DRAFT! DRAFT! DRAFT! DRAFT!
MJAT SEBAT
FROM KHEMET & TIMBUKTU:A CURRICULUM FOR AFRIKAN DEVELOPMENT
DRAFT! DRAFT! DRAFT! DRAFT!
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MJAT SEBAT
FROM KHEMET & TIMBUKTU:A CURRICULUM FOR AFRIKAN DEVELOPMENT
AMBAKISYE-OKANG DUKUZUMURENYI
COPYRIGHT© 2006 Ambakisye-Okang Dukuzumurenyi
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, stored, or reproduced in any form without express permission from the publisher.
Published by Seshem Hau, LLCBaton Rouge, LA 70802
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INTRODUCTION
Education is the foundation of a people. Each peoples system of
education is an outgrowth of their culture. It is the essence, the heart, and
nature of a people even as it speaks to them, for them, of them and by them.
Education carries and is carried by the language, folkways, mores, social
values, status, roles, religion and other social institutions1 of a people. It is the
load bearing earth upon which all of their civilization, their high culture is
based. Education is the edifice of the ancients. Upon its stones and within its
structures one can find the moral guidance as defined by ones culture that can
serve as the means by which one escapes from the precipice of self-
degradation, self-annihilation and acculturation.
When an oppressed and conquered people are subjected to the
educational system of the oppressors and conquerors they will inevitably
become thoroughly ignorant of self, lacking in proper cultural grounding,
without a true knowledge of their place, contributions, and native genius. This
is a telling outcome of a system of domination. The oppressed will be in all
1 Stuart Chapin, Cultural Change (New York: Century, 1928) pp. 45, 48 quoted in Wendell Gordon, Economics From An Institutional Viewpoint (Austin: USI, 1973) pp. 9 – 10. Chapin gives an excellent description of social institutions. “We may say that the structure of a social institution consists in the combination of certain related type parts into a configuration possessing the properties of relative rigidity and relative persistence of form, and tending to function as a unit on a field of contemporary culture…a social institution arises out of and as a result of repeated groupings of interacting human individuals in response to elemental needs or drives (sex, hunger, and fear)….common reciprocating attitudes and conventionalized behavior patterns develop out of the process of interaction (affection, loyalty, cooperation, domination, and subordination….cultural objects (traits) that embody symbolic values in material substances are invented or fabricated and become the cue stimuli to behavior conditioned to them (the idol, cross, ring, and flag are charged with emotional and sentimental meaning)…cultural objects (traits that embody utilitarian values in material substances are invented or fabricated and become the means of satisfying creature wants for warmth, shelter, etc. buildings, and furniture)…preserved in oral or written language, eternally stored and handed down from one generation to the next, there is description and specification of the patterns of interrelationship among these elemental drives, attitudes, symbolic culture traits, and utilitarian culture traits.”
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aspects of their lives a dominated people. Devoid of their language, folkways,
mores, social values, status, roles, religion and other social institutions, they
will become little more than caricatures of the peoples in power. Grotesque
creations from the hands of an outside force, shaped, molded, conditioned and
controlled. Living not for self, community and nation but instead for the
benefit of others, whether friend, enemy or as yet unknown or unmet
acquaintances2.
The educational system of the dominant group, the welders of power, the
oppressors, is designed to perpetuate the status quo, their social order. It will
be ethnocentric in nature and actions. All other peoples who succumb to this
system, whether by choice or brainwashing will find the vast majority of their
numbers reduced to the status of criminals, criminality being defined by the
group in power to the detriment of the oppressed. Their numbers will be filled
with vagabonds, prostitutes, buffoons, addicts, sycophants, hustlers, pimps,
thugs and the like. Furthermore, they will except this situation as natural, right
and true and instinctively seek to fulfill these roles3, both consoling, competing
2Alex Haley, Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990) Malcolm X provides and apt description of this state of existence, “This was my first big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man’s hair. I had joined that multitude of Negro men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that the black people are “inferior”-and white people “superior”-that they will even violate an mutilate their God-created bodies to try to look “pretty” by white standards. Look around today, in every small town and big city, from two-bit catfish and soda-pop joints into the “integrated” lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria, and you’ll see conks on black men. And you’ll see black women wearing these green an pink and purple an red and platinum blonde wigs. It makes you wonder if the Negro has completely lost his sense of identity, lost touch with himself.” (pp. 54) This situation which as described here is circa 1940s-1960s is a situation that still exists exemplified in the many hair care gels, perms, and wig fixations of entertainers such as Lil Kim. All of this is symptomatic of brainwashing, decades old brainwashing. A mental cleansing and self-destructive programming which begins in the educational system that Africans have endured in this country from its inception.
3 Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1990) Carter G. Woodson explains this phenomena this way: “ If you can control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without
against and caring for one another in a world not of their own conscious
making4. This is a central fact of domination: the dominated live in a world
within a reality that they did not create.
To ameliorate this deplorable situation, a people must return to their
cultural center, reconstruct their worldview and found educational institutions
which speak to their concerns, needs, desires, wishes, ideas and essence. It is
imperative that they establish an educational system that develops their latent
abilities and gives to the world a light, which shines forth in the midst of an
immense and expansive darkness. To do so will restore their sanity, rescue
them from self-annihilation and pull them back from the precipice of despair5.
In an effort to restore sanity to the Afrikan existence a new definition of
education must be conceived, a new methodology of education developed and
a new curriculum of education brought into existence. As a starting, point in
social reconstruction a Curriculum of Afrikan Womanhood and Manhood
Development must be designed and implemented.
being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.” (pp. 84-85)
4 Alex Haley, Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990). Malcolm X, “In one sense, we (hustlers, pimps, pickpockets, etc) were huddled in there, bonded together in seeking security and warmth and comfort from each other, and we didn’t know it. All of us-who might have probed space, or cured cancer, or built industries-were instead, black victims of the white man’s American social system.”(pp.90)
5 Na’ im Akbar, Visions For Black Men (Tallahassee: Mind Productions, 1994). This culturally centered educational system will allow us to do the following: “Begin to define the world from your point of view and when you begin to do that you begin to make a contribution to the world that enriches all humanity, but particularly it salvages yourself….You have to structure your world in such a way that you are constantly reminded of who you are and what you want to be.” (pp. 80, 86)
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CHAPTER I
Why the need for a Curriculum on Afrikan Womanhood and Manhood Development ?
I
It will undoubtedly be asked, “Why create a Curriculum for Afrikan
Womanhood and Manhood Development?” To understand why there is a need
for such a curriculum the present situation encountered by Afrikans of the
Diaspora and the continent must be understood. In the United States of
America for example, the badge of accomplishment of a successful person,
according to the patriotic rhetoric known as the "American Dream"6, is their
educational attainment. From early childhood one is taught the necessity of
learning and is enrolled an encouraged in the beginning levels of the
educational system. Higher education and beyond are shown to be helpful in
advancement in social institutions for some, but not always mandatory. This
is due in part to historically established institutional white preferential
treatment, quotas and affirmative economic and political white action7.
6 The American Dream is the idealistic portrait of American life; an idyllic image of America which “includes the ideals of liberty, equality, individual rights, rugged individualism, unlimited opportunity, democracy, education, change, progress, and the Christian ethic of love and liberty.” Frederick Gentles and Melvin Steinfield, Dream On, America A History of Faith and Practice (San Francisco: Canfield Press, 1971) pp. XI. The American Dream presents the picture of America as an egalitarian society, abounding in equal opportunity, respect for human rights and the sanctity of individual initiative. To understand the American Dream one need read portions of the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address or the American Creed. The American Creed written by William Tyler reads: “ I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from a consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one an inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.” The American Peoples Encyclopedia (New York: Excelsior Trading Corporation,1974) Vol. I, pp.415.
7 Affirmative Action is now defined as being a public policy designed to begin rectifying the historical injustices, racism, and discrimination faced by Afrikans, White women and other peoples that have faced at the hands of a White male elite. As currently presented in all media forms it is erroneously equated with racial quotas, and preferences, and the lowering of qualifications for educational programs and employment positions. What this point of view overlooks is the history in the United States of White preferential treatment in American social, economic, political and religious life. Affirmative government action on behalf of Whites includes: “the abolition of European indentured servitude in the 1600s; the 1790 Naturalization Act, an act which only allowed Europeans to become citizens of the United States;
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Beyond the formal trappings of secondary and higher education, the
American is instructed that they will receive further training is on the job and in
some instances will be able to excel beyond the limits of their formal
education. If white, low educational attainments or lack of experience will not
hinder their excelling. For the American, education is the key, the world is the
door and success is the prize. Education, hard work and perseverance are the
tools needed to procure a piece of the "American Dream". With this doctrine
firmly embedded in the mind, through sophisticated media manipulation or
propaganda countless thousands of Americans set out to make their fortune in
the world. These few lines translated into art make a beautiful picture and
serve as a desirable dream for the American youth. Once instilled with this or
similar scenarios, the American is easily controlled for generations to come.
As education is presented as a "badge of valor, a ticket or key to the
American Dream" for the American, the worst of disasters that may befall an
American is that they be born with any portion of the blood of an "inferior"8
person. To be born as such would deprive them of "legitimate" American
status. For encoded into the very fabric of the society is the doctrine of
racialism, which undergirds the ideology of white supremacy. The tainted
person will be considered less than their pure American relations in prestigious
circles and will be barred from certain societal achievements; however, a
measure of success will be theirs, providing that their skin is not " overly
the sanctioning of the enslavement of Afrikans; segregation and Jim Crow laws; Asian exclusion laws; the dubious procurement of territory from Mexico in 1848; and racially restrictive housing policies of the 1930s to 1960s…” Tim Wise, “Whites Swim in Racial Preference.” (http://www.alternet.com February 20, 2003) All of these policies have served to create and perpetuate the social problems that afflict society to this day.
8 In American racial doctrine, a person is considered Black if they have any amount of Afrikan blood in their family line. To justify the enslavement of Afrikans and to the perverse social theories about Afrikans on the continent American social theorists, scientists and politicians and intellectuals derived the theory that since Europe was technologically advanced, “civilized” followed the Christian religion and was expanding its influence throughout the world by way of conquest then European man was “superior” to all others that they encountered. These “others” were considered “inferior”.
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contaminated" with melanin9, or if they have thoroughly imbibed the prevailing
social propaganda.
The American has counterparts in Europe where the basics of the
scenario hold firm under different national designations. Collectively they are
known by some as Whites, or Europeans, and their geographical center is
designated as "the West". but with a sound historical and genetic knowledge
base, one should refer to them as the Euro-African10. The so-called "inferior"
man is anyone classified as a non-European. The scenario serves as an
example of the propaganda distributed by the establishment in the United
States of America and throughout the Western World. The literal point being
subjectively expressed is, that through education the masses are controlled,
and the knowledge, which serves as the basis of that education will reflect the
ideas of the established order; an order based on the ideology of Global White
Supremacy that has been totally detrimental towards the Global Afrikan
Community11.
9 All human skin with the exception of Albinos contains some degree of pigmentation or melanin. In America and in other areas that fell under European hegemony the offspring of European and Afrikans were treated as being better than their “pure” Afrikan progenitors, due to the fact that they were White and naturally inherited some of their White progenitors “superiority”.
10 J. A. Rogers, Sex and Race Negro-Caucasian Mixing in all Ages and all Lands Vol. I The Old World (St Petersburg, Fl.: Helga M. Rogers, 1968) pp. 29-30 As proof of this contention Rogers quotes the European scholars Schopenauer, Sergi and George A. Dorsey. “There is no such thing as a white race….every white man is a faded or bleached one….European man…was African man, changed by the effects of European environment. The correct term….is Eur-African….Biologically speaking, the white skins of Europe have lost something. When and where they lost their pigment, and why they lost more than Asiatics we may never know.” Indus Khamit Kush, What The Never Told You in History Class (Luxor Publications, 1983) pp. 28. Kush quotes the scholar Ashley Montagu, which provides further proof for the Eur-Afrikan contention. “ Since the ancestors of man were almost certainly tropical animals of African origin, they were almost… certainly black-skinned…All races are issued from the African race by direct relationships, and other continents were peopled by Africa at the Homo Erectus stage as well as the Homo Sapien stage…”
11Martin Carnoy, Education as Cultural Imperialism (New York: Longman Inc., 1974) "Educators, social scientists, and historians have misinterpreted the role of Western schooling in the Third World and in industrialized countries themselves. We argue that far from acting as a liberator, Western formal education came to most countries as part of imperialist domination. It was consistent with the goals of imperialism: the economic and political control of the people in one country by the dominant class in another. The imperial powers attempted, through schooling, to train the colonized for roles that suited the colonizer. Even within the dominant countries themselves, schooling did not offset social inequities. The educational system was no more just or equal than the economy and society itself-specifically, we argue, because schooling was organized to develop and maintain, in the imperial countries, an inherently inequitable and unjust organization of production and political power." pp. 3.
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II
Carter G. Woodson's study of mis-education12, provides a summarization
of the principles, which serve as the foundation, for the comprehension of the
systemic mishap, which has befallen the Afrikan in America and the world. It is
from this sound foundation that the problem, which hinders the Afrikan will be
discussed13.
To properly understand the psychological confusion, which is faced by
the Afrikan in the American/Western educational process the literal meaning of
the word educate must be understood in its western sense. The English word
educate is derived from the Latin term educatus. Educatus means to be
brought up, to draw out and to be taught some skill, or knowledge. The term
educatus is the past participle of the word educare, which may be defined as
to lead thoroughly or completely14. The meaning of the word educate as
operationalized in the West is to be brought up and taught/trained in a way
which preserves the social system of Western Civilization. In the Western
educational system, the ultimate goal of education is complete and utter
control of an individual that he may be led thoroughly.
The systematic indoctrination or education of the Afrikan begins in a
subtle manner and yet is highly destructive. In an ever so calm and subtle way,
the Afrikan is taught to hate himself. When the young Afrikan enters into the
classroom and opens the text book, what is it that is seen? In the history text
12 Mis-educated is here defined as the reception of knowledge, skills and abilities which are used to maintain or improve a status quo that is against ones self and ones people, is detrimental to ones very existence. The mis-educated person engages in self-abnegating behavior and is ignorant of his true self and unaware of his ignorance. The term is taken from Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (Trenton: African World Press,1990)
13 Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (Trenton: African World Press,1990) In monumental treatise Woodson delineates the faulty nature of the education that Afrikans have received in the United States. He calls this education mis-education as nothing that Afrikans learns is in their best interests or leads to the construction of self-reliant institutions and ways of life.
14 The Random House College Dictionary Revised Edition (New York: Random House, 1988)
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ancient “White” Egyptians, Greeks, Romans European Jews and the founding of
modern civilization15. In the science book medieval scientific thought and the
great age of modern science founded by Newton, Darwin and a host of other
Europeans16. In the math book the Greek Pythagoras17 and several French and
English mathematicians. And in the eyes of the young Afrikan each of the men
who are held up to him as prominent, fine and upstanding, have one common
thread, each are European, i.e., white.
Now in what light is the Afrikan background pictured to the young
Afrikan? Afrikans are shown as half naked, starved, depraved, violent, poverty
stricken, "primitive"18 people that need to be led by Tarzan, sanctified by
Catholics and "civilized" by Europeans. All that is Afrikan is presented as
backward and in need of European humanization. The young Afrikan in
American is taught to see himself through European eyes and even
15 This erroneous information is still presented today even in the face of overwhelming scholarship which proves the contrary. That is that the classical civilization of Egypt is of Afrikan, Black origin. Indus Khamit-Kush What They Never Told You In History Class (Bronx New York: Luxor Publications, 1983); John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilizations (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1994); Cheikh Anta Diop, The African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1974); Anthony T. Browder, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Washington D.C.: Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1994); Yosef ben-Jochannan, Africa Mother of Western Civilization (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1988)
16 This false teaching omits the Islamic Moorish influence on Europe, their preservation of learning during the European middle or dark ages. The extent of this civilizations learning in science throughout much of North, West and East Africa and Asia Minor (Middle East) is ignored. See, “Africa and the Civilizing of Europe: The Empire of the Moors” and “The Golden Age of West Africa” in John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilizations (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1994) pp. 157 – 231.
17 The Greek origin of Geometry under Pythagoras is continuously presented as truth inspite of the following: “…Herodutus and others ascribe the origin of geometry to the Egyptians, but the period when it commenced is uncertain. Anticledes pretends that Meoris was the first to lay down the elements of that science, which he says was perfected Pythagoras; but the latter observation is merely the result of the vanity of the Greeks, which claimed for their countrymen (as in the case of Thales, and other instances) the credit of enlightening a people on the very subject which they had visited Egypt for the purpose of studying.” Sir J.G. Wilkinson, The Ancient History quoted in Indus Khamit-Kush, What They Never Told You In History Class (Bronx New York: Luxor Publications, 1983) pp. 104. See also, David Eugene Smith, History of Mathematics Vol. I General Survey of the History of Elementary Mathematics (New York: Dover Publications, 1958) pp. 41 – 52.
18 Primitive as used by Eurocentric scholars denotes the earliest and least in importance. That which is simple. In Western academia the term is devoid of its meaning as the prime or first or beginning. Denoting the original, forward facing or progenitors.
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encouraged to strive to become Europeanized, Westernized, Americanized; to
think Eurocentricly. As the young Afrikan in America matures and grows older,
the process of indoctrination has by now taken firm hold on his psyche. The
Afrikan in America has totally given up all that he is innately to become what
he may never fully be, White. Even in the current atmosphere of so-called
multiculturalism, the inclusion of selected Afrikans of achievement is limited to
persons in the Afrikan experience post-European contact. The extensive
history and achievements of the Afrikan peoples dating thousands of years
before the Europeans genetic birth are labeled as fables, legends, myths, or
wishful thinking. Those images which are selected and incorporated or
integrated into the curriculum meet the passive political requisite which leads
to the maintenance of the status quo. The more things appear to change with
so-called upward social mobility, in reality they are exactly the same.III
The process by which the Afrikan was mis-educated was by no means an
overnight process19. From the very moment that Afrikans arrived in the "New
World20" the mis-education, process was put in motion. First, the enslaved, who
were newly arrived from Afrika, were forced to relinquish their native
19 The process of mis-education began with the destruction of Kemetic Schools by fanatical Christians under the leadership of Christian Roman emperor Theodosius in 391 A.D. and the final banning of all Kemetic teachings in 415 A.D. with the murder of the famed scholar Hypatia. Next were the Islamic Wars of Expansion and the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade. The expansion of Islam beyond the borders of Arabia began in 634 A.D. By 642 A.D. Coptic Christian Egypt had been conquered by Islamic armies and in the year 708 all of North Africa was under the control of Islamic forces and their influence was in the initial stages of spreading into Western Africa. The European controlled Atlantic Slave Trade, colonization and conquest of Africa followed the Islamic Wars of Expansion. Afrikan enslavement in the America’s began in the 1500s in South and Central America and extended to North America by the 1600s. The process of mis-education, of brainwashing of retraining of the Afrikan was the primary component of these events. John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilizations (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1994) pp. 157 – 231; John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery To Freedom, (New York: McGraw Hill, 1994); Anthony Browder, Nile Valley Contributions To Civilization (Washington D.C.: Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1994)pp. 164.
20 New World is a misnomer for the lands now called the Americas. North, Central and South America along with the Caribbean were lands inhabited by Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and countless other nations. Furthermore, African had visited the region and Chinese traders for time immemorial. John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilizations (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1994) pp. 232 – 263.; Ivan Van Sertima, They Came Before Columbus (New York: Random House, 1976); Michael Bradley, The Black African Discovery of America (Brooklyn, New York: A&B Publishers, 1992); Michael Bradley, The Columbus Conspiracy (Brooklyn, New York: A&B Publishers, 1992)
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language, name, religion and customs, social values, mores and folkways. In
essence, their culture was striped from them. This particular point in itself was
the harshest and yet, most necessary in the mis-education processes. It must
be emphasized however, that this was not a complete accomplishment.
Cultural Components were hidden or disguised in the time honored Afrikan
Way to be dis-covered, reclaimed and adapted by later generations of Afrikans.
Through this process of decentering and sociocultural, sociopolitical,
socioeconomic, and socioreligious dislocation the stripping of the enslaved
Afrikan of his culture, his background, his history, the enslaved Afrikan was put
on an equal footing, symbolically mind you, with the rest of the animal
kingdom, living by instinct for survival. The lowest form of survival
methodology is instinct and this is the level at which a historically ignorant
people exist. The next level is still a survival scheme, however it is far more
sophisticated: for at this level humanity shaped, molded or constructed their
natural environment to meet their cultural needs using their mental abilities,
i.e., critical thought and analysis followed by critical reconstruction. Just as an
animal, for example a dog, is trained to carry out several tasks and is taught to
obey certain individuals, so were the enslaved Afrikans. This part of the
process was easily carried out, because the history of the enslaved, his very
memory of a glorious and indomitable past, was forcibly stripped from him and
without his memory the enslaved Afrikan was place on the level of the lower
animals21.
