Urban Victims, The New Crack Syndrome – Part I

Part I of a four-part series entitled “The African-Centered Family.”

By Heru Ammen

”As for the man without experience who listens not, he effects nothing whatsoever. He sees knowledge in ignorance, profit in loss; he commits all kinds of error, always accordingly choosing the contrary of what is praiseworthy. He lives on that which is mortal, in this fashion. His food is evil words, whereat he is filled with astonishment. That which the great know to be mortal he lives upon every day, flying from that which would be profitable to him, because of the multitude of errors which present themselves before him every day.”

Excerpted from “The Precepts of Ptah-Hotep”

The negative cultural dynamics that affect our urban communities are played out daily in the form of negative words, deeds, and actions. Violence and abuse (mental, physical, and especially sexual) which is primarily directed at women, children, and teens perpetuates a destructive template that desensitizes and dehumanizes its victims.

Those that survive the above madness often suffer from a post-traumatic syndrome induced malaise that numbs them to the effects of abuse and violence. The abuse and all that accompanies it has become the normal socio-psycho template for urban communities. Because the aforementioned abuse will likely occur over and over again, the resulting malaise is a survival and coping mechanism that insulates the victim from having to suffer through the natural emotional stages (i.e., hurt, anger, realization, healing) associated with being constantly abused.

Society cannot reasonably expect the majority of the individuals that exist within this type of urban environment to come out of it unscathed. This is especially true regarding children. Children are the most vulnerable and are the ones that are most likely to be abused. Young boys and girls are often the target of sexual predators. They are preyed upon by teens and adults; many of whom were once themselves victims of sexual and physical abuse. I believe that the rise in African Americans under the age of thirty-five identifying themselves, being labeled as or exhibiting the behavioral characteristics of a bisexual, gay, lesbian, pimp, ho, or player, is directly related to the sexual abuse that they endured as children and teens.

Before anyone goes on a tangent and accuse me of gay bashing, let me be clear regarding my position. Since the days of ancient Greece, there have always been and will always be a small percentage of individuals that identify themselves as gay or lesbian within what was once ancient African and is now the African American community. Whether one is born that way or makes a conscious choice to be gay or lesbian does not matter (to me). However there is a difference between being born and/or choosing to be gay and being sexually abused as a child and continuing that behavior as an adult. The former is a conscious decision based upon a genetic predisposition and/or a choice. The latter is a learned behavior based upon forced coercion and abuse.

This cycle of abuse and the resulting predatory behavior is so prevalent and entrenched within urban America that it has become a culture unto itself. Yet we find nary a public figure, minister, or so called Black Leader addressing this issue with the fervor and the sense of urgency that it deserves. Urban America has become an environement which perpetuates the generational condition which I term the New Crack Syndrome; where one is born as nothing more that a potential victim of physical and sexual abuse and grows up to emulate the behavior of their abuser.

The African-Centered Family - Introduction

“When a son receives the instruction of his father there is no error in all his plans. Train your son to be a teachable man whose wisdom is agreeable to the great. Let him direct his mouth according to that which has been said to him; in the docility of a son is discovered his wisdom. His conduct is perfect while error carries away the unteachable. Tomorrow knowledge will support him, while the ignorant will be destroyed.”

Excerpted From “The Precepts of Ptah-Hotep”

Introduction to a four-part series entitled “The African-Centered Family.”

By Heru Ammen

There are moments when a man’s spirit and soul are tested to the very core of his being. It is inevitable that if a man lives long enough he will come upon a moment when failing to answer the call of one of life’s many challenges is not an option. As such, there is no challenge greater or one that has more significance in a man’s life than accepting and embracing the responsibility to shape and mold his son into a man. In America, no job is harder or more demanding for an African American male than to traverse the system of blocks and obstacles placed within his path and maneuver his male progeny into a position to succeed in life.

An excellent example of the quintessential African-Centered father can be found in the person and progeny of the late Earl Woods. The world saw the culmination of his handiwork on display this summer at the British Open Golf Tournament in the person of Eldrick “Tiger” Woods and it was a masterpiece to behold. The greatness that is Tiger Woods is a direct reflection of and in direct proportion with the greatness that was Earl Woods.

For this writer greatness is not quantified by how many golf tournaments Tiger wins. The greatness that is Tiger Woods is quantified by his success at meeting the challenges that fame has brought upon him. There is no doubt whatsoever that his golf game is superior. However what impresses me is the humbleness and humility of his persona. It would be easy for Tiger to toot his own horn. But the fact that Tiger goes about his business with a quiet and Zen like discipline is a testament to the values that his father, the late Earl Woods instilled within him.

What a man teaches his son will affect the global family. When there is no man to teach the son the principles of how to order one’s conduct as a man should, the global family suffers. Our communities suffer because at this point in our history there are very few male-female familial infrastructures that exist within our communities. A women, even one who is spiritually strong and lives within and teaches right knowledge cannot offer her male child all that is required for him to become a man. Intuitively a male child will be drawn to the actions and mindset of the males that culturally predominate his community. As such, he becomes that which he sees and experiences and much of what is seen and experienced today is of a negative nature.

In the next the weeks to come the Urban Village Blog & Commentary will explore the issues that have hurt the traditional African American family and caused it to become almost non-existent within our communities. We will also explore the solutions that can be employed to reconstruct the African American family unit into the spiritual and economically viable entity that it once was, and how doing so will cause the reformation of a great African-Centered culture and society.

Another Example of The Afro-Saxon Mentality

Star Parker, the writer of the above linked article pontificates eloquently about her disdain for the Spike Lee documentary that clearly exposed the ineptitude of BushCo. Like most Afro-Saxons, she would rather wax nostagically about so-called traditional american values as opposed to seeing the facts as the vast majority of Americans clearly saw them.

The fact is that the Bush Administration sat on their rosy scented posteriors for five days and did nothing while Americans dehydrated, drowned, starved, died, and marinated into premium maggot feed in the hot Mississippi Delta sun. There is absolutely nothing one can say to dispute the above facts and no amount of obfuscation, victim blame game, or thinly veiled and/or glibly lame racist rhetoric will ever take away from those facts.

