The high philosophy or

way of viewing life that existed in ancient Kemet is an achievement of black-skinned

Africans; it was not imported. If there were no such thing as global White supremacy

aspiration, an oppressive ideology based on skin color or lack thereof (albinism), this

point about the skin color of ancient Africans would not be necessary. Another point

that is worth noting here that renowned African historian, educator and scholar Dr.

Henrik Clark made frequent mention, is that the Nile River is the world's first

superhighway, carrying on its culture, wealth, and facilitating a collective consciousness.

The Nile flows from South to North because Southern Africa is higher in elevation

than Northern Africa. Therefore, Southern Egypt is called Upper Egypt, whereas

Northern Egypt is called Lower Egypt. It is natural then for the direction of origin,

imprinting, and continued dominant influence to come from the South of Egypt,

Nubia/Ethiopia, by way of the Nile superhighway, rather than from the Mediterranean

Sea. This fits with the profession by the ancient Egyptians that they are a colony of


41

Ethiopia. It also fits testimonials by the Greeks as to where they derived their wisdom.

During the late dynastic periods of Kemet, no Greek was considered by their own

learned until they have visited Egypt and studied at the feet of Egyptian sages.

Having said all the above, we now move to the basis of deep thought in Pharaonic

Kemet. The environment that the Kemetians developed in, contributed greatly to the

development of higher thought in Kemet. The Nile was the source of life in what would

otherwise have been largely a desert region. The inundation of the Nile onto the

surrounding banks was a regular phenomenon. Kemet was relatively secure from

invasion for millennia as it was flanked on the East by the Red Sea, and on the West by

desert. To the North was the stopgap of the Mediterranean Sea, and to the South were

a people of like mind in terms of the deep structure of their respective cultures.

Kemet was the daughter of Nubia. This relative security and regularity of

environment allowed the African in Kemet freedom to explore the deeper harmonies,

relations, and realities of life. It was a basis for continuous, progressive, deep thought

and self-reflection. Nature was viewed as supportive of life if properly cultivated, thus

Pa Neter (The Supreme Being) and the Neteru were supportive supports for human

life, if the Divine force was internally cultivated and outwardly expressed. man, and

Nature was viewed as inseparable expressions of the Divine. There was no definite line

between them. Man and God were one, because the Supreme Being resides in all. From

this fundamental and central worldview that is typically African sprang the rest of

Kemetic thought and social organization.

I will refer in the following, to two developments in ancient black Kemet that I think

reveals the deep thought and driving force of our ancestors. These are, the Ausarian

myth, and the practice Maat. Before I do, I want to reiterate that higher collective

thought is not necessarily something that is instantly assimilated by all members of an

entire collective. Even when that higher thought is presented to a segment of a

collective, that segment may not be ready to fully assimilate it. In the ancient Kemetic

Mysteries system, not all the members of the society were privy to the deeper meanings

of precepts taught in the temples. Priest underwent spiritual initiation or years of

preparation and development before they could be counted as knowing the higher

Truths of life. Until then, they were considered as being on many levels ignorant or

uninitiated. This is not to say that the general society had no conception of the Divine.

It is to say that there were still barriers of thought between one’s outer expression and

the inner reality within. Initiation was a concerted effort to eradicate all such barriers.


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It must also be understood that the light of Kemetic deep thought was a beacon

for all of Africa and even the world, this light was assimilated to varying degrees

throughout the African collective throughout the continent. Nubian societal practices,

including kingship and a pantheon of Neters, or gods, were common with that of

Kemetic society. The Nubians were, in many respects, progenitors of higher Kemetic

thought. I say this considering the artifacts found in Nubia depicting known Kemetic

gods; for example, the Qustul Incense Burner, that depicts the white crown of a

pharaoh. So Nubian consciousness was likely on par with that of the Kemetians.

Kemet then was a flowering of other branches in Africa. The deep thought of ancient

Kemetians elevated the collective consciousness of Africa and the World to levels it

had not previously known.

Ausarian Myth Revealing the Deep Collective Thought of Africans

For a comprehensive treatise on the deeper meaning of the Ausarian myth, I refer

the reader to the works of Ra Un Nefer Amen; The Medu Neter Vol. 1. I also refer the

reader to The Ausarian Resurrection, by Muata Ashby. An important thing to understand

with the Ausarian myth and the deities is that their spheres of influence and control, as

delegates of the Supreme Being, are not only in the external universe, but also reside

within the psychic spiritual makeup of humankind. The spiritual forces, deities, reside

in humans, and correspond to various levels of consciousness and power/energy within

a person.

All the levels of consciousness have their role to play in our makeup, but there is a

question of order and precedence if we are to initiate our higher development and

expression of the Divine Spirit within. Ra Un Nefer Amen helps us with this order by

presenting the Kemetic tree of life in his Medu Neter Vol. 1. Not all the ancient Kemetic

Neters are initially represented in the tree of life. However, if the various nodes of the

tree are looked upon as spheres of general influence, all the ancient Kemetic Neters can

ultimately be associated with one or another sphere.

Tracing the meaning and relevance of Ausar in Kemet can inform us of the

deep spiritual evolution of collective African Consciousness. Further tracing how the

Ausarian architype of ancient Kemet has influenced the spiritual systems of other

groups, African and non-African, is a testament to the evolution of African collective

consciousness on a worldwide level.


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Ausar has been referenced through the ages in three domains of reality: as the un-

manifest Creator of manifested material existence, who exists in and beyond the

Creation, (beyond time, hence Lord of Eternity); as the bringer of civilization and

balanced rule; as the Higher Self of every human being that experiences resurrection.

Ashby (1998) gives this transliteration of Ausar as cosmic Creator:

“From the mystical standpoint, the Trinity of Osiris (Ausar)-Isis (Auset)-Horus

(Heru) represents the movement of the Spirit as it manifests in Creation. As we

have seen through the story as well as the iconography associated with them, in

reality it refers to the deeper principles of human, as well as super-human,

existence. Osirus(Ausar) becomes the silent Spirit who is the source and

support of Creation in his names Asar-Tua, “Osiris, the Begetter” (in the Tuat),

and Osiris-Neb-Heh, “Osiris, Lord of Eternity.” Isis (Auset) is the Creation

itself. Horus (Heru) is the dynamic manifestation of the Spirit (of Osiris) which

moves in and interacts with Creation (Isis). Thus, Osiris expresses as Creation

and as the dynamic forces within it. This teaching is also expressed in the idea

of the Trinity concept and the birth of God into human form (Avartarism).” (p.

131)

Ashby gives this description of Ausar as the bringer of civilization in human the

terrestrial realm:

“Osiris (Ausar), having become king of Egypt (Kemet), applied himself to

civilizing his countrymen by turning them from their former indigent and

barbarous course of life. Isis discovered the use of barley and wheat and Osiris

developed the cultivation process for these and established the custom of

offering the first fruits to the Neters. He taught them how to cultivate and

improve the fruits of the earth and he gave them a body of laws whereby to

regulate their conduct, and instructed them in the reverence and worship

which they are to pay to the gods. With the same good disposition, he

afterwards traveled over the rest of the world, inducing the people everywhere

to submit to his discipline, not indeed compelling them by force of arms, but

persuading them to yield to the strength of his reasons which were conveyed

to them in the most agreeable manner, in hymns and songs, accompanied with

instruments of music.” (p. 53)

Ashby gives this description of Ausar as the higher Consciousness or Self of each

person:


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“In the Osirian (Ausarian) myth, Osiris is the son of Geb and Nut, who are in

turn the offspring of Shu and Tefnut, who are themselves children of Ra. In

another Creation myth of Osiris, it is said that Osiris uttered his own name,

Asar, and thereby brought the world and all life within it into existence. This is

the process of Divine incarnation whereby the Supreme Being becomes the

universe. Osiris, Lord of the Perfect Black, is the personification of the

blackness of the vase un-manifest regions of existence. Osiris is the essence of

all things, and the very soul of every human being as the Higher Self, who,

through ignorance has become involved in the world, and struggles to regain its

original state of perfection. … Osiris symbolizes the fragmented ocean of

consciousness which has been cut into pieces by the lower self. No longer is

there the vast all-encompassing, all-knowing, all-seeing consciousness. The

Divine has become limited in association with the human mind, body and

senses, due to the desire to experience human feelings and egoistic sentiments.

Instead of looking at the universe through the cosmic mind, the Divine now

expresses Him/Herself through billions of life forms whose bodies, minds and

senses are too limited to see the vastness of Creation.”

It is important to understand that all the energies of the deities are interrelated with

one another in an integral and complementary hierarchal order. Also, the cosmic, the

terrestrial and the human energies are integral to each other. Humanity must establish

an ideal or balanced order between these energies internally and externally; for as above

so as below. This balance is known as Maat in ancient Kemetic deep thought. The result

of having achieved the correct order or precedence of the Divine forces within is to

elevate our consciousness beyond the finite and merge it with the infinite, for as the

consciousness goes, so too goes our status and power of being.

This is key to reaching our human ideal on earth. We reveal the Divine on earth in

ways dictated by the Truth/Thought and Will/Force of the Divine through the

instruments of our individual lives. The culmination of our inner cultivation is that we

identify ourselves as being one with the Divine in form and beyond form. This state in

the ancient Kemetic tradition is known as becoming Ausar, and the peace achieved in

this state known as Hetep.

Many students of ancient Kemetic cosmology assume the Kemetians thought this

state could be achieved only with initiation plus the dissolution of the physical body.

However, this is not the case. It can be achieved by focusing one's consciousness to the


45

sphere of Ausar within and infusing that supreme consciousness into one's waking and

even sleeping life. One makes this Ausar level of consciousness constant and abiding.

Learning of this goal, through study of the Medu Necher or divine speech as

represented by Tehuti (Thoth) the awakening processes of the human faculties

(particularly the intuitive mind and will) to accomplish this goal, is what ancient Kemetic

initiation was largely about.

There was also a philosophy of as above so as below. Harmonies of life on the

terrestrial level were tied to the harmonies of life on the celestial spheres. It was the goal

of Kemetic societies to model and infuse the harmonies it perceived on the spiritual

levels into the society at large, thus allowing for the full expression of the Divine Spirit

in the physical world. This was accomplished through abiding by the spiritual laws

represented by the deity Maat. Thus, ultimately the society, the collective Self, would

become Ausar. I am emphasizing through this work, that as the African collective

practices Unbutu, or mutual support, we expand our collective consciousness, realizing

our underlying oneness, despite our diversity. We “come forth by day” (a Kemetian

concept of Ausar) realizing that which we always were—Ausar.

The Concept and Practice of Maat

Once a person makes strides towards individual spiritual cultivation, one learns the

necessity of practicing collective spiritual cultivation. True Spiritual development

informs us that there is no separation between God and humans, or between one

individual and all other individuals. This necessitates extending our spiritual cultivation

to include collective spiritual cultivation. It is expressed in the ancient Kemetic tradition

by the concept and practice of Maat.

In ancient Egyptian deep thought, Maat represents the harmony and balance of

energies in the universe, in the immediate environment, within a human and between

humans on all levels. It is premised on the idea that there is a natural and ultimately

divinely ordained order for all things, and that humans can have an important role to

play in facilitating this order. The Supreme Being can affect His/Her Will for creation

through the cooperation and heightened consciousness of humanity. The more

conscious we are of the Divine Truth/Thought Will/Force, the more dynamic a role

we can play in the ordered, creative impulse emanating from the Divine Source. If we

are not cooperative in fostering this order, then the Almighty can evolve other beings

to accomplish the unfettered, dynamic expression of His / Her Being in creation. Thus,

the ancient Kemetians sought to establish social structures and interrelations that


46

expressed their sense of right order, justice, and universal harmony. All that

contradicted this was considered an evil or source of disorder (Isfet) and was to be

driven out of society.

Here are some Maatian attitudes that determined the approach ancient Kemetians

had towards societal development: Social order is designed to mirror Divine creation.

There is no separation of Divine expression and social order. Leaders are charged by

the Divine to push out disorder and install Divine order. Man can transform into a

divine being or perfected vessel of the Divine, and so leaders are charged to educate

members of the society to the laws and practice of Maat, revealed through consonance

with the intuitive Mind or Tehuti. Social administration is viewed as an extension of the

God's creative acts on earth. Just as there is a model person of virtue who acts on God's

behalf to shape society according to Divine principles, there is the ideal of a perfected

society that is the fruit of its members embracing the Maatian principles of good order.

This divinized society, the Ausarian Self, is not a static mold or icon, but rather like

the dynamic God of creation, is a pliant, charged, effective, expansive, universal,

unlimited vessel of the Divine Omnipotence. It is none other than an embodiment of

the Divine. Just as there is a fully realized divine person, the real meaning of a Christ or

Krishna, there is the fully realized Divine Collective Person. This collective Person’s

reason for existence is the same as that for the individual; to reveal in wider, deeper,

and more effective terms, the Divine Will/Force/Bliss Being that is latent in creation,

thus knowing the Divine by identifying completely with it. At the time of death, the

heart of the deceased is weighed by the gods on the scale of Maat and it is determined

if the level of life lived by the deceased merits only annihilation of the person’s

incarnation impressions.

The worthy will reincarnate with impressions from previous lives intact as stepping-

stones for higher spiritual progress. The 42 negative confessions (describe in detail) are

a general guide for members of the society to know if they are on the right track to

living an elevated life. By no means could 42 tenants cover all the circumstances of life

where balance, harmony, justice, and love need to be preserved and facilitated towards

higher expression.

The effect of these aspects of African deep thought in ancient Kemet is to instill in

the collective society a shared concept of common good and common spiritual or

ethical progress. This attitude no doubt contributed to Kemet society lasting longer

than any other civilization in world history. This collective consciousness also had the


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effect of enabling the society to produce the great pyramids and to push the envelope

of human ingenuity, productivity, scientific knowledge, and esthetic expression. The

ancient Kemetians collectively were the earliest civilizations to develop writing. They

developed three forms: Medu Netcher (hieroglyphic divine speech), heretic and the

third hieratic (later called demotic), the phonetic alphabet from which the Greek and

Latin alphabets are derived. They were the most literate people of the world in their

time and their writing system formed the basis of the writing systems of all other

collectives, including the Greeks and the Arabs.

How can we quantify the effect writing has had on the collective consciousness of

African society? With the advent of writing, ideas of an elevated nature could be

disseminated without necessitating that they be passed directly from mind to mind. A

person can pick up a scroll and peer into the mind of the original writer, possibly

resulting in a direct consonance of conscious thought. The elevating effect on society

that the teachings from the temples had, teachings emanating from high priests, written

by scribes, and disseminated throughout the common people, must have been

enormous. This effect can be seen, for example, in that most people wanted to be

assured an afterlife by being buried in a manner prescribed by the scribe, who got it

from the priest. This manner involved mummification and incantations to the gods,

and hieroglyphs of resurrection surrounding the body of the deceased. A divine afterlife

in the higher spiritual realms was not a conception espoused by a few initiated, but

rather part of the collective consciousness.

The ancient Kemetians, through their writing systems, have left to posterity ample

evidence of their high level of spiritual cultivation. Some African scholars have sought

to catalog the spiritual writings of Ancient Kemet ancestors to reclaim the spiritual

insights they have developed, to usher a renewed push towards the higher African Self

in today’s modern life. One such body of work is “The Husia, Sacred Wisdom of

Ancient Egypt” (Karenga,1984). In The Book of Coming Forth by Day are songs of praises

and glorification to Maat and Neters (gods) as the deceased is entering the afterlife. In

book IX the 42 confessions of the supplicant to Maat, affirming that a righteous life

was lived. If the supplicant’s heart were to be found pure, light as a feather, on the

scales of Maat, then he/she would be granted entrance into the higher realms of the

afterlife. If not, then the Anpu the crocodile would eat what is left of the soul, denying

an afterlife. Here is a sample:


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“I have not done wrong, I have not robbed. I have not been greedy. I have not

stolen. I have not murdered people. I have not cheated at the measures. I have

not committed fraud. I have not stolen the property of God. I have not told lies.

I have not stolen food. I have not spoken curses. I have not violated the law. I

have not killed sacred animals. I have not dealt deceitfully. I have not stolen land

I have not eavesdropped. I have not talked overmuch. I have not been angry

without just cause. I have not committed adultery. I have not been unchaste. I

have not terrorized anyone. I have not violated the law. I have not been hot

tempered. I have not been deaf to words of truth. I have not stirred up strife. I

have not been blind to injustice I have not engaged in unnatural sex. I have not

been deceitful. I have not indulged in quarrelling. I have not engaged in violence.

I have not been quick tempered. I have not misrepresented my nature. I have

not gossiped. I have not slandered the pharaoh. I have not waded in drinking

water. I not been loud voiced. I have not blasphemed against God. I have not

been arrogant. I have not discriminated against others. I have not coveted other’s

property. I have not offended the God of my city.” (p.10)

We can discern from just this passage alone that the ancient ancestors of Kemet

developed a high moral code of conduct that reached into every aspect of daily life. We

can also see the premium they placed on treating others respectfully, justly and with

kindness. A natural extension to this would be to treat even the stranger from other

lands justly, respecting their natural rights and dignity. The mysteries taught in the

temples were no doubt even deeper manifestations of the high African spiritual Self, a

deep wellspring of which the entire society benefited. If only ancient Kemet and other

Great African civilizations could have transformed the aggressive foreigners to this

moral way of life and not succumb to corrosive internal and external influence; what

heights of Divine expression then would the African collective have reached? But all is

not lost. The group-Soul of the African collective has not forgotten or lost the

impression of those heights reached before, the brilliance of Divine expression. These

are still within the African group-Soul to access.

Africans have much to draw upon by looking back on the evolution of African

collective consciousness, expressed in the Egyptian Mysteries system with its mission

of initiation into becoming Ausar, and its value of living according to the moral

principles of Maat. We need not be concerned about adopting the mindset,

philosophies, and practices of other groups foreign to ourstorical motherland. True we


49

can learn from the best that all peoples and cultures can offer. But we must do so all

the while being true to our own Self, the Ausarian Self of the African collective.

Priest’s Instruction for Building a Harmonious Society, a Basis for Collective

Consciousness

African societies that have endured the test of time prior to the invasions of

Eurasians were imbued with high moral standards and practices. These societies served

as models for other world civilizations, particularly India, Greece, and the

Mediterranean world, and Europe. The question of what makes for a harmonious

society is a burning one currently where there is still oppression and exploitation on a

massive scale of Western cultures against African cultures. Organized political and

economic solutions to this oppression and exploitation must be formulated to allow for

the free development of the African collective consciousness. However, these African-

centered political and economic structures, on the micro and macro levels, must be

founded also on high moral standards and practices, Maat.

Education into ancient African spiritual culture should be a staple of any modern

African-centered educational system so that our youth will have the necessary

foundational understanding of living a harmonious life, before they attempt to erect

enduring structures that will withstand the external forces that oppress them. I have put

to writing some thoughts, in the form of a fictional story, to this burning question of

how to build a harmonious society back in my late twenties as I was raising my first

child and was introducing myself to ancient Kemetic spiritual traditions. I include a

portion of that story here as I think it still speaks to the primary necessity of Africans

having a spiritual foundation in place prior to constructing socio-political and economic

structures that will mitigate the global force of White supremacy that oppress Africans

even to this day. The setting is ancient Kemet, as it is undergoing invasion by Asiatic

hordes, the Hyksos in 1645 BC. The high priest is giving instruction to an initiate on

how to reinstitute the harmonies of a healthy society, Maat, within the very bowels of

the invaders (Roland Lucas, 2003).

“That night, as instructed, the father and his daughters return to the house of the

Shekemu (high priest). ‘Anetch Huraten Atef-Mut Neter. Anetch Huracten Shekemu. As

we prepare to make the journey to the land of the Asiatics,’ the father says, ‘Our

hearts are open to receive your teachings.’

The chief priest smiles on this little family and says, ‘Nefer-t, I thank you for


50

expressing your spirit of Maat with all the village. Auseti, I thank you for saving

my blood. Remember, Auseti, that with a sincere heart and complete

identification with our True Self, we possess power over all external

circumstances. Remember, too, that we must be willing at the appropriate time

to sacrifice our blood for the sins of the world. Now Nefer-t, you wish to know

how to nurture a natural, harmonious society while living among the Asiatics?

Daughters, this may be my final instruction to you. Listen well.’

‘The Neteru, or fundamental principles of life, are rooted in and obey the Will

of the Universal Divine One. So too do wise and prosperous societies take root

in and obey the Will of the Universal Divine One.

‘The Neteru have different functions; yet each Neter shares equally in the One

Source of Life, and is Its extension. Each relies on the others. Can hot exist

without cold? The moist without the dry? Light without darkness? Fullness

without the void? Is one expression of Neter Neter (God of the gods) more

important than the others? No. Each defines and shapes the other. Each Neter

is but a variation of the One Life Force. So, too, do natural societies respect the

variations, different talents, and expressions of people, understanding that they

all share equally in the One Source of Life. Each adds to the productivity of life.

Each can assist the other in a harmonious interplay of Life Force. Leaders

without this understanding establish societies where one segment exploits

another for selfish gain.

‘In Nature, all things are constantly changing, yet behind all changes lies the

unchanging truth of Universal Oneness. Using oracles and a developed intuition,

the wise leader discerns the Divine Will, comprehends life's phases, and can thus

wisely determine what teachings and practices are appropriate for a given period.

This is Heru following the Divine Will as taught by the Neter Tehuti, teacher of

divine speech or the Medu Neter. Guided by the ego, the intellect, and desires,

rather than by the Divine Will, the unwise leader promotes narrow views. The

unwise leader promotes teachings, dictates rules, and keeps ministers who are

not appropriate for a phase of the society. Such a leader moves society far from

true knowledge of the Higher Collective Self, Ausar.

‘The Neteru are constant and pervasive in their potent influence, yet they

allow for change, variation, retreat, renewal, and full development of all things.

Natural societies have constant and pervasive rules of order for actualizing


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the potency of life. These societies also allow for change, variation, and the

appropriate application of laws according to time and place. What is potent,

effective, and harmonious in one time and place may not be so in another.

The wise leader knows how to adjust according to time and place while still

administering over the fundamental order and power of life. This defines the

Shekemu, who access the powers of Sekert, Neter of fundamental structure and

order. The unwise leader is not able to discern the appropriate laws according

to time and place. He therefore misuses powers entrusted to him. This misuse

of power may be intentional and for selfish gain. True spiritual power is

beyond such negative intention. The unwise leader then often compounds the

problem at the expense of others by seeking temporal powers as a substitute

for true spiritual power.

‘The earth, the waters of the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars all give their

energies freely and equally to all, even to those who have strayed from the path

of normalcy. Natural societies do not hinder the virtuous fulfillment of their

members. In natural societies, all members are cared for, especially in times of

difficulty. This is impartial love with the heart of Maat, deity of universal love.

‘The constant cycles of nature give birth to and support the evolution of all life.

Natural societies live in tune with the cyclic phases of nature. Understanding that

all things in nature are equally important and have a symbiotic relationship to

each other, these people respect the rhythms of the natural environment. This is

called living according to the laws of Maat. Without this understanding and

respect for the laws of Maat, a society abuses or destroys the natural

environment, or lives beyond the environment's sustainability. With a further

lack of restraint, it seeks to plunder the lands of its neighbors. This is done with

ignorance to the Law of Energy Response that ensures a corrective response

from nature.

‘In natural societies, on the other hand, laws are applied consistently and equally

to all members. These laws are derived from natural developments and universal

principles. They are not artificially established for the gain of some over others.

‘In nature, when corrective forces are applied to a type of energy arrangement,

this is done because this arrangement threatens the harmony of the whole, not

just because it is different. In natural societies, an individual or a group is not

arbitrarily singled out for correction because their characteristics or behaviors are


52

different from others in a society. It is only when individuals or groups threaten

the virtuous fulfillment of the society that forces are applied to limit them. To

apply limiting force otherwise is to be unnaturally discriminating, which leads to

social ruin.

‘When society is governed by the desires of the lower nature, disharmony and

criminality are engendered. Based on ignorance, lack of reasoning and

identification with the lower self, these desires allow feelings of discrimination,

sexism, and egoism to flourish. In this condition, people come to feel that they

are separated individuals who have a right to hurt and even own others who are

‘below’ them as measured by physical strength, wealth, or fame. This egoism and

separating individualism engenders a feeling that others, including nature, are

objects for one's own egoistic aims. Thus, it becomes possible to plunder,

dominate, kill, or destroy others. When society is based on the principles of

spiritual truth, the lower nature is channeled, refined, and harnessed as an aid

towards spiritual and material achievements that benefit all life. When

opportunities are promoted for all to discover their full potential in an

atmosphere of caring, understanding, universal love and support, then the best

in humanity is brought forth. ‘The goal of leaders in a natural society is to

provoke the awakening, development, and integration of its members’ inner

Neteru so that they may all become Ausar. This is a process that cannot be

forced. It is a natural development facilitated by leaders who are guided according

to the intelligence of the heart rather than the intellect or desires. This is called

Heru following the guidance of Tehuti. Such a leader intuits from the Divine

within. Such a leader knows how to continuously renew, vitalize, and organize a

society.’

But now Nefer-t interjects a question. ‘Shekem,’ she says, ‘I understood your

teaching about bringing heavenly energies in support of earthly energies to

manage one's spiritual development. How can I relate that to promoting a healthy

society among the Asiatics?’

The Shekem responds, ‘In nurturing a healthy and productive society, heavenly

energies of the leadership must be lowered to support the earthlier energies of

all people in the society. The leadership of a society must find or create ways to

fuel the productive development of the society. The people will respond and

work toward the heavenly goals of the society. If the leadership of a society does


53

not develop, refine, and identify with the lowest of its people, then nothing

positive will come from such a society, and it will eventually disintegrate. If

leadership is too strong and intrudes itself too much into the daily lives of people,

then their hot heavenly dictates will cause the people to rebel against it, and

nothing positive will be accomplished. For individuals and societies, there must

be a healthy balance of heavenly and earthly energies to produce that which is

natural, potent, and enduring.

‘Daughter, true growth occurs in the process of solving the problems of life,

both individually and collectively. All difficulties can be resolved through

following the holistic, integral way of life. Creating a better society and world

starts with creating internal spiritual development. If you can create internal

harmony, then you know how to create external harmony. If you know how

to govern yourself, then you know how to govern society and the world.

Through spiritual self-cultivation, one comes to realize that there is an

indivisible unity between all things, and that there is no self-versus others,

Black versus White, male versus female. Because we all share the same

essential nature, we are all one, and the one is continuously expressed in all.

With this holistic vision, a people of virtue will plant the seedlings of a new

age of enlightenment and civilization that will sprout and cover the earth. ’

The father now addresses the Shekem. ‘Venerable Shekem, I am eternally grateful

for your instruction. I have one last request. Please give to us some words of

spiritual power that will protect us and help us remain on the integral way as we

make the journey into the land of the Asiatics.’

The Shekem responds, ‘My Son, the power of any prayer or invocation comes

from the sincere projection of the heart. With sincerity, one invokes the greatest

powers of the Universe. Without sincerity, there is no power. For your protection

you may repeat, from time to time, these words with great sincerity: Highest

Universal Spirit, the One without a second, you and I are One. I also give you these

cautionary words: Thoughts and words have their power, but the greatest power

comes from living and being the integral way of life. Constantly practice virtue and

wholeness in all activities with awareness of the Divine Source, your true self, as

the doer of all activity. This is the greatest protection and potency of life. Auseti,

this is the Source of your Mystical Pearl; the Source from which the greatest

healers draw their power.’


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Auseti asks, ‘Venerable Shekem, how did you know about the Mystical Pearl? I

have told no one about that old man who showed it to me. And how did you

know that I once failed to have my healing stone when the life was leaving a body

right before me?’

‘Daughter,’ the Shekem replies, ‘I and Highest Universal Spirit are one. Now I give

to you this word of power to use when there are conflict and tension around and

in you. It is HA. This is like the sound you make when you are laughing deeply

from the belly. It is good to remember not to dwell only on the seriousness of

life, but to also be joyful and spiritually tipsy at times. This will help you to be

flexible to your surroundings. Tension causes stiffness. Recall that when the

winds of life are fierce, it is the stiffest trees that snap first. Remain firm to your

principles; yet be flexible to all that is around you. The Divine One experiences

this life through you for its greater purpose. This Divine One, who expresses as

your True Self, does not kill and is not killed. Even as you see an enemy, it is the

self-seeing itself. Therefore, you must love even your enemies as you love you

self, even if you may have to slay your enemy to uphold the greater justice and

peace.’

‘Venerable Shekem,’ the father says, ‘we are now fully prepared to leave for this

journey following tomorrow's initiation ritual. Is there anything else we should

know in preparation for tomorrow's initiation ritual?’

The Shekem responds, ‘This journey will be your daughters' initiation. It will be

how they will fulfill the meanings of their names. Indeed, their journey will be

our journey and the journey of all humankind for all ages.’

And hearing those final words, the father and daughters bow, thank the Shekemu,

and return to their home.” (pgs. 38-43)

Africans need to draw upon the spiritual tools available to us to endure global White

domination. That we have not forgotten how to laugh and enjoy as we struggle through

this experience is a testament to our strong spirits. Of course, laughing is not sufficient.

We must fully prepare ourselves by accessing some serious spiritual powers to help

weather the oppressive forces arrayed against us, and to help create a better world based

on Maat. We are all on a journey toward achieving an abiding realization that we are the

One Self, expressing in various forms. This is the journey of all humankind for all ages.

The current struggle we are all in with global White colonialism is just one stage of that


55

journey. When we find our true Selves, and conduct all movement from that, then we

can maintain an inner smile, even through the harshest of times.

Below is more evidence of high collective African spiritual-cultural achievement

through Kemet:

• The very founding of Kemet, a unification of two lands

• Working in harmony with the cycles of Nature

• The development of agriculture to maintain a healthy diet

• The development of the capacity to store food for times of scarcity

• The development of self-defense capabilities

• The establishment of trade in goods and ideas with other countries

• The establishment of maritime capabilities to contact other people

• Architecture that reflect their knowledge of physical materials, iron working,

physics, transportation, math, and spirituality

• Development of mathematics, astronomy to tell the cycles of time, and an

understanding of physical forces

• The establishment of a class of scribes

• The establishment of libraries for consolidating knowledge and building upon it

for future advancements

• Animal husbandry

• The balance between male and female governance

• Advances in writing systems for both sacred matters and commerce transactions

• The attention to medicine, hygiene, and public health

• The attention to preparing for the afterlife

• The reverence for the honorable ancestors

Indeed, every marker one can think that proves collective spiritual growth can be

found in the culture established by the African ancestors of ancient Kemet. It is also

important to emphasize again that Kemet was a high expression of neighboring African


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nations; it was the daughter of Nubia. Nubia itself had many dynasties of its own that

preceded and coincided with Kemet. It must also be emphasized that the high

achievement of Kemet had likewise a positive influence on the surrounding countries

of Africa. Consider how the decline and conquering of Kemet had a negative ripple

effect on all of Africa.

For instance, the decline of Egypt created a vacuum that allowed the Arabs to

intrude not just into Kemet, but also into most of Africa through the spread of Islam.

This Arab intrusion, which included over 1000 years of Arab slave trade, in turn

weakened Africa to the point it was not able to withstand the onslaught of Western

Europeans who eventually carved up all of Africa and sent her into a dark age. This

dark age was not to take firm grip before some of the wisdom teaching of Kemet spread

throughout Europe via the Arabs, and not before Africa had another flowering of high

civilization and spiritual achievement of Collective Consciousness through the Mali,

Ghana, and Songhai empires.


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Chapter 3

Decline of Indigenous African Spiritual Culture in the East

Early Foreign Intrusion into Kemet and the Erosion of African Spiritual Self

Consciousness

Before the exit of the Anglo-Saxon from the Caucus Mountains around the end of

the Würm glaciation (10,000 B.C.E.), Africans were the only people from the tip of

Africa and all up through the area known as Jordan and through the Top of Turkey.

The Phoenicians were originally of Black/African stock. At some point, Hebrews were

created by mixing original Africans with invading Anglo-Saxons. They were the Hyksos

who eventually invaded Africa and who were subsequently expelled from Africa by

Africans. At one point, the Hebrews were allowed into Africa, and they mixed with the

African tribes already there. The so-called lost 12 tribes of Israel were not lost if you

knew where to look, African tribes (i.e., Akan). Africans are the original creators of

spiritual traditions and culture. We need not refer to Hebrew stock or the Jewish religion

to validate us. Why get caught up with a copy religion and not go back to the original

African religion that Anglo-Saxons copied so carefully from? I'm saying all religions are

copies from the original African, just as all people are.

What has happened to the collective Soul of Kemet, of Africa, resulting from wave

after wave of invaders taking over Kemet? Christianity is one offshoot from the

Kemetic Mysteries System. Many of our African scholars have made the connection

of the key concepts of Christianity to those that preceded them by thousands of years

in Kemet. Dr. Henrik Clarke was among them to assert that every element that went

into the creation of Christianity came from Kemet in some way, but that the new

creation was an inferior copy of the original.

One such effect of converting Kemetic archetypes into Christianity was the shift in

emphasis from an inner salvation (realizing one’s true Self being one with the divine),

to that of an externalized salvation dependent on the intermediation of Jesus Christ

and his representatives on earth (i.e., bishops and Popes). Africans in Kemet

emphasized the elevating of the individual or the collective state to that of Ausarian

Consciousness; becoming Ausar. This world dominance of an externalized view of

salvation lent itself to the development of a religious body of mediators for Christ,

(bishops and Popes) that in turn facilitated the control of the masses of people by the

bureaucracy of the state. This was Constantine’s primary motive of making


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Christianity the state religion of Rome, to control society through religion as it did

through Roman military and state power.

This approach to religion was to become a permanent fixture of Western societies

down to this day. It was also to maintain its opposition to an African approach to

spirituality, namely that of entering ecstatic communion with the Divine through ritual

and trance. Kemetic societies did have Pharaohs as the earthly representatives of the

Divine, and priests to help administer Divine dispensation. However, the Pharaoh and

priests were facilitators that brought the people into a self-realization of the Divine,

and did not presume to determine that realization, as with the European conception

of paying one’s relatives out of purgatory and into heaven, or purporting that Black

people had no soul, for example.

Following the decline of Kemet due to successive invasions, its wisdom continued

in modified forms via the interpretations and transliterations made by the Arabs &

Moors, as they dominated Egypt, the whole of North Africa along the Mediterranean

regions (Maghreb), Spain and much of Christian Europe from the 8th through the 15th

centuries. Europeans were again exposed to vestiges of Kemetic wisdom through the

reinterpretations of Arabs who were in control of Kemet and its store of knowledge

even though the library of Alexandria by then was burned down. Arabs also had access

to the knowledge of the Coptic Egyptians of the time and set about translating Geek

knowledge stores that were themselves derived from Kemet. This exposure, along with

that of African and Arab culture and knowledge, can be credited for the emergence of

Europe from its recognized “Dark Ages,” and into the European Renaissance; though

the application of that knowledge did little to prevent Europe from instituting a dark

age for Africans in the form of the barbaric transatlantic slave trade (War). The Arab

slave trade during that same period was evidently an enticing example for Europeans.

We must then consider how the dimming of the light of Kemet was due to a confluence

of factors. The effects of that demise influenced both how Islam and Christianity were

to interact with the African world going forward. In both cases, it was an approach of

total disregard for the wisdom traditions of Africa.

The question remains, what African groups were the keepers of Ancient Kemetic

knowledge after the conquest of Kemet by the Arabs and Eurasian groups? Chancellor

Williams (1987), recounts how many Egyptians fled South into the Eastern Sudan.


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“Now, for some centuries Arabs and Jews (the latter called Solomonids by most

historians) had been swarming into this southeastern region, pushing through

the middle in such a way that even in Abyssinia the Blacks were pressed

southward, always southward! Egyptian history was repeating itself: The Asians

and Mulattoes held Northern Abyssinia, with the center of power in the strategic

kingdom of Axum. From Axum, the Arabs prepared their forces for the

destruction of a now weakening Ethiopian empire. The weakness, as usual, came

from separatist movements struggling for power, it was the old-time factional

fights among leaders who felt they must “rule or ruin” – a drive so well known

that is needless to recount. But it was the situation for which the Axumite Arabs

and their Colored and Jewish allies were waiting. In 350 A.D. their armies

destroyed Meroe, and an epoch in history ended.” (p. 139)

This quote form Chancellor Williams refers to the beginning of the pressure by

Arabs to seize Black people’s land along the Nile, and force Black people further South.

With this pressure came resistance, but also a retreat of Kemetic wisdom back to where

it originated, into Nubia. The Ethiopians then can be counted as among the groups

who have preserved much of the wisdom teachings and commensurate expansion of

Ausarian consciousness of Kemet following its demise.

Just as the Arabs pushed to create the Maghreb and become the dominant influence

in North Africa and the Mediterranean areas, so too must the wisdom of Ancient Egypt

have preceded that push and influence the African peoples of the regions, including the

Libyans, Berbers (originally Black), the Garamantes of southwestern Libya,

Tunisia/Carthage, Algeria, and all territory between to Morocco, not to leave out the

northwestern Central African countries that had trade with these countries. See map of

trade routes with northwest Africa and the Northern coast.


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Figure 3.1

Pre-Colonial Trade Routes in West Africa

What about the West? From where did the libraries of Timbuktu draw their wisdom

unrivaled in the known world? Is there a connection to the wisdom of Kemet? We

know that Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca, passing through Kemet first, and

there are well-traveled, and likely ancient routes between West and East Africa. Where

there is trade in commodities there is also trade in knowledge, technology, and culture.

J.C. deGraft Johnson (1986) recounts:

“Mansa Musa developed Timbuktu as a commercial city having caravan

connections with Egypt, Anjila, Ghadamer, Fez, Sus, Sijilmasa, Tuat, Dra’a, and

Fezzan. Side by side with trade and commerce came the encouragement of

culture and learning. In addition, it became a center of learning, one of the

foremost centers of Islamic scholarship in the world. The University of Sanlore

Mosque was highly distinguished for the teachings of Koranic theology and law,

besides other subjects such as astronomy and mathematics.” (p. 98)


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The existence of ancient Trade Routes points to the exchange of ideas, values,

practices, culture, and DNA. It also points pathways for the expanse and evolution of

the collective African consciousness / Being. Moustafa Gadalla (1999) gives the below

details on ancient trade routes in Africa:

“In Africa, caravans of merchants guarded by soldiers introduced Egyptian

products and techniques to distant traders. They carried these goods and

innovations Westward along the savannah, toward Lake Chand and further

westward, southward to the highlands of Ethiopia and Equatorial Africa. The

trade routes of this region are the oldest in Africa.

