The Precious Jewels

Learning from history will enable us as a race to build bridges and form alliances that can prepare us for dealing with the present and meeting the unforeseen. Most importantly, it is vital for everyone observing Black History Month not only to focus on this month, but beyond. To reflect into the past and then learn from it. Black people at home (Africa) and in captivity (diaspora) from every socioeconomic background, gender and belief, must rise to the call for a cultural renewal and socioeconomic regeneration for Africa’s redemption. We cannot escape the political and psycho/socio-economic environment in which we exist. In the face of such difficulties and crisis, we as Africans have a need to reinvent ourselves by building strong foundations from the lessons learnt, create a new vision and mobilize our resources.

Today Africans and their descendants everywhere are celebrating and commemorating the abolition of African enslavement. On may notice that commemoration of this abolition brings about contradictory feelings from different stakeholders. Whenever this topic is discussed, what initially comes to mind is the descendants of enslaved Africans who suffered great physical and emotional pain and continue to suffer from discrimination and unfavorable living conditions, most notable in American and at home in Africa. Secondly, there are Europeans who engineered the capture and enslavement of Africans parallel to a process of political and cultural destabilization of the communities of African descendants, which was done through replacement of local practices, values and deities with European ones.

Therefore massive accumulation of capital and the creation of large banks in Europe and America drew massive profit from the unpaid labor of millions of enslaved Africans for well over 500 years. Such accumulation from African enslavement played a crucial role in financing the Industrial Revolution and helped economic development in both Europe and the United States. With the commemoration of the abolition of African enslavement, our former enslavers (Europeans) now celebrate and embrace new humanitarian values that are linked to post- modernity. At the same time these former enslavers still continue to enjoy the socioeconomic development bestowed upon them as a result of the enslavement period.

Thirdly, at the beginning of the 15th century we should also remember the central role the Catholic Church played in our enslavement by providing an ethical base to enslave Africans by stating that “unlike Europeans, Africans did not have a soul.” Therefore we as Africans must take the learning of our history seriously as we have a role to safeguard our cultures and values. We must remember that “he who controls the past controls the future, he who controls the future, controls the present.” It would be a fallacy to pretend that we have no past, and it will be dangerous knowing that one’s history is a vital prerequisite for development.

“…Free at last, free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!” this was the cry of Dr Martin Luther King in the 1960s, which still echo’s deeply in our hearts. However, the real question is how free we are now, two hundred and seven years later after the abolition of African enslavement? In real life, how free are we as Africans and Africans in captivity (diaspora). How free are Africans in America while trapped in the racism of American society, police killings of innocent black youth, destabilized family structures, poverty chronic unemployment, high rates of criminality and incarceration, self-destructive patterns, connected drug consumption, suicides and homicides? How free are the enslaved descendants in America, who provided unpaid labor to the manufacturing industries owned by European descendants? How free African countries are now, in the context of disabling debts, exploitative and unjust trade terms imposed by countries that control the global market and thus the poverty of developing countries? How is it that we can claim we are free while African countries are trapped between the restraints and disabling measures of institutions such as the notorious International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and the exploitative claws of a western-controlled “free market”, which results in structural indebtedness and impoverishment? How free are African communities, who because of engineered markets lack the capital to finance development? Look how Africa resources are controlled by Europeans and the added value for their economies transferred to the foreign owners of production systems.

The current reality is that former colonies today exist primarily to fulfil the needs of the colonizing European power. The processing of products only occurs in Europe. Modern economic relations, mechanisms of protection and development of northern market and industries, exploration and marginalization of developing countries are still present in North-South exchange strategies. As a result, Africa produces a null tariff only to satisfy the needs of the Western (and Arab) world and support Western (and Middle-Eastern) development. With this in mind, Africa is being denied the opportunity to build the capital necessary to finance development, education, infrastructure, industrialization and healthcare.

One may ask. Where is the future of Africa and its subjects in captivity heading? Does it lie in the ways of tradition? The fact that many traditional practices were suitable responses to the problems of the past, within the technological, economical and social context of that time. Nevertheless, traditions are also both culturally bound responses for organizing communities as express in values and behavioral practices such as birth, marriage, passage to adulthood and passing in flesh and traditional values can be a tool to secure power and to influence of particular groups. In the context of its globalization of values, way of life, information and technological methods and markets, new approaches to problems we are facing are necessary.

