"Yurugu: An African-Centered critique of European Though, Culture, and Behavior" by Marimba Ani

Ever since posting on these boards my brother and I have wanted to have a discussion of the topics and issues addressed in this work because it addresses so many topics about not only why Europeans behave the way they do, but how to recognize those behaviors. It also answers through explicit definition and comparison, some classic questions that are posed to african-centered thought.

Bolekaja!*

from the introduction:

"This study is an intentionally aggressive polemic. It is an assault upon the European paradigm; a repudiation of its essence. It is initiated with the intention of contributing to the process of demystification necessary for those of us who would liberate ourselves from european intellectual imperialism...

...Intellectual decolonization is a prerequisite for the creation of successful political decolonization and cultural reconstruction strategies. Europe's political imperialistic success can be accredited not so much to superior military might, as to the weapon of culture: The former ensures a more immediate control but requires continual physical force for the maintenance of power, while the latter succeeds in long lasting dominance that enlists the cooperation o its victims (i.e. pacification of will). The secret Europeans discovered early in their history is that culture carries rules for thinking, and that if you could impose your culture on your victims you could limit the creativity of their vision, destroying their ability to act with will and intent and in their own interest."

*Bolekaja is a Yoruba term meaning, "Come on down, let's fight!"

Yurugu- A being in Dogon Mythology which is responsible for disorder in the Universe. This is a being conceived in denial of the natural order, which then acts to initiate and promote disharmony in the universe. In African Cosmology such a being is deficient in spiritual sensibility, is perpetually in conflict, is limited cognitively, and is threatening to the well-being of humanity.

...a pipcture of Yurugu from the book cover:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0865432481.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif

interesting addition:

1. The myth contains an explanation for misfortune in the world, rather similar to that described in the Judaeo-Christian myth of The Fall of Adam and Eve. In the Dogon creation myth the original created beings were two pairs of male/female twins, the Nommo, each in its own placental compartment. One male twin Yurugu did not wait for the time God (Amma) intended him to be born, and fell down through space with a fragment of his placenta, which became the earth, with which he had incestuous intercourse (the earth being his Mother). If you have clicked on "Mali" above, you know that this part of the world is very arid. The dryness of the earth is blamed on this original act of incest and on Yurugu's wish to outdo God and create his own world. The offspring of this incest are single beings, not twins - certain, presumably problematic, kinship ties and sentiments are said to be explained by this. Here we have a "correspondence" between things as they are in the physical world and events which happen in the creation story.

2. After Yurugu goes back up to the sky to try (unsuccessfully) to retrieve the other part of his plancenta, the other twins came down to earth and created a number of things that came in pairs, fours, or groups of eight. These things included four male ancestors, two blacksmiths, and the sky and the stars. They also made light and water, and brought the eight seeds which are the source of all human food. These are good numbers, which signify wholeness and complementarity. These Nommo did not fall through space the way Yurugu had, they came along a great arch, which eventually became the new, more fertile earth. Human life is seen as a struggle between the duality of the undefiled Nommo, which gives rise to good things, and the selfishness of the unpaired Yurugu, which is a source of evil. Although this selection does not mention it, Yurugu is also said to correspond to the "pale fox" which, in its animal form is believed to be able to diagnose illness and predict the future, when it runs, during the night, across special grids which have been laid out so that the fox's footprints can answer questions built into the design of the grids. Thus we see the physical form of the world and the origin of human groups in the actions of the Nommo, and we see a certain ambivalence about rebellion (again, compare to the story of Adam and Eve) when the selfish Yurugu gets the power to divine hidden secrets. In this unit we will be reading an article by Mary Douglas, in which she argues that marginal individuals (like Yurugu) tend to have both power and danger - they are often necessary to get things started.

from:
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/ANTHRO/rwpark/rwpark/courses/Anth311/dogon.htm


___________________________________
If it works do it, if it doesn't, DO BETTER!

(((((PEACE)))))

Unfortunately I have not made time yet to read the book, but it is on the top of my list. How does this differ from Chinweizu's Decolonizing the African Mind?

<--- Peace to Bayete Ross-Smith.

post hilights from the book

-i'm curious-

==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

>...a pipcture of Yurugu from the
>book cover:
>
>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0865432481.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif

called it a "racist portrayal of a european" or something like that...apparently this book has made some folks mad...*shrug*


_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

not glorifying?


==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0865432481/qid=1001515653/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/103-9588306-3187029

Pure Racism, February 15, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Stamford, CT USA
From the racist charicature of a white person on the cover, to the concluding summary, this is one of the great racist works of all time,
rivaled only by Mein Kampf and The Isis Papers. For any anti-white racist, this is a must read. For any person of conscience, it is
abhorrent.

