RBG Blakademics Core Classrooms

RBG FROLINAN Mouse Over Images -Video Intros, f. MAAFA 21

2010-05-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

RBG BLAKADEMICS MAIN LIBRARY SCOs (Shareable Content Objects)

RBG Blakademics is the premiere academic arm of RBG Communiversity, a Web 2.0 in Afrikan-centered Education Demonstration. This Educational Program and Research Project is Dedicated to Further Building the Hip Hop--Black Liberation Movement Connection by Combining Conscious Digital Edutainment with A Scholarly Self Directed Learning Environment. Designed, developed and curated by Marc Imhotep Cray, M.D. / bna RBG Street Scholar http://www.scribd.com/dr_imhotep

RBG FROLINAN STUDIES COLLECTION

FILM DESCRIPTION

"They were stolen from their homes, locked in chains and taken across an ocean. And for more than 200 years, their blood and sweat would help to build the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever known.

But when slavery ended, their welcome was over. America's wealthy elite had decided it was time for them to disappear and they were not particular about how it might be done.

What you are about to see is that the plan these people set in motion 150 years ago is still being carried out today. So don't think that this is history. It is not. It is happening right here, and it's happening right now."

MAAFA 21-Genocide of Blacks in 21st Century America -Companion Reader

SOURCE OF FILM: http://www.maafa21.com/

A RBG Case for Reparations

AFRICOLOGY AND RBG BLAKADEMICS: What It Izz

2010-05-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

"...To be Afrocentric is to seek African agency in every situation, analysis, or critique..."

"Africology is the Afrocentric study of African phenomena. This is in keeping with my belief that definitions should be meaningful, establish boundaries, and have substance. If one cannot define the name of the field and give it meaning, then a field may not exist. I do not try to define Africana Studies, for example, because I do not know what it means in practical terms. I can define African Diaspora Studies but the definition frightens me because it isolates Africa from the rest of the African world. These are some knotty issues that are avoided when we say Africology. To say it is the Afrocentric study means that it is not the European study, the Arab study, the Christian study, etc., of the phenomena, but the Afrocentric study which clarifies where we are coming from in our approach to the study of the phenomena.

Africology 101: An Interview with Scholar Activist Molefi Kete Asante

RBG Africology 101 Curriculum Guidebook

The "re-Afrikanization Revolution" at RBG Street Scholars Think Tank revolves around Healing and Revolution of the individual and collective mind, body and spirit of New Afrikan people through educational discourse, activities and socialization rooted in our history and world experience as Afrikan people.

Healing is work, not gambling. It is the work of inspiration, not manipulation. If we the healers are to do the work of helping bring our whole people together again, we need to know such work is the work of a community. It cannot be done by an individual. It should not depend on people who do not understand the healing vocation….The work of healing is work for inspirers working long and steadily in a group that grows over generations, until there are inspirers, healers wherever our people are scattered, able to bring us together again.

--Ayi Kwei Armah—

In the words of Sekou Toure “to us, Revolution means the collective movement initiated by a group of men or by a whole people, and supported by their conscious determination to change an old degrading order into a new, progressive order in view of ensuring the safeguard and development of collective and individual interests, without any discrimination whatsoever. The People’s Revolution, to us, remains thus a collective consciousness in motion, and a collective movement guided by conscience and whose ultimate aim is the continued progress of man and the People.”

(From: http://www.panafricanperspective.com/ture2.htm

AFRICOLOGY and RBG EDUCATION: We are defining and representing Africology as the study of and participation in our Afrikanity and humanities Afri-essence. It is a deep layered journey into Who We Were and Who We Are down to the level of our collective ancestral unconscious ; including our language, history, culture and educational ways, empathizing evidence of our contributions to world history and civilization and thus, our own present day probability, possibility and potentiality. Of course any serious education of Afrikan people is best began with a study of Kemet (Ancient Egypt) and Classic Nile Valley Civilizations...and this is precisely the course we chart. So africology at RBG Street Scholars Think Tank, and within this classroom in particular, is meant to be a cultural development and socialization process anchor, transmitted in the context of what Dr. Clarke calls the "eternal now" (overstanding that there is no separation between the past, present and future-all of history is a current event, and all current events are history).