Figure 3.2

Africa’s Major Trade Routes in Anciet Times

Many of them were already in existence at the beginning of the Common /Era

(CE), and some can be traced back to the third millennium BCE.

Egypt was connected with the lands to the South by three main routes:

1. Darb el-Arbeen


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The Forty Days’ Road links Asyut in the Nile Valley to El Fasher in the Dar-

Fur Province of Sudan, a journey of 1,082 miles (1,721 km). It was the shortest

and safest distance to travel into western Africa. The route was strung along

several green and lush oases such as El Kharga. Dozens of towns, forts, and

way stations spread over the depression floor.

From El Fasher, another route led west through DarFur, towards Lake

Chand, ending in the area of Kano (northern Nigeria), at the upper reaches of

the Niger River Basin.

2. Sunt (Elephantine) Road

It began at Sunt (Aswan), and went to El Fasher in Dar-Fur, by way of the

oases of Selima and Bir Natrum. Sunt (Elephantine Road was branched off to

Sema West, where the caravans and expeditions transferred to ships in order to

continue the journey to beyond the trading post established at Kerma, above

the Third Cataract. In the same way, protective escorts and merchandise bound

for Egypt from the South disembarked at Semna, where the fortress of Semna

South was built (during the Middle Kingdo) to protect the travelers. During the

time of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE, this highway was in continuous

use all the way throughout the Roman Era, as many inscriptions on the Rock of

Offerings at Sunt (Elephantine) testify.

3. Nile Valley to the Red Sea

There were also several trade routes to the Red Sea from the Nile Valley, which

allowed trade with Asian countries. Some of these ports along the Red Sea

were: Suakin, Massawa, and Zeila.

Other routs led south from the Nile Valley towns of Asyut, Qus, Sunt (Aswan),

and Dongola, via the oases of Kharga, Dakhla, and Dunqul, to kufra, Dar-Fur

(western Sudan), and Kordofan.

Another route led from the western oases of Egypt to Bilma and Gao, but this

seems to have fallen out of use by the 10th century.

In Sudan, the main transversal route, running from east to west, started from

Suakin, to Sennar or Qerri, and continued across Kordofan to Darfar and on to

the countries in Wes and Central Africa.


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The whole African continent was known to the people of Egypt as confirmed

by Herodotus, who reported that Necho, King of Egypt, c. 600 BCE, sent an

Egyptian ship with Phoenician sailors to circumnavigate Africa, and that they

returned safely and reported their endeavor.”

It is not a stretch, considering the interconnectedness of Kemet with the rest of

Africa via ancient trade routes to say that Kemet had a wide and deep positive impact

on the entire continent of Africa. The destabilization of Kemet had, in turn, negative

consequences throughout Africa, particularly at the front of Arab and later European

intrusions. Chancellor Williams, in his Destruction of Black Civilization, expounded on

the long-term effects of forced migrations of Black people from their traditional

homeland into neighboring territories, resulting from European and Arab intrusions,

or the expanding Sahara. These effects include the dilution of the ability to maintain a

high level of civilization, due to fragmentation and a loss of specialization within a larger

production system. The fragmentation leads to the development of different dialects,

customs, social organizations, and shifting loyalties. This all also puts pressure on the

receiving populations. Suspicions of selling neighbors into the Arab or European slave

market or memories of such past betrayals heightens the tensions between African

neighboring ethnic groups. Citing Chancellor Williams, Robin Walker (2006) recounts:

“People in retreat before slave traders often fled to some of the most

inhospitable places they could find. Some took to the hills (Nuba Mountains),

others to the swamps, and others to the caves. Under these extreme

circumstances, their culture degenerated, often to the level of savagery. If

organized enslavement and violence continued over generations, whole

communities would know no other life other than the hills, caves, or the swamps.

There were other consequences. Small communities, cut off from all other for

generations, soon developed their own dialects and languages. This is the root

causes of the hundreds of dialects spoken today, even over small geographical

areas. Moreover, a mentality of distrust of others developed among these

fragmented and isolated communities, often caused by Blacks and people of

mixed ancestry being used by the invaders to do the slave raids. As communities

saw their own people acting against them, they increasingly saw other Black

groups as ‘traditional enemies’ to be blamed and mistrusted for generations.

Thus, the combination of the migrations, communities being raided by Black and

Mixed-Race groups, the birth of new dialects and languages, a mentality of

distrust and exclusivity, and the cultural decline of millions into savagery, are the


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basic reasons for the tribalism and political instability of modern Africa.” (pgs.

541-542)

Williams (1987) traces the effects of the conquering of Kemet upon those who chose

not to flee to other regions, but rather stayed on to face the invaders in near proximity:

“Finally, I referred to Blacks who, though forced to move, never left their

homeland region. The Noba (Nubians) did not move very far from where they

had lived from times immemorial. A far greater number of Blacks held on in

their ancient center after it was overrun, refusing either to leave or be enslaved.

They stayed and battled against the invaders, finally, being concentrated in the

southern provinces of the Sudan where the earlier history of the race in Egypt is

still being repeated, line by line. And this is why it is so easy to understand the

history of the Blacks and see very clearly how they were not only forced far back

behind the advancing races, but also pushed to the lowest levels of degradation.

For that history is still being made today, covertly and openly, for all the world

to see. The Blacks who are under pressure today in Bahr El Ghazal, Upper Nile

and Equatoria are still fighting for survival against the all-conquering Coloured

Arabs just as their forefathers fought five thousand years ago from the

Mediterranean in Lower Egypt to where they are now making a last stand.

Romantic history? Who needs it? They have been massacred by the hundreds

and villages left in ashes, but they fight on. This all-black region is kept isolated

and cut off from the developments and higher levels of life seen in the Arab-

dominated Sudan. These Southern Sudanese have remained (even in 1973) both

“primitive” and “pagan”, just as their brothers elsewhere had to remain under

similar circumstances.” (pgs. 193-194)

The conquering of Kemet by foreign invaders, first by the Hyksos, would embolden

other Semitic groups to invade in turn. The destabilization this caused rippled

throughout all of Africa. One of the means Arabs used to gain Arabize ever-increasing

territory in North and East Africa was to marry African women of his standing in the

society, thus circumventing the matriarchal descent, and transforming it into an Arab

patriarchal society. Kemet became Arabized phenotypically and Islamized mentally and

religiously. As the light of Kemet faded, the African Collective Spirit retreated to the

South in Kush and Ethiopia.

In the long run, when it is time for these groups impacted by migrations to unite

against a common enemy or form a federated government, their ethnocentrism would


65

inhibit such unity and can in many cases lead to civil war. This is what we see in the

case of modern Sudan. The Southern Sudanese were correct to battle against Arab

imperialism, even as it presented in the form of Arabized Blacks. However, the

fragmentation and ethnocentrism that developed in Southern Sudan resulted in civil

wars over the oil resources of the country. So, we who are routing for the indomitable

African Spirit to manifest in the originators of civilization, are disappointed to see them

devolve into barbarism and ethnic cleansing. Where we can find hope in the situation

of the Sudan and other African Countries with similar problems, is in the intervention

and arbitration of the African Union.

Developments in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is known to have resisted Arab intrusion as well as absorb Islamic faith

without being overrun by it. Northeast African nations/kingdoms/empires, from

ancient to medieval times, were indigenous African creations. This is not minimizing

influences by non-African nations such as Greece, Rome, and the Aryan mixed Semites.

There was robust trade with foreign nations via the Red Sea. However, these foreign

peoples did not bring to Africa civilization that they had barely managed to create in

their own regions. Now when we look at the periods following the intrusion of these

foreign nations into North East Africa, particularly Arab ascendancy as they had the

most success infiltrating the interior beyond the coastline, we see an inexorable eroding

of indigenous African customs, religious expression, and even physiology, to that of a

heavy Arab makeup.

Africans became Arabized. This of course accelerated after the Arab invasion of

Egypt in the 7th century. Trying to trace where Africans have held the line against

Arabization is a complex task. Perhaps it can be made easier by determining where the

fault lines are today and compare that marker to the autonomy Africans had prior to

Arab intrusion. Along the way, we can note major battles where Africans resisted Arab

intrusion, even to the death. These battles will inform us of the strength of the African

collective spirit. This is not to minimize the strength shown by attempting to be flexible

and absorb foreign elements into indigenous social constructs. Indeed, such flexibility

at times is a superior form of strength. For example, there are advantages of a diverse

collection of states adopting a common Arabic language or script to facilitate inter-

regional commerce. North East Africans syncretized Judaism and Christianity to

indigenous African culture, without being occupied by foreign peoples. However, the


66

benefits of submerging indigenous cultural forms have its breaking point, which was

reached more times than not.

It is estimated that the Land of Punt was in what is now Eretria and Ethiopia. The

kingdom of Punt was a creation of indigenous black African people. According to

Drusilla Dunjee Houston (1985):

“In the inscriptions, relative to the campaigns of Pepi I, Negroes are represented

as immediately adjoining the Egyptian frontier. This seems to perplex some

authors. They had always been there. This was the Old Race of pre-dynastic

Egypt - the primitive Cushite type. This was the aboriginal race of Abyssinia.”

(p. 35)

Houston (1985) recounts that from the most ancient time Egypt traded with the

Land of Punt. In fact, Egyptians claimed that they came from the Land of Punt. So,

there was a synergy between the two, a harmony of Spirit. We know Eretria is

predominately an Arab dominated culture today.

“The Sphinx and the pyramids were symbols of some form of religion of the

Old Race. Baldwin quotes from Diodorus Siculus, “The laws, customs, religious

observances and letters of the ancient Egyptians closely resembled the

Ethiopians, the colony still observing the customs of their ancestors.” Egyptians

in later days affirmed, that they and their civilization came from the black tribes

of Punt (generally accepted today to have been the Somaliland south of Nubia).

Some scholars seek to derive Egyptian civilization from some Oriental source.

There is evidence that the culture of Egypt was not developed in Egypt from

their traditions and their earliest remains. It did not come from the north or east

but must have been imported from the south for as Budge affirms, Egyptians

had all the characteristics of an African race. Sergi shows that the discoveries of

Flinder Petrie and De Morgan prove that prehistoric Egypt was not influenced

by any Oriental civilization.” (p. 68)

Eretria (Land of Punt)

The Beja people of Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia give a glimpse into how

these ancient Egyptian-affiliated people looked. The Nomadic peoples look less Arabic

than those in cities where there is a concentration of invading power.


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Figure 3.3

The Beja People of Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia

The ancient civilizations in Eastern regions of Africa no doubt impacted the cultures

trading with them like Greece, Rome, and Kemet. These kingdoms include:

• The Axum Empire – 350 AD Axum invaded the Kush Empire and it fell. In 710

AD Adulis, the capital of Axum, fell to the invasion of Arab Islam, cutting off

Axum from its former trading partners.

• The Beja picked up from there Axum from about 750 AD but were also

absorbed by Arab Island. The Beja converted to Islam in the 13th century.

• The Zagwe dynasty,(the Agwa people) was a historical kingdom in present-day

northern Ethiopia. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the territory from

approximately 900 to 1270. Zagwe fell to Islamic Amhara in 1270 A.D.

• Solomonic Dynasty – (14th century).

• Modern Ethiopia/Abyssinia. Ethiopia despite being known to be a predominantly Christian Country is 50% Islamic. We know that Ethiopia historically has played a huge role in developing the Christian religion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela


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Figure 3.4

The Beja People of Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia


69

A detailed account of these kingdoms is not given here. However, the reader is

encouraged to frame any such historical research within the context of the evolving

African Collective Consciousness. None of these Eastern kingdoms that ascended into

prominence provided the regional stability and high level of enduring spiritual culture

for as long as that of Kemet. The Arab intrusion into East Africa and the subsequent

Arabization of Kemet, the Sudan, the Eastern regions of the Nile, through to South of

Eritrea and even Ethiopia, caused a destabilization, fragmentation, and disruption of

the evolutionary push of the African collective Spirit.

That Spirit continued to show in limited expressions as with the resistance of

Southern Sudan against Arab domination of the North of Sudan. However, the

constant factional civil wars, successive governments that oppressed their own civilians,

and the inability to halt the inexorable process of Arabization and conquest of vital

resources, is indicative that the collective African Spirit was in an arrested period of

evolutionary development. The same can be said for Ethiopia. With the decline of

Kemet and Kush, we see the rise of first Southern (Ethiopia, Nubia, Monopatapa), then

Central (Hausa and Bernu-Kanem states) and West African empires. Just as Kemet was

in its waning days, Ghana rose to prominence from about the 6th century to 1240 A.D.

This represents macro shifts in the locations for evolutionary advances in collective

African consciousness.


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Chapter 4

Cultural Unity and African Collective Consciousness in Pre-Colonial Western

Africa

In considering the evolution of the African collective consciousness towards its

highest ideal, we must look not only at religious beliefs in the African collective. We

must also look at how these beliefs were lived out daily in concrete relations between

members of the collective, in relations with the environment and with other collectives.

We should look at how, throughout ourstory, the African collective has organized

material, social/political, and educational powers of life to promote the perfection of

humanity as an unfettered instrument and expression of the Divine. This implies

suppression in the society of the opposite, a staunch individualism, exploitation of man

by man for the benefit of a few and consigning the fate and function of members to a

limited role with little to no possibility of progress.

In the following, the underlying premise is that a cultural, ethical and spiritual thread

has continuously spanned all of Africa, and even all of humanity; however negligible

these threads may appear to a given onlooker. Cultural, social, religious, scientific, and

material exchanges continent-wide in Africa, all amount to development of the African

collective spiritual consciousness. I present a summary list of common constitutional

tenants found to run through all early African states. This summary is adapted from a

list giving by Dr. Chancellor Williams in his "Destruction of African Civilization.”

The people as a collective are the first and final source of power. The rights of the

collective are superior to the rights of any one person. Note: this does not mean that

the individual's rights should be unreasonably curtailed so long as they do not detract

from the rights of the collective. Kings or Chiefs are not rulers but merely facilitators

for the collective. Government and the people are the same, and so elected officials

speak not for themselves but for the collective society. Officials represent not their own

individual will, but the collective will of the people. Decisions made by a council of

elders are final and cannot be overruled by the King who is the council's spokesperson.

The land belongs to no one. It is to be used by each generation as a sacred trust from

the Creator. Each family has a right to land sufficient for its support. Every member of

the state has the right to appeal a decision made from a lower court to a higher one.

The trouble of one is the trouble of all. The community is conceived of as one party.

Even as the high Sprit of African collective consciousness cannot be fragmented

and always remains integrated even as it is differentiated into the individual lives of


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Africans, so too were/are the life activities of traditional African societies integrated

into a whole. Cheik Anta Diop in his books, The Cultural Unity of Africa and Pre-colonial

Black Africa, speaks to a continent-wide cultural unity that can be traced over all of

Africa prior to the colonial influence. This cultural unity, evidenced in common

practices through all areas of people activity, including political and economic

structures, is but an expression of the deeper spiritual unity behind it, the collective

African Self.

We can investigate how the high African collective Consciousness, the Ausarian Self,

has expressed in other major areas of social organization, contributing to higher African

spiritual realization. Essential questions to ask in considering how pre-colonial African

societies were organized on the mundane levels are, “what allowed for their civilizations

to endure for centuries as in the kingdoms of Mali, Songhai, and Songhai; or even

millennia as in ancient Egypt and Southern Ethiopia?” “What were the structural

harmonies built into such societies?” “What were the mitigating factors that reduced

the tendency for revolt and disintegration, and thus allowed for the continued evolution

of the involved collective Spirit in African societies?” Cheik Anta Diop (1996), gives his

analysis of some of these structures:

Matrilineal System

A matrilineal system is where the wealth and power of the common family, tribe, or

aristocracy of the state is passed down through the female side of the family line. For

example, the succession to kingship would be the son of the king’s sister, or in some

cases the sister herself. The child would bear the name of his maternal uncle, the one

whose heir is to be. African societies produced some of the world’s first queens as heads

of state. Traditionally, all African societies, as well as Indian societies prior to the mixing

with European and Arab influences, have been matrilineal. This guarantees that the

female is revered in society and has equal respect, if not more, to that of men. This

system of wealth transference and kingship succession has been at the core of providing

for ongoing stability in family life for millennia. It precluded sons of fathers fighting

over rights to family inheritances or sons dispatching of their fathers to seize the throne.

Diop (1996), drives home the point of how matrilineal societies as practiced in

traditional African societies, promoted stability within.


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“Matriarchy is tied to agricultural life for economic reasons. The woman is seen

as the most sedentary element in society. In a family, the boy is more mobile than

the girl and, even in a sedentary regime, he is like a bird on a tree branch. If he

had to transmit political rights, property, ancestral, cult or any other social values,

all that would be lost, scattered outside, and tradition would quickly cease to

exist. This is why it is his elder or younger sister, it does not matter if he is older

than she is, who transmits the rights of inheritance from the African viewpoint.”

(pg. 132)

Twin-Lineal System

Oba T’Shaka (2001) elucidates the core values in African societies as espoused by

ancient Kemetic and the more recent Dogon peoples. The present-day Dogon people

trace their origins to ancient Kemet. Upon careful investigation, it can be seen that

their ontology, epistemology, and axiology mirrors those of Kemet.

“In Kemetic (Egyptian), Dogon and African philosophy in general, the two, the

masculine and feminine, water and earth, air and fire (I will add construction and

destruction, joining and separating, attraction and repulsion) all emerge from the

one, the creator. The oneness, or Unicity, of the universe is easily said, but not

easily understood. In African Sacred Science, from the One or Primeval Water

comes the many, the twin truths of life. The creator is the source of all, which

derives from the One. Masculine and feminine, male and female, water and earth,

fire and air, positive and negative, day and night, the sun and the moon and all

of the other twin forces, COOPERATE MORE than they conflict because they

come from the same Source.” (p. 112)

According to T’Shaka (2001), Dogon and Kemetic cosmology tell us that disorder,

rather than evil incarnate, is the source of the evils of the world. The Dogon’s say that

if a man does not have the benefit of the caring mother, or the sensitive mother

principle, then that imbalance will cause disorder.

“Set in Kemetic (Egyptian) cosmology is the divine principle of disorder in the

cosmos. … As we have seen the primordial Nommo Twins and Ausar are both

symbolic of the watery germinating principle that is the force of order, as dryness

is a source of disorder. As a result, the cosmic forces of order and disorder are

related and are tied together by the bonds of kinship. These ties are important

because the Dogon, and the sages of Kemet are telling us that order and disorder


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are twins, they are two banks of the same stream. They occupy the same space

and struggle with each other for dominance. They are complementary and

conflicting, with the harmony between them outweighing their conflict. The

forces of order and disorder lie inside of us. When we synthesize the masculine

and feminine, and balance males and females we are able to achieve order within

ourselves and in society at large.” (p. 109)

The balance between the male and female principle in our societies give the dynamic

creative potential to express the High Spirit of the Collective African Self in wider and

deeper terms. The question of how African societies have constructed stable forms of

social, political, and economic structures is an important one from the macro point of

view taken here. These stability-ensuring structures allow for the development of higher

expressions of the divinity that evolves through humanity. Another such important

structure to analyze in this vein is the caste system.

Caste System

Traditionally in Africa, the cast system has essentially been a form of labor division.

It reduced competition and formed effective monopolies. People of the caste were

empowered by a patron, and members of a caste could typically assume a common last

name, so the system was hereditary. Each profession typically had its representatives

within the government who could have complaints addressed to the satisfaction of all.

The equality between members of a caste was not always in function, but always in

essence. The balanced respect between the castes provided for the stability and

longevity of the society. Referring to the caste system in traditional Senegal, Diop (1987)

speaks to this point by saying:

“Unlike the attitude of the nobles towards the bourgeoisie, the lords towards the

serfs, or the Brahmans towards the other Indian castes, the ger (upper class

nobles practicing agriculture) could not materially exploit the lower castes

without losing face in the eyes of others, as well as their own. On the contrary,

they were obliged to assist lower caste members in every possible way: even if

less wealthy, they had to “give” to a man of lower caste if so requested. In

exchange the latter had to allow them social precedence.” (p. 2)

Diop (1987) also speaks to the point of how this system reduced the tendency for

upheavals, as in revolutions, initiated by discontented caste members of the society.


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“Consequently, if a revolution were to occur, it would be initiated from above

and not from below … members of all casts including slaves were closely

associated to power, as de facto ministers; which resulted in constitutional

monarchies governed by councils of ministers, made up of authentic

representatives of all the people. We can understand from this why there were

no revolutions in Africa against the regime, but only against those who

administered it poorly, i.e. unworthy princes. In addition, there were of course

also palace revolutions. For every caste, advantages and disadvantages balanced

out… It can be understood why Africa’s societies remained relatively stable.” (p.

2)

Did this traditional caste system limit the human potential of the people in society?

Did it preclude the possibility of a person expressing their higher divinity? Aside from

traditional restrictions from moving from one caste to another through intermarriage,

it does not appear from details given by Diop that there were material restrictions within

the caste. A member of a caste could accumulate wealth in each profession just as in

another, including slaves as odd as that might sound juxtaposed to the slave systems of

European origin. Since there were no severe limits to the material foundation of a

person’s life, it stands to reason that there were no unnatural impositions to a person’s

spiritual development or to that of any caste either. We can then further deduce that

these cultural structures, while not essentially limiting the possibilities for spiritual

material and growth of individuals, do not limit the capacity of society to express the

Divine evolution on a collective level.

Constitution

It has already been established that succession to the throne in traditional African

societies was done mainly according to a matrilineal system of inheritance. However,

the King appointed ministers and council members who helped govern the society, and

such appointments were not exclusively from the class of nobles but could come from

the common people. Diop (1987) gives an example of this:

“Mossi is a constitutional monarchy. The emperor, the Moro Naba, comes by

heredity from the family of the previous Moro Naba, but his nomination is not

automatic. He is chosen by an “electoral” college of four dignitaries, presided

over by the Prime Minister, the togo baba, as in Ethiopia. He is actually invested

with power by the latter, however, is not Nakomse (nobleman), but comes from


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an ordinary family, and who is in reality, the representative of the people, of all

the free men, all the citizens who constitute the Mossi nation.” (p. 43)

Diop (1987) further explains that with the organization of political power being

shared with members from the common people, and even from slaves, revolutionary

tendencies within any group were mitigated.”

“Thus, ministers who assist the emperor, rather than being members of high

nobility of the Nakomse, are systematically chosen from outside of it, from

among the common people and the slaves. They represent at court, as we shall

see, the different social categories, professions, and castes. “Those without

birth,” slaves and laborers, organized into professions (castes), far from being

kept separated from power in this period which extends far beyond the

Occidental Middle Ages (since, very likely, it may go back to the first century and

the foundation of Ghana), are associated with it, not in any symbolic but in an

organic way. Each profession has its representatives within the government; they

will, as needed, present its complaints.” (p. 44)

Diop (1987) details similar constitutional and social structures from other African

states. All groups of societies were respected and could have their grievances heard,

ensuring healthy social development. This contrasts with political exclusion of the

slaves, plebeians, and surfs of Europe. This translates into a freedom to develop human

potential that corresponds to plasticity in spiritual and material development of the

entire society.

The King as Representative of Both the Nation and the Divine

Thinking of the traditional African King as a representative, or embodiment of the

Divine here on earth, points to an ontology that embraces the possibility of humans of

any status as becoming divine. In the case of Egypt, not only was it possible for the

King to become Ausar, the immortal Divinity, it was also possible for others who were

of lesser status to do the same as evidenced by the coffin text of such persons.

Furthermore, it was part of the cosmology of traditional African societies that all aspects

of life were a mirror or had a connection with the invisible higher realms of the divine

existence. At a deep level the divine and the worldly life were in communion. Such

ontology necessitates the view of humans as being divine, so that in the least

communication with the higher realms of the spirit is possible.


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Displacement of North Africans by Arabs following the fall of Khemet

The development of slavery as an institution and market did not start with the

European intrusion into Africa, but with the Arab invasion of Kemet from 639-42 A.D

and their subsequent incursions into the Sudan / Ethiopia, until the Arabs finally

consolidated complete control of the Sudan in the fifteenth century. The Arab slave

trade had 800 years of a head start over the European slave trade and has continued as

a major institution where Arab-Islam has taken hold in Africa for a span of over 1400

years. Initially, Africans in West of the continent were looking to get the Romans off

their back and made certain alliances with Arabs to do so; yet once the Africans and

Arabs could push out the Romans from North Africa, the Arabs replaced the Romans

as oppressors.

The Arabs went on to colonize all the East coast of Africa and North Africa initially.

Eventually they pushed inland to Ethiopia and West Africa. Along with Arab entry into

Africa began an international system of the nefarious trade in African slaves. The Arabs

brought with them a religion’s creed that degenerated from its original proposition of

equality of Blacks and Whites, as purportedly instructed by the prophet Mohammed,

into a religion that rationalized reducing all indigenous non-Muslim African believers

to slavery, domination, or death; just as Christians would do to the good Samaritan (the

perceived other) African and Indian during the transatlantic slave trade. An African

non-believer in the Arab-Muslim conception was an “Infidel,” an enemy who Muslims

were authorized to do Jihad on, destroy their native African religious practice, and even

the very native Africans themselves. This development was gradual, starting with

trading colonies of Arabs. It eventuated to the creation of an Arab/African mulatto

people who did not identify as being African, yet who were able to push further into

the heart of Africa and spread the xenophobic beliefs of the Arab-Muslim fathers.

Some make the old and fallacious argument that both indigenous and Arab-Islam

Africans had started the slavery institution and that the Arabs were just picking up from

where the Africans began. While it is true that there were native African servants, these

servants, who may have come to their lot as prisoners of war, for example, were not

treated as chattel, as spiritless beings. They were considered in the grand scheme of

things as part of the African society and could have many of their complaints redressed.

As stated earlier, they in many cases able to accumulate wealth, and to rise in position

within the society. Furthermore, the institution of invading a village for the expressed

purpose of capturing humans to feed the slave market was not started by Africans and


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was not a major practice by indigenous Africans. Once the Arab-Muslim invaders firmly

established themselves in Africa and succeeded to disrupt the normal balance of native

African economies, they were then able to put pressure (mostly through sustained

military pressure) on one African village to seek slaves from another African village.

The same held true centuries later for European invaders, who had possession of

the gun, and could use this technology strategically to pit one African village against

another. Once a mulatto class of Arab-Africans was created, this group of people had

no serious compunction to enslaving non-Muslim believing Africans. Why these

mulattos sided with the disruptive Arab culture over the mother culture of all is one of

the great questions of history and human psychodynamics. That dynamic was the

spearhead thrust into the side of indigenous African culture. It was to be the weapon

used by Arab invaders, who would, by proxy, further weaken African nations to the

point of making them vulnerable to subsequent European conquests and end the last

of the great African civilizations, the Songhai Empire.

The Arab slave trade drained Africa of a low estimate of 100 million people over

1400 years of Arab intrusion. It is estimated that 40 million were taken alive, and that

for everyone that was taken alive, three would die before the enslavement transaction

was completed. Many of the enslaved were taken to India to serve as Arab

mercenaries of war against the Hindus. Others were sold to Arab households and to

Europeans. Some were also sold to Muslim African heads of state for their own

purposes. For details on this see “The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A Quest for

Inter-Religious Dialogue” by John Alembillah Azumah.

It is a wonder how a desert people with few resources, and with no civilization to

speak of prior to their invasion of Africa, could gather the strength to overtake Africa.

As I alluded to earlier, North Africa was weakened by repeated Asiatic invasions by first

Hebrews (Hyksos), then the Greeks, then the Romans, the Assyrians, and the Persians

(Iranians). These invasions changed the population of North Africa, creating a mulatto

group that did not side with the protection of native Africans. This all served to weaken

Africa to the point where they could not resist even a modest army of Arabs. The

invasions caused a splintering of once cohesive African cities and states, into small

groups of colonized Africans, or small groups of Africans who migrated South and

West, to avoid foreigners and direct domination. These smaller groups, in either case,

were not sufficiently strong to put up a lasting resistance to foreign successive foreign

invaders.


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What does all of this say about the collective African higher consciousness? It

certainly did not have the wide dynamic expression in Arab-Muslim controlled regions

that it did prior to invasion. However, with the light of Kemit going out, there arose

grand African civilizations in West Africa that gave expression to the higher

consciousness of Africans for a time before both Arab-Muslim and European intrusion

would take near-complete hold. These were the empires of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai

in West Africa. These native African Black empires rivaled any of those existing at that

time in the world. A high expression of the empires of Mali and later Songhai was

education taking place in the university at Timbuktu. People from all over the world,

even Europeans went to Timbuktu to become learned. It is quite a paradox that the

highly learned of the University of Sankore at Timbuktu, while under the kingship of

an African Muslim, also kept slaves to manage their home affairs while they sought their

higher learning.

The Continuance of the Kemetic wisdom teachings through the Arabs & Moors into Europe through

Christianity and Free Masonry

Africa has always been the light of the world and the giver of wisdom to the world.

Prior to the Greeks, the Hebrews, the Romans, and the Arabs becoming major players

in the world, they made prolonged contact with Africa, even though that contact never

did benefit native Africans. With the Arab intrusion reaching West Africa and ending

the last purely African great civilizations of Songhai, the peoples of West African

progressively came under the influence of Islam. It was an Islamized West African army

that was to invade Spain for 700 years. Black people invaded Spain (Blackamoors or

simply Moors and Berbers) in 711 and 712 A.D.; however, the mentality behind the

invasion was not native African.

The invasion was started with a reconnaissance mission of 500 men led by the Black

Moor Tarif. With that mission’s success, the invasion began in mass by a Muslim

general, Tariq-Bin-Zibad backed by mostly Black Moors (6700) with some (300) Arab

soldiers. This incursion was followed in 712 by conquests from the Arab general Musa

Nosseyr with mostly Berber troops. This invasion therefore does not represent an

expression of higher African consciousness. In many cases, the invading Moors were

welcomed by the native Spanish people, who viewed them as relieving Spain from the

tyranny of the Visigoths, licentious Christians that ruled over Spain for the previous

200 years. The effect of the Arab-Muslim invasion into Africa was to replace the

indigenous African societal structures of governance with the religious state of Islam.


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So we cannot say that the Moorish invaders of Spain were operating strictly from the

indigenous cultural thrusts of Africans. What motivation did the Moors, eighty percent

of whom were African, to occupy Spain for 800 years? The Moors didn't demand

religious conversion of Spaniards to Islam. They didn't enslave the populace and extract

free labor. They built up their society, established universities, built roads, baths,

promoted agriculture, introduced literacy and science, and provided for all those things

that we call civilization.

What then is the underlying reason for going to Spain to do this? Mind you as soon

as Africans were put out, the enslavement of Africans as a system commenced. Though

Arab/Moors did not require the Spanish to change their religion, customs, or language,

this invasion when viewed from the stance of traditional African values was a violation

of those values and a departure from the fundamental African worldview as exemplified

by the Maatian principles of Ancient Egypt. Belief in the religion created by the

Hebrews, passed on to the Romanized Christians, and then to Arabs, was a copy of the

original African spiritual way of life in Egypt, that no longer had the spiritual clarity

conducive to natural African development of higher consciousness. This is likely the

source of the unenlightened invasion of Spain by Africans.

While it is true that African and Arab presence in Europe spurred the development

of a backwards Europe, it is also true that ultimately, no conquering people can bring

civilization of true development to another people. Inevitably the Blacks and Arabs

were pushed out of Spain in total by the year 1491 and the very next year, Spain returned

the favor and started the international slave trade of Africans with the exploits of

Columbus in 1492. Could it be that Africans knew the need to contain and civilize the

Europeans, else they would attempt to do exactly what they did once that containment

and civilizing influence was removed? We see how the Spaniards felt no compunction

about stripping Africans of their freedom and humanity to orders of magnitude lower

than Africans did to them for 700 years.

Expansion of African Collective Consciousness through the Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai

African states engaged in economic exchanges between each other, and with other

countries for hundreds of years. While local traders used the barter system, there existed

a merchant class in lager states that transacted exchange far and wide. Such a system of

commerce necessitated an equally sophisticated infrastructure to facilitate it. This

includes efficient transportation as in roads and animals, policing the tails, knowledge

of weather patterns, communications, money (i.e., gold, salt, and cowrie shells),


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accounting, in some cases writing systems. Along with economic exchanges naturally

came an exchange of ideas, culture, and technologies, and how to deal respectfully with

fellow traders. Such respectful interactions no doubt contributed to a sharing of values,

an underlying unity, and abounding development of internal spiritual consciousness that

included on a deep level the recognition of the other as sharing in the identity of the

Self.

All areas of life were directed under the belief that the Creator is everywhere present

in time and beyond time. An order of daily life was sought that reflected the Divine

order or Will above man. Members of the society were treated with equal respect even

though they served different functions in the society. There was a comprehensive effort

to reach for higher perfection in Arts, Science, Knowledge of Nature and the Universe,

along with man's inner capacities. These disciples were integrated with Divine

knowledge and self-knowledge. A reverence for the dead was an affirmation of the

continuance of the soul after physical death and extension of the high respect given to

elders.

Religion was not just a profession of creed but a daily reality reflected in all areas of

people’s activity. Africans contributed greatly to the advancement of human spirituality

as reflected in their daily living. The African's approach to life prior to Arab and

European disruptions was communal, where the needs of the collective were balanced

with that of the individual. The individual was allowed freedom to advance so long as

his/her advancement did not impinge on the welfare of the collective. This is the

foundation for the collective to realize its wider calling, its Higher Self, the Ausarian

Self. The moral code that guided daily life of respect to fellow members of society,

extended to include respect for trading partners as well as the visitor and peoples

contacted in other lands. The African approach to life was humane and communal,

reflecting an aspiration to contact and give expression to the Divine through the

mundane.

Basil Davidson (1977) gives us a general assessment of West African development

between 1000 A.D. and 1600 A.D., or what he refers to as “six dynamic centuries.”

“Between about AD 1000 and 1600 the peoples of West Africa passed through

a great and memorable period of their history. Many West African communities

developed more useful methods of government during this period. They worked

out new ways of organizing their community life, and of enforcing law and order.


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Some of them went ahead without chiefs and kings and central governments,

while other founded large states and empires. Cities grew in number, size and

wealth, and became the home of new kinds of craftsmen and traders, politicians,

priests, soldiers, writers and men of learning. With their export of gold and ivory,

these trading cities and states became a valuable part of the whole wide network

of international trade that was composed of West and North Africa, southern

Europe and western Asia.

There was plenty of war and ruin in this period, as well as peace and prosperity.

Yet we can think of this period as one in which splendid things were done.

Traveling through the empire of Mali in the fourteenth century, a famous

Moroccan traveler, Ibn Batuta, praised its good government. There was, he

found, ‘complete and general safety in the land. The traveler has not more reason

than the man who stays at home to fear brigands, thieves, or violent gangs’. Such

security showed great political and social achievement, and it was by no means

the only one of its kind.” (p. 25)

El Idrisi, (a conquering Berber?) writing around 1176 A.D., spoke of Ghana, in

decline at the time, as being the greatest kingdom of the Blacks. According to his

account given by Lady Lugard (2015),

“Ghana … is the most considerable, the most thickly populated, and the most

commercial of the black countries. It is visited by rich merchants from all the

surrounding counties, and from the extremities of the West. It’s inhabitants are

Mussulman … The king governs by his own authority, but he does obeisance to

the Abbasside Commander of the Faithful” (the Egyptian Caliph).” (p. 110)

The empire of Ghana lasted 1100 years, The Mali empire lasted 250 years, the

Songhai empire lasted about from 700 A.D. to 1591. By all accounts each empire at

their height achieved high levels of internal cohesion, material wealth, security

throughout the provinces, scholarly learning and teaching, all equating to a high level

of civilization. However, mixed with the evolution of African society was an element

of decay that needs examination, and that is the adoption of a foreign religion, Initially,

Arab leaders were kept separate from indigenous African centers of government. There

were established ministers to Arab centers to facilitate trade with Arabs. African kings

even built mosque so that these Arab and mulatto intermediaries can readily practice

their Islamic faith. There was tolerance on the part of African kings for Islam. Likewise,

there was tolerance by converted Black African kings to Islam for those who refused to


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convert. Some African kings refused to allow Arabs to reside in their land, learning

from the experiences of other regions that once Arabs gain a foothold in their land,

complete disaster and takeover was invariably the result. The Almoravides assault and

pillaging of Ghana is case in point. Lady Lugard refers to an account by the Berber El

Bekri on this destruction:

“In the year 1054, the town of Audoghast, still rich and flourishing, not only

acknowledged the rule of Ghana and paid tribute, but was also a place of

residence of the black monarch. But in the following year, 1055, the Almoravides,

already setting out upon their northward march, made a first example of this

town. They took it by assault and sacked and pillaged it, exposing it to every

horror of barbaric warfare, and it is especially stated that “they treated the

population of Audoghast with this extreme rigour because the town had

acknowledged the sovereignty of the black king of Ghana” (p. 93)

Yes, Islam provided a central organizing medium, and allowed for advances in

learning; however, history shows the corrosive aspect of Islam as it supplanted

indigenous beliefs and practices, paving the way for conquests by first Arabs and the

Europeans. What could have been if Africans did not allow Islam and Christianity to

take hold in West Africa? Could the slave trade and the loss of North Africa to Arabs

have taken place? Once the traditional African religions and practices had been

displaced by the adoption of Islam in West Africa, loyalty to African principles and land

was also compromised, leading to the loss of the internal cohesion and cooperation

necessary to repel foreign invaders, particularly the Europeans. What was the immediate

aftermath of the fall of the Songhai empire by the force of the Moroccan soldiers after

1590? deGraft-Johnson (1986) gives us a sense:

“There was chaos where once there had been order. States broke up. There were

intrigues everywhere; treachery and corruption became the order of the day.

