Welcome to Ghetto Uprising: Thursday, August 20, 2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Woman

The space inside this circle represents my realm of knowledge… All that I think that I know about whatever I think that I know is depicted right here in this circle! I must keep in mind that there is more to know than what is within the circumference of my awareness! (Don’t get mad get smart truth over Lies)

The woman, is she what we have been taught in religion (Judaism, Christianity & Islam)? Is she what was explained to us by our fathers, who have also been taught by the above religions? If she is, has she always been the creature described to us in our holy books (Talmud, Torah, Bible, Qur`an)? In all my research what I have come to realize is that men have never been successful at defining her being, because in most cases their definitions have been cut short by chauvinism and sexist views. No man in the Bible, Torah or Qur`an has ever accepted the woman for what she truly is and was, and if we continue to follow in their footsteps we never will! They are our mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces and cousins. Yet till this day they are not widely respected and are not looked upon as great, or not as great as men are. We have been taught that man was first, man is the rightful ruler, men are better, the woman was the first to sin, and so forth. But what hasn’t been told is the true history or works of the woman! No one could better tell this than a woman herself, and I am not a woman, I will do my best. (Smile)

Goddess to some, mother to others and sisters to brothers, but she alone has carried the weight of the earth. For she alone has the capability to mother, to bring forth existence from the womb (darkness). This is not a task that no man is built for, nor would he be able to survive. "A little research will do you good", is what I was told by a wise man, and in all my researching I have found that all has originated from the woman. From man to god! From Sumer to the ancient America’s! All has come from women! It wasn’t until patriarchal religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) that the woman became a "seductress hoe", a sinner and less than man, but this was not always the case! In more ancient times women were considered to be equal to men, and in many places they ruled over all and did a better job at it!
It is now a scientific FACT that man is a hybrid form of the woman, and thus proving the "man first" theory wrong! The Mitochondria DNA is a trait that only the woman carries, and is now the proof that man was not first. Through this DNA they have traced the first human back to an "African Woman", and also the oldest bones found belonged to an African Woman. It is also a fact that for a man to be born, he must first come through a woman. Even though she brings us into this world, she is still thought of as weak and dependant. This is easy to do if you’re uneducated and have no knowledge of the history women!

Many of the GODS of these new religions started off as women or had women as partners, and it was this way until the patrilineal religions came to be. Many of the GODS of these new religions started off as women or had women as partners, and it was this way until the patrilineal religions came to be. Many of the symbols and beings we so love started out as women, and many of the stories we have been told were in fact stories of women. So lets go ahead a prove these claims, as I try to give the woman their just due and hopefully others will quickly follow suite.

How to Raise A Pimp.

How to Raise A Pimp.

"Pimping`" is challenging work. It demands managerial skills, financial acumen, and an intimate knowledge of law enforcement policies and procedures. I’ve observed that a lot of women seem to be raising their sons (often unknowingly) to become pimps. Usually, when we think of a pimp, we think of a man driving around in a big car with a bunch of streetwalkers that he panders to other lusty men.

But there are other types of pimps as well. You probably know one. He’s the guy you know that is perpetually looking for a woman (usually his mother, wife, or girlfriend) to take total financial care of him. But contrary to popular belief, primping` is a learned behavior. You have to start training a boy to be a pimp in childhood. Here is how it’s done. First, raise him to think he’s "cute." I’m not talking about a positive self-image. I’m talking about creating an impression in his mind at the earliest possible moment that his physical appearance is more important than how he treats his fellow man or what he knows or thinks.

Do this by piercing his ears and braiding his hair from day one, making him indistinguishable from a little girl. Of course, you would never think of making your baby daughter look like a boy, but that’s OK. And don’t worry, you won’t make him gay, but by focusing on his physical appearance and fashion, you will teach him that a woman’s role in his life is for them to cater to his every material desire just because he is so "cute" or "fine" - you know, like a pimp. Let him think that the world revolves around him by virtue of "cuteness". That way, when the steel mill, corporate American or academia start hiring "cute" instead of "skilled", "strong", or "intelligent", he will finally be able to get a job - whenever that is.