 It is unfortunate that some people remain captives of the traditions of the past, which for many is comfortable. But development is fundamentally about changes. It is clear that if you do what you have always done you will get wat you have always got. And in our case as African children what we have been getting is poverty and dependence, as opposed to socio-economic development. Should we then continue this way? No. Therefore, it is times that we must see to why many traditional practices need to be re-examined in the context of modern conditions and development. Equity consideration in a new democratic era is a must and mobilization of all human resources, independent of ethic belonging, gender, age or location is important. Today black people globally and locally under “imported paradigms” and readymade solutions, which we are partaking blindly.

In search for answers to our problems, it is vital to recognize, however, that most technological and financial solutions available (including trade agreements) have been developed by institutions of rich, industrialized countries, and such solutions are fashioned to their cultural, social and economic context, mobilizing and developing their resources for the purpose of creating wealth and welfare to their societies. Such solutions have hindered the development process and created new socioeconomic problems which include urban migration, ghetto life, unemployment, urban criminality and family disintegration.

Therefore, for us to claim we are free as African children needs critical analysis. We need to search for solutions for Africa’s problems, which can mobilize and restore African resources and provide alternatives to unsustainable consumerist living patterns, natural resources, management strategies and imported primary goods i.e. food, medicine, furniture, employment strategies and externally controlled markets.

“History teaches us that unity is strength and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to a true African brotherhood and unity.” His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I.

-:���݄�

Brother X

It seems to me as if the capacity for violence really gives someone capital in society. and I don't just mean physical violence but all sorts of violence. verbal violence for example as when you violate someone's dignity through the things you say about them (because men say it like it is, don't be a bitch about it say it like it is). I always think about how destructive these things are, yet how they serve very functional goals for a majority of people that engage in them. Some of us are helpless victims, or some of us can say to hell with it, I wont be treated like this, I wont tolerate this and then proceed to rectify the situation with more violence thereby perpetuation this cycle of violence. Because if we don't, the hatred, the violence, and the lack of respect that it is accompanied by when it is directed at someone reduce us as people, we feel that we vanish into the background as men.

People love to be feared in order to induce respect. But why should we be feared? Why should we invoke (and emphasise) fear to command respect? Are we animals? Lions are feared, a damn bear, those are fierce. Fear often goes with very fierce methods for keeping it in place. It destroys.

Real men don't destroy, they build, constructively. For me, the greatest men in history, who most command respect for me have been those who built and developed. Those who built pride and identity, thinkers like Malcom X, Steve Biko, Frantz Fanon, brothers who helped build nations with their ideas on humanity like Nelson Mandela, Dr Martin Luther King, Brothers who helped prolong people's lives through medical operations like Dr Christiaan Barnard. The guy who invented the light bulb or the telephone, for me those were real men worthy of respect. Fear and violence have nothing to do with it.

So lets build, build with The Precious Jewels

Peace!

Eleyejah

All of the above mentioned mediums can be seen keys to higher consciousness and are available to those that value the cosmos and seek to understand more. The question is how did the ancients reach an age when these keys were the seal to being? In other words, at what time in history did we realize that “we have it all figured out” as the human race? Even more importantly, is there a more direct way of communicating with the cosmos as a conscious entity? If so, why must we branch out East, South and West in search of North?

What if we could Skype without computers, program information without computers and play without Nintendo. Could our ancestor have had the ability to do such and if so, what drove them into hiding. The researcher of this text does not claim to have answer; rather he seeks to plant questions in hopes that those seeds I form of questions would one-day blossom into a lasting interaction between the individual and cosmos. I will call this hidden path ‘Key X’

And will inspire the reader to find the master key and unlock a higher understanding of universal conscious reality. 

 PEACE to the GODS...