Secondly, the Afrikan was forced to undergo acculturation by
assimilating European culture and names on pain of death22. This aspect was a
21 Malcolm X expressed this point in the following manner: “History is a peoples memory and without a memory man is demote to the lower animals.”
22 For a full account of the institution of enslavement see the following: The Willie Lynch Letter and The Making of a Slave (Chicago: Lushena Books, 1999); Jules Lester, To Be a Slave (New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1968); Kenneth M.
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central component of enslaved Afrikan education. The enslaved Afrikan was
taught to see himself as being at the bottom of the European social order. The
enslaved Afrikan was constantly told that he could never measure up in deed
or words to the European, who was and would always be innately superior. By
stripping the enslaved Afrikan of his name, further cultural destruction was
performed simply because it was in the name of the Afrikan that one saw, if
one could see, the Afrikan's history and personal attributes. Thirdly, the
enslaved Afrikan was treated according to sub-human standards. Rickety
drafty and foul smelling shacks were home, diseases23 were rampant
throughout the enslavement quarters. Nothing, no material property could be
the personal possession of the enslaved. Considered as property under
Western legal jurisprudence, which was informed by other sociocultural
institutions that they could not own property. A central institution of the
American Capitalist Mixed economy is that of private property. Private property
is considered a constitutional protected right of all citizens. Being property
themselves slaves had no property rights24. This effectively locked them out of
Stampp, The Peculiar Institution (New York: Vintage Books, 1964); Louis Filler, Slavery in the United States of America (New York: D.Van Nostrand Company, 1972); James Mellon, ed., Bullwhip Days The Slaves Remember An Oral History (New York: Avon Books, 1998); Dorothy Schneider and Carl J. Schneider, An Eyewitness History of Slavery in America From Colonial Times to the Civil War (New York: Checkmark Books, 2001)
23 The Diseases included: Pneumonia, Typhus, Cholera, Lockjaw, Tuberculosis, Dysentery, Worms, and Malaria. Ken Burns, The Civil War 1861 The Cause Episode 1 (Time/Life Videos, Producers: Florentine Films and WETA-TV, 1989).
24 The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution among other things states the following, “No person shall be….deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” An historical illustration of the status of Afrikans being that of property would be the Dred Scott Supreme Court case of 1857. Dred Scott was owned by a U.S. Army surgeon in Missouri. Missouri at this time allowed the institution of slavery. The surgeon then moved to Wisconsin and Illinois both free states, and eventually returned to Missouri. Supporters of Dred Scott who were against slavery brought suit on his behalf in Missouri arguing that since he had resided for a time in free states he should now be considered a free man. Although the Missouri Courts have ruled favorably in similar cases, by 1846, when the case was brought, the political and social atmosphere in the United States was fast moving toward armed conflict. In Dred Scott’s case the Missouri court ruled in 1852 against him. By 1857 the case had been appealed and finally reached the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court majority decision Chief Justice Roger B. Taney argued that Afrikans were property and that the Fifth Amendment prevents the taking away of ones property without due process of law. Furthermore, he claimed that property was protected everywhere in the United States and as such slavery could not be prohibited. Specifically Taney asserted that, “They (Afrikans) had more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit
14
the American Dream. Even more so, the basest human depravities were
carried out by the European on the enslaved Afrikan women and men. Rape,
mutilation and murder were normal in the young Christian professing, so-called
civilized nation.
IV
The process of mis-education was continued when the period of
enslavement came to an end with the conclusion of the Civil War and the
military defeat of the Confederate States of America. The newly freed Afrikan
was educated Eurocentricly by Northern philanthropists, educators, and
Christian organizations and volunteers. In all instances, there was no
historically based knowledge of the Afrikan past. The goal of the education was
to bring about social uplift and a transformation of the Afrikan along European
Victorian lines, complete with the values, ideas and beliefs of the time.
Incorporation into the developing White American owned and operated
industrial economy as cheap unskilled labor and as indebted agricultural
peasants was the emphasis and not genuine Afrikan economic and community
development. The Afrikan was educated along the path of how life was
professed to be in an ideal world of post-Civil War America and not according
to how life actually was for the Afrikan, both North and South of the Mason-
Dixon line. In the prestigious professions of lawyers, medical doctors, and
entrepreneur the Afrikan was taught that he could not succeed in meeting the
to be associated with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought an sold, and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a profit could be made of it. This opinion was at that time fixed and universal in the civilized portion of the white race. It was regarded as an axiom in morals as well as in politics….it is too clear to dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration (Declaration of Independence).” “Dred Scott v. Sanford” in Kai Wright ed., The African-American Archive The History of the Black Experience Through Documents (New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2001) pp.281 –282.
15
stringent educational requirements of the careers and that he would have no
job even if he did somehow manage to do so. Examples to prove the
ineptitude and inadequacy of Afrikans were manufactured wholesale. The lack
of the ability to comprehend the various concepts and principles of the learned
professions was a sociopolitical myth used to discourage Afrikans in America
from entering the professional fields25.
In the arena of politics Afrikan voters were terrorized by White
Supremacist groups in an attempt to prevent them from exercising they’re
right to vote or to prevent radical political action, political opportunistic "race
traitors" taking advantage of the situation to further individual goals or they
were apathetic to the political cause opting instead, in keeping with their
training to seek instinctually based survival. However, when Afrikans did gain
the franchise and elected office they were usually uninformed as voters and as
officeholders concerned only with retaining their public office in the next
election and the various types of remuneration which come with it, a very
normal aspect of American political institutions throughout history. The reason
for mass political apathy was that the majority of the Afrikans were in more of
a need to obtain employment from which provision of a home and meals for
their families could be made, rather than being concerned with exercising their
voting rights. These were rights, which produced little if any immediate impact
on their wellbeing. Those who were elected had to deal with constant racial
slurs, assassination attempts and successes, and the problem of overcoming
voter apathy and in some cases fear. This caused them to generally be ill
informed on some issues. Even under these adverse circumstances, there
25 Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (Trenton: African World Press, 1990) pp. 74 – 82; Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990) pp. 36 – 37.
16
were several Afrikans who made many positive strides in the political arena26.
A further effect of mis-education was the separation it caused between
the educated person and the masses. When an Afrikan became educated, his
former enslaver informed him that he was by right of his education above the
masses. The educated Afrikan was now "fit" to be a leader of the masses,
whom he now considered ignorant and beneath himself. Thus the "slave",
"slave-driver" relationship was re-instituted. As a means of keeping enslaved
Afrikans divided and filled with animosity towards one another, certain Africans
who had demonstrated reliability were elevated to the position of slave driver.
The slave-driver served as the person who administered punishment to other
Afrikans, ensured that all work was accomplished and saw that all were up and
in the fields from “can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night”. The slave
driver was the appointed “leader” of the plantation slave population. The
educated Afrikan after enslavement became in many cases the new version of
the slave driver. These actions were a means of co-opting potential real
leaders and incorporating them into the Elite society of whiteness. The
association was successful only if they accepted the basic norms of American
society, and agreed to join the meritocracy of competition and play by the
established rules of the American game. The educated class thus created
became a bane to the cause of Afrikan institution building, community and
economic development27.
Many of the educated Afrikans had strong ties to the one institution that
26 John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr. From Slavery to Freedom (New York: McGraw Hill, 1994) Some of these were P.B.S. Pinchback, Jonathan Jasper Wright, John Roy Lynch, Oscar J. Dunn, Blanche K. Bruce, and Hiram R. Revels.
27 E. Franklin Frazier, Black Bourgeoise: The Rise of a New Middle Class in the United States (New York: Free Press, 1957); The American Directory of Certified Uncle Toms (CBIA & DFS Publishing, 2002)
17
the Afrikan in America owned, the church28. Even so, the deleterious effects of
mis-education caused many to fall away from their "roots". They had simply
out grown the homespun nature of their religion. The white church during the
period of enslavement served as a major defense for the institution of slavery,
and for the mis-education of Afrikans. In the church during enslavement,
Whites controlled the institution. Still this institution provided a welcome relief
from the cotton fields and the overseers whip. As a center of education after
enslavement, the church was the only place where Afrikans could meet to
pursue their learning endeavors.
The church, through the long period of enslavement and afterwards,
served as the beacon of light and hope to a beleaguered and oppressed people
who believed church doctrine and prayed that their oppressors did as well.
With all of its positive attributes the church with its inward dissension,
fragmentation and weakness, which are characteristics of all religions and
social institutions as a result of mis-education, the church in and of itself
taught and still teaches division. The church is very successful in this role,
which has carried over into all phases of Afrikan life. The church was able to
carry forth its doctrine of divide and conquer, because it was the one place
that served as the center of Afrikan life.
V
The process of mis-education, which began the moment an Afrikan
was placed in chains and continues can be changed. This change will not,
however, come about with the aid of the mis-educated29. It will only come 28 Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro (Trenton: African World Press, 1990) pp. 52 – 73; C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990)
29 As Michael Todaro states, " Effective social and economic change requires, therefore either that the support of elite groups be enlisted through persuasion or coercion or that they be pushed aside by more powerful forces…economic and social development will often be impossible without corresponding changes in the social, political and economic institutions of a nation (e.g., land-tenure systems, educational structures, labor market relationships, the distribution and
18
about when Afrikans in America realize the truth about themselves. Afrikans
must realize that they are not alone in their present situation. Theirs is not a
problem of mis-education in America alone, but rather a problem of mis-
education in the Afrikan world. When Afrikans in America think of themselves,
they must think of themselves as apart of the Afrikan world. The entire Afrikan
world must see the education that it has received from the West is not for
development but is instead for domination. It was designed to transmit
knowledge of Western culture to future Westerners over countless generations
to perpetuate western civilization, whose hallmarks are militarism, domination,
oppression, and political and economic colonialism/enslavement.
Once they realize that they are not Afrikan-American, but Afrikans in
American, then they must consider their present problem of injustice as a
worldwide problem of Afrikans. Each time that Afrikans in America think of
home they must think as their Afrikan brethren in ancient Israel, who were
captive in Chaldea for seventy years, thought. Afrikans in America must see
their home as Afrika, even as their Afrikan brethren, the southern kingdom of
Judah, saw the land of Israel as their home. This must be done irrespective of
how many generations they are removed from actual birth in Afrika. Afrikans
in American must seek out and learn of their great past. They must not wait to
be taught, but they must teach themselves. To do so they must establish
Afrikan-centered educational institutions. There education must include
International Trade, World Geography, Mineralogy and all other fields which
are central to social reconstruction.
The Afrikan, whether in America, Asia or Afrika, must realize through a
reconstruction of the self-concept that they are "inferior" to no one and need
control of physical and financial assets, laws of taxation and inheritance, provision of credit, etc.)" Economic Development in the Third World (New York: Longman Inc., 1981) pp. 28-29.
19
be called by no name but AFRIKAN. Afrikans the world over must come to the
understanding that there is no difference between themselves regardless as to
whether one lives in Afrika, America or Asia. The Afrikan must realize that only
in a united front with his brethren worldwide will he find the strength to change
his present position30.
The glorious histories of Nubia, Assyria, Habashat, Sheba, Elam, Kemet,
Babylon, Israel, Phoenicia, Himyarites, Greece, Rome, China, and many, many
other kingdoms will serve as evidence to the Afrikan that it is from his loins
that all men have come forth31. And by his strength that the sciences were
established, the stars plotted and the oceans charted. The ability to survive all
of the hardships of foreign domination, enslavement and colonization serve as
a testament to the Afrikans indomitable will to survive and thrive. Each was
also most importantly based on an Afrikan System of Education.
The Afrikan through knowledge of himself, gained from self-education will lead
himself thoroughly rather than being led. With an understanding of the
achievements gained from the beginning of time to today the spirit that the
Afrikan progenitors of mankind had will engulf their progeny and they shall
understand that the rights that they strive for are the rights that they created.
Social institutions, philosophy, science and mathematics will be seen as a part
30 J. A. Rogers, Sex and Race Why White and Black Mix in Spite of Opposition Vol. III (St. Petersburg, FL.: Helga M. Rogers, 1972) pp. 208 – 219. “ The question, therefore, is: Are the white populations of the two Americas, Australia, and South Africa there to stay, or will Nature, in time revert to the original? That brings us again to the matter of chemicals in the human body. Now there is one particular combination of them-a combination visible to all-that is to be found in greater quantity in a Negro than in a white man, namely melanin, or pigment. I said, greater quantity because there is also pigment in a white skin, at least fifteen per cent and sometimes as high as forty, which is of the same composition as that in a black man. Even the crudest champion of the color bar, says Professor Lionel Lyde, has this brown pigment of primeval man in his epidermal cells….the pigment in the skin of white persons and that in the darker races-East Indians, Chinese, Negroes, and others, are of the same universal substance.”
31 Indus Khamit-Kush What They Never Told You In History Class (Bronx New York: Luxor Publications, 1983); John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilizations (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1994); Cheikh Anta Diop, The African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1974); Anthony T. Browder, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Washington D.C.: Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1994); Yosef ben-Jochannan, Africa Mother of Western Civilization (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1988)
20
of their innate abilities.
The mis-education of the Afrikan in America began the moment the
manacles of the chains of bondage were thrown around the wrists and ankles
of the first enslaved Afrikans on the mother continent. Through knowledge of
the complete Afrikan past, the Afrikan, the world over may stand ready to
pioneer into the future. This will be done only when Afrikans see themselves
not as isolated populations sparsely spread across the earth, but as well over
one billion souls. One billion men, women and children with several established
countries that have need of the knowledge and expertise that Afrikans in the
west have access to. Knowledge, skills and abilities that can and must be used
to rebuild the once magnificent high cultures that were dispersed across
Alkebu-lan, in order that the place as the brightest star in the heavens may
truly be Afrikan once more. And this may be accomplished through A PROPER
EDUCATION OF AFRIKANS AS AFRIKANS BY AFRIKANS. This then is why there is
a need for an Afrikan Curriculum for Afrikan Womanhood and Manhood
Development-to develop and train men and women for the task of nation-
building-the rejuvenation, habilitation and reconstruction of Afrikan peoples,
institutions and nations. In short to create Leaders for the Afrikan peoples.
21
CHAPTER II
Alkebu-lan Concentric Paradigm of Education & Leadership32
I
Leadership is the human conceptualization of guidance and direction
achieved through sound, systematic education. The concept encompasses a
high moral standard, to which few are capable of aspiring without a divine
escort. Though leadership is of divine origin and few can attain it, many in
western societies assume the position or title of leadership, even though the
hallmarks of the west are alienation, de-spiritualization and conflict.
Leadership in its true divine aspects and the assumption of leadership in the
de-spiritualized west present a dichotomous situation that is inconspicuous due
to the incognizance that is self-perpetuated by an ignorant world culture that
has succumbed to European expansionism and, thusly, have rejected the
divine heritage that is humankind.
The concept of leadership has been a topic that has been discussed,
researched and studied from primeval times to the present. Countless
academic works have been written that give prescriptions for styles of
32 Alkebu-lan is the primordial name of the unified continental landmass of pre-historic times. Originally this landmass consisted of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the America’s. Following the separation of the continents as recorded the in the Afrikan Hebrew scriptures, in the Book of Genesis 10:25 KJV, the central portion of the landmass which is presently known as Afrika (from Af-rui-ka, the birthplace) bore the name of Alkebu-lan. It is here defined as the birthplace of humanity. Concentric is a word that is composed of the Latin prefix con-[L: cum, com- meaning with, together, in association, completely] and the Latin term center [L: centrum Gk: kentron, needle, spur, pivot, axis] It is here defined as the common center of humanity, around which all revolve and from which all are derived. Khemet and Ta-Seti are the two Afrikan civilizations from which the paradigms originate. Ta-Seti is the Khemetic (Egyptian) delineation for the southern land, which was the place of their origin. It is defined as the land of the Bowman, Nubia. Khemet is the name by which the ancients of this North Afrikan culture called themselves. It denotes the melanin content of the inhabitants and the fertile alluvial soil of the region. In modern times this area is designated by European and Arabic scholars as Egypt. The modern name of Egypt is derived from the Khemetic name of the Temple of Ptah, He Ka Ptah, which literally means “The Land of the Temple of Ptah.” He Ka Ptah was transcribed by the Greek scholars as Aygyptos and then later rendered by the Romans as Aegyptus. It is from the Latin rendering that the Anglinized Egypt is derived. See, E. A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of Ani) Egyptian Text Transliteration and Translation (New York: Dover Publications, 1967); E.A. Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary 2Vols. (New York: Dover Publications, 1978); The Random House College Dictionary Revised Edition (New York: Random House, 1988); Yosef ben-Jochannan, Africa Mother of Western Civilization (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1989); Anthony T. Browder, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Washington D.C.: Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1994); John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilization (New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1970)
22
leadership and, which also, criticize existing leadership paradigms. However,
all of this has done little to alleviate the present ills of modern leadership
conceptions33.
The concept of leadership is of primary importance in the area of the
administration and development of education. The effectiveness of the
educational organization, its purpose and curriculum hinges on the leadership
style of the Administrator. The issues of ethics and accountability are central
to that leadership style and in the recent past have been sorely lacking. One
need only consider the recent history of Administrative leadership, exemplified
by dual systems of education, de facto and de jure educational segregation,
culturally biased standardized tests and their ramifications on the public view
of education and present leadership styles, to understand the position that the
concept presently exists within.
The reason for the present crisis in educational leadership and curriculum
development is located in the asili or cultural seed of the west34. This seed or
central component of western thought is founded on the cultural traditions of
Greek Civilization. These were the philosophy of will-to-power or rule of the
strong over the weak, alienation or conflict between man/God, male/female,
33 George J. Gordon and Michael E. Milakovich, Public Administration in America (New York: St. Martins Press, 1995) pp. 234 “Despite all this attention, the question of what it takes to be an effective leader is still far from settled. More research has been done in this century, paralleling the expansion of knowledge in related fields such as social psychology, sociology, organization theory, and political science. The subject has taken on a particular urgency in the past two decades, however, as popular discontent has grown regarding the failure of leadership in existing social institutions.”
34 Marimba Ani, Yurugu An African-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1995) pp. 12 – 13. “Asili as a conceptual toll for cultural analysis refers to the explanatory principle of a culture….it is the germinating seed of cultural formation….determined by the collective, fundamental nature of its members….it can be identified and….its inherent nature delineated….a concept that helps to explain the organicity, structure, and development of any culture….telling us what makes it tick….it allows us to explain and to see the way in which the various aspects of a culture relate and how they cohere….allows us to recognize culture as a basic organizing mechanism that forges a group of people into an interest group, an ideological unit…enables us to understand and explain the behavior, thought, and creations of a people in terms of the origin an logic of their culture…it is the primary determinative factor of cultural development and an essential explanatory principle of cultural theory.”
23
man/environment, man/beast, etc., white supremacy or European world
hegemony and de-spiritualization or the devaluing of the spirit35. In order to
provide a new paradigm for the concept of leadership, which is devoid of the
failings of western civilization, traditional Africa should be the focal point of all
research. For it is from the foundations of world high culture that an answer to
the present crisis in educational leadership and curriculum development may
be ascertained.II
Seest thou a man diligent in his business?He shall stand before kings;
He shall not stand before mean men.(Proverbs 22:29 KJV)
The beginnings of world culture are to be found in east Africa, at the
source of the Nile River, i.e., Lake Tanganyika. The earliest world civilization
was established by the ancestors of the modern inhabitants of this region
around Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Ma-Sais. The ancestors of the Ma-Sais founded the
civilization of Ta-Seti (Nubia, Ethiopia). The civilization of Ta-Seti established
several colonies. The principle ones were: Khemet (Egypt), Sumer, Babylon,
Assyria, Khanaan, Himyaria, Mohenjo-Daro, Harrapa, and Olmec. For over 3000
years (some estimates postulate as many as 60,000 years) the civilization of
Ta-Seti held sway throughout the world. Upon the disintegration of the Ta-Seti
Empire, the former colony of Khemet assumed pre-eminence in the ancient
world.
The civilization of Khemet maintained a prestigious position in the
ancient world for over 10,000 years. This was due to the societal structure 35 Oba T’Shaka, Return to the African Mother Principle of Male and Female Equality Vol.1 (Oakland: Pan Afrikan Publishers and Distributors, 1995) “Today, the western paradigm, rooted in the will-to-power, alienation, conflict, and a materialistic de-spiritualization is collapsing before our eyes. The mad pursuit of the material, and the effort by western scientists to dominate nature, has produced a hole in the ozone layer, and a dangerous phenomena called global warming. If this deadly confrontation between western man and nature is not reserved, the earth will become uninhabitable. What is required is nothing less than a worldview that reflects a balance between the masculine and feminine, and between humanity and Mother Nature. The West must begin to turn towards the East and towards Africa to a balanced paradigm of male-female, masculine-feminine, humanity and nature balance and synthesis.”