To raise a pimp you must act like a hoe. How else will your son know how to handle them. You’ve got to swear and talk nasty at every available activity. Keep a steady stream of different men coming through your house. Let your son hear you moan in your bedroom as you consort with the "Man of the Week". Let him see how you manipulate men; this one to pay the rent, that one to pay the car note. That way he learns that the only value men have in society is to use and be used by women. It won’t make him a good man, but it will make him one helluv a pimp. Emphasize the importance of sexual rather than intellectual prowess. This is a favorite in black communities. For instance, they say black men have "big ones" If your son is black, make sure he keeps focused on this. That is essential to keeping him on the "pimp track". You see, if he starts valuing "heavy thinking" over being "heavy hung", he might stray from the primping` path that some in the black community - and for that matter, in some segments of white society as well have chosen for some young black men. And you certainly wouldn’t want that to happen, now would you?

Make your son "your man". I’m not talking about sexually, but emotionally. Let your young son talk to you like he’s grown, even when he is a child. Get him involved in your personal affairs. Keep him away from his father and put his father down to him. He will grow with no respect for his father or himself. Since he is young and impressionable, your son may be the only "man" in your life you can "control". So don’t love him, control him. Never let him accept responsibility for his actions. Remember, when he gets in trouble at school, it should always be some other child or the teacher’s fault, never his. If he starts using drugs, blame his friends, not him. If he gets arrested, bail him out immediately and tell the judge that your son is "a good boy". Remember, sorry excuses make sorry men, and sorry men make excellent pimps.
Look, if you follow my advice, your son will grow up to be a trifling, good-for-nothing, clothes-horsing, baby-making, no job-having pimp perpetually dependent on the women in his life (perhaps you) for his very sustenance. But you’ve got to decide early if you want a pimp or a man for a son, because you certainly can’t have both.

THE TESTIMONY OF DENNIS DWAYNE CALDWELL

THE TESTIMONY OF DENNIS DWAYNE CALDWELL' TRANSITION
FROM CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM TO AFRIKAN CONSCIOUSNESS

Hotep (Peace) Brothers & Sisters,
My (birth) name is Dennis Dwayne Caldwell. My spiritual name is Sawaad Amen Ra (which means “Black, Supreme god of the universe.”

Many people have asked me about how I made the transition from a Christian, and Muslim (who was “sold out” for the so-called gospel of Jesus Christ) to African conscious warrior for the liberation of Black African people. After sharing my testimony with another black Christian and Muslim, they suggested that I post the testimony of my transition into African consciousness on the Internet in hopes of inspiring other brothers and sisters who may be at the point of coming into an African awareness from the quantum deception of European philosophical and religious thought. I pray that my testimony will help to strengthen and inspire others who are at the crossroad of right knowledge.

In 1981 I was invited to a meeting of about 25 Black men (educators, businessmen, community leaders, and 3 ministers) in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Although the meeting had not started, we were informally talking about what needed to be done to enhance our community. Suddenly, I overheard one of the brothers say, "We need to get this European Jesus out of the minds of our people, and realize that the original Christ was named Horus."

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard! Immediately, everything in me shut down and I went into “battle station” mode. I mean, I IMMEDIATELY went to "Def-Con 1" (“Def-Con” is a military phrase, which means "Defense Condition." Def-Con 5 is peacetime, Def-Con 4 is combat preparedness, Def-Con 3 is combat readiness, Def-Con 2 is at combat station, and Def-Con 1 means, “engage the enemy”).

I stepped over to this brother and said, "What do you mean Jesus' name was Horace?" (I thought he was saying H-O-R-A-C-E.) He responded, "It WAS Horus. The first virgin-born, Christ-child was Horus of Egypt and the first record of his birth dates back to over 6,000 years B.C."