*shrug*...who knows. but they sound peeved...
_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

just going off what they've written (and what i've heard...i have yet to read it for myself), the isis papers might be bad scholarship, but i don't know about it being racist...so maybe they are just mad 'cause it's not on some "the roman empire was the shit!!!"-type tip...

but some afrocentric writers, when you read between the lines, aren't any better than david duke (e.g. the n.o.i. theory of the "grafting" of white people...wtf?!??!!???).

cheik anta diop is one of the best i've read so far when it comes to comparing european & african histories & letting the reader sort out the rest on his/her own. i don't appreciate black writers who make value judgements any more than white ones.

_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

to trust an amazon reviewer abt racism given my understanding/beliefs of racism/ppl who call something racist (particularly with the underlying implication that they're safe)

sounds like there is a lot of value in the book-


==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

*giggles* Which, if you think about it, is a good thing.

(Did I say that? - Urkel)

Peace,

Q


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

with this and every other thing taht you post, from your seemingly afrakan pov is that it is very blindsighted and criticizes things which you do not truly understand nor for taht reason have any true knowledge of...


it's like me making a blatant statement on the reasons why a is bad, when I don't even know that a is not even a at all, a is an assumption that I have...


how can one trust a critique of something when the author is making a critizue not on what that thing is, but on what tehy assume it to be...


most of the things you post uta are from people who make assumptions and then judge and write books on those judgements when they themselves have an ulterior motive

1. to make themselves and their culture look better, to exalt themselves and their culture over the culture that has in their view been holding them back

and
2. simply to disagree...

is there anything in your mind, that has ever tried instead to look for truth...why is it that when I ask you that question you ignore it, why is it that you don't search for truth...

I mean seriously, how can you claim to be in the state of being that you claim, yet still not be openminded enough to even find real truth...yet still make judgements based on assumptions that you have...

in the end it really makes you look ignorant...

_Perspectives and Objectives_

"This study was not approached objectively. It is not possible to be objective towards Europe. Certainly the victims of its cultural, poilitical, and economic imperialism are not objective, if they are sane.

And Europeans cannot be 'objective' about their own cultural history. The question, then becomes: What could objectivity possibly mean in terms of human mental attitudes? The implications of this concept of objectivity are discussed critically in this study and elsewhere. It is a concept that acts to mistify Europe's victims: one of the most effective tools of European ideology.

The claim to be an absolute truth is a psychological neccesity for the European mentality. And since we have accepted it, it is an edict that has constrained most of us who have been trained in European academies. But African-centeredness breaks that hold by recognizing the truth as a process in which we immerse ourselves because of a committment, not some to some universal abstraction, but to a certain quality of life. From an African-centered perspective, we understand truth to be inseparable from the search for meaning and purpose - the unique concern of human consciousness. As African scholars, it is our responsibility to create systematic theoretical formulations which will reveal truths that enable us to liberate and utilize the energies of our people. In this view, the self-determinist, the revolutionary, and the scholar are one, having the same objective, involved in the same truth-process. The claim we make is not to a spurious 'objectivity', but to honesty. I, therefore have made no attempt to camouflage either my relationship to Europe or my goals in undertaking this study.

As Wade Nobles says, the types of questions we ask are influenced by the culture to which we belong. Theory is born out of committment and intention. Every theorist puts part of herslef (or himself) into the theoretical fromulations and conclusions that she (or he) produces. But that does not make them any less valid."

--don't have time to spell check, so i apolgize for any typos--

**********THE SIG**********

The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.
-Assata Shakur

I long for the day when I can go out, eat a raw food breakfast, snack on natural fruit and vegetables, read a book, study and practice a martial art, eat dinner, cultivate my garden, play with my seeds, and rest......
-urbgriot

>_Perspectives and Objectives_
>
>"This study was not approached objectively.
> It is not possible
>to be objective towards Europe.
> Certainly the victims of
>its cultural, poilitical, and economic
>imperialism are not objective, if
>they are sane.

for me this is not true, because I am not attached to what ancient europeans have done to my ancestors. When certain ones seek for truth and spiritual attainment, the first step is always becoming detached from old ideas, habits, feelings, personal grudges and etc...ones cannot present to the world a thought a free will offering intended to uplift and empower other ones with internal authentic power, if ones have a point to prove, being attached to that point will cause blindsightedness...

if ones want to prove to you the sky is red, they will only present to you info that says teh sky is red and discredit the info that tell you the sky is blue,

it doesn't make better to not be objective or detached from your lower nature tendencies, it makes it worse and to another degree, it misleads those who are looking for the truth as this is even admitting that it does...