In this day and time black people are consider to be the foolish group of people. Honorable Minister Farrakhan said we are the race of jokers and entertainers. This is due to the things we do in our entertainment section. Black Entertainment Industry in this day and time is full of gays and feminized blacks whose mission is to white wash our Black Glory. If one look critically in hip hop industry currently, there is no wonder that hip hop today stand to lead masses of our black youths to that which was against them. Those who remember "Fight The Power" by Public Enemy will surely agree that our hip hop and rap has been filtrated with the agenda which serve to kill us. One may say that hip hop is so weak today because the rappers behind the art they do not know about Black History. The whole culture is altered, for instance the jeans today are skinny and feminized rapper is what we have. Really, what happened to the great African civilizations of Ethiopia and Egypt in our arts? Who is there to articulate about those brave warriors who fought against the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade? Who will tell the young ones about the thousands of Black people who fought against racism before and after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Dr Nelson Mandela and Gandhi?

This version of Black History is considered too controversial for the mainstream music industry hip hop particular. That is why we have to raise awareness about the vitality of Black History Month. Also, if our youth can learn about the historical origin of Black Self Hate, history of Black to Black violence every February and beyond, they may be less likely to pick up an assault rifle or they may be less bleaching skin and look to white as "cute and cool". Thus by such achievement, we as the race labeled as consumers we will be impacting the gun industry, fashion industry and any industry which aim to use us.

Therefore Black History is more than a way to push a product; it must be viewed as the tie seeks to bind people of African descent together. So that we will know and remember to remember whose bones we are standing on this day and time. Our duty today is that we must concern ourselves with taking back our history, before we take back our communities. For Black History Month one may suggesting that Hip Hop and people who are involved in this craft should get involve, as we are asking rappers to come back home and build the black house and its high times that they should use  names of our Black heroes and heroines during Black History Month and Beyond.

It is important to note that Blacks have made unparalleled contributed to the advancement of Western civilization and the world, from great academics to all workmanship of arts, spots, freedom writers, engineers and inventors,  scientists, and through the genius of many great inventions. But, when one examines the inventory of executive leaders in corporations, politics, sports, and high-finance, there is a notable crisis in representative numbers of Black men and Black women in positions of power and high influence. Black History Month should be a month for I and I and collective reflection; a period to report on past and present accomplishments, and to build strong upon a vision and mission for the future of our race.

Therefore Black parents must strive for love, loyalty and fidelity in marriage, such human attributes are the greatest predicators of longevity in marriage and they remain a great enemy of black family. Our families are under siege since we faced social and economic challenges.  Absenteeism of the Black parents is to inadvertently sabotage the survival of the Black family.

For Black youths, I will like to focus specifically to “Black Boys”, slow down young blood, please guard your "freedom" you are the future of our Race. Peaceful revolution and commit to a life of non-violence. The price for violence is lawyers and Correctional Facilities. Young Black male remember we are interdependent beings. Before we live in the urban we were communities not "society". Therefore our young black male should seek help within the family and community. Black Boys do not despise your family or your elders, your community, respect the law, and respect your nation. Believe in higher powers that can change your life circumstances.

For any Black public figures near and far: lawmakers, law officers, educators, academics, media persons, entertainers and athletes, you have a great opportunity to influence youths of our race, stay black and positive. Not just because you are a public figure, but as living examples for the young ones to live and learn. The actions of Black professionals and Black public figures have a vital symbolic interaction and impact on the decisions that our youths make on a day to day basis. Most youngsters set their ambitions and goals by reflecting on the actions of Blacks in the commercial media.

Therefore Black professionals and Black figures: should seek to become mentors in Black communities. Black financiers and philanthropically minded individuals and organizations should assist Blacks in financing their businesses. For Blacks in general :we have a crucial role to play and we have to pray for all leadership which will defend Black Supremacy, in particular Black leaders that they will develop a higher over-standing of Race needs, priorities, and emergencies within Black communities. Those Black leaders who we vote for should assume some level of accountability and responsibility for the calamities that happened in Black communities, since they have access to state control and administrative mechanisms that can make a tangible change to restore our Black Glory.

We as black people in general we have a role to practice unselfish love, cooperation, and higher-integrity in business dealings. Strive to uplift our brothers and sisters in every way possible, let all work towards upliftment of our race. Let's pledge to take a serious interest in the welfare of children’s, families, communities, and nation. We can learn from history that in the absence of a loving and caring environment, the behavior of children’s can negatively impact home, community, nation, and the world. Our role as Blacks in general is strives to develop positive self-esteem in children.