The lessons herein will reflect the cultural continuity and recurring spiritual and pedagogical themes of Afrikan peoples education and socialization across space and time; from ancient classic Nile Valley Civilizations to West Africa and throughout the diaspora, right on up to our present day experience here in the hells of north America. So the process does not put in as much as it draws out what is already pre-existing in our mind and spirit (our collective ancestral unconscious).

See: African Origin of Biological Psychiatry
Dr. Richard King

WALK WITH ME / THE FOLLOWING IS A GUIDING SYNOPSIS:

A Chronology of Ancient Egypt and Nubia

"Dr. Ben Teaches while in Kemet, A 5 Clip Series"

Click to read the full screen view

Some questions education relevant to Afrikan peoples development should Ask and Answer:FUQ (frequently unasked questioned)

Who am I?
Why am I where I am?
Why do I think as I do?
Could I think differently?
Why am I feeling the way I feel right now?
What will happen if I ignore this feeling?
Is there another way to interpret the world / and my situation in it?
What part do/did I play in my situation?
Why do I expect my circumstances to change if I continue to do the same things the same way?
Is this way of living my last resort or is it Plan A?
Do I have a Plan B?
Should my Plan B be my Plan A

See:Problem Solving ,Critical Thinking & Decision Making

In the video that follows Dr. Clarke Speaks to our Afrikanity and humanities Afri-essence,explaining Dr. Cheika Ante Diop trailblazing contributions and much more

RBG CommuniVersity addresses the above metioned FUQ (frequently unasked questioned) in a uniquely thought provoking manner, by allowing our historians, scholars, raptivists, poets, authors and revolutionaries to do the teaching, and thus serve as our objectifiers. The school is a series of scholarly revolutionary higher education multimedia environments, presented using an Interactive Edutaining Teaching Methodology. The CommuniVersity's target audience is the Hip Hop Generation (Blacks / New Afrikans born between 1965 and 1984) and their children. With strict attention to developing our student’s basic education skills in the context of the highest standards of academic excellence, suitable for one to confidently sit for high stake exams (ie. SAT/ACT and MCATs, LSATs), we simultaneously advance the psycho-emotional healing and spiritual upliftment of our people by providing KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM AND OVERSTANDING of the historo-cultural, socio-political and psycho-educational experiences of Africans in America in away that RADICALLY REAPPRAISES EDUCATION from the pained and angry perspective of the oppressed black community; while at the same time advancing an Afrikan centered academic process and solutions that are cognitive, psycho-motor and experiential in nature. Our approach is an integrated one as against subject-based segmentation.

Including:
> computers & information technology,
> history and cultural development,
> religion and spirituality,
> sociology,
> political science,
> creative productions/ entertainment,
> education,
> health promotion and disease prevention
> economics and
> psychology

The method is to read and survey while you listen to audio from the RBG Blakademics Audio Player at the header. The player is a 100 Trax EduTainment tool that includes complete standalone lessons. Video players are self contained subjects, topics and lessons. You can also scroll and read to the audio of any given video.

This is what I have coined the "RBG Learning Method". It enables you to cover , absorb and assimilate large amounts of information and data in short packets of time. This is because the functionality of the various curriculua are not predicated on rote memory, rather lessons are progressively advancing integrated interactive processes--you learn by dynamic rhythm and symbolism. The interaction of the media and your interacting with it is what teaches you so intently. Therein lays the staying power of the approach. All media components
( image, text, video and audio ) re-enforce, support and validate each other. This is why we suggest that you go to full screen view to interact videos with images more completely.

For example, studying RBG will teach you computer skills in real time. This is to say that in order for one to study lessons in a given classroom it requires scrolling up and down to activate and deactivate other media...this is a cognitive, psycho-motor and experiential activity / learning task.

Another example would be configuring your computer with RBG tools and applications (apps) in order to make it smarter. But, the learning has to be smart enough to make the school smarter. Its like progressing to another level. The more you play with the school to make it smarter the smarter it makes you. Downloading and installing the RBG Toolbar and search engine enables the potential for the highest level of integration.

N.B. UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW TO NAVIGATE THE SCHOOL BEST FOR YOUR LEARNING, IF YOU HAPPEN TO CLICK A LINK / EXTENSION AND IT LANDS ON ANOTHER RBG ENVIRONMENT PAGE, YOU CAN ALWAYS HIT YOUR BACK BUTTON TO PREVENT YOU FROM GETTING FURTHER LOST IN THE RABBIT HOLD. ONE OF THE MANY FUNCTIONS OF OUR SNAP PREVIEW TOOL IS TO PREVENT YOU FROM GOING SOMEWHERE YOU DON'T WANT TO GO. INTERNAL LINKS DON'T SNAP.