>And Europeans cannot be 'objective' about
>their own cultural history.
>The question, then becomes: What
>could objectivity possibly mean in
>terms of human mental attitudes?
>The implications of this concept
>of objectivity are discussed critically
>in this study and elsewhere.
> It is a concept
>that acts to mistify Europe's
>victims: one of the most
>effective tools of European ideology.
>
>The claim to be an absolute
>truth is a psychological neccesity
>for the European mentality. And
>since we have accepted it,
>it is an edict that
>has constrained most of us
>who have been trained in
>European academies. But African-centeredness breaks
>that hold by recognizing the
>truth as a process in
>which we immerse ourselves because
>of a committment, not some
>to some universal abstraction, but
>to a certain quality of
>life. From an African-centered
>perspective, we understand truth to
>be inseparable from the search
>for meaning and purpose -
>the unique concern of human
>consciousness. As African scholars,
>it is our responsibility to
>create systematic theoretical formulations which
>will reveal truths that enable
>us to liberate and utilize
>the energies of our people.
> In this view, the
>self-determinist, the revolutionary, and the
>scholar are one, having the
>same objective, involved in the
>same truth-process. The claim
>we make is not to
>a spurious 'objectivity', but to
>honesty. I, therefore have made
>no attempt to camouflage either
>my relationship to Europe or
>my goals in undertaking
>this study.
>
>As Wade Nobles says, the types
>of questions we ask are
>influenced by the culture to
>which we belong. Theory is
>born out of committment and
>intention. Every theorist puts part
>of herslef (or himself) into
>the theoretical fromulations and conclusions
>that she (or he) produces.
> But that does not
>make them any less valid."
>

This whole excerpt has proven that the author themselves are thinking within the western idealogy that it hopes to discredit...

it's like me looking through yellow shades, giving you reasons why you shouldn't look through yellow shades and not even realizing that even my ideas of why not to look through yellow shades are based on the way I view life through my own pair of yellow shades...

cure: take off the shades, admit to yourself that self glorification is just as bad, realize that if you don't find out the truth about things but judge and critique those things based on finite knowledge, limits you to finite critical thinking and eventually outdated/discredited thinking as well...

from what you have said and what uta have written from the books, there has already been presented serious contradictions, so therefore this book has already been discredited, while it may seemingly make good points, I suspect that a reader who is purely on the search for truth will still feel like there is something else...

That feeling in me is the reason why I search past everything to find the truth...

it's why I am writing here, because I know through my feelings that there is more and this is book is just as bad as american history text books...

>for me this is not true,
>because I am not attached
>to what ancient europeans have
>done to my ancestors.

if what ancient europeans have done is having no affect on our current state of being then i would agree w/ you. but in attempting to understand how we got here (be it mentally, culturally, spiritually, socially...) i think it is necessary to understand the core of the culture that dominates. the dominat culture didn't spring up out of the blue, and it takes varying shapes in different parts of the world and in different aspects of our lives. so why not go back to the core, and find out what's really going on?


>it doesn't make better to not
>be objective or detached from
>your lower nature tendencies

i don't understand your connection between "not being objective" and "detaching from lower nature tendencies"

all that i think ani is doing is being clear from the beginning about her reasons for and approaches to this study of 'european cultural thought and behavior'

i also think her point is that nobody is really objective. everyone comes from a point of view, put what european culture does is to "say" that it is objective, that is has separated itself from that which it is analyzing, and people believe that somehow by doing this (or appearing to do this) a greater level of understanding has been reached. in reality, the conclusion that is reached is still attached to the culture of the analyzer.


>cure: take off the shades, admit
>to yourself that self glorification

where was she self-glorifying?

>from what you have said and
>what uta have written from
>the books, there has already
>been presented serious contradictions, so
>therefore this book has already
>been discredited, while it may
>seemingly make good points, I
>suspect that a reader who
>is purely on the search
>for truth will still feel
>like there is something else...

there is always something else.
this book is an "african-centered critique of european cultural thought and behavior" - that's it.
is she expected to map out the entire realm of "truth" in this one book.
like everything else,it's just a piece of the puzzle



**********THE SIG**********

The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.
-Assata Shakur

I long for the day when I can go out, eat a raw food breakfast, snack on natural fruit and vegetables, read a book, study and practice a martial art, eat dinner, cultivate my garden, play with my seeds, and rest......
-urbgriot

>if what ancient europeans have done
>is having no affect on
>our current state of being
>then i would agree w/
>you.

What ancient europeans have done is not having an affect on our current state of being, we on a whole are....that is an excuse...and it's time we took reposnibility for our own actions for our own thougts...

but in attempting
>to understand how we got
>here (be it mentally, culturally,
>spiritually, socially...) i think it
>is necessary to understand the
>core of the culture that
>dominates.

the european culture does not dominate your mind, therefore it is not dominant, it is like an illusion, yes some of us can't see past it but it still is an illusion, don't fool yourself into giving something, someone else power over your own mind...

the dominat culture didn't
>spring up out of the
>blue, and it takes varying
>shapes in different parts of
>the world and in different
>aspects of our lives. so
>why not go back to
>the core, and find out
>what's really going on?

Yes if you go back to the core that means you have to do it, without bias, once you step into the realm of finding the truth the moment that you do that with bias, you will be looking for something else, other than truth

>i don't understand your connection between
>"not being objective" and "detaching
>from lower nature tendencies"

it's very simple, not being objective means that you are being subjective, being subjective means that you hold biases, holding biases are lower nature tendencies...