Ordered society gradually crumpled. Famine often too a heavy toll of men and

animals. In 1716, for example, a famine lasting five years was reported to have

engulfed the western Sudan. The invaders and their descendants were absorbed

into the huge mass of the Negro population. The conquest had spent itself. It

had destroyed but never created, and in place of the old West African Empires

th3ere was found an atomized group of peoples ready to jump at each other’s

throats and to sell each other in the slave markets.” (p. 119)


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It is evident that the loss of loyalty to the indigenous land, and customs, and spiritual

values through the acceptance of Islam by West African kings, had opened the way to

ruin for Africa. At first Islamized kings appeared to seek a balance with traditional

African societies; however, this tolerance soon evolved to a resolve to win converts by

the sword in the name of Islam. This equated to an increase of Arab influence and

dominance over Traditionalist like the Mossi people. Robin Walker (2006) puts it this

way:

“As in North Africa, the enslavers (in West Africa), thrusting inland) used

religion to pacify the enslaved. The Arabians used Islam and the Europeans used

Christianity … To demonstrate the role of religion we have already discussed the

1526 letter of King Affonso I of Kongo to the Portuguese begging them to stop

the slave raids. However, elsewhere in the same letter Affonso asks the

Portuguese to continue the Christianisation programe! Why didn’t he respond

more aggressively by declaring war? Clearly Affonso was blinded to the

Portuguese threat because he erroneously believed that they shared his

commitment to the religious faith. He thought they and he were Christian

brothers. Black Muslims made the same mistake. Their responses when faced

with similar challenges were equally unsatisfactory.” (p. 550)

It was a combination of Arabized Blacks (Moors) and their English mercenaries,

that brought about the end of the last of the great Songhi Empire, and the city of

Timbuktu. Even before this, the Kings of the Mali Empire were Islamized, including

the famed Mansa Musa, giving a foot hold for the eventual displacement of traditional

values, practices, and ultimate sovereignty of West African regions. This eroding factor

of Islam led to the inability of West African kingdoms to unite in thwarting the

oncoming European takeover. The 15th century was not only when Arabs consolidated

their hold on the Sudan, but when Europeans ushered in the system of the transatlantic

slave trade that was to rival the Arab slave trade. This was the start of Western

colonialism, neocolonialism, and Western racism/White supremacy. These systems

were to challenge the strength of the African spirit to its limits.

Despite the intrusion of Arabs and Europeans into Africa, we must not lose site of

the continued evolving collective African Consciousness through the ages. When it has

been thwarted in one region of Africa, it has moved to ignite the flower of civilization

and advanced humanity in other areas, thus having an uninterrupted evolution. Cheik

Anta Diop (Diop, 1974) put it like this:


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“African history proceeded without interruption. The first Nubia dynasties are

prolonged by Egyptian dynasties until the occupation of Egypt by the Indo-

Europeans. Starting in the fifth century BC. Nubia remained the sole source of

culture and civilization until about the sixth century AFD., and then Ghana

seized the torch from the sixth century until 1240, when its capital was destroyed

by Sundiata Keita. The heralded the launching of the Mandingo Empire [‘i.e.

Mali … Next came the empire of Gao [i.e. Songhai], the empire of Yatenga [ in

today’s Burkina Faso] … and the kingdoms of the Djoloff and Cayor [in Senegal]

destroyed by Faidherbe under Napoleon III. In listing this chronology, we

wanted to show that there was no interruption in African history. It is evident

that, if starting from Nubia and Egypt, we had followed a continental

geographical direction, such as Nubia – Gulf of Benin, Nubia – Congo, Nubia –

Mozambique, the course of African history would still have appeared to be

uninterrupted. This is the perspective in which the African past should be

viewed.” (pp. 147-148)


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Chapter 5

Assimilation of Christianity into African Spiritual Culture

Notwithstanding the fact that formal Christianity, complete with the Apostles’

creed, was invented by Europeans (Alexander the Greek at the council of Nicaea, in the

year 325 after the B. C. era), to be used as a consolidating force arrayed against non-

European collectives, Africans through the ages have assimilated the Christian religion

and to a significant extent made it their own, particularly in how they practice it. It is a

fact that Africans along the Nile created nearly every archetypal element that went into

the making of Christianity, in Africa thousands of years before any Asiatic contact of

significance. The Egyptian trinity of Osiris (Ausar), Isis (Auset), and Horus (Heru the

sun), was translated into the core Christian trinity of God the father, Jesus Christ, the

Son of God, and Mary the mother of a supposed flesh and blood Jesus Christ.

Eventually Mary was replaced in the European Christian faith with the Holy Spirit. I

refer readers to the book The Historical Origin of Christianity, by Walter Williams and

Gerald Massey’s, The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ for details of this rendering of

Christianity from the Coptic Egyptian (African) original.

The Christian religion had its prodigious early growth in North Africa, namely Egypt

and Alexandria where much of the ancient Egyptian religions text was housed during

the formulation of orthodox Christianity or the Catholic Church. These texts would

come be destroyed when the Romans destroyed the Library of Alexandria. Where

Europeans have used the precepts of Christianity to project their culture as being

dominant over Africans, and forcing Africans to service European societies, Africans

have used the precepts of Christianity to contemplate the greater brotherhood of man,

the deeper mysteries of life, the promise of an afterlife, and freedom of their people

from oppression in this life.

Not only have Africans given the world the foundations of Christianity, but from

the time of the birth of Christianity, through the European lead Maafa, and up to today,

Africans have transformed the Christian religion, infused it with a purity and spirituality

superseding that of European input, in a way that makes it distinct from European

expressions of Christianity. Not unlike how Africans transformed the English language

into a form of their own, creating what some characterize in our day as “Ebonics,”

Africans have continually modified over the centuries the Christian religion to help

withstand their condition of imprisonment and oppression.


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European Conquering of Africa through Christianity

The invasion of Europeans into West Africa and the commencement of the

European enslavement and terrorism against Africans is well documented. However, it

is not as well understood that this nefarious trade could not have taken hold as it did

without the consent of the Christian church heads and body altogether. John G. Jackson

(1970) drives this point home by quoting Chapman Cohen (1936):

“The peculiar and damning fact of the history of slavery [as is pointed out by a

careful student of the institution], so far as the Christian Church is concerned, is

this … It was created by Christians, it was continued by Christians, it was in some

respects more barbarous than anything the world had yet seen, and its worst

features were to be witnessed in countries that were most ostentatious in their

parade of Christianity. It is this that provides the final and unanswerable

indictment of the Christian Church. … It should be added that, according to

Livingstone, slavery was unknown to the Africans until it was introduced by

Christians – the Portuguese.” Jackson, further stressing this point, provides this

quote by the Christian apologist, the Reverend Loring Brace: “the guilt of this

great crime rests on the Christian Church as an organized body” (p. 305)

W.E.B. Du Bois and other African scholars estimate that upwards of 100 million

Africa perished because of the European Maafa (great destruction). How can we derive

optimism and hope from this hell? How can we quantify the effect this has had on the

development of African civilization? How can we assess the continued evolution of the

indestructible African collective consciousness through the European/Christian-

directed Maafa? Perhaps we can shed light on these questions by asking and answering

another set of questions, “how have Africans used the Christian religion in ways to

promote the progressive development of the higher African collective Self in the world,

even though in the main the European collective did not have this intent when it pushed

its version of Christianity onto the African continent? Has the African collective derived

any benefit from the religion beyond the pressured need to survive European

colonization and imprisonment?”

It is a common truism that a conquered group will take on the beliefs of the

conquerors to progress in the society reformed to the material benefit of the

conquerors. Of course, the European Romans, from the start of Christianity, used the

religion to stabilize its empire. After emerging from the Dark Ages of being confined

to Europe by the Arabs, Europeans justified imposing slavery on Africans with the


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fallacious notion of bringing civilization and Godliness to Africans, just like the Arabs

did before them. So, their ungodly acts were justified in the name of God. Has it ever

been truly possible for Africans to see God in themselves through the medium of the

Christian religion, the religion of their oppressors? Just as a conqueror has never

elevated a people materially past where they were before invasion, so too a foreign

religion imposed on a people never elevated the spiritual wellbeing of the people prior

to invasion. All the elements that went into Christianity were developed and existed in

Africa prior to the coming of Europeans. The development of the Christian religion,

through copying the original African source, produced a religion that was never

compatible with the African. The God of the European has essentially been a White

man in the sky that favored the White man on earth, to the detriment of the African on

earth.

As most everyone is taught, the Christian religion shares the Hebrew’s belief in the

Old Testament. The Hebrews/Israelites/Jews believed themselves to be the chosen

people of God above all others, and thus destined to rule over all the earth’s people in

God’s name with a divine king. The Christian religion is based on the belief that Jesus

Christ is the only begotten Son of God, who was the fulfiller of the prophecies of the

Old Testament; faith in whom is the only means whereby man can be saved from sin

and eternal damnation. As already stated, the Roman Emperor Constantine managed

to initiate Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire and established the

Pope as the supreme pontiff over all religions and even state affairs.

This newly erected catholic, universal religion was given a structure that was not

unlike that of the Roman military command. Indeed, it was a super control structure

erected to place the general populace under the watchful control of not just the church,

but also of the state, and emperor. Commensurate with the newly created Christian

religion in Alexandria and Northern Egypt, a veil of European control was cast over

these parts of Africa. The progression of the Catholic Church with its Egyptian Coptic

Church offspring was backed by the full might of the Roman military. As the Christian

church advanced through Africa from the North, the indigenous African religion of

ancient Egypt was banned and effectively destroyed in its wake. This was the beginning

of Africans losing their minds to European colonizers; and where the mind is

controlled, so the body will follow.

The Africanizing influence on the Christian religion served to ameliorate the

historically deficient capacity of the European to accept and interact with non-


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European as equals. This has been a great achievement and higher development of the

African collective movement. The interplay of the colonizing force of Christianity with

the capacity of the African collective to assimilate and transform the religion as an

elevating factor of collective life, is a complex subject. Indeed, this interplay is still a

dominant theme on the African continent today, as Christianity is resurgent amongst

African counties as with Nigeria for example. No doubt Africans in the Americas have

throughout ourstory used some of the best ideas that Christianity has had to offer, to

cope with the oppressive onslaught of global White supremacy aspiration, as it operated

for example in the Americas during and after slavery. Gayraud Wilmore (1998) gives

weight to this assertion.

"To what do we refer when we speak of the valuable contributions of African

religions (to the religious creations of Africans in America)? Among other

elements we should emphasize the following: a sense of the pervasive reality of

the spirit world above, within, and beneath the artificial world of every day; the

blotting out of the line between the sacred and the secular; the practical use of

religion in all of life; the surrender of excessive individualism for solidarity with

the community and nature; the central importance of the family; reverence for

the ancestors and recognition of their presence with the living to guide and

inspire; the source of evil in the communal consequences of an act rather than

in the act per se; the creative use of rhythmic movement of the body, singing,

and dancing in the celebration of life and the worship of God.

All these elements and more of African Traditional religion were found in some

form, however attenuated, in the slave community and were absorbed to some

degree into Black Christianity (and later Black interpretations of Islam). … More

needs to be done in the future if we are to recover and enhance values,

particularly those that reflect the affirmation of life, and the unity of all life in the

unquenchable desire for survival, elevation, and the freedom to be Muntu, man

and woman, in the most penetrating sense of that profound Bantu word." (pg.

280)

Appreciation must be given to how African Traditional spiritual principles were

submerged beneath the outward expressions of African/Black Christianity. This

adaptation of the form to the essence can be more visibly seen with the African

traditional religion merging of Catholicism in Cuba, Santo Domingo, and other places


89

of South America. No doubt similar adaptations, though less visible, were made in the

African/Black churches of North America, including down South.

We must take account of how the Collective African Consciousness that was Self-

aware even in the dehumanizing conditions of American enslavement, was continually

evolving. We must account for how this consciousness was unbroken in its continuum;

from the African Traditional Religions it matured in, through the transatlantic Maafa it

witnessed, and through the abuse it witnessed in the physical, psychological, and

spiritual battlefields of North and South America. This collective African Self

Consciousness found expression in the conditions it was presented with, namely

European war against Africans and European Christian proselytizing, but was not itself

irrevocably altered from its essence. This Collective African Self Consciousness was

embodied by all Africans enslaved in the “New World” but was especially entrusted for

revelation through imprisoned African priests and priestesses.

Summarizing how African survival was expressed through Black Christianity,

Wilmore (1998) writes:

“The point I am stressing is that the early spiritual leaders among the slaves in

the Caribbean and North American colonies were the representatives of the

traditional religions of Africa that we are beginning to understand and

appreciate today. What they brought to Christianity were attitudes and

perspectives both in agreements and at variance with missionary teaching. For

all of what has seemed to Westerners to be weird and outlandish practices,

these men and women retained an instinctive intelligence about existence,

physical and mental health, and the preference in life of that which is radically

antagonistic to and irreconcilable with the best interests of the community.

They had a concept of a Supreme Being who was involved in the practical

affairs of life, but in a different way that the Judeo-Christian God. This Being

was approachable through many intermediaries, but was known by various

names, including Father and Mother, and whose power was supreme over all

other powers of the universe. It was not only in the identification of the healing

powers of the plants and minerals, or in the exorcism of demonic influences,

that these medicine men-preachers contributed to the security of the uprooted

slave. What became most significant for a later period was the fact that they

recognized the relationship between ‘bad magic’ as whites practiced it and the


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dehumanizing situation in which they and their people found themselves.” (p.

41)

Africans who were enslaved in the Caribbean and South America were in a better

position to hold onto their African traditional spiritual practices, even if masked

beneath the Christian religious saints of the dominant society. They associated African

deities with Christian saints of Catholicism, for instance in Santeria.

So in their minds, they were not serving the God of their oppressors in their religious

practices, but rather transformed the Christian faith to serve their own spiritual needs,

their own conceptions of the Creator and the deities.

It is commonly known enslaved Africans in North America did not practice

Catholicism in North America, but rather were forced to adapt to European Protestant

denominations for the most part, (i.e. Methodist and Baptist and to some degree

Episcopalian). These European denominations prohibited the reverence for saints and

religious relics or icons. Thus, the enslaved African in the North did not have the same

means of masking African deities behind European Christian saints. Did this prevent

them from still refashioning the Christian religion to reflect their image of deities, of

God? Did African slaves in America imagine God and Jesus to be necessarily White,

and thus sympathetic to their White oppressors rather than the lowly and oppressed

imprisoned Africans?

We know that these enslaved Africans rejected the version of Christianity for the

most part of their oppressors as being anti Godly. I think there is enough evidence that

our ancestors adopted and adapted the Christian archetypes to address their own unique

circumstances and spiritual needs. It may be a simplistic overstatement to say that our

ancestors accepted a White God and his White son, Jesus Christ, and therefore

automatically accepted the authority of the White man over their lives as masters to

slaves. The mere effort to throw off slavery and dissolve the master-slave relationship

reveals the throwing off the idea of White people being endowed to be masters of Black

people by God. It may even indicate that Black people did not envision the Supreme

Being as a big White Daddy in the sky. Maybe the White Jesus in the Black Church was

just a front, just like the White saints were a front for South American and Caribbean

African religions like Yoruba and Santeria. Other ethnic groups, Chinese, Indian, etc.,

who have adopted Christianity, imagine Jesus and God to look like themselves. Could

it be that Africans in America have done something similar but in a hidden way so as

not to draw the wrath of their White oppressors?


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Wilmore identifies three traditions of the Black religious experience that stem from

the gathered remembrances of African Traditional Religions: “Survival Tradition”,

“Elevation Tradition”, and the “Liberation Tradition.” He categorized the initial

developments of Black religion as the “Survival Tradition” that was essentially

concerned with getting through to the next moment of life. This religion dealt

practically with the matter of sheer survival. Church experience was adapted to give

comfort and encouragement so that Black folks can simply make it through the horror

of forced enslavement, and later the Black codes, Jim Crow and segregation. To the

extent that Africans practiced Christianity, it was a modification of the forms of

European Christianity, to make sense of their experience, an experience that could

never be the same as that of their oppressors. Thus “Black Christianity” is

fundamentally different from White Christianity. The growth of conservative, apolitical

independent Black churches were expressions of the "Survival Tradition.”

The next progressive development of Black religious expression was what Wilmore

calls the “Elevation Tradition.” In this phase, our collective African consciousness was

focused on lifting the moral standing of Black people beyond the imposed degradation

of chattel slavery and severe restrictions of life chances. It was principally concerned

with the uplift of the mentality, the collective material wellbeing, and social standing of

Black people after the abolition of slavery. The proliferation of “Negro improvement

associations” that were strongly tied to a religious denomination illustrates this phase

of Black religious expression. The freedman associations, Booker T. Washington

approach of “pull yourself up by the boot-straps,” self-reliance approach, and later the

Garvey movement fits the “elevation tradition.”

As Africans learned how to adapt and survive the degradation of enslavement and

reaffirm their humanity to themselves (often through coded language and subversive

tactics) their religious expression spawned another phase, what Wilmore terms the

“Liberation Tradition.” The collective push initially for Africans in the Americas was

for freedom from bondage. The use of Christianity was to give symbolism and form to

the singular quest for liberation from the condition of enslavement; hence the strong

identification with the Old Testament (false) story about the people of Israel being held

bondage in Egypt, and ultimately being led to freedom by God through Moses. This

distinctive phase of Black religion in North America was expressive in clear relief

through the abolition movement, the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.


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Wilmore says of the three traditions, “The liberation and elevation traditions began

with the determination to survive, but they go beyond ‘make do’ (survival) to ‘do more’

(elevation) and from ‘do more’ to ‘freedom now’ and ‘Black Power’ (liberation).”

Wilmore posits that none of these three traditions were ever phased out and, in many

cases, overlapped each other. He warns against oversimplifications and reductionism.

They found modern expressions through various institutions and movements in

America, be they religious or secular. For example, Wilmore sees the NAACP and the

civil rights movements as stemming from the survival and elevation traditions. The

NOI with its withdrawal from aggressive tactics and emphasis of defense, its emphasis

on separation from White people, it’s initial apolitical stance, was more an expression

of the “Survival Tradition.” Whereas the quest for Black Power through Black Panther

party, for instance, was expressive of the "Liberation Tradition.”

These three traditions ultimately have been rooted in our Africanity, our essential

cultural DNA that asserts our African humanity and even our Divinity. Our unique

religious/spiritual and non-religious expressions continue to have redemptive meaning

not only for ourselves, but also for all of humanity. We should not underestimate how

African Collective Consciousness, evolved through the independent Black Churches,

laying the foundations for African liberation ideology and active struggle in America,

the Caribbean, and on the Continent of Africa. It was from this foundation that the

"Africa for Africans" idea developed. Joseph Booth, a pre-Garveyite who was

associated with Baptists, published a book entitled, "Africa for Africans" in 1897. We

learn from Wilmore (1998) the role Black Churches served in developing African

liberation consciousness.

"The thrust of missionary emigrationism (back to Africa movements), the search

for roots in the pre-Mosaic history of Israel (Egyptian history), the challenge to

the ethical interpretation of love and redemptive suffering in white Christianity,

the prefigurement of black liberation in the story of the Exodus, the willingness

to speculate about the “color” of God and the meaning of a black Christ, and

the development of Ethiopianism in Africa and in the Caribbean and North

America – all of these developments and tendencies gave inspiration and

nationalism, a heightened sense of racial identity and messianism wherever blacks

writhed under the heal of white oppression.” (p. 161)

Before the end of the nineteenth century, what began as theology was secularized as

an ideology of political separatism that reached its most explicit articulation in


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resolutions of the Pan-African congresses and the philosophy of “Negritude.” But well

before that occurred, black ministers and laypersons had drawn cultural and political

implications for repatriation and self-determination, not from egalitarian ideologies of

the Western democracies or from Marxism, but from the Bible and Christian theology

as reinterpreted by men and women who believed that the gospel itself contains the

most penetrating and provocative justification for racial solidarity and social change.

Even as we critique the religions that Black folks adhere to today, particularly the

Abrahamic religions White people have taken up, we must respect what Black religion

did for our ancestors who survived what no one today had to endure or probably could

fully understand. If not for their Black Theology, created in the most trying of times,

we would not be here to make a critique.

Eric Lincoln (1990) posits there are six pairs of dialectical poles that express the

major orientations of Africa people through their forms of the Black Christian religion.

These dialectics are:

1) The dialectic between priestly and prophetic functions

2) The dialectic between other-worldly versus this-worldly

3) The dialectic between universalism and particularism

4) The dialectic between the communal and the privatistic

5) The dialectic between charismatic versus bureaucratic

6) The dialectic between resistance versus accommodation (p. 12)

I would extend this paradigm to understand the collective development of Black life

generally, and to understanding much of the conflicts we experience in trying to get

together as one. Two such extensions are the dialectic between communal versus

capitalistic economic enterprising; and the dialectic between practical self-help versus

dependency on external divine intervention. Lincoln (1990) summarizes his model for

understanding the Black church in comparison to others:

“These six pairs of dialectical polarities give a more comprehensive view of the

complexity of Black churches (and for that matter Black people) as social

institutions, including their roles and functions in black communities. The

strength of the dialectical model of the Black Church is that it leads to a more

dynamic (as opposed to a static, polarizing and limited) view of Black churches

along a continuum of dialectical tensions, struggle, and change. The problem of


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single, non-dialectical typological views (one shoe ideology fits all) of Black

churches (Black individuals, Black movements, other Black organizations, and

Black strategies), is they tend to categorize and stereotype Black churches into

rigid pigeonhole categories like “other-worldly”; they miss the historical

dynamism of institutions (and approaches to resistance) moving back and forth

(between opposites) in response to certain issues or social conditions. Besides

allowing for institutional change, the dialectical model of the Black Church offers

methodological flexibility.” (p. 15)

Albert J. Raboteau, (2004) cautions against a reductionist view, a view that Lincoln’s

model corrects, that Christianity is simply a slave religion that breeds passivity, lack of

concern for the harsh realities of life, and inferiority in Blacks who practice it.

“To describe slave religion as merely otherworldly (or a total submission to the

will of White people) is inaccurate, for slave believed that God had acted, was

acting, and would continue to act within human history and within their own

history as a peculiar people just as long ago he had acted on behalf of another

chosen people, biblical Israel. Moreover, the slave religion had a this-worldly

impact, not only in leading some slave to acts of external rebellion, but also in

helping slave to assert and maintain a sense of personal value --- even of ultimate

worth. The religious meetings in the quarters, groves, and ‘hush harbors’ were

themselves frequently acts of rebellion against the proscriptions of the master.

In the context of divine authority, the limited authority of any human was placed

in perspective. By obeying the commands of God, even when they contradicted

the commands of men, slaves developed and treasured a sense of moral

superiority and actual moral authority over their masters.

In the role of preacher, exhorter, and minister, slaves experienced status,

achieved respect, and exercised power, often circumscribed but nonetheless real.

In the peak experience of conversion, slaves felt raised from death to life, from

sorrow to joy, from damnation to election. The conversion experience equipped

the slave with a sense of individual value and personal vocation; which

contradicted the devaluing and dehumanizing forces of slavery. In the prayer

meetings, the sermons, prayers, and songs, when the Spirit started moving the

congregation to shout, clap, and dance, the slave enjoyed community and

fellowship which transformed their individual sorrows. That some slaves

maintained their identity as persons, despite a system bent on reducing them to


95

subhuman level was certainly due in part to their religious life. In the midst of

slavery, religion was for slaves a space of meaning, freedom, and transcendence.”

(p. 318)

The Black Economic Development Conference (BEDC), an organization

promoting black independence, published the “Black Manifesto,” which demanded

reparations to African Americans. The BEDC grew out of a national conference of the

same name held in Detroit, Michigan, on April 26, 1969. James Forman became the

spokesman of BEDC and the Black Manifesto became its platform. The BEDC

demanded $500 million dollars in reparations ($15 per Black person of that time) from

white churches and synagogues and said the monies would be used for nine projects.

The "Black Manifesto," although written by an outsider to the churches, was more

or less endorsed by the church leaders and Black bureaucrats at the Interchurch Center

who controlled the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO).

The "Black Manifesto" of 1969 exemplifies how the Black church evolved and extended

to self-define our collective problems clearly and adopt a resistance stance to the

dominant society in ways that superseded previous Black church efforts. The Black

Church was pushed to a more active role in Black Liberation. This speaks to the

evolving collective African consciousness in that time according to Measures 3, 4, &

5 discussed earlier.


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Figure 5.1

Excerpt from The Black Manifesto


97

The above discussion does not represent my endorsement of Christianity, especially

the European brand; but rather an appreciation for how the African cultural essence

(Mirimba Ani's Asili), continued to express through Africans enslaved in the Americas,

despite the most dehumanizing conditions ever put on a people. My premise is that the

African spirit has used these forms of Western religions, under conditions of forced

acceptance, to express its own authentic essence. I am not arguing that ensuing new

Black theologies, were ideal expressions of an authentic African essence, Mirimba Ani's

Asili; just that they were expressions of an authentic African essence. These expressions

were adaptive to the realities of social control, domination and oppression. There does

remain the question of why we still cling to these creations today when physical

enslavement is over? Why not now revive our African deities in our spiritual and

practice and lived experience? Whereas I do appreciate how our African ancestors have

made use of foreign religions to affect our survival and to affirm our humanity, I do

agree with the following quote by Molefi Asante (1998) that speaks to African

traditional religions being more suitable for expressing our Africanity and Spirituality.

"What is religion but the deification of ancestors, the making sacred of traditions

within the context and history. How can we honor any god who was used against

us? The only people who accept alien gods are defeated people; all others honor

and accept their own name for the Almighty. We must learn to appreciate

ourselves and our traditions. What is wrong with the African God?"

Study the Akan (Ghana) names and meanings for the Creator and you will see that

our Ancestors did not need Western conceptions to augment or boost theirs. What

were the names of the African conception of the Supreme Being, before encountering

the European or Arab? Study these names and your mind will achieve another degree

of freedom from Western mental enslavement. Joseph Buakye Danquah (1968) gives

some of those names from the nation of Ghana.

➢ Nyame or Onyame: “The Supreme Being, the Deity, God, the Creator of all

things” who “never ceases to create things.”

➢ Nyankopon or Onyankopon: “God the Supreme Being, the Creator and

Sovereign of the Universe; the Shining and Only Great One, Onyankopon

Kwaame.”


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➢ Twiaduampon: appellation of God Nyankopon – “The Great Adu (Anu) of the

Twii” (The Twii are the ancient people of Ghana).

Other names of God Nyankopon are:

➢ Abommubuwafre, He upon you call in your experience of distress: A consoler

or Comforter who gives salvation

➢ Nyaamanekose, He in whom you confide troubles which come upon you

➢ Tetekwaframua, He who is there now as from ancient times; He who endures

for ever

➢ Oboadee (Oboo-Ade), He who created the Thing (All of existence in nature) a

name also assigned to Nyame as wall as to Odomankoma.

➢ Opanyin, prince, grandee, chief, elder, superior sovereign of all, even of the

wide or expansive earth. He who is able to do.

➢ Nana, “The Great Ancestor Nyankopon whose day is Saturday”

➢ Odomankoma, the Manifold, Universally filled, the Inexahustible, the

Undimensional (p. 55)

There are more qualifications, none of which needed a European to invent it. Can

Africans use the religion of our oppressors for their complete liberation? I think the

quicker road to spiritual and material freedom for Africans would be to go back and

fetch (Sankofa) their original spiritual science of life existing before European

invasion into their lands and minds.

Summary on Religion and African Collective Consciousness

Surveying Arab intrusion into North East African, the question of the impact of

Judaism, Christianity and Islam on indigenous African societies comes to the fore.

Syncretism of traditional African religion and spirituality throughout Africa and African

diasporas, with Judaism, Christianity and Arab Islam is an obvious fact. It must have

served survival and developmental needs of African peoples facing extreme pressures

of Arab and European invasion and enslavement that caused bodily, material

organization, and socio-cultural displacements. It must have served as a cohesive

element for societies grappling with disintegrating forces perpetuated by Arab and

European colonization and oppression. The central question is, does this syncretism do

more harm than good to the internal coherency of the traditional African societies in


99

the long run? Does it meet the needs of unlimited growth and development of the

African society as expressions of the divine Spirit? On the other hand, does this

syncretism delay an inevitable vanishing of the original identity of African societies, a

form of cultural genocide as a prelude to physical genocide? Perhaps historical evidence

gives the best answer to this essential question.

There are two aspects of religion that we must distinguish; one is the purely

theological aspect or doctrine. The doctrines are both what their books say and the

interpretations of their scripture down through the ages. An aspect of religious text or

doctrine that we should gain clarity of is that these texts contain collections of myths

that were meant to be instructive of moral behavior, and as such the myths themselves

were not necessarily conveying historical facts or events. There are things in the

Christian doctrine that are detrimental to African people, for example the verse that

says slaves obey your masters, or the curse of Ham.

The second aspect on religions we must clearly recognize and inform our future

generations on, is how religions were used as the spearhead to penetrate non-white

cultures and subsequently plunder their resources. Too often people read a literal

interpretation of these texts that renders the rational mind inoperative. The Christian

and Islamic texts were written in a political context that had the intent of promoting

the political aspirations of a people, sometimes to the detriment of other peoples; as

with the mentioned “Curse of Ham.” to justify the enslavement of Africans. The

cultural aspirations for power and control of Europeans were cloaked in the religious

rhetoric of universal brotherhood, and one God (theirs) for all. This cloak sufficiently

blinded non-white people to where they could say, "The Christians taught us how to

pray with our eyes closed. Before then they had the Bible and we had the land; but when

we opened our eyes, they had the land and we had the Bible.”

When addressing the aspect of the major Western religions, including Islam, and

their usefulness to African people, the focus should be on just that; how useful are they

in helping African people organize to be autonomous from White people? I don't think

it is possible; and so, we need to expound on how embracing Western religions holds

Africans back. Often it is difficult and confusing to take on arguments of both doctrine

AND the political use of religions by Whites. It is enough at such confusing moments

to focus just on the later. Perhaps then the value of traditional African religions can

begin to show in sharper relief.


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We are left still to answer essential questions: “How has the collective African

consciousness evolved since the Great Maafa directed by European oppressors? What

was gained in this evolution from the high price paid by our 100 million murdered

ancestors, and those millions more who survived the plantations to become us?

Where do we see the continued radiance of the collective African Soul in the face of

European and Arab oppression?


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Chapter 6

The Maafa and African Resistance to it Essential to Evolution of

Consciousness

One means of recognizing the evolution of the collective African Self is to recount

how Africans have resisted Arab and European intrusions and oppression. American

schools and media have historically neglected to tell of African resistance to their

intrusions and oppression, from the earliest times of contact to the present day.

Providing this education would defeat their purpose of suppressing the African

collective consciousness. Perhaps if we review the long series of African resistance

movements, we will better appreciate the collective consciousness behind this

resistance. The African Collective Consciousness has not, and will not, accept without

modification, the limiting structures imposed by Arab and European colonialism. It will

by its very nature resist and find ways to transform these limiting structures. This battle

is as old as the battle between good and evil, chaos and order, Heru and Set. It is a battle

that still rages and the African Collective is still resisting.

In his master work, “Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from

4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D,” Dr. Chancellor Williams recounts the resistance of the African

collective to both Arab and European intrusions into Africa throughout the wide sweep

of ourstorical encounters with them. Dr. Henrik Clark and many other great African

historians have also recounted the Maafa (great destruction) from the African

viewpoint. They have tracked the Maafa perpetrated against African civilization, at the

hands of first Arabs and then Europeans, far before 1492 with the inauguration of the

“slave trade” by Spain and Portugal. They show the continuity and effects of alien

assaults as they reached the high-water marks such as the parceling of Africa to

European powers at the Berlin conference of 1832, chattel slavery in the Americas, Jim

Crow and segregation in the U.S., neo-colonialism and economic dependency on the

African continent, and racism on an international scale in current times.

That fact that Africans on the continent and the African Diaspora as a collective

withstood the assault on our collective body and consciousness, stands as a testament

to our inner spiritual strength. The focus here will be on that collective resistance and

strength starting from 1492 and continuing to modern times rather than on the attempts

by Europeans to put out the light of African glory the globe over. Yet it is important to

know the principle strategies used by Europeans throughout history to subjugate


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Africans, including divide and conquer, religious exceptionalism (manifest destiny), and,

of course, brute force. These strategies produce constants in the African world that

amount to a position of disorganization, underdevelopment, and cultural misorientation

for Africans wherever we are. Below are just some of the movements initiated by

Africans since the industrialization of slavery by Europe. Viewed as a related whole,

they express the ancestral wisdom and the evolution of collective African

Consciousness.

➢ Back to Africa movements in the U.S. and the establishment of the first Black

institutions

➢ Black Seminole Indian wars of resistance in Florida

➢ Resistance by Maroon Societies

➢ Haitian revolution

➢ The American Civil War

➢ Black Reconstruction in the U.S.

➢ Repatriation efforts as with “The Black Manifesto” of 1969

➢ Negritude movement founded by Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, Léopold

Sédar Senghor (the first President of Senegal), and Léon Damas of French

Guiana

➢ Garvey movement

➢ Niagara movement led by W.E.B. Du Bois

➢ Pan-African Conferences led initially by W.E.B. Du Bois

➢ South African freedom movement spearheaded by the African National

Congress

➢ The great migrations of Blacks out of the Southern U.S. and into Northern

cities

➢ Civil Rights movement in the U.S.

➢ Black Power movement in the U.S.

Here I give only a brief commentary on a few of the above movements, placing

them in the context of the evolution of African collective consciousness as I exhort the

need for reading of the African experience. It is all too prevalent that we read history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinique

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aim%C3%A9_C%C3%A9saire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_S%C3%A9dar_Senghor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9opold_S%C3%A9dar_Senghor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_(government_title)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senegal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Damas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana


103

as a collection of episodic and disjointed events rather than see how they are part of a

whole continuum of human development and, in the case with this book, the evolution

of African collective consciousness.

Resistance by Maroon Societies

I mentioned earlier that an important indication of the expansion of collective

African Self-consciousness is when we individually and collectively refuse to be defined

by others and to take on the cultural values of other groups, facilitating their survival

thrusts at the expense of our own group (Measure 6). What can these Maroon societies

Africans established everywhere on the periphery to slave-centered societies in the

Americas tell us about the evolving Spirit of the African collective? Certainly, the

formation of Maroon societies by those ancestors who rejected the European system

of enslavement, who braved the unknown and inhospitable terrain (out of easy reach

by slave catchers) to win their relative freedom and establish safe areas, is an example

of the indomitable Spirit of the African. These maroon societies, also referred to as

Palmares or Quilombos, would range in number from just a few runaways to thousands

spread out along the periphery of the established slave town.

Common African responses to common conditions of oppression can give us some

indication of how the African collective Spirit has evolved, even as that Spirit was

challenged in the most severe way in ourstory of humanity. Rather than being a band

of disorganized brutes, the members of the maroon societies usually followed a

recognized leader, typically designated as king. This king had trusted emissaries to help

dispense order and security for the society. There were codes of honor and ethics within

these societies that included the regulation of marriage and even the sharing of women

between men when there were shortages of women in the society. New members were

accepted based on demonstration of loyalty to the society. Disloyalty was usually met

with a death sentence as revealing the location or logistics of the Maroon society could

lead to its destruction. Certainly, the leaders of these societies learned never to

underestimate the European’s intent on either absolutely controlling the African, or if

that could not be done, destroying the African altogether. This understanding was not

fully appreciated by those Africans on the African Continent who allowed the European

to gain a foothold on African soil.

Other variations of this all-out resistance of the African are: sabotage of tools and

implements of the slavers, setting fires in towns, clandestine murders, and even all-out

warfare as with Haiti and the Seminole wars that included a large percentage of Africans


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fighting for their freedom. In some cases, the Europeans, finding the complete resolve

of the fighting Maroon societies, sued for a relative peaceful coexistence. Once the

Europeans managed to gain any advantage over these Maroon societies, they pressed

that advantage to destroy them. Even so, they continued to spring up. Some of these

societies have lasted into our modern day. In some cases, Maroon societies remained

intact until the independence of the country in which they established themselves. Some

evolved overtime into modern towns with a rich cultural heritage, engaging in farming,

trade, and African spirituality, expressing African survivals in the new world. The

descendants of these African warrior societies will speak proudly of the traditions and

culture of resistance handed down by their ancestors.

Where Africans did not separate from Europeans by running away from their system

of enslavement, they frequently created cultural expressions that maintained a

semblance of African ourstorical remembrance. This includes their creation of new

religious forms such as Voodoo, Santeria, and Palmares, as already mentioned. These

creations can be viewed in the light of Africans individually and collectively refusing to

be defined by others and taking on the cultural values of other groups, facilitating their

survival thrusts at the expense of our own group.

In Maroon societies, you will find the purified resolve of Africans to be free and

independent of White domination. This does not mean other Africans did not have the

same hope or aspiration. Of course they did. It just means that in Maroon societies you

have Africans who made the dream happen. They risked all, sacrificing the familiar, family

ties, and physical life to be free, and they made it happen. So yes, I appreciate the need of

relating our present circumstance to the motivation of those first Maroons. Now we must

find the "Maroon within us" in our day, in our way. We need to make a renewed push for

independence and freedom in our existing plantation lives; and that will have to equate to

material independence. I see no way that can happen without land, and industry. Where is

this land and potential for industry? Africa! Africans in America need to reestablish

business links with Africans on the mother continent.