24
that was inherited from the Ta-Seti Empire and the relative isolation from the
chaotic life of Asia Minor. The world paradigm of Khemet was holistically based
and as such was able to endure; however, as is the case in all cultures, internal
corruption and external military pressures eventually caused the demise of
what was so glorious a civilization.
III
The Khemetic philosophy of leadership was grounded in the spiritual
aspects of the society. The primary architectural structures of the society were
religious in nature. It was from the temple that all professions in society were
filled by educated, trained individuals36. Consequently, the Khemetic paradigm
on leadership was grounded in the educational system. For Khemet believed
that the precepts for holistic, efficient and effective leadership were contained
within all humans. These precepts needed only to be drawn from within the
spirit. In the Khemetic text of Ptahotep, the following selections illustrate the
Ancestors views on the subject:
If you are a man who leads, a man who controls the affairs of many, then seek the most perfect way of performing your responsibility so that your conduct will be blameless. Great is Maat (truth, justice and righteousness). It is everlasting. Maat has been unchanged since the time of Ausar. To create obstacles to the following of laws, is to open a way to a condition of violence. The transgressor of laws is punished, although the greedy person overlooks this. Baseness may obtain riches, yet crime never lands its wares on the shore. In the end only Maat lasts. Man says, 'Maat is my father's ground.'
If you are among the people then gain your supporters by building trust. The trusted man is one who does not speak the first thing that comes to mind; and he will become a leader. A man of means has a good name, and his face is benign. People will praise him even without his knowledge. On the other hand, he whose heart obeys his belly asks for contempt of himself in the place of love. His heart is naked. His body is unanointed. The greathearted is a gift of God. He who is ruled by his appetite belongs to the enemy.
36 John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilization (New York: Citadel Press, 1970) pp. 104 “ The priesthood of early Egypt comprised not only the sacerdotal officialdom, but also the entire learned an professional classes of the nation, including the civil service in it entirety.”
25
If you are a man of worth who sits at the council of a leader, concentrate on being excellent. Your silence is much better than boasting. Speak when you know that you have a solution. It is the skilled person who should speak when in council. Speaking is harder than all other work. The one who understands this makes speech a servant.
If you are an official of high standing, and you are commissioned to satisfy the many, then hold to a straight line. When you speak, don't lean to one side or to the other. Beware lest someone complain, saying to the judges, "he has distorted things", and then your very deeds will turn into a judgment of you.
If you listen to my saying all of your affairs will go forward. Their value resides in their truth....Conceal your heart. Control your mouth. Then you will be known among the officials....Be deliberate when you speak so as to say things that count....It is done, from its beginning to its end, as it was found in the writings of the ancestors and God37.
The Khemetic term for education was SBA-T and it is transliterated into
English as pupil, teaching, training, instruction, and education. The back
formation of SBA-T is SBA and it means door and star. Another Khemetic term
was SBAIT and it is transliterated as teaching, instruction, training, education,
learning, wisdom, and lore of books and doctrine. The back formation of SBAIT
is SBAI and it is transliterated as wise man, teacher and instructor38. Khemet
viewed education as the door to the internal star of existence, from which all of
life is born. Their system was in fact the first theory of salvation, and was
known as the Mystery System. The Khemetic educational system had schools
of philosophy in Chaldea, Greece and Persia to name only a few39.
37 Asa Hilliard, Larry Williams and Nia Damali ed., The Teachings of Ptahhotep The Oldest Book in the World (Atlanta: Blackwood Press, 1987) pp. 18.
38 E.A. Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary 2Vols. (New York: Dover Publications, 1978)
39 George G.M. James, Stolen Legacy Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1992)
26
IV
In the Khemetic educational system, there were three doors through
which the pupil had to pass. These doors were the three levels to the
educational philosophy of Khemet. They were the intuitive aspect of
education, the social aspect of education and the natural aspect of education.
Entrance into the Khemetic system of education was predicated on the
prospective student manifesting characteristics, which were known as the ten
cardinal virtues40. The student in the Khemetic system was known as an
initiate41. The term initiate signified that the student was entering upon an
incessant journey of spiritual, physical and mental development. The spiritual
development centered upon the restoration of the spirit of man to its natural
state of union with God. Thus, man would be God upon Earth.
The spiritual development was inter-linked to the mental, as mental
development was the source of the beginning of the God-like nature. It was
within the realm of physical development, which encompassed the science/arts
of history, economics, sociology, psychology, philosophy, geography,
anthropology, linguistics, politics and education, that the social development of
man manifested the development of the other two areas.
Note that the Latin term physical is derived from the Greek word physis,
which means nature as the source or origin of a thing. Nature is derived from
the Khemetic word NTR or Neter, which means God. It can be determined that
40 George G.M. James, Stolen Legacy Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1992) pp. 30 –31. The characteristics were, “(1) Control of thought and (2) Control of action….(3) Steadfastness of purpose….(4) Identity with spiritual life or the higher ideals…and attribute attained when the individual had gained conquest over the passional nature…(5) Evidence of having a mission in life and (6) Evidence of a call to spiritual Orders or the Priesthood…(7) Freedom from resentment, when under the experience of persecution and wrong…(8)Confidence in the power of the master as teacher, and (9) Confidence in one’s own ability to learn…(10) Readiness or preparedness for initiation….When the pupil is ready, then the master will appear.”
41 The Khemetic Educational System was known as the Mystery System. Mystery means that which is secret, enigmatic or impossible to understand without guidance. The student had to pass through certain rites to gain hidden wisdom. The term Mystery is derived from the Greek term mysterion or myst(es) meaning mystic. Mystic in the Greek is Mystikos, Mystes, meaning an initiate into the mysteries.
27
the physical sciences of Western tradition (physics, chemistry, astronomy,
earth sciences) are derived from the Khemetic educational system. Their true
purpose is to explain the natural world, which is an expression of God. This
knowledge in turn serves to bring man to a realization of his divine nature.
V
The Khemetic educational system was divided into two portions. The
first was conducted in the symbolic outer temple and was known as the
exoteric philosophy. The exoteric philosophy was composed of the seven
liberal arts. They were grammar, rhetoric, logic, geometry, arithmetic,
astronomy, and music42. The second aspect of their educational system was
the esoteric philosophy of the inner temple. These were considered the
Greater Mysteries, which only the very adept were admitted. The esoteric
mysteries consisted of the ascertaining of the holistic truths that were
contained in and around and throughout the exoteric mysteries. Examples are
numerical and geometrical symbolism, the instructions of the magi, the Pert
Em Hru (The Book of Coming Forth by Day) a salvation text, and myths,
parables and proverbs.
Beyond the esoteric and exoteric studies the Khemetic educational
system consisted of architecture, masonry, carpentry, engineering, sculpture,
metallurgy, agriculture, mining, forestry and art. These were the fields of
learning that were employed in the construction of the pyramids, temples and
42 George G.M. James, Stolen Legacy Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1992) pp. 28 “ Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic were disciplines of moral nature by means of which the irrational tendencies of a human being were purged away, and he was trained to become a living witness of the Divine Logos. Geometry and Arithmetic were sciences of transcendental space and numeration, the comprehension of which provided the key not only to the problems of one’s being; but also to those physical ones, which are so baffling today, owing to our use of the inductive methods. Astronomy dealt with the knowledge and distribution of latent forces in man, and the destiny of individuals, races and nations. Music (or Harmony) meant the living practice of philosophy i.e., the adjustment of human life into harmony with God, until the personal soul became identified with God, when it would hear and participate in the music of the spheres. It was therapeutic, and was used by the Egyptian Priests in the cure of diseases.”
28
statutes. The fields of learning that provided the professional class of the
social order were also apart of the temple education and included: law, public
administration, business, economics, civics, statistics and military science43.
VI
The major precepts of the Khemetic educational system were the
religious concepts of Maat and Tehuti. Maat is rendered as right thought and
Tehuti is rendered as right action. These two principles are the foundation
upon which another principle of the educational system is based and that is
the conceptualization of the righteous social order where all men and women
are divinely empowered to guide all aspects of society in an equal and
balanced, harmonious, natural manner. This conceptualization is also known
as the "Vision of the Just Society"44.
Maat is the feminine aspect of existence and the beginning and cause of
activity or right thought. That Maat is the feminine or female aspect of
existence means that it is the portion of God that brings forth, the mind,
source of the word. This concept is exemplified in the female being the bearer
of life, as the term female implies. For female is composed of the term’s fetus
and male. The fetus is the offspring of the male and the fetus male is the male
that is the carrier of the fetus. This point has further proof in the other name of
the female, which is woman. The word woman is composed of the term’s
womb and man. Thus, woman is the man with the womb and the purpose of
the woman or womb-man is to carry, nurture and bring forth the offspring.
Maat is represented in Khemetic philosophy as two females. The two
females represent the duality of human existence as is contained in the word
43 George G.M. James, Stolen Legacy Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1992) pp. 135 –136.
44 Oba T’Shaka, Return to the African Mother Principle of Male and Female Equality Vol.1 (Oakland: Pan Afrikan Publishers and Distributors, 1995)
29
individual. Individual is composed of the words indivisible and dual. This
signifies that mans existence is composed of two aspects which cannot be
divided or separated. These portions of human existence are masculine and
feminine; spiritual and physical; and, the God-nature and the Man-nature.
These complement and complete one another.
There are also seven principles that are encompassed by Maat. These
are truth, justice, righteousness, order, harmony, balance and reciprocity.
Truth, justice and righteousness compose one group and harmony, balance
and reciprocity compose the other. Each is complementary to the other and
together they establish the final concept, order. Truth is the complement of
harmony, balance, reciprocity, justice and righteousness. Justice is the
complement of truth, harmony, balance, reciprocity, and righteousness. In like
manner righteousness, harmony, balance, reciprocity is the complement of
each of the other terms. All of these complementary associations lead to the
concept of order.
Maat is further composed of 42 ordinances, which are known as the 42
negative confessions45. The initiate had to live daily by these confessions. For
they were a daily confirmation of the 10 cardinal virtues, as well as, a constant
manifestation of the students application of the exoteric and esoteric wisdom.
Along with their being the phenomenal component of living Maat, right
thought, speech and action. The 42 negative confessions of Khemetic
philosophy are the predecessor of the Hebrew Ten Commandments. The
Hebrew leader Moses, whose name is Khemetic in origin, was prior to the
45 E.A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of Ani) Egyptian Text Transliteration and Translation (New York: Dover Publications, 1967). The Following are examples of the confessions: “Not have I been iniquitous. Not have I stolen. Not have I spoken lies. Not have I committed fornication. Not have I committed adultery. Not have I judged hastily. Not have I burned with rage. Not have I avenged myself. Never have I cursed God. Not have I taken food from the mouth of the infant. Not have I behaved with arrogance.”
30
Hebrew exodus from Khemet a Khemetic priest. He had been reared in all of
the wisdom and learning of ancient Khemet. And it was during his studies in
the Khemetic Temple Universities and immersion in Khemetic wisdom that he
learned of the unrighteousness of the phenomena of enslavement.
Tehuti was the masculine aspect of existence and the end and effect of
Maat. This term represented the conceptualization of right action, which is the
result of right thought. The male is the representative of Tehuti and in
Khemetic philosophy was symbolized as a scribe, that recorded the deeds of
men and the wisdom of God. The head of the scribe was that of the sacred
ibis. The sacred ibis is known in scientific circles as Threskiornis Aethiopica or
the Ethiopian ibis. This bird reaches an average length of 2½ feet. It has black
skin with black wing feathers and white body plumage. The ibis was used in
ancient Khemet as a symbol of the human heart46.
The relation of Tehuti as right action to Maat as right thought is found in
the Greek rendering of Tehuti as Thoth. Thoth is the Greek term from which
the English word thought is derived. The Khemetians understood that action
takes place in thought before it occurs in the physical realm. Also, they were
aware that right thought is composed of the words of the mind and that
actions are preceded by some form of verbal expression. With this knowledge,
they used Tehuti to symbolize action and the words of the heart, while Maat
symbolized thought and righteousness.
While there were 42 negative confessions of Maat, there were also 42
wisdom texts of Tehuti. Twenty-two dealt with the subjects of God, astronomy
46 Anthony Browder, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Washington D.C.: Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1994) pp. 83. “The ibis is a bird that sleeps with its head folded beneath its wing and its body assumes the shape of a heart, which was regarded as the seat of the soul and true intelligence. The footstep of an ibis was said to be equal to one cubit, which was considered a sacred unit of measurement. The Netcher Djhuiti was portrayed with an ibis head and he represented divine articulation of speech and intelligence. He was the keeper of the sacred cubic and the creator of science, writing and medicine.”
31
esoteric theology and medicine. The other 20 focused on the subjects of
Khemet, embalming, the monuments and the secret sciences. These texts
were the required literature for the six orders of Khemetic priest. The six
orders of Khemetic priests were the Singer Odus, the Horoscopus, the
Hierogrammat, the Stolistes, the Prophetes, and the Pastophori. The Singer
Odus had to be versed in the two books dealing with the hymns of God. The
Horoscopus must know the four books of astronomy. The Hierogrammat must
know the ten books of exoteric knowledge: the MDW NTR (the word of God or
sacred writing system,; hieroglyphics), cosmography, geography, astronomy,
topography and land surveying. The Stolistes must know the books of
embalming. The Prophetes must know the ten books of esoteric theology. The
Pastophori must know the six books of medicine, which focus on physiology
and anatomy47.
The central location of Khemetic education was the temple complex
located in the city of Wa’set. Wa’ Set in the Khemetic tongue means the
“Scepter” a designation signifying its status as the Capitol city of Khemet. Dr.
Chancellor Williams48 describes Wa’Set, also called Nowe or Wo’Se, as the most
important urban center in the history of Afrikans. This city established in pre-
history served as the center of Afrikan life prior to the re-unification of Upper
and Lower Ta-Meri and the founding of Memphis as the new capital in 3100 BC
This city was the center of learning in the Afrikan world for untold millennia,
and held the title of the University City. From the “City of a Hundred Gates”
47 George G.M. James, Stolen Legacy Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1992) pp. 131 – 137.
48 Chancellor Williams, The Destruction of Black Civilization Great Issues of a Race From 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. (Chicago: Third World Press, 1987)pp. 87-95. Nowe was also called Thebes by the Greeks and the inhabitants of the city and Upper Egypt were called the Thebald. Other Khemetic names were Wo’Se and Wa’Set.
32
came forth architects, engineers, artisans, priests, administrators, civil
servants, lawyers, scholars, philosophers and scientists.
The City of Wa’ Set was the site of two massive temple complexes49, the
Ipet-Isut and the Shemayit-Ipet. The Ipet-Isut in the Khemetic language
means, the “Most Select of Places”, or the “Holiest of Places.” The Shemayit-
Ipet meaning the “Southern Place”. The Ipet-Isut was the center of learning in
Wa’Set. Its student body has been conservatively estimated as being about
80,000 students in all levels of education, and the library at the Temple was
the largest in Khemet. The faculty were savants who served as priests of the
temple. In the Khemetic system of education, religion and education were
inseparable. The Ipet-Isut was therefore a focal point for government,
education and religious activity50.
The Khemetic title for the faculty was Hersetha, which means, “Teachers
of Mysteries.” The temple faculty was further divided into five departments.
One department was known as the Mystery Teachers of Heaven, who
specialized in the sciences of Astronomy and Astrology. Another department
was titled the Mystery Teachers of All Lands. These instructors were
competent in the science of Geography. The department of the Mystery
Teachers of the Depths housed experts in the science of Geology. The Mystery
Teachers of the Secret Word, were intellectuals who were authorities in the
fields of Philosophy and Theology and the Mystery Teachers of Pharaoh, were
literati who concentrated in the professions of Law and Communication
Studies51.
49 Anthony Browder, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Washington D.C.: Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1994) pp. 116-120. The Ipet-Isut is known today as the Temple of Karnak and the Shemayit-Ipet is known as the Temple of Luxor.
50 Asa G. Hilliard, The Maroon Within Us (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1995) pp. 122.51 Ibid., pp. 122.; Winwood Reade, The Martyrdom of Man (London: Watts and Co., 1934) pp. 12-14 quoted in John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilization (New York: Citadel Press, 1970) pp. 105.
33
VIIThe Khemetic term for leader is recorded in the Khemetic tongue as
Antch-Mer52. The Antch-Mer is transliterated as Divine Guide and expresses
the fact that the leader in Khemetic society embodied the following qualities:
1. Sound mind.2. Firm constitution.3. Strong disposition.4. Perception.
Furthermore, the leader was conceived of as the balance and measure of the
people. As the leader was so were the people that he guided. The Antch-Mer
also was to be a representative of the poor and destitute and not the wealthy.
Beyond all else, the Antch-Mer had to conceive of himself as the vessel of God.
The Antch-Mer was the divine measure of the people, who served as the
M'Tenu53, i.e., leader or guide. The Antch-Mer as M'Tenu directed the people
along the M'Ten, i.e., path of Maat by way of Tehuti. This M'Ten or path was
M'Ten or engraved upon the heart of all of humanity. The Khemetic concept of
leadership was subtle and easily accessible to the population by way of the
language. For it will be noticed that M'Tenu, which means leader/guide, is
composed of M'Ten, which means both path and engraved.
The Antch-Mer in the capacity of M'Tenu provided the people with Seshem-
t, which means guidance and administration. The Antch-Mer was the highest
“Priests were the royal chroniclers and keepers of records, the engravers of inscriptions, physicians of the sick and embalmers of the dead, lawyers and lawgivers, sculptors an musicians. Most of the skilled labor of the country was under their control. In their hands were the linen manufactures and the quarries between the cataracts. Even those posts in the Army which required knowledge of arithmetic and penmanship were supplied by them: every general was attended by young priests scribes, with papyrus rolls in their hands and reed pencils behind their ears. The clergy preserved the monopoly of the arts which they invented; the whole intellectual life of Egypt was in them…Their power was immense, but it was exercised with justice and discretion; they issued admirable laws, and taught the people to obey them by the example of their own humble, self-denying lives.”
52 E.A. Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary 2Vols. (New York: Dover Publications, 1978)
53 E.A. Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary 2Vols. (New York: Dover Publications, 1978)
34
Administrator of the public of ancient Khemet. In the guise of Seshem-t, the
Antch-Mer was known as the Seshem of God. This implies that the Antch-Mer
was the image of God and the people, in the service of both. Both the
precepts of Maat, and, the wisdom of Tehuti guided the Antch-Mer’s behavior.
Finally, the Antch-Mer as Seshem was the Administrator of God. Public
Administration in government of the Antch-Mer had an entirely different
meaning than in today's secularized, de-spiritualized world. Administration
was perceived in accordance with its true meaning. Administration is derived
from the Latin term ministration, which means ministry. The Administrator was
a minister of the people and God. This is exemplified in the finally rendering of
M'Tenu as the Leader of Peace.
The Antch-Mer of ancient Khemet had a purpose given by God, coupled
with a divine sense of destiny and was driven by passion, and desire. The
leader contained the characteristics of integrity, trust, curiosity and daring.
The Antch-Mer exhibits a defiant attitude in the face of the status quo. The
expectations of others when not aligned with Maat and Tehuti are of no
consequence or concern to the Antch-Mer, for his purpose as leader dictates
his circumstances and he knows that failure is not to be feared as he who has
never failed has never tried. The highest quality of the Antch-Mer is self-
sacrifice for the greater good of the people that he guides.
The educational system and curriculum that have been delineated and
the leadership concepts, which have been provided are the proper foundation
for leadership and education and as such can be applied in the modern setting
by intellectually and spiritually sound individuals. For as the Khemetic precept
of Ptah-Hotep states: “If you are one who leads, one who guides the affairs of
many, then seek the most perfect way of performing your responsibility so that
your conduct will be blameless. Great is Maat. It is everlasting. Maat has
35
been unchanged since before the beginning. To create obstacles to the
following of laws, is to open a way to a condition of violence. The transgressor
of laws is punished, although the greedy person overlooks this. Baseness may
obtain riches, yet crime never lands its wares on the shore. In the end only
Maat lasts. One says, Maat is my source.”54
54 Asa Hilliard, Larry Williams and Nia Damali ed., The Teachings of Ptahhotep The Oldest Book in the World (Atlanta: Blackwood Press, 1987) pp. 18.
36
CHAPTER III
Curriculum for Afrikan Womanhood and Manhood
Development
I
Having addressed from a historical perspective some of the reasons why
a curriculum for Afrikan womanhood and manhood development is necessary
and also having considered the Classical Afrikan High Culture of Khemet and
its system of education, a proposal for a curriculum of Afrikan womanhood and
manhood development will now be made. This curriculum will be and
adaptation of the classical system with an emphasis on contemporary needs.