>all that i think ani is
>doing is being clear from
>the beginning about her reasons
>for and approaches to this
>study of 'european cultural thought
>and behavior'

yes but once you do it with the contemporary processes of the culture that you are trying to theorize on, you fall into a cycle, like my shades example...she's doing what you state above through the shades or thinking/philosophy of an european....meaning that would be the way an european would go at it...so it really can't hold much weight, like I said, it will leave the reader asking for more, a kind of "Is that it???" feeling...

>i also think her point is
>that nobody is really objective.

I totally disagree here, and see more effectively how european that ideology if it is one she holds is a result of her own brainwashing...

It is very possible for masses of people to be objective, to be detached, the five senses that we hold limit us, if we view the world through them, therefore it is more than just possible it will be a byproduct of evolution to be objective, because it means that we transend the physical appearances more than what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears and think with our minds, we reach a state where teh illusions fall apart leaving nothing but spiritual truth...

> everyone comes from a
>point of view, put what
>european culture does is to
>"say" that it is objective,
>that is has separated itself
>from that which it is
>analyzing, and people believe that
>somehow by doing this (or
>appearing to do this) a
>greater level of understanding has
>been reached. in reality, the
>conclusion that is reached is
>still attached to the culture
>of the analyzer.

this is another flaw, if this is the reason she is subjective, because being objective does not mean that you see yourself as separate, being objective means that you don't have biases, there is a difference, if you hold a bias that blinds you from everything, however if you view something without bias, it allows you to see more clearly how that thing is apart of you...

Obejectivity/detachment is not separatism, rather it is the tool that should be used to fully realize unity....without first being a drop of water, seeing myself as an entity out of the water and searching for truth, i could not view the ocean, seeing that it is made up of the things that I am made up and that indeed I am apart of the ocean...

By being subjective we fall into the trap that presents that scenario as such:
being a drop of water holding bias, I may see that I am clear water and that teh ocean in its fullness appears to be blue, holding my biases, being subjective, I never realize that each drop of the ocean is clear and that together we are all blue...

So being subjective, especially when trying to reveal truth or striving for such, will not give you the answers you set out to find, only perhaps prove the hypothesis that you have...


>where was she self-glorifying?

self-gloryfying is not only talking about yourself in a self righteous manner, it is also talking about members of your family, culture and/or ethnic group in such a manner



>there is always something else.
>this book is an "african-centered critique
>of european cultural thought and
>behavior" - that's it.
>is she expected to map out
>the entire realm of "truth"
>in this one book.
>like everything else,it's just a piece
>of the puzzle

another place where I disagree with you, no, when it comes to truth, there isn't something else, there is only ALL.

but i'll be back
when i have more time

**********THE SIG**********

The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.
-Assata Shakur

I long for the day when I can go out, eat a raw food breakfast, snack on natural fruit and vegetables, read a book, study and practice a martial art, eat dinner, cultivate my garden, play with my seeds, and rest......
-urbgriot

>when it comes to truth, there isn't something else, there is only ALL.

can you explain this to me?
i think i get the jist of it, but what is the pont of thinking of choosing what to do or not to do?
i am not into board confrontations that's why i decided not to respond on the boards
but i really want to know what you mean

**********THE SIG**********

The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.
-Assata Shakur

I long for the day when I can go out, eat a raw food breakfast, snack on natural fruit and vegetables, read a book, study and practice a martial art, eat dinner, cultivate my garden, play with my seeds, and rest......
-urbgriot

i meant to inbox you
doh!

**********THE SIG**********

The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.
-Assata Shakur

I long for the day when I can go out, eat a raw food breakfast, snack on natural fruit and vegetables, read a book, study and practice a martial art, eat dinner, cultivate my garden, play with my seeds, and rest......
-urbgriot

Here is an outline of the books chapters, so thst if there are any questions about something specific, they can be answeed in the appropriate place.
E.g. If there is a question about universalism, then it would be wise to aask that question in chapter 10.
_________________________________________

Part I: Thought And Iconography

Ch. 1 -Utamawazo: The Cultural Stucturing of Thought
Ch. 2 -Religion and Ideology
Ch. 3 -Aesthetic: The Power of Symbols

Part II: Image And National Consciousness

Ch. 4 -Self-Image
Ch. 5 -Imaegs of Others

Part III: Behavior And Ethics

Ch. 6 -Rhetoric and Behavior
Ch. 7 -Intracultural Behavior
Ch. 8 -Behavior Towards Others

Part IV: Ideology
Ch. 9 -Progress as Ideology
Ch. 10 -Universalism: The Syntax of Cultural Imperialism