Haitian Revolution

The Haitian revolution, from 1791 to 1804, is emblematic of the African struggle

worldwide against European oppression. The enslaved Africans in Haiti were behind

the defeat of the most powerful European armies of the times, the French, the Spanish,

and the British. It was the most successful slave rebellion in the Americas that resulted

in an independent African Nation. This means that the Africans in Haiti did not have


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other African successful revolutions to draw on, but rather had to draw upon the

African collective consciousness to reaffirm their humanity, their determination to be

free and vision for self-governance. The African collective consciousness as expressed

in Haiti was carried to the island through the spirits of captured Africans from the West

coastal regions (Guinea coast, Senegal, Togo, Benin, current-day Nigeria) and South

Central regions of Africa (Current-day Angola and Congo). Each transportation of

African prisoners of war to Haiti brought with it an infusion of the essential spiritual

information and resolve needed to confront and defeat the European enslavers. This

reservoir of information was contained within the African spiritual culture, which when

developed in Haiti is known as Vodou. It is helpful here to quote from Richard King

(1990) to give another perspective on this reaching into the reservoir of the African

Collective consciousness for the information needed to combat European oppression:

“Just as there are written records and geological records of humanities’ past there

are biological and mental records of humanities’ origin. The collective is that part

of the human mind which contains the mental records of one’s ancestors and is

that body of knowledge developed by our ancestors and accumulated over

millions of years. The libraries of our mind are infinite, and contain the wisdom

of all man’s past, present, and even the future unity of universal knowledge,

universal life. The hallmark of humanity was the mind. The mind stored the

ability to think, to observe, measure, theorize and thereby communicate with

nature. The mind was indeed the reservoir of millions of years of African

experience in science medicine, art, religion, architecture, military psychology,

culture, and magic, all forming the collective unconscious core upon which all

humanity was patterned. … Knowledge of Black ancestral history provided the

access to and the translation of the collective unconscious memory banks.” (p.

7)

This reservoir is the totality of collective African consciousness containing all past and

present knowledge and wisdom. It was accessed by the initial leaders of the Haitian

revolution to guide their movements to victory over the European powers of the day

and achieve independence.

Leading up to the revolution, Africans had already endured the some of the most

dehumanizing experiences any people have ever experienced at the hands of the French.

Below is a passage from Henri Christophe’s personal secretary that catalogs just some

of the atrocities committed by the French. Henry Christophe was a major agent in the


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Haitian Revolution and elected president of Haiti after the assassination of Dessalines,

who himself was emblematic of the true heart and collective soul of the revolution.

“Have they not hung up men with heads downward, drowned them in sacks,

crucified them on planks, buried them alive, crushed them in mortars? Have then

not forced them to consume feces? And, having flayed them with the lash, have

they not cast them alive to be devoured by worms, or onto anthills, or lashed

them to stakes in the swap to be devoured by mosquitoes? Have they not thrown

them into boiling cauldrons of cane syrup? Have they not put men and women

inside barrels studded with spikes and rolled them down mountainsides into the

abyss? Have then not consigned these miserable blacks to man-eating dogs until

the latter, sated by human flesh, left the mangled victims to be finished off with

bayonet and poniard?”

The collective decision to go to war against the European enslavers was therefore a

matter of life or death and the affirmation of African humanity. In the African retelling

of the Haitian revolution, we are told that it commenced with a spiritual ritual known

as the Bois Caimen Ceremony, and was overseen by Dutty Boukman and a Voodoo

priestess named Cecile Fatiman. African deities were invoked for assistance, and the

members took a blood oath of loyalty to each other and the uncompromising vow to

wipe the French out of the Island in total. This is the African way, to call on the

ancestors, and spiritual guardians who represent the Divine Will, for good on earth, for

support to throw off evil and chaos, which for Dessalines and his followers were in the

form of all French White people on the island. The African collective consciousness, as

expressed in the early stage of the Haitian revolution was advanced to a high level, and

would serve as the foundation for Pan-African World revolutions to come.

These victories, followed by the institution of the sovereign Black nation to throw

off the European slave enterprise, served as a beacon of light to Africans the world

over. It certainly gave hope to those Africans who learned of this great accomplishment,

that someday they too may be free from European oppression. The Haitian government

enacted two decrees that stand out as a testament to the Black Haitian’s determination

to remain a sovereign country and to promote freedom for all Africans from European

oppression. The government degreed that no White person could own land in the

country. It also decreed that any African person who sets foot on Haitian soil is

considered and treated as a free person. These few mentioned elements alone

demonstrate the fighting spirit of the African collective and its evolution beyond the


107

most severe constraints of European oppression. Haiti as a sovereign nation, has been

targeted especially by European powers for control or destruction ever since its

independence.

The many lessons to be learned from that revolution are still applicable in our daily

lives even now. For example, the "Crisis of the Negro Intellectual" (Harold Cruse, 1967)

as suffered by Toussaint Louverture, exemplified in his desire to be accepted by the

French colonial power, is still present in force with accommodation/integrationist

Blacks of today who seek a more comfortable status within the system of White

domination, or the right to equally oppress lower-class Blacks. The pervasive impact of

the Haitian revolution on Africans in the diaspora today are echoed in the introduction

of Jacob H. Carruthers (“Irritated Genie of Haiti”:

“Race Vindication has long been a major theme in the consciousness of Blacks

living in the United States... Early conceptualizations of this consciousness in the

second decade of the 19th century reflected on the Haitian Revolution as a

demonstration of race redemption... The liberator of Haiti, Jean Jacques

Dessalines, in his speech accepting the office of Governor General for Life of

the newly Independent Black Nation, referring to the possible attempted

invasion of Haiti, asserted that upon their approach... "The irritated genie of Haiti

looming out of the bosom of the sea appears, his menacing face rouses the

waves, stirs up storms and his mighty hand smashes or scatters their ships." We

may well describe the spirit of the Haitian Revolution as the "Irritated Genie of

Haiti.” (Introduction)”

In his book, Island of Memes, Wade Nobles (2015) addresses the collective

consciousness imbued in Haitians from their African origins, through their

imprisonment and transport to Haiti, through their war of independence against the

French, Spanish, and British, and to the present. His research for this book was initially

motivated by the effort to rehabilitate the Haitian mind after the devastation of the 2010

earthquake. He refers to the collective consciousness of Haiti as it developed from its

revolutionary period to the present as composed of various Memes, or sensoria-

information structures. These structures correspond to types of consciousness or

mentalities that shape how a group interprets reality and reproduces approved behavior

patterns or schematic rules of conduct.

“The process by which sensorial-information structures symbiotically infect the

mind or consciousness so as to reinforce and/or propagate the sensorial is called


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“memetic ideation.” Thus, one can classify types of consciousness or mentalities

(e.g., slave mentality, Black consciousness, Franco/Anglophone, etc.) by the

defining nature of the memetic cluster fundamental to its character. Through

these processes. Memetic information is shrouded with the intentionality of

grasping a subject or acquiring certain information, ideas, values, beliefs, and

behaviors that are valuable for future life performance – especially that

information related to the promotion of one’s welfare and well-being … Memes

or sensoria-information structures can be in the form of ideas, symbols, images,

feelings, words, customs, sounds, practices, or any other knowable and

perceptible item or substance. Religion, political dogma, social philosophy or

movements, aesthetics and artistic styles, traditions, customs, and every

component of culture (behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, habits, beliefs,

language, rituals, ceremonies, and practices) co-evolve and serve in symbiotic

relationships as a meme-complex.” (p. 55)

Nobles analyzes the experiences of the major combatants in the Haitian revolution

and uncovers the memes that each had shown to have adopted. These memes serve as

windows to shifting collective consciousness of Black Haitians. The memes he identifies

do not all govern the African Haitian pathways towards liberation and self-

determination. Some, as he points out, cause a shattering of African Self-

Consciousness, and thus have retarded or stunted the Haitian revolution. Below I

summarize some of the positive memes, mentalities, or “Cash of Consciousness” of

Haitians during their initial revolutionary period.

Positive Memes:

➢ Africans are just as worthy of freedom, equality, justice, and self-determination

as any other people.

➢ The Haitian revolution will be won by the support of African deities and the

Divine Will; whereas the European God must be rejected.

➢ All Black people and Mulattoes must unite as one people to remove all White

French rule in Haiti. This is expressed in the provision of the first constitution

that prohibits a White person from owning land in Haiti whereby he can be

named a master or lord.

➢ The land of Haiti belongs to all Haitians, not just to a supposed elite segment

(White or Mulatto, or elite Black) of the population.


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➢ All Haitians are equal. There will be no noble class, no caste system, no status

based on color gradients, no aristocratic or monarchal rule.

➢ No religion will be privileged by the state.

➢ In the event of war for freedom, the cities will be sacrificed, the populace moved

to the mountains, from which guerrilla war will be waged against the invader.

➢ The African deities and ancestors combined with the determined will of the

Black people of Haiti, will deter any invader.

Negative Memes:

➢ Haitians are equally French citizens (a meme adopted by Toussaint L’Ouverture).

➢ French Culture is superior to African culture.

➢ Whites and mulattoes are more human and intelligent than Blacks.

➢ Christian religion will be the officially state recognized religion.

➢ Christian religion is divinely inspired, whereas African religion is demonic or a

heathen religion.

➢ Africans were meant to be ruled by Whites and Mulattoes; therefore, slavery is

an acceptable condition for Africans.

Nobles posits that the Haitian mind, throughout its revolutionary period and leading

up to modern times, has been infected by both the positive and negative memes listed,

to the displaced affect that Haitians are not able to consummate their revolution. Today,

Haitian society is essentially a three-tiered one, both socially and economically. Whites

are at the top tier and the mulattoes are in the middle, serving as a buffer against the

lowest group, Black Haitians. Unfortunately, the path of the revolution forged by

Dessalines and his supporters has been covered over or otherwise detoured by the anti-

African forces and memes that have infected the Haitian mind producing and

reproducing behaviors that are antithetical to African sovereignty in Haiti. Wade Nobles

frames the current state of Haiti as follows:

“The fragile and tattered societal fabric of Haiti’s social structure, pillared by

“White elitism,” “Privileged Mulattism,” and “poor Blackism,” is an

impermeable netting that should be seen as the “waste matter” of the cache of

culture and consciousness in the soul of Haiti. The beliefs and behaviors of

Haiti’s White elite, privileged Mulattoes, and poor Blacks are in many ways the


110

simultaneous playing forward of Mackandal’s African consciousness in captivity

with Boukman’s resistance to containment; Toussaint’s embrace of French

superiority; Dessalines’ instinctual rescue of the African mind; Christophe’s

sorrowful attempt at planting Euro-pean models in African soil; Petion’s attempt

at compromise and acculturation; and Papa Doc’s eroding corruption of

traditional African thought and practice. Today, the White elite, privileged

Mulatto, and poor Black in Haiti will all forcefully declare themselves to be

Haitian. Yet in this place called Haiti, under the banner of Haiti, you will find a

social stratum of privilege and denigration as rigid as America’s racial segregation,

South Africa’s apartheid, and India’s caste system. For all Haitians, the rigid

psychological boundaries that separate the White elite, privileged so called

Mulattoes, and poor Blacks are as impermeable as they are invisible. It is this

cache of consciousness with its complex holding of conflicting and competing

memetic ideations that makes it so. The White elite consciousness while extoling

to be Haitian (and pure) is infected with memetic ideations supporting beliefs in

the superiority of things French.” (p. 159)

Wide Impact of European Memes on African Societies

Why have Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea not been able to establish

democratic rule? African societies have histories of rule by monarchies, such as that of

Ethiopia up to Haile Selassie. Constitutional democracies are the exception in the

history of these countries. The transition to democracies is made complicated by the

propping up of warring factions that will concede to do the bidding of foreign powers

in exchange for arms to give an advantage over the next faction. This often led to

resource extraction or control of strategic geography by means other than direct

colonial rule of the past. It is far easier for a foreign power to influence a monarchical

or dictatorial regime by corrupting its head than it is to manipulate a multi-party

democratic constitutional government that has a balance of powers. This is one of the

main reasons why fledgling democracies have failed in many African counties after

independence. Furthermore, the Arabization and Islamization of these countries places

them under pressure to make Sharia law the functional law of the country, rather than

the will of the indigenous people as expressed through democratic processes. The

collective African Spirit is not limited by any one set of religious laws. Religious

freedom, and the ability to express the Divine through indigenous cultural forms, is a

wider expression of the evolving African Spirit.


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Though there has broadly been a concerted resistance to European and Arab

intrusions of various forms into Africa (the European slave trade, colonialism, and neo-

colonialism) the African collective, in its confused and disorganized state, to a large

extent mirrored the values of its conquerors, which consequently slowed its spiritual

evolution. Through the process of colonialism, and subjugation, we have forgotten

much of the wisdom teachings of ancient African civilizations, i.e. ancient Egypt. From

another perspective, the European intrusion into the African collective can be seen to

have fostered, to some degree, an internal resistance that has furthered the spiritual

advancement of the African collective. There is strength and power realized through

victorious struggle. Here are just a few references to African resistance to Arab and

European domination:

➢ Who Betrayed the African World Revolution?: And Other Speeches Aug 1, 1993

by John Henrik Clarke

➢ The Legacy of Arab-Islam In Africa: A Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue

Paperback – August 27, 2001 by John Alembillah Azumah

➢ How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney

➢ Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas 3rd Edition by

Richard Price

➢ The West and the Rest of Us: White Predators, Black Slavers and the African

Elite Paperback – March 12, 1975 by Chinweizu

➢ Return to the Source: Selected Speeches of Amilcar Cabral by Amilcar Cabral

➢ The Irritated Genie by Jacob H. Carruthers

➢ Slave Revolts in Puerto Rico Paperback – December 17, 2014 by Guillermo A

Baralt

➢ The Invisible War: African American Anti-Slavery Resistance from the Stono

Rebellion through the Seminole Wars Paperback – July 10, 2006 Edited by K.N

KLY

➢ Black Power and the Garvey Movement by Vincent, Theodore G.

Black Reconstruction

We can say the irritated genie of Haiti was also out of the bottle in the U.S. during

the Reconstruction period, and though severe attempts were made to put it back into

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112

the bottle through the Black Codes, Jim Crow, and legal segregation, the irrepressible

Spirit for African liberation could not be forever contained. During Reconstruction, as

with the civil rights era, various civil rights were passed that removed some of the

societal impediments to Black liberty. Land rights, the right to vote, the right to hold

office, the right to marry, the right to education and employment. Black people

demonstrated an ability to manage levers of power within the body politic of American

society.

Black politicians were caricatured during that time by Whites in their news presses

as being buffoons and totally inept in carrying out the duties of high political office

such as the Senate and House of Representatives. Blacks were granted Civil rights, the

right to vote, and to hold office. Yet, these civil rights were revoked during White

reactionary backlash, starting in the late 1870s and backed by the presidency of Andrew

Jackson. This is a lesson to us that in this society where Black people are a minority,

Black people cannot rely on the U.S. government alone to ensure their human and civil

rights. This is a point that Malcolm X made about a hundred years later. The genie was

out of the bottle. Black people had a taste, even if only for a brief decade, of

egalitarianism and political power. Though these same Black civil liberties would not be

recognized by White power holders for another 100 years, the progressive

consciousness of the African collective would not allow these liberties to be denied.

The new battle front for African liberation in the U.S. would be come to be called the

Civil Rights and Black Power movements.

Civil Rights era, a Major Growth Movement in African Collective

Consciousness

The Civil Rights era is one of the most overt examples of the evolving Collective

African Consciousness in recent times. It can be said this era produced the new Black

man, who was before then the “so-called Negro,” as Malcolm X used to commonly say

in his public addresses. It is hard to place a limit to how the consciousness of Africans

in America expanded due to the battles fought and won against overt racism in

American society, starting with say the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision.

In that decision, Africans in America were legally, if not in practice, deemed entitled

to an equal education to Whites in the same schools. This ruling would serve as a

precedent to strike down the application of “separate but equal” laws and customary

practices in every state of the union. It gave momentum to the drive to desegregate

colleges, workplaces, public facilities, and all other vestiges of segregation throughout


113

America. No doubt, this had a transformative ripple effect upon the minds and spirits

of All Africans in America. The Brown vs. Board of Education landmark decision,

emboldened Africans to challenge racism at its core, which we saw in the sit-ins, the

freedom rides, the voter registration confrontations, and the demand for fair treatment

in the workforce. High water marks of the Civil Rights struggle are the Montgomery

Bus Boycott, the march across the Selma, Alabama bridge in defiance the likes of

George Wallace, and of course the march on Washington. However, there were so

many other smaller episodes that when viewed collectively, speaks to the collective

evolution the African Consciousness as expressed in America.

The below stories tell of the collective consciousness and collective Spirit of

resistance to White racism embodied by the Black ancestors who participated in the

Montgomery boycott. If we quietly reflect on them, we can feel as though we ourselves

went through the experience. Perhaps this is so because we see the same elements

playing out today, just in different surface appearances. Perhaps it is also because that

same Spirit which endured those hardships resides in us, that Spirt of the Collective

African Consciousness. The reader is encouraged to cypher in these testimonies the

awareness of individual as being part of a collective movement towards African

liberation.

Joe Azbell (A White news reporter, reporting on a meeting early in the

organizational stage of the Montgomery boycott)

“I was the first white person there. The preachers were preaching as I came in,

and that audience was so on fire that at last this was going to be lifted off of

them. And I recognized that. There as a spirit there that no one could ever

capture again in a movie or anything else, because it was so powerful. The next

day, in a special column, I wrote that this was the beginning of a flame that would

go across America.” (p. 25)

Rufus Lewis (Director at a Black funeral home and a founder of the Montgomery

Improvement Association.)

“I walked because I wanted everything to be better for us. Before the boycott,

we were stuffed in the back of the bus just like cattle. And if we got to a seat, we

couldn’t sit down in that seat. We had to stand up over that seat. I work hard all

day, and I had to stand up all the way home, because I couldn’t have a seat on

the us. And if you sit down on the bus, the bus driver would say, ‘Let me have

that seat, nigger.” And you’d have to get up (or the police would come and either


114

lot them up, or worse). A lot of times that we’d go to the front, he wouldn’t let

us in the front. He’d take our money at the front, and then before we could come

on through the back door he’d drive off and leave us standing there. He done

took our money and gone. That’s how it was and that’s why I walked. I wanted

to cooperate with the majority of the people that had on the boycott. I wanted

to be one of them that tried to make it better. I didn’t want somebody else to

make it better for me. I walked. I never attempted to take the bus. Never. I was

tired, but I didn’t have no desire to get on the bus.

When King’s house was bombed, it affected the whole Black community,

because they acted as though their house was bombed, and crowds of people

gathered right down the street where he lived. Soon as they heard it, it was a mass

of people in the streets. That’s the way they responded to him. Now, King had

to come out to tell them that his wife and child were safe, and they could go

home. But they didn’t respond to that. They wanted to do something to make

amends for someone bombing his house. That was the way they felt. And later

on, during the night, they gradually went back home. The damage wasn’t bad,

but it was intended to intimidate. It did just the opposite of intimidating. It

roused the Negroes in the community to stand up, not to run and hide. They lost

in their effort to intimidate. They only gave more courage to King’s family and

the Blacks in the community to stand up with him.” (p. 26)

This story speaks to how our Black ancestors galvanized together as one, in effort and

empathy, as they struggled against their common oppressor. They identified with each

other’s plight, in this case with the plight of the new preacher Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr., feeling as if their own home was bombed.

Coretta Scott King

“What happened throughout the mass meetings is that there were songs

interspersed. They had an order of service, and so sometimes they would do what

you call the long meter. Someone would come and sing, without an instrument

at all. Then they would have someone who played the piano or the organ, and

they would start, just like they start at the church services. And they wo8uld sing

the songs and the hymns of the church: What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, “What

a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine, Leaning on the Everlasting Ar.” They’d sing

spiritual like ‘Lord, I Want to Be a Christian in My Heart,” and “Oh, Freedom


115

Over Me, Before I Be a Slave, I’ll Be Buried in My Grave, and Go Home to My

Lord and Be Free.” Or they would sing “Go Down Moses, Way down in Egypt

Land.”. They would end, of course, after Martin’s message with a song and a

prayer, a benediction and prayer. And everyone would go home feeling good and

inspired and ready to go back the next morning to a long day of hard work. But

I think they could take it a little better, really- even the work that had been

difficult became easier. It was something about that experience that gave all of

us so much hope and inspiration, and the more we got into it, the more we had

the feeling that something could be done about the situation, that we could

change it.” (p. 30)

Coretta Scott King reveals what we all know to be true about any collect Black effort

or struggle, that they are all invariable associated with songs having a prophetic message

that speaks to our collective striving and our expectation of the Divine Presence

through our collective struggle.

Jo Anne Robinson (A firsthand witness to the Montgomery Boycott)

“We did meet after the news came through. All of these people who had fought

for thirteen months got together to communicate and to rejoice and to share that

built-up emotion and all of the other feelings that they had lived with during the

past thirteen months. And we just rejoiced together. We had won self-respect.

We had won a feeling that we had achieved, had accomplished. We felt that we

were somebody, that somebody had to listen to us, that we had forced the white

man to give what we knew was a part of our own citizenship. If you have never

had the feeling that his is not the other man’s country and you are an alien in it,

but that this is your country, too, then you don’t know what I’m talking about.

But it is a hilarious feeling that just goes all over you that makes you feel that

America is a great country and we’re going to do more to make it greater.” (p.

31)

I think today Black folks still feel alienated from American society and find it hard

to call it our country when the dominant people of the society, White people, work so

hard to strip us of our inalienable rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and

equality; yet still we strive to elevate this country to be more than what it is. We strive

most importantly to be unlimited expressions of the Highest Divinity of Universal

Response, whose African names we’ve forgotten.


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For many of us who were aware of the actual event of the March on Washington at

or near the time it happened, as I was, this march represented the epitome of the Civil

Rights Movement, and the foundational ground from which future gains in the rights

of Black people in America would be won. Some, like Malcolm X, did not see it that

way. For Malcolm X, the march was representative of the sellout, compromised

position of integrationist leaders. Shortly after the march, Malcolm X gave commentary

on the march in his “Message to the Grass Roots,” where he called the March on

Washington “a sellout” and “a takeover.” He went on to say that, “They told those

Negroes what time to hit town, how to come, where to stop, what signs to carry, what

song to sing, what speech they could make, and then they told them to get out of town

by sundown.” One eyewitness to the march, Ivanhoe Donaldson who was a field

secretary for SNCC, agreed with some of the naysayers as to the tangible outcomes of

the march, but saw also some positive result as well. He put it this way:

“I think that a lot of people felt, because of the drama and the vast greatness of

it all, that somehow, we had turned the mystical corner, that a new era of

humanity and social consciousness and social justice was now on the table. That

didn’t happen. So, the rhetoricians and the activists are correct when they say

there was no major accomplishment because of the march, but at the same time,

it does represent a continuum in the struggle, and the need from time to time to

create exclamation points and question marks and commas, so that people can

define themselves in some time frame, which is also important to an organizer,

to bring something to a culmination, to take people to a next step.” (p. 168)

I think Ivanhoe Donaldson was pointing us to see that there indeed was a shift in

the general consciousness of African people in America and that this shift was marked

by the mass demonstration of the march on Washington. It is from the basis of this

shift in consciousness that further organized steps can be taken to gain more tangible

results in terms of enforced rights for Africans in America. Indeed, the genie was out

of the bottle and could not be put back in. Never again would Africans in America stay

immobilized while their civil and human rights were blatantly proscribed by state and

federal laws, as the successor Black Power movement demonstrated. The collective

African Consciousness had irreversibly evolved to a higher level of self-awareness and

expression.

I was born in the early 60s and experienced aspects of the Civil Rights era. I was

only six when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. I attended an all-Black


117

Seventh Day Adventist school, Hanson Place in Brooklyn NY, from ages 7-10. In that

school, we sung Black spirituals and some of the freedom songs of the time such as,

“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn be round”, “This little light of mine”, “Oh freedom Over

Me”, “Lift every voice and sing”, and “We Shall Overcome”. The spirituals served to

reinforce that freedom consciousness. These included: I’m Gonna Lay Down my

Burden, Down by the River Side”, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, and “I’m Gonna Sit

at the Welcome Table.”

These songs were seared into my heart and consciousness. They imbued me with a

sense of social justice and a responsibility to uphold justice in my sphere of influence.

Through these songs and the overall character of that school, I was plugged into the

African collective consciousness of the time, even at that very young age. You can say

I was given a moral compass which would always point me in the direction of social

justice and make me sensitive to all that would obstruct it. Added to this were the

general messages of defiance in the face of injustice given by the Civil Rights movement,

a defiance further advanced later by the Black Power movement. These messages also

came down through the music of the time. Like, James Brown’s “Say it loud I’m Black

and I’m Proud,” or his “I Got Soul and I’m Super Bad.”

In the late 60s and early 70s, I became one with the evolving African Collective

Consciousness, as it was expressed in that place and time. That consciousness was

foundational to everything else that came after in my own life experience, and I imagine

most Black children of that era can say something similar. There was a sense of no quit,

a sense of moral high ground, a sense of God being on your side, a sense that White

people had some exorcisms to go through. We developed a sense that Black people

were creative geniuses and the most important things we needed to create were our

spaces of justice, observance of our inalienable civil and human rights, and our own

identity as an African people living in America.

The evolution of the African collective consciousness during the Civil Rights era

was in symbiotic relationship with the struggle for the independence of states in Africa,

starting of course with Ghana, which was first state to gain independence in 1957. The

evolution of African Collective Consciousness in the American context, in Africa, and

throughout the African Diasporas, revealed Blacks redefining themselves as equal world

citizens, even if in terms of real power and wealth distribution, little changed in the

immediate present.


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Black Power Movement

Masses of Blacks, recognizing the insufficiency of gaining the right to sit next to a

White person at a food counter, a toilet, or a school, precipitated the quest for a shift

in power relations. It precipitated further evolving stage in the mass movement

identified as the Black Power movement of the 60’s and 70’s. The Black power

movement went beyond the demands of the Civil Rights movement, beyond the right

to sit in a school next to a White person; it demanded that Black students be taught

ourstory from the perspectives of our own Black scholars. Black men, having fought in

world war two, were no longer willing to allow vigilante groups and the police to come

into their communities and brutalize them. They were willing to fight back. The Black

Power movement brought with it also a willingness to discard European definitions of

what is right, good, and valuable. It brought a willingness to confront institutions of

White power and demand the transference of some of that power to Black people,

hence the defining cry “Black Power.” Blacks were willing to step out of those

constraints, define themselves, appreciate the beauty and good in their own culture, and

reach back to traditional and ancient African culture. The time was captured with a

song, as major shifts in consciousness usually are:

"AH BEEP BEEP "Ah Beep Beep Walkin down the street Ugawa. Ugawa That

means Black power. White boy. Destroy. I said it. I meant it And I'm here to

represent it. Soul sister number 9 Sock it to me one more time. Uh hun! Uh

Hun!"

This militancy, the willingness to defy oppressive forces with direct force if need be,

to defend one’s community, one’s rights, and one’s life opportunities, was and still is, a

necessary growth step towards self-realization, nation-building, and maintenance. It is

an evolution of collective African consciousness. One of the first natural principles of

any organic body is to devise mechanisms of self-defense, and so the collective African

body devised in each stage of its metamorphosis, necessary means of self-defense.

The normalization of psychological ideations advancing beliefs in superiority of

things White, is common wherever Whites have implanted themselves among Black

people or implanted Black people among themselves. In some places, the attitudes are

very explicit and visible; in other places, the attitudes are not so explicit and visible, as

is the case in many North American states. The effects are always visible with White

people on the top of the socio-economic ladder, Black people on the bottom, and mixed

or other ethnic groups (i.e., Asians or Indians) in the middle. Thus, as the subtitle of


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Wade Nobles’ Island of Memes states, Haiti has an unfinished revolution. For that

matter, most if not all places where Africans predominate have a similar unfinished

revolution. It cannot be said, however, that the vision of total African rule by Africans

in Haiti has been vanquished. The irritated genie and the Haitian revolution will rise

again. The same can be said for African world revolution. The evolution of the

Collective African Consciousness, wherever it expresses, can never be destroyed, even

if for a time; it is unconscious. Warriors like Desselines will continue to invoke the

African deities and ancestors push our collective consciousness to higher levels so that

we may fulfill our collective destiny.

Reorientation of Progressive African Consciousness in Modern Times

From a broad perspective of ourstory, we can see aspects of the Haitian revolution

and its arrested momentum playing out similarly through major collective movements

of the 20th and 21st centuries throughout the African diaspora and on the continent of

Africa. Wade Nobles’ concept of memes or group behavior shaping ideations in the

revolutionary Haitian context, can be instructive in assessing the evolving African

collective consciousness in places that are either under the domination of European

majorities as in the Americas, or under colonial/neo-colonial rule, as on the African

continent. We can see the purified resolve for African sovereignty in the 20th and 21st

centuries through African participation in wars of independence in the African

Diaspora of the Americas, as well as in the struggle for independent African states on

the African continent.

Most of these mass movements for African freedom and sovereignty are well

documented due to modern technological advancements in printing, photography,

voice recording including radio, movie making, television, and later, computer

information systems as with the internet. We thus have more reliable records and

sources for investigating the evolution of collective African Self-consciousness. We

have better documentation of the African drive for liberation, cultural renewal, material

improvement, and spiritual advancement through the major developments that include

the American Civil War, the American period of Black reconstruction, newly won

African independent states starting with Ghana and Nigeria, the Marcus Garvey

movement, the great migration of Blacks from the South to Northern Cities, the

American Civil Rights & Black Power movements, the birth of the Organization of

African Unity (OAU), the successor organization to the OAU, and the African Union

itself (AU).


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The various stages of this grand evolution in African consciousness of the 20th and

21st centuries are exemplified or embodied in prominent leaders of African descent that

include Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Fredric Douglas, Martin Delany, W.E.B Du

Bois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Kwame Ture (born Stokely Standiford Churchill

Carmichael), Kwame Nkrumah, Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral, Bantu Stephen Biko,

Patrice Lumumba, Martin Luther King Jr., and many others. These African descendent

leaders were products and representative of the shift and progressive development of

African collective consciousness in their day. They pushed their African constituents to

new and higher levels of African self-consciousness and sovereignty and were iconic

symbols of the newly established advancements in African collective spiritual

development. Had the individual names never existed, the collective body of African

Consciousness would have produced them anyway. In other words, the demand of the

times produced the leader, and not the other way around.

Each stage of development in African collective consciousness has its merit and

vital importance as a foundation for the next stage. The accomplishment of African

freedom from slavery in the American context (and not enough credit is given to how

Africans freed themselves from American enslavement), is no less important than the

establishment of the African Union. However, the African Union is the highest stage

of our historical development since the beginning of the Maafa, or 500 years of the

African Holocaust perpetrated by Arabs and Europeans. Each stage of our

development not only shows our collective positive resolve to break the physical,

mental chains of Arab and European enslavement, but also reveals how our collective

psyche has been negatively impacted by the White supremacy aspirations embedded in

behavior modifying memes adopted by Africans under European domination.

On the one hand, we see the uncompromising stance of the Black Power movement

to replace European values and power structures with African self-determining cultural

constructs. On the other hand, we also see the failure of Africans in America adopting

integrationist ideals at the expense of African collective economics in the American

context. Where we see the rediscovery of traditional African cultural values by Africans

in the American context, we also see the continued damaging effect of Africans in

America still embracing the concept of a White God and a White Jesus who are the

only dispensers of spiritual salvation. African deities and Ancestral worship are shunned

by Europeans and by Africans in America who embrace European interpretations

(memes) of religions. So, as the Haitian revolution is incomplete and in many was

stalled, so too is the African collective evolution stalled for similar reasons.


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The African Union is the result of shedding limiting facets of the heavy influence of

neo-colonial constructs embedded within the newly formed independent African states.

It is worth considering the overall objectives of the African Union as stated in its formal

constitution. The below is sourced from the Constitutive Act of African Union 2000.

The objectives of the Union shall be to:

a) Achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the

peoples of Africa;

b) Defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of its Member

States;

c) Accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;

d) Promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the

continent and its peoples;

e) Encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of

the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

f) Promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;

g) Promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and

good governance;

h) Promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the

African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human

rights instruments;

i) Establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its

rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;

j) Promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels

as well as the integration of African economies; living standards of African

peoples;

k) Coordinate and harmonize the policies between the existing and future

Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives

of the Union;

l) Advance the development of the continent by promoting research in work

with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases

and the promotion of good health on the continent.

These ideals expressed in the AU constitution express the height of historical evolution

towards collective African consciousness through that organizational body. However,

the African Union too, is a stage in the ever-evolving African collective consciousness.


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One can see where the formal creation of the United States of Africa would be a further

evolution from the AU.

The African liberation tradition on the continent and in the diaspora, has grappled

with issues of African identity, African unity, African self-determination, African

misorientation, a united African front, a United State of Africa, a Sankofa approach to

current African consciousness, and strategies for survival under extreme capitalism.

Western powers have also sent out heat seeking missiles to destroy these gains in

African location. It is for us today to honor these past movements, by filling the

positions left by our ancestors. To do otherwise is to betray them and ourselves. No

one will do this for us. No one can or should. No one will save us but us. We are not

kept around to compete with Europeans, but to continue to build them up through

exploitation. We must withdraw that work and administer first aid to ourselves. To build

for another, at the expense of the African collective development, is what it always

meant to for us to be a slave. The evolving African Collective Consciousness demands

that we move past that stage today, learning from yesterday’s lessons taught by our

enslaved and exploited ancestors.

Where is our Mass Movement Today? Is it Dead?

Some argue that Black people in America are currently, and for the past 500 years

have been, powerless under the system of racism and White supremacy aspiration. One

reason given is that we have not overturned the system thus far and so cannot do it

today. In addressing this argument, we must first challenge the definition of power and

the all-or-nothing proposition of having it. We must challenge the notion that just

because a war cannot be won in a day that the underdog is powerless to win it in the

long run. Developments have different phases, like the blooming of a tree, there is the

seed stage that has the instruction for development.

There is the stage where the seed is planted in the mud or dirt, which is analogous

to our transplantation from our natural culture, into a racist culture of enslavement.

There is the stage of the seed breaking through its own casing, the re-awakening of

African self-determination. There is the stage where the sprout breaks through the

ground, as in the wars our African ancestors fought for liberation. Everything prior to

this point is relevant, is progressive, is necessary, but is not manifest to the surface to

see. Then there are stages of further development before the blooming. This is a

description of our collective self-consciousness, mobilization and organization, and

collective Self-realization. The seemingly disjointed, unaffiliated movements on the


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surface of our collective actions have an underlying basis of unity that can again

manifest as a Black Race Movement. It was done with Garvey, which means it can be

done again.

Furthermore, it is inconceivable that Blacks in America would accept being put back

into chattel slavery So, there must have been a Black Power advance beyond that

limitation. Nor can we conceive of Blacks accepting public lynching where thousands

come from surrounding areas to watch and newspapers advertise beforehand. So, there

must have been a Black Power beyond that limitation. We cannot conceive of accepting

an amendment denying Blacks to right to vote. There are many things that are

inconceivable that Black people would accept. So, there must have been an advance

beyond those limitations.

Now this is not to say that racism and White dominance has not refined itself,

changed its methods to achieve its goals. Lynching is done by other means today,

particularly by racists police. The denial of the right to vote is accomplished in

numerous other ways. However, there is no denying the resolve of Blacks to never go

back to legalized oppression (Slavery and Jim Crow). Only Black Power accomplishes

that. There are other levels of liberation that remain to be realized, and I have no doubt

that Maat will triumph over Isfet (correct order/justice over chaos/injustice). The Spirit

behind Black Power is the power that moves it forward. That Spirit is one with the

Divine and is always present. It may be in a hidden state or it may come to the front

and dominate the activity of a people. Even in its hidden state, it is evolving through

the lives of our people.

In the immediate years following emancipation, Black people in America owned half

of one percent of the wealth of the United States. Today, Blacks in America owns half

of one percent of the wealth of the United States. Similar statistics can be given for land

ownership. Does that mean we are not progressing in power? Can there be true power

without ownership of land and a proportionate ownership of the means of production?

Do we have knowledge/power to increase these? A larger question is, by gaining a

greater share of the country's wealth and resources, are we aiming to be like them, to

operate like them? If knowledge is power, as the saying goes, don't Black people have

knowledge of what is demeaning to our collective soul, and will by force of that

consciousness remove the blights, even if in stages? If knowledge is power, do we not

have power, by our knowledge of our oppressor? They say also the greatest knowledge


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is that of Self. Do we not have a greater knowledge of our collective self than ever

before? Is not therefore our Black Power progressing?

Modern Movements Pointing to the Continued Evolution of African

Consciousness

We should ask, “Where is the higher collective consciousness in the face of

European supremacy aspiration in the 21st Century? How is it expressed?” Here is a list

of just some of the mass movements initiated by Africans around the world that express

the continuum of resistance to European oppression, and to the continuum of the

evolution of African collective consciousness.

➢ Organization of African Unity (OAU), which has morphed into the African

Union

➢ NAACP and Urban League

➢ Zimbabwe fight for land

➢ Million marches in the U.S.

➢ Tribute to the ancestors

➢ African festivals - Caribbean parades

➢ Some conscious and revolutionary forms of Rap and Hip Hop in America

➢ Afrocentricity and other metacognitive paradigms for Black empowerment

As African collective consciousness evolves, we see a deeper collective reflection on

our condition, and the development of theories to help explain our condition. One such

theory is the Cress Theory of Color Confrontation, by psychiatrist Dr. Francis Cress

Welsing. This theory posits Europeans are motivated to racist behavior by their deep-

seeded fear of genetic annihilation by the dominant African gene pool. We also have

seen metacognition formulations such as Afrocentricity, as developed by Molefe

Asante. It is a way of viewing reality and analyzing phenomena, using the interest of

African people as a reference point. From the standpoint of Afrocentricity, claims of

being objective, colorblind, universal, modern, and progressive will take Africans away

from our own interests, our authentic lived experience, and our collective destiny.

Asante (2003) defines Afrocentricity as: “…a mode of thought and action in which the centrality

of African interests, values, and perspectives predominate. Regarding theory, it


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is the placing of African people in the center of any analysis of African

phenomena. Thus, it is possible for anyone to master the discipline of seeking

the location of Africans in each phenomenon. In terms of action and behavior,

it is a devotion to the idea that what is in the best interest of African

consciousness is at the heart of ethical behavior. Finally, Afrocentricity seeks to

enshrine the idea that blackness itself is a trope of ethics. Thus, to be black is to

be against all forms of oppression, racism, classism, homophobia, patriarchy,

child abuse, pedophilia, and white racial domination.” (p. 2)

Afrocentricity as initially elucidated by Asante was a product of the times (the 1970s)

and has also evolved since. It was synthesized to respond to what he referred to as a

dislocation of African people away from a viewing of the world from our own interests,

experiences (historical and current), and values. It was a response to “moving African

people off our own terms,” as Asante put it. This Afrocentric approach was not

occurring in Academia, or in the general culture in a pervasive way. We were seeing

things from a conditioned Eurocentric view. Afrocentricity was then aimed at

correcting that. I don't think Asante ever claimed that he was the first to attempt to

correct that. For me, it does not matter who is first second or third. What matters is the

continual affirmation in each generation of a determination to bring an African

worldview into manifestation in terms of our lived experience, under our own terms as

a sovereign people.