The Afrikan & Traditional Afrikan American Family Worldview / Definitional System / Conceptual Framework vs The European:

>we, ours, us--not I, me, mines >cooperative--not competitive

>groupness--not oneness

>collectivism-- not individualism

>spiritual-not material primacy

>man & women were a complimentary dualism--not man vs women

>man in harmony with nature--not man vs nature

>peace and harmony--not violence and greed...and I can go on and on.

So RBG (New Afrikan) education say's

"I am because WE ARE and because we are therefore I AM.

What happens to and with me happens to My Family> My Community> The New Afrikan Nation (Afrikans in America) > To the Afrikan Race (race, we know is a European construct devised to oppress).

See: Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness ( Dr. Amos Wilson) & Understanding Racism Source:
RBG Afrikan Centered Cultural Development and Education Wikizine Introduction

Africology Books and Video

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF RBGz EDUBLOGS:

AKOFENA
"sword of war "
symbol of courage, valor, and heroism

The crossed swords were a popular motif in the heraldic shields of many former Akan states. In addition to recognizing courage and valor, the swords can represent legitimate state authority.

The assets herein represent a series of multimedia digital classrooms (over 300 to date). Each blog has multiple inter-related lessons and each lesson has its own links /extensions for deeper layered study. Lessons are sectioned off by RBG dividers. We do not expect, nor do we recommend, that the serious learner attempt to cover everything in any given classroom in one session. Rather, we recommend that you study/enjoy/draw lessons at a pace that is most comfortable for you, bookmark the classroom and come back to continue where you left off at another point in time. So, the graduated learning process that characterizes the various inter-related and integrated RLOs (Reusable Learning Objects) and media assets is captured by the learner engaging the process. RBG is very intuitive and acute, so it gets smarter as the navigator advances in knowledge and skill. Lessons in classrooms of any given learning environment are related (horizontal integration), all the classrooms of that particular learning environment are related (vertical integration), and the various learning environments (websites / networks) are related (concentric integration). Thus the school is not only Afrikan in its conceptualization and content, but also, and most distinguishably, in its methodology- In other words the college is behaving as "Dr.Marimba Ani teaches "Let the Circle Be Unbroken". The acute learner inculcates the concept of Afrikan unity by interacting with the school. In this since, RBG is not only academic but experiential as well.

Thus, one knows when they know how the communiversity works when she/he is able to get anywhere from anywhere in two clicks-across the 5,000 plus RLOs and media assets. It is at that point the communiversity becomes a supreme scholarly research and content resource tool in the learners own work. She/he is now ready to cipher off assets to create her/his own derivitive products, to do their own teaching from.

To Learn More About How the CommuniVersity Works see:

RBG Street Scholars Think Tank Rules of Engagement & Extensions to Our Computer Skills Basics
RBGz Student-Teacher Users Guide: A Basic Prime/ Abridged

How RBG Provokes Thought, Discussion & Learning In The Core

WHY RBG (AFRIKAN CENTERED) EDUCATION IS SO IMPORTANT:

AKOBEN
"war horn"
symbol of vigilance and wariness
Akoben is a horn used to sound a battle cry.

With the present day high rates of Black on Black homicide, suicide, and imprisonment and a rise in single-parent homes, rampant police brutality, unprecedented unemployment, and Blacks use of popular (ENEMY) culture (through music, video games and popular movies) to celebrate "anti-intellectualism, ignorance, irresponsible parenthood, drunkenness, dope dealing, weed smoking, cocaine, x-pills, loose sexual behavior and criminal lifestyles / thuggism"; we have chose to design a curriculum that, rather than getting caught up in the entertainment / BLACKPLOTATION aspects of the hip hop / rap industry, will use hip hop culture/rap within a historo-cultural, socio-political and psycho-educational framework to address these various death walks forthrightly. Our new methodological style is intended to get our young people to begin to think critically about themselves, their world and their role as people of Afrikan descent.

MATE MASIE

"What I hear, I keep"

symbol of wisdom, knowledge and prudence

The implied meaning of the phrase "mate masie" is "I understand". Understanding means wisdom and knowledge, but it also represents the prudence of taking into consideration what another person has said.