In her attempt to appease her neo-con base, Ms. Parker fails to recognize the harm done to the African Americans by a system that first enslaved us and then failed to deliver to us a modicum of the promise of freedom, liberty, and justice until just over 40 years ago.

Ms. Parker believes that somehow a people that have had their culture, familial rights, and human dignity systematically stripped from them for over 340 years is somehow prepared to totally extricate themselves from that condition after only 40 years of so called freedom.

As a comparison, it took europeans over 10,000 years after Africans had developed several noteworthy cultures and over 3,000 years after the African High Culture Civilizations were in existence to finally formulate a culture worthy of history's voice.

Just like the Europeans that engaged in the wholesale slaughter and enslavement of the African, the Afro-Saxon sees no harm in the destruction of the African American. This is why Ms. Parker can set at her keyboard and poo-poo a documentary that clearly went to great lengths to let those affected by Katrina tell their story.

It is Afro-Saxons like Ms. Parker that have true African-Centered Conservatives (like myself) constantly reaching for the maalox. It appears that she is neither a student of history, nor does she appear to have compassion for her fellow brothers and sisters. But then again, ignorance and indifference is another feature of the Afro-Saxon mindset.

Payment Due

By Heru Ammen

In 1947 the State of Israel was formed over the objection of all of the Arab nations. The U.N mandated 1947 U.N. Partition Plan divided the Palestine territory into two states with roughly 55% of that territory belonging to the newly formed State of Israel. This partition plan was summarily rejected by the Arab League primarily because the plan forcibly displaced the indigenous Arab population. The partition and the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel lead to the displacement of over 700,000 indigenous Arabs; with some estimates placing that number as high as 900,000.

The official reasoning for establishing the modern State of Israel can be found in the aforementioned Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel where it reads “…the Land of Israel, was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.” By stressing their own religious beliefs and history as the foundational premise for the establishment of modern day Israel, the Jewish people (with the approval of the U.N., Europe, Russia, and the United States) effectively dismissed the spiritual, religious, and political identity of the entire Arab world. Not surprisingly the Arabs reacted violently to this declaration. The interjection of a Jewish state in what was for over 1800 years Arab territory was followed by the first Arab-Jewish war. Since that period tension between Israel and its Arab neighbors have ebbed and flowed with atrocities being committed against the other by both parties.

Due primarily to its close relationship with the USA, Israel has always held military superiority in that region; which has enabled it to withstand all incursions from its Arab neighbors. Arab militants bent on the destruction of Israel have always known that America had Israel’s back and that threat has acted as a stern deterrent to any nation wishing to impose its military and political will upon Israel. That is up until now. Because of the war and the subsequent occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan there is a perception amongst Arab militants that America is no longer in a position to readily assist Israel at this time.

Additionally the arming of the Hezbollah and Hamas militias by Iran and Syria has changed the military dynamics of the region. So while America continues to be bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel is now faced with the prospect of fighting a war on multiple fronts without that (perceived) American military advantage. Needless to say the perception that America is not in a position to readily assist Israel and the upgraded military prowess of Hezbollah and Hamas may result in an escalation of violence in the Middle East to unprecedented proportions. Israel may have acted as it did (some say disproportionally) due to this perception.

Another factor that is in play in this drama is the fact that in the past when tensions have spilled over into violence between Israel and its neighbors, America was in a position to offer a diplomatic solution. Unfortunately the Bush Administration is arguably the most diplomatically inept administration in modern American history. Also the fact that this administration is now perceived to be unethical, dishonest, and untrustworthy by most Americans and Europeans alike does not bode well for an American led diplomatic solution to this crisis.

In my last commentary I discussed the (metaphysical) consequences of wrong actions. A simple analogy one can take from that commentary is that an individual or even a nation cannot engage in acts contra-posed to justice and peace and escape the consequences of their actions. It is inevitable that at some point in time the universe will (sometimes violently) re-balance itself in some form or fashion and that is a sobering reality that the world will have to deal with.

Metaphysical Consequences of Wrong Actions

It is a consequence of the principles of physics that for every action, there will be an equal and opposite reaction and/or force applied against the original action from the opposite direction. For those that are so inclined, the principles of metaphysics act in the same manner but are generally slower to develop and materialize within the plane of thoughts and actions. The laws of metaphysics (The African Branch: emphasis mine) dictates that no individual, group, or even a nation’s government can consciously (i.e., with malice of forethought) engage in evil (war, economic and social oppression, selfishness, bigotry, discrimination, lasciviousness, and other obscene behavior) and have good (peace, harmony, righteousness, justice) to result from the evil that was engaged in. Based upon recent world events, it appears that our world leaders have forgotten that axiom or have chosen to ignore it.

In direct opposition of the laws of metaphysics is the dogma of religion. Religious dogma, especially the western flavor, presupposes that God choose a certain individual or group to speak and act in God’s name and those that don’t, won’t or cannot go along with the program are enemies of God and are subject to the “will” of God which is invariably carried out by its followers with God’s help and blessings. The vulnerability associated with religious dogma lies in the fact that he who has the biggest sword ultimately dictates what constitutes religious dogma. As such, religious dogma is subject to the whims and various ideological constructs of an ever changing social order.

We see this type of religious based drama being played out daily all over the world. The war in Iraq precipitated the Muslim insurgency which precipitated sectarian violence, which precipitated saber rattling between the leaders of Iran and America which could possibly lead to another war. Israel occupied Palestinian territory which precipitated attacks against Israel by Palestinians Muslims, which precipitated counter attacks, which precipitated saber rattling between Israel and most of the Muslim world and has Israel gearing up in preparation for war. This drama includes the murder of Iraqis by Iraqis and betwixt Arabs of different Muslim sects is a direct result of ideological differences based upon religious dogma. Here in America that drama plays out mostly within the political arena. However the result are similar in that certain individuals and groups are marginalized in an effort by religious and racially motivated dogmatists to make over America into the country they believe God wants America to be.