More on Developing an Afrocentric Worldview

Mukasa Afrika Ma’at (2010) talks about an African World:

“ ... What is the Afrikan worldview? It is essential to give a clear understanding

of the Afrikan worldview and what is meant when we are discussing it. The

Afrikan worldview must include at some levels, among the following:

1. A racial and cultural identity of Afrikan-ness is the very foundation of

the Afrikan worldview. If we do not know who we are, we can’t be

conscious of anything else about ourselves.

2. An historical Afrikan consciousness is what the study of history offers

to our generation. As is often said, one must know the past to

understand the present and the future.

3. We must devout loyalty to the present struggles of Afrikan people.

One can be versed in the dates and names of the past, and of course


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that is of great significance, but one must also be committed to some

action today. What are we doing in the here and now to correct the

wrongs of yesterday to better the future?

4. Ultimately, we must have an undying commitment to the future

liberation of our people. All Human interests are first concerned

about the righteous preservation and livelihood of their people first.

5. We must have a knowledge of and responsibility to our community,

national, and/or global struggles as Afrikan people. We must be

informed about the events of the world that affect our people, and in

some way, we should be involved in some way to correct injustice.

6. Last, as Afrikans, a belief and practice of Afrikan Spirituality is central

to the divine guidance we must receive from our ancestors and the

Afrikan Creator.”

I don't think Asante would object to his description. I don't see the reason for

Asante's concepts and these to be in opposition. They should be complementary.

What is perhaps more important than African DNA percentage is African self-

consciousness. Our actions, our nation building, our cultural expression, must be from

an African-centered basis. THIS is our litmus test, not strictly DNA. Our battle is that

of a worldview, not DNA strands per say. I agree that people with melanin enhance

this worldview, for our genes carry the ancestral instruction. However, a village must

incubate that instruction for it to be carried out. So, our identity is not measured just by

DNA strands, but by how we plug into the collective African consciousness, how we

embrace our African worldview.

Two Different Realities of Integration, Conflated and Confused

One type of survival strategy employed by Africans, especially where they have

become minority groups in an overwhelmingly dominant White society, is that of

accommodation and integration. This has had both positive and negative consequences

for the ultimate quest for liberation of Black people. There are at least two different

forms of integration. There is the integration that African Americans have fought and

bled for in this country in an attempt to become equal in this society. The result of this

integration has been an abandoning of self, to take on the false projected self, defined

and created by others.


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To become an honorary White is the distorted goal of this integration, which

requires a fading of the Black. The fade cream is more than a physical cream but a

mental and cultural whitewashing. To be in the melting pot requires a melting away of

the previous recognizable form of a people, to become a molding of another's creation.

Consumers, entertainers, cheap laborers, imprisoned free laborers, haters of our own

culture, ignorant of our history, seekers of pleasure to mask the pain, disorganized,

divided, hungry for acceptance, believers in this form of democracy and meritocracy,

the lie that they earned it and if you just work hard enough, all will be well with you and

your people.

Abandoning one's culture to make a people acceptable to another people.

Abandoning one's motherland, traditions, stories, practices, and collective identity as a

people and accepting fabricated substitutes by oppressors is the requirement of this

integration. This all causes an exteriorization of one's identity. We become outwardly

fixated, losing a knowing of self. This integration demands subordination, enslavement,

and a limiting existence. It is ego of the oppressor being projecting onto and enslaving

the ego of the victim. Both the oppressor and the oppressed are at once bounded by

webbings and encrustations of a false view of life, that of separation and fear.

Yet the ancients have given a master key to life, to "Know Thy Self." This

admonition leads to a different kind of integration. This other integration comes not

by rejecting one's cultural inheritance. This other integration is too large to restrict one’s

view to exceptionalism, the seeing of one's culture as essentially superior to another by

default. This other integration comes not by rejecting one's self but does move us to go

beyond the confines of ego self to embracing a Self that recognizes its oneness with all

Selves.

This integration sees the Creator and Man as one. It sees without the discriminating,

segregating mind; but rather with Integral Awareness that embraces all as the All. This

other integration is of the mind, correcting a blurred distorted vision leading to all kinds

of stumbling and blunders and unnecessary destruction through life. This other

integration embraces our true nature, our eternal being that is both formed and

formless; yet surpasses descriptions of both. Integral vision of integral being, living the

integral Way of Life is this other integration. It is by the strength of our integral being

and integral vision, that we as an African people, will replace the dominance of White

Supremacy aspiration with Ma’at in the world.


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The culture and teachings of the wise ancients are not completely lost to us, and the

accumulated progressive experiences of past spiritual progress are latent in our

collective psychic being waiting for re-awakening and reinforcement. Research by

Lorenzo Dow Turner (2002) was an early attempt to reveal surviving Africanism in the

South Sea Islands among the Gullah, and we know how Southern Blacks migrated en

masse to the North to reinforce their preserved African culture in Northern Black

culture.

“A unique creole language spoken on the coastal islands and adjacent mainland

of South Carolina and Georgia, Gullah existed as an isolated and largely ignored

linguistic phenomenon until the publication of Lorenzo Dow Turner's landmark

volume Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect. In his classic treatise, Turner, the first

professionally trained African American linguist, focused on a people whose

language had long been misunderstood, lifted a shroud that had obscured the

true history of Gullah, and demonstrated that it drew important linguistic

features directly from the languages of West Africa. Initially published in 1949,

this groundbreaking work of Afrocentric scholarship opened American minds to

a little-known culture while initiating a means for the Gullah people to reclaim

and value their past. The book presents a reference point for today's discussions

about ever-present language varieties, Ebonics, and education, offering

important reminders about the subtleties and power of racial and cultural

prejudice.” (back cover)

It does us well to recount the progress that we have made in the past, the survival

strategies and the syncretism developed to preserve our culture as discovered by Turner,

despite attempts to destroy or invalidate them completely. We must do so to gather

ourselves for another evolutionary push forward. Despite having endured one of the

worse and protracted oppressions the world has ever seen the African collective, in

large measure, has held onto its core spiritual foundation. It has thrown off the most

overt forms of subjugation and continues to seek a spiritual vindication that

encompasses material self-sufficiency despite the continued pressures of global racism

and terror.


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Chapter 7

The African Worldview: A Lived Experience

What follows are some personal reflections, considerations on literature, and

experiences on cultivating an African-centered worldview. They were written by me in

various contexts as I tapped into the African Self Consciousness within myself. They

are a collective summation of my understanding of what is to be African in the world

and to advance the evolution of collective African consciousness. It is important, as we

consider what an African worldview is, not to limit that view to reactions to oppressive

European forces. It must go beyond that to embrace the totality of what it means to be

fully human in the world and to be in harmony with Divine Truth. Thus, my focus is

not to condemn the European, but to elevate the African, and to encourage that

Africans return to their True Self, rather than adopt an alien worldview.

Beyond the Materialism and Rationalism

We have fallen off the path to greater spiritual progress, and tend now to emulate

those on the path of predominantly material, vital and mental progress, at the expense

of a holistic development that has the higher spirit leading the way. It would do us well

to put the uncompromising discerning light on all that obstructs our forward

movement, both internally and externally. Science and materialism can remove those

religious precepts that are most egregious and perverted. Science can assist in clearing

the way to spiritual awareness but it cannot measure that which surpasses it, namely the

spiritual realm. Spiritual enlightenment too can be considered a stage. Those who see

spiritual development as primary above the material cannot settle and be content with

solely material and mental progress; nor can they ignore material and mental concerns,

seeking only a perfectly detached state of spiritual nirvana.

Chairman Omali Yeshitela (2015) has stated a position that African philosophical

idealism, which includes religion/spirituality, hinders collective African progress

towards dealing with our material conditions as they objectively are. It gives us a false

reading of reality and thus hinders us in the work of improving our material conditions.

He further explicates his position and that of his African People’s Socialist Party as

follows:

“During the historical period our Party was founded, philosophical idealism was

central to the worldview of the Black Liberation Movement, which relied mainly


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on religious, moral, and colonial explanations to understand and analyze our

situation.

African philosophical idealists of that period sought explanations for our

conditions of existence and our future in the articulations of great leaders or

simply in the consciousness of the Black Liberation Movement itself.

In other words, the idealists accepted the movement’s and its leaders’ own self-

definition as primary, rather than fundamentally examining the actual material

conditions that gave rise to the movement and its leaders…

The African People’s Socialist Party sprang from the very bowels of the

remorseless reality and struggles of our people. As we developed, we were

increasingly forced to shed all reliance on religion, other forms of superstition

and the good will or moral epiphany of our oppressors.

Our struggles to understand our reality, while occasionally encumbered and

influenced by the worldview of the educated and upper classes, were rooted in

attempts to solve real problems of the concrete contradictions in which our

people are embroiled.

We were forced to learn that our preconceived notions gleaned through colonial

civics books, preachers and liberal white friends only helped to obscure the real

contradictions with which our people are confronted. We came to recognize that

we must understand the world just as it is, not as we wish it to be. We were forced

to become philosophical materialists.” (p. 69)

I think this approach is akin to throwing away the baby with the bathwater—

throwing away the essential for what is superficial, denying that the spiritual is primary

over the physical by embracing a purely physical explanation for our oppression.

However, I do appreciate how his position brings clarity to the fact that capitalism was

born not of the internal genius of the European mind and independent effort, but rather

through their “parasitic impairment of the capacity of independent development in

Africa and other places victimized by Europe.”

Much can be said about the ability of negative forces to control the African collective

due to our lack of concerted, organized and uncompromising efforts towards growth.

However, ultimately it is the spiritual that births and gives sustenance to the

physical/material. As the African collective has not abandoned its thrust to be in tune

with the higher spirit, it has not lost that vital support for material wellbeing.


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To abandon spirituality is to take on the worldview of Aryans—materialism—where

only that which can be confirmed by the senses exists. This is a partial vision of reality.

This leads to objectifying everything, including people, which in turn leads to ideologies

of controlling and dominating those objects. Spiritual reality transcends the physical

(time, space, condition). African culture is predicated on this spiritual reality. What does

Sankofa mean, except our innate ability to reach into the collective African

consciousness wherever we are, and thus revive our current reality? In traditional

African cultures, everything has spirit. Everything is a manifestation of spiritual essence.

African ways of understanding and being in the world, culture, is a spiritual journey with

physical expressions. Culture then becomes more than a definition, but a way of life.

The soul I speak of is the African group soul that is experiencing itself in the world, the

expression of which we call traditional African culture.

Beyond the Mind

What is spiritual freedom? If spiritual freedom exists, is it attainable? Yes, it exists.

It is attainable when the mind is released from seeing only duality and a direct

perception of the underlying unity behind diversity is viewed. The mind can be like a

prism that splits reality into what appears to be separate, isolated realities. The mind

needs to be stilled to reverse this partial view. Facts must be interpreted by a cultural

worldview. Two people with different worldviews will interpret so-called objective facts

in different ways. My cultural worldview is African-centered; therefore, I will always

interpret "facts" differently from one who embraces a European worldview. Facts are

not ahistorical, objects having no contextual meaning unless we are rationalizing and

pretending it is so. But pretense does not make it true.

I am of the thought that everyone does know everything. It is a matter of tapping

into the collective consciousness that is also in concert with one's wisdom faculty that

is one with the Universal. Therefore, it is said the greatest knowledge is self-knowledge.

Self is connected to all. To be "conscious" is to be conscious of consciousness (self-

aware/self-reflexive). It is to know of THAT consciousness that is INVOLVED in life

and is EVOLVING out of life. We are THAT freeing up of consciousness. Spiritual

cultivation entails being aware of that evolving consciousness through us.

Truth

There is no one expression of truth—no one way to truth. Everyone has a side of

the truth. Everyone has a way to truth. Yes, there is a Unity, a Great Ocean of Truth,

but there are many rivers to It, many tributaries to It, and when we arrive, we will see


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how unnecessary it was to discount the truth of people we see as the other. The other

is in the end our self, evolving to oneness, the Ocean. Was it not said that God and man

are one? If so, is it not true that man and man are one? There is no other. You and I

are one; your truth is as valid as mine.

Balance, harmony, and truth are based on the circumstance, not on a supposed

universal idea or principle. Every circumstance has its own truth and so there is no

religion, no standard that can dictate the truth of the moment, the unique circumstance.

Truth must be intuited in the circumstance. This means there is no universal method,

no universal language of mathematics, or universal standard of knowing that is devoid

of cultural context. It is situational, grounded in the lived experience, and to be lived in

the moment.

The implication of math being a universal language is that there is such a thing as a

universal knowledge system that goes beyond the specific culture of a people. I maintain

that such a system is fallacious. As a math teacher, this is how I apply my teaching. Math

/Science/Knowledge is culturally determined, contrary to what the dominant society

says. It is like saying walking is a universal process for all humans. It has well-defined

parameters. Yes, but people walk for culturally determined reasons. What is the

abstraction of pure universal walking?

Likewise, some may say counting/math is a universal process for all humans. It has

well-defined parameters (base 10 in most cases); yes, but people count for culturally

determined reasons. What is valued as worthy of getting counted is culturally

determined. Knowledge and/or truth have epistemological, ontological, and axiological

contexts or groundings. We come into knowledge based on our own experiences, based

on our historically developed consciousness, based on our culture. This is how we

experience life. To know is to be. Ideas of a universal logic are fabrications. Yes, there

is logic, but logic is always applied with a premise. Those premises are culturally based;

culture that has settled on definitions, values, and what counts as important.

Meeting of Polarities

There are two Hermetic principles named polarity and vibration. This is taught in

the Kybalion. These principles are both concerned with raising the being to a higher

level. They both acknowledge that nature has dualities, lower levels of vibration and

expression, and opposites of higher levels of vibration and expression. It is taught that

to accomplish a higher level of vibration and expression, one need only focus the

attention, the aspiration, on the higher end of the pole, not on the lower end. This


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focusing on the positive end of the pole will raise the level of vibration and allow one

to transcend the lower expressions. To overcome the darkness, focus on the light, and

the darkness will automatically get displaced.

Evolution of the Involution

The descent of Consciousness from spirit to matter is the great involution of Life.

The ascent of consciousness from matter into integral awareness and status of Being,

even while clothed in matter, is the great evolutionary process of Life. The involution

proceeded in stages and so too the evolution proceeds in stages. The involution is a

diversification from undifferentiated Oneness. The evolution will not be a return to

undifferentiated Oneness, but rather an integral awareness of the underlying unity of all

things accompanied by a free capacity of the physical being to accommodate a

continued expansion of integral awareness and power of being. For the evolutionary

being to support this integral power, it would have to transcend existing physical

limitations with a higher vibration of super-consciousness, Integral Awareness. It would

have to transmit the unlimited will/force of the One Being even while hosting a limited

form.

I Am the One that Became the Two and the Many

Consciousness is indivisible, and African consciousness is one with universal

consciousness. In African spiritual systems, the deities are considered extensions of the

Universal Divine Spirit, the Supreme Being by many names. The deities are expressions

of that Integral Being. Indeed, all of life, including humans, are extensions of that Being.

There is just one Being in existence. This is what African higher

spirituality/consciousness teaches us. Now you can take that as high as you can.

To say the Creator is everything and not any one individual thing seems

contradictory. A high system of spirituality will resolve these contradictions with an

integral vision. What happens in Western ideology is a conditioning, dictating that only

Western philosophy, or perhaps Eastern philosophy has the track on higher

consciousness. Africans have been studying what it is to be human and to reach higher

consciousness for hundreds of thousands of years, before there were any other kinds

of peoples on earth. Every other ethnicity has been a relative latecomer in the last 55,000

years.


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Time

What is referred to as time, I see as gestation and movement. Though it is true that

there are cyclical/re-occurring gestations and movements, these reoccurrences happen

within a context of larger gestations, movements, cycles; hence they have a new quality

even as they reoccur. Every Spring, there may be running water in the same river, but

the water is not the exact same water as before. Gestation is progressive with

reoccurring patterns. The consciousness involved in matter is progressively evolving,

gestating, to reveal its unlimited essence.

On a deep esoteric level, we can say that everything everywhere is connected; hence

the concept of movement, of gestation, is a relative perception of the mind. However,

this esoteric perception of integral oneness needs to be balanced (not denied) with the

equal reality of the world of formation and transformation = gestation. Don't deny the

oneness and don't deny the production/gestation of the many forms (new

arrangements/qualities of the One Being).

Sankofa

There is virtue in learning and carrying on from the past (Sankofa). Merely trying to

relive the past, however, is not enough. We must understand principles, lessons,

accomplishments of the past, and seek innovative applications of these to today's

circumstances. Collective concentration, focus, and devotion will allow for another

concerted push forward towards collective spiritual advancement. We can see that

having an African worldview is having an appreciation for the Oneness of life amid the

apparent diversity of life. As we live out this Integral view of life, we give more free

expression to the Unlimited Being that resides within us; thereby promoting the

evolution of the Collective African Self, of the Spirit that is involved with matter.

Ancestral Amnesia

What is the true condition of people with no Spiritual awareness? It is when the

Divine within is obscured. The person is not aware of their identity as being one with

the Supreme Being. It is as if one has amnesia, with no historical memory. Having lost

this identity, one’s actions become diffused and aimless. Perhaps there will be vestiges

of this memory, recognition, awareness of one’s identity, which will spur the spirit to

further self-discovery. This first dimly lit candle may be nurtured back to an illuminating

flame with instruction or initiation. This is the proper function of education.


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Culture

Culture is what gets enacted, either individually or collectively. To deny the historical

culture of a person is to deny that they were active in the world as a people; that this

action had meaning or relevance to the present person and their relations. To deny

cultural history is to deny the learning that past actions have provided the lessons

wrought from experience that informs how to act in the present and the future. To

deny cultural history is then to induce individual or group amnesia, and then ask the

person or group to function normally. To deny the cultural expression in the present is

to deny the natural expression of a person’s being. It is to ask a person to stop acting

according to their natural life energies, in their own best interest, to shape the

environment so that it supports their own life. To abandon one’s culture is to abandon

being agents of life, which is the prerequisite for being agents of an unlimited divine

life. Cultural amnesia of one’s ancestral heritage then is strongly correlated with spiritual

amnesia of one’s true Self.

Africanity

I would say that most Africans in America have expressed the following cultural

values in our sojourn in America, thus expressing our unbroken Africanity. Africans

everywhere have a reverence for ancestors. We see a persisting connection with our

ancestors and invite them to guide our lives in a positive, progressive direction. Africans

everywhere:

• Have reverence for ancestors. We see a persisting connection with our ancestors

and invite them to guide our lives in a positive, progressive direction.

• Have a sense of a Supreme Being, who also has powerful delegates of Its power

(saints, deities)

• Have a sense of extended family, a welcoming and acceptance, beyond direct

biology.

• Have respect and appreciation for nature and other beings as having an essence

that they can share with.

• Have respect and appreciation for nature, and other beings as having an essence

that they can commune/communicate with. This is pronounced with episodes

of "Catching the Holy Ghost" or being mounted by a deity.

• Have a sense of justice, balance, and harmony and how to achieve it.


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• Value the emotional/intuitive modes of understanding as being equally, if not

more, important than strictly rational/logical thought.

• Cherish rhythmic, vibratory, and musical expressions as ways to express their

inner being and harmony with life.

• Have a sense that their identity and development as a human being is extended

to incorporate the development of others.

Shedding the White Masks

Africans in America have internalized habits that, for the most part, are not healthy

for the African psyche. There is an unconscious aspect of culture in this regard.

However, there is also an unconscious aspect of African culture at work within us that

is natural to our psyche. As to my conscious worldview, value, understanding of

existence, way of approaching thought and coming into knowledge, way of viewing

others, nature, the spiritual life, ways of relating to others—in short, my culture—as I

consciously enact it as an agent of positive constructive life, that is all African. It is also

informing my unconscious, as I clean my unconscious of European misconceptions.

It is a healthy exercise to occasionally behave as if an oppressor did not exist, so that

we can feel what it is to be Natural and responsive to the greater pulse of life, rather

than be constantly reactive to the ego minded, with an equally low ego mindedness.

Indeed, a more appropriate response to the oppressor is to discount their truth. I think

we have enough evidence to throw out Anglo-Saxon and Negro-Saxon culture and

worldviews, replacing them with authentic African culture and worldviews.

At some point, we must stop being afraid of not being accepted and acceptable to

the European power structure. We must stop trying to climb that ladder of European

cultural social merit. We must stop paying attention to European cultural valuations of

us as good, bad, beautiful, ugly, smart, unintelligent, Godly or sinful, etc. We must divest

from this value system because it was never a system designed for us in the first place.

It was never a system that spoke to our truth or reality. It was never a system that related

to our experience.

It is a system that is all too ready to distort our experience and feed it back to us as

truth. When we accept that distortion, we become distorted. There is but one way out

of this trap and that is to divest from seeing the Euro-centric experience as a universal

experience that speaks to the African experience. Africans must find our center in our

own being, our own experience, our own truth, which is as valid, and potent, as any on


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earth. We must have the courage to own our truth and ignore all the attempts by

foreigners to own our minds. There will always be attempts to own our minds, but for

every attempt, we must be strong enough to ignore it and continue with our rightful

mission in life until the end. One must resist the urge to simply remain comfortable

within the structure of a racist society. When racism offends our sensibilities, that is a

wakeup call to return to original culture, our ancestral consciousness, our reason for

being, and our purpose. We must awaken to our sense of justice, empathy for "other"

and the imperative to fight for justice in the world.

African Identity Development

A person of African descent cannot in a full sense benefit from or contribute to the

evolution of collective African consciousness if that person does not identify as being

African or works to develop his/her African Self-consciousness. This is the reason for

focusing on identity development of people with African ancestry. This development

is not an automatic or a given, especially with the assault on their identity by the

propaganda machine of White supremacists that operates on micro, meso, and macro

levels of society.

Any African-centered psychologist will affirm that one's basic identity is one's self-

identity, which is ultimately one's cultural identity. Without a strong cultural identity,

one is lost. One’s basic identity is one’s self-identity which is yoked to one’s cultural

identity; but from a spiritual standpoint, one must expand that individual and cultural

identity to a universal divine identity as being one with all things (human becoming

Divine Man). There is first a necessary and healthy ego development that all beings

must maintain their organism. Spiritual beings will transcend this identity with a real

understanding of the nature of being in the world as an extension of the Supreme Being,

and thus will view their Self as the Self of all other beings. At a deeper level, the

dichotomy of the self-verses the other is dissolved. But this is an evolutionary

development for a person as well as for society and for humanity. As Wade Nobles

(2006) puts it:

“Self-awareness or self-conception is not, therefore, limited as in the Euro-

American tradition, just to the cognitive awareness of one's uniqueness,

individuality, and historical finiteness. It is, in the African tradition, awareness of

self as the awareness of one's historical consciousness (collective spirituality) and

the subsequent sense of we, or being one. It is in this sense that the self is

portrayed as TRANSCENDENCE INTO "EXTENDATION.” (p. 103)


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That is, the conception of self transcends and extends into the collective

consciousness of one's people. This conclusion is based on the African ontology,

axiology, and epistemology rooted in the understanding of oneness of Being. Through

African spirituality, I have gained everything and nothing. African Spirituality teaches

you who you Truly are, one with ALL of life, with the Divine. In recognizing this

oneness, that you are one with all, there is then nothing to gain, because you are already

ALL of THAT.

The effort to transform ego identity to universal identity happens with the collective

as well. It is going from being marginal beings of a Euro-centric culture, to being central

subjects of an ongoing historical development; followed by being of service to the

overall human project of fully expressing the Supreme Being in the world. We must

stop defining African by a skin color or hair texture. Africa produces all the variations.

This was so even before European and Asiatic intrusion. To answer who is African, we

must get at cultural values, cultural understanding of existence, and cultural

transmission of knowledge and ways of knowing. Where these three stars lineup for

indigenous people on the continent of Africa, or others from the diaspora of Africa,

you have a common African people, sharing a common worldview; irrespective of

variations of phenotype.

I am an African liberation warrior. As I draw breath my being is opposed to ALL

foreign intrusion into Africa, whatever the front. Africa is my mother country; it is the

mother of all humanity. I cannot ignore the rape of my Mother. Though I have been

blinded in the past by the European profession of progress, of freedom, of democracy,

of enlightenment, of technological advancement, I see now that this European promise

is an illusion, a complete farce.

I reject in total this false promise and return to my motherland, Africa. I devote

myself to her liberation from exploitation and domination. I see through all the white

lies. There is no more righteous thing to do than to protect and defend the Mother of

humanity, Africa. Since we all will cast off this physical form on that day of our great

transformation, let us know from now until that day, that we were true to the

progressive force of life that courses through the Soul of Africa, the Ausarian Self of

the African Collective.

Africans in the Diasporas

For me, being African is more of a worldview than having a near 100% DNA level.

One’s ideological, epistemological, and axiological positioning reveals African identity.


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This worldview can be African-centered or not. If the worldview is African-centered,

then that person is African for me, regardless of ethnicity. However, being African-

centered is a high bar to reach, even for people living on the continent of Africa.

African-centered is seeing one's self as part of the historical continuum of the African

experience, which will likely mean having ancestral ties to the African continent. It also

entails struggling for African self-determination, sovereignty, and unlimited

development. So, if a person meets that bar, then that person is African, a "brother" or

"sister."

A benefit to Africans in America of not knowing what specific tribe in Africa we

descend from is that we would treat them all with equal respect as if each were possibly

the one we descended from. We are then more apt to embrace the cultural unity that

spans all West African countries and beyond. We are more apt to support the ideals of

a United States of Africa, rather than provincialism.

Africans in America are an amalgamation of African from different nations of West

Africa. We have lost provincialism to perhaps gain a strong Pan-African identity. When

we do identify with our roots, we claim all of Africa, not just one nation. This I think is

a strength that will be vitally important when the time comes to unite the diaspora with

the mother country into a United States of Africa. We lost a provincial identity to gain

a continent identity, an African World body.

Authority and Standards to Follow

I think part of the problem is not having a standard cultural measuring scale to

measure the truth, validity, correctness, and benefit of actions. If everyone has his or

her own measuring scale set differently, there won’t be agreement on what constitutes

the correct balance in a situation. When there is a common measuring scale, there is

less arguing over what is the balance point. This is what culture provides, a way to

measure words, actions, and value in a way that is common to all. For example, in some

traditional cultures, female circumcision is central to the culture. I heard yesterday that

if this practice were not done, it was believed the woman would die, and so would her

family. Also, the woman could not marry. Nearly all agreed to this, so there was not

much argument. In another culture, splitting the lip to put a plate was the norm to

measure beauty. Everyone agreed, except one woman who said it makes you drool. She

refused to do it even though the bigger lip plate commanded a bigger number of cows

at a wedding. It does not matter what outside people value; the inner culture sets the

scales and there is less arguing.


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I think what will have to happen is some small groups of Africans in America will

have to show the way; model what it is to act appropriately with each other. I thought

the Ausar Auset Society would be this model, but I sense it is falling short for some

reasons. However, look up that society, and you will find clear codes of conduct that

people in the society agree to. Now if that society had more democratic elements, I

think it would have more of an appeal and be an example for the larger society to

emulate in many ways.

In my late twenties, I was a member for two years in the Ausar Auset Society. In the

Ausar Auset Society, from my memory of 25 years ago, members: 1) always greeted

each other with hetep, 2) needed some guidance and counseling prior to marrying other

members, 3) were encouraged to support the group businesses, 4) were expected to

make their spiritual development a priority by attending classes, rituals, and retreats, and

5) volunteered their labor for special projects. The thing I found lacking was outreach

to the wider community. There was too much separation between the society and the

larger African community. Having more outreach would show the community by

example how to engage each other.

Rites of Passage

Without an understanding of the historical experiences of African people, American

children cannot make any real headway in addressing the problems of the present.

Certainly, if African American children were taught to be fully aware of the struggles of

our African forebears they would find a renewed sense of purpose and vision in their

own lives. By providing philosophical and theoretical guidelines and criteria that are

centered in an African perception of reality, and by placing the African American child

in his or her proper historical context and setting, Afrocentricity may be just the "escape

hatch" African Americans so desperately need to facilitate academic success and "steal

away" from the cycle of mis-education and dislocation.

What would rites of passage for Africans males or females in America look like? I

think we must re-evaluate our criteria for Black Manhood from an African-centered

view in the diaspora current times, beyond biological maleness. What does it take to

make a Black man in the diaspora today, in this place? What must go into Black

manhood training, beyond what we think males get from schools, from the hood, from

Black women, and from jails, from TV, from the oppressor, and from other misoriented

Black men? What is Black manhood today in the diaspora from an African-centered

worldview?


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Problems with young Black men must be put into the context of the macro

environment. One standard for a boy to become a man is to no longer eat his mother’s

food. This means the young man no longer takes from his mother’s house, but rather

provides for his mother’s house, and by extension, provides for the larger community.

He becomes a producer of wealth. Now with a 90% unemployment rate of Black male

teens in most cities, how does the Black/African male experience the affirming activity

of being a producer? This ties into a community being able to generate its own wealth

and businesses that can set up young people for that vital experience. So now the burden

is on all people of the community to responsibly practice collective economics, start

businesses that will hire Black youth, give them internships or entry-level jobs. This will

teach them to become producers for future households.

What I said was a macro solution. Each of us individually can keep this larger goal

in mind and do little things towards this goal. So how do we help the young male in our

sphere of influence, to become a producer instead of a taker? Of course, teaching them

marketable skills as well as survival skills (encouraging them to learn a skill that is

relevant to producing for their community). Learning how to be an effective

communicator can’t be underestimated. Now how can they do that if they have an

unstable home or are taking substances that dull the mind? How can they do this if they

learn poor spending habits from materialism (buying things they don’t need just to show

off)? How can they learn to be producers if they don’t hang with role model producers?

So, there are a plethora of things we can do for Black/African males to point them in

the right direction. Putting the whole package together to manifest male producers takes

a village, but everyone has a part, and need not wait for others before starting on their

own part.

African Family as the Heart of African Society

Within the context of the historical African collective, Agyei Akato (1992) gives

further clarity on the centrality of the family:

“Historically, the traditional nations of Afrika have always been grounded in

family, or the lineages. As evidenced by the traditional national formations of

Afrika, the state function or structure, in the first instance, is an extension of the

underlying family based social structure. There is every reason to believe that the

primordial social structure was grounded in family. That social structure of

traditional Afrika is itself grounded in a non-hierarchical arrangement of the

constituent lineages or clans. The family itself extends beyond the temporal into


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the boundless spiritual reality of the ancestors. Among the Akan, not unlike all

other traditional African formations, the temporal linkage is transmitted

matrilineally, as it is the woman who is the doorway for temporal or physical

manifestation and perpetuation. The spiritual linkage is transmitted patrilineally,

and it is the father’s spirit that animates and guides the child into its own spiritual

realization. Family and twinlinearity is the root of Afrika’s national formations.”

(p. 99)

African men and women must have a strong sense of their collective African identity

and cultural heritage. They must hold African survival, cultural self-knowledge, and

affirmative racial-cultural development as top priorities. They must participate in the

development and maintenance/perpetuation of Afrocentric institutions. They must

maintain a posture of resolute-uncompromising resistance against all anti-African

forces.

A traditional spiritual society can help a couple obtain a holistic perspective on the

compatibility of the couple. Once upon a time, marriage supported a whole village, and

so the whole village was involved in the process. It was a uniting of families, not just of

romantically involved couples. Since our village is not intact, with elders (not just old

people) serving as guides, we need substitutes, which is where a spiritual society comes

in.

Single women run about 70% of African households. This was not so in traditional

societies, so there must be something about this Western culture that does not cultivate

African marriages. That alone tells you where to look for what makes for a lasting

partnership. We cannot solve the problems we have produced in this culture by relying

on the cultural, mental, physical, or spiritual constructs of this society. We must

reconstruct our own institutions, and that includes marriage. Of those who are

persisting in marriage, are they functional in terms of African Nation-building? How

many even have this value? Or is their value simply to have a house, a car, a big-screen

TV, a suite of iPhones, a cushy job with stability, access to a "good" school, and some

life insurance?

The values of the Euro-construct have us in a destructive cycle. Inserting

foundational information used by our ancestors refreshes the question. Had the

question been asked from an Afrocentric paradigm, our solution would have eliminated

the entire Eurocentric trap we've been mentally enslaved to for the past 400 years.


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An underlying message given by T’Shaka (1995) is that Africans must return to a

balance between male and female principles of natural harmony.

“At the heart and soul of the Black folk cultural tradition is the truth of the

harmonious and complementary nature of the twin forces of life, nature and the

cosmos. ... Harmonious dualism or harmonious twin-ness, tells us that the

seemingly conflicting sacred and secular realms (or other warring sides in our

African family) are truly complementary and ultimately one. Like the creators of

the great Black folk cultural tradition, who drew upon ancient and traditional

African philosophies and culture, we can reconcile the warring souls (i.e., male

vs. female, straight vs. gay, Malcolm X vs. Martin Luther King), by seeing the

sacred in every area of life, both human, animate and inanimate. We truly reflect

our belief in the sacredness of human life when we learn to love ourselves and

to love our people. The force that makes it possible for males and females (and

other warring souls of our collective) to cooperate in spite of differences is the

force of love.” (p. 149)

Failure to adhere to the balance of male and female power, in T’Shaka’s (1995)

words, is a basis for imbalance and degeneration within society at large. Hence, the

below warning that Africans must be mindful to maintain this balance, at least within

our sphere of influence.

“Male-female, masculine-feminine imbalance accounts for the social, political,

economic and religious imbalances in the larger society. The external alienation

between man and woman was the reflection of an inner alienation between the

masculine and feminine. This inner and outer alienation, which despised

feminine multidimensional qualities, especially the feminine intuitive qualities

and the female, led to Greek and western man’s first external conquest, the

conquest of the woman. The conquest of females by males is the foundation for

the attempt by western males to conquer nature and the cosmos. ... Just as the

masculine-feminine, male-female balance is the basis for social justice, so the

imbalance between masculine and feminine and males and females is the basis

for savagery and barbarism through the unbalanced, unjust treatment of women

by men, Blacks and people of color by whites, and the unjust treatment of the

weak by the strong.” (p. 185)

We need to accentuate the things that we can find common ground on, rather than

fixate on our differences. Our common group should embrace an African-centered


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worldview, which allows for infinite expressions from that center location. In Mirima

Ani’s (1994) words:

“The principles expressed as those of an African cosmology in which we have

the fundamental "twinness" of the universe; the complementary functions of

opposites that cooperate to form the proper working of the whole. But our

notions of what constitutes intelligence have been molded by the minority

Western European world-view, and so we have difficulty thinking holistically in

this regard, since the European world (creation stories) is predicated on first

separation, dichotomization, and then "dominance" of one of the opposites

(masculine over feminine, chaos over order).” (p. 77)

Preparation for a Family by Africans in a Dominant White Society

How old does the average African in America get to before they have a handle on

the pathological society we find ourselves in? What milestones do we have to pass

through to reach a level of mental maturity, stability, and approach enlightenment? I

think it is around 40 years old. As for milestones, it is when we can fully reject European

measures of our identity and European content for our culture.

When African youth discover that their people cannot fully protect them, cannot

secure their future in business and industry, cannot clear the way for their full

development and exploration of their talents to modify your environment as their vision

sees fit, it creates resentments in them. They rebel not only against the wider society,

but also against the older generation who did not secure the future for them. The

development of African youth today is obstructed and must go through trials and

tribulations that the privileged don't.

No other group will know what it is like to be the most despised, mistrusted, feared,

misunderstood, mistreated, least appreciated, least respected, least invested in, least

consulted, least promoted, and yet most naturally gifted in a society amongst a

dominant group. Knowing that there is a sophisticated police force that is racist and

will seek the least provocation to end your life in a matter of seconds is traumatic. Few

in the dominant society care to understand the psychological effect. We are supposedly

in a level playing field where every group has equal opportunity. Even knowing how

the dominant society lies about meritocracy, democracy, equal opportunity, and goes

about business as such, is all so pathological. The layers of racism are many and the

resulting pathologies are in direct proportion. We are amazing people to have dealt with

this stuff with any semblance of normalcy.


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Africans in American have developed coping mechanisms to racism, with some

techniques working better than others. Some families can develop children who are

equipped to accomplish significant life goals despite living in a racist society. Some learn

to adjust by going along with the rules of racism. Some adjust by rejecting the rules of

racism in total. Most are simply reactionaries to the rules of racism. It is the exception

rather than the norm for an African in America to have a strong African self-

consciousness and to have developed effective coping strategies to racism.

I would say sixty to eighty percent of African adults have moderate to severe

misorientation, moving away from African-centeredness, with matching weak survival

coping strategies. Perhaps twenty percent have a moderate to strong African self-

consciousness, with matching moderately effective coping strategies; and twenty

percent at best have a strong African self-consciousness, along with appropriate and

effective coping skills where their locus of control is internalized and non-reactionary.

These Africans are proactive in planning and strategizing their African survival thrusts

and that of their community. This opinion is based on my lived experiences.

Overcoming Conflict

In considering how to overcome conflicts in our African relationships in the

American context, first and foremost, we must be more serious about how we pick

partners. It must be for more than just superficial things because that will tend to

reproduce the pathologies we have been inculcated with by society and by our parents.

This was my major downfall, picking the wrong partners for my own wrong reasons or

without insisting on philosophical/cultural/political compatibility.

