Interview: Legendary scholar, activist, and author Lloyd Hogan turns 90 (1/23/13 - )

Dear friends,

It is with great honor and pride that I am having the opportunity to present an interview with a man who has been one of the most important teachers in my life, Professor Lloyd Hogan. Moreover, on today, his 90^th birthday, and considering all of the turmoil that still afflicts African American people, we are fortunate to still have his fresh, original thinking at hand Cheers!

Djatajabs: Hey Lloyd…Its been well over 30 years since my brother Eshu introduced us, after several years of him telling me that he had a professor who had become a close friend, at his alma mater, Hampshire College, with whom I would be certain to enjoy sharing ideas while, simultaneously, learning a great deal. To be sure, meeting you back then, and to this very day, has been one of the best things to ever happen, for me. Nevertheless, having been born in 1923, and considering your over 70 years in academia, from student scholar to professor, activist, and author, have there been changes for African American academicians, in both colleges and universities, generally, that have, correspondingly, benefited our people?

Lloyd: During the last 70 years much has changed for the better for African Americans in the institutions of higher learning (academia). In 1943, there were approximately 4 or 5 African American professors teaching in the "white" institutions. Academia had, perhaps, the most white segregated institutions in the U.S. It was so bad that in cities of the South where  African American colleges were located a stone's throw from their white counterparts, the white professors within the same fields kept theirdistance from their black colleagues.

Black students in the white institutions were the most deprived of scholarly camaraderie with their professors and fellow students. They were made to feel that they should be happy to be rubbing elbows with their superior consorts. At the same time, of course, the curricula were steeped in racially distorted nonsense which passed for substantiated knowledge. In short, white academia was subsisting in an atmosphere of distorted scholarship and social stagnation.

It is true that some institutions had exceedingly large black student

enrollments. Institutions like U of Chicago, Columbia U., and New York U. had black enrollments that surpassed most of the southern black colleges.

Closer scrutiny of these institutions revealed that these bloated enrollments were mostly of graduate students in the field of education. These were the southern professors and educational administrators from the black colleges who were studying towards graduate degrees, a condition which they could not pursue within southern institutions due to strictly enforced segregation laws.

Following World War II, with the passage of the GI Bill of Rights, an

increased number of blacks gained admission to the northern white institutions. The largest gains were in the State-supported colleges and universities of the Midwest and Western States. But these enrollments did not result in a corresponding increase in graduation. At the same time a

smattering of institutions employed a relatively few Black professors.

It wasn't until the middle 1960's, when both black and white students began to demonstrate against the corrupted educational system that real progress ensued. As a consequence of black student demands, black studies departments or programs sprang up in a number of white colleges across the land. In many cases, it was a "copy-catting" response to which these institutions paid tribute. Once Harvard had set up a Department of Afro American Studies, the lesser institutions began to follow in lock-step imitation. This led to the employment of a good number of blacks and to the enrollment of significant number of blacks in PhD programs in black history and other black impacted fields of study. So that today it is no longer unusual to see a good number of black students and professors on the campuses of the former segregated white institutions of both north and south. Out of these advances have emerged some important scholarly works by black professors which have influenced the thought processes of people throughout the nation.

But it is time to call for caution. Having been trained by former segregated-minded white scholars it is to be expected that it will take time before there will come into being a truly independent, scholarly, and truthful black intelligentsia. Time and effort are the promoters.

There is a lesson here for current and future African American college and university students. For those who need college degrees as credentials for employment at higher than usual wages, go for it and try

to complete your studies to actual graduation. The degree is your ticket of assurance that you can be a trusted and loyal servant of the capitalists who are your potential employers. They can trust you to count their money, to protect their assets, and to participate with them in exercising control over their work force.

For the relatively few African Americans who want to remain in the knowledge production fields, be aware that much of what goes for knowledge is merely rationalizations of the efficacy and necessity for the existing capitalist social order in which you are now functioning.

The existing knowledge base is flawed and critically fractured. It needs radical revision from its basic formulations up through its fundamental study methodologies. You have important work to do to bring about a change in the approach to the creation of new knowledge. You are truth pioneers. If you don't accept this responsibility you will emerge from these institutions as petty cadets of your intellectual master purveyors of contrived understanding of real world phenomena. Go for it.

Djatajabs: We’ve just experienced the inauguration, for the second time, of Barack Obama, as the President of the United States of America…How do you feel about that, regarding the progress of African American people?

Lloyd: Obama's presidency has been a historical advance in the history of the United States. It certainly has given African Americans an invaluable public relations position. The first time, Obama could not have been elected without the votes of a substantial number of whites. These brave souls went to the polls in revolt against the incompetence of a president who was taking the country to economic and military demise. They were ecstatic about their accomplishment and showed up in person and in television parlors in the millions to witness his inauguration.

A few days later reality set in and they awoke from the dream state. It was as if they said to themselves "what were we thinking..." We should all have known that the President of the United States is the chief executive of the capitalist ruling class. As head functionary of  the capitalist political state his major task is to oversee the promulgation and enforcement of the rules of the capitalist game.

First and foremost among these rules is to insure the continuity of the system...and this means the urgency of preservation of private property rights of capitalists in the ownership of the wage worker's ability to work, which was purchased in market relations; preservation of the property rights of capitalists in the products of wage workers labor, which result from the capitalists use of his private property; preservation of capitalist property rights in the profits derived fromthe sale of his products; and finally preservation of the right of capitalists to reinvest their profits in such a manner as to repeat the process of capitalist activity over and over again without end. There is no way in which African American issues could have been brought to the forefront of Obama's administration in the face of the reality of his major task. As such, it wasn't too long into his tenure that Tea Party and other organizations began to oppose his every action within a posture of concealed and at times overt racist diatribes. Meantime, African Americans and other allies looked on in dismay to witness what appeared to be an administration incapable of any progressive accomplishment. The man is circumscribed by an exploitative political economic system. It is sufficient if he can survive and end his tenure with accomplishments such as a termination of two destructive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a semblance of a health care insurance plan, and with some growth in employment. He should be commended if he can pull off these modest goals.

Djatajabs: Now, apart from education and politics, I always remember, from years back, how important it was to you to have a fairly large garden, during the warm weather, but also, even today, you still have a small porch garden, at your home. What is the role of food for any population group, as it seeks to reproduce itself as a people, through

time?

Lloyd: It is true that I have always tried, whenever possible, to plant a kitchen garden. It is a conscious attempt to keep in touch with the reality of human existence. In my book, Principles of Black Political Economy, I argued that food production and consumption lie at the foundation of every conceivable political economy that has been known throughout the history of humankind. Since then I have been working on development of a theory of human population. A fundamental postulate of that theory is that in every human society two material crops must be produced to form its core. These are an annual crop of food and a corresponding annual crop of human babies. The annual crop of food constitutes the life-time supply for the corresponding annual crop of babies. I can't go into implications of this postulate in this discussion. However, suffice it to say that different social orders are distinguished by the specific way in which the food is made available to the babies over the course of their lifetimes.

That food is essential should be obvious. No person can exist

without ingesting into his/her person a daily dosage of food (including potable water and breathable air). Food is the elixir of human life. Although people consume many other things, food, nonetheless, must also be

an essential part of their consumption bundle.

In exploitative  societies, it is the robbery of the food from the mouth of babies that reduce the potential longevity of the average population member. It is no wonder that death among the poverty stricken comes easy; while death among the material well-off comes hard. The bread is snatched from the mouth of the poor and death easily prevails.