Western religions point towards a time of retribution and tribulation followed by a final reckoning. The violent actions and the subsequent reactions that are taking place throughout the world have many western-religious based dogmatists believing that we are now witnessing the end of the world and the forthcoming of a new and Godly world order. The only problem is that they can’t agree, even amongst their own like-minded, religious brethren on whom will God save and whom will God destroy. But instead of allowing God to make that decision, they’ve taken matters into their own hands and declared war against those individuals and nations that embrace beliefs that are in conflict with their beliefs. From a psychological perspective one could argue that individuals who embrace this type of mindset suffer from clinically defined insanity. One thing is for certain. If we continue to allow ourselves to be defined by a religion, society (as we know it) will ultimately be destroyed by it.

Steele Disconnected

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Aug. 28, 1963

Those words spoken by Dr. King put America on trial and in 1964 the American Government pled guilty and subsequently signed the Civil Rights Act into law. However the light of justice and truth that shined so brightly on Jim Crow is now focused squarely in the faces of our most prominent Americans of African Ascent. Extrapolating from Dr. Kings’ speech, the content of one’s character is directly reflected in their treatment of and their interaction with their brothers and sisters; i.e., the human family. One’s character can be and often times is reflected in the company that one keeps. Utilizing that analogy, if you keep company with demagogues, bigots, and purveyors of sleaze, then it is only natural that your character will be called into question.

That brings us to the subject of our commentary. Michael Steele who is the republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the State of Maryland was the recipient of a lavish fundraiser. Floyd Brown a long time republican strategist who engages in what many consider to be sleaze and racial innuendo politics hosted the fundraiser for Mr. Steele. Mr. Brown created the infamous “Willie Horton” ad that used the old, but still effective “fear of a mad Black Male” routine that sunk Michael Dukakis’ 1988 Presidential campaign by portraying the then Massachusetts Governor as soft on crime.

In addition to being supported financially by Floyd Brown, Michael Steele’s supporters and financial backers read like a who’s who list of Ku Klux Klan grand potentates; i.e., Trent Lott who enthusiastically opined that this country would have been a better place had America “followed our (Mississippi’s) lead” and elected Strom Thurmond President in 1948. In addition to Lott, Michael Steele has the support and financial backing of Alex Castellanos. Castellanos was instrumental in getting Jesse Helms re-elected to the Senate with his “white hands” advertisement.

In politics it is often times necessary to work with individuals that you may have ideological differences with. This is not the case in this instance. The fact is that Michael Steele has embraced and encouraged support from and is primarily back by individuals like Trent Lott, Floyd Brown, and Alex Castellanos. These are individuals that actively pursue an agenda that seeks to marginalize African Americans. This calls into question Mr. Steele’s judgment as well as his character. At the very least, it can be argued that he’s disconnected from the reality of just who these people are and what they represent.

In defending the fact that he openly embraces these types of individuals Michael Steele was quoted in the Washington Post stating “The way I look at it, if I am in the United States Senate, I’ll be a voice at the table that’s probably not been appreciated that much in the past,” That statement would carry more weight if Mr. Steele’s agenda even somewhat differed from the one Trent Lott espouses. But it’s doesn’t and that is why his judgment and the content of his character is being called into question by many of the people that he wishes to serve.

Black Web Awards

Press Release Excerpted From: www.BlackWebAwards.com

BLACKWEBAWARDS.COM^m NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR EXCELLENT WEBSITES

The BWA's Celebrate African, African American and Caribbean Excellence Online in 100 Categories

Baltimore, MD - The Nomination period for the First Annual BlackWebAwards (BWA)'s is now open! Established to highlight the vast and exceptional online achievements of Black people, the BWA's are the first and only organized effort to recognize and celebrate African, African American and Caribbean excellence online. This "friendly competition" allows website customers, fans and designers to nominate their favorite websites in over 100 categories, for FREE. With categories such as Best House of Worship Site, Best Wealth Building Site, Best Author Site and the Site We Miss Most, it will be clear to all that the Black Web Awards have a category for everyone!

The nomination period lasts until August 14, 2006. Nominations are FREE, open to the public and must be submitted online at www.BlackWebAwards.com. Five Hundred finalists will be announced on August 28 online via free streaming video and podcast. After the finalists are announced, the open voting period will begin. Site visitors will be invited to visit BlackWebAwards.com and cast their votes for their favorite finalists in each category. The BWA's reach their conclusion in November 2006, when the final winners are announced at an exclusive Invitation Only Awards Gala.

"We are pleased to organize and launch this important milestone event for the Black web" Says Odogwu Obi Linton, President of Linton Publishing, LLC, a Baltimore, Maryland USA based, 100% Black owned and operated company. "It's long overdue, and will help promote hundreds of creative, original online efforts to the world. It's FREE to nominate a site - so let the competition begin!"

Site visitors can catch up on the latest updates and announcements on the BWA's by tuning into the free weekly online webcast Countdown to the BWA's, hosted by National XM Radio Talk Show Host Blanche Williams, or by signing up for the BWA free weekly e-newsletter.

Oprah And The Three Bears

Rappers 50 Cent, Ludacris, and Ice-Cube have all complained about being dissed by Oprah Winfrey. In the May 2006 issue of GQ Magazine, Ludacris complained that a number of his comments were edited when he appeared on an Oprah show about racial discrimination. After taping he said that “she pulled me into a room and we had a five-minute conversation. What I got was that by having rappers on her show, she feels like she’s empowering them.”

Ice Cube has complained about being dissed by Oprah. In the May issue of FMH Magazine he lamented "I've been involved in three projects pitched to her, but I've never been asked to participate. For Barbershop, she had Cedric the Entertainer and Eve on, but I wasn't invited. Maybe she's got a problem with hip-hop. She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?”

50 Cent isn’t feeling Oprah either. In an AP article he shrugged off Oprah with the comment, “I think she caters to older white women." I believe the crux of the issue in this case is, and borrowing a line from one of my favorite movies (Cool Hand Luke) delivered by one of my favorite actors (Strother Martin) “What we have here is a failure to communicate." Whether Oprah has an issue with hip-hop or not, she is arguably one of maybe two or three African Americans that could bring about a much needed nationwide dialogue with all facets of the African American community on Rap and Hip-Hop.