To remember the bones we are standing on necessary means that, we must know the progress of our race, our people is not measured by individual progress, but by collective effort. Black progress must manifest in the offering of scholarships, and hiring representative numbers of university and college graduates. Black progress also means offering apprenticeships and internships within Black corporations.

“We must become something we have never been and for which our education and experience and environment have ill-prepared us. We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of new race, to overcome petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community”. HIM Emperor Haile Selassie I”.

  P.E.A.C.E

It is now 66 years since Apartheid was first passed as official policy, 24 years since the unbanning of political prisoners from Robben Island and 20 years after democracy in South Africa. With the recent passing of former president Nelson Mandela, all South Africans had the chance to reflect on the enormous strides taken towards equality in the last 70 years or so, notwithstanding struggles prior to the years leading up to the formation of the ANC as a voice for Black South Africans. Despite the numerous disagreements voiced by disparate bodies of people, the achievements are quite notable achievements.

However, I am one of those people that are never really easily satisfied by what I see around me. I have my qualms about present day South African society. I have no doubt that political freedom was achieved for marginalized people in South Africa, especially Blacks in South Africa, but equality is another story. I was speaking to my brother the other day about the plight of Black people in South Africa, historically and presently. I couldn’t help but notice that past injustices are still present day injustices towards Black people. We were looking at the meaning and value of totemism for example. Totemism is the belief in a special kinship or relationship between an animal or plant and a group of people. In many societies a clan will be represented by that plant or animal in the sense that when people call out their clan names the plant or animal is also called out. Clan names are important in Black South African traditional culture in the sense that people define and identify themselves through their clan names and relationships between people are inferred through their clan names. The totem therefore becomes a part of a person’s identity. The totem animal or plant is also of ritualistic or ceremonial significance meaning that it may be killed, eaten or used only during certain rituals. In some societies however, the animal is sacred and may not be killed at all.

Early missionaries often mistook totemism for animal worship. While writing this piece I went online and looked for some definitions of totemism. I found a definition in the Catholic Encyclopedia on www.newadvent.org. It read " Totemism constitutes the group of superstitions and customs of which the totem is the center...Maus says it does not exist in all savage races of our day (Annee sociologique, IV, 1899-1900)...The phenomena of totemism was first bought to the knowledge of the civilized world by the Jesuit missionaries to North America in the seventeenth century". I found this definition downright racist and offensive and I advise anyone to read the full definition on their website. Superstition?, Savage races? Civilized world? I looked up "superstition" in the same encyclopedia and it read "to stand in fear of the deity...there are four species of superstition which include improper worship of the true God, Idolatry, Divination and vain observances which include magic and the occult". So it is clear that the same missionary sentiments that were held hundreds of years ago about totemism are still shared by people today. Totemism is still reduced to superstition, a vain observance of the occult and savagery.

Missionaries and other writers at the time were ignorant of the coexistence between the animal and plant world and that of the humans. Herbert Spencer classed totemism under animal worship. He missed the point.The plants and animals that were totemic symbols for the different clans were to be protected and revered by the members of the clan. They were also to be revered by members of other clans who knew of the animal’s relationship to another clan. They could not be hunted during certain periods in some societies. Totemic symbols also extend to people’s relationships across a variety of locales. In the research that I do I have been to places for the first time where I have found relatives just by calling out my clan name and my totem. I have been welcomed in these societies even though they did not know me initially.

These days we are called to practice nature conservation whereas we have been practicing it in the form of totemism for centuries. Totemism has been described as a heathen, primitive traditional practice in the Western public imagination. It became associated with magic and animal worship, mistaken for idolatry. It has not been given the credit it deserves as a strategy of natural conservation. The prohibition of the killing of certain plants and animals was an effective way of conserving these animals even if it was not within the field of geography or natural or biological science. These were prohibitions that contributed to the harmonious existence of nature. Now this discrediting and misunderstanding of Africans and other ‘primitive’ cultures does not end there. It extends to the conceptions we have of African traditional religion specifically. We are still doing traditional societies an injustice today by the names we use to describe them and their belief systems. Certain terms are a giveaway to how African traditional practices are still conceived of today.

