Post by zarahan on Mar 24, 2012 15:30:53 GMT -5
Brada sez:
The most long lasting and perhaps the most powerful institution in the African American community is the church,while that may seem to be a away to get information across and out there,it has obvious draw backs for when is Kemet not the bad guy,how do you deal with the whole complex issue of the origins of man,is it Okay to look with pride at a Muslim King?or go into details of voodoo rituals?
Public Libraries when I was in BLKYN I saw work shops with volunteers having classes on African history and not just the thing with the peanuts either but covering topics such as Kemet for Kids Ghana,the book Blacks In Science Ancient And Modern was there,the great thing was it was only a three minute walk from the Brooklyn Museum so they would break up a Saturday/Sunday afternoon with a field trip. all that's needed is a dedicated army of volunteers versed in what we know and is Kid friendly.second parental involvement ,parents should sit in those work shops and accompany the volunteers and not expect them to baby sit.
Home one of the tactic I discovered totally by accident on my part was leaving books around the house kids are generally inquisitive and when they saw me reading a book they want to know what I was reading if the subject matter seems too complex I got them books they can color and read in an African centered fashion,roller deck cards with African and African America historical figures,this is by no means perfect but it impart information they will later pursue on their own.
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Brada I think the church thing can be handled with some possibilities:
1) emphasize black history, restoring and reclaiming black from distortions and creating a fairer balance
2) emphasize there is black history in the Bible- after all Moses groups Egypt, Punt and Cush together for example as all related. He therefore credits Egypt to the brothers, and hisself married a black woman. There must be a few books out there on blacks in the Bible.
3) emphasize that the evolution thing does not clash with the Bible. We have seen threads on this before but there is no clash if:
a) the 6 "days" of creation are seen as 6 long "days" and phases of indefinite length, more than enough to accommodate billions of years, starting with "big bang" let there be light"
b) The so-called Gap Theory between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2- an unexplained gap (usually the angelic age involving Satan and his fall according to some) that could account for billions of years, followed by a 6 day re-creation or rejuvenation of a ruined earth
Ain't endorsing 3a and 3b doctrines, just that the long ages of evolution, Out of Africa migrations etc can be easily accommodated by the long time frames they allow.
4) The point is not to debate religions, or nothing will be done. Tell the folks you are not there to debate religions just to bring black history. Avoid atheist vs faith etc. Avoid also attacking Christians as well if you will use their church venues to reach folks. Keep a balanced outlook. Muslims transported millions of black folk as slaves remember, and "pagans" (so-called) sold Africans willingly to Arab and white man alike. No one is perfect. You are only restoring the facts, and in ny event, the Bible itself gives the brothas credit for Egypt, Cush, Punt. Your best bet is to establish something separate from the religious teaching- a separate black history class or group. The class or group can deal with black history, tutoring etc. The church or mosque can handle the religious angle. If mosque is involved same thing applies.
The 4 points/possibilities above should help.
What is needed is an army of volunteers- community builders at the grassroots. What are all those legions of black men on the street just hanging out doing? They can be engaged in several things:
--community cleanups,
--cultural production (art, dance, history)
--education (tutor some of those struggling school youth)
--sports leagues (don't wait for the city to do some league someplace)
All these things can be done at the grassroots, without needing any gubment grants. All it would take is for the black community to start investing in such efforts and don;t wait on gubment to do it, the media, or black celebrities to do it. Don't expect anything from these people. Some of these projects are already underway via church on mosque but there is too little on the ground. We need MORE, a massive expansion of small grassroots initiatives churches etc. People say "there aint no money." Nonsense. There is plenty of money in the black community. But too often, I see people prefer to drop $150 on a cellphone bill, or $50 on CDs or electronic gadgets rather than invest the small amounts it would take to do these grassroots operations. $40 would feed a 10-12 member Saturday afternoon work crew engaged in cultural production, or Saturday community cleanup for example. But again and again, it seems like many of the masses don't care, but also some of the elites as well.
Talked to an NAACP guy the other day. They were holding some conference on Black Males Success in School. Had a hotel booked. Meals provided. A lot of local big names were gonna appear. They must have dropped $10,000-$20,000 on that gab fest, and was getting some media attention. I sez to the guy- why aint that money put into the hands of people on the street? For 10,000 a year you could be doing hard-nosed tutoring of 100 black kids, feeding them, and providing volunteers with a little gas and walking around money. Look at the Pratham Schools in India- they are doing this type of tutoring with hundreds of thousands of dirt poor Indian kids, using mostly volunteers not a overhead stuffed bureaucracy, and are getting hard results in the positive. "We are working on the government providing mo grants" was the basic reply pattern. TRANSLATION: (a) Let's wait on the gubment to do it, and (b) if there ain't enough press attention to be gained or workshop travel money to be enjoyed, we ain't interested.
You can see the same pattern in international aid- billions being sucked up by an army of financiers, bureaucrats and organizational overhead while little reaches "the street." Western bankers raking off huge percentages in loan servicing fees or interest. Armies of Western consultants and local compradors holding countless workshops, seminars, conferences- billions spent- everybody getting paid- while outside, the people whose problems they are supposedly working on- don't see a penny on the ground. Local grassroots action where people are accountable and bureaucracy is minimized is needed.