This new curriculum will be a functional system of education focused on
addressing real world Afrikan community issues and problems, approached
from the perspective of Afrikan education in a constant state of war55. The
tenets, values, methodology and outcomes of the new system will be
delineated. In an effort to properly relate the tenets, values, methodology and
outcomes to the Afrikan experience a detailed analysis of specific instances of
the Afrikan's experience will be integrated throughout. However, first a clear
understanding of education, curriculum and methodology as here used will be
rendered.
II
Education in the western or Eurocentric sense focuses on developing the
analytical, segregative, logical, specification of material reality and linear-
sequential reasoning processes of the left hemisphere of the brain. To know in
the west is to engage in inquiry using the western scientific method.
Education, hence is the development of the human faculties necessary to excel
in this methodology, and therefore being able to know. The definition of
55 See Appendix III for Chronology of Afrikan and European social interaction.
37
education here used encompasses both the left and right brain hemispheres,
the development of the faculties of the human being. Adequate emphasis is
placed on the polyphonic, tactile, simultaneity, spontaneous, abstract, holistic,
intuitive, spiritual, nonverbal systems of thought and knowing employed by the
faculties of the right hemisphere of the brain56. These serve to enhance the
methodology of inquiry and knowing. Education is here viewed as the
instruction and informing of the individual. Instruction from the perspective of
developing or leading in the evolving of the Inner Structure of the pupil and
informing as in the Inner Forming of the person in accordance with the laws,
precepts and ordinances established by God and followed by the ancestors.
This perspective of education will also engage in the training of the pupil,
i.e. teaching to do under supervised expert guidance. Beyond the mere
concerns of the acquisition of knowledge as understood as obtaining
information or data, the process will focus also on enlightenment, or the
illumination of the outer man by the awakening of the inner light, deep thought
and the tapping of the God-consciousness within the pupil. Education as
offered here is the development of the full special and general powers and
abilities of the mind of the student. The Latin understanding of education as
educere meaning to lead or be brought up and taught coupled with the
Khemetic idea of education as Sebat, the door to a higher consciousness is
recaptured with this new focus.
The end goal of this perspective is that education will now lead to and
awakening of High Culture within the individual. High Culture is understood as
a modality, of existence or a mode of thought, which is cultivated by the
56 Alfred B. Pasteur and Ivory L. Toldson, Roots of Soul The Psychology of Black Expressiveness (Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1982) See Chapter 2 pp. 15 – 37. “How Come Blacks Act The Way They Do? A Factor of Hemispheric Confluence and Melanin Quantity” for an excellent discussion of left and right hemisphere brain functions and Afrikan excellence.
38
educational process, and instills within the learner an appreciation of the high
ideals of the ancestors. Even more so, the student will be endowed with a
refinement in personal conceptualization and the desire, faith, determination,
persistence and will to aspire toward the fulfillment of those ideals and for the
outward manifestation of High Culture. Hence, the student will be imbued with
sociopsychological desire and ability to engage in Afrikan social reconstruction.
Curriculum is derived from the Latin term curricul (um) -meaning racing
chariot, wagon, race and figuratively career. Career which a curriculum is
expected to lead to is derived from the Latin word, carr (us) meaning wagon.
These terms from a holistic perspective are not adequate to convey the sense
intended here. Therefore, a Khemetic term will be used. Mjat is the Khemetic
term for professional occupation. The word bespeaks of the dignity, adoration,
praise, acclamation and respect that one should have for ones professed
calling in life. Also, it addresses the veneration that one is to be held in when
one has attained the age and wisdom of the Elders, irrespective of ones calling
or gender. As associated with education it signifies ones progression through
the educational system in the development for ones life work. As such, it
comprises both the preparation for and the actual life work. This word then
will serve the dual purpose of career and curriculum as used in the Western
sense. However, it will extend far beyond the general Western idea of
curriculum, as merely the courses of study in an educational setting.
39
CHAPTER IV
MJAT SEBAT57
I
The public education of Afrikans the world over faces a severe crisis. This
is a crisis that threatens the very future of Afrikans by continuing to perpetuate
the negatives of the present on an alarming scale and with dire consequences.
One need only consider Afrikan experiences in the American school system pre
and post "integration", the experiences of newly arrived Afrikan immigrants
such as the Somali in the Minnesota school system, Afrikan immigrant
experiences throughout Europe, and Ethiopian Falasha or Beta Israel
experiences in Israeli schools to see the proof. Presently Afrikan education is
designed to continue the marginality of Afrikan life by developing consumers,
and workers for an alien system of living. Afrikan life is marginal in relation to
the European cultural, political, social and economic orientation of the global
community. This marginality is further enhanced with wide spread epidemics
of homelessness, the proliferation of HIV/AIDs , famine, starvation,
malnutrition, malabsorptive hunger, internecine communal warfare, white
supremacy, media mis-representation, and poor Diaspora continental
communication and cooperation. The educational process that Afrikans are
faced with is of European origins and it is creating a permanent underclass of
the impoverished. Furthermore, this system of education is designed to
perpetuate the existence of this underclass, a village, slum and ghetto dwelling
inner city mass of what has been called the truly disadvantaged58.
57 Mjat Sebat: Educational Curriculum.
58 William Julius Wilson, The Truly Disadvantaged The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987)
40
The present education of Afrikans has failed to solve the problems
created by the transformations in Afrikan life, which were brought about by
pre-European national wars, colonialism, enslavement, and acceptance of the
European economic systems59 unchanged and with disregard for Afrikan
relevance. With respect to America the present educational system has failed
to adequately consider the generational effects of war, captivity, enslavement,
Jim Crow, Civil Rights and Black Power and then to systematically and with
seriousness of intent incorporate substantial and significant changes. Just as
schools perpetuate the social order through the transmission of knowledge
across generations, so do other social institutions such as the family, which for
the Afrikan is a slave/colonial institution. This is undoubtedly partially due to
the failure to view properly ancestral successes. Throughout Afrikan, history
there has been a sound, inerrant association between Afrikan-centered
educational systems and Afrikan cultural, social, political, and economic
progress60. It is from this tried and true, rational61, empirical basis that an
Afrikan MJAT SEBAT will be developed.
The Mjat Sebat will be defined as a system designed to aid in the
reconstruction and reclamation of the knowledge and experiences of ones High
Cultural inheritance62. This will be accomplished under the supervision of the
59 Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Communalism, etc.
60 Examples are Khemet, Wawat, Kush, Ta-Nehesti, Meroe, Axum, Ghana, Songhai, Mali, the Hausa States, Elam, Sumeria, Khaan, Qhart-Haddas, Kamnuria, Lamlam, Kongo-Ngola and Kuba.
61 Rationality as understood in the west has its origin with the Greek-student philosophers of Hellenistic Greece. The fathers of the Greek rational movement-Socrates, Plato and Aristotle-studied in the Temple University’s of Khemet around 250 to 300 B.C. While students in Khemet they derived the Greek concept of rationality founded in empirical knowledge from the holistic conceptionalization of rationality conceived by the Khemetic Hersetha.
62 The following discussion relies on Daniel Tanner and Laurel N. Tanner, Curriculum Development Theory into Practice (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1980) pp. 3-43 for the standard understanding of curriculum, especially their tentative definition of curriculum; and on, George G.M. James, Stolen Legacy Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1992)
41
community. Emphasis will be on the nature, needs and interests of the learner
coupled with the life relevance with regards to societal demands and problems.
Reflective thought, in the mode of High Cultural ideals on norms of thinking
and acting with the function of self-realization and cultural reclamation are
further conceptions within the Mjat Sebat. In the end, the learner will have an
inner control of knowledge and experience. Control in the sense of an inner
restraint and direction in use and under/over-standing of the two. The inner
formation and awakening of consciousness to serve as a countervailing power
to the physical impediments of the human body, i.e., the appetites of the lower
carnal nature. Moreover, the learner will experience spiritual-personal-social
growth and spiritual-personal-social problem solving techniques. As a result,
the student will be prepared for effective living. Effective living being
perceived as being both willing and equipped to solve the minutiae of ailments
of Afrikans and to engage in Nation-building as Afrikan women and men.
A seven-step method63 was used in the development of the Mjat Sebat as
this endeavor has as a prerequisite systematic thought and contemplation or
strenuous deep thought. The steps are as follows:
1: Diagnosis of needs2: Formulation of objectives3: Selection of content knowledge4: Organization of content knowledge5: Selection of learning experiences6: Organization of learning experiences7: Determination of what and how to evaluate
With these steps as a guide, the Mjat Sebat was developed with an eye to
rectifying the plight of the Afrikan masses. What follows is a break down of the
needs, objectives, the content knowledge, and the key problem-solving tools.
63 Hilda Taba, Curriculum Development Theory and Practice (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1962) pp. 12
42
II
If we take the time and look back over our long history here in the United
States we will note, that for the first three hundred and forty years we were
relegated to mental and physical enslavement education. This situation was
legally sanctioned and embedded into the cultural mores of the American way
of life (as was the case with the genocide practiced on the Indigenous Nations
and the genocidal conditions inherent in the enslavement process). Even
during this time such men as Denmark Vessy, Gabriel Prosser, Harriet Tubman,
and Nat Turner and countless others developed substantive policy measures,
designed to remedy the social situation of the Black community.
Next, in the face of Jim Crow Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey &
WEB Dubois, & A Philip Randolph developed substantive policy measures to
alleviate the social ills in our community. In The 1960s, El-Hajj Malik El-
Shabazz, Elijah Muhammad, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., SNCC, the Black
Panther Party & many others developed strategies designed to lead to
substantive policy measures to solve the problems in the Black community.
Now thirty years removed it is our turn to build upon what has taken place and
move forward still further. How can we do this? By studying what has been
done; seeing what succeeded and why; what failed and why; and then
analyzing our present situation applying what has worked again and
developing new and innovative solutions.
To accomplish these tasks we must address the pressing problems that
our children have in the educational system. For they are the next generation
43
that must be developed and equipped with the knowledge, skills and abilities
that will allow them the greatest chance for success. Success at building on the
foundation we have laid and adding to the structures we have formed,
improving the cities we have built and expanding the nations we have
founded.
As such, the Mjat Sebat must have the components necessary to
ameliorate the problems. There is a need for drastic improvement in the
following educational areas: reading, literature and language arts
(communication studies), social sciences, music, art, mathematics, science,
drama, home economics and family living, physical education (holistic
perspective). Our children are in need of an Mjat Sebat that is cognizant of
and incorporates varied instructional strategies designed to effectively deal
with multiple learning styles. Indeed there must be ample time spent on the
improvement of critical thinking and reasoning skills and on the presentation of
culturally relevant historical studies. The mark of excellence within the Mjat
Sebat is not comparison with European achievement, but rather, against the
heights of Afrikan High Culture, exemplified in the philosophical,
architectural/engineering and socio-religious and socio-economic creations and
achievements, from whence we have fallen.
The relevance of the courses listed are understood with and eye to the
primary objective of developing men and women capable and willing to solve
the myriad of problems that afflict the Afrikan world. To do this there must be
a reconstruction and reclamation of Afrikan world knowledge in both its past
44
and present forms. In its past forms this knowledge must be adapted to
contemporary situations, while in its present Eurocentric form it must be
divested of the Platonic dialectic, and reformed in its Afrikan essence. Using a
method of education, which awakens the students inner conscious, and
develops it leads to the creation of men and women able to scale the heights
of High Culture with effortlessness.
Consequently, the Mjat Sebat will not attempt to separate the emotional,
intellectual, social, spiritual or physical aspects of the student. The following is
a model64 of children and their behavior.
As the model shows when dealing with children it is impossible to separate the
emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual and physical development of the
child/learner. The arrows give some idea of the relationship and interactions,
which take place between the various components and why dealing with each
64 Boyd R. McCandless, Children Behavior and Development (New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1962) pp. 4.
Child
PersonalSocial EmotionalSpiritual
Physical-Motor
Academic Achievement-Aptitude
45
separately is impractical65. Each part of our being has an affect and is affected
each other part, hence the impracticality of our present education systems.
With regards to the Afrikan child, this reasoning is most detrimental to
the child’s development. By not taking into account all of the facets of the
Afrikan child’s humanity and considering the Afrikan child as a White child
painted Black, misdiagnosis of the problems and educational needs of the child
will be made66. This misdiagnosis will then lead to the types of educational
solutions, which serve to only further alienate the Afrikan child from education
and generally lower their achievement. Those children who do achieve and
accomplish do so in spite of the educational system and not because of it. This
is a testament to the idea that the medicines that a people need are brought
forth from their own bosom. Even more so, it is an acknowledgment of a
normal occurrence in nature. In the plant kingdom, many herbs and fruits
contain the seeds of their future successful propagation within themselves.
65 Ibid., pp. 3 – 5. Boyd points out that teachers deal with the academic perspective of the child while neglecting the other two parts of the triangle. Medical doctors and physical education instructors’ deal with the physical exclusively in most cases and social workers, psychiatrist, psychologists, and counselors will tend to focus on the personal social sphere to the exclusion of the others. As the human is a composite this is severely faulty reasoning.
66 Amos N. Wilson, The Developmental Psychology of the Black Child (New York: Africana Research Publications, 1978) pp., 6. Wilson points out that conventional educational theory states that the only difference between Afrikan and white children is skin color. This reasoning also claims that what is good for the white child is good for the Afrikan. How does one improve Afrikan educational achievement, by sending the “culturally deprived” child (read devoid of white cultural experiences) to white schools, white cultural events etc. Wilson furthers shows however that after years of policies designed to accomplish these tasks the gulf between Afrikans and whites in American society have not been significantly closed, neither socio-economically or educationally. Furthermore Wilson states that these problems have an early beginning, “During the prenatal period, the nine month preparatory period before the American black child is born, or is conscious, even in a primitive way, of its existence in the world, let alone what kind of world he is to be born into, he is much more a victim of that world’ adverse effects than is any other ethnic American child. The unfortunate effects of slavery, past and present racial discrimination an cultural deprivation, make themselves felt during this period when the very foundation of life is being laid. From the beginning of his creation, the black child suffers both the emotional and physical consequences of the “Black condition” in America.” Pp. 12. This and further illuminating points presented by Wilson describe the futility of dividing the Afrikan child and attempting to deal with aspects as opposed to the whole, a mistake that the Aau-t Sbait is prepared to rectify.
46
Nevertheless, the Mjat Sebat will not engage in the division of the components
of the learner.
In the Mjat Sebat learning is both the, “acquisition of new skills,
meanings, and orientations,67” along with their effective implementation and
the recovery of ancestral memory through the awakening of the inner
consciousness accomplished by way of inner formation and inner structuring
along the lines of Maat and Tehuti. Furthermore, the Mjat Sebat plans to
provide the learner with techniques and strategies for solving problems. In
short teach them to think in a different way a non-Eurocentric method of
thinking and doing. For if one wants to change a person one must change the
way, the person thinks. Therefore, the Mjat Sebat will develop the whole
person through the use of multiple intelligence learning styles-linguistic,
logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal and
intrapersonal68. The Mjat Sebat see's human development as being continuos
throughout the life cycle, cumulative or consisting of all past, present and
future interactions, directional in accordance with the inner nature which is
drawn out of the pupil, differentiated to a degree providing for the variety of
human life, organized according to divine guidance and holistic. By being
holistic, the Mjat Sebat moves with the understanding that human
advancement is never a social isolated event. The sociopsychological, physical
and spiritual development are indivisible and are in constant interaction.67 Boyd R. McCandless, Children Behavior and Development (New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1962) pp. 178.
68 Thomas Armstrong, Multiple Intelligence's in the Classroom (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1994) pp. 27.
47
The Mjat Sebat understands that human beings learn best when they are
motivated to do so69. For Afrikan boys the motivation, desire or drive to learn is
as awake as in Afrikan girls and in any other race. They are energized, at the
thought of self-improvement and mastery of new things, however it may have
been presented them by mothers, fathers or both. It must be remembered
that we are born with the exploratory, experimenting, curious nature. This is a
necessity to learn how to talk, walk, and the like. Since they are thoroughly
dependent on their parents, the Afrikan child excepts the parent’s view of the
significance of education, and after some trepidation on both their parts at the
first significant separation he will generally excel in academia.
As has been pointed out by Jawanza Kunjufu70 by the time Afrikan boys
reach the fourth grade motivation and desire have decreased substantially.
Some of the factors, which cause this particular situation, are: the “diagnosis”
of young Afrikan boys as learning disabled and biased Intelligence tests.
Further reasons are “…a decline in parental involvement, an increase in peer
pressure, a decline in nurturance, a decline in teacher expectations, a lack of
understanding of learning styles and a lack of male teachers.”71
69 Ibid., pp. 198 –199. “…Organisms do not learn unless some motive or drive exists. A drive or motive performs one or more of three functions: it energizes, or sensitizes, selects, and directs. Drives are frequently classified as primary and secondary. A primary drive is considered to be one related to the biological needs that must be satisfied if life and the species are to be preserved. Hunger, thirst, and sex are illustrations of such biological drives. Secondary drives have been learned, presumably in the course of satisfying primary drives. Dependency and a need for mastery are illustrations of secondary drives, and aggression and anxiety may also be in this category.”
70 Jawanza Kunjufu, Countering The Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys Vol. I(Chicago: African American Images, 1982 )
71 Ibid., pp. 19.
48
All of these problems point to a drastic change in the self-concept of the
Afrikan child. The Afrikan child, like other children will continue to learn as
they grow. They will learn about their immediate surroundings, the outside
world, and their place in that world. Even more importantly, all of this learning
takes place in conjunction with the Afrikan learning about his or herself. This
type of learning is personal, social, spiritual, physical, intellectual and
emotional. In essence, the Afrikan is engaging in self-evaluation. There are
degree’s of illogicality in the young learners development of their self-concept,
but this development is significant for inner balance and sound relations to the
outside world72.
During the early years of the Afrikan child and at least through the first
three years of formal mis-education, the self-concept is at such a level as to
maintain academic achievement at a level that is above or at par with Whites.
However, due to the negative effects previously listed as given by Kunjufu, and
as a result to the material reality of the Afrikan condition as stated by Wilson,
by the fourth grade what Kunjufu calls the “fourth grade syndrome73” has set
in. With this development academia and all other educational pursuits dwindle
in importance with resulting lack of achievement or dropping out altogether on
the part of the Afrikan child.
72 Boyd R. McCandless, Children Behavior and Development (New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1962) pp. 254 - 255 “ They psychological construct, the self-concept, connotes this area of essentially private experience and self-evaluation-essentially private even though it is in part translated into action by most of the things we say and do, by the attitudes we hold, and by the beliefs we express….The self-concept may be thought of as a set of expectancies, plus evaluations of areas or behaviors with reference to which these expectancies are held. Thus, it is considered to be learned.”
73 Jawanza Kunjufu, Countering The Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys Vol. I (Chicago: African American Images, 1982 ) pp. 9.
49
The Mjat Sebat considers the self-concept as the apogee of the Afrikan’s
social, personal, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical experiences.
The development of the self is important because all experiences, “…
conditioning and instrumental learning, primary and secondary generalization,
reward and punishment, motives and drives, expectancies…conflicts, fixations-
all these processes…play a part, first in distinguishing others from me, later in
an only partly articulate personal awareness and evaluation of me, and finally
in the mature me, who may be cynical or trusting, happy or depressed, or self-
confidently male or female.74” When dealing with the self-concept, we have
reached the fertile mental ground where the self-fulfilling prophecy is born.
When the mind’s eye believes something it, sets into motion all thoughts,
actions, emotions spiritual and material necessities required to bring it into
fruition. Therefore, the Mjat Sebat proposed here incorporates the awakening
of consciousness, inner forming and inner structuring of the Afrikan into the
courses of study.
To change the self-concept requires a reorientation in world view75, a
reconstruction of the self, and a replacement of the images which serve to play
a part in the self-concept with self affirming images, thoughts, desires, faith
and perception. The minds eye must receive from within a new view of the self
devoid of the negative connotations received in the Eurocentric world and
74 Boyd R. McCandless, Children Behavior and Development (New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1962) pp. 254
75 The child's values, preferences, beliefs, self-identity, understanding of possibilities and expectations must be critically analyzed and then critical reconstructed along Afrikan lines.
50
social institutions. This will create a self-fulfilling prophecy that rings with the
words of the Afrikan Psalmist,
Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.76
The Mjat Sebat proposed here also has the added goal of developing
Afrikan boys and girls into Men and Women in earnest. Afrikan Womanhood
and Manhood is defined by the Mjat Sebat in the context of the sociocultural,
sociopolitical, socioeconomic and socioreligious upliftment of Afrikan people.