It is no wonder then that I always try to plant a garden. In these days, I am confined to a few planters on my apartment terrace where I concentrate on the standard herbs--thyme, rosemary. basil, oregano, sage, etc. I also work with peppers such as bhut jaloki, trinidad scorpion, habanero, scotch bonnet, etc. I engage in friendly struggle with Earth-mother.

Djatajabs: Is there a reason to for us to continue the African American experience in a so-called “post-racial” society? I mean, exactly what conditions must exist, in order for a group to become a distinct body for generations, and when is it favorable for them to do so?

Lloyd: I must state at the outset that "race" is a corrupt and corruptible concept. It immediately involves a superiorityinferiority configuration. It was invented by slave hunters and slave

masters to justify to their gods and their evil consciences the wanton control of other human beings as their private property.

"Post-racial" is a related term which has no essential meaning, but provides talking points for charlatans, television commentators, and the unthinking

layman.

African Americans are a distinctive population by dint of their long historical period of reproducing among themselves to the exclusion of all other people.

No individual African American consciously made the decision to be a member of this distinct population. The social and

political economic circumstances under which these people existed in North America are the decisive factors. Black slavery, black

sharecropping in a Jim Crow environment, and late coming to the wage labor class are the historical groundings which cemented African Americans as an identifiable sub-population within the larger U.S. population. As such, it will be an extremely long time in the future before these people will be physically and socially integrated into the larger U.S. population. One shouldn't make plans for this event any time soon.

I must also remind you that African Americans have been physically integrated with a segment of the white population for quite a long time, in the past. If one observes these people closely it becomes, at once, obvious that they have shed a decisive identifying African attribute.

Blackness as a color that is characteristic of African people has almost disappeared from African Americans. They span all colors of the rainbow. Their blood has been tainted with the venom of the vermin slave masters who forcibly injected their polluted seeds into black slave women's wombs. The rape of black womanhood now appears visibly in the panorama of colors among black people. But the power of blackness is such that one droplet of black blood still marks the offspring as black.

The message to African Americans is to savor that history and the cultural entanglements which surround it. There is no escape. After all, it is out of the struggles of African Americans for liberation from all the restrictions they faced throughout their history which made the important democratic advances in the U.S. at large. The nation owes these people a great debt of gratitude for whatever semblance of democracy now prevails. African American struggle and developing U.S. democracy are synonymous events.

Djatajabs: What relationships do you think need to exist between African American men and women for the prospects of our future growth as a people?

Lloyd: I have no substantive knowledge of interpersonal relationships. My only advice to any African American in this regard is to remember that

people are highly specialized and exotic formations of the Earth's

surface. As such they have an obligation far beyond themselves to preserve and improve the species of which they are an essential part.

Be good to each other...love the other better than you love yourself...never do to the other what you would not want done to you, while at the same time always defending the right of the other to do whatever he/she proposes to do. But since the Earth-mother is the source of our being, then preservation and improvement of her is a number 1 activity. That is

all I have to contribute to this most important topic.

Djatajabs: Thanks for sharing your wisdom today, as you have been doing for three generations, Lloyd…and Happy 90^th!...Much Love!

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Excerpts from Lloyd Hogan and Adam Smith on Political Economy and Government

"As an institution it (government) must function in compliance with the will of human agents. Its primary function is to protect the property rights of members of the population in the ownership of the material elements of society...Since it (government) is the main instrument for insuring the continued reproduction of wealth in its characteristic form, it may be viewed as wealth personified. Put another way those who control this institution, as distinct from those who function within it, are the personifications of wealth." - (Hogan, The Principles of Black Political Economy)

 "...To carry out its mission it must organize and use resources...But it must function within the very rules it establishes, while at the same time standing above these rules as final arbiter in matters under dispute...Its power is absolute over all the members of the population. It garners unto itself a monopoly of force and violence to be used as its own dictates demand." (Hogan, ibid.)

If Professor Hogan is correct about the potential for violence that governments possess, why is such force necessary? It would seem that the answer to that question lies in the need for the wealth accumulators to protect their rights to disproportionately own materials that provide the "necessaries and conveniences" of human life. And so, pioneering political economist Adam Smith wrote, "Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor...The affluence of the rich excites the indignation of the poor, who are often driven by want, and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions. It is only under the shelter of the civil magistrate that the owner of that valuable property - can sleep a single night in security." (Wealth of Nations, Book V, by Adam Smith)
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Slavery in North America was for both the "Black" AND "White"

“Both Indian and Negro, besides white servants were bound out to a master for a term of years and received no wages. Of these there were a few in the Pilgrim group.” Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, Vol.1

Dear friends,

The Puritans of New England found no problem with human enslavement. After all, Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first British colonial settlement in North America to legalize slavery. That happened approximately 21 years or slightly less than a generation after the landing of the famous Pilgrim group.

Remember, that the whole purpose of the North American venture by the British ruling class was to extract as much wealth - precious metals or whatever, as they could, both human and non-human, for the good of their class - not their so-called "race". As Professor Lloyd Hogan explains, "It must be emphasized that Wealth Accumulation is not done in the abstract. Indeed, it must be carried out by the exercise of the conscious will of people acting in the role of wealth accumulators. These wealth owners have the onus of preserving the form of their wealth while, at the same time, striving to increase its magnitude. Just as important, is the necessity for continuous control over the Wealth Accumulation Process by the wealth owners”. (The Principles of Black Political Economy by Lloyd Hogan)

Due to the "tax benefits" of illegally trafficking in captive workers (so-called slaves), it is impossible for anyone to determine how many Africans were brought here. Although the numbers of captive workers who actually lived in New England were not as numerous as the Southern states, there was an enormous slave-dealing business in this region - particularly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island - with other British North American colonies, as well as the motherland - England herself. (A succession of British laws, over generations, prohibited the colonies to trade with other countries.)

The wealth created by the mostly free labor from all of these Black folks in North American colonies helped serve as the basis for the development of businesses and real estate and, therefore, political power, in early America. But Africans who later became African Americans were not the only people to give their labor freely. That is, since the native peoples in the Americas, for the most part, were unwilling to "cooperate" with their attackers, then the rulers had to "de-people" North America, by the murder of Early American Native peoples or so-called Indians, in order to "re-people" with poor and desperate Europeans, especially those fro England, Germany, Spain, and France.

As a result, during the colonial period of North American history, that is, prior to the War of Independence, English citizens were coaxed, tricked, coerced, and even kidnapped in order to provide the necessary (human) bodies of labor to increase the wealth of the British ruling class. As well, many miscreants were shipped here (the U.S.) for the benefit of the British ruling class to have additional labor available.

About British settlements like Massachusetts Bay Colony, Charlotte M. Waters wrote, "The colonies were used too as dumping ground for prisoners and undesirables generally, in spite of protests from the colonists. Criminals, prisoners of war, and inconvenient Irish were thus got rid of. Royalist prisoners after Worcester shared the fate with 2,000 Irish girls and boys deported by order of the Government. Kidnapping was not uncommon. Such emigrants were sold by auction..." (Waters, An Economic History of England).

Indentured servitude is the name applied to Europeans, particularly the early British settlers, who traded both their human and civil rights to British merchants, usually for a term of four years, in order to gain access, that is, barter their labor ability in exchange for passage, to North America. These indentured servants were unable to feed themselves in their European homelands. For instance, in the Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, Vol.1 it is pointed out about early New Englanders, including the famous "Pilgrim" group, that landed at Cape Cod (Plymouth Rock), that there was a small servile population. The official document reads: “Both Indian and Negro, besides white servants were bound out to a master for a term of years and received no wages. Of these there were a few in the Pilgrim group.”