The most long lasting and perhaps the most powerful institution in the African American community is the church,while that may seem to be a away to get information across and out there,it has obvious draw backs for when is Kemet not the bad guy,how do you deal with the whole complex issue of the origins of man,is it Okay to look with pride at a Muslim King?or go into details of voodoo rituals?
Public Libraries when I was in BLKYN I saw work shops with volunteers having classes on African history and not just the thing with the peanuts either but covering topics such as Kemet for Kids Ghana,the book Blacks In Science Ancient And Modern was there,the great thing was it was only a three minute walk from the Brooklyn Museum so they would break up a Saturday/Sunday afternoon with a field trip. all that's needed is a dedicated army of volunteers versed in what we know and is Kid friendly.second parental involvement ,parents should sit in those work shops and accompany the volunteers and not expect them to baby sit.
Home one of the tactic I discovered totally by accident on my part was leaving books around the house kids are generally inquisitive and when they saw me reading a book they want to know what I was reading if the subject matter seems too complex I got them books they can color and read in an African centered fashion,roller deck cards with African and African America historical figures,this is by no means perfect but it impart information they will later pursue on their own.
-----------------
Brada I think the church thing can be handled with some possibilities:
1) emphasize black history, restoring and reclaiming black from distortions and creating a fairer balance
2) emphasize there is black history in the Bible- after all Moses groups Egypt, Punt and Cush together for example as all related. He therefore credits Egypt to the brothers, and hisself married a black woman. There must be a few books out there on blacks in the Bible.
3) emphasize that the evolution thing does not clash with the Bible. We have seen threads on this before but there is no clash if:
a) the 6 "days" of creation are seen as 6 long "days" and phases of indefinite length, more than enough to accommodate billions of years, starting with "big bang" let there be light"
b) The so-called Gap Theory between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2- an unexplained gap (usually the angelic age involving Satan and his fall according to some) that could account for billions of years, followed by a 6 day re-creation or rejuvenation of a ruined earth
Ain't endorsing 3a and 3b doctrines, just that the long ages of evolution, Out of Africa migrations etc can be easily accommodated by the long time frames they allow.
4) The point is not to debate religions, or nothing will be done. Tell the folks you are not there to debate religions just to bring black history. Avoid atheist vs faith etc. Avoid also attacking Christians as well if you will use their church venues to reach folks. Keep a balanced outlook. Muslims transported millions of black folk as slaves remember, and "pagans" (so-called) sold Africans willingly to Arab and white man alike. No one is perfect. You are only restoring the facts, and in ny event, the Bible itself gives the brothas credit for Egypt, Cush, Punt. Your best bet is to establish something separate from the religious teaching- a separate black history class or group. The class or group can deal with black history, tutoring etc. The church or mosque can handle the religious angle. If mosque is involved same thing applies.
The 4 points/possibilities above should help.
What is needed is an army of volunteers- community builders at the grassroots. What are all those legions of black men on the street just hanging out doing? They can be engaged in several things:
--community cleanups,
--cultural production (art, dance, history)
--education (tutor some of those struggling school youth)
--sports leagues (don't wait for the city to do some league someplace)
All these things can be done at the grassroots, without needing any gubment grants. All it would take is for the black community to start investing in such efforts and don;t wait on gubment to do it, the media, or black celebrities to do it. Don't expect anything from these people. Some of these projects are already underway via church on mosque but there is too little on the ground. We need MORE, a massive expansion of small grassroots initiatives churches etc. People say "there aint no money." Nonsense. There is plenty of money in the black community. But too often, I see people prefer to drop $150 on a cellphone bill, or $50 on CDs or electronic gadgets rather than invest the small amounts it would take to do these grassroots operations. $40 would feed a 10-12 member Saturday afternoon work crew engaged in cultural production, or Saturday community cleanup for example. But again and again, it seems like many of the masses don't care, but also some of the elites as well.
Talked to an NAACP guy the other day. They were holding some conference on Black Males Success in School. Had a hotel booked. Meals provided. A lot of local big names were gonna appear. They must have dropped $10,000-$20,000 on that gab fest, and was getting some media attention. I sez to the guy- why aint that money put into the hands of people on the street? For 10,000 a year you could be doing hard-nosed tutoring of 100 black kids, feeding them, and providing volunteers with a little gas and walking around money. Look at the Pratham Schools in India- they are doing this type of tutoring with hundreds of thousands of dirt poor Indian kids, using mostly volunteers not a overhead stuffed bureaucracy, and are getting hard results in the positive. "We are working on the government providing mo grants" was the basic reply pattern. TRANSLATION: (a) Let's wait on the gubment to do it, and (b) if there ain't enough press attention to be gained or workshop travel money to be enjoyed, we ain't interested.
You can see the same pattern in international aid- billions being sucked up by an army of financiers, bureaucrats and organizational overhead while little reaches "the street." Western bankers raking off huge percentages in loan servicing fees or interest. Armies of Western consultants and local compradors holding countless workshops, seminars, conferences- billions spent- everybody getting paid- while outside, the people whose problems they are supposedly working on- don't see a penny on the ground. Local grassroots action where people are accountable and bureaucracy is minimized is needed.