Black Catholics

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").


My Son Najee Ishmael Akeem on prom.


Read the book above.


Read the book above.


Read the book above.


Black Catholics?

Black Catholics? Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But it shouldn't. Of the one billion Roman Catholics in the world today, at least 20% (200 million) are Black. Africa alone has 130 million Black Catholics. In fact, the largest Catholic Church building in the world is found in Africa, the cathedral in Yamassoukra, the capital city of the West African country known as Cote d’Ivoire.
During the selection of the last pope, many scoffed at the idea that one of the 12 Black cardinals would be picked. However, it would not have been a first. There have been three African popes: Victor (183-203 A.D.), Gelasius (492-496 A.D.), and Mechiades or Militiades (311-314 A.D.). All of them have been declared saints, that is, the Catholic Church feels certain that all three went to heaven.

The individual most credited with establishing the intellectual and ideological basis of the Roman Catholic Church was an African, St. Augustine who lived around 400 AD. Also, the patron saint of much of Germany, Switzerland and France is St. Maurice. In 287 AD this African general, and his 4,000 African soldiers in service to Rome, refused to attack Christian converts in northern France. For this act of defiance they lost their lives, but their memory is honored even up until today.

It’s interesting to note there are hundreds of revered icons, that is statues, of Christ and his mother throughout Europe which picture them as Black figures. They are far older than the white depictions of Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists. The last pope, John Paul II, had a Black icon in his personal chapel that he prayed before every day.

Today in America’s inner cities where the public school systems are failing miserably, many Black youngsters are going to private schools to secure an education. Most of these schools are run by the Catholic Church. Also note that there has always been a strong Black Catholic presence in Louisiana. New Orleans’ Xavier University is a prominent, traditionally Black college.

Finally, when the sex scandals hit the Catholic Church full force a few years ago, it was Black Archbishop Wilton Gregory that the Catholic Church in America turned to to handle the controversy. So we see Blacks have been in the Roman Catholic Church from the very beginning. In fact, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church, which is still in existence, predates the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church by more than a 100 years...


African Popes


There were three African Popes who came from the region of North Africa. Although there are no authentic portraits of these popes, there are drawings and references in the Catholic Encyclopedia as to their being of African background. The names of the Three African Popes are: Victor (183-203 A.D.), Gelasius (492-496 A.D.), and Mechiades or Militiades (311-314 A.D.). All are saints.



Pope Saint Victor 1

Saint Victor was born in Africa and bore a Latin name as most African did at that time. Saint Victor was the fifteenth pope and a native of black Africa. He served from 186 A.D. until 197 A.D. He served during the reign of Emperor Septimus Severus, also African, who had led Roman legions in Britain. Some of the known contributions of Victor were his reaffirming the holy feast of Easter to be held on Sunday as Pius has done. As a matter of fact, he called Theophilous, Bishop of Alexandria, on the carpet for not doing this. He also condemned and excommunicated Theodore of Byzantium because of the denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ. He added acolytes to the attendance of the clergy. He was crowned with martyrdom. He was pope for ten years, two months and ten days. He was buried near the body of the apostle Peter, the first pope in Vatican. Some reports relate that St. Victor died in 198 A.D. of natural causes. Other accounts stated he suffered martyrdom under Servus. He is buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near the "Convessio."

Pope Saint Victor 1 feast day is July 28th.

Pope Saint Gelasius 1

Saint Gelasius was born in Rome of African parents and was a member of the Roman clergy from youth. Of the three African popes, Gelasius seems to have been the busiest. He occupied the holy papacy four years, eight months and eighteen days from 492 A.D. until 496 A.D. Gelasius followed up Militades' work with the Manicheans. He exiled them from Rome and burned their books before the doors of the basilica of the holy Mary. He delivered the city of Rome from the peril of famine. He was a writer of strong letters to people of all rank and classes. He denounced Lupercailia, a fertility rite celebration. He asked them sternly why the gods they worshipped had not provided calm seas so the grain ships could have reached Rome in time for the winter. He wrote to Femina, a wealthy woman of rank, and asked her to have the lands of St. Peter, taken by the barbarians and the Romans, be returned to the church. The lands were needed for the poor who were flocking to Rome. His theory on the relations between the Church and the state are explained in the Gelasian Letter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. He was known for his austerity of life and liberality to the poor.