Now, since there was nobody here from England already when the Pilgrims came, then that means that the slave owners were on board with their captive workers or so-called slaves. Yet, school history books, under the guise of “No child left behind”, continue to pitch the lie that the Pilgrims came here for religious freedom.

The following passage was written by a priest who wanted to see for himself exactly what European peoples had to go through on the ships that transported them to British North America. This particular six-months voyage took place around 1750 or 26 years before the start of the War of Independence. "...during the voyage on these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably. Add to this want of provisions, hunger, thirst, frost, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations, together with other trouble, as c.v. the lice abound so frightfully, especially on sick people, that they can be scraped off the body...Children from 1 to 7 years rarely survive the voyage; and many a time parents are compelled to see their children miserably suffer and die from hunger, thirst, and sickness, and then to see them cast into the water." (English Historical Documents, Vol. 9, edited by Merrill Jensen)

In an essay called "Slavery, Race, and Ideology in the U.S.A.", Barbara Jeanne Fields indicates, "...the rationale that the English developed for suppressing the 'barbarous' Irish later served nearly word for word as a rationale for suppressing Africans and indigenous American Indians." In other words, slavery in America was not invented for Africans. Rather, it was already a practice that went on between Europeans themselves.

The preceding information has been pointed out because, based upon the illusion that they are "white", many North Americans suffer from an identity crisis. That is, under their fantasies or illusions that they are "white", most European Americans disregard their true identities by pretending to share some kind of common heritage, based upon skin color. Regrettably, the majority of people who live in America today hide behind their whiteness - like Ku Klux Klanners in white bed sheets - concealing their true cultural pasts (which invariably are not in North America but someplace in what we now know as Europe). Even worse, the few that have genuine history in this country, going back before the North American Civil War, are themselves the descendants of slaves, albeit temporary ones or indentured servants. Please stay tuned for more on this topic. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

What is anAmerican?

Dear friends,

Far too many European Americans show that they don't respect African Americans...Other than being a paid day from work for them, Dr. King's birthday means nothing to them, because they have no history here other than the lies that their mothers and grandmothers have told them about having relatives on the Mayflower...Besides, what is an "American"?

In a book written two generations ago called The Study of Man, author Ralph Linton summed it up best when addressing the question, "What is an American?" He wrote:

"Our solid American citizen awakens in a bed built
on a pattern which originated in the Near East...throws
back the covers made from cotton, domesticated in India...goes to the bathroom, whose fixtures are a mixture of European and American inventions, both of recent date...washes with soap invented by the ancient Gauls...Returning to the bedroom - puts on garments
whose form originally derived from the skin clothing
of the nomads of the Asiatic steppes, puts on shoes
made from skins tanned by a process invented in ancient
Egypt...Before going out for breakfast - glances
Through the window, made of glass invented in
Egypt...stops to buy a paper, paying for it with coins,
an ancient Lydian invention...At the restaurant - (the)
plate is made of a form of pottery invented in
China...has coffee, an Abyssinian plant, with cream and
sugar. Both the domestication of cows and the idea of
milking them originated in the Near East, while sugar
was first made in India...finished eating - settles
back to smoke, an American Indian habit...while smoking
- reads the news of the day, imprinted in characters
- invented in Germany...and, if - a good conservative
citizen ,gives thanks to a Hebrew deity, in an Indo-European language, for being 100 percent American."

 

G. Djata Bumpus

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Meeting Dr. King, as a "militant" youngster (originally sent, as is, to the Boston Herald in Jan. 2008)

"If only we could learn to love - ourselves, based upon our love for other people like our spouses, our families - and things - like our work, our communities, our ability to create and produce (instead of worrying about how much we possess)..."

Dear friends,

About what was Martin Luther King really? Love.

Unfortunately, far too often, the emphasis, by the media and others, of Dr.King's vision rests more upon his call for non-violence as a passive response to injustice, than it (i.e., non-violence) does when it is used as a pro-active measure that citizens employ to share in community growth, democratically. After all, the quintessence of democracy is non-violent conflict resolution. Therefore, it is not only a contradiction in terms, but an enormous lie, for one sovereign nation to invade another such self-governing land, under the pretense that it is introducing "democracy" to the latter.

At any rate, back in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. returned to Boston for the first time since he'd graduated from BU (Boston University) almost ten years earlier. His main purpose for doing so was because the legendary singer and activist Harry Belafonte was giving Dr. King, who had already received the Nobel Peace Prize, a benefit concert at the historically-famous, Boston Gardens, in order to raise some funds for "the Movement", as it were.

As my Mom, Rhoda Vivian Olufemi Bumpus was one of many pioneers of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement, in Boston - and around the nation, she was given two tickets to the aformentioned program, not knowing that she would be seated with Dr. King. As fate would have it, and although I was next to the youngest of her six sons (no daughters), she took me along with her that night.

I was an incredibly precocious (very young but extremely vocal) , up-and-coming Black militant. Consequently, in spite of his constant attempts to strike up a conversation with me that night, over the next few hours, Dr. King was only able to recognize the anger and disgust of so many Black youth at the time. Yet, he had seen it before (the scoffs and scowls), as he revealed in his manifesto, the classic essay called "Letter from a Birmingham Jail".

If only we could learn to love - ourselves, based upon our love for other people like our spouses, our families - and things - like our work, our communities, our ability to create and produce (instead of worrying about how much we possess), we may realize what Dr. King talked about, but was unable to fully articulate at his point in history. For, ultimately, that was his message, as I now - some 43 (now 48) years after meeting him - understand.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

A short interview/discussion with legendary jazz singer/bandleader Nicki Mathis

"I'm interested in singing songs about my family, my people, the motherland, joy, happiness..."

Djata: Nicki, I must first say that it's an honor for me to be having this discourse with you. At any rate, from where did the lyrics come in your early years and how have they evolved?

Nicki: Thanks, Djata. For the first lyrics I wrote to my 1st jazz pianist's Sabrina, the words came from the real story; Sabrina was his & his wife's 1st born, and the story came from a collection of words I thought told how he must have felt about her beauty, his responsibility to protect her, his wishes for her happiness in life. His music was/is so beautiful, I wanted to sing along, so I wrote words.

For the 1st music & lyrics I wrote for Make Some Kind of Magic, it came from a comment I made to a poet who had signed me to sing accapella on her poetry show- something I don't know how to do performance-wise - I ended up telling her, don't worry, we'll make some kind of magic. When I heard the words out my mouth, I thought, “Hmmmm…that sounds like a song”. I proceeded to put notes to the cadence of the words, and told the story of my first trip to Africa. Usually, a phrase, or a scene will conjure up a story, then I have to find melody to match words.

Djata: You’ve told me that when you do a song, you have to like the story. What do you mean by that?

Nicki: I'm interested in singing songs about my family, my people, the motherland, joy, happiness. I'm not interested in singing sad, violent songs, songs about people mistreating people.
Djata: You were a single Mom who raised two sons to adulthood. You’ve been involved in music, literally, all of your life. But, Nicki, as a basis for all that you’ve done and still do, I’m curious, at this point in your life, what really makes you tick?

Nicki: Love of life makes me tick; learning makes be happy, I love people, artists, art, nature.

Djata: Is there or are there either benefits or detriments, or both, to being a female performer?

Nicki: I'm still looking for benefits outside of self actualization/fulfillment; gender determents are a way of life. Women are not viewed as equal human beings.

Djata: Do you believe that there is any one thing or are there several things that female artists, of all kinds, can do to help bring humanity to a tangibly higher level where people will be able to relate to each other on many levels, as opposed to so much of the division between cultural groups and sexes that is so prevalent today?