We can no longer afford to dismiss certain elements within the Hip-Hop community just because we may find them to be less than what we expect them to be. Ice Cube, Ludacris, and 50 Cent are major players in an industry that is global in concept and scale. Based upon that fact, it is time we sit down at the table of discussion with all interested parties and break the bread of honest and frank dialogue with one another. As I pointed out in Faking The Funk “It’s as if there is some type of disconnect between the reality that is Urban America and the causes that brought Urban America to its current reality. The reality of Urban America (the negative and yes, the positive) is what gave birth to Rap and Hip-Hop. By dismissing that reality, we abdicate responsibility to determine its path.

We failed to address the genesis of overt poverty and economic genocide within Urban America. We did not raise our voices loud enough when our urban communities were overrun with drugs, violence, and mayhem. We ignored the negative socio-economic impact that the loss of schools and viable businesses had on Urban America. We did nothing when our young boys and girls brought children into this world out of wedlock.

Ice Cube, Ludacris, 50 Cent and other well known rappers are the progeny of our own benign neglect and however one feels about their music or about them personally, they are looked upon as leaders and role models to millions of fans and wannabe rap artists within the industry. Like Oprah, they too were fortunate enough to rise above the urban dysfunction and succeed despite existing within the midst of it. However for every Oprah and Ice Cube, or a 50 Cent that made it, there were/are thousands that continue to have no choice but to succumb and capitulate their dreams to survive and that cannot continue. Can you feel we?

Faking The Funk Part II

As far as personal responsibility is concerned, I am definitely one who believes in taking responsibility for one's own actions. However I find it hypocritical that Americans of European descent do not take responsibility for the genocide, enslavement and forced social and religious assimilation of the cultures of color throughout the world during the last 1700 years. The fact that they now want to blame us for surviving in the madness that their ancestors created and their peers continue to perpetuate is a testament to the arrogance one would associate with a bigot. One cannot expect a people to rise and transform when one's foot is firmly entrenched upon their collective necks.

What is more amazing (or maybe not) is that we now have what I believe to be misguided African Americans supporting and lending their voices to the alabaster hued chorus of “They need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps like I did.” That is akin to a parent allowing a male child to wear nothing but female clothes and then when that child becomes an adult, the parent complains about him acting like a woman.

It is difficult to see or understand the digestive process when one exists inside the belly of the beast. The beast in this case is Urban America and the belly is a system that enthusiastically perpetuates poverty and ignorance. Poverty is perpetuated by a system that has failed to embrace urban development initiatives in the form of adequate housing and viable business platforms. It is a system that has failed to create any significant educational initiatives.

From an environmental perspective urban communities have traditionally existed in areas where chemicals, heavy metals, and other toxic substances pollute the air, water, and land in higher concentrations than other areas; some of the effects of which are higher infant death rates, a higher concentration of children with learning disabilities, and other social and health related issues. Combine the above with the aggressive stance of the criminal and judicial system in urban areas and we now have a recipe for social chaos. One can argue that the above system is a type of slavery wrapped neatly within a de facto socio-economic apartheid created to bring harm to those that are either dependent upon and/or are trapped inside of it.

One of the greatest symbols of freedom in America is the Statue of Liberty. Inscribed on the plaque at the bottom of her are these words compose by the nineteenth century poet Emma Lazarus; “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, the tempest tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” For the African American urban masses, that promise has been found wanting and payment is way overdue.

Faking The Funk - Huxtable Style

In an article on BlackCommentator.com, Dr. Mark Lamont Hill takes Bill Cosby to task for his apparent denunciation of anything and all that is urban-centered. It is an excellent article and gives its readers a microcosmic insight on the chasm sized dichotomy that exists between what I shall now term The Cosby Generation and their apparent nemesis, the Hip-Hop Generation. Hopefully I can shed some light on what I believe is the root cause of this schism.

The problem (as I see it) lies primarily with the Cosby Generation and other liked minded individuals insistence on verbally assaulting the urban poor while either ignoring or not fully "overstanding" the issues that Urban America is dealing with. It’s as if there is some type of disconnect between the reality that is Urban America and the causes that brought Urban America to its current reality.

The causes that precipated the reality that is post-modern Urban America lies directly at the feet of and primarily resulted from The Cosby generation abandonment (physical and social) of the Urban African American Community shortly after the various Civil Rights bills were passed by Congress and signed into law in 1964 and 1965. During the decade of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, urban flight by African Americans precipitated the destruction of historical black communities. Jobs, schools, and businesses left urban communities in droves.

After the Black Exodus, what were then large pockets of poverty spread throughout and eventually became entrenched within urban America. At the same time that this was happening, African Americans who were able to take advantage of the few crumbs that integration and affirmative action programs had to offer forgot about or ignored what was happening in Urban America. The brothers and sisters within our poorer communities were essentially left to fend for themselves with no infrastructure and with absolutely no support from the greater African American community.

This poverty was exacerbated by a welfare program which was a de facto money machine that created free multiple streams of income primarily to African American women to a.) Stay single, b.) become totally dependent upon the government for their needs and c.) have children out of wedlock. We are now witnessing the results of urban black flight and the welfare system; and that is widespread ignorance, mayhem and violence within and against our own people by our own people.

What is remarkable is that our urban brothers and sisters had enough moxie and determination to make it through relatively intact despite all of the above and the dysfunction found within Urban America. They created their own variant of the English language which we misnomer Ebonics. They created a globally accepted, lucrative, and often copied musical art form called Hip-Hop. They became highly expressive in giving their children a distinct and unmistakable identity with names like Shenikua, Latavia-Deshell, Shaheem and Royhame. They did all of this in spite of being abandoned by their educated and upwardly mobile African American brothers and sisters.

The question that should be asked is what was Bill Cosby and others in his generation doing when our poorer communities were being ripped to shreds by the Post Civil-Rights Black Exodus? What were these folks doing when schools were closing in Urban America and valuable educational resources were being shipped to suburbia? What advice, programs, or support, were they giving to the young teen aged girls who were contemplating or actually bringing out of wedlock babies into this world? And which Black celebrities, ministers, counselors, or so called black leaders were mentoring the young men that were impregnating and then abandoning these young girls? The Cosby Generation failed our communities when we needed the most help. And now they want to complain about and bemoan the results of their failure? That is the lowest form of hypocrisy in my book!