There is today in the library of the church at Rome a 28 chapter document on church administration and discipline. Pope Saint Gelasius 1 feast day is November 21st.



Pope Saint Miliades 1

Saint Miltiades was one of the Church's Black Popes. Militades occupied the papacy from 311 to 314 A.D. serving four years, seven months and eight days. Militiades decreed that none of the faithful should fast on Sunday or on the fifth day of the week ...because this was the custom of the pagans. He also found residing in Rome a Persian based religion call Manichaenism. He furthered decreed that consecrated offerings should be sent throughout the churches from the pope's consecration. This was call leaven. It was Militiades who led the church to final victory over the Roman Empire. Militiades was buried on the famous Appain Way.

Pope Saint Militiades feast day is December 10th.

African Saints


Saint Anthony the Great of Thebes

St. Anthony is called the Patriarch of Monks. He was born at Aama, village south of Memphis, near Thebes. His parents were rich Christians. Shortly after inheriting his parents' fortune, he sold all his vast fortune and gave the proceeds to the poor, sent his sister to a nunnery and retired to an old ruin of a tomb. He ate only every three or four days and spent his time at manual labor and prayer.

Saint Antonio Vieira

Antonio Vieria was an African born in Portugal. When he was fifteen years old, he became a Jesuit novice and later a professor of rhetoric and dogmatic theology. He went to Brazil where he worked to abolish discrimination against Jewish merchants, to abolish slavery, and to alleviate conditions among the poor. On the 200th anniversary of his death in 1897, he was canonized.


Saint Augustine

Historians tell us that there is more intimate knowledge available about St. Augustine than of any other individual in the whole world of antiquity. Augustine the sinner is all too well known. There is knowledge of him as a convert and author of Confessions, but little is known of his as Father of the Church and as a saint.

Augustine was born in the little town of Tegaste, Africa, on November 13, 354. He claimed that he learned the love of God from his mother Monica's breast, and that her early Christian training influenced his entire life. He was highly educated, having studied at Madura, Africa, the University of Carthage, and Rome. He was brilliant - actually a genius, and he used his great abilities to lead men to love God.

His thousands of letters, sermons and tracts, combined with 232 books, instructed the Early Church and have relevance for the Church today. It is said that Christian scholars through the ages owe much to St. Augustine and that the full impact of his psychology and his embryonic theology will be felt in years to come. Augustine was truly a saint. He live an austere life, performing great acts of mortification and penance. He wrote, "I pray to God, weeping almost daily." Two of his most famous books are "Confessions" which is an autobiography and "City of God".

St. Augustine's feast day is August 28th

St. Bessarian

St. Bessarian was born in Egypt. He went to the desert to become a hermit. He is credited for many miracles. Once he made salt water fresh. He brought rain during a drought and once walked on the Nile.


Saint Benedict the Moor

St. Benedict the Moor, a lay brother, was born in Sicily in 1526. He was the son of African slave parents, but he was freed at an early age. When about twenty -one he was insulted because of his color, but his patient and dignified bearing caused a group of Franciscan hermits who witnessed the incident to invite him to join their group. He became their leader. In 1564 he joined the Franciscan friary in Palermo and worked in the kitchen until 1578, when he was chosen superior of the group. He carried through the adoption of stricter interpretation of the Franciscan rule. He was known for his power to read people's minds and held the nickname of the "Holy Moor". His life is austerity resembled that of St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Benedict the Moor feast day is April 4th.


Saints Felicitas and Perpetua

Women persecuted for Christianity at Carthage. Perpetua is recorded for having several visions that depicted her death. At death, she called out to the crowds: "Stand fast in the Faith and love one another. Do not let out suffering be a stumbling block to you…" Felicitas was Perpetua's slave. They died together.

Sts. Felicitas and Perpetua feast day is March 6th.


Saint Martin de Porres

On May 16, 1962, Pope John XXIII, in a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, made Martin de Porres the first black American saint. Martin was born on December 9, 1579, in Lima, Peru, the illegitimate son of Don Juan de Porres of Burgos a Spanish nobleman, and Ana Velasquez, a young freed Negro slave girl.