The education of Afrikan people according to Afrikan principles of Godhood and
Humanhood. The mental, spiritual, political and economic liberation and
protection of all Afrikan peoples the world over. Afrikan Manhood and
Womanhood entails a return to a high standard of morality and ethical
behavior in all life endeavors. Honesty, receptiveness, compassion, support,
empathy, love, charity and sacrifice are only a selection of the standards that
define Afrikan morality and ethics. The reclamation of Afrikan excellence in all
actions being guided by thoughtful action. The Afrikan Woman and Man
envisioned by the Mjat Sebat are motivated in all actions by one central
question, how do their actions impact the Afrikan global community and
humanity in general. Family and social stability in all Afrikan communities are
the goal of the Afrikan Man and Woman. Each moves in unison serving as a
complement one for the other thereby, moving from Afrikan Manhood and
Womanhood to Afrikan Familyhood. The Afrikan Man and Woman are the birth
76 Holy Bible KJV Book of Psalms, Psalm 68:31
51
vessels and nurturers of the Afrikan nation. To the nation, they give guidance,
vision, humility and stability. To their family and nation they give the skills of
introspection, circumspection, intuition, analysis, creativity, ingenuity,
resourcefulness, perseverance, faith, hope, belief, initiative, spirituality and a
host of other attributes which bind and protect the family and nation.
For the Afrikan boy and girl to become an Afrikan Man and Woman their
must be a thorough identification on the part of the youth with their
masculinity and femininity. The Afrikan youth must both understand and
accept the advantages and disadvantages of Afrikan Womanhood and
Manhood and embrace them totally. They will understand the nature of Afrikan
Womanhood and Manhood77 as well as its challenges, which are monumental
but not insurmountable. They are simply the task to reconstruct the world
along the balanced lines of Maat,78 to engage in Nation-building. This is a task
that the Afrikan Man and Woman will accomplish in their roles as King/Queen,
Warrior, Magician, and Lover of their Afrikan selves, offspring, community, past
and present. To address this task incorporated into the learning experiences
are several moral development components as well as a Rite of Passage
77 Na’im Akbar, Visions For Black Men pp. 51 “We need to know something about the true nature of man…Garvey in one of his statements said, Man is the individual who is able to shape his own character, master his own will, direct his own life, and shape his own ends. There is nothing ordinary about a real man. The one who was made the Keeper of the Garden was not ordinary. He was not there on the basis of instinct. He was there on the basis of will. He was not dictated to by the change of the seasons. He was dictated to by his character, his intelligence, and his rationality. He was not dictated to by any of the limited aspects…He understood that his manhood was in his will, in his character, and in his ability to direct his own life.”
78 Erriel D. Roberson (Kofi Addae), Reality Revolution Return To The Way (Columbia, MD: Kujichagulia Press, 1996) pp.108. “The nature of our current predicament is that we have had an entire conceptual system imposed upon us as Afrikan people. It has involved the imposition of philosophies, ideology and worldview through physical abuse and psychological terrorism. It has involved the disruptive force of Yurugu. Accepting this as true, we have to be able to assess how we will move from a culture that has been the most inhuman and cruel culture that the world has ever seen, to something new.”
52
program that consists of stages that the Afrikan child will progress through
during each year of his matriculation under the Mjat Sebat79. Side by side with
these are courses, which address Manhood and Womanhood from the Afrikan
perspective. Beyond this, Societies or Orders80 each designed to teach an
exoteric and esoteric lesson are incorporated into each educational level.
Progress to the next level is dependent on mastery of the lesson of the
previous level. They are integrated into the learning environment to facilitate
reconstruction and reclamation of the Afrikan ancestral memory.
79 See Appendix IV.
80 A rough but somewhat inaccurate description of the Orders, would be Greek Letter organizations on both the high school and Collegiate level.
53
CHAPTER V
Mjat Sebat Subject Content
I
The school organization envisaged under the Mjat Sebat will encompass the formal
learning of the pupil from preschool through university education. There will be four degrees
within the Mjat Sebat. These degrees are based upon the degrees awarded by the University
of Timbuktu during its Golden Age. Below are the suggested disciplines for each of the four
levels of secondary education: pre-school, elementary, middle school and high school; as well
as the corresponding degrees.
Pre-School Mjat Sebat
Entry Age: 3-4 years old2-year programLength of School: Based on Afrikan/Black conceptualizations of time.
Program composed of Academic and Non-academic Subjects
Academic: Basic Arithmetic Non-academic:Health Education
Writing Skills Arts & CraftsScience MusicMorals/Religion
Elementary Mjat Sebat
Entry Age: 3 – 7 years6-year programLength of School: Based on Afrikan/Black conceptualizations of time.
Program composed of Academic & Non-academic Subjects
Academic: Kiswahili Non-academic: Health EducationEnglish AgricultureMathematics Arts & CraftsSocial Studies Home EconomicsScience/Technology Physical EducationWriting Skills Martial ArtsLiterature & ArtsMusicMorals/ReligionMedu Neter
54
Degree Awarded: Primary Degree
Upon completion of this level of the Mjat Sebat, the pupil will
demonstrate a mastery of the course material. At this level
students are generally introduced to the subject matter and rote
memorization is heavily emphasized, as the material gained will
serve as fountain from which future studies will spring.
Middle School
2-year programLength of School: Based on Afrikan/Black conceptualizations of time.
This program is general in character in terms of “Areas of Study”. Academic core of
work-Kiswahili, Medu Neter, Amharic, English, Ebony Phonetics, Mathematics, Science & Social
Studies, etc.-as a basis for the program, with strong emphasis on core as well as on guidance
and vocational education.
Core Courses: Kiswahili Human DevelopmentEnglish/Writing Skills Business EnterpriseLiterature & the Arts EcologyMathematics BiologyScience & Technology EconomicsHistory/Geography International TradeHealth EducationMartial ArtsAmharicFrenchSpanishMoral/CulturalExoteric Science
Guidance & Vocational SubjectsGeneral Guidance: Spiritual-Personal Health (Growth & Development)
Public HealthNutritionSafety & First AidMental HealthHome EconomicsBasic Economics/Community Development
Agriculture: Gardening
55
PoultryLivestockCrop ProductionAgricultural Economics/Agri-BusinessField Trips
Geology/Mining MineralogyPrecious MetalsFossil FuelsRenewable/Non-renewable Resources DevelopmentRocks
Technical: Industrial ArtsWoodworkingMasonryMetal Working
Electrical Wiring
Senior High School
4-year programLength of School: Based on Afrikan/Black conceptualizations of time.
Program consists of academic, agricultural, commercial, health, and technical and
vocational studies.
Academic Courses: Mathematics Human DevelopmentArithmetic Holy BibleAlgebra Holy QuranGeometry Pert Em HruTrigonometry Memphite TheologyCalculus Ecology
Science & TechnologyGeneral ScienceChemistryPhysicsBiologyComputer Information Systems/ScienceEngineeringKiswahiliAmharicWolofIboFrenchSpanishEnglish/Writing SkillsArabicHindustaniChineseJapaneseLiterature & ArtsHistory/Geography
56
Government/Political SciencePhilosophySociology/PsychologyAnthropologyArchaeologyMoral & Cultural DevelopmentHealth EducationMartial ArtsBusiness Development & AdministrationPublic Administration7 Khemetic Liberal Arts
GrammarRhetoricLogicGeometryArithmeticMusicAstronomy
Medu NeterEnvironmental ConservationEsoteric ScienceEconomic & Community DevelopmentNation-BuildingSustainable DevelopmentRegional EconomicsInternational Trade
Guidance & Vocational Subjects
General Guidance: Spiritual-Personal Health (Growth & Development)Public HealthNutritionSafety & First AidMental HealthHome Administration
Agriculture: GardeningForestryPlant & Animal HusbandryCrop ProductionSoil ConservationSoil ScienceAgri-BusinessAgricultural EconomicsAgricultural EngineeringCooperatives
Geology/Mining: Mining TechnologyMineralogyPrecious MetalsFossil FuelsRenewable/Non-renewable Resources DevelopmentRocksNatural Resources
57
Technical: Industrial ArtsWoodworkingMasonryMetal WorkingElectrical EngineeringBuilding ConstructionDrafting & DesignCarpentryArchitectureContractingConstruction Technology
Degree Awarded: Secondary Degree
Upon the completion of this level students must demonstrate proficiency
in the course material both academic and vocational. Mastery of this
level prepares students for the tertiary level of education.
Higher Education
The final stage in the formalized educational system of the Mjat Sebat is the Superior
Degree. At this level emphasis is upon student research. The course material emphasizes
detail and builds upon the previous level.
II
The courses of instruction were chosen due to their relevance in aiding to meet the goal
of Global Afrikan Nationbuilding. Family development, community/economic development,
communication across the divergences of Afrikan ethnicity, human relations, etc. are all
emphasized throughout the education system here proposed. The skills imparted into the
pupil will aid in the creation of an Afrikan Renaissance, and the renewal of the Afrikan spirit.
58
CHAPTER VI
Mjat Sebat Institutional Design
Mjat Sebat proposed here is flexible enough to be implemented in
existing educational facilities, keeping in mind the normal pressures that public
educational institutions face, especially in the present atmosphere of
accountability and performance contracting81. Other pressures are legal
structures, Eurocentricly based educational research, tradition, state
accreditation, public opinion, special interest groups that will see such
curriculums as “reverse racism” or “Black Supremacy”, and the knowledge
industry-educational resource producers, such as textbook publishers82.
Moreover, let us not forget the actual purpose of schooling in western society:
domination.
81 Daniel Tanner and Laurel N. Tanner, Curriculum Development Theory into Practice (New York: Macmillian Publishing Co., Inc., 1980. Pp. 27-28. “Under such accountability and performance contracting, curriculum is reduced to a component of a production process called educational engineering, and the efficiency of the process is assessed in terms of quantifiable performance specifications….The industrial model has not been valid for the world of education because education is not concerned with the production of inanimate objects but with growing, developing human beings who must be capable of dealing competently not merely with fixed problems but with emergent problems as well….The human equation is infinitely more complex in an institution, the school, that is concerned with the rising generation-the generation that is our society’s own future. Nevertheless, educators continue to be pressured into adopting the relatively simplistic paradigms of business, industry and the military.” Even though this was written twenty-three years ago it is still valid for today. For now with the Federal “No Child Left Behind” Federal Education initiative, accountability has become the Federal and State educational law, with each state having either the Federal program or some similar version, such as Louisiana. This presents dire problems for future generations of children, Black and White.
82 J. Galen Saylor and William M. Alexander, Planning Curriculum For Schools (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc., 1974). See pp. 30-33. For in depth discussion of pressures on curriculum planning.
59
An alternate route would be that of the Charter School83. What is
suggested here is the establishment of a Per-En-Per-Ankh.84 The Per-En-Per-
Ankh is an educational institution. It will comprise day-care, head start, pre-
school/kindergartens, elementary, secondary, alternative and higher education
facilities. Our concern here is with the elementary and secondary components.
Per-Ankh is a Khemetic name meaning “House of Life”. It was in ancient times
the designation of the Khemetic Temple University.
The Per-En-Per-Ankh is one component of the Aa Maati Complex for
Holistic Development (AMCHD). The Aa Maati Complex for Holistic
Development is an Afrikan-centered institution dedicated to the complete
(holistic) development of humanity85. The name of the Complex, Aa Maati is a
Khemetic term meaning “Island of Truth”. This island of truth in the Khemetic
philosophical tradition was the abode of Asar in the Tuat. Asar was the
Khemetic word for Christ and the Tuat was the word for Heaven. In this, sense
the Aa Maati Complex for Holistic Development is to serve as a central point
from which the blessings of heaven may issue forth. The AMCHD consists of
the following components in addition to the Per-En-Per-Ankh:
83 U. S. Department of Education, The Charter School Roadmap (Office of Educational Research & Improvement: 1998)
84 Khemet: School, University
85 The founding principles of the Aa Maati Complex for Holistic Development are Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” And Zechariah 7:9-10; 8:17 “Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying Execute true judgement, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart…and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.”
60
1. Center for Alkebu-lan Habilitation2. Ujamaa Center for Domestic Violence3. Kiasili Clinic
The Center for Alkebu-lan Habilitation is an institution, which
focuses on the habilitation of incarcerated Afrikan men and women. The term
Alkebu-lan is an ancient Afrikan name for the continent of the Children of the
Sun. The Ujamaa Center for Domestic Violence serves as a home for victims of
domestic violence. The primary goal of the Ujamaa Center is the inculcation of
righteously ordered Afrikan families. The Ujamaa is Kiswahili for family,
familyhood and relations. The Kiasili Clinic provides health care services to
those who otherwise would have no access to adequate health care-the poor
and the indigent. Kiasili is a Kiswahili term meaning the original way, which in
this instance means the Afrikan way. To fund these projects a Chama Cha
Ushirika, Inc. could be established. The Chama Cha Ushirika is a 501( c ) (3)
organization designed to run and administer the businesses associated with
the AMCHD. As a 501 (c) (3) corporation, it can receive federal, state, and city
grants, donations from private philanthropic foundations and government
subsidies. Chama Cha Ushirika is a Kiswahili phrase meaning organization and
co-operation.
61
CHAPTER VII
Mjat Sebat Instructional Methodology
Do you see a man who is diligent in his work? This man shall go far in life,
He shall accomplish many things great and small;He shall not fail.
Oriental Proverb
O Tehuti, set me in Aa-t Qema hetchhetchui, Khemenu Thy City, where life is serene.Thou suppliest all my needs with bread and water; Thou guardest my mouth in speech. Would that I had Tehuti behind me on the morrow. Come to me Wisdom, When I enter into the Halls of Judgement Stay with me that I might be Justified Thou bringest Thy cool, refreshing water, Even to the distant place, in the midst of confusion. Come and rescue me, the Silent Servant O Wisdom, Thou Sweet well of life for a man thirsting in desert. It is sealed up to him who has not discovered his mouth, But it is open to thy Silent Servant. Khemetic Prayer for Wisdom
I
The ancient aphorism and wisdom prayer quoted above are the two
statements, which succinctly express the direction and manner in which the
instructional methodology of the Mjat Sebat are directed. Viewing free sound
inquiry as the foundation of democratic living, the Mjat Sebat has the
established objective of producing effective instructors and students versed in
the Divine Speech of Afrikan Deep Thought.86 This will be achieved while
providing students with the highest level of academic knowledge in the midst
of instilling the attributes of diligence and persistence. It is the intention of the
Mjat Sebat to accomplish this through sound systematic teaching methods87.
86 Jacob H. Carruthers, MDW NTR: Divine Speech A Historiographical Reflection of African Deep Thought From The Time of the Pharaohs to the Present (Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press, 1997)
87 John Dewey, Democracy and Education An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (New York: Macmillan Co., 1916) pp. 211. “Method is a statement of the way the subject matter of an experience develops most effectively and fruitfully. It is derived, accordingly from observation of the course of experiences where there is no conscious distinction of personal attitude and manner from material dealt with. The assumption that method is something separate is connected with the notion of the isolation of mind and self from the world of things. It makes instruction an learning formal, mechanical, constrained. While methods are individualized, certain features of the normal course of an experience to its fruition may be constrained. While methods are individualized, certain features of the normal course
62
As such, to ensure students will receive the analytical foundations
necessary to become successful in future national, economic, community
professional or academic pursuits, as well as Afrocentric in civic and social
settings, the instructional methods of the Mjat Sebat are drawn from problem-
based and cooperative learning theory. With these methods, Afrikan students
can be developed into positive contributors to the Afrikan global community.
The methods fall under the rubric of Afrikan Oral Instructional Methodology,
Analytical and Conceptual Methodology, Self-reflective Evaluative
Methodology, Experiential/Experimental Methodology, and Integrative
Synthesis Methodology.
II
Afrikan Oral Instructional Methodology
The other four methodologies of instruction are balanced with a strong
narrative lecture and student centered oral discussion model. Thereby
building upon the Afrikan oral instructional methodology inherent in the
educational systems of Khemet and Timbuktu and in Afrikan Diasporan and
continental cultures of the preenslavement and precolonial era as well as in
the Afrikan global community today, while allowing for adequate student
participation in the intellectual stimuli of the educational process with
synthesis and guidance of diverse responses and ideas taking place under the
direction of the instructor.
of an experience to its fruition may be discriminated, because of the fund of wisdom derived from prior experiences and because of general similarities in the materials dealt with from time to time. Expressed in terms of attitude of the individual the traits of good method are straightforwardness, flexible intellectual interest or open minded will to learn, integrity of purpose, and acceptance of responsibility for the consequences of one'’ activity including thought.”
63
The Oral Methodology is a Living Methodology utilizing the spoken word,
which is the Living Text. In the Khemetic and Timbuktu educational system,
the student would not commit thoughts to writing until the final year in
instruction. First, one had to master, using rote memorization and
transcription, the words of the Ancestors. The first level student entering the
University would at the moment of entrance not yet be ready to commit to
writing things to speak to future generations. The Afrikan worldview views the
written text as that would in the symbology of engraving upon stone. One
could only do so after great preparation and internal circumspection for ones
work like stone would last throughout eternity and be a beacon of light to
posterity. So the utmost care was given to the written record, which was
viewed from the light of permanency. It was determined that if one could
master the oral or living text then one would have the foundation for utilization
of the written and symbolic text. Even so, unlike in the irreligious and
despiritualized western world, the oral or living text was not viewed as being
less than the written text; instead, each was viewed as a complement to the
other. The oral methodology must be the primary methodology of instruction
as the spoken word comes before the written word in human development. It
is through the spoken word that one learns the written word, masters reading
and writing. That which is written is merely the symbol of the spoken, living
text.
Moreover, the learning experience is enhanced through the use of the
latest instructional media technologies. These include but are not limited to
64
nonprojected visuals such as models, pictures, and field trips; projected
visuals, which include slides, filmstrips, and overhead projection; audio media,
examples which include audio tapes and CDs; computers, interactive video,
television and DVDs and VHS cassettes88. The heart of the oral methodology is
the utilization of specific texts written and oral89 for analysis by the student.
The Khemetic Dialectical method of argumentation, self-expression and
analysis is the central means of discussion. The Khemetic Dialectical method,
a methodology which was latter utilized at the University System of Timbuktu,
is known in the West as the Socratic Method. To begin with, there is an
exchange of propositions, which serve as the theses of the discussion. These
are followed by counter propositions or antitheses which eventually lead to a
synthesis of the opposing propositions or in further clarification of the subject
matter under discussion and the expansion of the discussion into various
related fields. The foundation of the Khemetic Dialectical method is the
doctrine of opposites contained in the Memphite Theology of Classical
Khemetic High Culture. Throughout the Memphite Theology which among
other things presents the Khemetic scientific theory of the origin of life,
complementarity or balance is seen throughout. In Khemetic Dialecticalism,
victory in argumentation or discussion is not the key but rather the attainment
of truth through the understanding of the harmony, balance and reciprocity of
nature90. 88 Robert Heinich, Michael Molenda, and James D. Russell, Instructional Media and the New Technologies of Instruction (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,1993)
89 The Oral Text is a Living Text.90 The Latin term nature is derived from the Khemetic name Neter, which is the Khemetic designation for the Supreme Being or God.
65
III
Analytical and Conceptual Methodology
The analytical and conceptual methodology are centered on the theory
and practice-guided reading materials. The intention here is to improve
student literacy through a variety of literacy strategies designed to “…assist
students in mastering vocabulary, comprehending difficult texts, studying, and
evaluating what they read.91”These strategies will be carried out with the
instructor being aware of the social context in which the instruction will take
place. Literacy is more than just reading, it is comprehension of materials
within a historical and social context92. If words are read within a void absent
historical and social context then a degree of illiteracy still exists. The Mjat
Sebat takes this into account. This methodology is applicable to all areas of
instruction and amenable to all content areas. Within the Mjat Sebat, this
methodology will be utilized across the disciplines.
IV
Self-Reflective Evaluative Methodology
The self-reflective evaluative methodology uses journal entries, case
study analysis, meditation and Afrikan world proverbs and moral statements to
assist the learner in the self -development. To do so this methodology guides
the learner in developing a multidisciplinary view of himself and his
91 John E. Readence, Thomas W. Bean and R. Scott Baldwin, Content Area Literacy An Integrated Approach (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1995) pp.9.
92 Ibid., pp. 5-9.
66
surroundings. The skills emphasized include critical self-analysis evaluation
and reformation. A socio-historical paradigm is presented which includes all
areas of learning. The following diagram provides an illustration93.
The self-reflective evaluative methodology as illustrated places the
Afrikan learner at the center the self-development process. The learner
approaches his development from an interdisciplinary perspective as contained
in the Mjat Sebat. These include the moral/cultural courses, as well as the
social studies, mathematics, meditation, sciences and arts. In particular the
learner is guided in applying various concepts to his own development of
perceptions of his or her-self and the world around them. Including ancestral
and contemporary Afrikan and other world cultural experiences into the
process of self-development further broadens the Afrikans conceptualization.