___________________________________
If it works do it, if it doesn't, DO BETTER!

(((((PEACE)))))

i cn see the table of contents at the onset. thx


==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

If Marimba Ani has written any other books. I have been reading Yurugu (since you recommended it) for about a month and a half now. Its taking a long time because there is so much information held within the pages. It has taken me a long time because I am not only taking notes (which helps me remember important points), but also because when reading it you have to sit back and just say "whoa" because what you're reading is so profound and just goes against everything you've been taught thus far. Anyway, I hardly think I'm in any position to participate in an in depth conversation/debate about the book or its contents just yet, but perhaps when I'm finished and things have soaked in a bit. Damn, I wish you had this post around when I was reading Chapter 4 (the Problem of the Mad Scientist), and Chapter 6 when it talks about Christian ethic. Anyway, thanks for posting it just the same. Btw, Uta, have you heard of or are you planning to go to the State of the Black Race thing in ATL? I heard that Marimba Ani is supposed to be a speaker.

~~~welcome to my sig~~~

"For if they come for you in the morning, they will be coming for us at night." - James Baldwin

"Isn't it comforting to know that being miserable is still better than being stupid?" - (c) Claire, Six Feet Under

"Only the strong go crazy; the weak just go along." - Assata Shakur

"Fuck what you heard, I'm from Africa..." - Dead Prez

~~~~~~welcome to my sig~~~~~~~

"Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves."- Gandalf, 'The Two Towers'

"...the doper that I get the more I'm feeling broke as shit..."- Dre 3000

will she be speaking?

==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

Well, I got the brochure for the State of the Black Race (or maybe world, I can't remember) conference taking place in Atlanta I believe from Oct. 28th to Nov.2nd. I was looking at the list of "invited guest speakers" and Marimba Ani was one of the notables. I'm not sure if she is going to actually be there, but I think she is because I guess its kind of a big thing. I am hoping to go, if work and school permits. When I find that darned pamphlet, I'll write more info about it.

Peace

~~~welcome to my sig~~~

"For if they come for you in the morning, they will be coming for us at night." - James Baldwin

"Isn't it comforting to know that being miserable is still better than being stupid?" - (c) Claire, Six Feet Under

"Only the strong go crazy; the weak just go along." - Assata Shakur

"Fuck what you heard, I'm from Africa..." - Dead Prez

~~~~~~welcome to my sig~~~~~~~

"Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves."- Gandalf, 'The Two Towers'

"...the doper that I get the more I'm feeling broke as shit..."- Dre 3000

1) YAYAYAY

2) Shouldn't you wait to see who wants to read along? I have this feeling that you have already started and I would love to have the experience of reading/re-reading it with you and other people and coming together and discussing it.

3) Doing it that way would make for a variety of different voices and perhaps make things... less... anky* in here. So that then Hotthyng could tear into you knowing better what you are about. (And was he really saying ou have 9"?... nevermind)

4)It would also make geared-discussions which center on the chapters (or maybe the sub-chapters).


What do ya say?

Peace,

Q

*hugs*


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

to read it.

_______________________

Can't convince you... you'd have to want to.

Besides, it would be good to hear what you think about the concepts Ani brings up.

Please!!!

I'll suck yo dick!

*lol*

j/k

Think about doing it for yourself?

Peace,

Q


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

I don't feel I need it.

But I could always use a blowjob...

_______________________

rdg it together

or another similar book


==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

Has anyone read "The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness: Eurocentric History, Psychiatry and the Politics of White Supremacy" it was recommended to me and i was wondering how it measures up?

i went looking for it on some online bookstores, and it was high as hell...

u know any reason why?


_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni


"the skilled binder uses no strings or knots, while to unloose what he has bound would be impossible." Lao Tzu

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

"if i'm smart enough to sneak around and learn to fly a plane to get me and all my friends enough false i.d. to board us airplanes to get me and all my friends through metal detectors and past security guards while hiding weapons to make an entire plane load of people afraid of my boxcutter i doubt i would be stupid enough to leave all the evidence behind in a rental car
unless i wanted you to think i was something that i'm not" (c) 2ndsurvivor

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

useful links:
news: http://www.blackelectorate.com/links.asp
veg: http://www.vrg.org

.....

"Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere"
- Amiri Baraka

http://www.okayplayer.com/guidelines

BUY MY BOOK- only $6! Inbox me for details

& books are something i don't mind spending $$ on, but yeesh...

i have more checking to do. if i see it at a decent price, maybe i'll pick it up. and we have some pretty good black bookstores in the area that might have a deal on it

_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

I had to order my own copy, too.

What I was told is that it is out of print and they have to do something special for it.

But trust me, it is so worth it.

I went to a bookstore in Seattle: Left Bank Books... they gave me a 10% discount because I was ordering it... or maybe it's because I knew Joe and was flirting with him just enough to stay decent.

*hahahah*

Peace,

Q

(who thinks he is long due a "session" if you catch my drift... side note: Has anyone else been feeling... hornier than usual because they are overwhelmed by all the ish that's going on? -- not to post jack, please hit my box, k?)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

>I went to a bookstore in
>Seattle: Left Bank Books... they
>gave me a 10% discount
>because I was ordering it...
>or maybe it's because I
>knew Joe and was flirting
>with him just enough to
>stay decent.
>
>*hahahah*



i may still get it & read it at some point...i was just wondering why it might be so high. i know a few bookstores around here that might have it or would be able to get it.