Well, I, (with my sincere, but ignorant self), stood in the middle of the floor and said, "Brothers, I am sorry to have to leave, but ANYBODY who refuses to accept who Jesus is a deceiver and is of the devil. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus and I plead the blood of Jesus in this place." (NOTE: I said this because I honestly felt that I was in the midst of satanic agents.) Now, understand, these were Black men who were aware of the truth of our African history, and I saw my own (Black) brothers as agents of Satan!!! Now, did Euro-Gentile Cultural Imperialism and Supremacy (via my "Christian" training) do a job on me or what?

I left that meeting and actually declared war on these men. I felt that it was my "sacred duty" to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ and warn as many people as I could about these Black men (who I genuinely mis-perceived as) agents of the devil. I did this for well over a year.

The 3rd Sunday in March of 1981, as I stood up to read at bible study in a church in Chicago, Il, just as I was about to read the text for the message, which was Romans 8:28, it seemed as though someone whispered in my right ear, "Did people know God BEFORE Moses went up on the mountain?"

I actually turned around to see who was there because it was just that audible and clear. I told the class, "Y'all…wait a minute! This question just popped into my head (then I told them what it was). It wasn't that significant for them, but it was VERY significant for me because ALL of my theology was based in Moses coming down off the mountain with the "Ten Commandments" (or "The Law"). I will never forget that day because it was the day that I began to THINK! I actually exercised my critical thinking faculties and scrutinized what I had been taught all my life.

I asked myself, “Did Moses have a God-consciousness BEFORE talking with God on the mountain?”

A few days later, during my reading, I stumbled across Acts 7:20-22, which states: "In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in ALL THE WISDOM OF THE EGYPTIANS, and was mighty in words and in deeds."

I looked up the word "wisdom" (as it was used in that particular verse); it comes from the Greek word "Sophia," which means, "skill and discretion in imparting the truth of God; the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living; supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God; the wisdom of God as evidenced in forming and executing counsels in the formation and government of the world and the scriptures." I said, WAIT A MINUTE!!! Moses got THIS from the Egyptians!!!

(NOTE: Throughout my Christian training I was taught that the Egyptians were barbaric, ignorant, enemies of and cursed by God).

Several days later, as I was coming from a job interview in downtown Chicago, my brother’s car was parked in front of an old book store that sold used books called Bazaar Books. I had passed this store hundreds of times over the years and NEVER had the slightest inclination to go inside; but this particular day I was "moved" to go inside and browse around. Of course, the only area that really interested me was Religion & Philosophy.

I picked up a book entitled, "Osiris & The Egyptian Resurrection" (Part 1) by E.A. Wallis Budge. The idea of an Egyptian "RESURRECTION" caught my attention. I opened the front cover to the preface and came across the following words:

"The central figure of the ancient Egyptian Religion was Osiris, and the chief fundamentals of his cult were the BELIEF IN HIS DIVINITY, DEATH, RESURRECTION, and absolute control of the destinies of the bodies and souls of men. The central point of each Osirian's Religion was his HOPE OF RESURRECTION IN A TRANSFORMED BODY AND OF IMMORTALITY, WHICH COULD ONLY BE REALIZED BY HIM THROUGH THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF OSIRIS.

I literally shouted out, "WHAT IS THIS?" I immediately suffered what we psychologists call "cognitive dissonance." I knew that this was EXACTLY what I had believed since I was a child and preached to for almost 21 years, but the central figure of MY belief and message was a man called "Jesus Christ." What really bothered me was, according to what I had been taught, Jesus Christ was the ONLY person about whom such a message applied. Then when I read that this belief system had been with the Nile Valley Africans for at least the last 15 to 20 thousand years…I really lost it!!! You see, any scholar of Christianity will tell you that Genesis 1:1 only dates back to 4,004 B.C.