Primitive religion

Primitive religion has been a popular term used to describe African religion in a variety of historical texts. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines primitive as early, ancient, old-fashioned, simple, rude, original. One of the definitions contained in the Random House Webster’s Dictionary for primitive is simple or crude. Primitive derives from the Latin word primus denoting that which comes before something. African religions can be called primitive in the sense that they are old or ancient. But primitive as used to describe Africans has come to mean simple, crude, rude and base. It is synonymous to backwards. However when we look at African religions and ways of life, there is nothing simple about them. Also if primitive means ancient, of the ages, it should not exclude wise. But it does. The word primitive today denotes backwardsness. Also there are many other ancient religions that are not described as primitive even though they are very old. Chinese religion is called ancient but not primitive. Jewish and Islamic religions are also very old but they are not called primitive.

Pagan, Heathen

African religion and African people have been described as pagans and heathens. Pagan and heathen are defined as one thing in the Random House Webster’s Dictionary meaning a people who observe a polytheistic religion. It is a great mistake to apply this to African religion. In traditional Nguni religion we observe Umvelinqange, the Great Creator, the Supreme Being. The KhoiSan also observe a Great Creator, Tsui//goab. In no way are these religions polytheistic. Therefore in that sense they are not heathen or pagan. But because Christianity and white missionaries mistook practices such as totemism and animism, which is the belief that all living things have a soul, as animal worship, Black people were purported to worship animals as their gods. The Random House Webster’s Dictionary defines pagan as a person who is not Christian, Jew or Muslim. But are the Vedic religions considered pagan or heathen, or Chinese religions?

Ancestor worship

Christianity has always failed to grasp the difference between reverence and worship. Reverence means deep respect, acknowledgement. Worship involves the deification of something. In the same way that totemism and animism were confused with animal worship, so has ancestral reverence been confused with ancestral worship. Ancestral reverence is a deep concept and cannot be dealt with in the detail that it warrants here. However, in African tradition, people are respected even after death. They live on in our memories, we keep them alive in our memories through all the things that we do. We do not act in ways that they would not have appreciated while still alive. They bring our families together and keep them together whenever we have ceremonies to remember them. We do not sacrifice animals to them. They are not demons, as some of my Christian friends have purported.

Witchdoctor

A word still in common parlance today that owes its existence to the attitudes of early missionaries and anthropologists is witchdoctor. The witchdoctor is purported to be someone who uses magic to heal someone. The Random House Webster Dictionary has witchcraft as the practice of sorcery, and below that is witchdoctor, defined as a person in some societies who practices magic to cure illness. In traditional Nguni society there is no such thing as a witchdoctor, a person who uses magic to cure illness. There are traditional healers or herbalists who use herbs to heal illnesses. There are however, diviners, people who use divination methods to divine causes of illness and to diagnose illnesses. They may use parts of animals in their cures because these are believed to possess special properties but these are by no means magical properties. The funny thing is that parts of plants and animals have always been believed to have special healing properties amongst other cultures and religions but practitioners who have such beliefs in these cultures or religions are by  no means called witchdoctors. Witchdoctor is a derogatory term used to demean. It is part and parcel of the belief that African religions and people are primitive, debased, sinister and without God. African traditional healers are still discredited in South Africa even though there are people who still use their services 

Although we may want to believe that change has occurred in the last 20 years in South African and African societies, it is only on the surface. The words I have analysed here are words that are found in most of the dictionaries we use today. Nothing has changed about them. They are still problematic and derogatory in how they define words used to describe African traditions, religions and peoples. There is no reason why some people should still be defined as savage in 2014. If writers as prolific as Herbert Spencer are still being used to define African traditional practices in the incorrect and derogatory manner that they do then that is a serious problem. Although the dictionaries in question do not say which people are for instance heathen, pagan or primitive, those words have been used to describe African religious practices and people. Traditional African ways of life are still misregarded, marginalized and not given due credit for their values and contributions to society. The worst thing is that Black people hold these very same beliefs about their traditions as well. This is a huge problem for all people.