BE SURE TO STUDY OUT OF OUR PREMIERE WIKIZINE

The Master Keys to the Study of Ancient Kemet-Nana Baffour Amankwatia II

All of RBGz EduTainment / teaching-learning methodologies and content are presented in the tradition and spirit of Afrikan Symbolism (as well as our rich oral / musical traditions) as this is the way we learn, interpret and experience the world as Afrikan people--a right brain (hemisphere) function. This teaching/learning strategy goes to demonstrating the cultural-spiritual continuity of Afrikan people across time and space (from Kemetic to West Aafrikan to the diaspora). Thus, the learner that is a hearer is provided with the opportunity to grasp deeper meaning, and the hearer that has become a listener through mastering hearing receives meaning that is deeper still. Becoming a master hearer > master listener is the pre-requisite to becoming a teacher / healer in Afrikan educational pedagogy. So we are applying a traditional philosophical precept in the context of our westernized experience to project us in a positive and unified manner, working together doing what we do best for the collective advancement of the group. It is the reason why one of our rules of engagement is "a picture (image/symbol) is worth more than a thousand words". RBGz images / symbols are what make you think (Think Tank) and learn so intently, and also what makes you feel so inspired. So we teach the same lessons on multiple levels to strike a responsive cord with our whole family by integrating all four forms of media (image, audio, video and text) in any given lesson/topic/subject. This is important to do because if our young people don't see themselves in what we want them to learn then how can we blame the for not wanting to learn it! Hence the problem with us and Euro-education (mis-education and dis-education). Furthermore, we are also demonstrating computer skills that you will not learn at M.I.T., but are nonetheless more germane and in keeping with our way for development as a New Afrikan people.

WE ARE AN AFRIKAN PEOPLE:

AYA
"fern"
symbol of endurance and resourcefulness

The fern is a hardy plant that can grow in difficult places. "An individual who wears this symbol suggests that he has endured many adversities and outlasted much difficulty." (Willis, The Adinkra Dictionary)

"We Are Afrikan People Wherever We Were Born No matter where we were born in the world. Afrikan (Black) People are historically and culturally linked. Our history, identity, and culture are rooted in the many thousands of years of development of Afrikan civilization on the Afrikan continent. This is a consequence of the ever forward movement and motion of the New Afrikan masses. It is from this historical march of our people (Afrikan [Black] People) that we derive our African culture, the sum total of material and spiritual values created by our people. It is this invincible weapon, Afrikan culture, that has always served to fight against all forms of oppression and exploitation, to move forward New Afrikan People and Afrikan civilization. Modified with "k for c" from Ayize Atiba. 8 March, 1995 / Link to Full Lesson

AFRIKAN CENTERED EDUCATION AND RBGz EDUCATIONAL MISSION:

ANANSE NTONTAN
"spider's web"
symbol of wisdom, creativity and the complexities of life

Ananse, the spider, is a well-known character in African folktales.

African Centered Education is a system of sequentially planned educational opportunities provided for African heritage children, youth and young adults to develop the necessary and required skills to participate in the global marketplace with specific interest on the upliftment and empowerment of their African-American communities and the total development and growth of the African continent. (Dr. E. Curtis Alexander)

More Definitions From Our Scholars

RBG Street Scholars Think Tank's educational mission is to develop in each learner a Luv of learning by providing an Afri-Centered interactive learning environment that fosters problem solving, critical & creative thinking, artistic expression and positive character development (through the principles of Nguzo Saba & MA'AT / see below ) -- combined with a rigorous basic education skills development program that includes the language arts, math, science, and computer / information technology domains.

VIRTUES OF MAÁT

MAÁT: The symbolic representation of Maát as a human figure with outreached hands and wings, is the Netcher of the weighing of the soul in ancient Kemet. The heart of the deceased was believed to be the seat of the soul and it was where ones virtues resided. This symbolic weighing of the heart against the feather of truth (Maát) was performed to established the righteousness of the deceased. The scale of Maát was balanced after the recitation of the "42" Declarations of Innocence or Admonitions of Maát. pg. 91, NVCTC.