_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

Utamaroho wrote:
Bolekaja is a Yoruba term meaning, "Come on down, let's fight!"

Mayowa replies:
Very correct!!

The breakdown:

Bole (pronounced borlerh) - Come on down, come from up there, get of your stead, etc

Kaja - Let's wrestle, let's fight, let's iron things out, etc

Uta, are you learning Yoruba?

Much respect!

Signature starts here:

"No no Mayowa,
keep your rhymes simple,
you know me,
I like a girl with an ass that's nimble"...E-dub (c)2001

"Survival tactics means bursting gats to prove you hard,
your firearms are too short to box with God,
without faith all of that is illusionary,
raise my son no vindication of manhood necessary"...Talib Kweli & Mos Def - Thieves in the night, Black Star Album

-----I'm feeling this!--------------

Mediocrity is self inflicted and genius is self bestowed...Walter Russell

"Some patients mistakenly believe that their loneliness is a product of another person's absence"...a psychology book I don't know the name of

Again, from the intro...

"Europe's political domination of Africa and much of the non-European world has been accompanied by a relentless cultural and psychological rape and by devastating economic exploitation. But what has compelled me to write this book is the conviction that beneath this deadly onslaught lies a stultifying intellectual mystification that prevents Europe's political victims from thinking in a manner that would lead to authentic self-determination."

"...This book discusses the evolution of that process of imposition, as well as the characteristics of cultural beings who who find it necessary to impose their will on others..."

"My chosen field is African-centered cultural science - the reconstruction of a revolutionary African culture. I teach Pan-African studies. The experience convinces me more and more, however, that teaching Pan-African studies well means teaching European studies simultaneously. To be truly liberated, African people must come to know the nature of European thought and behavior in order to understand the effect that Europe has on our abliltiy to think victoriously. We must be able to separate our thought from European thought, so as to visualize a future that is not dominated by Europe."

**********THE SIG**********

The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.
-Assata Shakur

I long for the day when I can go out, eat a raw food breakfast, snack on natural fruit and vegetables, read a book, study and practice a martial art, eat dinner, cultivate my garden, play with my seeds, and rest......
-urbgriot

All,
I was curious to know that when reading books that criticize European thought from an Afrocentric perspective if you feel the book has credibility because of the powerful argument posited by the author? Or, is there an instinctual feeling that the words have truth spelled within them and you feel this regardless of the authors point of view? I think this might help to get at what HalleLuYah was saying in whether to accept truth in someone's point of view rather than just accepting something because it's in black and white. I haven't read Yurugu since it's difficult to find w/o spending hella loot so I can't add much else to the discussion so far.

peace!
Li

"u never know, u might be closer to the truth than u think. people wear their stories on their backs. u just have to know how to read them."--LexM

"Man, use shuffle cuz sometimes a cd's playlist can fk up a cd"--me

"Man was born free and is everywhere in chains."--Rousseau

"Afraid is a country with no exit visa."--Audre Lorde

what you allow to enter your rhelm




*/*/*/--------------------/*/*/*/*/*/*/
learn to love people and use things....dont love things and use people.di ank djeed! (to those who overstand what i never said)
THE TEETH ARE SMILING, BUT IS THE HEART

Too bad our parents didn't fill our ears with wax for the first 15 years of our lives.

Things enter a child's mind whether that child wants them in there or not. So, this is just a saying that is seated in... well... nothing. Because the truth is that things get into your rhelm (sic) whether you want them there or not.

I have always felt that the best thing one can do is to tend and cultivate what is in their thought realm. One can only be aware, challenge, question, and sharpen.

You can't stop anything.

Peace,

Q


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

okay, I guess I just have a little confusion with this book so far, and require some help. In the first chapter the author says (while talking about Plato's influence in western thought) "This is precisely the power of the Euro-Caucasian order: its ability to sustain and perpetuate itself. Plato's innovations were ultimatly incorporated into the culture because they were demanded by the asili."

Now if i read the earlier passages correct (which could be where my flaw lies), the author says that "Plato seems to have done is laid a rigorisly constructed foundation for the repudation of the symbolic sense...it is this process we need to trace."

And if I read the definition of asili right: the seed, the essence of a culture, its core, then here is my question.

If Plato is the first western philosopher to destroy the symbols and spirtuality inherent in life, then how could the essence of "white" culture necessitated it, especially if he is the creator of it? i.e. all western thought is but a footnote of Plato...

it is not a criticism of the book, but merely a question. Is the author blaming Plato for the loss of symbols in western culture, creating "knowledge," or saying (my quotations) "this is the way western culture is and it adapted very strongly to Plato's reasoning."

