Dr. John Henrik Clarke on organized religion vs spirituality

I'm going to just let Dr. Clarke tell this story.

"The Arabs had no illusions about it! The Europeans had no illusions about it!...YOU WERE THE ONE'S WITH THE ILLUSIONS!...And yet every element that went into the making of every major religion in the world started in Africa!...

Why is it that you are so naive? You let people re-dress something that you invented sell it back to you,and enslave you through it!..."


 part 1




 part 2




 part 3



 part 4

AFRICA BEFORE SLAVERY! DR.CLARKE PTs. 1-4

Dr. John Henrik Clarke - The African World Under Seige

I've been finding quite a lot of material about and by dr. John Henrik Clarke the esteemed Afrikan historian on youtube lately, so I've been having the pleasure of sharing it with my blog readers. You don't have to wait for me to post it here, you can just go to youtube, do a search under his name and you will find enough to keep you busy for a long time if your are truly interested in the history of the people of Afrika.
  As ususal I believe dr. Clarke's message in this video to be relevant and timely. This particular lecture is directed to Afrikans on the continent and throughout the world.  He has some suggestions about how we might use awareness of some of the old ways in order to improve our circumstances in the world. Our relationship to a particular part of the globe does not change the fact of our being Afrikans dr. Clarke points out. Even in Afrika there is so much that needs to be done that the likelyhood of it happening will increase with the participation of all of us. None of us have been left untouched (in very similar ways), by the ravages of transatlantic slavery and colonialism He stresses economic unity, productivity and sacrifice throughout the diaspora, as a means to work our way to a more stable position among people of the world.  I would suggest watching this and then taking a close look at the present day map of Afrika, then the news reports of the past year in Afrika and then your local news, about the people belonging to the Afrikan diaspora in your part of the world. What do you see?

Dr Yosef Ben Jochannan VS Rabbi Arthur Seltzer

This is a very informative debate, a must see really.

Rabbi Seltzer thought he was out for a walk in the park with dr. Ben, perhaps he didn't realize that dr. Ben is jewish and certainly no less informed than he.

Ahmed Baba - Scholar of Timbuctu

Aminatta Forna tells the story of legendary Timbuktu and its long hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts.

QUILOMBISMO - History, and the African Diaspora - Commentary

It's time to give our roots lots of TLC 

The author of "QUILOMBISMO An Afro-Brazilian Political Alternative" expresses the need of Brazilian Black people to win back their memory of Africa. Then goes on to say that the same goes for people of African descent on the continent and throughout the Americas. Indeed we have our work cut out for us. This article is just one of many that accentuates the need for Africans on the continent and throughout the diaspora to to get in touch with our African roots and stop wandering around the world as if we haven't got a history that is every bit as consequential as any other. The fact is we must take possession of our own legacy and relate our story from the point of view and the facts surrounding the lives of our ancestors. The first step on the road to this happening will be for us as Africans to fully embrace and acknowledge our ancestry. Whatever admixtures we may have by race or by place we are still Africans and nothing is going to change that. The very strength of our DNA insures that we shall not be mistaken for anything else. 

 Contrary to what's been drummed into far too many of us - that's a good thing.
Once we get beyond such obstacles we can begin the work of exploring our past with the same healthy curiosity that all offspring have about their forebearers, while simultaneously creating systems to ensure that our own progeny can keep and build on our efforts. We don't have to start from scratch either because those kindred souls named at the end of this following excerpt have already begun to dig, as well as organize systems for the study of and the preservation of our history. We do have to keep up the effort though and we must get the full attention of our youth, at this point in time I'd say their lives depend on it. Our young people need to see us extoll the exploits of our heroes and mentors as well as our kings and conquerors  of which there have actually been many, in recent and ancient history. if they never hear about them then it's easy to assume that they never existed. Our situation of living in eurocentric cultures or euro-colonialized cultures has placed us in a position where African history and culture is a subject, that not only has not been taught but even worse has been treated as a source of shame, something to be shunned. As Malcolm X so eloquently pointed out  if you hate the root then you gotta hate the tree.  It's time for our roots to get lots of TLC.                                                                                     Web Prospector

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The Journal of Black Studies 
edited by
ABDIAS DO NASCIMENTO State University of New York. 