The Neophyte or students ultimate aim in Kemet was for a person to become "One with God" or to "become like God." The path to the development of godlike qualities was through the development of virtue, but virtue could only be achieved through special study and effort. According to George G. M. James in his timeless work Stolen Legacy writes: The following of the 10 virtues were sought by the Neophyte in ancient Kemet. In the final analysis, the ancient Kemites sought Maát or to be more correct they sought to become one with Maát, the cosmic order.

(1). Control of thoughts (2). Control of actions (3). Devotion of purpose
(4). Have faith in the ability of [your] [teacher] to teach [you] the truth.
(5). Have faith in [yourself] to assimilate the truth
(6). Have faith in [themselves] to wield the truth
(7). Be free from resentment under the experience of persecution.
(8). Be free from resentment under the experience of wrong.
(9). Cultivate the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and
(10).Cultivate the ability to distinguish between the real and the unreal

"TRUTH IS LIKE LIGHTING WITH ITS ERRAND DONE BEFORE YOU HEAR THE THUNDER" Dr. Gerald Massey.

Principles of MAÁT

Truth Justice Harmony
Balance
Order
Reciprocity
Propriety

Admonitions of Maát

(Concepts for Living in Balance)

1)I have not committed sin
2)I have not committed robbery with violence
3)I have not stolen
4)I have not slain men and women
5)I have not stolen food
6)I have not swindled offerings
7)I have not stolen from God
8)I have not told lies
9)I have not carried away food
10)I have not cursed
11)I have not closed my ears to truth
12)I have not committed adultery
13)I have not made anyone cry
14)I have not felt sorrow without reason
15)I have not assaulted anyone
16)I am not deceitful
17)I have not stolen anyone's land
18)I have not been an eavesdropper
19)I have not falsely accused anyone
20)I have not been angry without reason
21)I have not seduced anyone's wife
22)I have not polluted myself
23)I have not terrorized anyone
24)I have not disobeyed the law
25)I have not been excessively angry
26)I have not cursed God
27)I have not behaved with violence
28)I have not caused disruption of peace
29)I have not acted hastily or without thought
30)I have not overstepped my boundaries of concern
31)I have not exaggerated my words when speaking
32)I have not worked evil
33)I have not used evil thoughts, words or deeds
34)I have not polluted the water
35)I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly
36)I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deed
37)I have not placed myself on a pedestal
38)I have not stolen that which belongs to God
39)I have not stolen from or disrespected the deceased
40)I have not taken food from a child
41)I have not acted with insolence
42)I have not destroyed property belonging to God

NGUZO SABA: THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES

(N-GOO-ZOO-SAH-BAH)

Click to link out to US

While the Nguzo Saba are commonly linked to the yearly Kw anzaa celebration, they have year-round applicabilty and should be reviewed frequently. In addition to the Nguzo Saba, other Kwanzaa components (such as libations) also come into use during the year. If you want to study our Kwanzaa material, it can be accessed from

The Official Kwanzaa Web Site .

UMOJA (00-MOE-JAH)
UNITY

The first principle is a commitment to the idea of togetherness. This principle is a foundation; for without unity, neither the family nor the community can survive. National African-American unity begins with the family. Open discussions of family problems and their probable solutions are very important.

KUJICHAGULIA (CO-GEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-AH)
SELF-DETERMINATION

The second principle is a commitment to building our lives in our own images and interests. If we, as a people, are to achieve our goals we must take the responsibility for that achievement upon ourselves, for self-determination is the essence of freedom. This day calls for a reaffirmation of our commitment to Afrikan American's struggle to build a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

UJIMA (00-GEE-MA)
COLLECTIVE WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY

The third principle encourages self-criticism and personal evaluation, as it relates to the common good of the family/community. Without collective work and struggle, progress is impossible. The family and the community must accept the reality that we are collectively responsible for our failures, as well as our victories and achievements. Discussions concerning each family member's responsibility prove helpful in defining and achieving family goals.

UJAMAA (00-JAH-MAH)
COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS

Out of the fundamental concepts of "African Communal Living" comes the fourth principle of Kwanzaa. In a community or family, wealth and resources should be shared. On the national level, cooperative economics can help African-Americans take physical control of their own destinies. On this day, ideas should be shared and discussed for cooperative economic efforts to provide for needs as related to housing, education, food, day care, health, transportation and other goods and services.