Then, to top it off, I read about the Ancient African TRINITY; which consisted of Ausar, Aset, and Heru (which the Europeans renamed: Osiris, Isis and HORUS)!!! I came to find out that Horus was the "virgin born, immaculately conceived" son of Osiris. This led me on a sincere and intense search for actual undeniable evidence for the truth.

The more I researched, the more I realized that the entire program that I had been indoctrinated into was a LIE. In 1982, I decided to leave the Christian belief that I was so popular in and knew so well. I simply could not, any longer, stand in front of my people and teach that which I had found to be a stolen, copied, plagiarized and European fabricated version of the ancient concepts of African spirituality.

This was the most painful period of my life. At one point I had become so depressed about my believing in LIES that I even had thoughts of suicide. How could I have been so wrong??? I couldn’t understand how I actually experienced “the power of God” moving upon me in mighty and awesome ways in the past IF this was all a lie??? I felt betrayed, humiliated, deceived, confused, unworthy, and like a complete failure.

Now, I wasn’t feeling all this because of the truths that I had come to find out about. No! For these truths were UNDENIABLE EVIDENCES that DEMANDED AN UNDENIABLE and INEVITABLE VERDICT! That verdict was that I had been lied to! I was angry with all those who taught me these lies (my mother, my teachers, my friends, etc.). The ONLY thing that helped me in this area was coming to the realization that the same dog that bit me bit my parents too! They were only teaching me what they had been taught.

This, however, that doesn’t apply to my preacher. I met with my preacher, and asked him, “Why isn’t this information a part of your curriculum at school and course requirements for a degree in Sacred Literature?” He said to me, “You don’t need to know about that. Besides, it is not substantial data within the context of the mission statement of this institution.” He had just told me, in a politically correct way, that I had been trained in one of the biggest LIES of all time and that I was supposed to perpetuate this LIE and train others in it.

After several years of securing the proper education of right knowledge. Through an old wise man, God convicted me in September of 1986 by asking me; “Son, if you young folk, whose eyes have been opened to the truth, abandon our people (who don’t know no better), then what hope is there for us?” Then he said, “God DID call you to preach, but to preach the TRUTH!”

Hence, here I am…

My reason for sharing this testimony is NOT to "convert" anyone to African consciousness…but simply to let you know that since the European invasion and theft of our people from our Motherland, we Africans have been born and raised in the LIE of European Religious and Cultural Imperialism and we think we are walking in the truth (because it is all that we know)! The religion that we have been made to love (Christianity), was forced upon us by European slave traders and the European “slave masters” who enslaved us. That alone should make EVERY Black man, woman and child be suspect about the slave master's religion.

There is a phrase that says you reap what you sow. Well, that certainly is true, because I have gone (and am going) through the same kind of attack that I viciously put on those brothers who compassionately respected my ignorance in 1981. I wish that I could go back and tell them that I am so sorry for attacking their awareness with my ignorance…but most of them have passed on. So when I give the oath to the Ancestors, I remember them. They were the ones that God used to plant the seed of this truth in me. Now, when I am attacked (by others who are sincerely ignorant), I see my “old” self and where I came from. That helps me to be compassionate on my attackers. I realize that they are sincerely defending what they think is the truth (just like I did).

Coming into a consciousness of your African self can (and probably will be) very painful for you. I must admit that it’s very painful being called "an antichrist" or "a messenger of Satan" or "false prophet," etc., by your own people. It hurts being MISUNDERSTOOD by your family, friends and loved ones, especially when they haven't done (nor are they willing to do) the research and/or learn what you have learned; but, yet you are the one who is "deceived" and don't know what you are talking about. Believe me, THAT HURTS!

Then there are those (Christians) who feel that I “need to be stopped for the sake of the gospel!" But I know that God has called me and given me this assignment… AND I CAN'T STOP! Even if it means loved ones walking away from me and calling me "crazy" (which has happened), or even losing my physical life. And, it’s just THAT serious. The worse pain of all is when your family, friends, loved ones, and others who would misjudge you, REFUSE to do their own research to see for themselves the basis of your information or if what you are saying is true or not.