The problems facing the African woman are EQUALLY the problems of the

African man, the entire African nation, and vice versa. Whatever the reasons women

act against life, that men act against life, that children act against life, are reasons that

affect us all equally and we each have a role to play in reversing them. We all carry

pathologies related to being inculcated with the values of a racist society. We are all in

need of deprogramming from these alien values. We all need cleansing, healing, re-

orientation, reconstruction, and construction. The African man and woman will either

rise together or fall apart. Marriage must take on an insulating shell for Africans in

America if it is to stand a chance. The environment is not normal to support normal

relations. Rather than viewing man and woman in the home as head and neck, I think

of marriage more as left-brain, right-brain, two halves of the same head.


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Love

Here is a love poem written as an invitation for love; but not just any kind of love. It was an invitation for the highest, most refined love I could imagine; spiritualized physical love. It represents my deepest respect and aspiration for the love between a Black man and a Black woman. It acknowledges the indivisible union between man and woman; between mankind and the Divine. From the Sacred Sanctuary

From the sacred place I share this heart refreshed by the Divine Bliss.

From the sacred place I share life recast in mold of Truth Thought.

From the sacred place where this being has consecrated all to the All; where all members are spiritualized, universalized and divinized, I invite you to join with me, in the ecstasy of the Divine Pulsation, emanating from the secret space of stilled, yet infinitely fast Force of Being.

Here we shall talk. We shall breathe breaths of fresh rarified air.

Here we shall gaze into each other's eyes in peace, in friendship, in trust, in Love.

All our tensions have been left behind, as protective sheaths of war, discarded once eternal peace is had; and the nakedness of our true Selves is revealed to one another in its essential splendor and majesty.

Our words, our sincere intentions have momentous effect on past present and future.

Here there're no masks, no ulterior motive, no hiding, no running, no worry, no doubt.

Sit with me in this sacred sanctuary and let us with unfettered hearts gradually release God's miracles made normal, issuing from our souls before one another.

In this sacred place we are no longer strangers as we reveal parts of ourselves, always known to each other as if you are my other Self, and I am yours.

We maintain our difference just enough to realize the bliss of Supreme Yoga.

In this sanctuary we can explore and know the deep recesses of each other's Soul.


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There are no longer reasons for veils; all is open; our exchange is free from duty tax.

There is no need for fear; the Divine Will/Force holds all negatives at bay.

Knowing God's Will/Force/Bliss Being, discovered in the sacred sanctuary of our being.

This knowing is not a phantasm of spirit world, for spirit births and suckles the physical.

The sanctuary is not a place for escape, but for realization, rejuvenation, remembering.

Remembering, putting back together, making whole, seeing correct relations, merging with love Being, discovering hidden Divinity, identifying with Source Self.

This is immortality not just for the sacred sanctuary, used as place of hiding and delusion.

Infinitude embraces finite; immortal takes up the mortal; Divinity expresses through man.

Expanding personal love, becoming God Lovers, dissolving ego, all actions made sacred.

Attaining integral vision, all the earth now our sacred sanctuary for Divine play.

The Host sends forth Its Supernal Light, readying the stage for great transformations.

We are ready for the movement to higher planes yet unvisited.

On this voyage for two, all that is base is ejected or else transmuted to lighter principle, more useful for our maiden voyage to lands of Soul before unexplored.

Why a voyage for two and not just one? It is for one, two for the price of one.

Under the transforming Light we close the gaps between us.

Though different we become one, as a rainbow embraces the entire spectrum.

Our hearts, no longer the solo drummer of beats, rejoices in the symphony of free lovers.


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Lovers loving the music, loving each other, loving the audience of the gods, loving the host for whom all is arranged and played.

Even our music is transformed, no longer misread notes on music sheets turned veils.

We play not by sight but by meditative improvisation to each other's heartbeats.

For in this sanctuary, though cool, placid, calm in atmospheric bliss.

It is well lit by the Divine light and we see clearly each other's cues.

We see not with mortal eyes, hear not with mortal ears, knowing only parts for the whole.

We have taken on immortal vision that sees all by identity and oneness.

We exercise the cords of each other's hearts, sometimes playing each other's parts.

Thus we intimately know the full range the melodic harmonies of Soul music.

We are ready for the great duet, our instruments refined for immortal play.

When we play, I know not where I end and you begin, our sounds blending in intricacy.

No feeling of being constrained, as our music bounces off of chambers with no walls.

Our notes transport us to continents yet uncharted; God travelers discovering God lands.

God playing hide and seek with Him/Her Self, exploring as if never seen before.

And is it not better to play with another, than with one's self, though it is one's Self?

This is why I've invited you to this sacred playground, for mystical play.

Not a fleeting game of illusions; but the greatest game, the lila of love.

Is love a frivolous game? Am I to toy with your heart or you with mine? No.

It is a game of realities wrought of Truth Being, of Spirit breath exchanged between us.


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All our members engaged in the play, no longer separate masters of isolated ego islands.

Now devoted subjects on continent of royal king and queen in sincere embrace.

A royal game of real ecstasy and bliss; a game of fun and seeming chance; a game of switching roles and identities that keeps us guessing and laughing.

It's a game of winning and losing, though we know nothing is gained or lost.

How can it when we are one with each other and are one with the All?

Let us play: play with each other, shipmates, with infinite oceans as playgrounds.

We are explorers to new shores revealing hidden mysteries, riches and splendors of Self.

We port and greet the natives as long lost relatives. We prepare a great feast to celebrate.

The communion is wide and deeply felt. Fairies, angels, and even mortals all welcomed.

We dance, for the gods love to dance, to mystic melodies of transformation.

We make magic, and renew our kinship.

You and I repose in loves sacred embrace.

Our Tantra movements causing galaxies to move in turn, our rhythms giving them order.

Our hot Breaths birthing stars, our sweat and fluids oceaning planets,

Our vibrations generating new elements, our essence released inseminating

love child.

Our Soulful play makes God swoon.

This continues for eons in mortal man's time.

We are lifted beyond time and place while still in Love's sacred embrace.


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We rest from our love performance, our musical play; but all does not revert and fade.

We are forever changed.

Our creations continue from their energized cause.

Our Truth Thought formations have our life within them. We are them and they us.

The sanctuary is not for a brief ejaculatory moment.

We rest to ready for higher peaks.

It is always within us as I shall always be with you. We are Soul mates forever.

When our bodies are no longer on this plain, we will still re-member our sacred sanctuary.

Here we can always play God's song in duet. Immortality is not just for this lifetime.

In the sacred sanctuary, past, present and future are known at once in a sweeping vision.

We retfect on our accomplished harmonies. We see a new Truth etched on our hearts.

We have conquered all, including death, together, forever. It is a new stage for life.

We shook off our smallness and bore all to each other in a sacred pact of

oneness. We have revealed and massaged each other's most tender zones.

Each cell of mine integrated with each cell of yours, a unity modeling the Universal.

We have discovered the secret Self through each other by removing self erected veils.

We have learned much through our experience in the sacred sanctuary.

Through faith and trust we've become graduate candidates in the school of immortals.

The final dissertation, a discourse on unconditional love and fidelity to one another, to humanity, and to God, for Whom to Whom, and by Whom all is done.

We have past the test.


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We've come to know in the sanctuary a boundless love.

There we anticipated all wonders, pretending not to know the future, but we did.

For the future was an assured outflow of miracles, though only to mortal eyes, erupting from the earth seen volcano of Love union, backed by Divine Bliss.

Enter we back to the mortal realm through Love's volcano showing only surface results.

But beneath, is the dynamic magnum Force/Presence of Divine Love turned lava flow.

This love flow, lava flow, coming from the depths now intimately known, blows the top off of all obstructions, proclaiming it's irresistible evolutionary movement.

It erupts with sometimes-explosive force viewed and respected if not revered by all.

Other times it moves slowly and steadily, yet still undeniably towards the Goal.

This lava flow, Love flow, is the resultant testament of our committed Love mixture.

It is movement from our sacred sanctuary back to the mortal realm.

Hot fiery display, it founts high peak; inventing new form of Spiritual Love; proclaiming the might of our invisible Source tapped; clearing a path made for all.

Full of the Love flow, we fashion new forms of Self, putting on transmuted instruments.

We are no longer made of base elements, but of immortality oxidized and hiding it's brilliance.

With disguised radiance we roam the earth, secret agents of a mighty country.

Missionaries of a new world order, where the infinite is revealed out of the finite.

We no longer forget our secret mission in the clamor of daily life.

We look out into the world and then into each other's eyes, knowing but not speaking.

We hold hands appearing as mere lovers; but beneath the facade, God lovers.


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Children

To cultivate community consciousness in the child, it should be viewed as a

community offspring, rather than just an offspring of its biological parents. It is only

because of our present tendency to view the child only as a physical entity, rather than

as a mental (I think also spiritual) entity, that we moved out of that collective

consciousness which permitted us to rear our children in this sharing modality. Children

come to this world with a purpose, a mission, an energy disposition, that relates to

Ancestral energy, and the needs of the cultural group, and even the world.

These energies are positive by nature. Negative energies can come into the mix from

the prenatal health of the mother and father that includes the negative psychic energy

of both parents, as well as that of the surrounding family members. I think Africans

have taken on a lot of negative energies from our historic endurance of the European

culture. Post-traumatic slave syndrome is at least a cultural reality, if not also one stored

and passed on in our genes and biochemical processes. Going through a psychic and

physical cleansing process before conception would be a wise thing to do.

Without a contented mind, can anything else have importance to you? Perhaps the

issue is that we are contented when imagining some things, but with others, our minds

become stirred up. There is nothing that can disturb us unless we decide to allow it to

do so. In that case, a contented, mind is always a choice. A disturbed mind is also a

choice. From time to time a retreat is necessary to get to the core of one's spirit and

from there, to reboot operations of a productive life. We become externalized by the

demands of life and the captivating media.

We must be aware of the importance of proper preparation before Africans in

America decide to enter a marriage or have kids. Our situation is not like everyone else's.

We face a racism that others don't. We face stresses that others don't. We are opposed

when trying to access resources that others are not. The average wealth (assets) of a

White person is 141,000 where that of the average Black person is 11,000. Our life

condition is not as favorable to that of Whites, and so we need more preparation before

entering families to make them viable, and to handle the additional stress of family

responsibility. I think for Black men the age to do so is around 40. For Black women,

I think the age is around 35. No kids until then.


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Interracial Relationships

In old-time war, could you kill the father or brother of the daughter who is on the

enemy’s side, and still have a normal love relationship with the woman? In traditional

African marriage, the new relationship was not just between man and woman, but also

between the extended family/village of the two. This reinforced peace between the

families. There is no such hope for peace between African and White families so long

as there is economic and political injustice reigning in America. So, based on these two

points, NO, an African person cannot be actively against White supremacy and be

married to a White person in this age, unless the White person gives up their conception

and allegiance to their social construct of Whiteness.

The African family has traditionally been the very basis for the healthy development

of the good and just society. The focus of the family and by extension the society, has

been both the development of healthy and strong children. The larger intention was to

live and express the balanced order of the cosmos through the family. This order has

traditionally been based on balance between the male and female principle generally,

and based on a system of ethics, which in ancient Kemet was called Maat. Thus, through

healthy family development through the ages, African societies achieved the expansion

of collective African consciousness.


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Chapter 8

Education

The Purpose of Education

What is the purpose of education? You will get different answers to this question,

based on whom you ask. Answers can also vary depending on whom the respondent

thinks education is for. Ask a person with amassed material power extracted by

exploiting an expendable labor pool, and that person will likely respond that education

is for making workers more efficient. They may even half-heartedly give a meritocracy

argument and profess that the more highly educated will climb the wealth ladder.

Ask an exploited worker what the purpose of education is for the children of the

materially powerful, and the answer will likely be for consolidating and increasing the

wealth already amassed within the family. Ask a priest in an established religion and the

likely answer is to learn how to serve God. Ask the ancients in spiritual cultures and the

likely answer is to know one’s self, and how to harmonize with nature. If you ask me,

my answer is the same as that of the ancients in spiritual culture. I would take it further

and include learning how to use one’s natural talents to give service to the world to

further it’s awakening to higher levels of consciousness and harmony.

Generalizing the purpose from an African-centered perspective, Asa Hillard (1997)

states, “An important component of African indigenous pedagogy is the vision

of the teacher as a selfless healer intent on inspiring, transforming, and

propelling students to a higher spiritual level.”

Hillard (1997) further elucidates the purpose of education base on the writings and

teachings of Phtahhotep, a Kemetic scribe/sage who lived in 2,350 B.C.E. He gives the

following aims of education, referring to the true student as the learner, hearer or

listener:

➢ To eliminate strife from among the people, to bring harmony, to bring

order.

➢ To enable the learner, hearer, listener to become a model for the children

of the great.

➢ To enable the learner, hearer, listener to gain Wisdom.

➢ To enable the learner to perform good speech and to have a conceptual

understanding of it, a metacognitive understanding.


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➢ To “speak to posterity,” to learn the things that will benefit and enlighten

those who follow. This establishes clearly the intergenerational and the cosmic

obligation of the teacher.

Once we know what the purpose of education is, then we can better construct

methods of achieving the desired goal; as well as properly evaluate the progress we are

making towards that goal. If exploited African people do not have a handle on the

ultimate purpose of education, while attending non-African-centered schools, we are

likely to receive a treatment that will not add to our goal. In public education, we receive

the treatment of what the established system defines as the goal and the methods of

education. The youth and the parents hardly have a say in what the overall purpose and

methods of education will be. We only hope that our youth who are subjected to the

public educational treatment will come out prepared to meet basic survival criteria; and

if they are lucky, develop their talents in a way that will land them a livelihood that

matches those talents.

Through it all, there is no opportunity to bend the system to address deeper matters

of self-discovery and holistic inner development. We assume that in modern times this

is the norm; it is the price we must pay to be modern humans. I say that this price is

too high. The damage of training youth to simply be efficient producers of wealth for

others, to be a “good worker” or even to thrive in a materialistic pursuit of wealth

accumulation, is to “gain the world but lose the soul,” as the expression goes. Once the

emptiness of this training and way of life is realized, it may be too late to undo it, in

pursuit of a more holistic way of life.

Existing power structures will tend to replicate themselves, and one primary means

of doing so is through the treatment received in schools. Students are taught to replicate

existing power structures. For those with lesser material power, rarely is the outcome

of the education treatment a gain in knowledge and power to wrestle power away from

those who control the system. Rarely is the less powerful taught how to use resources

of the society to transform existing power relations. Rarely will a materialistic society

that is steeped in concepts of exceptionalism, racism, and external control systems of

religions produce individuals who value the opposite of these.

The primary instruction for life by the ancients of spiritual culture to “know thy self’

can have many interpretations, as well as expressions or ways of realization. How did

the ancients of spiritual culture approach advanced levels of education for their youth?

How can those approaches serve to instruct our teachers today in public schools? How


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can they be infused in the existing educational system to mitigate some of the

destructive practices that retard students’ self-discovery? Can we move education in our

modern times to a state that is more conducive to the holistic development of our

youth, while also freeing them from the more limiting structures that replicate existing

unequal power relations in society? I think so.

Tied to the question of what is the purpose of education, is the question of what is

knowledge? Once we know what the purpose of education is, particularly for African

people, then it follows that the content of knowledge should serve the purpose of

education. In other words, what is taught should be relevant to the goal of education

or the purpose of education. I gave a lofty statement of what the purpose of education

is. This broad statement does not preclude more mundane or smaller goals that support

the attainment of higher goals. Allow the following simplified scenario. Suppose leaders

in an agricultural-based country in the current computer age decided that it is in the

national interest to mechanize and adopt technological innovations to allow the country

to compete in global markets. I maintain that this goal is not mutually exclusive with

the lofty goal of achieving a harmonious society of self-aware, and enlightened

populace. I believe that having a strong material base, and independence from the

dominant influence of foreigners, is a vital prerequisite to achieving a harmonious

society. This includes having a strong national defense, militarily as well as from

espionage, sabotage, and corruption from within and from without. To achieve this

requires all levels of practical education in a wide variety of fields. Knowledge then is

broadly defined as what promotes the national goals.

In a capitalist society, knowledge becomes what will give a corporate entity an

advantage over competitors. I don’t have a problem with competition per se; however,

I don’t believe that the profit motive should trump the national interests or goals. Nor

do I believe that innovation for its own sake is essential. I believe that all innovation

and corporate ventures must be aligned with national goals. If they are not, then they

should not be supported by the government and should be circumscribed from being

able to shape the public materially, economically, or socially. Africans continue to be

oppressed by the dominant European collective, and thus cannot freely set “national

policy”—economic, educational, or otherwise—without resistance and conscription by

the dominant society. Yet there remains an African vanguard that continues to struggle

for African Self-determination.


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Integral Knowledge, Being, and View

Determining “what counts as knowledge” involves the convergence of one’s

epistemological, ontological and axiological standpoints, which will inevitably shape the

quality of one’s inquiry into a subject. In quantum physics, there is a concept that the

experimenter will always influence the outcome of an experiment by the very act of

selecting what to measure. This may be difficult to wrap the mind around, by I think it

is true that the strictest of positivist in their very selection of data to analyze, do express

a convergence of epistemological, ontological, and axiological standpoints, despite any

claims of complete objectivity devoid of influence from personal frames of reference

or values. It is always helpful to go back and fetch the wisdom of our African ancestors,

to help with answers to such questions as what is knowing, and what does it mean to

be fully human, or even Divine Man.

The Dogon of Mali identifies four levels of knowing: Giri-So (the fore word—

descriptive), Bene-So (The side word—comparative), Bolo-So (The back word—

analytic), and So-Dayi (The clear word—truth). These also represent progressive levels

of understanding or perceiving reality. So, you can have two or more people observing

or considering the same phenomenon, but depending on their developmental level of

insight along these Dogon levels, they will apprehend the reality of it to varying degrees;

they will have different levels of understanding or insight into the phenomenon. The

Western apprehension of what it is to be human according to Marimba Ani (1994)

remains generally on the first level, or Bene-So, which is a superficial level of knowing

and therefore being. This incomplete knowing of the human makeup is manifested in

incomplete and therefore harmful systems of categorization of Africans in the West.

The evolution, transformation and adaptation of the core African self/worldview (Asili)

to Western environment, is consistent with the Dogon system of understanding, in that

Africans can re-establish our historical roots (foreword), acknowledge our current

situation based on historical continuum (Bene-So), reach back to values/effective

practices applicable to our situation (Bolo-So) and move forward in becoming more

Self-realized (So-Dayi).

Integral vs. Partial Knowledge

Knowledge can be partial or integral. Partial knowledge is where one takes only a

part and ignores the whole or sees the whole and ignores its myriad expressions and

revelation in the part. Integral knowledge knows the part to be inseparable from the

whole. It can see or reach the whole through the part. It realizes that the part reveals


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the whole in a way that defies the logic of a subset not being able to contain the set.

Integral knowledge sees the interconnectedness, wholeness or oneness of all things,

from the macro levels, through to the micro levels. It embraces this wholeness, this

oneness of all things while acknowledging the validity of every expression of the whole.

This knowledge is intimately tied or yoked to one’s conception of self. One can view

the self as isolated, disjointed, and in the extreme in opposition with the other. This is

related to partial vision or knowledge. If there is a partial self- knowledge, there must

then be a partial comprehension of the world. On the other hand, one can know one’s

Self to be joined in oneness and interconnected with the essence of all things. All things

then become a part of one’s self. This vision is intimately tied to integral knowledge.

This is the basis of collective consciousness or recognizing the oneness of self and

village; I am because we are.

Social Application of The Unified Field Theory

My approach to life in ALL its modalities is seeing it as an integral whole with

extended parts that are always connected to the whole. The Whole is always behind

supporting the extension, and the extension is always giving expression, in whatever

degree, to the whole; whether the part “realizes” it or not. Einstein spent much of his

life seeking a “theory of everything” that would integrate the various laws of the

universe into one whole. With this theory one could express the integration of the

various laws of the universe into one comprehensible whole as a mathematical equation

no longer than an inch. This endeavor has its parallels in the quest to understand human

evolution, knowledge systems, and societal organizations, “the whole,” expressed in

various time periods, nations, states, communities; and yet these can be depending on

context, “the parts” of an even larger whole.

If I were forced to offer an equation that would express the relationship of the whole

to the parts in mathematical terms it would be as follows: A:X::X:B or A/X=X/B;

where for example, A and B can be any two events or experiences (past or present), and

X is the whole that can be the collective experience/memory or Collective

Consciousness and Being of humanity on a global, national, ethnic, state, regional, or

local neighborhood levels, depending on the context. A and B are all integrated with

the whole, and therefore with each other. The part can be the experience of a person,

neighborhood, region, state, ethnic group or nation that is always related to, and gives

expression to, a more comprehensive whole and at the same time is related to all other


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parts. From the macro to the micro and vice-versa, this formula extends as an infinite

series in all directions.

In my theory of everything as it relates to human evolution and organization, human

collective consciousness on any level is not static, and is not bounded by concepts of

birth and death, past or present. It is continuous and integrated. The collective human

consciousness of today is connected to the collective human consciousness from ages

ago; hence the terms collective memory, cultural heritage, national progress, the soul of

a nation, and African Collective Consciousness.

As I engage a subject of inquiry from whatever level or vantage point, I am always

using this worldview as a basis. Knowledge that cuts off the relationship of one thing

to another, that ignores the relevance of an experience to associated experiences, or that

declares one body essential while related ones irrelevant, is in my view partial

knowledge. It represents partial awareness and a restricted consciousness. There are

always polarities of the same essence. We slide along the poles with varying degrees of

awareness of the essential oneness between poles. We are always swimming in a unified

ocean passing through waves of expression, experience, or knowledge.

Ontological Perspectives

I have described my frame or critical viewpoint of life. It is what I also refer to as an

Integral View of Life with relates to my understanding of the nature of Being. I see an

all-embracing consciousness originally involved in life, which is evolving through life.

This consciousness is moving from lesser to higher degrees of Self-awareness of Its

Being. The arrival to this state of awareness is expressed by the Hindu saying, “I am

That.” This movement to higher levels of self-awareness is the ultimate engine in

human evolution, discovery, invention, civilization, and intercommunication. Advances

in technology, political/economic/social systems are but a movement of the collective

human consciousness towards this Self-awareness of the all-embracing, Self-

Consciousness/Being. So, from a human perspective, we are all in this journey to realize

the same goal, but from different vantage points. All tributaries lead to the same ocean.

The more we recognize and collaborate in our joint evolutionary goal, the more we are

fulfilling our life purpose, and realize a harmony to life.

Pan African/Pan Human Critical Frames of Reference

An Integral View of Life is the primary critical perspective that I bring to inquiry.

Two others are a Pan-African and Pan-Human perspectives. I have a Pan-African


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perspective that is in symbiotic mutual exchange with a Pan Human perspective. The

pan-African perspective that I bring to bear in inquiry is not necessarily exclusive to the

African experience. It is just a way of looking at the world that does not give credence

to the notion that any group of people has a right to dominate, exploit, or otherwise

obstruct the natural evolutionary development of any other group of people. A Pan

African also realizes the interconnectedness of all peoples, but first seeks internal

integration before striving for external integration. It seeks to affirm and realize African

survival, sustainability, development, and progress as a prerequisite for harmoniously

participating in the totality of human evolution. The Pan-African perspective not only

acknowledges the sovereignty and right of Africans to progress, but acknowledges the

same for all peoples of the earth. At its outer limits, my Pan-African perspective morphs

into a Pan-Human perspective; yet the Pan-Human Perspective informs my Pan-

African perspective.

The Collective and Individual Good - Sides of the Same Coin

These three critical and worldview perspectives—Integral View, Pan-African, Pan-

Human—are no doubt interrelated. The language each utilizes might makes it seem that

these are different perspectives. They are each directly concerned with the greater good

of the individual in a symbiotic relationship and equal exchange with the collective. The

individual and the collective are in my view equal, not necessarily in degree, but in

quality because they share the same essence. Ideas and actions that affirm the equal

rights of all humans to evolve towards self-realization, individual and collective, are

valued more favorably in my interpreting and co-authoring the text of life. Partial

knowledge often leads to disharmonious actions and human suffering. I have learned

though, that partial knowledge and self-awareness may be a stepping stone to a more

holistic vision. Slavery, as evil and disharmonious as it has been, may be viewed in a

wider sweep as a movement towards the integration of diverse groups, once the extreme

separation between groups is transcended. Such a view is allowable with Integral Vision,

though by the same view the justification for slavery is never allowable. With an Integral

vision, all opposites are reconcilable and polarities of the same essence, or two sides of

the same coin.

Relations Between Culture, Education, and Social Transformation

In assessing public school policy and praxis, one must first place the school in the

context of the wider socio-cultural field it is situated in. Learning activities in any school

setting are mediated by the macro and mesostructures that schools are situated in.


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Schools are primary sites for the reproduction of the larger cultural values and motives,

which often have much to do with reinforcing a stratified system of power relations. It

almost goes without saying that these macro and mesostructures will deeply shape the

educational practices, experiences, and outcomes that occur.

Bourdieu (2000) intimates in his works that schools are sites where the reproduction

of the structure of power relationships between classes occurs. This happens through

the mechanisms of distribution of cultural capital. Implicating education systems as

such, Bourdieu says, “this means that our object becomes the production of the habitus,

that system of dispositions which acts as a mediation between structures and practice;

more specifically, it becomes necessary to study the laws that determine the tendency

of structures to reproduce themselves by producing agents endowed with the system of

predispositions which is capable of engendering practices adapted to the structures and

thereby contributing to the reproduction of the structures.”

One idea embedded within this statement is that actions by actors are tied up with

an engagement of structures (“engendering practices”), which can lead to a

reproduction of existing structures. This suggests to me that there must also be another

side to the coin, that agents can engage structures with their most egregious elements,

but rather transform them according to their own goals.

It is commonplace for those who benefit within a society where the distribution of

resources is stratified along racial and class categories, to deny the reality that racism

and classism still deeply impinge on the learning outcomes and potential of minority

students in public education. This denial serves the purpose of maintaining these

limiting structures and shielding their macro and meso-level transformation. bell hooks

(1994), in her book, Teaching to Transgress, references the need to transform

educational institutions into sites of liberation:

“If we examine the traditional role of the university in the pursuit of truth and

the sharing of knowledge and information, (Resources), it is painfully clear that

biases that uphold and maintain white supremacy, imperialism, sexism and

racism have distorted education so that it is no longer about the practice of

freedom. …The call for a recognition of cultural diversity, a rethinking of ways

of knowing, a deconstruction of old epistemologies, and the concomitant

demand that there be a transformation in our classrooms, in how we teach and

what we teach, has been a necessary revolution – one that seeks to restore life to

a corrupt and dying academy.” (p. 26)


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Racism is not the only force to be reckoned with. Classism, excessive capitalism

expressed through globalization and manifesting structurally in local schools, is also a

force in need of transformation. Ken Tobin in his paper, “Global Reproduction and

Transformation of Science Education,” also makes the link of macro-level structures

impinging on the local school structures and limiting the educational

outcomes/potential of minority students.

“The Neoliberal demand expressed through Globalization and reaching down to

the public-school system, tends to define education for mostly African American and

Latino students in such narrow terms that are not in my view compatible with their

overarching goals of becoming independently successful by their own definitions.”

(Tobin, K. 2009) Tobin asks, “How should access and appropriation of resources

be included in a theory of freedom in science (any) education?” Tobin (2010) I

extend this same question here by asking, how can resources be accessed and

appropriated in culturally empowering ways to help these groups reach their

overarching goals of becoming independently successful by their own definitions?

Imperatives for an African-Centered Education vs. Schooling

Na’ Im Akbar (1985) asks us to reflect on how Africans in America—and I would

assume by extension, Africans the world over—should approach the education of our

children. He asks, “the first question is: What shall be the ideology of educating the

African-American child? The answer to this question will guide our search both for

content and methodology.” Part of his answer, and mine, is to:

“…move our attention away from the individual conception of the child which

limits it in terms of its separate physical attributes. While continuing to be aware

of the asset or limitation of those attributes, we would begin to judge the child

more significantly in terms of its collective membership in the community of

African-American people of which it is a part. We would begin to judge the

child’s behavior, not so much in terms of its personal convenience (or our

personal convenience), but instead, as a part of the enduring community or

nation of which it is a part. Individual actions attain their significance by the

degree to which those actions further or hinder the good of the community.” (p.

63)


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I believe this ideological approach to education is essential to the evolution of

African Self Consciousness, and to the holistic development of African people in the

world. Central to the development of African Collective consciousness is how Africans

take on the responsibility of educating their own children. Africans must not leave the

education of our youth to those who have historically oppressed them, and who

continue to do so today. The evolution of higher African consciousness will proceed in

pace with the levels to which Africans structure the education of our youth. This

education must certainly encompass moral and spiritual domains. That moral and

spiritual education must extend to the material life conditions of Africans the world

over. The spiritual is not separate from the material. Indeed, the material gives

grounding and support to the spiritual evolution. Certainly, the education of our youth

must address the real pressures posed by global White supremacy aspirations and its

handmaiden, extreme capitalism. It must be centered on the African experience and

serve the higher goals of African consciousness.

As we consider what are some essential elements of an African-centered education

we must first be explicit about the fundamental premises of this endeavor. The first

premise is that there is an African cultural unity that is unique, distinct, with an historical

lineage that reaches back to ancient times from the continent of Africa and that has

spread from there to all the known corners of the earth. The next premise is that the

African continent is the rightful home of all Africans, and that all other peoples who

claim African territory and resources are invaders who must be ousted as soon as

possible. The next premise is that the peoples who have been captured and dispersed

from Africa are still Africans forming a diaspora and they still have their roots in the

African tree; their destiny on earth is inextricably tied to the destiny of the African

homeland and the African family on the continent.

The next premise is that Africans the world over are dealing with a global system of

White supremacy aspiration, which is the same system couched in a different form that

instituted the African slave trade, colonialism, neo-colonialism, and other subtle forms

of socio-economic control structures that are in place to exploit and kill African people.

The next premise is that the African collective the world over are not destined to submit

to global White supremacy aspirations, hence, WE have an obligation to counter global

White supremacy at every turn until it no longer exists. This implies a global, organized

response. It also implies that WE must identify with the status of the African homeland

as focus of our collective liberation. WE cannot be considered free so long as non-


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Africans are pillaging African resources and African people on the continent of Africa.

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.

Having stated these fundamental premises, we can see that the meaning of an

African-centered education comes into a clearer focus. Let’s then be explicit on the

essential meanings of African-centered education. African-centered education,

considering the premises I have mentioned above, must mean that Africans must learn

how to affect our freedom from all limiting forces to that freedom; principally global

White supremacy aspirations. So, African-centered education has the immediate

imperative of training our youth on how to neutralize global structures of White

supremacy aspirations, that limit the life opportunities of Africans (and other peoples

of color) around the world. Structures reflecting Global White supremacy aspirations

limit the life chances of African people in all areas of their socio-economic-political

activity.

African-centered education must first address the essential areas of people activity

that will, in turn, effectuate freedom in all other areas of people's activity. Those

essential areas include economics, government and politics, health, human psychology

self-defense, food production, energy production, education proper, diplomatic

relations, spiritual and cultural education, and exchange. So, African-centered education

is education of our youth that addresses the problems of African development, in all

areas of people activity, but also addresses our immediate imperative of neutralizing

structures reflecting global White supremacy aspiration, by focusing on the essential

fields I just mentioned. If the education of Africans is not focused on these goals

(African liberation) and these fields, I do not consider it African-centered education. In

that case, it is a hindrance to the very survival of Africans as a people. Amos Wilson

(1998) gives this meaning of African-centered education:

“African-centered education is designed to create the kind of people we need to

solve African people’s problems. The kind of education that is being received by

African people today is designed to solve white folk’s problems. You’re being

educated to solve their problems. That’s why no matter how highly educated

your people become, the more problems we have. The more, and you heard me

say it before, the more degrees in business administration we have, the more

other people take over our business districts. Which says what? That this degree

is not designed for us to take control of our economic system. It’s not because

the assumption is, that Black students are being prepared to work for white folk.


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Work in white companies. Strive to move up in white systems. The education

assumes that whites will continue to be in control of the economic system. And

therefore, they are educated on the assumption that they’re going in to get a job

from someone else, and they’re not educated in how? To what? Create jobs for

themselves. And to create their own economic and political structures.

And therefore, you get highly educated Black economists and so forth, who

cannot help Black people to resolve their economic problems. And yet they teach

at Harvard and Yale. And they get Nobel prizes for what? Solving other people’s

problems. And African-centered education is designed to get you to solve your

own problems.”

People may claim that a Western education for African peoples is ideal.

Technological advances and the products spawned by these advances (superior

weapons, the machinery of cities, advances in biological sciences, etc.) are touted as

evidence of the superiority of the European way of life. However, education and

socialization of Africans into European ways of life will only serve European interests

and goals in the short and long terms, not those of Africans. No doubt the knowledge

of the European collective can be useful to Africans, but only insofar as that knowledge

is applied to solving the problems of Africans, the principal problem being global White

supremacy aspirations.

It is a truism that never in history has an oppressive group of people—an invader—

taught the oppressed, the conquered, how to throw off their oppression in order to

install a just society free from oppression. Freedom is not won by the good conscience

of the oppressor, but by the demand of the oppressed. African-centered education must

have as a basis, the demand of freedom from all limiting forces on the life chances of

Africans the world over, starting from where they live of course, but simultaneously in

solidarity with those on the African continent. African-centered education will always

have the historical development of Africans on the continent in perspective, while

solutions to the problem of global White supremacy aspirations are studied and

addressed. African-centered education will train youth on how to understand global

White supremacy aspirations, how to neutralize them, and will facilitate the activity of

our youth to carry out that neutralization.

African-centered education, with the above meaning embedded within it, has a very

different trajectory than the Western education that our youth are subjected to. African

students can have the very best that Western education offers, but if that education


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does not include training on how to apply it to solving the problem of global White

supremacy aspiration, then it is a waste of time and can only be called mis-education of

the African. No matter how lettered, how technical, how sanctioned, how credentialed,

how financially rewarding that Western education is, if it cannot serve to address the

limiting forces of White supremacy aspiration, it is counter-evolutionary in terms of the

progressive African development. It is folly to think that the best of Western education

will teach Africans how to apply their education to solve the problems posed to Africans

by global structures reflecting White supremacy aspiration.

It is equally fallacious to think that public education in schools where Africans

predominate, will teach African youth how to throw off global structures of White

supremacy aspiration. If anything, it will brand such students and teachers of these

students with that kind of education in mind, as being racists, crazy, troublemakers,

and/or un-patriotic. Students who resist the norms of a standard Western education

may find themselves on the failing end of the grade or branded in need of special

education or numbing medication. Teachers who attempt to teach African-centered

perspectives in public education run the risk of losing their jobs, being castigated,

demoted, passed over from greater responsibilities, or otherwise ostracized and

harassed by administrators and peers. Yet I am sure there are African teachers who

persist in trying to raise the consciousness of African students to the realities of global

structures reflecting White supremacy aspiration, and the need to develop resistance to

it.

Having stated what an African-centered education entails and what it is not, we can

delve into some essentials of an African-centered curriculum. What must be in the

curriculum? This is a loaded question and a great many qualifications are needed. For

one we must ask, are we talking about the education of youth situated in a country

governed by Africans such as in Ghana? Are we talking about the education of Africans

in urban schools in America? I think that it is best to talk about the ideal scenario first;

the education of Africans in an African country with a government that is ideally run

by Africans who are not beholden to Western powers. It is not at all apparent to me

that such an African country exists; still, it is a healthy exercise to talk about the ideal

case, even if imaginary, so that we have something to strive for and compare to.

Ideals of African-Centered Education in “Free” African Societies

The global system of White supremacy aspiration is a complex system that has many

facets, many presentations, transformations, and areas of operation. It is not realistic to


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expect any one student to comprehend, let alone master, these facets of operation. It is

important then to have both a comprehensive education on structures reflecting global

White supremacy aspirations and specializations. The focus is not to just know and be

reactive, but to be trained on how to master solutions to the system from a

comprehensive, planning perspective. So, it is important to give students in the early

grades a comprehensive understanding of their African history, development, and

oppression. It is vital to give youth the essential African identity development that will

ensure the student will grow up identifying with the conditions of African people on

the continent and throughout the diaspora. The student in the early grades will be taught

the value of land, resources, free development of human potential on their own land,

and a moral education that clarifies the injustices of White supremacy. This orientation

must be reinforced at every turn and supported by healthy activities that demonstrate

how humans can live in harmony with nature, with neighbors, and with other non-

African peoples. Children can develop a sense of justice and natural harmonies early

on, even in pre-school ages.

As African youth are learning the fundamentals of math, applied science, earth

science, history, culture, and social studies, these lessons should be couched in an

African historical perspective. These lessons should not be taught in abstraction from

the historical life-world of Africans, as in glorifying the exploits and accomplishments

of Europeans. This is not to say that the accomplishments of Europeans should be

omitted, but they should not be given primacy since the focus is on accomplishments

that advance African development. Secondarily, European accomplishments can be

introduced in terms of how these developments advance collective humanity or do not.

If not, it should be explained why and how such advancements only serve the few—

how and why it is detrimental the African development.

During the elementary education of African youth, there should be some means of

tracking the areas of talent and interest of the youth, to steer them into areas of African

development that are most needed by the African collective considering the onslaught

of global White supremacy aspiration. We cannot afford to put the most precious

resources of the African collective, African youth, into fields that have little to no direct

impact on the immediate developmental needs to the African collective. In wartime—

and Africans the world over are at war—resources must be directed to the immediate

defense of the country. There are plenty of areas where a child can give free expression

to their talents and at the same time contribute to the immediate developmental needs

of the African collective. These areas include the arts, sciences, mathematics, social-


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cultural studies, biological sciences, informational and communications technologies.

The main issue is that their studies will have a well-defined objective of solving African

developmental problems. Though Africa is the wealthiest continent in terms of natural

resources on the planet, those resources are not yet organized and deployed to serve

the interests of Africans. Hence in effect there is a limited amount of available resources

to implement towards solving African development needs. That includes human

resources, considering that few have skills that are up to par with the array of devices

employed by the White collective to limit African life chances. Therefore, it is vital that

the available skilled Africans are drafted to the work of African development. Africans

in the diaspora have acquired in Western educational institutions skills that can be

repurposed to serve the developmental needs of the African collective. Organizing that

recruiting and repurposing is something that a free African county should seriously look

at.