Defining African-Centered

As we move well into the first decade of twenty-first century, Americans of African ascendency are beginning to examine and research history, culture, and religion from an African perspective. Books abound regarding the above subjects. As such many African Americans are waking up to the realization that it was the African who first created civilization. We now know based upon the outstanding works by Jochannon, Clarke, Diop, Sertima, Williams, Darkwah, James and other masters of ancient African history that our ancestors built and were maintaining what is termed “High Culture Civilizations” thousands of years before any other culture.

Although we can and should have pride in the accomplishments of our ancestors, we cannot afford to let that pride get us caught up (again!) in some sort of black nationalist agenda complete with Dashikis, Afros, and “power to the people” sloganeering. We should focus the majority of our attention not on what our ancestors built; our primary focus should be on learning and incorporating the mindset that fomented the thoughts and actions that led to the building of African High Culture Civilizations. In essence, we should focus on becoming African-Centered spiritually as well as intellectually.

These high culture civilizations existed and were maintained in large part because of the highly cultivated and spiritually intellectual nature of our Ancestors. This spirit intellect was founded upon the principle of always seeking right knowledge which leads to right actions. In ancient African terminology right knowledge and right actions were rooted in the principles of Ma’at; which simply means truth, justice, and balance. Our ancestors overstood that there was a force, an omnipotent entity if you will, that brought all things into existence. Since all things exist, then all things must be overstood for one to exist in harmony with all things.

African-Centered means that one accepts responsibility for their actions and to those that they are responsible to and for. In layman terms, it means if one is hungry, then justice demands that they must be fed so that they will not have to steal food to eat. If one is ignorant, then they must be educated so they will not remain ignorant and become a burden to their family or community. African-Centered means that the needs of the masses far outweigh the desires or needs of the individual or even a system of governance. African-Centered demands that the community care for and assist everyone that exists in it; not as a form of welfare, but as a form of love and commitment for the greater good.

African-Centered means to give back to that which gave you life, abundance, and liberty. It simply means that one should endeavor to bring what they have learned and earned back to the community to build upon and continue the success of the community so that each generation can have the same opportunity to rise and transform. African-Centered means that one realizes that all is one and connected to the all. I find this perspective to be in direct conflict with Western notions that humans are something "separate from other forms of life and the universe." Those who are steeped in Western notions often cling to the idea that we are above and better than the rest of the Universe. Fortunately our ancestors overstood the connection to the all in all and when we begin to intuit this truth for ourselves, it is then that we will be able to create the same high culture civilizations that they did.

The Afro-Saxon Mentality

The so called Black Experience in America has left us with an indelible record of outstanding achievement in the face of great adversity. African Americans such as W.E.B. Dubois, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Huey P. Newton, and other African American men and women achieved their goals despite facing the possibility and/or reality of imprisonment, bodily injury, and even death.

However, for every Dr. King and Malcolm X, dozens of step-and-fetchits capitulated in the face of overt racism and bowed down to the alter of euro-centric values. This was certainly understandable based upon the fact that during the Jim Crow era the socio-economic status of African Americans was predicated upon their ability (or inability) to maneuver in a society that was overtly hostile to people of color. Decisions had to be made based upon self preservation and the preservation of the African American family unit. As such, one had to do what one had to do to survive and move forward. Fortunately the energy level of the Civil Rights movement was such that it completely overwhelmed the status quo of Jim Crow and brought a modicum of justice to the cause of freedom for African Americans.

Since that period we have experienced the rise of what I term the Afro-Saxon. The Afro-Saxon embodies the euro-centric mindset to the point where they reject anything related to African thought, African culture, or its value system. Not only do Afro-Saxons reject the values found in African-Centrism, they have shown a propensity to engage in a de facto war against anything related to an African-Centered value system. In other words, they have become the proverbial lynch mob of the twenty first century. However instead of lynching Africans, they now engage in the “lynching” of ideas and initiatives that are imperative to and essential for the survival of the African American community.

Quite frankly, Afro-Saxons have mentally bought into the premise of white supremacy. Afro-Saxons engage in the propagation of a value system that enthusiastically promotes the needs of the one (i.e., self) while limiting and stigmatizing initiatives and ideas that would resolve and satisfy the needs of the many. Because of its ability to easily infiltrate institutions of learning, communication, and commerce, the Afro-Saxon has brought more harm to the African American community then Jim Crow ever could.

The harm is being done in several ways. One of the most harmful things that the Afro-Saxon has done is to reject and work to destroy the idea of any type of affirmative action, even though for 340 years prior to affirmative action African Americans were locked out of freely pursuing the so called American dream. They would rather see the poor and ignorant “pick themselves up by their bootstraps” and make it just like they did even though in most cases affirmative action is what helped the Afro-Saxon to “make it” in the first place. Afro-Saxons have brought harm by rejecting and working against any initiatives that would invest capital within the inner city that could be utilized to jump start housing, schools, and business development in these communities.

The Afro-Saxon pontificates eloquently about traditional American values and romanticizes about America’s founding fathers and its founding citizens. Yet the Afro-Saxon fails to recognize or tries to disassociate them from and play down the harm done to the African and Native American by these same individuals. Just like the Europeans that engaged in the wholesale slaughter and enslavement of the African, the Afro-Saxon sees no harm in the slavery, murder, and destruction of the African. To the Afro-Saxon, these things were necessary in order to bring a civilized temperament to the African psyche. Unfortunately the Afro-Saxon is a prominent fixture in American society. Fortunately, he is easily recognized and as we all know, recognition is the first step in dealing with an issue.

Defining African American Conservatism

The phenomenon known as Black Conservatism has begun to make significant inroads within the African American political arena. African Americans such as J. Kenneth Blackwell, Michael Steele, and Lynn Swann proudly wear the conservative banner and are serious contenders in three closely watched political races. Clarence Thomas and Ward Connelly have long been the poster children for the Black conservative movement. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the above mentioned individual’s political views, I believe that it is important to begin to define conservatism in relation to its effect upon the African American community from an African American perspective.

I believe that there are at least two branches of Black conservatism. The first branch is an offshoot of the post-modern conservative movement. This movement is primarily defined by and through the Republican Party platform and is filtered and communicated through a christian-right, white-american conservative perspective. Its focus is on returning America to some mythical state of existence where ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity is frowned upon and everyone is of the same religious, moral, and social mindset; i.e., the proverbial Borg Collective.