I guess I am having trouble with this line. help please.
and guess what? this is one less person that will ask what your name means, utamaroho...

be peacful,
big d


Hope and fear cannot alter the seasons.
-Chogyam Trungpa

"I'll feed you fruit that don't exist
I'll leave graffiti
Where you've never been kissed
I'll do your laundry
Massage your soul
I'll turn you over
To the highway patrol

I think we're going crazy
Things don't even faze me
Her left eye is lazy
Ni

As you read a little further, you will find out what she means.

However, to jump the gun alittle...

It seems that KMT was a HUGE place where people went in order to learn the knowledge of the KMT's and Plato was one of these people/scholars.

However, in laymen's terms, he got it all wrong because he couldn't figure out how to lay conflicting things down, side by side, in his mind and as a result, misinterpreted KMT teachings.

(BTW, it didn't seem like a bashing, just an honest question.)

Peace,

Quentin

(who is going to just jump back in since no one has said anything about setting this thing up. utamaroho, feel free to lead this reading... after all, it is your idea... be present, man! Now, I'm going to watch _Soulfood_)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

It holds the same kind of falsehoods, incorrect assumptions stereotyping a people as a whole, as Mein Kampf.
I swear you yanks are so blind!!!! Plus Utamaroohoo constantly babbles how europeans can't understand Afrikan thinking and culture and blah blah blah then wanks his person to books that makes assumptions, and stereotypes about all the peoples' of europe.

I hope you all stay in the dark in your racist ways and thinking.
I think i'll go take over a country since that's all we do as a people!!!!!!!!!!

Western Civilization Lives!!!!

Im really a nice guy

just to get an idea of what was going on in that era, in hitler's mind...it's a historically important book.

and this one probably has some merit in it as well, even if it is "racist"...

but i hope that you're not making that assumption off the excerpts here. if you haven't read the book yourself, that's an unfair statement.

