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

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.

"If you have, as leader, to decide on the conduct of a great number of people (emphasis: mine), 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 should (emphasis:mine) receive from his father.

Ptah-Hotep

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 or current 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 exceptional communication skills to discuss and complain about the latest injustice, get paid for it and then move on to the next studio, stage, march or pulpit and complain about another issue. This is nothing more than the illusion of substance in action and the reality of overt inaction. Because after the show is over, the amens have subsided, and the audience has moved on, the issue still exist and nothing has been fomented, negotiated, or implemented to deal with the immediate and long term consequences of the aforementioned issue.

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

The State of Africa America Remix: Defining 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 Remix: Cooperative Economics

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.

"Let your countenance be cheerful during the time of your existence. When we see one departing from the storehouse who has entered in order to bring his share of provision, with his face contracted, it shows that his stomach is empty and that authority is offensive to him."

-Ptah Hotep-

Other cultures thrive economically in this country despite racism and discrimination. Yet Americans of African ascent have consistently lagged behind in terms of economic growth and achievement. There are several reasons for the above. However the primary reason is that we have failed to create and/or support an economic system that keeps and circulates our dollars within our respective communities.

Statistics show that a dollar earned by African Americans travels less than one time in our community before it leaves. What is even more tragic is that the money we do spend in our communities is spent with retailers and vendors that have businesses in our communities; many of whom do not invest dollars in or support the infrastructure of the communities that they do business in. Other ethnic communities do not embrace that same economic dynamic. In essence, African American communities are being economically pimped by the businesses that exist in them.

In contrast to the aforementioned, other ethnic communities are economically and culturally sound. For instance, Asian communities in America have established mechanisms in place to keep dollars in their respective communities indefinitely. Each dollar spent in these communities will circulate up to 30 times or more before it leaves. This creates a residual economic engine that is far reaching in its effect impacting all facets of the Asian community. These communities engage in what I term “cooperative economics.” The foundation of cooperative economics is built upon capital investments in commercial and residential development, banking, business development, retail/wholesale, trade, and communication (media; print, internet based, radio and television). This foundation supports, facilitates, and augments the cultural glue that binds these communities together so that they continue to grow and maintain their viability generation after generation. This same effect can be seen in all other ethnic communities in American with the exception of the African American community.

The breakdown in African-American communities resulted primarily from our failure to engage and embrace the components that have made other communities successful. We do not invest in our communities in terms of housing, businesses and communication and trade. As such, we’ve created an economic vacuum that has literally sucked all of the money out of our communities; and like a once proud lion that has succumbed to the infirmities associated with old age and has fallen dead upon the lush plains of the African Serengeti, the vultures (payday lenders, rent-to-own, easy credit/high interest retailers, pawn shops, liquor stores, etc…) are picking our bones clean.

If one were to offer a proverbial synopses of our condition one could write that our condition is not unlike the dry bones of Ezekiel fame. We are at the point now where African-Americans are beginning to realize that our condition is not terminal. In essence new voices are “making noises” and there is a “shaking” as we come together one mind to another for the purpose of our collective illumination and edification.

When we begin to create the conditions to engage and embrace a cooperative economic paradigm we will then be in a position to bring life to the place that worships death. We can bring peace where now there is violence. We can bring knowledge where ignorance now reigns and we can bring wealth where overt poverty runs rampant. These are Ezekiel’s “four winds” which are sent to bring life where there once was death. And once those winds blow upon us, we shall then rise and transform and stand upon our feet; an exceedingly great army!

Negro Mindset Defeated By Obama

By Heru Ammen

I try to maintain a certain level of decorum and objectivity when I post on this blog. However I've grown weary of the constant whining about the 'O' man from the old head (so called) black leaders and the do nothing black preacher sect.

The shinitz is wearing a brother out. It's expected that the racists in the Democratic and Republican parties would come after Obama. Any adult person of African Ascent knows to expect a certain amount of racism living in American from those that embrace an "AmeriKKKlan" mindset. However what gets me funked up is the rise of the Obama haters club for disenchanted and shuffling Negroes that sprung up for the express (and failed) purpose of taking Obama down by any means necessary.

Too many of our so called black leaders and preachers have been compromised. They sit in the shadows and at the footstools of corrupt power and when the spotlight shines on them, they do a jig and assume their place as the personal sock puppets of their racist enablers. They are wholly ineffective; offering nothing except lame marches, more pie in the sky-heaven by and by sermons, seminar gab-fabs, and programs that put more money in their pockets and more misery in our communities.

With Senator Obama having taken his place as the Democratic nominee for President, he will be calling the shots for the Democratic party. He is now the leader and Obama haters such as Tavis Smiley, Bob Johnson, and Andrew Young, et al, have been effectively eviscerated from the "player's club" of the Democratic Party. I say good riddance.