In this writer’s opinion, traditional post-modern conservatism is anathema to African Americans. The roots of post-modern conservatism can be found within the Jim Crow movement. Post-modern conservatism seeks to destroy diversity just as Jim Crow sought to destroy diversity. Post-modern conservatism seeks to limit access and the flow of capital to the poor and disenfranchised just as Jim Crow sought to limit the flow of capital to and disenfranchise African Americans. And just like Jim Crow promoted a narrow view of what constitutes American society, post-modern conservatism seeks to do the same.

African Americans that assimilate into and embrace the above-defined conservative movement can offer nothing of value to the African American community and it appears that in most cases they are comfortable with that position. Any movement that embraces a platform that promotes policies, laws, and actions that stifle economic freedom, social liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is harmful to African Americans. Additionally, if one embraces a movement that is defined as harmful to African Americans, then one should be judged accordingly.

Currently the second branch of the African American Conservative Movement is gently bubbling at the grassroots level. However the agenda of this branch of African American conservatism could be far more significant in terms of positive change than the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s. This movement is primarily economic in nature and is based upon the values associated with a cooperative economic agenda, combined with an African-Centered (and globally relevant) educational system. This movement seeks to create an infrastructure that supports the values that will allow African Americans to rebuild their communities and heal the fractured familial, cultural, and social relationships that are essential for the survival of people of African ascendency.

The flavor of this type of conservatism appears to be more palatable to the masses of African Americans – especially those of whom are independent of and/or reject both the Republican and Democratic Party agendas. Its structure is one where ideas that support diversity and infrastructural capitalization are encouraged. It is a movement where society is defined by what its constituents bring to the arena of ideas and values, and not by the narrow viewpoints of symbiotic provocateurs and pontificators. It not only encourages us to pull ourselves up and over by our bootstraps, it teaches us how to do so and creates the environment that will afford us the opportunity to teach others as well.

Lamentation Of An Old-School Music Aficionado

P-Funk Mantra: “Good evening. Do not attempt to adjust your radio. There is nothing wrong. We have taken control as to bring you this special show. We will return it to you as soon as you are grooved….”

-George Clinton-

I recently received a free two week subscription to Rhapsody – a pay for play music service and media platform sponsored by the makers of RealPlayer and being an aficionado of the old school Fusion, Funk and the R&B musical genres, I quickly hooked up with some of the old sounds that I enjoyed back in the days of the permanent relaxer and bone curler cured curly afro, bellbottoms, blue light in the basement parties, nic-nic shirts, and crepe-sole platform shoes. Ed. Note: For those who overstand the above references, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, you better ask somebody; preferably over the age of 45.

Within a few clicks I was quickly immersed in a cornucopia of nostalgic R&B musical ambrosia. Within a few more clicks I became delightfully embrangled in the effervescent syncopated back-beats of P-Funk and Bootsy Collins. Upon being thoroughly “funked” up, I moved on to the party prioritized and synthesized musical sounds of the eighties. Then a funny thing happened when I hit the nineties. Nothing! Not in the sense that there were nothing offered. It was nothing based upon the fact that what is being pushed by mainstream record companies as African American music today is nothing more than samples, remixes of old school jams, complete with the constant lyrical references to uninhibited casual sex, pimping, murder, and the problems (real and imagined) associated with living in the “hood.”

Before I’m labeled a hater, let me preference the above by stating that I enjoy and listen to hip-hop and rap. Having been born and raised in the East Bay Area in Northern California, I tend to lean mostly towards the West-Coast style of rap and hip-hop. However I enjoy a variety of musical genres. As such, I tend to tire easily listening to the constant and repetitious top-forty. It appears that mainstream record companies do not believe that African Americans are sophisticated enough to appreciate or buy anything else other than what they pass off as rap or hip-hop. Is this a conspiracy? Maybe. However we’ll deal with that issue in another blog.

So what happened to the old R&B and Funk groups of the 70’s and 80’s? Actually nothing. Many of the old school groups still record and tour with various degrees of success. Old and new CD’s produced by these groups can be heard and purchased via the internet through various music oriented websites and much of what is offered today by them is excellent. Also internet radio provides a venue for these groups to be heard by fans and newcomers alike. 70’s R&B Groups like New Birth and Blue Magic have created interactive websites where fans can chat with or email the group members as well as listen to and purchase new music. MSN and Yahoo also have group-fan clubs where fans can interact with old school artists and groups of their choosing.

Hopefully one day (or hopefully not), mainstream record companies will wake up to the fact that the African American consumer is not a monolithic collective of hip-hop and rap heads that is only interested in buying music with references to laffy-taffy, skeet-skeet-skeet, and fatty girls. If not, I’m sure that an entrepreneur with large pockets, a flair for internet marketing, and a savvy business acumen will afford us the opportunity to get our old school groove on in more ways than one. Until such time always remember that “funk not only moves, it can remove.”

The State of Africa America: IV. The African-American Paradigm Shift

“If you have become great after having been little, if you have become rich after having been poor, when you are at the head of the city, know how not to take advantage of the fact that you have reached the first rank, harden not your heart because of your elevation; you are become only the administrator, the prefect, of the provisions which belong to the Creator. Put not behind you the neighbor who is like you; be unto him as a companion.”

Ptah-Hotep

We must challenge our spirit-mind to envision the possibilities of life with honor, justice, and liberty in pursuit of a spiritual balance on a global scale and bring that vision to as many humans as possible. We must first begin the process of change within our own communities and become committed to a paradigm shift that incorporates an African-Centered spiritual, cultural, and socio-economic revival-lution.

Socio-economic empowerment must come first. An excellent example of a successful socio-economic empowerment template was put into effect in 1945 by Japanese-Americans (primarily) in California. During World War II, Japanese Americans in California were stripped of their land and wealth and were placed in what the government termed War Relocation Camps. After the war was over, they were released and given very little compensation for their personal property, land, or for being falsely imprisoned.