I have actually pulled books from the libraries of other ministers, turned to the proof or source of the information in question and said, "Here, man. See for yourself.” They would look away and say, "I don't want to see that." I have stood across the desks of several friends (who are pastors) and asked them, “Brother, why are you attacking me when what I have said is right here in the very commentary that you study by and use to prepare your messages?” I understand that the reason they didn’t want to “see” was because then they, too, would be compelled to change, and that is definitely NOT an option for most ministers who can be voted out and/or removed from their pulpits if they do not preach and uphold the “doctrines” of that particular church or denomination.

Another problem that I was faced with was the problem with music ministry. Over 90% of the songs that are wrote and used to sing, I couldn't sing them anymore. I began to realize that it’s not really about worshipping GOD! It’s about worshipping “Jesus!” Even the biblical text states that Jesus said that NO ONE IS TO BE WORSHIPPED BUT GOD ALONE!!! ("Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and HIM ONLY shalt thou serve") (See Matthew 4:10 and Luke 4:8).

Did you know that (according to the biblical text) Jesus NEVER told his disciples to go preach (or teach) about him! He told his disciples, "As you go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:7). We have been programmed to give more attention to the so-called "gift" (Jesus) than the giver (God) of the gift. Not only could I not “preach” this Euro-Gentile "program" anymore... I painfully learned that my friends were my friends as long as we were in agreement “when it comes to Jesus.” I have been told many times, "The bible says, how can two walk together except they agree." I couldn't understand why other Christian friends (who I thought were my friends) discontinued our relationship as friends just because I learned something that they didn't know or agreed with??? What did that have to do with me as a person???

In closing, please understand, what God reveals to you, is for YOU! I made the mistake of trying to take others along with me to the next level in MY development. It doesn’t work that way! Realize that if you choose to learn more, you may very well lose some of your closest friends. You will want to take them to the next level with you, but realize that God is taking YOU there...not y'all there.

I pray that this testimony is helpful to some brother or sister who is making their transition to African consciousness. Stay strong, Brothers and Sisters, and always know that the Creator and the Ancestors are with you!

BLACK MEN ONLY

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").

"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience. I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don’t believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn’t want brotherhood with me. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering”

For Black men only!

Where are you my Brothers? In this essence in time it seems we're extinct and blind our women, our children, our mothers, fathers and brothers can't find us have we dis-appeared? Have we allowed America to smear our image with mis-conceptions and lies created out of fear? Look at us brethren Our situation is beyond critical Instead of unified Kings and noble men we're starving, spiritless, material lusting individuals We are no longer the images of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers We're even condemned by them Living in a world of constant battles and sin sending our own selves to our ends No longer friends, just bodies braving the wild of the world Losing our souls as time unfurls It's sad that I no longer feel kin to my brethren I feel alien amongst crowds of loud-talking', fast walking', women cursing' studs who have drug the image of us in the mud We no longer have respect for our Nubian Queens It is an understatement to say that we treat them cruel and mean Our behavior amongst them is extreme We no longer exist with them as a team We Brothers call our precious women everything but who and what they truly are which has left our Queens spirits colored with bruises and scars We treat them so foul one outside of our race would doubt that their ours to serenade with Beautiful names and respect Instead we'd rather treat them with neglect My Brothers where art though As our little men and women experience this world without guidance and protection We've left it to the media, sports stars and rap and R&B songs to give them their life’s lessons We are unrecognized in their eyes lies unseen tears for years our children have sung the blues while we've shown up here and there with an outfit to give them along with a pair of shoes We must wake up We're losing our women and children to this cold world and vultures Lacking knowledge of self and a history of their divine past and culture Let us rise again men and except the positions of providers and protectors Let the world drink from our nurturing nectar.