Nicki: Many things can be done to bring humanity to a higher level, go back to kindergarten like behavior, and treat people like we want to be treated with respect and consideration. . Understand that r-a-c-e is a make believe word which means nothing, and immediately stop applying it to reality.

stay tuned… Read full post

The Mechanisms of Culture

"This is easily identifiable by recognizing the actual mental and motor reflexes that are initiated when a European American (so-called white person) who is sitting in a car pushes down the lock button as an African American approaches the vicinity of the former’s vehicle."

 Dear friends,

Racism/White Supremacy is a cultural institution in the United States of America. Now, when I speak of an institution I am referring to a set of activities with specific rules. Some institutions require buildings like, for instance, banks and post offices. While others don’t. The Super Bowl and the Miss America pageant are examples. In Our society, culture is a word that is often used to refer to the higher achievements of a particular group - like painting and music. However, it (culture) involves everything that We do. Therefore, it even has a physiological significance. This is easily identifiable by recognizing the actual mental and motor reflexes that are initiated when a European American (so-called white person) who is sitting in a car pushes down the lock button as an African American approaches the vicinity of the former’s vehicle.

 This notion of the initiating of both mental and motor reflexes also explains the cultural differences in the way that people draw, dance, sing, and so forth. In fact, even Our five "senses" are culturally-defined. That is, Our perceptions, regarding what We feel, taste, hear, smell, and see, are determined by Our cultural experiences.

Additionally, Our culture determines the manner in which We transmit and share both behavior and ideas to present and future generations. However, the first thing that We must understand about culture is that it is largely tied to a people's resources. That is, social status and income as well as materials to produce what people need or desire determine how, why and through what medium folks can express themselves as a distinct group.

 G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

LOVE is the weapon of the strong!!!

Fear friends,

Only a weak person needs to find self-worth at the expense of someone else, by being mean and evil. Yet, it is much easier to be weak and hateful, so many people prefer to take that route, because it requires no effort.

.However, if you think about it, you feel bunched up inside with anger, when you do something mean. hat is, you don't feel good. On the other hand, you feel great, when you do something good. Don't you?

Please be strong and embrace the wisdom of LOVE.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Economic Development for African American Youth in Philly & elsewhere

“African Americans, as a people, are legendary for collecting baubles, but we never save. We have never been taught to, as the children of the wealthier have.”

Dear friends,

Planning for the future, without setting goals for the economic development of our youth, is something that may help specific individuals, or even corporations, but it won't change the standard of living for residents of any particular community, much less represent an honest attempt to prepare for their future.

Yet, strangely enough, we never hear mention of our youth, even from so-called progressives, at least not outside of them as recipients of food stamps or health care. From all of the Streets, to the Goodes (won’t bother to mention Ed Rendell), to the Blackwells, to the Fattahs, to, yes, Michael Nutter combined, not a single one of these politicians in the African American community of Philadelphia has ever had so much as a single useful thought about how to empower their constituents economically or otherwise, much less the children of the latter.

Still, how can anyone pretend to be thinking about the future, without having programs that are directly geared towards young people? Our youth need to think about their economic future.

To be sure, African Americans, as a people, are legendary for collecting baubles, but we never save. We have never been taught to, as the children of the wealthier have. Consequently, a good goal for young people to save towards is their college education.

Business groups like the African American Chamber of Commerce can play a giant role in monitoring such a program. Surely, an organization like NEEED (Networking for Equal Education and Economic Development) can help a great deal in the effort.

Of course, in order to save money, you have to make it first. As far as a program for youth to earn then save a few bucks is concerned, one of the major problems for African Americans is: Our, historically, poor sense of how to spend our money. Only the wealthy in this country are taught about wealth. The rest of the citizens (many European Americans included) have little or no idea of even what wealth is, let alone how to either acquire or keep it. Unfortunately, with this, African Americans have been the worst. And even worse than that is the fact that just as we are beginning to gain some sense of the possibilities of saving, investing, acquiring property, and so forth, the train has just about left the station.

It used to be that if a person invested in an IRA from the time they were 19 until they were 25, they could see that grow into enough to retire on even if they never invested another cent. Now, with interest rates so low in banks and investments so "iffy", you have to keep investing, certainly, much longer, to make it worthwhile.

Additionally, the question then arises, how do African Americans tend to spend money anyway, when they are 19-25 years old, much less younger than that? It is then, perhaps, more meaningful to develop as a standard that all youth are expected to have a college fund started by the time they enter Middle School. Never mind this stuff about parents saving for your child’s education. That’s the way that I worked it with all three of my kids and they all have done quite well.

Now, it may start out small, but it is the continual growth that makes a difference. Imagine for example in 6 years, from 7th-12th grade, a student saves $5 per week-the first year, $10 /wk-the second year, $15/wk-the third year, and so forth. Even without interest, that student will have a substantial chunk of money with which to enter college. The real benefit is: They will develop a mentality that puts planning for the future and the assumption that we are all college bound, in the forefront.

At any rate, people who realize that they have a future may be less likely to squander it with petty and larcenous thinking like drug-dealing and prostitution. By the way, while we are on the subject, the worst thing about the drug-dealing mentality is that drug-dealing has no future and people who are involved in it have no vision of the future. After all, no one can say with any degree of either logic or sanity, "I am going to deal drugs for a few years to earn money for college and then, after college, get a good job and raise a family." Even the strippers - who often, claim to be putting themselves through college, by dancing up and down a pole - make more sense than that. (That is, at least, their profession is legal and has a fair amount of history to it.)

One idea that is kind of similar has already been tried in, I believe, West Philly is a kind of “Sweep my steps, please?” program. At ten dollars ($10) per week, for a specified pre-teen or teenager (must be enrolled in school) to come by so many times per week and sweep your steps. No teenager should be allowed to sweep more than ten sets of steps per week. (Let us try to be democratic.) Businesses - including realtors, as well as both homeowners and renters, could be sponsors. Also, concerned adults who simply want to contribute, by sending $10 per week to the specific bank designated to monitor the funds.

This can become a great community cultural institution, lasting for generations. Some kids may feel, initially, that drug-dealing brings in more cash. However, it (drug-dealing) really does not bring in even $10 per week that they can save, for most kids. In other words, after they end up paying the bigger dealers and spending (on baubles) the peanuts that are left extremely quickly (if not before they have even paid the former his money back), they have no money.

Imagine if a hard-working youngster got a (Sweep My Steps) sponsor from the community who would put that money in an interest-bearing account as part of a stipend for the chores represented by "Step-Sweeping." The student will get $10 for his or her College fund. Of course, the student is aware that it is his or her responsibility to maintain a connection with the sponsor who keeps that account growing. What is more, this is the type of activity, if gotten off the ground, that could get matching funds rather than grants. Both businesses and individuals, knowing that the money is going to an account that cannot be touched except by an accepting college or an entity of that sort, would feel much better about their donations and more willing to make what is clearly an investment in the larger community.

So a simple slogan like, "If you make money fast, then you’ll spend it fast...If you make money slow, then you’ll spend it slow.", may eventually convince youngsters to realize that there is no future in drug-dealing. After all, young folks should understand that, if they get caught selling drugs (and they will, because addicts snitch to the cops just for reasons like the dealer will not give the latter drugs on credit), while in jail, they (young drug dealers) will not make any money. Therefore, the potential $500 for their college funds that they could make, with only one sponsor, from one year of the “Sweep” program, is far more than what they could make during that same amount of time while in jail or a youth detention center (which is, basically, nothing).