_________________________________________________________
*moment of silence for all those lost & those yet to be found*

~~~~
http://omidele.blogspot.com/
http://rahareiki.tumblr.com/
http://seatofbliss.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/onnextlevel

This is one of my first undertakings of Africa-based ideology, so I feel a little lost, and slightly defensive. But I am making a damn good effort to listen to her, I hope.

My first question is pretty broad:

I need a definition of what the European Asili is. It wasn't caused by Platonic thought, and the ideology of linear thought, binary opposites, or eventually an oppressive European culture, although all seem to be a part of the white asili and fits very well with it. I just don't know if these things are the asili, causing the asili, or combined ARE the European asili. Thanks for the help.

And I have a weakly formed objection also:
On page 66 (in my addition), she states the five myths about scientism: 1. science is fundamentally universal. (I was raised on literary formalism. I see how that is a myth) 2. the only objective language is scientific language. (again false. Nothing about the english language is objective, no word that is not loaded with other meaning...or am I missing the essence of how kemetic language is different? that would be another helpful explanation... 3. science is disspassionate, unemotional, and anti-religious. (science is disspassionate about everything but itself...hehe) 4.logic is the fundamental tool of science (I need someone to break this down a little harder for me. I'm having a hard time stepping out of my box with this one. I can't see how else science works. with an agenda? falsification of biology? help...) 5. that scientific knowledge leads to the truth. this is the big one for me. i know that science chases it's tale for sure, but science does lead to a certain kind of knowledge. spirtual? no. alienating? yes. but aren't their scientific truths?
thanks for the help.
i'm here to learn.
little d

Hope and fear cannot alter the seasons.
-Chogyam Trungpa

"I'll feed you fruit that don't exist
I'll leave graffiti
Where you've never been kissed
I'll do your laundry
Massage your soul
I'll turn you over
To the highway patrol

I think we're going crazy
Things don't even faze me
Her left eye is lazy
Ni

I had hoped someone else would answer your question. I'll get back to you soon, ok? Like tomorrow after I volunteer (and before I start preparing resumes and cover letters and ish like that)....

I hope your reading has not been stymied by this not being answered....

Peace,

(and sorry!)

Q


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

I have been thinking about this as I started it and then put it down again because the moment came and passed. I was waiting on Utamaroho to bring everyone who wanted to read it together in hopes of reading it together...

However, this post turned into... why should _I_ read _Yurugu_ --sacred text of so many "psuedo" OkayAfrikans.

Well, I think I have it.

Until you read _Yurugu_, any work you do as an activist, as a thinker, as anything -- because you are _here_ is proof positive that you are at least somewhat outside of the European matrix -- because you will not understand the conflicting feelings you have -- as a Black American.

Let me be personal.

As I have shared elsewhere, it wasn't until college that I became aware of "something else". Oh, I knew it before, but it was suppressed. But then, it was suddenly in my face -- there. Like my nose or thick lips. It was there and I couldn't understand what I was looking at. I could tell there was a system. There were walls, things you were supposed to do and say, but none of these things made sense. I would find myself going along with them only to renege on them half-way. And what would happen would be that I would burn bridges because I was saying all the "right" things, but then something would kick in and destroy all of that mess because it was wrong to begin with.

I spent years, literally, on some precipice (ms) between what I knew I was supposed to do and what I wanted to do. I was stalled -- unable to do either. When I was a senior in college, I wrote a book for my senior project. My professor wanted to publish it, but I knew better. I knew that I was all gloss and no depth because I wouldn't let that come forth. I wouldn't get into that because I knew it wouldn't be nurtured or cared for. I wanted my mama.

Reading _Yurugu_ provided what I have come to think of as "the frame". Using the frame of _Yurugu_, I am able to understand my life and myself and understand why I thought I was about to lose my fool mind because I kept seeing something, something I couldn't understand, that was supposed to be sane, but it made no sense, and yet, I knew it made no sense, but I was supposed to go along with it, but I didn't want to go along with it because I knew it was toxic and I tend to like to avoid things that are toxic unless I think I can learn something and purge the toxicity from my system later, but this was something else, something deeper, something more profound and I teetered for years, dipping a toe in and pulling it out just as quick. _Yurugu_ was what made me, finally, just walk away.

_Yurugu_ is not about hating white people or even white culture. It is not about hate at all. What _Yurugu_ is about is _demystifying white people and white culture_. I don't care who you are or what you are doing -- whether you profess love or hatred (because both take care) -- we, Americans, and anyone who was colonized by European peoples, we were socialized to rever white folk the way they rever themselves. We were taught to think that there was something special and other-wordly about them. We were taught to think all sorts of things from the best to the worst of them -- but we do not see them in context with our natural selves -- we see them through the film they have laid over our eyes and minds and seeing them thusly, if we are serious about what it is we want to do for ourselves, for our people, we have to learn that their ain't nothing special about them... in fact, in many ways, it is quite the inverse.

1) Read _Yurugu_ for a frame
2) Read _Yurugu_ to demystify European/Euro-American culture.

Read it for yourself and let everyone know what you got out of it. Grieve for that which you feel like you need to grieve for. Learn what it is you need to learn to get through your days and nights without going crazy, without eating up your stomach lining wondering why. Read it because people don't think you will. Read it because you don't care. Read it to upbraid Utamaroho. Read it to find out what "utamaroho" means. Read it just to be able to say, "Yeah, I read _Yurugu_ by Marimba Ani." But read it.

Whether you think you need it or not.
Whether you think you will agree with her (or us) or not.
Whether you think you are too big and bad
too fresh and clean
too whatever.

Read it because it will start you on a new journey.

Peace,

Q



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

I'm headed to the library...

Soul

Learn to love the all in all and thus the all in yourself

Yimhotep

i'm referring to u as Baba Djehuti Q. from now on.

Shemhotep
************
"Be not arrogant because of your knowledge. Take counsel with the ignorant as well as with the wise. For the limits of knowledge in any field have never been set and no one has ever reached them. Wisdom is rarer than emeralds, and yet it is found among the women who gather at the grindstones."
-The Book of Ptahhotep(excerpt)

Kemetian
--------------------------------------
check it out:
www.natureworksforyou.co
m

"Pour libation for your father
and mother who rest in the
valley of the dead. God will
witness your action and
accept it. Do not forget to
do this

>Yimhotep
>
>i'm referring to u as Baba
>Djehuti Q. from now on.
>
>
>Shemhotep

*blushes*

What does that mean?

Peace,

Q


>************
>"Be not arrogant because of your
>knowledge. Take counsel with
>the ignorant as well as
>with the wise. For
>the limits of knowledge in
>any field have never been
>set and no one has
>ever reached them. Wisdom
>is rarer than emeralds, and
>yet it is found among
>the women who gather at
>the grindstones."
>-The Book of Ptahhotep(excerpt)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"americans are gross!" -utamaroho

Uplifting thoughts:

"We are the end result of our ancestors prayers as they died. We you are the sum total of their answered prayers."

"I am because we are; we are because I am."

"falling in love with somebody's soul...their essence their personality their walk their talk the way they speak and smile...no matter what the physical outer body is..male or female...is a temptation i hope i am never foolish enough to resist." - Hot Damali

____________


"When the revolution comes, "faggots" won't be so funny." - The Last Poets

** Most people mis-read this line. I don't think he is being homophobic. I think he's making sure you folks know, within our communities, those of you who laugh at

Yimhotep
well u knew enough to blush! Djehuti is the Neter of Divine Speech and Wisdom. Baba is a term of respect for males, i went to this afrocentric school when i was younger and we called all the teachers by Mama _______ and Baba _________, where ________ was their first name, and Q, well that's U!
Shemhotep
************
"Be not arrogant because of your knowledge. Take counsel with the ignorant as well as with the wise. For the limits of knowledge in any field have never been set and no one has ever reached them. Wisdom is rarer than emeralds, and yet it is found among the women who gather at the grindstones."
-The Book of Ptahhotep(excerpt)

Kemetian
--------------------------------------
check it out:
www.natureworksforyou.co
m

"Pour libation for your father
and mother who rest in the
valley of the dead. God will
witness your action and
accept it. Do not forget to
do this