NIA (NEE-AH)
PURPOSE

The fifth day of Kwanzaa is a day for reviewing our purpose for living. Each family member should examine his/her ability to put his/her skill or talent to use In the service of the family and community at large. Take time to reflect on your expectations from life: discuss your desires and hopes with family and friends. On this day you should try to determine if this purpose will eventually result in positive achievements for family and community.

KUUMBA (KOO-M-BAH)
CREATIVITY

The sixth principle of the Nguzo Saba relates to building and developing our creative potential. It involves both aesthetic and material creations. It is essential that creativity be encouraged in all aspects of African American culture. It is through new ideas that we achieve higher levels of living and a greater appreciation for life. Each family member should find creative things to do throughout the year that will enhance the family as a whole. On this day, poetry reading, songfests, dance exhibitions and the like, can aid in promoting the Importance of Kuumba.

IMANI (E-MAH-NE)
FAITH

The seventh principle is belief in ourselves as individuals and as a people. Further, it is a commitment to the development of the family and the national African-American community. African America's goal of freedom rests significantly on our belief in our own ability and right to control our own destiny. Without Imani (faith), there is no possibility of victory.

Maulana Karenga, Ph.D.

7 September 1965

For further study link out to:

Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC),

The Institute of Karmic Guidance

Asante & Associates

(At these sites you will find additional scholarly Afrikan-centered education links)

Alkebulan Reference Center Web Site:

Get the Latest Black Conscious Lectures in DVD's and Audio CD's

Diop, Afrocentricity and Kemetic Thought in the 21st Century

2010-05-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

Editors Note: Upon clicking on a panel or an individual person within a panel, you will be taken to the source document. Once you land, you may click the person or hot-linked title of their presentation for immediate streaming. For best playback results you can download the video to your hard drive. I have embed the Welcome streams / downloads here as to demonstrate. WMP set as your default media player is recommended, as the file type is wmv.

Concept, Praxis, and Legacy: Cheikh Anta Diop, Molefi Kete Asante and the Afrocentric Project

October 17 -18, 2008

OCTOBER 17, 2008 PANELS & PRESENTATIONS

Welcome

WELCOME

The following three assets are click and play Ana Yenenga Asante, Diop Conference Coordinator

Dr. Adisa Alkebulan, Conference Convener, San Diego State University

Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Diop Conference Founder, Temple University “The Cheikh Anta Diop Phenomenon: Reflections”

Return to 20th Anniversary Digital index

Opening Ceremony and Presentation of Program - Welcome

Opening Ceremony and Presentation of Program - Joyce King

Day 1: Panel 1: Implications of Cheikh Anta Diop on Pedagogy and Research

Day 1: Panel 2: Confronting Challenges to Afrocentricity

Day 1: Panel 3: Diop, Afrocentricity and Kemetic Thought in the 21st Century

Day 1: Panel 4: Afrocentric and Pan-African Affirmations

Day 1: Panel 5: Afrocentric Language and Culture

Day 1: Panel 6: Afrocentric Assessments and Perspectives

Day 1: Vision Presentations

Day 2: Panel 1: Currents of African Scholarship

Day 2: Film Screening - The Black Candle

Day 2: Luncheon Presentation: Dr. Maulana Karenga

Day 2: Special Presentations - Conversation about Afrocentric Education

Day 2: Panel 2: Molefi Asante’s Contributions to Africana Studies Scholarship in the Light of Contemporary Issues

Day 2: Panel 3: Ancient Africa: Records, Analysis, and Implications

Day 2: Closing Plenary Session: Asserting Agency and Contextualizing African Ideas

Opening Ceremony and Presentation of Program
Panel 1: Implications of Cheikh Anta Diop on Pedagogy and Research

Panel 2: Confronting Challenges to Afrocentricity
Panel 3: Diop, Afrocentricity and Kemetic Thought in the 21st Century
Panel 4: Afrocentric and Pan-African Affirmations
Panel 5: Afrocentric Language and Culture
Panel 6: Afrocentric Assessments and Perspectives
Vision Presentations

OCTOBER 18, 2008 PANELS & PRESENTATIONS

Panel 1: Currents of African Scholarship

Film Screening

Luncheon Presentation

Special Presentations: Conversation about Afrocentric Education

Panel 2: Molefi Asante’s Contributions to Africana Studies Scholarship in the Light of Contemporary Issues