From early childhood Martin showed great piety, a deep love for all God's Creatures and a passionate devotion to Our Lady. At the age of 11 he took a job as a servant in the Dominican priory and performed the work with such devotion that he was called "the saint of the broom". He was promoted to the job of almoner and soon was begging more that $2,000 a week from the rich. All that was begged was given to the poor and sick of Lima in the form of food, clothing and medicine.

Martin was placed in charge of the Dominican's infirmary where he became known for his tender care of the sick and for his spectacular cures. In recognition of his fame and his deep devotion, his superiors dropped the stipulation that "no black person may be received to the holy habit or profession of our order" and Martin was vested in the full habit and took the solemn vows as a Dominican brother.

As a Dominican brother, he became more devout and more desirous to be of service. He established an orphanage and a children's hospital for the poor children of the slums. He set up a shelter for the stray cats and dogs and nursed them back to health.

Martin lived a life of self-imposed austerity. He never ate a meal, he fasted continuously and spent much time in prayer and meditation. He was venerated from the day of his death.

Many miraculous cures, including the raising of the dead, were attributed to Brother Martin. Today throughout South America, Central America and the islands of the Caribbean, people tell of the miraculous powers of St. Martin de Porres. St. Martin de Porres's feast day is November 3rd.


Saint Monica

St. Monica, an African laywoman is a saint with whom most black women can readily and easily identify, because Monica epitomized the present-day black women.

St. Monica was born in Tegaste in northern Africa in about 331. She was a devout Christian and an obedient disciple of St. Ambrose. Through her patience, gentleness and prayers, she converted her pagan husband. To her son, St. Augustine of Hippo, whom she loved dearly, she gave thorough religious training during his boyhood, only to know the disappointment of seeing him later scorn all religion and live a life of disrepute. Before her death, Monica had the great joy of knowing that Augustine had returned to God and was using all his energies to build Christ's Church, and that her youngest daughter had become a nun. St. Monica's feast day is August 27th.


Saint Moses, The Black

Saint Moses, the Black, was a desert monk, born around 330. He was an Ethiopian of great physical strength and unruly character. Moses was a big man and his enormous strength was well known. He belonged to a band of professional thieves and robbers in Egypt. Yet he was a slave Moses always in trouble with the law and his master.

Fearing eventual death from his Ethiopian master, or other criminals Moses ran away into the Scete Desert. No regular people were there, only poor hermits with nothing worth stealing. The hermits converted Black Moses to Jesus; yet his former bad ways held on to him. In order to fight harder for Jesus, Moses moved further into the desert. Soon his conversion to Jesus became widely known. The report reached his former band of robbers. Some of them came and tried to turn him back to crime. He converted them.

He was chosen for priesthood, and at his ordination the bishop remarked to him, "Now the black man is made white". Moses replied, "Only outside, for God knows I am all black within." At age 75, was killed during a raid by Mazics on the monastery, which he refused to defend. He left seventy disciples to mourn him. St. Moses, The Black feast day is August 28th.

Saint Valentine and Dubatatius

Were executed for their faith at Carthage. Sts. Valentine and Dubatatius feast day is November 17th.


Saint Victoria

Died for her faith at Abitene in Proconsular, Africa. Having been arrested for assisting at Mass, she confessed her faith before a judge in 304. She was stretched on the rack and later died in prison.

An Introduction to African Traditional Religions. (Religion and Spirituality)

"Regard the Klan, the Anglo-Saxon clubs and White American societies, as far as the Negro is concerned, as better friends of the race than all other groups of hypocritical whites put together."

Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., 17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940.

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").


My Son Najee Ishmael Akeem on prom.


Read the book above.


Read the book above.



An Introduction to African Traditional Religions

The Term "Africa"

Since the time of Pliny the elder, who is reputed to have first used it, the term "Africa" has been a bone of contention because it means different things to different people -- for many people Africa is essentially a racial group; for some, Africa is a geo-political entity carved up in the last century at the Berlin conference of 1884-85; for others, Africa is a linguistic- cultural entity that describes the life of the African peoples that belong to these communities: the Niger-Congo, the Nilo-Sahara, the Afro-Asiatic and the Khoisan linguistic groups.

Generally, today, we are conditioned to view Africa as a conglomeration of different ethnic groups bound together by the colonial divisions of Africa which still persist today in independent Africa.

The Concept of African Religion.