Ultimately, in order to make any kind of work-related initiative happen, we must, as it has been said, convince young people that "Work is a reward!". In other words, it is the work itself that is the reward, not any money or prizes received for one's efforts.

Unfortunately, so much currency (no pun intended) is given to the idea of "reward" as receiving either Nobel, a Pulitzer, a Grammy, an Oscar, or Lottery prize that youth do not understand that the greatest rewards they will receive in life are far more mundane, coming from the joy that they create through their experiences with other people, non-human animals, and even - things, often with no one standing nearby giving applause.

Moreover, work is a "power" that one should hold as great value. Whether it is working at MacDonald's or as a messenger for an attorney, our youth should consider appreciating the fact that their ability to get up in the morning, go to school and a job moves them forward - in the direction of controlling their own lives (destinies). What could be more empowering, than the ability to work, through study (mind) and labor (body)? And, who does not love the feeling of being powerful?

Note: To be sure, the idea of appreciating our own ability to work has been one that has often escaped youth throughout human history. After all, it is hard as a young person to hear that the satisfaction of a job well done is its own reward, when s/he sees the inequities of the distribution of the harvesting of the "fruits" of labor all around us. That is, those who do the least work, make the most money. Therefore, it is one of those notions that would be fine if everyone believed it, but hard to swallow when you know others are getting away with doing so little. Hence, it is the unfairness that eats away at our resolve to do our best in a society that, on top of the aforementioned, finds humor in its own inadequacy (as revealed in so many Hollywood productions like the Bad News Bears). Still, we must push forward in getting our youth to appreciate work.

Finally, after saving, what happens to the money, if the student does not go to college? Let it be available to the student when s/he is ready. It may go towards tuition in a trade school. It may be usable as down-payment on property. It should not be available as cash or to buy a car or pay rent. The point is that it is about moving the person forward.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

RIP, Brother Imamu Amiri Baraka

RIP, Brother Imamu Amiri Baraka...He was a pioneer of the Black Consciousness Movement (1965--85) that replaced the accommodating and sterile Civil Rights Movement.

"Somebody Blew Up America" (about 9/11)
by Amiri Baraka

They say its so...me terrorist,
some barbaric
A Rab,
in Afghanistan
It wasn't our American terrorists
It wasn't the Klan or the Skin heads
Or the them that blows up nigger
Churches, or reincarnates us on Death Row
It wasn't Trent Lott
Or David Duke or Giuliani
Or Schundler, Helms retiring


It wasn't
The gonorrhea in costume
The white sheet diseases
That have murdered black people
Terrorized reason and sanity
Most of humanity, as they pleases


They say (who say?)
Who do the saying
Who is them paying
Who tell the lies
Who in disguise
Who had the slaves
Who got the bux out the Bucks

Who got fat from plantations
Who genocided Indians
Tried to waste the Black nation


Who live on Wall Street
The first plantation
Who cut your nuts off
Who rape your ma
Who lynched your pa

Who got the tar, who got the feathers
Who had the match, who set the fires
Who killed and hired
Who say they God & still be the Devil

Who the biggest only
Who the most goodest
Who do Jesus resemble

Who created everything
Who the smartest
Who the greatest
Who the richest
Who say you ugly and they the goodlookingest

Who define art
Who define science

Who made the bombs
Who made the guns

Who bought the slaves, who sold them

Who called you them names
Who say Dahmer wasn't insane

Who? Who? Who?

Who stole Puerto Rico
Who stole the Indies, the Philipines, Manhattan
Australia & The Hebrides
Who forced opium on the Chinese

Who own them buildings
Who got the money
Who think you funny
Who locked you up
Who own the papers

Who owned the slave ship

Who run the army

Who the fake president
Who the ruler
Who the banker

Who? Who? Who?

Who own the mine
Who twist your mind
Who got bread
Who need peace
Who you think need war

Who own the oil
Who do no toil
Who own the soil
Who is not a nigger
Who is so great ain't nobody bigger

Who own this city

Who own the air
Who own the water

Who own your crib
Who rob and steal and cheat and murder
and make lies the truth
Who call you uncouth

Who live in the biggest house
Who do the biggest crime
Who go on vacation anytime

Who killed the most niggers
Who killed the most Jews
Who killed the most Italians
Who killed the most Irish
Who killed the most Africans
Who killed the most Japanese
Who killed the most Latinos

Who? Who? Who?

Who own the ocean
Who own the airplanes
Who own the malls
Who own television
Who own radio

Who own what ain't even known to be owned
Who own the owners that ain't the real owners

Who own the suburbs
Who suck the cities
Who make the laws

Who made Bush president
Who believe the confederate flag need to be flying
Who talk about democracy and be lying

Who the Beast in Revelations
Who 666
Who know who decide
Jesus get crucified

Who the Devil on the real side
Who got rich from Armenian genocide

Who the biggest terrorist
Who change the bible
Who killed the most people
Who do the most evil
Who don't worry about survival

Who have the colonies
Who stole the most land
Who rule the world
Who say they good but only do evil
Who the biggest executioner

Who? Who? Who?

Who own the oil
Who want more oil
Who told you what you think that later you find out a lie

Who? Who? Who?

Who found Bin Laden, maybe they Satan
Who pay the CIA,
Who knew the bomb was gonna blow
Who know why the terrorists
Learned to fly in Florida, San Diego

Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion
And cracking they sides at the notion

Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere

Who make the credit cards
Who get the biggest tax cut
Who walked out of the Conference
Against Racism
Who killed Malcolm, Kennedy & his Brother
Who killed Dr King, Who would want such a thing?
Are they linked to the murder of Lincoln?

Who invaded Grenada
Who made money from apartheid
Who keep the Irish a colony
Who overthrow Chile and Nicaragua later

Who killed David Sibeko, Chris Hani,
the same ones who killed Biko, Cabral,
Neruda, Allende, Che Guevara, Sandino,

Who killed Kabila, the ones who wasted Lumumba, Mondlane,
Betty Shabazz, Die, Princess Di, Ralph Featherstone,
Little Bobby

Who locked up Mandela, Dhoruba, Geronimo,
Assata, Mumia, Garvey, Dashiell Hammett, Alphaeus Hutton

Who killed Huey Newton, Fred Hampton,
Medgar Evers, Mikey Smith, Walter Rodney,
Was it the ones who tried to poison Fidel
Who tried to keep the Vietnamese Oppressed

Who put a price on Lenin's head

Who put the Jews in ovens,
and who helped them do it
Who said "America First"
and ok'd the yellow stars

Who killed Rosa Luxembourg, Liebneckt
Who murdered the Rosenbergs
And all the good people iced,
tortured, assassinated, vanished

Who got rich from Algeria, Libya, Haiti,
Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine,

Who cut off peoples hands in the Congo
Who invented Aids
Who put the germs
In the Indians' blankets
Who thought up "The Trail of Tears"

Who blew up the Maine
& started the Spanish American War
Who got Sharon back in Power
Who backed Batista, Hitler, Bilbo,
Chiang kai Chek

Who decided Affirmative Action had to go
Reconstruction, The New Deal,
The New Frontier, The Great Society,

Who do Tom Ass Clarence Work for
Who doo doo come out the Colon's mouth
Who know what kind of Skeeza is a Condoleeza
Who pay Connelly to be a wooden negro
Who give Genius Awards to Homo Locus
Subsidere

Who overthrew Nkrumah, Bishop,
Who poison Robeson,
who try to put DuBois in Jail
Who frame Rap Jamil al Amin, Who frame the Rosenbergs,
Garvey,
The Scottsboro Boys,
The Hollywood Ten

Who set the Reichstag Fire

Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?