Panel 3: Ancient Africa: Records, Analysis, and Implications

Closing Plenary Session: Asserting Agency and Contextualizing African Ideas

Digitized by D. Zizwe Poe for DISA

Black Panther History 101

2010-05-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Extracts from: A Brief History of the Black Panther Party. Its Place in the Black

Liberation Movement
By Sundiata Acoli,
from the Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign,1995

The Positive Aspects of the BPP's Contributions

1. Self-Defense: This is one of the fundamental areas in which the BPP contributed to the BLM. It's also one of the fundamental things that set the BPP apart from most previous Black organizations and which attracted members (particularly the youth), mass support, and a mass following. The concept is not only sound, it's also common sense. But it must be implemented correctly, otherwise it can prove more detrimental than beneficial. The self-defense policies of the BPP need to be analyzed in this light by present day Afrikan organizations. All history has shown that this government will bring its police and military powers to bear on any group which truly seeks to free Afikan people. Any Black "freedom" organization which ignores self-defense does so at its own peril.

2.Revolutionary Nationalist Ideology: The BPP was a nationalist organization. Its main goal was the national liberation of Afrikan people in the U.S., and it restricted its membership to Blacks only. It was also revolutionary. The BPP theories and practices were based on socialist principles. It was anti-capitalist and struggled for a socialist revolution of U.S. society.
On the national level, the BPP widely disseminated socialist base programs to the Afrikan masses. Internationally, it provided Afrikans in the U.S. with a broader understanding of our relationship to the Afrikan continent, the emerging independent Afrikan nations, Third World nations, Socialist nations, and all the Liberation Movements associated with these nations. Overall the ideology provided Afrikans here with a more concrete way of looking at and analyzing the world. Heretofore much of Black analysis of the world, and the society in which We live, was based on making ourselves acceptable to White society, proving to Whites that We were human, proving to Whites that We were ready for equality, proving We were equal to Whites, disproving racist ideas held by Whites, struggling for integration or equal status with Whites, theories of "loving the enemy", "hating the enemy", "they're all devils", spookism, and other fuzzy images of how the real world worked.

3. Mass Organizing Techniques: Another fundamental thing that attracted members and mass support to the BPP was its policy of "serving the people". This was a policy of going to the masses, living among them, sharing their burdens, and organizing the masses to implement their own solutions to the day to day problems that were of great concern to them.
By organizing and implementing the desires of the masses, the BPP organized community programs ranging from free breakfast for children, to free health clinics, to rent strikes resulting in tenant ownership of their buildings, to Liberation School for grade-schoolers, to free clothing drives, to campaigns for community control of schools, community control of police, and campaigns to stop drugs, crime, and police murder and brutality in the various Black colonies across America. For these reasons, and others, the influence of the BPP spread far beyond its actual membership. Not only did the BPP programs teach self-reliance, but years later the government established similar programs such as free school lunch, expanded medicare and day care facilities, and liberalized court procedures for tenant takeovers of poorly maintained housing, partly if not primarily in order to snuff out the memory of previous similar BPP programs and the principle of self-reliance

4. Practice of Women's Equality: Another positive contribution of the BPP was its advocation and practice of equality for women throughout all levels of the organization and in society itself. This occurred at a time when most Black Nationalist organizations were demanding that the woman's role be in the home and/or one step behind the Black man, and at a time when the whole country was going through a great debate on the woman's liberation issue.

5.Propaganda Techniques: The BPP made significant contributions to the art of propaganda. It was very adept at spreading its message and ideas through its newspaper The Black Panther, mass rallies, speaking tours, slogans, posters, leaflets, cartoons, buttons, symbols (i.e., the clenched fist), graffiti, political trials, and even funerals. The BPP also spread its ideas through very skillful use of the establishment's t.v., radio, and print media.
One singular indication, although there are others, of the effectiveness of BPP propaganda techniques is that even today, over a decade later, a large part of the programs shown on t.v. are still "police stories" and many of the roles available to Black actors are limited to police roles. A lot of this has to do with the overall process of still trying to rehabilitate the image of the police from its devastating exposure during the Panther era, and to prevent the true role of the police in this society from being exposed again.

The Negative Aspects of the BPP Contributions

1. Leadership Corrupted: COINTELPRO eventually intimidated and corrupted all three of the BPP's top leaders: Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale and Eldridge Cleaver. Each, in their own way, caved in to the pressures and began acting in a manner that was deliberately designed to destroy the BPP, and to disillusion not only Party members but Afrikan people in America for years to come. COINTELPRO's hopes were that Afrikans in America would be so disillusioned that never again would they trust or follow any Afrikan leader or organization which advocated real solutions to Black oppression.