Related to this geo-political and cultural view of Africa is the 19th-century classification based on the so-called evolutionary theory of culture and religion. This classification of religions based on belief systems puts African religion and culture on the lowest level of the evolutionary ladder, because, it was believed, African primitive culture can only produce the most elementary and primitive belief systems. Until recently, this treatment of African religions in the Western intellectual tradition has made it impossible for African traditional religion to speak for itself except in terms of 19th-century evolutionism or the Western anthropological theories of primitive religions and cultures.

From History to Culture.

Today the liberation from the classifications of the last century has given an intellectual autonomy to African religion and culture. They can now be understood as self-contained systems that are internally coherent without reference to any grand theories. This has allowed us to face up to
the plurality of religions and cultures. Therefore in any discourse about African religion we must start from the perspective of the worshipers and devotees of African traditional religion.

African Religion From Within.

A study of the beliefs and practices of the African peoples leads to the theological observation that African traditional religion is a religion of salvation and wholeness. A careful analysis shows an emphasis on this-worldly salvation and wholeness as the "raison d'etre" of African
traditional religion. Because Africans believe that life is a complex web of relationships that may either enhance and preserve life or diminish and destroy it, the goal of religion is to maintain those relationships that protect and preserve life. For it is the harmony and stability provided by
these relationships, both spiritual and material, that create the conditions for well-being and wholeness.

The threat to life both physical and spiritual is the premise of the quest for salvation. The threat is so near and real because, for the African, life is a continuum of power points that are transformed into being and life is constantly under threat from evil forces. This logic of the relationality of being and cosmic life gives rise to the view that all reality is inter-related like a family. This same relational metaphysics is what under girds the life of the individual in community.

Individual in Community.

J. S. Mbiti captures this relational metaphysics succinctly in the dictum: "I am because we are and because we are therefore I am." The life of the individual comes into fruition through the social ritual of rites of passage. These rites are the process that can help the individual to attain to the goals of his or her destiny, given at birth by God. Those who successfully go through the rites of passage become candidates for ancestorhood -- the goal of the ideal life. For the African, ancestors are much more than dead parents of the living. They are the embodiment of what it means to live the full life that is contained in one's destiny.

God, Creation and Cosmic Life.

God in Africa is a relational being who is known through various levels of relationship with creation. In relation to humanity, God is the great ancestor of the human race. Therefore, all over Africa God is portrayed more in terms of parent than as sovereign. In relation to the earth, God
is a husband who stands behind the creative fecundity of the earth that sustains human life. God in relation to creation is the creator from whom life flows and is sustained. In relation to the divinities, God is their father who requires them to care for the cosmic processes.

Unity and Diversity.

The various elements of African religion that make what I call the transcendental structure of African religion are expressed differently by the various African peoples on the basis of their social organization and environment.

A Definition.

One can describe African religion as a this-worldly religion of salvation that promises well-being and wholeness here and now. It is a religion that affirms life and celebrates life in its fullness; this accounts for the lively and celebrative mood that characterizes African worship in all its
manifestations.


The Cultural Setting: Morality in Haitian Vodou.

“Chak moun ki rive, vini ak moun pa li.”(Each person who arrives, comes with a person of his own)
-common Haitian proverb



The Vodou religion and culture is a rich and complex paradigm. It is a religion practiced by some nine million people in the western hemisphere, most of them in the country of Haiti, whose lives are shaped by the beliefs and practices of this vibrant religion and rich historical tradition. It is the oldest, least understood, and historically, the most maligned of all Afro-diasporic traditions. The term “Vodou” encompasses a variety of cultural elements –individual practices and creeds, a complex system of folk medicine, a structure for community justice, a fertile oral tradition, a rich iconography that has nursed Haitian art, a wealth of metaphors of political affirmation (Dayan, 1997).


Haitian Vodou is a religion that was born out of struggle and revolution, a religion of resistance that gives collective strength and identity to the disenfranchised. It is a religion of the people, not of the privileged. Karen Brown accurately noted, “Haitian Vodou is not a religion of the empowered and the privileged.” Haitians live with “…an open-eyed acceptance of finitude…one reason the Vodou spirits (the lwa) have emerged as whole three-dimensional characters. The oppressed are the most practiced analysts of human character and behavior, and Haitian traditional religion is the repository for wisdom accumulated by a people who have lived through slavery, hunger, disease, repression, corruption, and violence -all in excess.” (Brown, 1991). In fact, just to call oneself a Vodouwizan means to be in active revolt against all that which is oppressive. These experiences continue to serve as the defining foundation of spirituality for the devotees of Vodou.