Each is considered in a comparative analysis considering the similarities and
differences and evaluating utility. Along with self-development, the Afrikan
93 James A. Banks, Teaching Strategies For Ethnic Studies (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1987) pp. 52-53 This model is an adaptation of Banks model of an effective multiethnic curriculum.
Afrikan Learner
Broad Concept of Environment
Decision-Making & Social Action Focused
Concepts & Perceptions
A Process of Self Development
Comparative Analysis
Inter-disciplinary Analysis
67
learner is expected to manifest improved decision-making skills and a renewed
interest in social, community and national Afrikan action.
V
Experiential/Experimental Methodology
The experiential/experimental methodology approaches the learning
endeavor from through the use of group project simulations of ancient and
contemporary real world scenarios. The use of both past and present
scenarios will enhance the learners ability to identify similarities and
differences through the use of such reasoning strategies as comparing,
classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies. Integrated within this
approach is the learners use graphic organizers as well as stimulation of other
right brain thought process. This method also incorporates cooperative
learning strategies.
Cooperative learning strategies allow for a serious active learning
endeavor, which utilizes the whole person in the process of learning as outline
within the Mjat Sebat. The learner in the group scenario will engage in
collaborative, team and problem-based learning tasks each designed to
improve individual and group oriented working skills. This methodology is of
importance as it allows the learner to gain a hands on understanding of
interdependence, human contact skills in a working environment, personal
responsibility and self-accountability, and serious self-reflection, within the
group setting, which allows for comparative assessment as well.
VI
68
Integrative Synthesis Methodology
The integrative synthesis methodology makes use of policy research
projects. These projects will be public policy oriented which means inclusive of
social policy, community improvement policy, economic/business policy,
educational policy, and health policy. All of these are components of Nation-
Building-infrastructure development or redevelopment, social institution
formation or reformation and economic development or redevelopment to
name just a few. Below is an example of the type of models employed within
the integrative synthesis methodology of the Mjat Sebat. Keep in mind that
this model will be adapted to the appropriate levels for each age group.
In the interest of developing an academic atmosphere where students
can participate in the search for answers to the vexing problems of the subject
matter and their individual and collective lives, each class period within the
Mjat Sebat, where the Integrative Synthesis Methodology is employed will
begin with a narrative lecture. The lecture will be followed by a discussion of
relevant concepts and methods followed by the practical application of
concepts and methods to problem situations drawn from historical and
contemporary local, state, national and international media sources. The
practical application occurs within small groups-group projects, allowing
students to gain experience with cooperative work, which is useful to all future
endeavors.
The group work will also provide opportunities for the learner to practice
combining a variety of perspectives and skills to solve problems, thereby
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reinforcing the spirit of synthesis, integration and compromise. Case studies
will include computer laboratory sessions that will provide the students with
further learning opportunities with relevant electronic information sources,
while improving their skills with technology. Each class will conclude with an
informal summary of group progress on projects, and self-reflection on
learning. This student reflection will be recorded in the student’s journal.
Under the integrative synthesis methodology the objective will include getting
the students to understand the socio-historical and cultural determinants of
problems and its major issues and relationships to their daily lives.
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CHAPTER VIII
MJAT SEBAT: SEEDING THE FUTURE
I
As Afrikans in America and students within a system of mis-education, it
is imperative that the ability to think for ones self be self-developed. For
without this ability one is left at the mercy of those that surround him and they
may not have one's best interests in mind. Throughout the Afrikan 'sojourn' in
the United States of America, the processes of thinking, decision making, and
reality creation has been denied to the collective whole of Afrikan's in America
and with few exceptions to most of the peoples of European Descent, by the
dominant European based cultural white elite through force and manipulation.
Once these processes were replaced, the Afrikan was molded physically,
psychologically and spiritually into the type of individual that would serve to
promote Global White Supremacy and believe in European sociocultural,
socioeconomic and socioreligious superiority.
After the initial destruction of these processes, the perpetuation of the
psychological state that the Afrikan was manipulated into existing in was
continued by Afrikan himself. This has led to Afrikans defending the' moral
fortitude and civilized nature' of the European-American, as well as Afrikans
being violent in the defense of America against individuals and nations that
have not been violent toward Afrikans, but being non-violent toward European-
Americans when being attacked, beaten and murdered by them.
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As Africans in America in the midst of systematic White Supremacist
institutions, there is no time for, nor an indwelling ability to withstand self
inflicted anguish that serves to dehumanize and desensitize us to the
seemingly overwhelming problems that encompass our entire existence. The
trauma is not the myriad's of problems that exist within the Afrikan community
but instead, it is of the verbal denunciations, which proceed from the very
mouths of Afrikans as they are the cause of the perpetuation of the distressful
situation. By verbal denunciations is meant the manner in which Afrikans refer
to themselves, their world and the world that surrounds them.
Having internalized white domination some Afrikans call themselves
'players' not realizing that by denoting themselves in that manner relegates
them to a position of inferiority. Consider first that in the world there are Men
and there are boys with various degrees after, before and in between. When
one calls oneself a 'player' one insinuates that one engages in the
performance of some activity; that activity being competitive in nature and
hence, a 'game'. The objects of the 'game', as played in the Afrikan
community, are Women and the objective is to 'score' with the objects, as this
is the means of payment. This 'game' is not a profession, and as it is not, then
the 'Players', no matter what the age, are forever 'boys'. For boys enjoy
playing games with no care for what comes after and no concern for payment.
Boys do not recognize the equality of, or the need for Women as they consider
all females as being only girls.
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These 'Players' if by chance they have a place of residence refer to it as
a players pad or a crib. This adds further proof of the 'Players' undeveloped
self as he is even worse a boy who sleeps on a pad or in a babies crib. These
'Players' call themselves 'dogs/dawgs' as well. If the objective of the 'Player'
who is a male is to 'score' with an object and the 'Player' calls himself a 'dog'
then it is obvious that he can only 'Score' with a female object and as such a
female dog, hence the continuation of the devaluation of the Mothers of
Humanity. European-American Males are called by these 'Players' the 'White
Man' and if he is the 'Man' then his female counterpart is naturally the
'Woman'. In turn, they call themselves 'boy' and their female equal must be
the 'girl'.94
Furthermore, there is a definitive experience of Afrikan People, which is
called the Afrikan/Black Experience. This Experience encompasses all Afrikan
Peoples who make up the Global Afrikan Community. However, there are
some that unknowingly apply all that is inferior in white culture to this
experience. Consider the following description of poor whites in the
Antebellum Southern United States by Alex Haley:
On his [Kunta Kinte] trips…there would always be packs of them [poor whites] idling around the courthouse or the saloon even in the morning-dressed in their sweat-stained, greasy threadbare castoffs, reeking of the filthy tobacco weed, which they puffed incessantly, swigging 'white lightning' from bottles they carried in their pockets, laughing and yelling raucously at one another as they knelt on the ground in alleys playing cards and dice for money. By mid-afternoon, they would be making complete fools of themselves:
94 For a thorough analysis of the male, boy and manhood typology and the deleterious effects of maleness and boyishness see, Na'im Akbar, Visions For Black Men (Tallahassee, Fl.: Mind Productions & Associates, Inc., 1994)
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bursting drunkenly into song, cavorting wildly up and down the street, whistling and calling out indecently to women who passed by, arguing and cursing loudly among themselves, and finally starting fights that would begin with a shove or a punch-while huge crowds of others like them would gather around to cheer them on-and end with ear-biting, eye-gouging, kicking of private parts, and bloody wounds….Even the wild animals…had more dignity than these creatures…[who were always being] flogged for beating their wives and being sentenced to a year's imprisonment for rape…Almost as often she [Bell] told about one of them stabbing or shooting another one to death…But as much as they loved violence among themselves, Kunta knew from personal experience that they loved violence against black people even more.95
This description by Alex Haley of poor white Americans in the antebellum
givens in vivid detail the uncivilized actions of the poor white experience.
These very actions have not become the co-opted and claimed as the
Afrikan/Black Experience by Blacks themselves. Instead, of drinking 'white
lightning' Blacks who claim to be 'keeping it real' drink a host of other white
manufactured liquors. In place of tobacco, Blacks feast upon marijuana. The
dice and card playing the drunkenness, the pathetic adornment of the body,
the beating, rape, denigration and disrespect of women, and the violence are
all now considered hallmarks of being Black and are defended as such by
segments of the Afrikan community. The glee with which poor whites once
castrated Afrikan manhood and raped and mutilated Afrikan womanhood is
now internalized and carried out by Afrikans themselves who murder one
another by the thousands.
Another example, takes place when Afrikans refer to themselves as a
minority and to whites as the majority. The root words of minority and 95 Alex Haley, Roots (New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1977) pp. 316-317.
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majority respectively are minor and major. Minor may be defined as petty,
unimportant, inferior, smaller, lesser in some extent it is derived from the
Sanskrit term minati which means that which lessens or is lessened in
importance. Major is defined as superior or greater in importance it is derived
from the Latin term Magnus that means great. All of these underlying
meanings are inherent in the terms minority and majority and implied in their
use.
From their own mouths, Afrikans degrade one another with an intensity
that is unbelievable. Rather than uplifting one another with words of
encouragement and providing one another with help when it is needed
Afrikans under the current system of European domination act out the part
written for them by those who hate them. They have chosen to believe what
others say they can and can not do and have internalized those opinions and
given them meaning in their words and actions. A strong Afrikan centered
curriculum of Womanhood and Manhood will maintain that Afrikans are not
what others say they are but, they are what they themselves say that they are.
The Mjat Sebat will cause Afrikans to define their own reality and existence and
set their own limitations. It is from the thoughts that Afrikans think and the
words that Afrikans speak that their actions are born whether at the balance of
good and evil or at either of the extremes.
II
The current educational system continues to promote the process of
allowing others to do the thinking rather than developing the ability within the
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students and, thereby beginning to rectify the present situation, which has
existed for over three hundred years. This being the case it is the personal
obligation of each Afrikan to develop within themselves this crucial survival
ability. In order to do so, each individual must analyze in a meticulous fashion
each and everything that is set before them and is of an informational nature.
The information that is given in all forms of the media must be researched
extensively so that one is not mis-lead or mis-informed. Each must read
intensively, extensively and intelligently. Books must become the University of
the Afrikan. Thinking for oneself, seeing the world from one's cultural center,
requires much time and effort and it is painstaking; however, the rewards are
far-reaching and of the utmost necessity to the development and continued
existence of the Global Afrikan Community.
The Mjat Sebat as an Afrikan centered curriculum for Afrikan
Womanhood and Manhood Development, seeks to aid in the redevelopment of
Afrikan-centered thinking. The Mjat Sebat rests on the firm belief that each
student, in order to be successful in all life endeavors, must exhibit the Ten
Cardinal Virtues of Education. The ten principles are pre-requisites for right
educational action and the home component initiated by the parent through
life teachings. The virtues are:
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v Control of one’s thought.v Control of one’s actions.v Steadfastness of purpose.v A personal identification with higher ideals and moral standards.v An understanding of one’s mission or purpose in life.v An understanding of ones place in the Higher Order of life.v Freedom from resentment.v Confidence in the ability of one’s instructor/mentor to teach.v Confidence in one’s ability to learn. v A psychical and physical preparedness for one’s initiation into success in all
one does.
Within the Mjat Sebat the goal of the Instructor/Mentor is to continue the
process of drawing out of each student these pre-requisites and engender
within each, a sense of their ability to accomplish what they will. In keeping
with this perspective an environment that is conducive to teaching and
learning is established, whereby Maat- Truth, Justice, Righteousness, Order,
Harmony, Balance and Reciprocity exist. The result of this right order
environment being an atmosphere of Understanding, Cooperation, and
Respect.
The Mjat Sebat expects that the students learn that they will treat, listen
to, and respect each other in the same manner that we wish to be treated,
listened to and respected. Further, it holds that they understand that learning
is a cooperative activity, and as such, they will not engage in any activity that
will disrupt the learning environment. Even more so, the Mjat Sebat holds
every learner i.e., the community accountable for incorporating the principles
of truth, righteousness, order, harmony, balance and reciprocity into all of their
activities so as to enhance their learning activity and their individual and
communal growth.
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The need for the Mjat Sebat stems from a need of strong Afrikan leaders
by the Afrikan global community. The deplorable situation that permeates the
Afrikan world is an outward growth of managers assuming the role of
leadership. Managers seek to maintain the status quo, while leaders seek to
change and invoke innovation in the world. A manager can never change a
situation even when he recognizes inherent problems. A leader however, will
seek out change wherever it may be found and engage in rectifying the
problems discovered. The leader is a doer of the seemingly impossible. The
Mjat Sebat proposes to develop Afrikan leaders. The bases of that leadership
is held to be the Divine Heritage of Humanity as stated in the following:
God is one and only.... The one who hath made all things.... God is a spirit.... the divine spirit.... He hath been from the beginning.... He existed when nothing else existed, and what existeth He created.... He is eternal and infinite, and endureth forever and aye.... He is hidden to angels and men, He is a mystery unto His creatures. No man knoweth how to know him.... His names are innumerable, they are manifold, and none knoweth their number,,,,
He is the King of Truth, and He hath established the earth thereupon.... He giveth life to man, He breatheth the breath of life into his nostrils....God is.... the father of fathers and the mother of mothers.... God himself is existence.... He is the Creator of.... what was, and what is, and what shall be.... God is merciful unto those who reverence Him, and He heareth him that calleth upon Him. God knoweth him that acknowledgeth Him. He rewardeth him that serveth Him, and He protecteth him that followeth Him.96
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.... so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.... and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.... and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man,
96 The Pert Em Hru: The Text of Purification, Resurrection and Salvation of Ancient Khemet.
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made he a woman, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.97
Mtu Ni Watu- a human being is all human beings- is a Kiswahili proverb,
which echoes the sentiments of the two passages, which have been quoted.
The first is taken from the Holiest of Holy Texts of Ancient Khemet (Egypt),
Matchaiu (Nubia), Kash (Ethiopia) and Punt (Somalia and Eritrea). The passage
outlines the nature of God and his eternally concentric connection with his
creation, humanity. The second passage is quoted from the Holy Scriptures of
the Ibriyites (Israel). This passage expresses the union, complementation and
equilibrium that exits between the Infinite divine and the finite divine. These
two passages illustrate the common ancestry of mankind. This common point
of origin is the basis for understanding the connection that exists between all
people. This connection is pyschological, physical, social and spiritual.
This point is exemplified in the following manner: If a male strikes or
verbally abuses a female, then not only has he committed so heinous an act
to his natural complement, but also to all who have come before her as well as
all who shall come from her and to himself and her source of being, i. e., God.
Another example would be, should one ethnic group enslave another under
psychological, physical and spiritual bondage, they have done the same to all
before and after, themselves and God. What is meant by these examples is
that all are united in a Spirit of Unicity by the Supreme Being, the source of the
97 The Book of Genesis 1: 26- 2: 24. KJV
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Summum Bonum and none can harm nor help anyone without doing so to
oneself and God. This is the point that was outlined by Yehowshuwa (Jesus):
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me....Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.98 (Luke 25: 34-46)
Should mankind ever come to internalize a true comprehension of so simple a
statement, he shall then have attained unto a true air of harmony and shall
have resurrected his naturally divine and princely heritage. This to is a goal of
the Mjat Sebat.
III
The Mjat Sebat envisions education as the generation of knowledge and
understanding on a journey of self-discovery and reclamation. This curriculum
knows that you have to change the way of thinking of the Afrikan. Change how
he views education, both its purpose and utility. The Mjat Sebat intends to
redefine education, history and life purpose for the Afrikan to facilitate the
transformation into Afrikan Womanhood and Manhood. The renewed focus will
be on solving the problems of the Afrikan world to the betterment of Afrikan
peoples.
To accomplish this task the Mjat Sebat incorporates the use of all aspects
of the Afrikan experience-verses from song manuscripts, religious texts (Pert-
98 The Book of Luke 25: 34-46. KJV
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Em-Hru, Bible, Quran, etc.), historical events, poems, proverbs, the writings of
various historical Afrikan personages and their biographies, such as Malcolm X,
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., David Walker, Henry Highland Garnet, Kwame
Nkrumah, Ida B. Wells, and Ptahhotep, and community issues in the learning
process. The idea being to prepare the Afrikan student to develop solutions to
the problems. The Mjat Sebat holds in-structure-ing, in-form-ing and educing
as the necessary component of Afrikan Manhood development. To reconstruct
the Afrikan present and lay a grand foundation for the future requires the
awakening of the Afrikan God-consciousness, the tapping of Blackness from
which flows Afrikan Deep Thought and which gives birth to Afrikan High
Culture. This then is to be the ultimate achievement of the Mjat Sebat.
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APPENDIX I
Worldview/Self-Concept Analysis
The reconstruction of the Afrikan child's self-concept begins with a systematic analysis
of the worldview and value system of the child's racial/ethnic group, the parents, and the
community worldview and value systems, i.e., the dominant group in the society. The
following questions99 will aid in this endeavor.
Culture
1. Describe the components of the child's culture:
A. What symbols inform the child's life? By symbols is meant any aspect of the child's life any action or object that carries meaning, is of importance and is recognized by all members of the culture. These symbols will be reality for the child, just as shared symbols carry meaning for the community, ethnic group, or dominant group.
B. What is the language of the child? This language will shape the cognitive culture, or reality in the mind, of the child. If you do not speak or understand the child's language, you will not be able to interact meaningfully with the child. Learn the child's language and use that language to engage the Mjat Sebat.
C. What are the characteristics of the child's language? By characteristics, is meant its structure, meaning and use?
D. How does the child's language inform its thought process? Speaking? Listening? Writing? Reading? Keep in mind there is no right or wrong form to any language or dialect. What is considered as the correct form of any language is labeled as such by those in power. What ever form of the language those in power speak becomes the standard form, and all others are invalidated by those in power. They are not innately invalidated or wrong, but are presented as so by those in power. The child speaks a form of a language. If you wish to teach the child or anyone for that manner, you must learn their language at the thought level. Just as a person who only speaks English cannot communicate very effectively verbally with a speaker of Mandinka, neither will speakers of different versions of a language communicate in all ways effectively.
99 The following sources were used in constructing the questions: Michael Banton, Race Relations (New York: Basic Books, Inc. 1967); Lendon H. Smith, Improving Your Child's Behavior Chemistry (New York: Pocket Books, 1976); Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 1995); John W. Santrock, Child Development (New York: McGraw Hill, 1998); John J. Macionis, Society The Basics (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996); Emily A. Schultz and Robert H. Lavenda, Cultural Anthropology A Perspective on the Human Condition (Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1998); Amos N. Wilson, The Developmental Psychology of the Black Child (New York: Africana Research Publications, 1987); Dr. Jim Slack, Constructing A Worldview (http://strategyleader.org); Lonnie Turner and Orville Boyd, Questionnaire for Worldview Analysis (http://strategyleader.org)
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E. What are the values of the child? By values is meant the child's standards of right and wrong, beauty, deepest desires etc.
F. What are the norms which guide the child's behavior? The norms or rules of behavior are infused into the cognitive culture of the child and serve to shape their behavior.
G. Is the child apart of a subculture? Though there is a dominant culture in operation the child may be apart of a culture group that has patterns of behavior which differentiate it from the dominant group. If the child is apart of a subculture, describe all aspects of it.
2. Describe the child's social structure , i.e., the basic social institutions, groups and symbols which inform the child's life.
3. What are the child's views on cooperation? Methods of accommodation: compromise, arbitration, mediation, conciliation, conversion, toleration and coercion? Assimilation? Competition? Conflict?
4. What are the functions of schooling in the child's cognitive culture?
5. How does the child learn?
6. What motivates the child?
7. How does the child define power?
8. What is the key metaphor of the child's culture? A metaphor is a form of thought and language, which links to different experiences. For example the key metaphor of ancient Khemetic society was socioorganic and socioreligious. Organic because the human body served as the predicate for Kemetic sociopolitical, socioarchitectural and sociocultural institutions. Socioreligious because of the central of religion and the connection of the cosmic realm with the social order. The key metaphor of capitalism is the commodification of all things. Anything can be bought and sold: men, women, land, entrance into heaven, justice etc.
9. How does the child express, assess, and manage feelings?
10. Does the child control impulses?
11. Does the child delay gratification?
12. What stresses are present in the child's personal life, family, community and the larger society?
13. What are the dietary habits of the child, the child's family, the community and the society and large? Keep in mind that the body chemistry of the child is impacted by the dietary regimen, which in turn affects the child's behavior chemistry.
14. Describe the sociopolitical and socioeconomic order.
15. What is a community?
16. What is a government? Nation? State? Nation-state?
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17. What is the Summum Bonum or "Greatest Good"?