King Leopold II of Belgium:

Many black scholars of local and global black history have referenced this letter from King Leopold of Belgium. For those of you who are not familiar with him. He is the man who started the practice of amputating arms, legs, etc. that we NOW SEE IN LIBERIA and SIERRA LEONE. To realize that these warring are copying the wicked practice of the Belgian leader of the Congo in the late 1800s and early 1900's shows the level at which self-hatred has been ingrained into people of African decent:
Brothers and sisters, the following speech was given by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1883...

"Reverends, Father, and Dear Compatriots:

The task that is given to us to fulfill is very delicate and requires much tact. You will go certainly to evangelize, but your evangelization must inspire above all Belgium interests.

Your principal objective in our mission in the Congo is never to teach the niggers to know God. Thus they know already. They speak and submit to a Mungu, one Nzambi, one Nzakomba, and what else I don't know. They know that to kill, to sleep with someone else's wife, to lie and to insult is bad.

Have courage to admit it; you are not going to teach them what they know already. Your essential role is to facilitate the task of administrators and industrials, which means you will go to interpret the gospel in the way it will be the best to protect your interests in that part of the world.

For these things, you have to keep watch on disinteresting our savages from the richness that is plenty in their underground. To avoid that they get interested in it, and make you a murderous competition and dream one day to overthrow you.

Your knowledge of the gospel will allow you to find texts ordering, and encouraging your followers to love poverty. Like happier are the poor because they will inherit the heaven and it's very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

You have to detach from them and make them disrespect everything which gives courage to affront us. I make reference to their Mystic System and their war fetish - warfare protection - which they pretend not to want to abandon, and you must do everything in your power to make it disappear.

Your action will be directed essentially to the younger ones, for they won't revolt when the recommendation of the priest is contradictory to their parent's teachings. The children have to learn to obey what the missionary recommends, who is the father of their soul. You must singularly insist on their total submission and obedience, avoid developing the spirits in the schools, teach students to read and not to reason.

There, dear compatriots, are some of the principles that you must apply. You will find many other books, which will be given to you at the end of this conference. Evangelize the niggers so that they stay forever in submission to the white colonialists, so they never revolt against the restraints they are undergoing.

Recite every day - "happy are those who are weeping because the kingdom of God is for them." Convert always the blacks by using the whip. Keep their women in nine months of submission to work freely for us. Force them to pay you in sign of recognition - goats, chickens or eggs - every time you visit their villages. And make sure that niggers never become rich. Sing every day that it's impossible for the rich to enter heaven.

Make them pay tax each week at Sunday mass. Use the money supposed for the poor, to build flourishing business centres. Institute a confessional system, which allows you to be good detectives denouncing any black that has a different consciousness contrary to that of the decision-maker.

Teach the niggers to forget their heroes and to adore only ours. Never present a chair to a black that comes to visit you. Don't give him more than one cigarette. Never invite him for dinner even if he gives you a chicken every time you arrive at his house."

Carter G. Woodson (Black History)

History as a Weapon:

Carter G. Woodson, who laid the foundation for Black History Month, stated "when you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions". According to Woodson, not only would this man know his "proper place", but he would stay in it. One did not need to send this man to the back door for he would willingly seek it; if there was no back door then he would eagerly make one. Woodson knew that it was the shadow of racism that was responsible for this mental condition. And, with history as a weapon, he sought to make war with it.

Racism has for the past few centuries sought to blast black people to the nether realms of humanity. Author Neely Fuller stated it best: "Until you understand white supremacy, everything else will confuse you". Racism is an institution that seeks to control one's thoughts, actions and way of life. It does this best not through shackles and guns, but through the conquering of one's mind. And it has had powerful soldiers who serve as its torchbearers.