The faithful come to the Vodou for all manner of issue. Vodou heals; Vodou protects; Vodou solves problems, and binds people in strong, healthy family units. Through a complex set of myths and rituals, Vodou relates the life of the faithful to the spirits (called lwa) who govern that life. It instills in its devotees the need for good character and self-examination, and it uplifts the downtrodden who have experienced life’s misery and misfortune. It provides an explanation for death, which is treated as a spiritual transformation, a portal to the sacred world beyond, where productive and morally upright individuals, perceived by devotees to be powerful ancestral figures, can exercise significant influence over their progeny. In short, it is an expression of a people’s longing for meaning and purpose in their lives (Desmangles, 1992).


Vodou is at once communal, but also supports the flower of individual expression. It is a way of life, a way of understanding creation, a way of communing with God, a means of connecting with Spirit, and with other people. Vodou means to take responsibility for one’s own actions in life. It is not static, but a living, evolving, organic tradition; one which occupies every moment of the lives of its adherents. The Vodou teaches that nothing is given to man directly from the hand of God. Everything, which is received, every blessing, is passed through the hand of one’s neighbor. Therefore, if a man does not know his neighbor, he does not know God. If he does not love his neighbor, he does not love the Good Lord who created him. This is the conceptual foundation of communality in Vodou culture. The common Kreyòl maxim, Vwazinaj se fanmi tou (literally, “the neighbor is family also.”) succinctly describes this concept. Vodou gives meaning to life. It provides a holistic way of existing, a complete culture, immediately based on the relationship between man and the spirits who intercede before God.


“Everything is Vodou for us. It’s not only drumming, dancing in a ritual. No. Everything we do is a ritual. Even [being here with you] is a ceremony. Because what I’m talking about here, you don’t see it, but you will understand. It’s on a spiritual level. It is a kind of communion, connecting my spirit with your spirit. Vodou is all this. All day long.”
-Mme. Mimerose Beaubrun of Boukman Ekspiryans



Human beings occupy a central position within the Vodou worldview, which is both anthropocentric and humanistic (Michel 1995). This is why the Vodou is concerned with the betterment of human existence and the improvement of conditions on earth through the interaction with the spiritual world and the purposeful veneration of the lwa and ancestors. Here it should be noted that the concept of “belief” in Vodou differs greatly from its connotative usage in English. The English word belief suggests an intellectual activity by which one may or may not choose to identify with a system of thought (Deren, 1972), and Vodouwizan would never think of believing in something in the manner of identifying with a system of thought or philosophy.


One’s spirituality can never properly be the object of casual scrutiny by skeptics, such as academicians. As a tradition, Vodou allows no room for skepticism, which is regarded as the consequence of an ambivalent [or incomplete] attempt to establish rationally the design in the cycle of successive events, to debate the relationships between their parts, and to question the divine hand in their purpose. Further, skepticism, according to Vodou, is the outcome of an improper or otherwise faulty apprehension over what should admittedly be self-evident: the world harbors powerful entities (lwa) that are forever active in human lives, and that such entities are the cause of all occurrences in the mechanical operation of the world (Desmangles, 1992).


Thus, when asked if they “believe” in the Vodou and its spirits, Vodouwizan typically will reply that they “serve the lwa”, or that they “serve the mysteries of the world”. This tells a great deal about the outlook of Vodouwizan regarding the nature of their religion and religious observances. As Maya Deren noted, “[Vodou] must do more than give moral sustenance; it must do more than rationalize [the devotee’s] instinct for survival when survival is no longer a reasonable activity. It must do more than provide a reason for living; it must provide the means for living. In consequence, the [devotee] thinks of his religion in working terms.” (Deren, 1972). Thus, Vodouwizan do not conceptualize the religion in abstract or intellectual terms but in practical ones. For its faithful, Vodou is expected to satisfy needs, to render results. There is no place for mysticism or other inconsequential philosophical activities.