                         

QUILOMBISMO
An Afro-Brazilian
Political Alternative 

MEMORY:THE ANTIQUITY OF 
BLACK AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE 

"I want to begin this text emphasizing the urgent need of the Brazilian Black people to win back their memory, which has been systematically assaulted by Brazilian Western-inspired structures of domination for almost 500 years. A similar pro- cess holds true with the history of Africans on the Continent and their descendants scattered through all the Americas. The memory of Afro-Brazilians, very much to the contrary of what is said by conventional historians of limited vision and superficial understanding, does not begin with the slave traffic or the dawn of chattel slavery of Africans in the fifteenth century. In my country, the ruling class always, and particu- larly after the so-called abolition of slavery (1888), has developed and refined myriad techniques of preventing Black 

Brazilians from being able to identify and actively assume their ethnic, historical and cultural roots, thus cutting them off from the trunk of their African family tree. Except in terms of recent expansionist interests of the industrial elite, Brazil as a traditional norm has always ignored the African continent. It turned its back on Africa as soon as the slaver elite found itself no longer able to scorn the prohibition of commerce in African flesh imposed by Britain around 1850. A massive immigration of Europeans occurred a few years later, and the ruling elite emphasized its intentions and its actions in the sense of wrenching out of the mind and heart of slaves' descendants any image of Africa as a positive memory of nation, of motherland, of native home. Never in our educational system was there taught a discipline revealing any appreciation or respect for the cultures, arts, languages, political or economic systems, or religions of Africa. And physical contact of Afro-Brazilians with their brothers in the continent and the diaspora was always prevented or made difficult, among other methods, by the denial of economic means permitting Black people to move and travel outside the country. But none of these hindrances had the power of obliterating completely, from our spirit and memory, the living presence of Mother Africa. And even in the existential hell we are subjected to now, this rejection of Africa on the part of tle domindnt classes has functioned as a notably positive factor, helping to maintain the Black nation as a community above and beyond difficulties in time and space.

Diversified as are the strategies and devices arrayed against Black people's memory, they have recently undergone serious erosion and irreparable discrediting. This is due largely to the dedication and competence of a few Africans preoccupied with the secular destitution the Black race has suffered at the hands of European and Euro-American' capitalist civilization. This group of Africans, simultaneously scholars, scientists, philosophers, and creators of literature and art, includes persons from the African continent and diaspora. To mention only a few of their names: Cheikh Anta Diop, of Senegal; Chancellor Williams, Shawna Maglangbayan Moore, Haki Madhubuti, Molefi K. Asante and Maulana Ron Karenga of the United States; George G. M. James and Ivan Van Sertima of Guyana; Yosef Ben-Jochannan of Ethiopia; Theophile Obenga, of Congo Brazzaville; Wole Soyinka Ola Balogun and Wande Abimbola of Nigeria; these figure among the many who are actively producing works fundamental to the contemporary and coming development of Africa. In different fields, with diverse perspectives, the energies of these eminent Africans channel themselves toward the exorcism of the falsities, distortions and negations that Europeans for so long have been weaving around Africa, with the purpose of obscuring or erasing our memory of the wisdom, scientific and philosoph- ical knowledge and realizations of the peoples of Black African origin. Black Brazilian memory is only a part and particle in this gigantic project of reconstruction of a larger past to which all Afro-Brazilians are connected. To redeem this past is to have a consequent responsibility in the destinies and futures of the Black African nation worldwide, still preserving our quality as edifiers and genuine citizens of Brazil." 

African Archeology - African History

If we're going to do Black History Month, we need to go back to where we started and get it right. The following images include quite a few that I've never seen before in spite of the fact that I've been around for well over a half a century. I still remember being ashamed of the the images of Africa and Africans that were portrayed in the American media and in the schools at that time. It's no wonder I couldn't stand history classes. Check out the images and info in these videos, take notes and do further research. If you are a teacher, include this material in your lesson plans. If you are working with young people in our communities, find a way to get them interested in studying our true history. Let's it right this time around.

Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt I - II

Black History Month 2012
Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt I

Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt II

Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt III - IV

Black History Month 2012
Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt III
Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt IV

Lost Kingdoms Of Africa - Ethiopia pt V - VI

Black History Month 2012
Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt V
Lost Kingdoms of Africa - Ethiopia pt VI

Newton Aduaka | Video on TED.com

Newton Aduaka tells the story of Ezra | Video on TED.com

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.