2. Combined Above and Underground: This was the most serious structural flaw in the BPP. Party members who functioned openly in the BPP offices, or organized openly in the community, by day might very well have been the same people who carried out armed operations at night. This provided the police with a convenient excuse to make raids on any and all BPP offices, or members homes, under the pretext that they were looking for suspects, fugitives, weapons, and or explosives. It also sucked the BPP into taking the un-winnable position of making stationary defenses of BPP offices. There should have been a clear separation between the above ground Party and the underground armed apparatus. Also small military forces should never adopt, as a general tactic, the position of making stationary defenses of offices, homes, buildings, etc.

3. Rhetoric Outstripped Capabilities: Although the BPP was adept at the art of propaganda and made very good use of its own and the establishment's media, still too many Panthers fell into the habit of making boisterous claims in the public media, or selling "wolf tickets" that they couldn't back up. Eventually, they weren't taken seriously anymore. The press, some of whom were police agents, often had only to stick a microphone under a Panther's nose to make him or her begin spouting rhetoric. This often played into the hands of those who were simply looking for slanderous material to air or to provide possible intelligence information to the police.

4. Lumpen Tendencies: It can be safely said that the largest segment of the New York City BPP membership (and probably nationwide) were workers who held everyday jobs. Other segments of the membership were semi-proletariat, students, youths, and lumpen-proletariat. The lumpen tendencies within some members were what the establishment's media (and some party members) played-up the most. Lumpen tendencies are associated with lack of discipline, liberal use of alcohol, marijuana, and curse-words; loose sexual morals, a criminal mentality, and rash actions. These tendencies in some Party members provided the media with better opportunities than they would otherwise have had to play up this aspect, and to slander the Party, which diverted public attention from much of the positive work done by the BPP.

5. Dogmatism: Early successes made some Panthers feel that they were the only possessors of absolute truths. Some became arrogant and dogmatic in their dealings with Party members, other organizations, and even the community. This turned people off.

6. Failure to Organize Economic Foundations in Community: The BPP preached socialist politics. They were anti-capitalist and this skewered their concept of building economic foundations in the community. They often gave the impression that to engage in any business enterprise was to engage in capitalism and they too frequently looked with disdain upon the small-business people in the community. As a result the BPP built few businesses which generated income other than the Black Panther newspaper, or which could provide self-employment to its membership and to people in the community. The BPP failed to encourage the Black community to set up its own businesses as a means of building an independent economic foundation which could help break "outsiders" control of the Black community's economics, and move it toward economic self-reliance.

7. TV Mentality: The 60's were times of great flux. A significant segment of the U.S. population engaged in mass struggle. The Black Liberation, Native American, Puerto Rican, Asian, Chicano, Anti-War, White Revolutionary, and Woman's Liberation, Movements were all occurring more or less simultaneously during this era. It appears that this sizable flux caused some Panthers to think that a seizure of state power was imminent or that a revolutionary struggle is like a quick paced TV program. That is, it comes on at 9 p.m., builds to a crescendo by 9:45, and by 9:55 -- Victory!; all in time to make the 10 O'Clock News. When it didn't happen after a few years, that is, Afrikans in the U.S. still were not free, no revolution occurred, and worse, the BPP was everywhere on the defensive, taking losses and riddled with dissension, many members became demoralized, disillusioned, and walked away or went back to old lifestyles. They were not psychologically prepared for a long struggle. In hindsight it appears that the BPP didn't do enough to root out this TV mentality in some members, but did in others, which is an aspect to ponder on.

Although the BPP made serious errors, it also gained a considerable measure of success and made several significant new contributions to the BLM. The final judgment of history may very well show that in its own way the BPP added the final ingredient to the Black Agenda necessary to attain real freedom: armed struggle; and that this was the great turning point which ultimately set the Black Liberation Movement on the final road to victory.

N.B.-Sundiata is a Prisoner of War, a brilliant mathematician, artist and committed freedom fighter for the New Afrikan Nation. Ambushed on the New Jersey Turnpike with Assata Shakur and Zayd Malik Shakur, Sundiata has been unjustly incarcerated for 30 year.

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