The Vodou is moral and ethically aligned religious tradition. However, the way in which morality is defined in Vodou culture is different than that commonly found in western civilization. In order to understand the Vodou, one must necessarily understand the culture within which it operates. Failing understanding of this will always mark an individual as an outsider and therefore untrustworthy. Here it is important to note that, what is meant by Vodou culture is not necessarily the same concept as the current social politic found in the country of Haiti today. In many ways, these two are in conflict and the current political climate, however corrupt, exists due to reasons having nothing to do with traditional spirituality and culture. No, it exists due to other forces, foreign and domestic, socio-economic and geo-political. It has nothing to do with those values prescribed by Vodou culture.


In Vodou, a moral person is defined as someone who “does what they can, at the appropriate time, to the degree with which they are able, and in according to their position in their own community” (Brown 1991). This is a simple concept based on the idea of the interconnectedness of a given community of family and/or friends. It is a simple concept, which demands of the individual full accountability for their actions, guaranteeing that one cannot successfully dodge responsibility for the same. This affirms the importance of understanding the concept of “family” in Vodou culture as central to the understanding of its morality. Here, individualism is notably suppressed in favor of a collective “personhood” wherein the individual is given identity, solidity, and protection in a turbulent world by means of a thick weave of relationships which include other human beings, as well as, the lwa, and clan ancestors. An individual becomes a “real” person only through his or her interaction and relation to others. In fact, one may be defined as “mature” by being attentive and responsible in ones relationships with family and community. This interconnectedness of community, a thick web that includes the living, the dead, and the lwa, presupposes the supremacy of the totality over individuality and is the basis for “morality” in Vodou culture and tradition. Truly it is the family, not the individual that is the smallest social denominator. To consider oneself as wholly self-sufficient, or to have no “people” (no family or community), would be typically considered a dangerous position to be in, as the individual cannot exist in isolation from others. Further, such a position would be immediately suspect; the idea being how exactly can one survive in such a way if not by some illicit activity?


Relationships then are considered of premier importance. However, by their very nature they are quite fragile, and it is within this complex relational network that problems commonly arise, and the mending of such problems is frequently the focus of Vodou healing rites. Because these networks extend beyond the living to include the lwa and the dead, the Vodou healer must explore a vast and often entangled web of relationships in order to find the troubled strand which is putting stress on the whole fabric (Brown, 1991). But this is what Vodou does, it mends rifts, heals wounds, and it helps the faithful to live, and to prosper.


In light of this, it is fair to say that what we call “Vodou culture” exists as a holistic concept, a holistic paradigm. Within this culture, a moral transgression would thus be defined as any action that brings division to the community. Because the community includes the Spiritual World as well as the Physical, such immoral actions that disturb Spirit will cause these same forces to seek harmony, balance, and often restitution. This frequently manifests in the form of “reaping exactly what has been sown”. What is considered “right” in the Vodou world is not “a function of abstract reasoning, but is relative to what will achieve unity and equilibrium in the [family or the greater] community” (Michel, 1998). Morality for those who serve the spirits is a constant effort to maintain social cohesion, harmony, and balance. This includes the notion of having “good character” as a means for maintaining such balance.

“Those who behave like earthworms should never be surprised when people walk over them.”
-common Haitian proverb

Now what is called good character in Vodou extends to include the notion of respect for ones family, for all people, especially extreme respect for ones elders, the bearers of knowledge and wisdom, the repositories of experience. In Kreyòl, it is common to speak of san mwe (literally, “my blood”, indicating a relationship via the father) and petit van (literally, “children of the [same] belly”, indicating a relationship via the mother). However, the concept of family may be extended to include those without any apparent biological relationship, and Vodou may easily conceptualize all people, even strangers, as being related to one another given they are all children of God. Vodouwizan speak of themselves as petit Ginea or simply ti-Ginea, both of which translate as “children of Ginea”, (that is to say children of Africa) and, therefore, of one human family. In light of this, Vodou teaches the need to assess consequences and assume responsibility for individual actions. Vodouwizan say, “manje kwit pa gen mèt”. That is to say that food once cooked should be shared, and this may include perfect strangers. This statement defines another cornerstone of Vodou tradition and culture. Traits such as generosity, hospitality, benevolence, forgiveness, and compassion are highly valued.A lack of moral fortitude causing an individual to act with a lack of respect, be neglectful, abusive, lacking in courage or generosity, is considered capable of causing a disequilibria and division within ones family, community, or even society. These types of behaviors often inadvertently attract giyon (general bad luck) or maldjok (the evil eye) caused by jealousy or resentment, either of which may quickly come to negatively infect all aspects of a person’s life and even that of those around them. It may even attract persecution by the lwa or the ancestors capable of causing danger to the body, both physical and spiritual. This is particularly common given such ill behaviors directly threaten the well-being and preservation of the community which, as stated already, includes both the lwa and clan ancestors who may rightly take offense sufficient to warrant punishment. Consideration of these “truths” is the driving force by which a Vodouwizan makes moral choices about themselves or about their community or environment.