Who? Who? Who?

Explosion of Owl the newspaper say
The devil face cd be seen

Who make money from war
Who make dough from fear and lies
Who want the world like it is
Who want the world to be ruled by imperialism and national
oppression and terror violence, and hunger and poverty.

Who is the ruler of Hell?
Who is the most powerful

Who you know ever
Seen God?

But everybody seen
The Devil

Like an Owl exploding
In your life in your brain in your self
Like an Owl who know the devil
All night, all day if you listen, Like an Owl
Exploding in fire. We hear the questions rise
In terrible flame like the whistle of a crazy dog

Like the acid vomit of the fire of Hell
Who and Who and WHO who who
Whoooo and Whooooooooooooooooooooo!

Copyright (c) 2001 Amiri Baraka. All Rights Reserved.See More

Read full post

Jewish-controlled mainstream US media denounces Courageous Boycott by ASA of Israel

"I find it insulting for Jewish people to suggest that they are somehow exempt from being criticized. This is especially true, because we all know that one of the crucial hallmarks of any abuser is: they can’t take any criticism."

Dear friends,

For acting against Jewish exploitation and oppression, euphemistically called Zionism, the American Studies Association (ASA)is currently being bombarded by the largely Jewish-controlled US mainstream media. Right now, in fact, if you try to Google anything about the recent ASA vote to boycott Israeli academic institutions, what you will mostly find are both articles and blogs about scholars and university presidents who denounce the boycott. Yet, at least to me, the biggest issue is: the United States of America must end its collusion with the gangster Zionists!

It is bad enough that so many Jewish people claim to have suffered more than any other group in history. However, in reality, as Karl Marx put it, the man who Adolf Hitler called “the world Jew”: the suffering of the Jews has been the rule, not the exception, for all humanity. Marx even went on to point out that the Jew makes claim to an "illusory nationality". In other words, s/he is a Jew, as opposed to being American, French, or Italian, for instance. In other words, they have estranged themselves from humankind.(Please refer to the great essay by Karl Marx titled “On the Jewish question”, a critique of Bruno Bauers important essay called “The Jewish question” that was written a year earlier than Marx’s piece, the former being published in 1833.)

Finally, I find it insulting for Jewish people to suggest that they are somehow exempt from being criticized. This is especially true, because we all know that one of the crucial hallmarks of any abuser is: they can’t take any criticism. Again, every group, African, European, Native American, or otherwise, at some point has experienced being either an oppressor or the oppressed. Jews are no different!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

What to do about Bpxing - Some memories

photo: Meldrick Taylor

Dear friends,

As usual, all of the loudmouths who know nothing about boxing are all over the Internet pretending to be pundits and giving ideas about what to do with the corrupt sport.

There's been no mention, regarding boxers being pimped by everyone from trainers and managers to matchmakers and promoters.

Back in the late 70s, at Joe Frazier's Gym in North Philly, the late Jerome Artis began a petition drive among pro-fighters to start a boxers union. Guys like myself, Jimmy Young, Bennie Briscoe, Dwight Braxton (now Qawi), and Mike Spinks signed it. Unfortunately, it never went anywhere. In fact, it just went away, as if it never was. I’ve always suspect that Jerome (who we called "Roni”) may have gotten paid off or something to stop getting signatures.

At any rate, pro fighters are still getting $100 per round today, as they have been doing for decades. That needs to stop, more than anything else. All of the loud mouthing by the “pundit” is inconsequential, if fighters continue to be pimped like street corner whores.

And it, i.e., the pimping, even applies to the bigger name fighters, because I was Meldrick Taylor's financial advisor back in '86. Lou Duva and I ended up having a problem, because I didn't like the way that Meldrick's agent, Lloyd Remick, was transferring around hundreds of thousands of dollars of Meldrick's money between banks that were literally only across the street from his office, while giving no access to Meldrick - to his own money. Instead, they gave him a $250 stipend every week. What a laugh!

After Lou Duva stood me up for a meeting at Front and Lombard streets in South Philly, then took Medrick to this gay, Jewish lawyer named Shelley Finkel in New York City, (by the way, Meldrick told me later that night over the phone that in New York Shelley Finkel told him that something would happen to me if I didn't leave him alone. As if I, a former Black Panther , was concerned).

Nevertheless, Duva had George Benton, my former trainer and longtime friend, call me the next day and George asked me for a personal favor: to leave Meldrick alone. When I initially responded in the negative, until George lowered his voice and begged, "Djata, do it for me...for me...Okay?"....I then conceded to his arm-twisting request, and said, "Okay."

But it didn’t stop there. A little side story: Only about two months later, in September 1986, I got a call from Meldrick. He wanted to lease a brand-new Porsche, but they told him that 19 years old he was too young to sign the lease. He also told me that Lou Duva and his lawyer were against him getting such a fancy sports car. I then told him about the conversation with George, and that I just didn’t want to be bothered. Meldrick just started begging me. I finally caved in. I told him to pick me up at 9 o’clock the next morning, and we’d go over the bridge to the Porsche dealer in New Jersey where he had already seen the car he wanted.

The next morning, he picked me up on time. As I was a successful insurance salesman, I knew that it would be no problem for me to sign for the vehicle for him. So we started to drive toward Center City, on our way to the Porsche dealer. We stopped at a red light at Broad and Lombard streets. The light changed, but Meldrick wasn’t moving. I said, “Come on man…Let’s go!” Meldrick then really shocked me, by telling me that he had run out of gas.

Here I am sitting all fly, as usual, and the business suit, it’s rush-hour in Center City Philadelphia, cars had already started beeping like crazy, and I said to Meldrick, “Man you better get out of this car and get some gas,” He did, while I just sat and waited. He came back about 15 minutes later. Because of his notoriety, the guy at the gas station had let him borrow a gas can. So after we dropped that gas can back off, we drove over the bridge to the Porsche dealer.

Now, Meldtick had already picked out the car that he wanted. I just explained who I was and gave them my business card. I assured them that Mel had the money, and that he would pay. But he had to have insurance. So we told the salesman that we’d be right back, because I had a buddy on Broad Street who owned an agency.

We left the dealership, but the now too excited Meldrick, in too much of a hurry, and only about a block after we pulled out of the dealership, crashed his Camaro right into the back of the guy who was in front of us, because he couldn’t wait for the light yochange. Fortunately, while the front hood of Mildred’s car was standing up like an upside down “V”, nothing happened to the back of other guy’s car.

We went back over the bridge to Philly, I went to my buddy’s shop, and he got the insurance. At that point, I told him to call one of his brothers or somebody, so that he could drive the Porsche back, and the other person could drive the Camaro back. He thanked me, and we parted ways. The last time that I ever saw him in person was about a month later, while driving around the rotary at City Hall. I was in my Lincoln, and he his Porsche; we let down our windows and gave each other a holler.

About five or six years later, after he’d won and lost his world title, I saw him on ab HBO program with slurred speech. I was so devastated that I just changed the channel. I’ve been told in recent years that he drives a cab. I first met him, when he was 10 years old. Everybody was sure then that he would be both an Olympic champion and a professional world champion. He did at least accomplish that. But now he's broke!

Boxing is a dirty, mucky sport. The only reasonable answer to fix it is to ban all present and former promoters, along with all the blood relatives from boxing - for life. That's just for starters.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Lack of exercise and Low Self-esteem Go Hand-in-hand with MANY Females

"Confidence provides the soil from which self-esteem grows."