When people consult the dictionary and other texts to look for words like pagan, the derogatory definitions they find there are the ones they will associate with African religions. And it means that as long as incorrect words such as pagan, animal worship, ancestor worship are used to define African religion in place of totemism and ancestor reverence, traditional practices will exist in the bottom of society. Because as much as there are many more similarities than differences between African religions and other world religions, these are overlooked and only the incorrect aspects of African religion, paraded as differences, are highlighted. So although we say that there is freedom and equality in South Africa there is no equality because traditional practices are still disregarded, discredited and devalued. Insurance policies and medical aid schemes for instance have made it clear that there is no place for traditional African medicine in South African society by excluding them in their policies.

 *special thanks to the National Open University of Nigeria for some of the terms analysed in this piece

   Dumisa Sofika

I can tell you that it begins with your knowledge and perspective of yourself and of those in your cipher (those around you). That, however, I’d say beings you’re your perspective of the world, your world and our world – remember, there is the world as it is; the world as you see it and the world as we collectively see it. This allows you to acknowledge and understand the environment and/or society in which you are in and form a relationship with it, in other words, a means to relate to it and see it as your environment and society and also our environment and society. This may work the other way round, or even backwards for some people, we are a collective of individuals after. Nevertheless, the point is this: when you take ownership of something you immediately are protective over it and also want the best for it (in some cases, from it). If it can be nurtured, you want to see it blossom and prosper. Basically, you love it and respect it. Similarly, when you encounter something which belongs to someone else and that owner seems to respect, love and protect it, you’re likely to acknowledge and respect that too. Not necessarily love it, but cautious and certainly won’t want to inflict intentional harm or damage to it.

If we took a minute to look at Hip Hop like this, if we as individuals take ownership of it by saying I AM HIP HOP, we take become it, we embody it and start to live it, just as any culture should be. In order to BE Hip Hop, we have to first accept it as OUR culture, and not just YOU, but it is the Kulture of others as well and we have to respect that. It’s not about one’s music, one’s riches, one’s fashion-sense or such other, Hip Hop is not about that. Hip Hop is about the person; that individual under those clothes, the individual not their diamonds, record sales and cars. Also, its not about an individual’s ability to rap or emcee, or who the best rapper is, who signed to which record label and all that mess. Hip Hop is about the Individual and that individual’s character, train of thought, way of being and way of life.

Of course it’s not that simple though, otherwise everything happening within hip-hop (as in the industry and the music) would be justified . . .  everyone would just say “I’m being myself; I’m living according to the way I see fit, I don’t have to observe, acknowledge, respect or care about others and their opinions.” . . . OR . . . like our brothas and sistas in Hip Hop would say it: “I’m doin’ me, baby. I do me, bitch. I don’ give a f#@* ‘bout these n----s, son. Nah mean?”    Right?  J (Mind you, this way of speaking is not limited to the U.S anymore, especially not in 2013 and it's usually the guys.)

So this is why we go back to the foundational principle of Hip Hop that were laid down for us in 1973 by our father, Afrika Bambaataa and the Universal Zulu Nation…Peace! Love! Unity! and safely Having Fun!

If your way of being, way of life, train of thought, characteristics, persona, in fact your culture, which is you. If it does not promote; sustain; advocate for; defend; honour and exalt Peace, Love, Unity and safe Fun, then there’s a problem – that way of being conflicts with that of Hip Hop culture and in turn misrepresents the culture and every individual within it. Therefore, Hip Hop distances itself form that, in other words, that is NOT Hip Hop and its important we know this. As a culture we deserve our right to exist and to define ourselves. Our elders, the pioneers, the mothers and fathers of Hip Hop have done that ages ago. This is not a debate or talk on Underground vs. Commercial or Mainstream, nor is it about Old School vs. New School. This here is about TRUE SCHOOL. It’s that simple.

If WE ARE HIP HOP, we accept that Hip Hop is our culture. So, this means, at the very least, when asked what Hip Hop is, our response to that should be similar. The principles we live by and/or give out should be similar. They’re speaking, especially that of Hip Hop culture, should be similar. Remember, to you it may not mean much, but to the next person it may mean the world. So, whenever you’re representing and speaking on behalf of or about Hip Hop, remember that you’re not just speaking about an art-form; not just a music genre, but most importantly, you’re speaking about a culture, you’re speaking about a community. You’re speaking about People.