Taking Down Obama: The Tavis Smiley Chronicles

By Heru Ammen

Tavis Smiley recently announced that he was quitting the Tom Joyner Morning Show for as Tavis put it "he was tired and has a lot of things going on, and he feels that now is a good time to leave the show." However as noted by this writer, the facts speak differently to this issue. Tavis has been an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton's and her campaign to become the next President of the United States. Unfortunately for him, the vast majority of African Americans and an overwhelming majority of Tom Joyner's listeners support Senator Obama and they have been very vocal about it on Tom Joyner's radio broadcast and on Mr. Joyner's website BlackAmericaweb.com.

Being a dedicated listener of Tom's show for many years I can write with certainty that Tom's listeners and African Americans in general have no problem with Tavis' support of Hillary's campaign. The problem is that he consistently and unfairly (emphasis: mine) criticizes the "O" man while giving Senator Clinton a free pass and free publicity." Many listeners feel that Tavis has gone beyond the normal boundaries of critical analysis of the candidates positions into the realm of becoming a shill for Senator Clinton and they resent that, and have let him know in no uncertain terms that they will not tolerate it.

Tavis' resignation from the Tom Joyner Morning Show is the latest episode in what has become the normal template of Obama bashing and dissing that is being utilized by noted African Americans that support Senator Clinton. Earlier this year BET founder and Charlotte Bobcat owner Bob Johnson suggested that Senator Obama was a drug dealer in his youth. The venerable Andrew Young pretty much tried to write off Obama by saying that "Obama was too young" to run for President and intimating that Senator Obama wasn't black enough. Then he went onto say that "Bill Clinton is as black as Barack... and he's probably been with as many black women as Barack, too." Although Tavis didn't stoop as low as these two gentlemen in their criticism of of Obama, he has been just as relentless in his criticism of the “O” man. Now he wants to “take his ball and go home” because the majority of African Americans don't want to play the game by his rules.

What Tavis and other noted African American Clinton supporters either don't or refuse to recognize is that Senator Obama is a legitimate Presidential candidate with a powerful resume. For Black folks, the fact that Senator Obama is an African American brings a sense of pride that is felt throughout all of our communities. However that sense of pride is secondary to the fact that it has been his character and his unique ability to articulate his vision of change that has thrusted him into frontrunner status. The American people believe Senator Obama is committed to bring Americans together to effect change and they have said so with their votes and their financial support. Senator Obama is able to articulate a vision that obviously connects with Americans of various ethnic backgrounds more so than any other candidate and that should be celebrated instead criticized.

Another African American Preacher "Disses" America

In a sermon that bore a striking similarity to the controversial sermon preached in 2001 by Senator Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and which lead to Senator Obama's speech on Race in America, another African American pastor took American to task for what he perceived to be America's arrogance. This African American Pastor was quoted as saying "Don't let anybody make you think that God choose America as his divine messianic force to be, sorta policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, you are too arrogant! If you don't change your ways I will rise up and break the backbone of your power. and I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I am God!" He went on to condemn America's participation in "an unjust war" and called America to task for its supposedly inadequate response to suffering endured by America's poor. By the way, the African American Minister that spoke those words were none other than "The" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's interesting how that message which was preached in the 60's by Dr. King is still relevant in 2008; over 40 years later.

Eyes Open Wide Shut: Fear, Denial & Racism Fuel Neo-Con Movement

By Heru Ammen

For those African Americans who have lived under the illusion that the hatred and evil perpetuated against our people is no longer an issue, and for those of whom believe that white Americans that identify with and embrace a neo-conservative mindset have moved on from its racist past into a new age of Kumbayah and empathy for the African American experience, the last two weeks have been an eye opening experience. For those like myself who already knew differently, let me say "I told you so!"

The fallout from the Rev. Wright sermon and "The Obama Speech" is still reverberating throughout America. For some White Americans this has given them the opportunity to spew all kinds of hatred towards and mischaracterizations of Rev. Wright, Senator Obama, and any other African American that they deem worthy of their verbal-vomit laden punditry.

The latest salvo of unadulterated racism spewed forth from the right comes from the blogs entitled Moonbattery and Kicking and Screaming. Here are the post as follows:

Moonbattery

Charlie Crist Open to Paying People for Being Black

"Possibly the most preposterous notion to come from the radical Left is that blacks should be given free money expropriated by force from everyone else as a reward for having ancestors who were given a hard time — just like the ancestors of every human being on the planet. I won't insult the reader's intelligence by explaining the absurdity of thinking this unjust and profoundly moronic concept would improve race relations.But someone needs to explain it to Florida's Governor:

The resolution stops short of calling for reparations for descendants of slaves, though Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said after the vote that he was open to the idea "if we can determine descendancy, certainly.