African-Centered Education vs. Western Public Schooling

There is no doubt Africans in America have played a principal role in the evolution

of African consciousness the world over. Central to the fight for human rights, civil

rights, equal rights, and the pursuit of professed higher American ideals have been the

struggle for equal education. For better or worse, this has led to the push for integrated

schools. Prior to integration, African teachers taught African students primarily in

segregated schools. After the push for integration, these African teachers were mostly

displaced by White teachers, as the dominant White society did not accept Black

teachers teaching White children. Today, about 80% of the teachers in schools where

Africans predominate are White. Education of Africans in Western public schools is

obviously far removed from the ideal of an African-centered education as I have

described it above. However, we must not abandon the effort to draft students who

undergo this Westernized education into the cause of African collective development.

Furthermore, educators must seek to engage African students in culturally sensitive and

transformative pedagogy in schools where African students predominate.

In his famous last speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I want you to know that

we as a people will get to the promised land.” This is an affirmation that African

Americans see themselves as a unique ethnic collective, having distinct historical

experiences, ways of knowing, ways of being, values, problem sets, and goals, that are

not in total the same as other collectives. This unique ethnic history must be considered

if the education system is to reach and teach African-American students, especially in


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schools where they predominate such as urban schools in America. Ladson-Billings

(1994, p. 134) expresses this by saying, “Without greater exposure to the students’

culture teachers lack the tools with which to make sense of much that transpires

in the classroom.” I interpret this reference to “students’ culture” to mean the ethos

or historical experiences and ideologies shared by the student with others of like

ethnicity. The ethos shared by students does shape how they approach and navigate

learning. However, throughout this dissertation culture has the meaning given by Tobin

(2006):

“Culture comes to be enacted in the form of practices and associated schema

that members bring to salient issues. In the process, they exercise their agency

(i.e. power to act) as part of which they appropriate the structures of a field to

simultaneously meet their personal goals (teaching a science concept) and the

collective’s motives (the schooling of new generations).” (p. 15)

Through positive sanctions and re-enforcement by educators and students

themselves, culturally sensitive activities can develop into lasting dispositions on the

part of students and into teaching praxis for teachers that support students’ self-defined

goals. Considering their unique ethnic identity, it follows that not only must the

methods of teaching African American students be appropriate for this group but also

the goals, short-term and long-term, of teaching African American students must be

viewed as a basis of their education. Further emphasizing this point, Geneva (2000,

p.21) has said, “Teaching is a contextual and situational process. As such, it is most

effective when ecological factors, such as prior experiences, community settings,

cultural backgrounds, and ethnic identities of teachers and students are included in its

implementation.”

This is one basis for my belief that pedagogy and curricula must be designed to

address the needs of schools where African-American students predominate. It must

be designed in culturally sensitive ways that address the unique learning styles,

ideologies, and goals of African-American students. With this imperative in mind, it

then becomes vital that teachers be trained to teach with this sensitivity to ethnic

historical experience. This requires that teachers are given training and a directive to do

so; without which it is by no means a likelihood to occur, since most teachers of African

American students come from an ethnic background different from their students and

lack familiarity with the ethnic historical experience of African American students. Even

when the ethnic backgrounds of teachers and students are similar, it is not a given that


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teachers will deliver the curriculum and instruction with sensitivity to ethnic experience,

because many African Americans teach in the way they were taught, i.e., often from a

Eurocentric perspective.

As things stand now, education in schools with a predominately African American

student body takes on a much different directive and accomplishes not the students’

goals but largely a reproduction of existing unequal power relations. This reality is made

manifest through various means. Danny Bernard Martin (2007) helps conceptualize

some of the ways that this occurs when he addresses the question, “Who should teach

mathematics to African American children?” He states:

“I claim that the manner in which this question is addressed in mainstream

research and policy contexts is largely a function of (a) the simplistic ways in

which the aims and goals of mathematics education for African American

children are framed (i.e., closing the so-called racial achievement gap, increasing

course enrollments, preparing students for the workforce) and (b) the

problematic ways in which African American children are socially constructed as

learners with particular kinds of deficiencies in relation to students who are

identified as white and Asian.” (p. 21)

In answering the question of who should teach mathematics to African-American

students, Martin (2007) makes the argument that they should be people who have a

sensitivity to the learning styles and goals of African American students, and I agree.

He notes, “for me, teacher dispositions, racial competence, and commitment to anti-

oppressive and anti-racist teaching are just as important as knowledge of subject matter;

a teacher who is truly highly qualified must demonstrate competence in all of these.” In

some cases, this ethnic sensitivity will be a natural outgrowth of teachers having the

same ethnic background as their students. Yet having the same ethnicity does not

guarantee a teacher knows how to teach in ways sensitive to students’ ethnic

backgrounds.

In most cases, teachers do not have this sensitivity and require training in how to

teach African American students through leveraging their existing cultural capital. It is

my view that it is not enough for teachers to learn how to speak the code language of

African-American students and act like “they are down” with the kids, though this can

be a great aid. It’s not enough to have teachers with strong content knowledge and

pedagogical skills, though this too is essential. Teachers must be aware of the

socioeconomic realities, pressures, ideologies, and structures that limit the life


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opportunities of African-American students. They must be willing to conspire against

these structures along with the students and develop counter structures that promote

student agency. Teachers must be willing to organize the curriculum and instruction to

help African American students engage these structures in agentic ways to help them

reach their self-defined goals. Educators must uncover the aspirations of African

American students and, given the obstructions they face, to fulfill those aspirations.

This approach should be reflected in lessons taught on a regular basis. It should form

the praxis of teaching for liberation and preparation for the demands of a twenty-first-

century global economy. There must be recognition that this kind of teaching, as with

any, is deeply implicated in the identity formation of students as competent managers

of knowledge capital and other resources to meet the collective goals of their

communities. Any teacher who is willing and prepared to do this kind of teaching is

qualified to teach African-American students.

It is the responsibility of every African educational leader in both the African

continent and the African diaspora to enlist African youth who have gone through

Western educational systems to give of their talents and skills to the cause of African

collective development. African students who have gone through Western educational

systems will most likely have been conditioned to value other goals that serve to

replicate global White supremacy, that to further African development. Nevertheless,

these students must be entreated to undergo a reorientation process so that they can

serve the collective goals of their own people. Without such reorientation, it is unlikely

that a Western-educated African student will value and work toward the development

of his/her own collective goals. Such a student may have marketable skills, but these

skills will end up serving to reinforce White supremacy aspiration socio-economic

structures.

It would behoove us to look closely at the progress of spiritual forms of social

organization, including education, such as existed for thousands of years in ancient

Egypt, China, or India. What lessons can we learn from those developments? Where

would a diligent pursuit of the trajectory drawn out by the ancient Egyptian sages, as

exemplified by their spiritual/social group organization, have taken us? This question

begs an answer. What can we glean from that purview, in our attempt to formulate the

highest ideal for African organization and self-governance throughout the Diaspora in

our time? There are some essential lessons from these ancient spiritual traditions that

we must fetch and apply to our current circumstances individually and as a collective

African people. Some of the most important include the following:


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➢ The realization that the divine permeates all of life. The universe, nature,

and humanity are real expressions of the Supreme Being's infinite being.

➢ The process of spiritual initiation/education was to transform humanity

into the divine human, culminating in the realization that the Creator and humans

are one because all is the Creator.

➢ The divine reality is revealed to the various sectors of society, to the level

and in modes that each sector can assimilate.

➢ World societies, to realize their greatest harmony and progressive

development, must follow the divine order or will, which is often stated,” As above,

so below.”


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Chapter 9

Grounding With My Brothers & Sisters - Reorientation

Misorientation Impacting Our Collective Self-Consciousness

Here is a tough question: When do the distortions and mutations of the African seed

or essential culture, Asili (Ani, 1994), result in a new culture that is identical to the White

supremacy aspiration culture? In more direct words, when do Africans stop being

Africans and become not just confused Africans but Black Europeans or Negropeans?

Is that even possible? Is a Negro more of a confused African who can become

unconfused or a human that is no longer African, but rather a Black European with

now essential European seed culture (values, ideology, ways of knowing, beliefs about

existence, ways of experiencing reality)?

Definition of Negropean: a person of dark hue who has completely rejected his or

her African cultural system and replaced it with a European cultural system. One who

rejects the need for Afrocentrism to facilitate the African survival thrust and consciously

engages in activity that facilitates the European survival thrust.

One of the root causes of the Negropean mentality is fear of the power the

oppressor displays, resulting in identification with the oppressor. This identification

with the oppressor out of fear is known as Stockholm syndrome. This mentality often

produces self-alienation, which manifests in dysfunctional relationships and social

structures created by Negropeans, such as:

➢ Superficial relationships

➢ Relationships based on power conflicts

➢ Relationships based on competition

➢ Relationships based on materialisms

➢ Relationships based on temporary pleasure gains.

➢ Relationships based on convenience and not on compatibility

➢ Non-nurturing society

➢ Non-nurturing family due to its misorientation

➢ Non-nurturing educational system


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Kambon, in his book, Cultural Misorientation, asserts that every African in the

American context is infected with cultural misorientation to varying degrees, from

minor to moderate to severe. His position is that about 50% of Africans in America are

in the moderate Cultural Misorientation (CM) range. At the core, this implies a low level

of African Self-consciousness, which is the opposite of CM. He says that when

considering African mental health, we must first look to African models, since we are

not Black Europeans, operating under their "Universal" constructs of what mental

health is. For us mental health entails behaving in ways that support our collective

wellbeing, or survival thrust (practicing our African heritage/rituals, nation-building

defense, and maintenance). When we are not operating from an African-centered stance

or worldview, we become culturally misoriented and express this condition in

pathological ways that are destructive to ourselves and our African collective. We could

be operating in what appears to be healthy ways from the stance of the European

culture, but not from the stance of African culture (i.e., individualism, materialism,

alienation from African identity, self-hatred, and abuse such as in drugs and Black on

Black violence, not practicing collective economics). These behaviors support the

European survival thrust but not our own.

We need to learn about the scales of African self-consciousness and misorientation.

There are degrees of them. How bad is it in the diasporas? What does it look like to be

a high-functioning Negro, but with no African self-consciousness? What does it look

like to be a teen with developing strong African self-consciousness? What does it look

like to be a teacher with a high level of misorientation and, in turn, pass it on to our

kids? What does it look like to have a moderate level of misorientation, but just enough

to make a marriage fail? European psychological categories don't apply to Africans. Our

categories of cultural misorientation, weak African self-consciousness, and alienation

from African paradigms require natural African correctives that are indigenous to

African culture.

Blacks in European societies who suffer from cultural misorientation adopt, to a

large measure, the oppressor's culture. Black men who adopt the European culture will

also adopt patriarchal dispositions, seeking to dominate, control, abuse, objectify, and

distrust women. All of this is an imitation of how the European behaves towards his

woman. Black men have, to a large extent, lost models of healthy man/woman

relationships as they exist in natural African environments. Black feminism then—if

properly applied and understood—would be a call to return to such traditional, natural


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relations that are not in service of the European cultural thrusts, but rather are in service

of the African cultural thrusts.

Misorientation of One of My “Intelligent” Students

Here is a comment from a former high school math student of mine, which

demonstrates how education in academics does not necessarily translate into an

accurate understanding of the world around you. This was an AP Calculus student, who

was also the valedictorian for her graduating class. “At this stage, I don’t believe in

racism, systematic oppression, reparations, none of that. When I was younger, I

used to think because I’m black, automatically I’m at a disadvantage socially.

Now I think... with all the doors as wide open as they are, if you’re not where

you need to be, there’s something wrong with you. Not because you’re black.”

My immediate response to her was as follows:

In terms of reparations, no group that has power over another group will share that

power willingly. So, I agree, that we must not wait on reparations. Such reparations

would occur only when countries in Africa unite and put tariffs on American

products until reparations are made for slavery and structural racism. That will be

a long time from now. In terms of systematic oppression and racism, which is the

power to harm another ethnic group and limit their life chances, the evidence

abounds and you must look at easily accessible statistics to see it.

No group naturally wants to be at the bottom. Africans, when given so-called

freedom, wanted an equal shot at life in America, starting with 40 acres, a mule, and

some education. None of this was granted in equal measure. I think you are

confused about how we have free choice to struggle, to not follow the brainwashing

vs. the actions of an oppressor to limit the life chances of a group (through

brainwashing and even outright murder), Blacks. Both forces exist.

I think perhaps you want to encourage folks to keep struggling no matter what, but

you must know what you are struggling against. If you ignore the reality of the

forces against you, you will not know why you are not making progress; you will

not struggle effectively. Structural racism and oppression do exist. There is a group

that does harm another group, your group. Learn how, and learn how to struggle

effectively. Don't blame your group for the oppressors’ tools. Teach your group

how to defeat the tools; but this is not done by ignoring the existence of the racist

tools.


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One more thing, every White person who is not fighting against racism is a racist,

because they automatically gain privileges of the system of oppression that the

oppressed don't get. Do not let such people convince you that racism does not

exist. For them, it does not exist because they want to continue to benefit from it.

I think it would be helpful to widen our lens of introspection from the micro-level

of individual pathology to a more mezzo (community) and macro (African

diaspora/Nation) level. We can get bogged down in classifying individuals as out of

balance (with names as Negropean, Uncle Toms), but we must shift to discussing

community-level behaviors/practices that shape individuals and community

behaviors/practices that reinforce and reproduce our own oppression. We must look

at community-level systems, how they operate and fail to operate. We must broaden

our sense of self from just individuals (European conception) to individuals AND

extended community members. In so doing, correctives for behavior are inclusive of

our whole extended self. What happens in one area of an interconnected web affects

the whole web.

Let's stop chasing the American dream and deal with our own

spiritual/mental/material reality! This graph should be a wakeup call to the myth of the

American dream. It shows we’re still dreaming, and reality has not changed since

reconstruction.


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http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/12/racial-wealth-gaps-great-

recession/

Racism is a group activity thus African Liberation is also a group activity. We cannot

be interested only in our individual success and simplistically blame those who don’t

achieve the same level of supposed success when the general society is structured to

limit African success. There is an African saying: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if

you want to go far, go together.” WEUSI—we, us, I—are one. We must organize

ourselves collectively. It is better to go slow in the right direction (collective progress)

than to run fast in the wrong direction (individualism). For those without a direction

that serves the collective interest, any which way will do. Your culture is your compass.

Constants Amid Changing Forms of the White Supremacist System of

Domination

There are certain constants in European societies, where even change is managed

by Europeans to ensure the perpetuation of those constants. What are those constants?

They are bundled up into a bag called White supremacist survival thrusts. The cultural

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/12/racial-wealth-gaps-great-recession/

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DNA that Europeans initially developed above the 55th parallel (latitude) was adaptive

for that environment. When they migrated out of the ice cradle, they brought cultural

adaptations that were incompatible with the cultural DNA of the African people they

encountered. Their cultural blueprint works for their minority survival. It is destructive

for everyone else. We need not get all twisted about it, just recognize the operation of

White supremacy aspiration for what it is and do what is necessary to put it in

checkmate.

"Yurugu," which means incomplete being in the Dogon tradition, is also the title of

a major work by Marimba Ani, an African philosopher, anthropologist, and African-

centered cultural theorist. The book lays out in scholarly detail the generating principle,

Asili, of the European culture. It explains that the cultural DNA or blueprint of the

Europeans is at its core a quest for achieving completeness through control and

domination of others in compensation for its lack of spiritual vision.

The Asili of Europeans is sharply contrasted with the Asili of Africans, who have as

their cultural seed a quest to express a harmony of life on earth through their living

being and positive interrelations with others, as a reflection of the greater harmony of

nature. The Asili is operationalized through two modes of the culture that Ani terms

the Utamawazu (culturally structured thought), which I see as analogous to

epistemology/ontology, and through Utamaroho (vital force, or energy source of the

culture), which I see as approximating the axiology or value of a culture. This later

functioning is mostly on the subconscious level. The Two modes give expression to the

Asili, and the Asili informs these modes of cultural expression. Together they form the

ideology of the culture and its construction of reality.

What is very informative is that Ani can deconstruct every institutional structure of

the European culture with her conceptions of Asili, utamawazu, and utamaroho. She

can explain the motivation and operation of the European mind in all aspects, that

include, religion, science, philosophy, aesthetics, ideas of universalism, liberalism,

imperialism, rationalism, modernism, progress, materialism, and basic treatment of the

human other. In Yurugu, Ani says, "A pattern of collective behavior, a world-view that,

while not caused by ‘white skin’ in a simplistically physical sense, may be related to the

cultural/historical/spiritual experience of an isolated breeding population that initially

suffered the relatively sudden and severe loss of melanin at an evolutionary significant

point in their development as a group, physically and culturally. Thereby the Asili was

implanted in the cultural genes."


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Who gets to define strong and weak? Who gets to define civilization or barbarism?

This is not a universal law, survival of the fittest. It is a European way of thinking. Shall

we say that the nation that can murder the most people who are not like themselves, is

the strongest and only nation worthy of survival? I say no! There was a time in history

where Africans could have waged a successful war to kill every white person on earth.

That was not pursued. Does that make whites the strongest and Blacks the weakest? Is

strength measured in the power to separate and destroy, or in in the power to relate and

build? Is it stronger to destroy civilizations thus being uncivil, or to is it stronger to

build a civilization and be civil to the other?

Hate requires a protracted energy investment within while dwelling in a negative

emotional state. That is not where I live my life. So, I'm more of a detached agent

against a system of White supremacy aspiration than a hater of individuals. I understand

individuals are operating under the mandate of that cultural system. I accept that and

deal with the battles as necessary. The most effective warriors are not carried away with

emotions of hating the opponent. Do we give some power and control to Europeans

by validating their dominant status in use of the aggrandizing term "White" or the

phrase “White supremacy?” Do you think we are aiding in the reproduction of our

oppressed status by agreeing with this collective term White? It's like calling people

"boss" on a job. I never do that.

I always refer to a person who oversees my work as manager. Calling someone

boss… does that not give him or her permission to be domineering over you? I always

thought so. How about referring to White people as "the man." Does this imply that

non-whites are "the boys?" How about referring to us as minorities? Does this not play

into a psychology of thinking of your group as a global minority, whereas in fact

Europeans (10% of earth's population) are the true minorities? My thinking, however,

is that these various European nationals will band together regardless of how we refer

to them. They have their program regardless of how we perceive them. Only a

counterforce equal to theirs can fundamentally shape their behavior. They will never

reason themselves out of their quest for domination. It is our own definitions that we

accept that will bring us to a position of overthrowing European global oppression.

What transformation—distinct, methodical, and public—has the European gone

through to eradicate this mentality? I don't need any more examples to show the blatant

racism of society, the basic lack of respect, justice, Godliness of this society. I don't

need any more shocking examples of White supremacy aspiration. I've been convinced


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since my late teens, and now I'm in my fifties. I don't need to be convinced about the

need to abandon ALL European values and practices. Europeans don't own the

principle of progress, of scientific inquiry, of justice, democracy, civilization, or higher

learning. By abandoning ALL European values, I don't abandon the markers, modes,

and methods of human progress. Rejecting All European values only means rejecting a

Eurocentric worldview and replacing it with an African-centered worldview. The frame

of reference is change. We stop being an imitation European and become what we can

only truly be, our true selves, Africans. By abandoning ALL European values, we come

closer to living an authentic life, African-centered, in tune with the harmonies and

progressiveness of life.

Not every European person is the power source of racism; but if a European person

is not resisting racism, then they are a conductor of European racism. Analogous to this

conductive participation in racism is how a copper wire conducts electricity from a

power source, offering little resistance, and so allows this evil to flow through them to

the next conductor or to the target. So, as an African, I am not confused about all the

racist wires; I know any of them can cause a lethal shock in each circumstance. All the

wires are live, unless I see an obvious resistor.

To what extent does it hold African people back to have faith that European people

as a collective can change their racist behavior? To what extent does it hold us back to

think that if we become Christ-like enough, that we can show them the Way to live up

to their own religious claims of universal brotherhood? To what extent do integrationist

fantasies hold us back? How pervasive, deeply ingrained, are these beliefs in the intrinsic

good nature of the European, or his potential to become good, programmed in our

minds, such that we find it effectively unimaginable to let go of the false hope? I think

of an abused and dependent wife, who keeps holding out that her abusive husband will

change if she loves him hard enough and does his every bidding. Sadly, our state is in

many ways the same as that of the abused wife, as we hold out in wait for the European

Collective to treat us justly. We even think that the European God or Jesus will change

their heart. So, we wait and suffer continued abuse. We put on the makeup and pretend

that the beating was not so bad. How/when does this relationship end? How long do

we smile for the public?

One of our elder African warriors of today, Baba Mwalimu Baruti, recently reminded

the African community of something written over one hundred years ago by Martin

Delany, a strong African activist, something still applicable today.


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“The slave may become a lover of his master, and learn to forgive him for

continual deeds of maltreatment and abuse, just as the Spaniel would couch and

fondle at the feet that kick him; because he has been taught to reverence them,

and consequently, becames adapted in body and mind to his condition. Even the

shrubbery-loving Canary, and loftly-soaring Eagle may be tamed to the cage, and

learn to love it from habitat of confinement. It has been so with us in our position

among our oppressors, we have been so prone to such positions; that we have

learned to love them. When reflecting upon this all important, and to us, all

absorbing subject; we feel in the agony and anxiety of the moment, as though we

could cry out in the language of a Prophet of old: “Oh that my head were waters,

and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the

“degradation” of my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of

way-faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them!”

Can You Truly Be Pro Black While Embracing European Versions of

Christianity?

The question is very open ended and so the answers will be all over the place. I think

there are at least seven aspects to the question, so I will give a brief reply to each:

1) European versions of the formal religion vs. Africanized versions of the

formal religion: I think once it was necessary to Africanize a religion forced on us

during our physical enslavement. That kind of direct force is no longer in play, and so

we need not contend with the oppressors’ religion by Africanizing it. We are free to

rediscover the Supreme Being as we did before having Christianity forced upon us.

2) European claims of starting the formal religion vs. African claims of

starting the formal religion: It is a fact that the name Jesus Christ was first used at

the Council of Nicaea and Constantine then made the religion the formal religion of

the Roman State. Before then it was a sect among sects. It is true that most of the

development of the sect took place in Africa.

3) African claims of inventing all the elements that would eventually be

incorporated into the formal religion: Read Gerald Massey's The Historical Jesus where

he broke down how all the elements of the Christian faith (resurrection, virgin birth,

changing water to wine, multiplying the loaves of bread, etc.) were in existence in the

Egyptian Mysteries system before the Christian era. Our African scholars reveal the

same (see John Jackson's Christianity before Christ).


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4) Questions about the veracity of claims for a historical Jesus: This can be a

long debate. I have done intense research on verifying the existence of Jesus. I have

come to the possible existence of a spiritual leader, whose reputation was used to

construct a god and a religion by the Romans and Hellenized Jews. I will post some

reading material on this. Everyone needs to do his or her own research.

5) The veracity of claims that the formal religion was created by Romans to

control others; therefore, it should not be embraced by Africans: No doubt the

Roman church was better able to keep tabs on the masses through the church. Same

with slave masters yesterday and today. The question begs, why did the slave master

take everything away from Africans except the European brand of religion?

6) The question of traditional African spirituality being better suited for

Africans than the later copy in the form of Christianity, particularly considering

the oppression done in the name of Christianity: As Dr. Clarke said, "Why get so

dewy-eyed over a carbon copy religion when you can go back to the original?” Africans

created spirituality, religion, and the deities thousands of years before anyone knew

there was a White man in the world. Our spiritual expression through our own created

religions was enough for us for thousands of years and is still enough.

7) The assertion that worshiping a Christian God and Son automatically is

associated with a European person and so this equates to worshiping European

people = bad thing for Africans: This is well-known. We must exorcise the White

image of God from our minds. I had the White Jesus put above my bed at home

growing up. That image needed to be replaced by a stronger one. Dr. Ben said, "Heaven

is in between the legs of a Black woman." It is a fact that the African woman created

humanity so that is a strong image, as good as any. Nun in the Egyptian Mysteries is

Creator of the heavens, another strong image. The Egyptian archetypes are strong and

serve to replace the European ones.

I was a practicing Catholic for 10 years, 18-28. I rejected Christianity once I fully

came to understand that the Catholic Church initiated the enslavement of Africans,

which allowed for the genocide of both the Natives in the West and the Africans. This

fact destroyed my belief that the Pope is infallible, as it was through Papal Bulls that

Spain and Portugal were given the right to steal Native lands and reduce to slavery all

so-called Pagans, Native Indians, and Africans. However, I also needed to continue my

spiritual development, which I found in the spiritual traditions of Ancient Egypt and in

Eastern esoteric philosophies of Taoism and Hinduism. I don't follow any religion.


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These days, I appreciate the spiritual traditions of Yoruba/Ifa. I fundamentally view

religions as training wheels that if not removed will limit your ability to fly down the

path of spiritual awareness. At a certain point in one's development, we can also see

how religions are used as tools to promote the political/economic/ideological

aspirations of a people. This is what Christianity has done for Europe, what Islam has

done for Arabs, and what Judaism has done for Jews. This is not bad in and of itself,

except that these peoples have done so to the extent of genocide. They used religions

for their gain at the expense of others.

African Self-Destructive Behavior

There are degrees of African misorientation, mild, moderate, and severe. There are

degrees of African self-consciousness, weak, medium, and strong. There are elders, wise

teachers in our African community who try to deconstruct the racist society, reconstruct

African society, and construct new cultural expressions adapted to our current times,

that will promote the African survival and development thrust. The pathologies in

African communities where Europeans have a strong influence are all part of the

protracted battle (10,000 years) we have been fighting with Asiatic/Aryan/European

cultural intrusion. Let's keep the perspective that in war, there are casualties on both

sides.

Is Black male vs. Black male violence solely on Black males? Or does it have to do

with the attack on the Black family structure (propaganda, TV, high unemployment for

Black teens, high unemployment of Black men, high imprison rate of Black males, etc.)

We must recognize that oppression is not just physical; it deals with the mind.

Brainwashing is one way to put it. Amos Wilson described it as a falsification of

consciousness. That is a replacing of our natural consciousness, self-interested cultural

thrust, with that of Europeans. We start with that understanding and say that African

men and women both are afflicted with this condition. We have the same diseased

mental state that expresses as self-hate and literal self-destruction.

If we are both infected with the same disease but manifest it differently, why focus

on the symptoms? Why not address the underlying disease as a unified healing

community? Why point fingers on whose symptoms are more damming? I maintain the

solution at the core is an African-centered detox of European values, ideologies, and

belief systems (including Western religion). It includes an African-centered re-education

of what is a human and what is the purpose of life. It includes reconstructing African

cultural expressions (as is the purpose of Kwanzaa). It involves becoming immersed in


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African Spiritual culture. It involves, participation in African Nation Building through

Pan-African action plans. The solution is not partial and it certainly is not about looking

at symptoms of how African women, men, teens, or elders display their dis-eased state.

Is it the child's fault in Chicago that 92% of teens in Chicago don't have a job? No,

that is the fault of the unseen hand. Now what if that situation improved to the same

nation level for Europeans? Don't you know that the crime rate would go down? Now

what about the unemployment rate for African women? It has not improved

significantly since the recession, as it has for other groups because the service-sector

jobs African women held are not coming back as fast. What about the incarceration of

African men, about 1 in 4? What about the unemployment rate for African men, about

4 times higher than for Europeans? What about more African men going to prison than

to college, and most often for non-violent offenses (being caught self-medicating to

drown problems)? This is all the first violence I speak of.

Africans on the continent of Africa generally comprehend and accept the reality of

neo-colonialism as another version (2.0) of colonialism. The historical record shows

how neo-colonialism has been just as effective, if not more so, in extracting resources

from Africa, maintaining the impoverished conditions on the ground of the average

African. Why then is it so hard to comprehend and accept the concept of neo-slavery,

or slavery by another name today, that is just as effective in marginalizing African/Black

people in America, extracting cheap labor, thus not appreciably changing our condition

of dependency for food, shelter, and all other survival necessities? Perhaps if we

acknowledge we are still enslaved because of our dependent position, and not being

able to control our own destiny, we would see more clearly the path of freedom—

independence (as much as that is possible)—not unlike what the Chinese do in their

China towns.

African Agency Beginning with Inner Change

Being African-centered or having an African worldview is inadequate if it does not

have the African agency component to it. That is imperative. A plan to develop

structures, both intellectual and physical, will promote the survival thrusts and higher

spiritual aspirations of African people. The question, “How do we see ourselves as

agents of change?” is a provocative one that has profound ramifications if we allow it

to resonate with our deeper selves. As for me, it forces me to reflect and attempt to

delve into the deeper recesses of my understanding in search of an answer that speaks

to my truth and, hopefully, a greater truth. There is no separation between our


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individual or private self and our public or collective self. We are simultaneously both.

At any time, we may be poised or focused on one polarity or another, but we are always

both. Change or agency starts with ourselves, with our inner movement and

transformation. Inner transformation brings us closer to knowing that which is

unlimited and constant throughout all change.

One description of that constant is an appreciation of the unity between our

individual self and all else. It is this appreciation that gives deeper meaning to our self-

conception of being agents of change. With appreciation of our integral nature, we

govern change to maintain integral awareness and integrity of being (wholeness or

oneness with all things and people). With this appreciation, I cannot be unjust; I cannot

forsake my fellow human beings; I cannot exploit others; I cannot rationalize or

condone exploitation by others; I cannot see others as inferior or separated from me; I

cannot ignore the injury of any other; I cannot see the condition of another as irrelevant

to me; I cannot ignore suffering; I appreciate the experience, the evolution of all

individuals and collectives as I do my own.

I am then, by nature, an activist for recognition of equality, for social justice and

harmony regardless of the ethnicity, economic status, religious affiliation, or any other

superficial distinction of other vs. self. I am moved to increase the awareness of that

unity. If increasing that awareness calls me to be a social activist, so be it. If it means

having frank and direct conversations about the wastefulness of racism, extreme

capitalism, sexism, paternalism, egoism, or any other ism, so be it. If it means just having

a deep conversation with someone from a different background, great! It could simply

be that I will not allow myself to be narrow-minded and personally prejudiced. What

am I an agent of change for? Equanimity; the appreciation of diversity backed by Unity!

Until an inner change or transformation towards the light of integral awareness is had,

any outward movement will be just a groping in the dark, a hit or miss proposition, or

a momentarily popular fad in the greater evolutionary movement of unlimited Spirit

involved in the individual and collective at once.

Plato used the analogy of the cave to illustrate his idea of forms. The analogy goes

like this: Imagine several prisoners who have been chained up in a cave for all their

lives. They have never been outside the cave. They face a wall in the cave and can never

look at the entrance of the cave. Sometimes animals, birds, people, or other objects pass

by the entrance of the cave casting a shadow on the wall inside the cave. The prisoners

see the shadows on the wall and mistakenly view the shadows as reality. However, one


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man breaks free from his chains and runs out of the cave. For the first time, he sees the

real world and now knows that it is far beyond the shadows he had been seeing. He

sees real birds and animals, not just shadows of birds and animals. This man is excited

about what he sees and goes back to his fellow prisoners in the cave to tell them about

the real world. But to his astonishment, they don’t believe him. In fact, they are angry

with him. They say the shadows are reality and that the escaped prisoner is crazy for

saying otherwise. This analogy reminds of how Africans in the diaspora too often settle

in our mentality for the shadows that the White supremacy aspiration projector puts

before us. We allow others to define and limit our reality. We must step out and go

beyond the cave of shadows to directly see reality, define, and grow our reality.

My keys to progress

➢ Know Thy Self —God and man are one.

➢ Seek balance in the moment—what is balance in one moment may not be

for another.

➢ Since God is All, then God is the doer of all. Don't get caught up in the

“I do” aspect.

➢ Stay true to your ideals but remain flexible in the face of opposition. Water

remains low, but for wearing down the hard, there is nothing like it.

➢ Love and treat the other as yourself, because the other is yourself on the

deepest levels.

➢ Enjoy the temporal, the changes, the surface waves and ripples, but know

how to go deep beyond the turbulent waves, to the still depth below the waves, and

realize the witness Self of all the surface changes.

➢ Stay flexible, supple, like a baby. That which is rigid and inflexible will

break first.

➢ Remain engaged with life, yet detached from any one thing. In this way,

you will identify with the Great All, and realize this All as your true self.

➢ To rise above the negative, focus on the positive. Positive and negative

are two poles of the same thing, and to get on the high end of the pole one must

focus the attention on it.

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➢ Don't get caught up in any one expression of God, be that any one

religion, any one practice, any one path of life. The map is not that important, the

path to the destination is not exclusive; what matters is the attainment, and the

evolution or refinement of the soul en route to the destination, which is the Source

Self.

➢ One of the greatest powers of life is sincerity. Not far from that is

devotion. Above the two is knowledge of your True Self, and above that is Being

your true Self.

➢ Someone said, "to be or not to be, that is the question." I say being and

non-being are two sides of the same coin. Undifferentiated Being is the non-being;

differentiated being is the Being. They are the same thing.

➢ Having a sound philosophy of life will anchor you against those who

would blow you to oblivion.

➢ Life is to be enjoyed, true, but it is to be understood, beyond pleasure and

pain.

➢ The great evolution is the release of consciousness that is already present

and involved in everything, towards higher levels of self-awareness.

➢ Higher development (mental, and supra mental or spiritual) is predicated

on a sound physical foundation, so eat right, sleep right, live a healthy lifestyle, and

avoid extremes.

➢ The rational and mental cannot verify the spiritual, but the true spirit will

never contradict the rational and mental, just like the mother does not contradict

the child. The spirit body gives birth to the mental and physical body, not the other

way around.

➢ There is a witness to the cycles of birth and death. Identify with THAT

because you ARE THAT witness.

➢ Extreme Yang results in the birth of Yin, and extreme Yin results in the

birth of Yang. Excessive pleasure (Yang) results in depletion (Yin); and excessive

Yin (death) results in new Yang (rebirth).

➢ Minimize desires, because that will lock consciousness into small fields,

and block the integral vision of wholeness that is beyond the pleasure principle.


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➢ All of what the great sages of life have accomplished and seen are available

for you and me to accomplish and see. A great teacher will teach the student how

to equal and even surpass the teacher. A teacher is vital, but don't get caught up in

hero worship. Be the sage that teaches you.

➢ Never give up your spiritual aspiration and hope, despite any number of

setbacks. Eventually, you will accomplish your Self.

➢ All things are interconnected. Behind the great diversity of life is the Great

Unity of Life. Live according to the integral way and vision of life.

➢ All is in all, all is the All and I am THAT.

African Diaspora Development

It is a misnomer to think that the culture Africans brought over during the Maafa,

the Middle passage, and that has always been targeted for destruction in American, has

been eradicated. That culture is part of our DNA. It is our seed, and the branches can't

help but grow according to the DNA of the seed. This question assumes African

Culture in America is not African (100% or any other percent). I don't think a person

can have two dominant worldviews, just as a seed cannot produce two different species.

The seed Africans in America are African, 100%. So, the better question is how can we

Africans in America better orient ourselves to express more fully our seed worldview,

the African worldview? We can do that in America or on the Continent, but it is more

difficult in America because of the gravity pull of the European worldview. On the

other hand, the contradictions of European culture experienced can allow one to see it

for what it is and reject it.

Many people set up a dichotomy of either/or between our Africanity on the African

continent VS our Aficanity in the African diaspora. This is a false dichotomy. Malcolm

X once said to this false dichotomy, “If you take chicks and put them in an oven, they

won’t come out as biscuits.” So, if you transplant an African to America, he won’t

become a European, unless of course there is a conscious attempt to breed out the

African genes, as has been done in most Latin countries. The better question is how

can we in the diaspora reclaim our African culture, worldview, ethical values, for our

protection, maintenance, and future prosperity as an African collective everywhere? I

was born in America. I have African ancestry. I have never claimed to be American by

culture as an adult, just by citizenship. Africans trying to be European, claiming


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European ontology, axiology, and epistemology, or seed worldview are just mis-

orientated Africans.

Cultural confusion is a reality, like a disease—not of the body, but of the mind. It

captures the minds of Africans on the continent, the diaspora, as well as those who are

mixed. At its core, it is a belief in the separateness of things or people. The remedy is

African Self-Consciousness and extended identity that views others as one's self, even

the confused. How we view the world determines how we will act. When we act as an

integral whole with an extended self-identity, then we re-establish structures that reflect

this view, we will re-establish Maat, the law of harmony and balance. Be the change you

want to see in the world.

On what basis can we speak of the cultural unity of Africa or United States of Africa?

On what basis can we speak of an African diaspora? On what basis can we speak of

Africans in America, the Caribbean, or in Latin America? What do I mean by basis?

Well basis is an essence that spans and unifies a diversity that sometimes appears

separate. So, what is this basis of African unity? I say it is the seed cultural value that

views all things and people as one; hence each thing or people have intrinsic value and

a right to full expression and development so long as they do not infringe on others.

Indeed, each people have a divine responsibility to foster the development of each

other; this after developing themselves first. This to me is the basis of African unity the

world over.

A case where the warring soul within a person or society is most obvious is that with

mixed raced people. How are we to discuss the mulatto problem then, including

Africans in America, and the extreme misorientation that can plague mixed raced

people? I think the resolution is to speak on it not as much in biological terms, as in

genes, but in cultural terms, as in the degree of cultural confusion, misorientation, and

identification with European or White culture vs. a healthier African-centered

consciousness.

Let's ask the question: is the cultural essence of Latin countries European or

African? Their understanding of the cosmos, of spirituality, of ancestors, of the rhythms

of life, of harmony with neighbors and other, are they European or African cultural

expressions? If they are neither, are they oppositional or compatible with the African

worldview? If compatible with our African practice, conscious Africans (and there are

unconscious ones) must be flexible to accommodate these diasporas. Would it not be


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foolish to attempt to cut off all diasporas from the overall underlying cultural unity of

Africa? That is exactly what the European wants.

Perhaps we should remind ourselves first of the core African values that form our

worldview. Secondly, we must recognize where those same values are replicated or

reformulated in ways compatible with the African value system. Thirdly, we must

recognize our mutual survival interests, unite to fight a common enemy, and reestablish

harmony in the world. What are the core African values that we also recognize in Latin

American cultures? Where does the African diaspora begin and end? What qualifies as

a diaspora? What disqualifies as a diaspora? What is being used to measure/discern that?