WE ARE ONE!!

Peace, Love and Light!!

Hakeem Kwezi. S

  Here are the links I promised above for Common feat. Bilal – The 6th Sense:

Lyrics: http://www.songonlyrics.com/common-the-6th-sense-lyrics-feat-bilal

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTGxPiEg7iM

  Check out this song by Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown –  Unity (aka Peace, Unity, Love and having Fun):

However, today our culture and celebrations have been exploited by everything from car companies that seek to sell Black people pimped them out to restaurants that create a soul food dollar menu year after year. As descendants of Africa both at home and abroad these are high times that we should guide against forgetting as Right Honorable Marcus  Garvey told us that people without knowledge of their past are like the tree without root.

What is most disturbing is that most of the companies that one would hear saying “I’mBlack and I am proud “in today’s media are the same ones that dissed Black folks in the 90’s. We should be extra careful as the black world of people since our enemies are under the guise of Black History, they gave us just enough to keep “Black leaders” happy and to ease white guilt. As a result we get the same old repeated slavery, civil rights stories over and over again. We should ask ourselves to what happened to the great African civilization of Ethiopia and Kemet(commonly known as Egypt? What about those brave warriors who fought against Trans-Atlantic Slave Traders?Or what about thousands of Black people who fought against racism before and after DrMartin Luther King Jr?

This version of Black History is deemed too controversial for the mainstream and mass popular culture. Although controversial may sell rap cds, in most cases telling the truth about Black History may be bad for the business. For example, if more Black youth knew about the bondage done to mother Africa over the scramble for gold and diamonds, maybe “bling” would not be so popular.If the Black youth got a strong dose of true African history during Black History Month, may be they would start wearing dashikis(A loose and brightly coloured African shirt ) and kafis instead of snapbacks and true religion of jeans. Which would impact the clothing industry? At the same time if our black youth learned about the historical origin of black on black violence and the prevalence of the Willie Lynch Syndrome every February, they may be less likely to pick up and assault and perpetuate black on black hatred. Thus, impacting gun industry, as it is said that it is not the Whiteman’s hands on the trigger, doing drive by shooting and calling each other words which I can’t repeat here.

Therefore the only ones who truly benefited from Black history are us Black people, that is why our stories must be told and it should be told by us. There must be a hostile takeover of Black History Month, since Black History is more than a way of pushing anartifact. Our Black History is atie that binds us as Africa-Ethiopia Black World of people together in Black Supremacy of Righteousness.

So, when we begin to talk about “taking back Hip Hop” or” taking back our community,” we must concern ourselves with taking back our history as Black World of People.

These are high times that we embark on a revolutionary campaign on a mission to bring back Black consciousness and there is no better time to start than the time right now. Back then Public Enemy had a mission to raise up 5,000 Black leaders during the time of crises on leadership in the late 80’s, your duty today, is to raise up 5,000 intellectual warriors who are devoted for the course of our people who have been lost on this postmodern society.

To cut a long story short Black History Month should be deployed as a tool which will help to solve our problems as Black World of people, and it should be used to guide against forgetting who we are, and whose bones we are standing with.

As a replacement for the dependence on the mass media to give us the truth about our account and history, we must use YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to start a “Black History: Websites,Pages and Episodes” series whereby we will post and Tweet information that has been deliberately buried from the masses of Black World of people. As the matter of fact Hip Hop must also get convoluted as we are asking rappers to adopt the names of our Black heroes and heroines during Black History Month and beyond. If rappers can name themselves after comic book heroes like “Johnny Blaze” and Hollywood gangsters’ like “Frank White” and “Scarface” , why can’t we have , “The King Tut of the Turntables,” “The Nat Turner of Rap”,” or “The Harriet Tubman of Hip Hop.Or Royal Empress Kemet,Queen Nyabhiny, Hapetia of Black Ethiopia?

“History is the landmark by which we are directed into the true course of life. The history of amovement, the history of a nation, the history of a race is the guide-post of that movement’sdestiny, that nation's destiny, that race's destiny. What you do today that is worthwhile, inspire others to act at some future time”

HISTORY WILL JUDGE US FOR BEING FORGETFUL

Brother Jah X