The resolution in question consisted of idiots like Crist wallowing in the neurotic white guilt that is creating monsters like Barack Obama and his circle of America-hating, racist kooks. (emphasis mine)"

...and this work of verbally racist art from the blog Kicking & Screaming

"Far as I am concerned, many Blacks in the US ought to be thankful that no matter how their ancestors got here they are better off in the US than in some shiitehole (sic) in Africa, eating scraps of bread, swatting flies and living in mud huts using arrows and clubs to hunt their food. (OK, yeah, yeah, I may be over-generalizing but if you can’t get my point then grow a thicker skin.)"

Both of these blog posts illustrates that fear, ignorance and racism are three of the major components that fuel the neo-conservative movement. The fact that Americans of African ascendancy have endured genocide, slavery, lynching, injustice, jim crow, unequal socio-economics, and a host of other injustices for over 389 years does not matter to neo-cons. The fact that despite all of the aforementioned atrocities perpetuated upon Americans of African ascendancy, An African American is seriously competing for and could possibly win the highest office in the land causes neo-cons to suffer severe consternation in the bowel area and racially-stressed, fear-induced diarrhea of the brain and mouth. Expect more vitriol from the right as this Obamian inspired political season unfolds.

The Obama Speech: A Spiritual Epiphany

By Heru Ammen

Racism, class, tribalism, religious bigotry; i.e., "my god and the people who believe in him are better than your god and the people who don't" and other divisive "isms" are divisions predicated upon fear. Conservative White academia and punditry have a fear of a black, brown, and yellow planet. African Americans who embrace a de-facto Black nationalist and old guard civil rights activist mindset have a fear of the now mythical white power structure that seeks to disenfranchise all African Americans. Evangelical Christians fear and believe that their value system is under attack by non-mainstream Christian beliefs, Islam, and secularism. If the truth be told, Americans of all political, ethnic, and religious persuasions have preconceived fears and beliefs that precludes many of us from experiencing and embracing the commonalities that we as humans (and Americans) all share.

We have been feeding upon fear for too long in this country. Politicians, ministers, and pundits have built their empires upon the dissemination of fear. We are pounded day after day with some type of fear; the fear of a black, brown, and yellow planet, the fear that secular values are encroaching upon Christians values and destroying America; the fear, justified or not that we did not get that job, raise, or promotion because we're black, white, female, male, gay or some other classification, the fear that most Muslims agree with and support Islamic jihadists, the fear that the mythical white power structure is out to get all black people, and the latest fear fad - the fear that Mexican immigrants will pour into this country like roaches and change America into Northern Mexico.

In reading some of the commentary, comments, and opinions in the blogosphere and MSM on Senator Obama's speech on race in America, it appears to this writer that both sides of this much needed debate missed the point. Many conservative pundits and bloggers either dismissed or denigrated what the Senator spoke about. One conservative blogger even suggested that Senator Obama literally threw his grandmother under the bus when he spoke about her comments regarding the fears she experienced regarding African American men. Left leaning blogs and commentaries generally praised Senator Obama's speech. However their praise was primarily limited to the political implications this speech will have on the Presidential race.

What both sides missed or overlooked was the spiritual message this speech was predicated upon. Senator Obama asked us to embrace our commonalities as we move forward in a national discussion on issues of race. He asked us to join with him in addressing the real concerns that we as Americans all face. He asked us to talk about inequities in our schools, the health care crisis, the war in Iraq. He reminded us that we are as strong as our weakest and most vulnerable citizens. He asked us to look at race and begin to honestly process why we feel the way we do. This spiritual message is a fundamental precept of the Christian belief system that the Senator embraces; i.e., feed the poor and teach them how to rise and transform, provide the opportunity for those that are ill and diseased to be healed, educate our children so that they will not choose a destructive path in adulthood, and love your neighbor regardless of their color, religious affiliation, or ethnic background.

This union of African, Asian, European, and Latino citizens that we call Americans are all a part of what makes America great. We are the progeny of ex-slaves and ex-slave owners, immigrants, pioneers, explorers, and indigenous natives. We are business owners, employees, inventors, athletes, scientists, and teachers. We are Muslims, Hebrews, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists. No other country offers what America offers in terms of freedom and the liberty to pursue our dreams and despite our differences, idiosyncrasies, and our imperfections we are the greatest nation in the world. This reality of America is what Senator Obama is asking us to embrace and now is the time to begin the journey to a higher plane of dialog and debate so that we can continue the process of perfecting this union of an American people.