18. What is human nature, i.e., what is humanity actually like? 19. Can human nature be changed?
20. Is their an original nature for humanity?
21. Describe love, hate, good and evil.
22. Does society create the individual or does the individual create themselves?
23. When does life begin? Before conception? Before birth?
24. Does life end? If so when? If not, then what happens?
25. What is marriage?
26. What are the proper roles of the spouses in a marriage?
27. Describe the family structure of the child. Who makes decisions? What are the roles of the family members? Is it a nuclear of extended family? Is there a married couple, a monogamous relationship or polygamous relationships? What are the means of family support? How does the family deal with death? What is the families level of historical consciousness or family history? Race and community history?
28. What is truth? Right? Are they relative to a historical time and place or absolute throughout eternity?
29. Are human events guided by mankind or God?
Socialization
1. Describe the methods and agents of socialization. Socialization incorporates all of the life experiences of the child and informs the child's personality. The following social institutions are agents of socialization are:
A. The FamilyB. Socioeconomic/sociopolitical ElitesC. The SchoolD. School Disciplines: History, Math, Reading, Science, etc.E. Peer GroupsF. Social RolesG. Mass Media: Television Entertainment, News, InternetH. Public OpinionI. The History of the child's ethnic groups interaction with the dominant group
in society.J. White SupremacyK. Religious Organizations
Discuss how each of the agents of socialization impact the child in question, aiding or hindering the development of the child's human potential and instilling some cultural perspective into the child. Consider the interaction in historical context for the child, their family and community do not exist in a vacuum.
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2. Does society have the authority, power and right to expand and restrict your rights?
3. Is government and society one and the same? Government and the people? People and society?
4. Does society have a communal focus or and individual focus?
5. Describe the sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and socioreligious organization of the society.
Deviance
1. To what degree does societies labeling of deviant behavior impact the child's definition of self and understanding of their actions in the light of their cognitive culture and in view of the dominant groups cultural definitions? By deviance, we mean any action that violates cultural standards. When cultural standards differ, so will labels of deviant behavior.
2. How does race impact the definition of deviance?
Social Interaction
1. How does the interaction of the child's cultural group and the dominant cultural group impact the development of the child's self-concept?
2. What ascribed status did the child receive at birth? Ascribed status is that social position into which the child is born and has no choice in.
3. What are the possible achieved statuses available for the child? Achieved statuses are those social positions to which the child can aspire.
4. How does the child's ascribed status impact the child's ability to attain available achieved statuses?
5. What roles are associated with the child's ascribed status?
6. What types of social interaction does the child engage in and how have these shaped the child's construction of social reality? Social interaction is the way that the child acts and reacts with others.
Social Stratification
1. How has inequality shaped the ascribed status of the child? 2. What is the history of social stratification within the society of the child? Social
stratification refers to the socially defined method of vertically organizing persons in a society, whether by wealth (class system of social stratification) or by race/ethnicity (caste system of stratification).
3. What are the sociopolitical and socioeconomic tenets or beliefs which support the system of social stratification in the child's society?
Race & Ethnicity
1. What importance does the child ascribe to race/ethnicity?
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2. Does the child have an awareness of race/ethnicity?
3. What is the current state of race relations in the child's community and in the larger society? For instance, are relations defined by acculturation, domination, paternalism, integration, pluralism or some combination.
4. What are the historical antecedents and precedents of race relations in the child's community and in the larger society?
5. To what degree is the child aware of the impact of race/ethnicity in their social interaction?
6. What is the role of race and race awareness in social stratification within the society?
7. What is the role of race and race awareness in the labeling of deviance in society?
8. What is the role of race and race awareness in socialization in society?
9. How does race and race awareness impact the family? Schools? School subjects? Public opinion? Mass Media? Peer groups? Social roles? White supremacy? Ascribed status? Achieved status? The child's language? Values? Norms?
Social Philosophy
1. What is the logic structure of the child's cognitive culture? By logic, structure we mean how does the child reason. Does the child use deductive arguments? Does the child use inductive arguments? Does the child argue from analogy? Does the child use metaphorical arguments? Does the child argue by counter example?
2. How does the child describe reality, i.e., how does the child perceive reality or interpret, organize and elaborate on the things around them?
3. What is knowledge in the child's cognitive culture? Wisdom?
4. What is truth to the child's cognitive culture?
5. What is defined by the child as being a necessity?
6. How does the child describe God?
7. Can God be known to exist in the child's cognitive culture? Does the child answer this question ontologically, cosmologically or teleologically? Ontological answers are concerned with being or what it is to be. Cosmological answers centers on the origins of all things. Teleological answers refer to the belief that all life phenomena have a reason for being, a purpose or a goal to accomplish.
8. Describe the child's self-identity. By self-identity is meant how the child delineates their character. In doing this, self-consciousness is demonstrated. To be self-conscious refers to being aware of ones self through ones own eyes or the eyes of others and is supported by a concept of self or self-concept. Is the child conscious of themselves as an individual and as a member of a group?
9. How does the child describe their private self?
10. How does the child describe their public self?
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11. How does the child describe their collective self? The collective self is defined in relation to the ethnic group, peer group, community, etc?
12. How does the child control themselves?
13. How is the child controlled in their home?
14. Does the child have self-focus? Self-efficacy? Self-knowledge?
15. What is the level of the child's self-esteem? Self-esteem is the child's self-image. Remember that self-esteem, ethnicity and self-identity are apart of the child's sociocultural worldview.
16. What is the child's description of morality? Justice? Legitimacy? Rights? Freedom? Beauty?
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APPENDIX II
42 NEGATIVE CONFESSIONS
The principles serve as a complement to the parent home/life teaching component of
the Mjat Sebat by being incorporated into daily living along with the Ten Cardinal Virtues. The
principles also form a daily part of the rountine of the educational institution.
1. I have not done iniquity.2. I have note robbed with violence.3. I have not stolen.4. I have not made any to suffer pain.5. I have not held back my offerings to God.6. I have done no murder nor bid anyone to slay on my behalf.7. I have not trimmed the measure.8. I have not spoken lies.9. I have not robbed God.10. I have not caused the shedding of tears.11. I have not dealt deceitfully.12. I have not acted guilefully.13. I have not laid waste to the land.14. I have not set my lips against anyone.15. I have not been angry or wrathful without a just cause.16. I have not lusted nor defiled the wife of any man.17. I have not polluted myself.18. I have not caused terror.19. I have not done that which is abominable.20. I have not multiplied words exceedingly.21. I have never uttered fiery words.22. I have not judged hastily.23. I have not transgressed nor have I vexed or angered God.24. I have not stopped my ears against the words of Right and Truth.25. I have not burned with rage.26. I have not worked grief.27. I have not acted with insolence.28. I have not avenged myself.29. I have not stirred up strife.30. I have not been an easedropper.31. I have not wronged the people.32. I have done no harm.33. I have done no evil.34. I have not worked treason.35. I have never fouled the water.36. I have not spoken scornfully.37. I have never cursed God.38. I have not behaved with arrogance.39. I have not envied or craved for that which belongs to another.40. I have not filched food from the mouth of the infant.41. I have done no hurt unto man, nor wrought harm unto beasts.42. I have never magnified my condition beyond what was fitting.
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APPENDIX III
A PERPETUAL STATE OF WAR
Whether it is the savagery, jealousy and contempt which motivated the so-called
Roman Republic to wage aggressive war against the Afrikan Kingdom of Qart-Hadas100 and
after three wars over a century to then return to the vanquished Kingdom following the third
and last Punic War and in one final act of barbarism to slaughter millions and burn Qart-Hadas
to the ground, or the inhumanity of Arab Muslim invaders and European savages in their
conquest, enslavement and slaughter of the Afrikan Kingdoms and peoples across the
continent, a perpetual state of war has existed between Afrikan peoples, the Mothers and
Fathers of human civilization, and their rebellious children.
Below is a chronological timeline of selected events in the sociopolitical and
socioeconomic interaction of Afrikan and European peoples, which demonstrate the idea of a
continuous state of war. Five calendar dates are given the first is the Gregorian or Western
Calendar which was is a revised version of the Julian Calendar. The Western Calendar is dated
from the birth of the Christ. The other four calendars were created by the Afrikan priests of
Khemet and Kush and are based on significant dates in Kushite/Khemetic history. The first
Khemetic calendar dates from the year 36,525 BC 101Western calendar, the year in which the
first divine rulers of Khemet arrived from Southern Afrika. The second Khemetic calendar
dates from the year 11, 542 BC102 Western Calendar, the date in which Khemetic sages record
the beginning of the rule of men over men, following the rule of the Gods. The third Khemetic
calendar date listed begins in 6280 BC103 Western calendar, which is the date according to
Ethiopian texts of the birth of Kush progenitor of the Kushites and father of the Kushite
Kingdom. The fourth Khemetic date given begins with the oldest calendar in existence which
100 Qart-Hadas: Carthage.
101 Gerald Massey, A Book of the Beginnings (New York: A&B Publishers, 1994) pp. 28.
102 John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilization (New York: Citadel Press, 1994) pp. 259.
103 J. A. Rogers, 100 Amazing Facts About The Negro (St. Petersburg, Fl: Helga M. Rogers, 1957) pp.21.
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dates to 4241 BC104 in the western calendar and serves as year one for this dating of the
Afrikan calendar.
AFRIKAN & EUROPEAN INTERACTION: 36525-37225 KC
YEAR EVENT________________________________________________________
700 - 1485 AD European re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.36,525 - 37,225 KC12,242 - 13,027 KC6980 - 7765 KC4941 - 5726 KC
1488 AD Portuguese begin conquest of Afrika. Portuguese land37,228 KC at the mouth of the Congo River to establish 13,030 KC an Afrikan-Hindu empire.7768 KC5729 KC 1492 AD Moorish Granada, last of the Moorish states on the 37,232 KC Iberian Peninsula conquered by the "Christian" forces of13,034 KC Ferdinand and Isabella.7772 KC5733 KC 1493 AD Papacy enacts the Asiento, the right of transportation of37,233 KC enslaved Afrikans into Spanish colonies. The document13,035 KC "grants" spheres of influence to Portugal and Spain. 7773 KC Designed with intent of facilitating world conquest for5734 KC economic reasons.
1512 AD King Manuel of Portugal states plans for an37,252 KC Afrikan conquest (couched in semantical phraseology of13,054 KC humanitarianism) in the Regimento. Document stated7792 KC that conquest would occur in three forms: territorial, 5753 KC enslavement and acculturation. 1513 AD Niccolo Machiavelli writes The Prince. Book is a treatise37,253 KC on the political theory surrounding the establishment of 13,055 KC settlements (colonies) and maintenance of states and7793 KC conquered territories.5754 KC
1517 AD Martin Luther begins the Reformation of European37,257 KC Christianity & Bishop Bartolomeo de Las Casas removed13,059 KC the ban on the enslavement of Afrikans in the Spanish7797 KC colonies (in response to dramatic decline in the South
104 James Henry Breasted, A History of Egypt (NewYork: Bantam Books, 1967) pp. 16.
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5758 KC American population due to dysentery, malaria, hookworm, and smallpox).
1518 - 1888 AD Era of the Maafa, the Great Suffering of Afrikan people37,258 - 37,628 KC under European enslavement.13,060 - 13,430 KC7798 - 8168 KC5759 - 6129 KC
1884 AD Berlin Conference on the Partition of Afrika (European37,624 KC Conquest and "development" of Afrika.)13,426 KC8164 KC6125 KC
1914 - 1918 AD Internecine European war for World White Imperialist37,654 - 37,658 KC Supremacy, i.e., World War I, and the birth of the Soviet13,456 - 13,460 KC Union. Afrikans and the Diaspora used as fodder 8194 - 8198 KC in the militaries of the Western nations fighting for6155 - 6159 KC control of the immense material wealth of the colonized lands.
1920 - 1929 AD Upward re-distribution of wealth in the West, known37, 660 - 37,669 KC in the United States as the Great Depression. Heavily13, 462 - 13,471 KC impoverished Afrikan masses in the Diaspora and the8200 - 8209 KC Continent unaffected (were already extremely steeped in 6161 - 6170 KC poverty.
1930 - 1938 AD European/American Economic Depression, which eroded37,670 - 37,679 KC wealth of Western Middle class. Impoverished masses13,472 - 13,480 KC of Afrikans on the continent and abroad unaffected8210 - 8218 KC by the Economic Depression (already generally without6171 - 6179 KC employment). Its remedies: aimed at wealthy white elite.
1939 - 1945 AD Internecine European war for world supremacy, i.e.,37,680 - 37,686 KC World War II. Afrikans again serve as human fodder in13,481 - 13,487 KC Western militaries. Beginning of colonized political8219 - 8225 KC independence movements.6180 - 6186 KC
1946 - 1957 AD Reestablishment of Western Economic Imperialism and37,687 - 37,698 KC initiation of Western Cold War. In the West no 13,488 - 13,499 KC fighting occurred, but hot throughout Asia, Afrika and8226 - 8237 KC South America.6187 - 6198 KC
1957 - 1994 AD Political Independence Movements in Afrika and the37,687 - 37,724 KC Americas. Continued economic impoverishment and 13,499 - 13,536 KC political destabilization of Afrika and the Diaspora by 8237 - 8274 KC Western powers and Afrikan sycophants.6198 - 6235 KC
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2001 AD Political Re-Colonization of Neo-colonized Afrika and the37, 731 KC Diaspora under the guise of a Western "War on13,543 KC Terrorism", the so-called implementation of democracy; 8281 KC and provision of "humanitarian aid" to combat hunger 6242 KC and HIV/AIDS.
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APPENDIX IV
RITES OF PASSAGE PROGRAM
The rites of passage program integrated throughout the Mjat Sebat is best illustrated by the Maasai105 stages of life106. These are:
Inkera: Period of Youth.
Alamal Lengipaata: Ceremony of the Preparation for Initiation into Adulthood/Warriorhood.
Emorata: Ceremony of Initiation into Adulthood/Warriorhood.
Ilmoran: Period of Warriorhood. During Warriorhood, the young man and woman exhibit strength, confidence, wisdom, gentleness, determination and subtlety in the protection of family and nation.
Eunoto: Ceremony of Preparation for Graduation from Warriorhood into Elderhood.
Olngesherr: Ceremony of Anointing into Elderhood. Elderhood is the period of life when families are established and economic security are provided for.
105 The Maasai or Masai are the ancestors of the founders of Kush and Khemet. Today they reside in the Great Rift Valley of Eastern Afrika in the modern day countries of Tanzania and Kenya. Bridget Giles, ed., Encyclopedia of African Peoples (London, United Kingdom: Facts on File, Inc., 2000) pp. 134-137.
106 Tepilit Ole Saitoti and Carol Beckwith, Maasai (New York: Harry Abrams, Inc., 1980)
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APPENDIX V
MIFANO AFRIKAN107
To place maximum emphasis on critical thinking and critical reconstruction the Mjat
Sebat utilizes the wisdom of the ancestors in critical thinking exercises. Using Blooms
Taxonomy, which states that reasoning moves along the continuum of Knowledge,
Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation, the Mjat Sebat has
incorporated into it questions to used in the study of the words of the Ancestors at the level of
Deep Thought. These questions are:
Knowledge
1. Define the essential phrases and terms of the quote or proverb within the sociocultural context of the Ancestral ethnic group, which originated the empirical statement.
Comprehension
2. Rewrite in your own words the words of the Ancestors, i.e., explain the meaning.
Application
3. Demonstrate the truth or falsity of the words of the Ancestors, with current events.
Analysis
4. Determine the factors, which could have possibly caused the Ancestors to draw conclusions, which are the basis of the quote or proverb.
Synthesis
5. Suppose that the words of the Ancestors are true empirical statements. After making this supposition, formulate a plan to implement their ideas in today's world and predict the possible outcomes.
Evaluation
6. Give your opinion on the words of the Ancestors. Do you agree or disagree with the words of the Ancestors? Justify your point of view.
Below are proverbs and aphorisms of the Ancestors. The six items above are to be used in
critical analysis and critical reconstruction of each one. Furthermore, they can be used in the
critical analysis and critical reconstruction of quotes of the Ancestors.
107 Mifano Afrikan: (KiSwahili) Afrikan Proverbs
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KiSwahili
1. Macho ya chura haya zuii ng'ombe kunya maji- The eyes of the frogs do not prevent the cattle from drinking water. cf. Do what thou ought let come what may. (In Gikuyu mythology, the frog once had a large buttock. It lost it because it mimicked others and lost its self-identity.)
2. Hasira hasara- Anger is loss.
3. Haraka haraka haina baraka- Hurry hurry has no blessing.
4. Mtu ni watu- A human being is human beings. No man is an island. (Afrikan science is anthropocentric. Humanity is all human beings. We are all I and we.
5. Akiba haiozi- A reserve never goes bad; It is that that is brought forth from the desert that survives the desert. You have to struggle to save. For every dollar save 10%. A penny saved is a penny earned.
6. Paka halali chali- A cat never lay on its back. You can't keep a good person down.
7. Heri kufa macho kuliko moyo- Better be blind than despairing.
8. Ni afadhali kuishi kuliko kufa- It is better to live than to die.
9. Ada ya mja hunena mwungwana ni kitendo- A slave usually only talks, a freeman acts.
10. Afua ni mbili, kufa na kupona- Deliverance is of two kinds, dying or getting better.
11. Bora afya kuliko mali- Health is better than riches.
12. Ahadi ni deni- A promise is a debt.
13. Akili mali- Wits are wealth.
14. Ujinga wa kuusa si ubaradhuli wa kununua- Being foolish in selling is better than being duped in buying.
15. Mchea mwana kulia, hulia yeye- He who fears for his child'd crying, will cry himself.
16. Mchelea bahari si msafiri- One who is nervous about the sea is no traveller.
17. Mchagua jembe si mkulima- A man who is fastidious about his hoe is not a husbandman.
18. Mtu akifika chengo cha mtu, kumtegemea- If a person goes to a person's house (place, etc.) he becomes dependent on him.
19. Mtu kuchongewa na ulimi wake- A man is betrayed by his own words.
20. Nyumba kuu haina nafasi- A great house has little room.
21. Jyumba ya udongo haihimili kishindo- A house of mud cannot stand a shock.
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22. Dau la myonge haliendi joshi likienda joshi ni mungu kupenda- The boat of a poor man does not go straight ahead, but if it does, it is because God wills it.
23. Elimu ndio mwanga uongosao- Knowledge is the guiding light.
24. Mema na maovu ndio ulimwengu- The world is a mixture of good and bad.
25. Njema haziozi- Good (deeds) never go bad.
26. Mungu amemwenezea kila mtu riziki yake- God has put the means of living in every man's hands.
27. Mafahali wawili hawakai zizi moja- Two bulls cannot live in the same farm yard.
28. Mpanda farasi wawili, kupasuka msamba- One who mounts two horses splits in two.
29. Mgaagaa na upwa hali wali mtupu- He that haunts the shore does not eat plain rice, i.e., he always picks up something.
30. Kaa akiinua gando mambo yamekatika- When the crab raises his claw, there is an end of the matter.
31. Mgema akisifiwa tembo kulitia maji- If the palm wine tapper is praised because of his palm wine, he dilutes it with water.
32. Funika kawa mwana karamu apite- Cover up that the bastard (a bad smell caused by someone breaking wind) may pass.
33. Heshima ni kitu cha bure- Politness costs nonthing.
34. Mtu akisafiri akirudi watu hujo kumhongeza- When a man returns from a journey, people come to congratulate him.
35. Mtoto apatapo miaka saba, amekuwa kijana mwenye akili- When a child reaches seven years of age, he is kijana, and is possessed with sense.
36. Jawabu la kesho huandaa leo- The business of tomorrow one gets ready today.
37. Jitihadi haiondoi amri ya Mungu- Human effort is powerless against God's will.
38. Juhudi si pato- Trying is not the same as succeeding.
39. Likiwika lisiwike, kutakucha- Whether the cock crows or not dawn will come.
40. Johari sa mtu ni mbili akili na haya- The most precious qualities of a man are these two, intelligence and modesty.
41. Mtupa jongoo kutupa na mti wake- He who throws away a millipede, throws away the stick it is on as well.
42. Mwenyezi Mungu ni msikivu na mjuzi wa kila neno- Almighty God hears and knows everything.
43. Majuto ni mjukuu mwishowe huja kinyume- Regret is (like) a grandchild its end turns out to be contrary (to what was expected).
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44. Kufa ni faradhi ya iliyokadirika- Death is a necessary condition of what is finite.
45. Haba na haba hujaza kibaba- Grain upon grain fills the measure, or many a little (or pickle) makes a little (pickle).