Are we clear on how to measure? Is our measuring itself based on the historical African

experience, cultural essence (Marimba’s Asili)? Does our discrimination foster the

development of African forms that are flexible to withstand Global White supremacy

domination, and to foster the African survival thrusts? What is a diaspora? Where does

it begin and end? Does it begin with Haiti and end with Puerto Rico? Does it end with

confused Brazilians who don't think they are African, but includes Brazilians who

celebrate their African roots? I'm currently reading Marimba’s "Let the Circle be

Unbroken," having read earlier her "Yurugu." Who is in the circle and who is out? These

are all critical questions Africans must address.

Historically, there has been a weak level of loyalty among a mixed population

(mulattos) resulting from the conquest of a non-mixed group by a conqueror. When

has a mixed group disavowed completely the cultural intrusion of the conquering

group? Puerto Rico is a perfect example, where so many mixed people want to identify

with the conquering culture of Spain, instead of the revolting African and Native

peoples. This results in a tug of war between Puerto Ricans that will only end when

identification with the oppressor is wiped out in that country.

I've been doing African drumming for about 25 years at the drum circle in Prospect

Park Brooklyn, NY. In that time, there has ALWAYS been a few Puerto Ricans

drumming with the African beat. They will always acknowledge that the source of their

rhythms is from Africa. Now and again there is conflict because the way they play

sometime, not all the times, seems to get away from the traditional African rhythms.

One time when they came early and I was there early too, they went off with the Latin

rhythms and a Black woman scolded them saying this is an African drum circle. They

defended themselves saying their rhythms are also African. Some African drummers

find it hard to play their traditional rhythms with the Latin Congas and rhythms. Having


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African and Puerto Rican ancestry I was always able to find the core rhythms that bring

the two styles together. I would tell fellow drummers it could work if each style listens

to the other and not try to overpower the other. When it works, it all seems so natural,

fun, spiritual, unifying and a good day at the African drum circle.

I think we need a pledge of allegiance developed to the United Peoples of Africa. I

think all peoples of the African diaspora should recite it to demonstrate where we

identify with respect to the motherland. I think the confused countries will show

themselves and the African conscious ones will too.

Here is a United Peoples of Africa pledge adopted and modified from that created

for a public school in Oakland that any African should feel at ease making:

We pledge allegiance of the red, black and green

Our flag, the symbol of our eternal struggle,

To our African ancestors, and to the African Motherland we must defend!

ONE nation of African people,

Of the African continent and the African diaspora,

With one God for us all,

Totally united in the struggle for African Love,

African Freedom, African Justice, and African Self-determination.

African Liberation Struggle in European Controlled Capitalist Countries

As an adult, I have always viewed the African diaspora in America as a nation within

a nation; and so, all of what I described about the evolving society applied to the

evolving African diaspora in America. I acknowledge the reality that Africans in

America do not behave as a nation within a nation, but rather are excluded, through

racism, from an equal share of American wealth. Consequently, African Americans

form an identity group by default, albeit a confused group. I say confused because there

still exists the prevailing double consciousness of the assimilationist vs. the Separatist;

the loyal African American who pledges allegiance to the flag, vs. the African who is

aware of how Plymouth rock landed on them, as Malcolm X put it. Many think of

Nelson Mandela as having pulled off a relatively bloodless revolution, but in the end,

the condition of the average South African has not changed, even with political party

change. Lesson learned. Likewise, neo-slavery in America will not end until Africans in


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America own large tracks of land, and their own labor = owning the means of

production. What percent of Africans in America own businesses and land? Is it

improved from chattel slavery time?

Using one's skill and labor for someone else's profit, where you just get enough to

get up and do it again today and tomorrow equals enslavement. That's what it was

during chattel slavery then, and that's what it is now. The constant is the same, working

for some else's enrichment. So, things change (schooling, integration, more politicians)

to secure this constant into the future. Claude Anderson (PowerNomics) predicted that

if Blacks don't get our economic act together (collective economics) by 2013, we would

be a permanent underclass. According to him, it is now official. I still have hope that

we can turn it around.

We make the mistake of thinking that we can grow normally under a system of

oppression. The most balanced psychological state of an African person in our present

condition is that of a revolutionary. Any other state represents a failure to recognize our

true condition on the battlefield and who our oppressor is. Now revolutionaries can

marry, have kids, enjoy family etc., but a revolutionary never forgets that circumstances

can turn on a dime when there is an ongoing war.

Let's recognize our casualties of war: emasculated men, homelessness, and over-

representation in the prison system; believers in Black middle class status; Black teens

fighting Black teens while other Black teen records it; Black teens thinking sports is

more important than academics; our brightest kids thinking going to Ivy League schools

is more important than studying problems of the Black community; Blacks who value

spending money with other groups more than their own ... the list goes on. These are

casualties of war. It is not a conventional war, but it has conventional results.

There is no such thing as freedom of Africans in America without freedom of Africa

from European world domination, just as there is no such thing as Chinese, Japanese,

Jewish, Russian, Greek, Indian, or German freedom in America without the backing of

their mother countries.

The responsibility of the Afrikan American community is to ensure Afrika's

economic development. The ignoring of Afrika by the Western nations provides

windows of opportunity open to native Afrikans to drastically reduce the massive

outflow or flight of capital, which has been estimated to exceed 80 percent of the Gross

Domestic Product, and to reinvest it in their own countries. Amos Wilson ( drives home


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the imperative for Africans to develop intra African economic development by

practicing a trade protectionism with each other.

“Afrikan peoples and nations across the Diaspora must apprise themselves of a

full, ongoing knowledge of the social, economic and cultural history of Afrikan

nations as well as their contemporary status and reorganize their sociocultural

and economic structures to initiate and fuel continental Afrika's growth and

development. The Afrikan American community, especially, should vastly

overhaul and reconstruct its educational orientation toward knowledge of the

Motherland. It must realize that its own economic salvation is coterminous with

or tied to that of Afrika's. It must invest money and human resources in Afrika's

development and perceive its economic prosperity as its special responsibility

and mission…

The Afrikan American community must become vigilantly and jealously

interested in U.S. and European policies toward Afrika and seek to influence

those policies in both its own and Afrika's favor."

I do not accept a reality where Africans collectively have no choice but to accept

foreign intrusion. History tells us that when we have a collective resolve, there is no

force that can withstand our movement. We will reclaim the thrust of African freedom,

or we will die trying, as we shall all die anyway. Not all Blacks are conscious freedom

fighters. It is true that many have bought into the White Jesus salvation myth,

integration, and the assimilation solution. It is true that Africans have a flaw in our

cultural value of embracing other people's cultural values (religion) and presence among

us, to our own detriment. The Jewish people never had this flaw. It is a stereotype

though to think that ALL Blacks have lost the survival sense of race first, and the

Afrocentric idea/worldview.

We strive to gain power over our own lives. Meaningful political power/government

means managing or distributing products and resources of a nation. Economics implies

owning the means of production to harvest resources and produce refined products

that people need to live sovereignly. Education is to train people how to live in harmony

with the environment, to learn how to engage in political, economic, civil, and cultural

practices to further the survival thrusts and higher goals of a society. It is also to learn

what it is to be human in the world, and what our collective destiny is. You can say that

economics is the material base to support all other higher functions of a society. We


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seek solutions to gain control over the means of production so that we can be sovereign

or gain power over our own lives.

When transmitting or teaching culture—which spans all human activity—we must

clarify whose culture it is and what is its usefulness to the evolution of African

consciousness and Being. The modes of production—from manual to advanced

technology and information science-driven—are a development of culture but it is not

getting to the seed of the culture. Manual labor as in farming can be done in an

exploitative way, as in slave plantation, or an egalitarian way as in Ancient Egyptian or

a socialist organization. Likewise, technology- and information-based economies can be

developed to monopolize information and exploit those who are not in the know,

producing a non-egalitarian society. The seed cultural directive will determine this. I

don't think the solution for us is to out capitalize the capitalist, to muscle our way onto

their dining table. I think it is to have our own table (mother nation), with all the food

we can eat (our own resources) from our own gardens (African continent). This is what

the Chinese, the Indians, the Europeans, and the Jewish people have in the U.S. They

have home countries, with home capital, to develop satellite societies in the U.S. This

is lacking with Africans in America.


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Chapter 10

Organization for African Power

Why do we in the African diaspora have such a hard time uniting and acting in our

own interests? This is a deep question, what prevents us from creating unified

organizations that we all can ultimately agree is the one thing we have not done

consistently, and is the one approach that will roll back the White supremacists’ system.

The answer must be because this is behavior is a part of the White supremacists

programming. It serves the White supremacy aspiration system, for us to ultimately not

form a united front, for whatever reason. We cannot accept any of these reasons. They

all must be thrown in the trashcan. So, yea, the first step is to recognize that this failure

to unite, is paid for, and is in service to, the White supremacy aspiration system. This

behavior is shaped via the Willey Lynch process. Now after recognition, and

understanding, comes a counter-move with a united African front.

How has the Black church fared since the civil rights movement in organizing

Black people for power?

The Black church in America has traditionally played a critical role in keeping Black

families together and healing broken souls. It has provided hope, given some immediate

relief to the needy, and provided some guidance and instruction on how to overcome

racism. The Black church has helped to keep African culture alive through these years.

However, the Black church overall has not invested Black money well, it has not figured

out how to work collectively with other churches and other Black organizations. It has

not embraced fully its uniqueness as an African cultural/religious expression that is not

the same as European religious expression. It has not Africanized to the point of

eliminating the White Jesus concept and White Man in the sky as painted by

Michelangelo. It has not made strong connections with Africa in terms of development.

So, it has the double aspect of being a key saving institution, while also being a limitation

to higher African self-consciousness.

The Black Church and the “Conscious Community” Since the Civil Rights

Movement

It is not possible to separate the Black church from the Civil Rights movement or

even the Black Power Movements. However, we must say that despite the influence of

the Black church, the Black Power movement of the 60s and 70s was not based on


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religious doctrine per se. It was part of a worldwide development in African Self-

consciousness, Pan-Africanism/Black Nationalism, the Harlem renaissance, the

negritude movement, inspiring anti-colonialism and the African liberation struggles in

Africa. They were not based on a religious doctrine, though certainly they were

influenced by religions. Marcus Garvey did not focus on religion to build his UNIA,

Malcolm X later said we should not focus on religion, else we will bicker and fight. I

think religion was one pillar that most of the leaders in Pan-African consciousness relied

on, but I think the African consciousness was not limited to any religion.

The African-centered/Afrocentric movement from the 80s up to the present has

not been based on the Black church, but rather on research and scholarship into

authentic African culture that includes, but is not limited to, a religion. It relies heavily

on African history, ethnographic studies, and on connections with traditional African

religions. I think the Black church and Afrocentricity need not be exclusive of each

other. Many churches attempt to infuse Afrocentric expressions in their worship. The

two approaches can be complementary and need not be thought of as conflicting or

contraries. Kaba H. Kamene has said of the relationship between spirituality and science

that “science is seen (manifested) spirituality, and that spirituality is unseen (hidden)

science. They are two sides of the same coin.” The African evolutionary thrusts within

the Black church and outside of it through secular African institutions are two sides of

the same coin.

Wakeup Call / Preparing the Mind

I can't forget the lesson that Malcolm X taught. He said “I'd rather go with the wolf

than the fox. The wolf will let you know straight out that he plans on eating you;

whereas the fox, wanting the same thing, will fool you to thinking otherwise.” Did the

wealth of Africans in American improve under Obama? No! Yet we are somehow lulled

into thinking that our lot in America has improved. Seeing these contradictions in

society requires a sharp critical lens or radical worldview. A radical mastectomy is an

operation that seeks to get at the underlying pathology of a diseased breast, located deep

within the muscle and tissue of the breast. A radical political or critical worldview is a

paradigm that seeks to get at the underlying pathology of a diseased breast of society,

diseased breast of its body politic (Socio-political-eco-cultural ethos). Both approaches,

mastectomy and critical worldviews, are called radical. Both approaches seek to save

the overall body. We are afraid of both procedures, afraid of the word radical itself. Yet,

when unchecked, negative growth called cancer threatens the life, hard approaches


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called radical are necessary. Is not the future wellbeing of minority groups threatened

by uncontrolled growth of racism in the body politic of American society? Is not

therefore, the larger body politic threatened by its racism, greed, and callousness? Do

we not need to look critically at the underlying muscle and tissue of this negative growth

of the body politic, and treat it with a radical mastectomy? We may lose the breast of

the mother, but the mother will live, and so the child has a chance to grow under her

nurturance. Today we are taught to be afraid of the word radical. It is one of the most

feared words of our language today. That paralyzing fear has a purpose, just like the red

scare of McCarthyism served to smother the movement for Black civil rights, claiming

such a movement was directed by communist Russia.

There is a war to be fought—a war for self-mastery, a war to help our youth, a war

to overcome racism, a war to overcome imperialism that produces poverty in African

societies. Warriors in these wars, and I count myself as one, cannot afford to wallow in

self-pity. Even if one is not a warrior, focusing on the negative is not the way to usher

in the positive. To displace the negative, you must focus on the positive. Turn on the

light, and the dark knows what to do. Yes, you can acknowledge the negative, but at

some point, you must acknowledge your infinite Being, capable of transcending the

negative. Indeed, in the very acknowledgment of this transcendent Self of ours, we

overcome the negative. When that aspect is left out of the equation we stagnate, and I

don't have time for that.

“The essence of intelligence is the ability to adapt to one’s circumstances and

change those circumstances to one’s convenience and survival. There is no

other definition of intelligence. Intelligence is not measured by numbers, and

achievement test scores and all the rest of the nonsense that you have been

given. Intelligence that does not apply to your survival as a people is not

intelligence in any kind of shape, form, or fashion.

But you must understand that intelligence is guided by the recognition of the

existence of a problem. The mind organizes itself in terms of a problem to be

solved. It then starts to collect the relevant information for the solution of the

problem. It then coordinates that information and organizes it and processes it

and expresses through the behavior of the individual so the problem can be

solved.


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The major problem that we have today as students, and as a people, is that we

don’t recognize that we have a problem. And when you do not recognize that

you have a problem you have no means of organizing your minds. And one of

the major reasons your children are having difficulties in the schools is because

they have no problem to solve and they ask you, “why am I studying this,

Mama? What’s the reason I need to know this?” You got to honk the horn,

“Oh, so you can get a job!” Uh-uh. It’s beyond that. — Dr. Amos N. Wilson

Making the Individual Soldier

If one is aware of the systemic nature of the problem then the question is what

action to take. I think there is a level of internal work that must be done. This involves

putting one's house in order before dealing with the collective house. If you can

correctly govern yourself, you can correctly govern your family, your neighborhood,

your district, your state, and your country. If one cannot govern him or herself, then

governing anything outside is problematic. We each must identify how we will

contribute to the solution. For some, it is in a small arena, for others a more expansive

arena. To those given much, much is expected. I think a golden personality, life

fulfillment and contribution to the collective quest for equality can be created on

multiple levels. So, governing yourself involves finding your level. Most likely there are

predecessors who have done great work. Learn from their efforts and try to run with

the passed baton.

We should find sincere people of like mind and make alliances. This includes

organizers as well as foot soldiers. We must assess strategies in your own mind.

Compare your strategies to that offered by others. It is a question of what the best

strategy to follow is, not who came up with it. But how would you know what is best

unless you conceptualized your own detailed version? Make one. I once did an exercise

of creating my own version of a United States government to see if I could make one

that would be truly democratic, one that checked greed and oppression. It had its flaws,

but then again, I had something to compare to that made sense to me. I came across a

more in-depth analysis by both Dr. Amos Wilson and Dr. Chancellor Williams in their

respective works. Also, you will have a critical core that can tell you whether you're in

basic agreement with some other plan.

Talking is doing. You must first recognize the situation from a mature perspective,

know the beginnings, know the historical development, know the ways of operation,


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before you can effectively deal with it, to deconstruct it, reconstruct our culture, and to

construct our future.

Before you have action, you must have a plan; before you have a plan you must have

principles; before you have principles, you have to have a worldview; so, before you

have businesses you have to have principles of African-centered ethos that govern those

businesses. Without that you are just trying to have business like the European man,

with no regard for the ethics, no regard for community, no regard for environment, no

regard for life; governed strictly by the profit motive. You have this let's rush to action

mentality, but you can run fast in the wrong direction. “If you want to go fast go alone.

If you want to go far go together (an African proverb).” We must go together with an

African-centered worldview, principles, and plan. The African-centered idea, as in

Kwanza for example, starts from the worldview and moves down to values, principles,

and attempts to express in ritual discipline as an exemplar to follow in all other areas of

life. It is for the next generation to improve on that expression of African-centered

worldview, values, and principles with more discipline.

I think you take an inventory, a gut check, on how you can reject all European values

and beliefs. We must replace those European values and beliefs with authentic African

spiritual and philosophical ways of understanding and being in the world. We must take

stock on what skills and energy you can contribute to the African survival thrust, which

has ultimately irrespective of what a European does and does not do. What will you do

to further your and your people's higher ideals? This is a good start.

The sad truth is that the dominant society only wants a free or cheap labor force

out of Africans in America. Once that is threatened, Black life must be criminalized so

that our rights can be completely stripped, and we can be forced to work for free

(conscription by prison system). The system is not designed or intended for Africans to

compete or obtain an equal share of the country's resources. Having less than 1/2 of

1% of the country's wealth is still too much for the dominant society to allow Africans

in America to have.

Someone in an African-centered Facebook group once posted: “African people

must seek African solutions to African problems, the importation and imposition

of foreign ideas and ideologies upon African peoples is blatant disregard for the

uniqueness and robustness of African culture, history and spirituality. This

disregard is even more painful and destructive when puppet African leaders

forcefully impose alien ideals upon African peoples.” I agreed and said: Another


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component is what Amos Wilson called the falsification of African consciousness to

whereas he described it African people seem possessed with malevolent spirits of White

supremacy aspiration. Exorcising these "demons," this false consciousness, and

realigning the African Identity to its true Self becomes an educational imperative.

Model Organizational Units

We have established the reality of the Collective African Self and that individual

African consciousness is viewed as extending into the Collective African consciousness.

In the African worldview, the family extends into the community and the community

into nations. All levels of these social constructs are reflections of the Divine realms of

the Supreme Being. It then becomes our business to refine these expressions in our

spheres of influence such that the Divine is experienced as unlimited life on earth. This

is no easy task, as the forces of chaos have dominated African reality down to the family

level. Yet, awareness of these forces arrayed against African people, down to the family

level, we must forge ahead in creating strong families and communities that live

according to Maatian values. As we do forge ahead, we must remain securely aware of

our intrinsic unity, collective consciousness, accessibility of positive powers from the

Divine realms and our African ancestors.

As we operationalize our African worldview and collective consciousness, I think

creating models of African unity to emulate is key. This can be done from any locality.

These healthy models develop local resources, talents, organizational structures,

education for leadership, education for recapturing African-centered consciousness/

culture. These models will also demonstrate the power of collective action. How well a

given model can be extended will be a function of its expansive vision and the efficiency

that its people follow through with local and global initiatives. Another important

function of any good model is its ability to join with existing groups that are also good

models. No one group will have all the answers but woven together, they will be

formidable in dismantling the structures of global white supremacy aspiration and

spreading the now dimmed light of African civilization.

W.E.B Du Bois promoted a concept dubbed "the talented tenth," which advocates

that the top 10% of African Americans must be focused on, developed, so that they

can do the hard work of leading the 90% of African Americans to the promised land,

socio-economic equality, and prosperity. I understand the urgency of the times that

spawned this idea, and I don't think current times are any less urgent. I only think that

this idea, if taken at face value, may promote a division between the "talented tenth"


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and the 90%. This idea should be refined and reformulated to indicate that the talents

of 100% of African Americans are sought after, even if there is a vanguard of 10% that

leads the way.

Organization of Mobilization

This whole buildup to expecting Africans to be reactionary to the European-created

system of laws, and our feeding into it, just reproduces the unequal power relations in

society. We need to do the proactive things that starve corrects this unequal balance of

power, by focusing on our African Law systems, our self-interested survival thrusts, our

national goals, our own development from our own vision, our own worldview.

Mobilization must be married to organization. Mobilization alone fizzles out in a short

time. Organizations are enduring. Everyone should try to join one but find out his or

her vision and ideology for sure first. The boycott and protest of the 60s and 70s was a

strategy that took us collectively to a certain point. It had a measure of success for the

first push for civil rights. Those strategies for that time are currently obsolete. Doesn't

boycott sound like something pubescent to outgrow? Boy must go to man, and cot

must go to bed, along with a house and maybe some property. Boycotts and hands-up

protest are ineffective. They must be replaced with divestment, collective economics, and pan-

African organization. Everything else is a waste of time, living immature and ineffective

integration fantasies. It’s time to stop dreaming, wakeup, and get with an organization.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

If there was just one message I wish would come out of all the marches, protests,

rebellions, and speeches and social media fights, it would simply be: "For the rest of

your life, buy Black as much as possible, and to do that you must do business with your

African brothers and sisters not only in the diaspora but most importantly with those

on the Continent of Africa." This one consistent message for all Black people,

everywhere ... "Buy Black." NOT boycott. "Buy Black for the rest of your life." This

buying Black includes buying Black education over freely accepting Western

indoctrination.

Pan-African Organization

There is no solution that does not include Africa. That is where the problem

occurred first, the rape of Africa and the dislocation of its peoples. The problem must

be traced back to the first cause to get to the solution. Other approaches are responses

to symptoms. As for treaties, there is no Treaty that Europeans, namely Americans,

have respected with people of color. Not a single treaty with native Indians was ever


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respected. Europeans must be dealt with from a position of strength to force them to

respect any treaty, and that strength will come from Africans in America combining

efforts with Africa simultaneously. We require an Afrocentric Pan-African approach to

our problems.

Pan-Africanism is both anti-European domination and pro-African unity. It is not

only a negation of European domination. If it were it would be only a reactionary

counterforce, having no deep vision of what it is to be harmonious, natural, to have a

collective voice and consciousness, organized for progressive development. Pan-

Africanism would exist even if Europeans did not. The initial establishment of Nubian,

Egyptian civilization and the other West African civilizations that existed prior to Arab

and European intrusions are expressions of Pan-Africanism.

Since I started being aware of the systematic nature of the Global European systems

of terror, I advocated for Africans fighting for an equal share of this country's wealth,

where equal was having a percentage of wealth in line with our population numbers,

around 12-15% of the country's wealth. I figured we must demand this, and not settle

for less. Now my thinking is that we primarily need to unify with Africa and displace

foreign interest in our home continent. From that base, we stand a better chance of

using our position here as a satellite or outpost for Africa. In that position, we would

better able to secure our just stake in this country, 12% of its wealth.

Amos Wilson goes into depth on the creation of a Black Nationalist Political Party

within the American context. He describes how it can be constructed with checks and

balances, and how it can function to serve Africans everywhere. Amos Wilson (1998)

writes about the purpose of a "Black Brotherhood Collective" in America or a "Black

Nationalists Party" is

“…to facilitate the political organization of the community such that it cannot

only influence American domestic governmental policies for its own benefit but

also for the benefit of Afrikan peoples everywhere" ...by mastering the

techniques by which the resources and power potential of both the national and

international Afrikan community are enhanced and are owned and controlled by

Afrikans, and are transformed into instruments of Black Power.” (p. 365)

Evolving Economic Organization

What would constitute progressive modes of production of a spiritually progressive

African Collective? Understanding that any collective organization, purely secular,


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spiritual or a mixture would have to have some mode of production, would the ideal

for Africans be that of capitalism, socialism, communism, or a mixture? I think that

ideal is African communalism. It would ensure food, shelter, and a means to provide

for family according to family size to all. It would allow for the commercial

advancement of any member according to thrift; however, wealth is distributed

according to the level of contribution of members to any venture. It would not allow

any member or group of members to accumulate wealth that would in any way intrude

on the progress of other members.

Wealth accumulation does not equate to greater power over others or greater

immunity from the laws of the collective. African communalism would not engage in

other economies in such a way that will compromise its own rules of economy. All

members are required to provide for the sick and aged monetarily. All members are

required according to his level of wealth, to provide for the welfare of the collective in

times of emergency. Those who have more are required to give more because it is in

the context of the collective that they could accumulate their wealth. Great wealth

accumulation is not possible without the input of the collective. International

commerce would not detract from collective arrangements. Wealth accumulation would

be equitably distributed to all members of society, with limitations of rewards going to

people who contribute in remarkable ways to the overall wellbeing of the society.

Individual wealth is not given beyond what a person can use in their lifetime or to where

an individual can undermine the decisions of the collective will as decided by local

government.

The Balanced Use of Technology from a Philosophical Perspective

For my doctoral thesis, I wrote about how technology can be pressed into the service

of the underserved communities of public-school students. The reason was not to

glorify technology. It was not because I have faith that our society knows how to use

technology to enhance human development. It was more of an immediate survivalist

strategy to cope with the pressures and demands of modern society. It is true that we

can find glimmers of wonder while using technologies that reveal deeper potentials of

human life. In the main, however, the need for oppressed groups to ramp up with

technology is purely for survival purposes. Ideally technology can unveil greater human

potentialities and states of being. This can only be done, however, if our locus of value

and identity is not outside of ourselves, on externals, but rather on internals. It is seeing

the universe and unlimited potentialities within ourselves first, that we can ever hope to


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discover deeper levels of realities and potentialities external to ourselves. Can we

honestly say that our educational system is set up for to teach our youth to discover the

universe within; an unlimited self-nature? Can we discover anything outside of ourselves

that is wondrous without finding first its correspondence within ourselves? I think not.

Can a proliferation of information truly uplift our lives, without it having a

connection to deeper understanding, sense of self, sense of wholeness and wellbeing? I

think not, and so I think that the answer to our evolving consciousness is not in

amassing more and more information, more and more procedural knowledge, but

rather on how we relate this information to our essential selves. What I am arguing for

is assuring that technology is assimilated into the holistic lives of people. If it does not

serve the holistic lives of people, then it should not be allowed to propagate in that

society. An extreme example of a failed use of technology is using it to control the sex

of a child at conception or developing military capabilities that allow us to destroy the

earth many times over or controlling the minds of the masses. These uses do not serve

the holistic development and evolution of society and should not be allowed to

propagate in society.

This argument goes for not just extreme cases but also for the subtle cases as well.

It again goes to the purpose of education and thus how we will appropriate resources

to achieve those goals. The goal should be to “know ourselves,” evolve our better,

higher selves. The appropriation of resources, including technologies, should serve

those purposes. This has implications for the educational system of the evolving society.

Education is not separate from the wider social structures but rather is embedded within

them. It only makes sense then to align the goals of education with the wider regional

and national goals of society.

I'm asking for a global economic perspective/analysis/synthesis on the possible

economic activity of Africans in America. Let's stretch our imagination for a moment.

Suppose ALL Africans in America were to suddenly wake up and behave as a unified

collective financially, socially, culturally, spiritually. Do you see any significant advantage

(as in a game-changer) for the African world, especially for the mother continent of

Africa, for such a unified block of Africans functioning in America? Do you see any

advantage of a unified block of Chinese functioning as such in America for China? I

wonder if there is a silver lining somewhere, an advantage that can be had, IF Africans

in America woke up and took that advantage. I understand that it is the function of

Europeans in America to prevent this, but I'm asking you what if? Aside from


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internationalist fantasies, is there a wider destiny/mission for Africans to be in America?

I've heard some express doubt on whether we can develop an African-centered

economic system within a Eurocentric economic system. If we do develop capitalistic

economic structures, would they be compatible with authentic African structures? I

think these are critical questions that must be clarified so that we can clarify our purpose

of being in this country.

Africans on the continent and the diasporas must collectively consider how we must

shape economic, political, and cultural macro structures so that they align with our

African-centered worldview and service our collective motives. We must also be open

to shedding old structures and modalities of collective behaviors that limit the

unfettered collective growth. We must envision ideal structures and work to bring those

ideals into fruition. To that end, I give the below suggestions.

Ideal African political structures should entail:

a. Democratic council representative of all the people from all regions.

b. Appointments of competent advisors.

c. Elections by the people.

d. People can recall anyone by vote.

e. Establishment of alliances that do not compromise the collective

organizational arrangements.

Ideal African religious/spiritual structures should entail:

a. Centers of worship and spiritual instruction available to all

b. Levels of instruction based upon progressive initiation.

A central aspect of land management should be:

a. Africa for Africans, though others who have occupied Africa through

colonialism must be slowly phased out and their lands returned to the people.

b. Outsiders can participate marginally.

Central aspects of an African military should be:

a. Africa must establish a strong national defense second to none.

b. Africa must defend its air, land, and coastal waters.


206

Amos Wilson, in his book Blueprint for Black Power (2000) gave details on how

Africans can and must organize for power, lessons not only applicable in the American

context but also throughout the African world. Chancellor William Dr. Chancellor

Williams in his book, Destruction of African Civilization (1987) did the same. In modern

times, Africans, the world over, have developed institutions that address our collective

challenges and goals. These include:

➢ Afrocentricity International, started by Molefi Asante and Dr. Ama

Mazama

➢ All-African People's revolutionary party, started by Kwame Ture

➢ ASCAC - The Association for the study of classical African civilization

➢ The Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities’

League

➢ The Organization US, founded by Maulana Karenga

➢ Afrocentricity International, started by Molefi Asante and Dr. Ama

Mazama

➢ All-African People's revolutionary party, started by Kwame Ture

➢ ASCAC - The Association for the study of classical African civilization

➢ The Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities’

League

➢ The Organization US, founded by Maulana Everett Karenga

➢ The Harvest Institute, founded by Claude Anderson.

We should evaluate how well previous and current African-created institutions have,

or have not, met our African-centered goals, how well they serve as models for our

current and future collective African needs and aspirations. Our goal must be clear so

that we may better organize our collective physical, vital, mental, and over-mental

resources to accomplish our goals. Thus, our collective material progress would be in

step with our collective spiritual progress, and not a hindrance to it. Based on a clear

understanding of our goals, and upon our prior experiences, we should anticipate what

major milestones we must look for that which indicates we are heading a direction that

furthers the evolution of African Collective Consciousness and Being in the world.


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The African Union to Combat the Rape of African Resources

I think small countries on their own cannot solve the problem of global capitalist

corporations corrupting local African leaders. This will need to be done by a continent-

wide body, a United States of Africa. I am thinking about the ways European and even

Asian countries are controlling the lives of Africans on the continent through

economic/military means, but for now through economic means. Such as through:

• Debt accumulated over the decades through the IMF and World Bank.

• Structural adjustment programs limiting the ability to invest in human capital

and in local industrial development.

• The inability of debtor African countries to pay even the interests on their debt.

Taken together, this is a form of enslavement where the plantation is the African

country, that the enslaved is deluded to believe it is sovereign; but the reality on the

ground is not so. The African elite class is well paid to keep the peonage system going.

The masses of African resources in terms of people and mineral wealth are

extracted. Billions leave Africa yearly to European countries. The trade deficit between

African Countries and European countries is perhaps the largest on the planet. Given

this reality, is there a role to play by Africans in these European countries to end this

cycle?

How are “Third World countries” held in debt trap peonage, once they are in it, by

the typical management of their economies by European powers? This management is

imposed on acquiescent countries by IMF prescriptions and supervision (structural

adjustment programs) and is backed by threats of sundry economic punishments if IMF

“recommendations” are disregarded. Structural adjustment programs are imposed

countries by the threat of political destabilization and, if necessary, by actual coups or

invasions. When a “Third World” country refuses to obey the IMF, and boldly embarks

upon a path that could lead it to autonomous prosperity, the West, deploying its

enormous economic powers and its considerable leverage within the private and public

sectors of the “offending” economy, destabilizes its government, installs another, and

shoves the economy back into the debt trap and IMF supervision. W.E.B Du Bois

(1903) in his day addressed this issue of colonialism and neo-colonialism in African

nations head-on during a Pan-African congress:

“Here then, my brothers, you face your great decision; will you for temporary

advantage – for automobiles, refrigerators and Paris gowns – spend your income


208

in paying interest on borrowed funds, or will you sacrifice present comfort and

the chance to shine before your neighbors in order to educate your children,

develop such industry as best serves the great mass of people and makes your

country (African continent) strong in ability, self-support and self-defense? Such

union of effort for strength calls for sacrifice and self-denial, while the capital

offered you at high price by colonial powers like France, Britain, Holland,

Belgium, and the United States, will prolong fatal colonial imperialism, from

which you have suffered slavery, serfdom, and colonialism (neocolonialism).”

The same central problem exists now, just in a somewhat different form with the

same effect; so, the question still applies, not just to Africans on the continent, but also

to Africans in the diaspora. What is our purpose, as an African diaspora? What should

we strive for?

Had the principled stance that ended Apartheid South Africa, been applied with

consistency and historical knowledge, all Arab states of North Africa would have been

excluded from membership to the Organization of African Unity (OAU). But in the

confused climate of the 1960s, in the euphoria of anti-European solidarity, Africans lost

their bearings, got confused about what Pan-Africanism was about. Pan-Africanism was

hijacked by the Arabs and emasculated within the OAU. If 50 states of the United States

of America can form a union why can't the 53 separate countries of Africa form a Union

(Like a United Nations)? I think it can and must be done. Perhaps it must first be an

economic (like the European Union) and military block (Like a NATO), so that mutual

interests are clearly established.

To a large extent, the state of organization of African people in the Diasporas on

the continent of Africa, and worldwide through Pan-African organizational structures,

is a measure of the evolution of the collective African consciousness. If these

organizations on the various micro, meso, and macro levels did not exist, then we could

say that the African collective is in a state of collective unconsciousness like that of

other animal groups that are preyed upon by apex predators. However, we know that

the African liberation struggle has a long history reaching back to Ancient Egypt, the

Asante wars against Europeans, Pan-African struggles of the 20th and 21st centuries, and

expressing currently through various African in the Americas organizations as well as

the African Union. I think the existence of the African Union and its destiny to morph

into the United States or Countries of Africa represents the widest, deepest, and best

expansion of African collective consciousness in modern times. It would have


209

overcome ethic differences, provincialism, religious differences, and throw off the

greatest representation of chaos in the world, Western imperialism. It is though the

United States of Africa that the world will be restored to balance, and the highest

expression of the Divine Spirit will reach a zenith once again in the world. Africa is not

to replace Western powers as a tyrant in the world. It is to replace chaos, Isfet, with

order and harmony, Maat. This is the kingdom of God, spoken of in religious text, the

earthly manifestation of the heavenly Divine order.


210

Concluding Remarks

We must have a clear understanding that we are progressing not for our own sake,

but to come to know and express ever more fully, the Divine that is involved in what

goodness that evolves from ourselves. In recognizing the Divinity within our individual

selves and the collective African Ausarian Self, we come to know the Divinity in others

and the Universal Self. This awareness marks a decisive movement forward towards the

evolution of Divine consciousness through the African collective. We must make use

of all true guides, be they more evolved groups that sincerely join us in our progressive

movement, or be they the African sages of the past and present. We must discern the

connections between African progressive developments with authentic worldwide

progressive evolution, and never think that our progress is solely for ourselves as a

people, for it is always for the Divine revelation to be shared by all.

However, due to the severity of the disintegrating forces assaulting us, the Maafa, (a

Kiswahili term for "terrible occurrence" or "great disaster" perpetrated by Europeans

and Eurasians), we need to exclusively focus on our development, until we are strong

enough to help others. We must know that our collective progressive development is

not just for our current generation, but for all future generations of our people, and by

extension, for the world. We must plan today for at least seven generations forward

into the future. Even as we are willing to share with the world our spiritual gifts, we

must remain vigilant to those negative forces that are pernicious and ever-present,

seeking to disrupt our collective African self-consciousness, our collective social

organization as families, communities, and nations. There is no compromising with

these forces. They must be transcended and effectively neutralized from impeding the

free development of the Divine as expressed through the African Collective Being.

Africans have given the world its first civilization and we have a role to play in giving

the world another decisive evolutionary movement of the Divine involved within us.

This evolutionary movement requires our devotion and our clarity of vision from an

African-centered worldview. We are obligated by our ancestors to teach with clarity an

African-centered worldview so that our children may continue the work of bringing

into the world an unlimited life of unlimited Being, the African Ausarian Self.

I recently reflected on an interesting dream of mine. At the end of the dream, there

was a gathering of Black folks; something of a spiritual/cultural retreat at the home of

a significant ancestor to the underground struggle against racism who collected items


211

relevant to the liberation of Black people. After a viewing of artifacts, we sat at tables

and a woman put it to me, "Brother Roland, why is the revolution not televised?" As I

was about to give a thoughtful, less obvious answer, we were called to attention by an

elder, then I woke up. I end this book with my response.

Besides the obvious reason of not letting your oppressor know your plans, enabling

him to foil them, one reason involves the connection of revolution to the reformation

of power relations. More essentially, it involves one's relation to one's Self; the

reformation of one's inner Spirit. This reformation/revolution is the Self-directed

reconditioning of the Spirit, which is a hidden process. The outcome is a set of new

habits of Being that are aligned with higher principles of universal harmony/Maat, as

well as with the power of life to enforce that harmony outwardly. First comes the inner

work of re-programming and then comes the manifestation of that work.

Televising our struggle and progress against obstructive forces involves the

manifestation of what was reformed. It is an end-stage. True, the information about

what was reformed can be a catalyst for others to join in a reformation of their own or

a collective reformation of the nation. However, every person or collective, must do

the inner work of reformation or developing habits that produce the changed

manifestation, the sought for revolution. To change the outside world, we must begin

with the inside world, our spiritual-cultural development and that inside world of Spirit

is not a stage for a viewing audience. The is an education for our spiritual evolution in

the world. For Africans to re-introduce Maat, principles of harmony, balance,

reciprocity, respect for the earth, respect for different peoples, is truly revolutionary in

this current day and age.

May the revolution succeed in each of one us and in our collective group Spirit. May

we be the change we want to see in the world. The African Collective Consciousness

first brought spiritual culture to the world and may IT evolve new levels of spiritual

enlightenment in the world for generations to come.


212

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