Dear friends,

The major  contradiction that, especially,  so many women experience in this Male Supremacist world is: many females in this, or any other culture, dare to look at themselves as competent beings who can accomplish whatever they choose to, without using their intellectual, emotional, and spiritual powers for manipulating and deceiving males to win favors from the latter. As a result, far too few of ALL American women.have chosen to develop a genuine "sense of self".

For example, simple habits like not getting involved in knowing their bodies through exercise, because they do not want to mess up their hairdos, means that many inner powers like determination and focus are quite limited, for most women. After all, a strong body affords one the opportunity to have a stronger mind. As well, not just vigorous, but even moderate physical exercise requires a person to confront his or her insecurities and inadequacies in a way that cerebral activities like academic exams or chess and computer games simply cannot do. That is mainly because the techniques involved with exercising summon a person to take chances in developing his or her levels of coordination and agility in a way that only physical energies/powers allow.

To be sure, the issue of self-esteem enters the discussion. Yet, many, if not most, people seem too often to confuse self-esteem with self-pride. They are two different phenomena. Self-pride is a mask that people wear to make others believe that they are someone other than who they really are. Consequently, a person can be a serial child molester, but, if dressed nice and driving an expensive car, that person is simply seen as a "successful" person. In our market-driven, possession-oriented society, we see everyone from politicians to entertainers to businesspeople who fit that bill.

However, on the other hand, self-esteem is based upon who one really is, because of what s/he has accomplished, by means other than manipulating, conning, or robbing, for instance. This person's self-worth is not based upon a mask, that is, the clothes that s/he wears, the house in which s/he lives , or the car that s/he drives. Rather, his or her confidence comes from having a "sense of self". In other words, s/he knows that s/he can accomplish goals on his or her own, by himself or herself. And, of course, the aforementioned confidence provides the soil from which self-esteem grows. Moreover, it does not take confidence to "have" things. You can buy "things". However, it does take self-assurance/confidence to "be" about more than pretending to be someone other than who you really are.

Keep punchin!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Happy Bithday, Tia!!!

Visiting Venice, Italy in 2007

Dear friends,

Currently, Tia Yaa'Asantewa Bumpus , the youngest of my three progeny (now 29), who built her first computer from scratch at 11 years-old, is an up-and-coming physician/scientist  is an MD/PhD candidate at UMass Medical School in Worcester. She has completed M1 and M2 and taken her oath. She defends for her PhD this Spring (@April 2014). Then she will finish her last two years of med school (M3 and M4, before going into residency as a surgeon. Along with her older sister, Namandje, I homeschooled her during the mid-90a, while I set up a boxing gym in the back of my house and in the basement. where I gave classes and trained competitive fighters. Hard work always pays off!

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

The 7th & Final Day of Kwamzaa - IMANI (a story by Eshu Bumpus)

"Damon and Pythias"

(While not an African folktale, it has always been one of my favorite stories, and it demonstrates the principle very well. - Eshu Bumpus http://eshu.folktales.net/)

There was once a king who was thought of as a tyrant. His people hated him. He really wasn't such a bad person, but he had very bad advisors, and they did cruel things in his name. They made him believe that he couldn't trust the people. So since he never listened to the people, he never found out what his advisors were doing. Whether he was a bad person or not, he was a bad king.

In the town near the king's castle, there was a group of rebels. They decided that the only way to change things was to get rid of this king. They thought that if they killed the king, his death would be a warning to the next king. So they held a meeting to see who would volunteer to assassinate the king.

Among these rebels was a young man named Pythias. He said that he would volunteer, but that he had to wait for two days, just until his sister was married. Their father was dead and he was the only one who could perform the ceremony so that she could be properly married.

They told him that they couldn't wait for two days, because the king was going to be out of the castle that following day on a hunting trip, and it would be the only chance to get to him. So finally, Pythias agreed to do it.

He was hiding in the forest the next morning with bow and arrow ready, but someone saw him and warned the king before he got a chance to shoot. Pythias was captured and brought before the king. The king's advisor suggested that they bring Pythias to the town center, and execute him in front of everybody as an example of what would happen to rebels.

Pythias did not regret what he had done. And he accepted his fate, but he pleaded with the king to give him one day to take care of his family business and see his sister properly married.

The king laughed and said, "I will let you go if someone else is willing to take your place and die in your place. if you fail to return."

Now Pythias had a best friend named Damon. Even though Damon was not a rebel, he was a true friend to Pythias. There was nothing they wouldn't do for each other. So Pythias called out to the crowd and asked for someone to find Damon.

When Damon was brought there, the king asked if he was willing to take Pythias' place on the gallows, until he returned. Much to the amazement of the king, Damon agreed.

The king couldn't believe his ears. But since he had made a promise, he had to keep his word. Pythias was released and Damon was chained in his place.
Pythias rode as fast as he could, gathered his family together and performed the wedding ceremony. He took care of all his business and was heading back to the town center, when his horse fell and broke its leg. Pythias still had miles to go and he was on foot.

Meanwhile, the king, who never believed that Pythias would come back, was telling Damon what a fool he was.

"I have never seen anyone so foolish in all my life!" the king said, "He won't come back."

"You have never seen true friendship." Damon answered.

The king was sure that no man would voluntarily come back to his own execution. But Damon was equally sure that his friend would not leave him to die.

Pythias had until midday to return. If he was not back by then, Damon would be killed. Pythias was running until he could hardly breathe, but he didn't slow down. Finally, he saw a man riding by and
begged him for a ride.

"Please!" he pleaded, "I must return to the town center or my best friend will be executed in my place."

Pythias quickly told the man his story and the answered, "It is quite a story you tell. I would never forgive myself if I didn't see it through to the end."
Pythias jumped onto the back of the man's horse and they raced to the town center just as the rope was being put around Damon's neck.

"Wait!" shouted Pythias, "I am here!" The king was shocked!

"I told you he would return." said Damon proudly.

"In all my life I have never seen such friendship," said the king, "And now that I have seen it, I could never destroy it. I will let Pythias go free on the condition that you accept me as a friend as well."

Damon and Pythias and the king became the best of friends. And with true friends at his side, the king began to see what bad advice he had been taking all those years. He sent away his former advisors and with the advice of Damon and Pythias, he became a just and fair king.

IMANI — Faith Read full post

The 6th day of Kwanzaa - KUUMBA (a story by Eshu Bumpus)

"Anansi Writes a Song" by Eshu Bumpus (http://eshu.folktales.net/)

A lion named Simba was ruler of a small kingdom called Korro. A traveling griot* came to his village to give a performance. He played the Kora and sang stories about great men and women and the deeds they'd done. He sang about things going on all across the wide world. The king and everyone around enjoyed the music very much.

When he was finished, the bard asked king Simba for a small token in exchange for his performance.

Simba went into a rage! "You dare ask me for a gift!? You should be honored to have me listen! You should give me a gift!"

Simba was so angry that he ordered his servants to give the griot fifty lashes.

The griot returned home and told his friends what happened to him at King Simba's court. They were shocked and angry to hear of the meanness of the king.

Anansi was among the friends of this griot and he decided to write a song to let everyone know how they felt about Simba.

It went like this.

Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
He is fat and very flabby.
Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
He's a fool whose mane is shabby.
Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
his face is ugly, his teeth are few. Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
'
He wrote the song with a very catchy tune and people all over the countryside began to sing it. Women sang it while they were cleaning clothes at the river. Children sang it during their games. Men sang it while digging yams. It was heard at dances and festivals. Soon it was known all over Africa.

When the king heard the song, he sent for the griot he had mistreated and asked him, "Who has written this song about me?"