Instead of marching, begging for justice, or getting stuck in the muck that I term the excess of redress, they collectively and quietly decided to rebuild their communities. They started banks, built businesses, schools, and embraced their culture through education, communication (media) and spiritual enlightenment. However all of this would not have been possible if they did not engage in a cooperative economic structure that supported all facets of their unique socio-economic and cultural infrastructure. In other words they have a great love for their culture and “overstand” where they have come from and know where they are going. By spending and investing their money (when possible) exclusively within their communities, they have ensured the viability of their communities for years to come.

The Chinese-American community, which faced the same (if not worst) discrimination that African Americans have dealt with did not culturally implode either. Instead they built their own cities within the cities that they were in. In New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Oakland one will find vibrant and culturally enriched Chinese-American communities. The key to their success is two-fold; they spent and invested their money within their communities and they totally embraced their culture. They engaged in what I term the Cooperative-Capital Matrix.

Other ethnic groups in this country successfully utilize the Cooperative Capital Matrix. In part five of this series, we will explore what the Cooperative-Capital Matrix is and how it can benefit the African American Community.

The State of Africa America Remix: Eliminating the Status Quo

By Heru Ammen

Currently there is much hype and media attention focused upon African Americans and the issues that we face. In doing our part to bring attention to the aforementioned issues, the authors of the Urban Village Blog & Commentary will re-post the series we authored in 2006 entitled "The State of Africa America." In this current media frenzy regarding "Black issues" we want to participate not only in the discussion of these issues, we believe it is important to discuss tangible solutions. All too often all that we hear are the same voices discussing the same issues and offering nothing but the same tired rhetoric. It is our hope that by re-posting this series, we can move the discussion forward and focus on what we can do to actually change the dynamics affecting the culture and socio-economics of African American communities.

"Inspire not men with fear, else The Creator will fight against you in the same manner. If any one asserts that he lives by such means, the Creator will take away the bread from his mouth; if any one asserts that he enriches himself thereby, The Creator says: I may take those riches to myself. If any one asserts that he beats others, the Creator will end by reducing him to impotence. Let no one inspire men with fear; this is the will of God. Let one provide sustenance for them in the lap of peace; it will then be that they will freely give what has been torn from them by terror."

-Ptah-Hotep-

Racism, bigotry, and discrimination will probably be a part of the American culture forever. Unfortunately the African American community has been and continues to be stymied by the above whereas other communities in this country thrive despite it. The above has affected us to the point that we're now experiencing an African American cultural and socio-economic implosion.

Effectively dealing with the effects of racism, bigotry, and discrimination requires the development and implementation of a socio-economic system within an infrastructure that will act as a buffer against future discriminatory incursions. Without the above, any solution proffered to counteract the cultural insurgency prevalent within our communities will fail.

The success of other ethnic groups in this country has been remarkable considering that they too are subjected to the same impediments to life, liberty, and freedom that we face. The Asian, Latino, and Afro-Caribbean communities thrive in this country. All of these cultures are victims of the same type of European aggression, assimilation and/or colonialism that devastated the African continent. Yet they succeed despite the everyday reality of racism and discrimination. A question one must ask is why do African American communities fail when other communities succeed? Let's discuss a few of the issue that I believe to impede our progress as a people.

A. Embracing Victim-hood and/or Victim Worship

I define victim worship as the inability to move beyond the pain, suffering and trauma that was perpetuated against an individual or group. As such, victim-hood becomes a de-facto religious experience complete with its own dogma and tradition of suffering, self-hatred and self-imposed limitations. We should never forget our past. However our past did not begin in America. It began at the dawn of great African civilizations in Kemet (misnomered Egypt) Nubia, Sumer, Ethiopia, and Indus Kush and continues even to this day throughout the African Diaspora.

In fact, the perpetuation of victim-hood is a direct proponent of self-hatred, which leads to violence, abusive behavior, and general mayhem. Once we begin the process of knowing who we are in terms of our history prior to the Euro-Arab hegemony, and how that hegemony affected us, we will then be able heal those wounds and move forward as a culture. Real solutions require strategies designed and implemented outside of the box that are contra-posed to the status quo of indifference and self-hatred that we now embrace.

B. What is The Status Quo?

Part of the African experience in America was our forced introduction to what I term Euro-Christianity. From an European perspective, Euro-Christianity was used specifically as a tool of European aggression, colonialism and assimilation. Initially Africans were compelled to become Christians. Many of our Ancestors complied and accepted the Euro-Christian religion as a means of survival. Those who did not were beaten, tortured or murdered as an example of "Gods will."

As the generations passed and our ancestors forgot the old ways, Euro-Christianity became the only religion that the African in America knew. Unfortunately what was offered to the slave as Christianity was designed and taught to the slave to keep him/her in bondage. We know this to be true because a people that will beat you, rape you, kill you, assimilate and enslave you are not a people that will teach you how to become free. Especially when the condition of slavery served as the primary engine that propelled economic growth in the southern states.

Those conditions still exist today. Even when the slave was freed, he/she continued to embraced and perpetuate the Euro-Christian religion and dogma that was taught to them as a slave. The main thesis of many African American churches today is still focused upon instilling fear through the worship of Satan as the enemy of God and the reward set aside in the eternal fires of hell for those that do not comply with the will of the Euro-Christian God. I believe it is time for African Americans to define Christianity (and Islam as well) from an African-Historical perspective and define it through our our thoughts, our culture and our vision of what God would have us to do for humanity. Continuing to teach the theology of a religion that is based upon fear, punishment and religious servitude will only perpetuate the slave mentality that exist within many of our people today.

The State of Africa America: II. The Excess of (Always Seeking) Redress

"If you have, as leader, to decide on the conduct of a great number of men, seek the most perfect manner of doing so that your own conduct may be without reproach. Justice is great, invariable, and assured; it has not been disturbed since the age of God. To throw obstacles in the way of the laws is to open the way before violence. Shall that which is below gain the upper hand, if the unjust does not attain to the place of justice? Even he who says: I take for myself, of my own free-will; but says not: I take by virtue of my authority. The limitations of justice are invariable; such is the instruction which every man receives from his father.