And yes, they are more influential than some white-hooded man with a swastika. They include scientist George Cuvier, anthropologist and founder of geology, paleontology and modern comparative anatomy, who described African women as "more like an ape"; medical doctor Robert Bennett Bean who found "a deficiency in the Negro brain". They are also writers like Alexis de Tocqueville, who saw blacks as an "intermediate between men and the brutes", and Rudyard Kipling, who poetically described blacks as "half devil and half child" and philosophers like David Hume, who described blacks as "naturally inferior". They are U.S. diplomat Clifton R. Breckinridge, who described blacks as "the most insatiate brute that exists in human form" and Constitution framer Thomas Jefferson who described blacks as "inferior to the whites in ... both body and mind" contending "orangutans prefer having sex with black women". Their ranks boast psychologist Arthur Jensen who declared, "Whites are more intelligent than Negroes" and Nobel Prize winner William Shockley who not only believed that black "intelligence is naturally ... low", but also suggested our mass sterilization. They are comprised of president Richard Nixon, who believed blacks to be "genetically inferior", Christian missionary Albert Schweitzer who stated, "the Negro is a child" and William K. Coors, owner of Adolph Coors Brewing Co., who stated that blacks "lack the intellectual capacity to succeed", declaring slavery a fortunate event for African people. In their number are even American idols like John Wayne who proudly stated, "I believe in white supremacy".

Witness their titles: scientist, doctor, writer, philosopher, diplomat, founding father, psychologist, Nobel Prize winner, president, Christian missionary, business mogul, and American idol. These are not unlearned men who suffer from a lack of schooling. But more importantly they are people who hold power in their hands. They can mold thought, beliefs, laws and institutions (from schools to the media) to their liking. And even worse still, they have.

The toll that centuries of such mental abuse can have on the mind is near inconceivable. And there is not one of us, no matter how strong of mind, who can say we have not been affected by this terrible onslaught. Every time we scoff doubtfully at the possibility of black achievement, this is evident. Every time we degrade and try to hide our natural physical features at an attempt to conform to some mythical beauty standard, this is evident. Each time we insult each other with hurtful words borrowed from those who would oppress us, this is evident. Each time our youth thinks that pimps, thugs or other figments of a wayward imagination are somehow an expression of "blackness" or "realness", this is evident. Each time we choose not to try for fear we cannot possibly succeed, this is evident. One of the most important tools racism has at its disposal is the mind of its victim. In this way, he or she becomes a tool of self-hate without even being aware of it. It is often asked, "Can black people be racist?" The answer is, "yes". And whom have we been more racist against, than each other?

This is where history and Carter G. Woodson's gift makes its importance.

Black people must know that brutes did not institute what may have been the world's first monarchy in ancient Nubia. "Inferior" men and women did not design the great Her-em-Akhet (sphinx) or raise the pyramids. "Ape-like" women did not create queens such as Tiye, Makedda and Nzingah. "Less intelligent" blacks did not build the stone cities of great Zimbabwe or construct palaces in Axum. "Childlike" Africans did not raise Ghana, spawn empires like Mali, and carve out nations like Songhai, Hausa or Buganda. "Naturally inferior" men and women did not give rulers and warriors to Carthage or Islamic Spain. "Deficient brains" did not produce a St. Maurice, an Alexander Pushkin, an Alexandre Dumas, a Harriet Tubman, a Touissant L'Overture, an Ida B. Wells, a Charles Drew, a Duke Ellington, a Zora Neale Hurston, a Booker T. Washington, a WEB DuBois, a Marcus Garvey, an Elijah Muhammad, a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Malcolm X, a Fannie Lou Hamer, a Cheikh Anta Diop and countless more.

They certainly could not have produced a Heru, an Oshun or conceived something as vast as Jok. They could not have moved the Greek bard Homer to call them "faultless men" with whom even his own gods sought the pleasure of dining. They did not hail from the very continent from which all of humanity traces its roots.

For all these reasons and so much more, Black History Month is important. The legacy left to us by Woodson must be picked up and used to forever destroy the shadow of white supremacy and self hate which has threatened so often to swallow us all.