46. Kimya kingi kina mshindo mkuu- Much silence has a mighty noise.
47. Akupaye kisogo si mwenzio- He who turns his back on you is not your friend.
48. Lisilo na mkoma hujikoma lilo- What has no one to end it ends itself.
49. Mtu akikosa mali hawi mtu mbele ya watu- A man without money is not a man in the sight of men.
50. Asiyesikia makubwa huona makubwa- He who disregards a superior usually finds serious consequences.
51. Heri kukwaa kidole kuliko kukwaa ulimi- Better to stumble with the toe than the tongue.
52. Kweli iliye uchungu si uwongo ulio mlamu- An unpleasing truth is better than a pleasing falsehood.
53. Ulacho nicho chako, kili chobaki ni cha mchimba lindi- That which you eat is yours, what is left is for the grave digger (heir).
54. Mlaji ni mla leo mla jana kalani?- The eater is he who eats today, the eater of yesterday, what has he eaten? i.e., you can't eat your pie and have it.
55. Mkono mtupu haulambwi- The empty hand is not licked.
56. Mwana umleavyo ndivyo akuavyo- As you bring up a child, so he grows up.
57. Jusi na jana si kama ya leo- The (affairs of the ) day before yesterday and of yesterday are not like those of today, i.e., you cannot judge what will happen by what has happened previously.
58. Lila na fila haitangamani- Perhaps and actuality are not compatible.
59. Kilimia kikizama kwa jua huzuka kwa mvua, kikizama kwa mvua huzuka kwa jua- When the Pleiades set in sun (sunny weather) they rise in rain, when they set in rain they rise in sun. Used of the time to begin cultivation.
60. Usiache mbachao kwa msala upitao- Do not leave your old mat for a praying mat which passes, i.e., do not desert your old friend for a new one who may not be permanent.
61. Mbiu ya mgambo ikilia ina jambo- When the buffalo horn sounds, there is something of importance.
62. Nazi mbovu harabu ya nzima- A bad coconut spoils the good ones.
63. Mtaka cha mvunguni huinama- He who wants what is under a bed stoops for it.
64. Mpenzi hana kinyongo- A lover has no scruples or faults.
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65. Nyuki huenda na maua yake- The bee goes with its flowers.
66. Dawa ya moto ni moto- Fire must be met with fire.
67. Mema na maovu ndio ulimwengu- The world is a mixture of good and bad.
68. Mpanda ovyo hula ovyo- He who plants in a haphazard fashion eats also what is haphazard or rubbish.
69. Samaki mmoja akioza, ni mtungo pia- If one fish rots, it is the whole string.
70. Paka akiondaka panya hutawala- When the cat is away, the rat rules.
71. Upeka ni uvundo- Loneliness is disgusting.
72. Upishi ni kuni- Cooking means firewood.
73. Kupotea njia ndiko kujua njia- To lose your way is to know your way.
74. Mwenda omo na lesi marejeo ni ngamani- One who goes from the bow to the stern must pass through the bulge.
72. Chombo cha kuvunja hakina rubani- Fate cannot be avoided, what is predestined is inevitable; a vessel which is to be wrecked has no pilot.
73. Ushikwapo shikamana utwewapo na jua lala- When you are pressed, hold together, when you are overtaken by the sun sleep.
74. Shukrani sa punde ni mashuzi- The gratitude shown by a donkey is the breaking of wind, i.e., that is all you expect from a donkey, or that is how it shows its gratitude.
75. Hakuna msiba usio na mwengziwe- Misfortune never comes alone.
76. Akili ni mali- Intelligence is wealth.
77. Kusafiri ni kuona- (Gikuyu) Travelling is seeing; Travelling broadens the mind.
78. Kuongea ni kupendana- Communication fosters love; Friendship increases by visiting friends.
79. Hauchi, hauchi, unakucha- It does not dawn, it does not dawn, it dawns. Time and tide wait for no man.
80. Mkataa la mkuu huvokika guu- S/he who refuses advise of an elderly person breaks his leg.
81. Kusafiri ni kuifua njia- (Gikuyu) To travel is to know the way.
82. Mtoto akililia wembe mpe- If a child cries for a razor give it to him.
83. Ulimi hauna mfupa- The tongue has no bone.
84. Mvunda nti mwana nti, mgeni mzo mpima- The destroyer of the country is a child of the country; a stranger does not weigh two hundred-weight.
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85. Kipya kinyemi, kigawa kionda- A new thing is good, though it be a sore place.
86. Mbio za sakafuni hwishia ukingoni- Running on a roof ends at the edge of it.
87. Kazi mbi mtezo mwema?- Is not poor work good play?
88. Si taajabuni, waana Adamu, mambo yalio duniani- Wonder not, children of men, at the things that are in this world.
89. Sahani iliofunikwa, kilichomo kimestirika- If a dish is covered, what is in it is hidden.
90. Hakuna msiba asiokuwa mwenziwe- There is no grief without a companion.
91. Angurumapo simba, mteza nani?- Who will dance to a lion's roaring?
92. Saburi ni ufunguo wa faraja- Patience is the key of consolation.
93. Abadi, abadi, ukambaa watinda jiwe- Continually, continually, the cord cuts the stone.
94. Ndovu wawili wakisongana ziumiazo nyika- When two elephants struggle it is the grass that suffers.
95. Udongo upate uli maji- Use your clay while it is wet.
96. Mlevi wa mvinyo hulevuka, mlevi wa mali halevuki- He that is drunk with wine gets sober, he that is drunk with wealth does not.
97. Kikulacho kinguoni mwako- What bites is in your own clothes.
98. Maombolezo katika kilio si mwema- Loud lamentations are not becoming in mourning.
99. Usubi aweza kupenya mote- A sand fly can get through anything.
100. Ametumbukia kisimani- He has fallen into a well.
Efik
101. Owo ese edun edem nkpo, abasi ese edem eset- Man looks only on the outside of things; God looks into the very heart.
102. Inyan inyan ofiok edem ubum, kpa ntre ke abasi ofiok ini mkpa- It is the sea only which knows the bottom of the ship, so God only knows the time of death.
Yoruba
103. Ete i mo ete ni iko oran ba ereke- Mouth not keeping to mouth, and lip not keeping to lip, bring trouble to the jaws.
104. Ebi ko kpa Imale, oli on ki idze aya- When the Imale (Yoruban proselyte to Islam) is not hungry, he says, "I never eat monkey flesh."
Kanuri
105. Kargete, sima kam kannuro tsatsin, sima kam tsannaro tsatsin- It is the heart that carries one to hell or to heaven.
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106. Kam kargen kam tseteite sima ker digo- He is a heathrn who holds another in his heart (bears malice).
WOLOF
107. Jalele sainou ane na sainou guissetil dara, tey mague dieki thy soufe guissa yope- The child looks everywhere and often sees nought, but the old man, sitting on the ground, sees everything.
108. Lou jalele vaja thia saine keurre la ko deguey- What the child says, he has heard it at home.
109. Jama sa bope mo guenne kou la ko waja- Know thyself better than he does who speaks of thee.
110. Jamoul aya na, tey ladhieteoul a ko raw- Not to know is bad, not to wish to know is worse.
111. Kou tey jamone ndialbene, moudnie di noflaye- If you know the beginning well, the end will not trouble you.
112. Nitte de na anda ak morome am, tey dou masse am- Man should take as companion one older than himself.
113. Tekrema na kun onipa, na tekrema na gyai nipa- The tongue kills man and the tongue saves man.
114. Onipa mfon kwa, okom enni no-a na, odi ekaw- A man does not fast without a cause, if he does not suffer hunger, he is in debt.
Congo
115. No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.
Mauritania
116. Before eating, open your mouth.
Nigeria
117. Before shooting, one must aim. Guinea
118. If farmers do not cultivate their fields, the people in the town will die of hunger.
Afrikan American108
119. Buying on credit is robbing next year's crop.
108 Joel Chandler Harris, Uncle Remus His Songs and His Sayings (New York: Penguin Books, 1986)
100
120. Little flakes make the deepest snow.
121. The right sort of religion heaps the half-bushel.
122. Dirt show the quickest on the cleanest cotton.
123. Blind horse knows when the trough is empty.
124. Ripe apples made the tree look taller.
125. Little hole in your pocket is worse than a big one at the knee.
126. Appetite don't regulate the time of day.
127. If you want to see how much folks is going to miss you, just stick your finger in the pond then pull it out and look at the hole.
128. The billy-goat gets in his hardest licks when he looks like he's going to back out of de fight.
130. Big possum climb little tree.
131. It take two birds to make a nest.
132. Watch out when you getting all you want. Fattening hogs ain't in luck.
Ibriyite109
133. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7 KJV)
134. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:14-15 KJV)
135. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. (Proverbs 10:2 KJV)
136. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. (Proverbs 10:4 KJV)
137. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. (Proverbs 10:5 KJV)
138. Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14 KJV)
139. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner. (Proverbs 11:31 KJV)
140. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him. (Proverbs 12:14 KJV)
109 Ibriyite: Hebrew; Afrikan Israeli.
101
141. A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness. (Proverbs 12:23 KJV)
142. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. (Proverbs 14:13 KJV)
143. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. (Proverbs 14:29 KJV)
144. He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. (Proverbs 17:27-28 KJV)
145. Physician, heal thyself.
Khemet
146. Multiply the bread-cakes which thou givest to thy mother, and carry her as she carried thee. When thou wast a heavy load she carried thee often, leaving me nothing to do for thee. When she had brought thee forth after thy months (were fulfilled), she set thee like a veritable yoke upon her neck, and her breasts were in thy mouth for three years. Though whilst thou wast a babe her task as nurse was loathsome she felt no disgust at thee, saying (Consider) what I have to do. And afterwards, when she had placed thee in the house of instruction (i.e. school), and whilst thou wast being taught (thy) letters, she (came) to thee there day by day, regularly and unfailingly, with bread-cakes and beer from her house. When thou art a young man, and dost marry a wife, and art master and possessor of a house, I pray thee to consider thine own childhood, and how thou wast reared, and to do for the child that shall be born to thee everything that thy mother did for thee. Let it not happen that she (i.e. his mother) shall have cause to blame thee, and give her not occasion to lift up her hands to God (in complaint), and let it not be necessary for Him to hear her supplications. (The Scribe Ani)
147. The man who works for another never gains an independent position for himself. (Tuauf)
148. Decide carefully what thou wilt do; he who acts hastily knows not what the result will be. (Tuauf)
149. The scribe who hears is noted; he who hears (i.e. obeys) becomes aman of power. (Tuauf)
150. Attempt not to direct a married woman in her house, when thou knowest that she is an excellent house wife. Say not to her, 'Where is that thing? Bring it to me,' when she has set it in its proper place. Watch her with thine eye, and hold thy peace, and then thou wilt be able to appreciate her wise and prudent management. Happy wilt thou be if thou goest hand in hand with her! Many are the men who do not understand this. The man who interferes in his house only stirs up confusion in it, and never finds that he is the real master thereof in all matters. (The Scribe Ani)
151. Man Know Thyself.
102
103
APPENDIX VI
KHEMETIC SOCIOPOLITICAL TERMINOLOGY
The Mjat Sebat envisages the reconceptualization of Afrikan life through Afrikan eyes.
As the fountain source of Afrikan and world High Culture is Khemet, the worldview of Khemet
as contained in the language is an apt starting point. Below are terms110 that were utilized in
the construction of the Mjat Sebat.
A-ut: family, hand, authority.
M'hau-t: tribe, clan, family, kith, kin, tribesmen, relatives, generations.
Mhu: tribe, clan, family, ethnic group.
Mesit: race, family.
Hau: one's neighbours, contemporaries, family, household, progeny, seed, posterity.
Ta-Neter: Land of God
Ta-seti: Land of the Bowman, Nubia.
Ansu: King
At: King/Queen, great lady
A: a vessel, a measure
Aat: path, road, direction
Mat: way, path.
Mait: path of the two hands, rectitude.
Ma/Maa: temple
Maa-ti: temples of the forehead.
Tem/Temu: Creator of Heaven and Earth, to make and end of, to finish, to complete, all peoples, mankind, mortals, men and women, nothingness, death, to join together.
Tchamu Nu Thau: the generations of men, the human race.
Skher: destiny, dispensation, condition, design, plan.
110 E. A. Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglphic Dictionary Vol. I and II (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1978)
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Men-t: suffering, sorrow, disasters, mourning, calaminity, pain.
Kai: to think, to say, to devise, to meditate.
Ka-t: thought, meditation.
Amiu-Khat: intestines, thoughts.
Nef: breath of life.
s-nem: to pray to supplicate, to beg, to humble.
Tchertcheru: ancestors
Tchaas: speech of wisdom, proverbs.
Tchaam: strength, quietness, rest.
Ames: crown, headdress, to conduct, to give birth to, the bearer of the sceptre.
Un: ye, you, they, them, their, we, us, to be, to exist, to become, being, existence, those who are, God of Existence.
Unun: to be, something that is.
Unun neb-t: all that is.
Unn-t: what is, nonexistent
Unnu: being, existence, a human being
Sebat: pupil, teaching, training, instruction, education, learning, wisdom.
Seba: door, star
Aui: comer, leader.
Up: leader, chief
M'tenu: leader, guide.
M'Ten: way, road, path, to engrave, inscribed.
Antch-Mer: very ancient title meaning, chief, govenor.
Antch: sound, firm, strong, strong men, to know.
Antchut: the poor and destitute.
Ur aa: King
Ur taat: Queen
Ta-Nehestu: 'Land of the Blacks'
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Nehesu: people of the 'Land of the Blacks'
Nehsi: Masculine form of the 'Land of the Blacks'
Nehsit: Feminine form of the 'Land of the Blacks'
Aakhu-t: Beings of Light; wise, instructed folk
Qet-Ma Qet (Khet-Ma Khet/Ket-Ma Ket): collectively; altogether; in a body; in entirety; whole; totality
Nu-t: village; hamlet; town; city; community; settlement
Nutiu: Citizens; townsmen; townfolk; natives
Nuta (Nuti): belonging to the town or community
Suten: King
Suteni: to rule
Sutenit: Kingdom
Sutenu: Crown of the South
Suter: The Saviour-god
S-uter: to purify
Nesu: King of Upper Egypt
Nesuit (Nesit): Queen
Nesu Bati: King of the South and North
Heq (Heqa): to rule, to govern, to direct, to guide, to reign
Heq (Heqi): rule, power, ruler, governor, director, prince
Heq-t: rule, authority, sovereignty, dominion, government, the crook-emblem of rule, princess, chieftainess, queen a measure of capacity equal to ten
Seshem: to lead, to direct, to administer, to govern, to guide, image of a god, administration, form, similtude, likeness, copy, manner, behaviour, procedure, service, state, condition, action, conduct, design, picture of a god
Seshem-t: guidance, administration, direction, guide
Seshmi-t: guide (fem.), leader of peace, i.e., peacemaker; divine guides.
Seshmu: guides, leaders.
Seshmu Kh-t: Director of the Universe.
Sheser: to propose, to purpose, to design, to govern, to measure with a cord, a cord for
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measuring, utterance, speech, decree, a proving, testing, examining, to shoot, arrow, spear, dart, animal for sacrifice.
Shesru: designs, purposes, decisions.
Sheser-t: canon, ordinance
Teqen: to rule, to govern
Teq: spark, fire, lamp, torch, to cut, to slay, to strike
Tesh: frontier, boundary region, ordinance, law, regulation
Tesh-t: nome, province, state
Nerit: rule, government
Ner: to be strong, to be mighty, to be master, to be victorious, to terrify, to strike awe into people.
Neru: strength, power, victory, valour, might.
Ner-t: mankind, men and women.
Tha-t: Governor and Judge of the Two Lands.
Tha-t Meh: Governor of the North.
Tha-t Resu: Governor of the South.
Tha-t Mer Nu-t Nu Tamera: Governor-General of Egypt.
Thai Metcha-t: accountant
Tchatcha-t: court of judges, council of statesmen, college, judge, member of a council or of a college, a high official, chief of company of priests.
Tchatcha: head
Tchatcha-t Ur-t: the Great Council, the Chief Council of a city or town.
Tchatcha-t Nesu Aa-t: the Great Council of Judges, Royal Council, Royal College.
Tchatcha: throne, throne-chamber, government offices.
Tcham: sceptre, white-gold, kind of precious metal.
Tchamti: bowmen, fighting men.
Ta-t: great council of a city, of a land.
Per: house, palace, seat of government.
Per-Aa: Great House, palace, Pharaoh.
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Per-Ankh: "House of Life" a name for the school or college of the temple.
Per-Ar: store-city
Per-Aha: armoury
Peru-Uru VI: the six Great Courts of Justice.
Perma: summer-houses
Peru-Maau: temples
Per-Metcha: library, registry, chancery.
Peru-Nu-Seshu: houses in which plans and designs were drafted and copied.
Per-Hesb: the office in which slaves and goods were taxed; It was composed of the stores office, the slave office, the agricultural office and the metals office.
Per-Hetch: treasure-house, store-house, treasury.
Het- Ur-t: court of law, judgment hall.
Hetut Nub: gold refineries, smelting houses, goldsmiths workshop, the goldsmiths quarter of the city.
He-t Hemag-t: laboratory.
Utcha: to decide, to judge, to pass sentence, to rectify. to balance, a kind of sceptre to cut, to cleave, to split; to cut of the head
Utchaiu: judges, judged ones, executioners.
Utcha-t: decision, judgment.
Utcha Ah-t: to define the bounds of estates and to settle their limits.
Utcha Metu: to weigh words, to try cases, to judge.
Utcha-Ra: decision, judicial sentence.
Utcha Hatu: to judge hearts or dispositions.
Utcha Senu Sen: to judge between rivals.
Utcha Senemm: to decide a case.
He-t Aa-t: law court, director of the Six Courts of Law, mansion of the nobles, great house, palace, town.
Mabiu: the 30 judges human or divine, one of the 30 judges, president of the 30, president of the southern 30, president-in-chief of the Southern Thirty
Mabit: the court in which the 30 sat.
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Barta (Barth): covenant, contract.
Bareka: to bless, gift, present, tribute.
Baraka: to bow the knee in homage
M'Shau: soldier, army, host, troops, calvary soldiers.
M'Shakabiu: tax-gatherers, inspectors, overseers.
M'Sha: to march, to march at the double.
Mekhar: war, fight.
Mekhar-t: army
Tchaba: soldiers, host, army.
Hem Neter: servant of the God, priest.
Pa-Hem-Neter: servant of the God.
Hem: slave, servant, male and female slaves.
Hem-t: female slave, handmaiden.
Hem Neter Tepi: High-Priest, priest, office of priest, Priest-Hood.
Hem-t Neter: priestess
Hem: to be skilled in the work of a trade or profession, majesty the king, the king's majesty
Hemu-t: any kind of handicraft, craftsmanship, trade, the profession of artist or physician, a man's specialty.
Hemu: a handicraftsman, a skilled labourer, workman, artificer, artisan.
Hemu Hat: skilled or trained mind.
Hem-t: workshop, factory.
Hemi Aiu: skilled hands.
Hemm: metal worker.
Shu: to haggle, to trade as a merchant.
Shui-t: business, commerce, to do business, to make a bazaar, merchant, trafficker.
Nu-t: village, hamlet, town, city, community, settlement, towns of the south and north, a pyramid town, i.e., the temples, etc., built about a pyramid.
Nutiu: citizens, townsmen, townsfolk, natives.
Nuta (Nuti): belonging to the town or community, urban
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Nu: caretaker, guardian.
Nui: shepherd, herdsman, lassoer, drover.
Nuu: guide, leader, director.
Thesu: captain, commandant, general, chief officer, commander, trusted officers, master, proverbs, precepts, law-makers, managers, orders, disposers, arrangers.
Thes: accusation of a plaintiff, defense of a defendant, sentence, aphorism, apophthegm, speech of a petitioner, declaration, statement.
Thes Maa: speech of law.
Thes-t: regiments
Thesi Semsem: mounted soldier, knight.
Thesi-t: insurrection, revolt.
Metut Neter: Emission of God.
Metut Heh: seed of eternity; generations of men.
Met: Mother, wife.
Metu/Metru: right order.
Skher reth: the ways of men.
Sesh: writing, book, writer.
Seshu: ancestors
Tcheser Tcheseru: Splendour of Splendours, Holy of Holies.
Sesh Metut Neter/ Sesh Nu Per Ankh: sacred writing
Pronunciation Guide 111
A ah as an father
I ee as in machine
E as in me
Y ee as in meet
W u as in glue
J as I above
Q as k
111 Stephane Rossini, Egyptian Hieroglyphics How to Read and Write Them (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1989) pp. 9; James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001) pp. 14-20.
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B as in English
P as in English
F as in English
M as in English
N as in English
R as in English
H as in English
S as in English
K/Kh as in English
G as in English
T as in English
D as in English
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