"Ptah-Hotep

In part one of this series; I posited the question, what is preventing us (African Americans) from rising and transforming? I’ve often asked that question and I’ve concluded that part of the answer to that question is that we fail to utilize the intellectual, spiritual, and political resources that we have to formulate strategies or solutions that will cause us to rise and transform. Instead, our energy has primarily been focused on what I term the excess of redress.

The excess of redress is a phenomenon of propping up and fronting a platform that incorporates the art of complaining about discriminatory practices and past injustices. It has often been said that power concedes nothing without a demand. Let me add that power does not even concede a place at the table of public discourse and debate for milquetoast rhetoric.

The excess of redress has spawned its own industry of African American pundits, politicians, religious based orators, and other nefarious front men. These African American men and women earn millions of dollars doing nothing more than appearing on television, radio, or in the pulpit complaining about a particular injustice.

They use their communication skills to shed light upon a problem, get paid for it and then move on to the next studio, stage, or pulpit and complain about the problem again. This is nothing more than the illusion of substance and action. Because after the show is over, the amens have subsided, and the audience has moved on, the problem still exist and nothing has been fomented, negotiated, or implemented to effectively challenge the status quo.

It is conceivable that one day after all of the pontification, punditry, confabs, seminars, sermons, marches, books, white papers, and speeches on the redress of past atrocities we, the African American progeny of a great and resilient people will get our 40 acres and a mule. I wouldn’t fade that bet though.

The State of Africa America: I. The Band Plays On And The Choir Keeps On Singing

“As for the man without experience who listens not, he affects nothing whatsoever. He sees knowledge in ignorance, profit in loss; he commits all kinds of error, always accordingly choosing the contrary of what is praiseworthy. He lives on that which is mortal, in this fashion. His food is evil words, whereat he is filled with astonishment. That which the great know to be mortal he lives upon every day, flying from that which would be profitable to him, because of the multitude of errors which present themselves before him every day.”-Ptah-Hotep-

In the vast majority of American urban communities it is not uncommon to find a church on every other block. In some of these communities, one will find variegated clusters of churches occupying all four corners of an intersection. Denominations can vary from traditional Baptist and Methodist to the non-traditional and multi-faceted charismatic.

On Sunday morning, African Americans dressed in their finest and most colorful attire traverse the avenues and byways of their respective cities in a mass migration to their houses of worship. Once inside, they engage in the tradition of worship, song, praise and in some cases, dance. For most of the individuals participating in these religious ceremonies, this will be the extent of their “community” service each week.

Contrast that to the reality found within the urban communities that these houses of worship are supposed to serve. In 2004, there were around one million (reported) violent crimes committed in urban areas. Included in these statistics are murder, rape, armed robbery, and assault. Over seventy-percent of all households with children in these communities are one parent household; the vast majority of which are female. One can argue that based upon the above statistics Urban American qualifies as a third world entity.The above reality plays out every day in urban areas. It plays out against the backdrop of a fervent religiosity and overt piety that is in direct contrast to the message associated with the various denominations and theologies represented within these houses of worship; that message being one of loving thy neighbor.All God Centered belief systems teach that man’s primary duty to God is to help the human family to rise and transform spiritually.

Quite simply, one's duty to God is to feed those that are hungry, heal those that are sick, teach those that are ignorant, and mentor those that need counseling. Instead we find what I term “Religious Entertainment Centers” engaging in a translucent demagoguery of tradition, empty rhetoric, and song while the community deteriorates around them. While the African American church is missing in action, the band plays on and the choir keeps on singing.

In the city of Charlotte, NC. where I reside, there is a old boy network-white southern conservative politician named Bill James. Mr. James, who currently sits on the Board of County Commissioners of Mecklenburg County recently created a firestorm of controversy and debate regarding comments he made stating "urban blacks live in a moral sewer," in regards to the African-American citizens of urban Charlotte. In this writer's opinion Mr. James simply told the truth.

However, what he and other like-minded individuals fail to address in there constant diatribes bemoaning the condition of Urban America is that the moral sewer that exists in Urban America was not created by African Americans. It was created through a system of oppression starting with the enslavements of Africans and was subsequently ensconced (if you will) by the disenfranchisement of African Americans from the end of the civil war to the mid 1960's. It was exacerbated by a welfare system that was anti-family, and until the welfare reform act, "rewarded" generations of poor and under-educated (mostly) single African-American mothers for not seeking employment and/or educational opportunities.

Borrowing from a biblical analogy one can say that what slavery, socio-economic disenfranchisement, and welfare did was give fish to a large segment of African-Americans for so long that these individuals lost the ability to fish for self. In that respect, if one can't fish-or perceives that they can't fish in the American Sea of opportunity, then one will secure fish by any means necessary. Consequently, what we're experiencing in urban America with regards to out of wedlock births, crime, violence, and drugs is a direct result of policies that created and then perpetuated a system that devastated the familial social structure of a large segment of the African-American community and replaced it with one where dysfunction and mayhem are cultural icons.

Being of African American ascendency, I know that we do not like anyone, especially a white conservative such as Bill James, talking about black folk's "dirty laundry" in public. However, Bill James the messenger should not be the main topic of discussion within African American intelligentsia . Lambasting Bill James for what he said is simply majoring in minors and red herrings. What should be of utmost importance is if what he said is the truth, what are African Americans going to do about it? The answer is simple. We can come together as a community to implement solutions to the social and cultural dysfunction that is endemic within the urban centers of America.

How can that be accomplished? A good start would be to hold African American leaders, especially the clergy, accountable for the communities that they serve. All God-Centered religions including Christianity, teaches us that we must take care and uplift the poor amongst us. What is sad is that the largest and most economically viable African-American churches in America exist within or near communities that are economically, educationally, and socially disenfranchised. Simply put, African-American Pastors have failed their communities. It's a given fact that in the finest African American church tradition, Pastors will hoop, holler, and spit sermons to their congregation each and every Sunday. However ignoring the needs of the community Monday through Friday does nothing to bring the message of spiritual and social redemption to those that really need to embrace it. African Americans understand that there will always be a segment of American society that will base their opinions and actions towards us from a hate-filled perspective. But that is no excuse for ignoring the problems in our communities. We certainly have the intellectual capacity, education, and economic power to do so. So what is preventing us from Rising and Transforming?