"It was Anansi who wrote the song, but everyone sings it," responded the griot.

"I will give you much money if you tell him to stop the song." Simba promised.

But the griot refused saying, " A thing once it is done cannot be undone. You did not have to have me beaten, but you did. And now you cannot undo it. Anansi did not have to write the song, but he did. Now the song is alive among the people. It cannot be taken back."

Anansi's song about Simba is still sung to this day.

Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
He is fat and very flabby.
Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
He's a fool whose mane is shabby.
Simba the Lion, king of Korro,
his face is ugly, his teeth are few.
Simba the Lion, king of Korro.

*Griot (Pronounced Gree-Oh) is a name for the traditional Storyteller and Historian in parts of West Africa.

KUUMBA — Creativity Read full post

The 5th day of Kwanzaa NIA (a story by Eshu Bumpus)

"The Name of the Tree" by Eshu Bumpus (http://eshu.folktales.net/)

Once there was a terrible drought in the land of the animals. A kindly king came from over the mountain and planted a special tree. He told them that this tree would bear fruit all year round in any kind of weather. All they had to do to get the fruit was to speak its name. The name of the tree was Oowungalema.

The animals thanked the kind old king and he returned to his own land, which was far over the mountain. The animals then sounded the Great Drum to call everyone for miles around.

When all were gathered at the tree, the lion asked Anansi to speak the name of the tree.

"I thought you were going to remember the name!" said Anansi

"I don't remember the name!" said the lion, "Someone must know it!"

They asked everyone who had been there when the old king planted the tree, but not one of them could remember the name of the tree. They decided to send someone to ask the king for the name. They were all very hungry, so they decided to send someone fast. They sent the hare.

The hare ran as fast as he could through villages, across the river, through the bush, over the mountain and straight to the court of the kindly old king. The king told him, "The name of the tree is Oowungalema."

The hare ran back, repeating the name to himself as he went along. On the way home, he stopped at the river to rest and take a drink. The water was nice and cool. It felt good after all that running. The hare splashed around for a while to cool himself off, then he got out of the water and started back to the tree.

When he got back, the animals all cheered. "Now we can have the fruit! " they shouted.

Hare went up to the tree to speak the name, "Oomagamoomoo, no, oobapadoopa, Noomooogamooga"

Try as he might, the hare just couldn't remember the name.

"We have to send someone else." Lion said at last.

So the springbok was sent. She ran all the way to the king over the mountain and tried to keep the name in her head all the way home, but coming through the forest, she tripped over a root and bumped her head. The name was lost again.
Next they sent Leopard, but on the way back he started chasing a monkey who was teasing him. He forgot the name as well.
Many others tried and failed until finally, the tortoise asked if she might go. Most of the animals laughed because the tortoise is so slow.
"Give her a chance!" Anansi said, "She may succeed where the rest of us have failed."
The tortoise went to her mother and asked, "What do you do if you must remember something very important?"
Her mother told her to keep repeating it no matter what happens. So the tortoise set out on her journey. When she reached the king over the mountain, he said, "The name of the tree is Oowungalema."

Tortoise kept repeating it over and over to herself all the way home. When the monkeys teased her in the forest, she only said, " Oowungalema."

When she passed by the river and the sound of the water made her thirsty, she looked at the water and said, "Oowungalema."
And when she got near her house and her children came running to her, she only said, "Oowungalema."

Finally, the tortoise came to the tree. All the other animals were anxiously waiting. The lion spoke, "Tortoise, please speak the name of the tree."

Tortoise said, "Oowungalema."

At last, the animals were able to eat the fruit. Everyone was grateful to the tortoise who kept to her purpose where every one else had failed.

NIA — Purpose Read full post

The 4th day of Kwanzaa - Ujamaa (a story by Eshu Bu,pus)

"The Feast" by Eshu Bumpus (http://eshu.folktales.net/)

There was a once chief who decided that he wanted to give a party for his entire kingdom. Everyone was invited. He would provide all the food and entertainment. The only thing he asked was that each family brings a gourd of wine. This would be poured into a huge pot from which all would be served.

All the villages were buzzing with excitement. People were deciding what to wear and wondering what dances and stories would be performed. It promised to be a fabulous party.

One farmer was talking with his wife as they were getting ready on the day of the party and said, "Why should we spend good money on a gourd full of wine for the king's party? Isn't this party supposed to be free?"

"But dear," said his wife, "All the king is asking for is one gourd of wine. Is that really asking so much?"

But the stingy farmer, thinking himself very clever replied, "Who will notice one gourd of water in a big pot full of wine?"

So the farmer filled his gourd with water instead of wine. When the people were all gathered waiting for the party to begin, the king called everyone together for a toast.

"Let every cup be filled," he shouted, "That we may drink to the future of our land! May this party be as fine as the wine we are about to drink!"

Everyone raised their cups in a cheer before they drank. The farmer then took a sip of his wine. But when he tasted it, he threw his cup down and shouted, "This is only water!"
All the others had the same complaint. It seems that the farmer was not the only one who had the idea to put water instead of wine into his gourd. They had all done it. So it was that all they had to drink at the party was water.

 The king was so disappointed, that he ended the party early.

UJAMAA — Cooperative Economics Read full post

The 3rd day of Kwanzaa - UJIMA (a story by Eshu Bumpus)

"The Great Drum" by Eshu Bumpus (http://eshu.folktales.net/)

The lion sent out a message for all the animals to come to a very special meeting.

Messengers went far and wide to spread the news of this meeting. As soon as the animals heard the message, they hurried right away to the council circle. It was about three weeks before they were all gathered. The lion was very disappointed.

"We have got to find a way to get everyone together more quickly!" shouted the lion.

Anansi had an idea. "What we need," he explained, "...is a great drum, one that can be heard all over the forest. When the great drum is sounded, everyone will know right away and come swiftly to meetings."

Everyone agreed that this was a fine idea. The animals were divided into groups, each group taking on a different part in the construction of the drum. The first group cut down a large tree.

The second group trimmed off all the branches. The next group hollowed out the tree.

Then sculptors worked to decorate the drum. They worked hard through many days. On their way home at the end of each day, they would sing;

Life is labor,

We are tired and hot,

 We work so hard,

 Because we work for our people.

Everyone worked except the monkey. While the others labored, he found a nice shady spot to hide and eat berries all day long.

When they were on their way back to the village, Monkey would join them as though he had been working with them all along.

Monkey sang:

Life is labor,

 I am tired and hot,

 I work so hard,

 Because I work for my people.

Anansi watched and knew exactly what Monkey was doing, but Anansi said nothing.

When the Great Drum was finished, it had to be brought to the council circle.

The problem was that the Drum was very heavy and no one wanted to carry it.

It was then that Anansi spoke up. "Since no one wants to carry the Great Drum and we have all worked so hard already, I suggest that the laziest person among us carry the Drum."

All the animals thought this was a good plan. Each of them looked around, trying to think who among them was laziest. Who hadn't they seen working? First one looked at Monkey, then another and soon all eyes rested on the monkey.

Monkey stepped out into the center of the circle and announced, "I just want to make one thing perfectly clear. I will not carry that drum!"

All the animals laughed. Anansi said, "No one mentioned your name, Monkey. All we said was that the laziest person should carry the Drum."

People were wondering to themselves, who was laziest among them. But the monkey did not have to wonder. He knew very well who was laziest. He came forward and made it clear when he spoke.

So it was agreed that the monkey had to carry the Great Drum to the council circle.

UJIMA — Collective Work and Responsibility Read full post