<b>What is Santeríai?


Santería or La Regla Lucumí originates in West Africa in what is now Nigeria and Benin. It is the traditional religion of the Yoruba peoples there. The slave trade brought many of these people to the shores of Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, Trinidad and Puerto Rico among others. But along with the bodies being brought over for sale into a life of misery, something else was being brought along. Their souls. And their religion.

First of all, Santería is not a 'primitive' religion. On the contrary, the Yorubas were and are a very civilized people with a rich culture and deep sense of ethics. We believe in one god known as Olorun or Olodumare. Olorun is the source of ashé, the spiritual energy that makes up the universe, all life and all things material.

Olorun interacts with the world and humankind through emissaries. These emissaries are called orishas. The orishas rule over every force of nature and every aspect of human life. They are approachable and can be counted on to come to the aid of their followers, guiding us to a better life materially as well as spiritually.

Communication between orishas and humankind is accomplished through ritual, prayer, divination and ebó or offerings (which includes sacrifice). Song, rhythms, and trance possession are also means with which we interact with the orishas and how we are able to affect our day to day lives so that they we may lead deeper and fuller lives during our stay in this world.

In the New World the orishas and much of the religion was hidden behind a facade of Catholicism with the orishas themselves represented by various saints. The slave owners would then say "look at how pious this slave is. She spends all of her time worshipping Saint Barbara." Unbeknownst to them, she would actually be praying to Shangó, the Lord of Lightning, fire and the dance, perhaps even praying for deliverance from that very slave owner. This is how the religion came to be known as Santería. The memory of this period of our history is also why many in our religion regard the term Santería as a derogatory.

The traditions of Santería are fiercely preserved and full knowledge of the rites, songs, and language are prerequisites to any deep involvement in the religion. Initiates must follow a strict regimen and are answerable to Olorun and the orishas for their actions. As a person passes through each initiation in the tradition, this knowledge deepens and their abilities and responsibilities grow accordingly. In fact, during the first year of their initiation into the priesthood, the initiate or Iyawó or 'bride' of the orisha must dress in white for an entire year. The iyawo must not look into a mirror, touch anyone or allow themselves to be touched, and they may not wear makeup, or go out at night for this year.

La Santería is famous for its 'magic'. This magic is based on a knowledge of the mysteries or orishas and how to interact with them to better our lives and the lives of those who come to us for the aid of the orishas. We live under the premise that this world is a magical one. This knowledge seems 'supernatural' only to those who don't understand it, but it really is quite natural.

Although the people were yanked away from their homes in Africa and enslaved in the New World, the orishas, the religion and its power could never be chained down and the religion survives now. Not as an anachronism, but ever growing even now in such places as France and the Netherlands.

When We Were Kings

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

Malcolm X (pronounced /ˈmælkəm ˈɛks/; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965), born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").


The above paper is so ture, but becareful of what you wish for.


Read a Book. The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing.

Read a Book. We, the Black Jews: Witness to the 'White Jewish Race' Myth, Volumes I & II (in One) by Yosef Ben-Jochannan.


Ancestor's Prayer


Our great African parents who are among us we humbly offer our thanks for the many blessings you have given.

We extend our love to its ultimate state of being -For the suffering that you have endured so that we may not suffer so.

Mothers of our great African nation Fathers of our African selves -
We invoke you to further lead and guide us to a higher understanding

Of our true greatness -And a more encompassing dedication of love for our African people.

Parents of all African children; Guide us toward a greater unity -
Guide us in a stronger African Value System and lead us into the zenith of respect and love for our people, through education and the "Family Communal Structure"

We swear upon the heritage and legacy that you have left us to uphold and sustain our rightful status on this earth, and to continue the struggle for the total mental and physical liberation of all African People.


ADUPE ARIKU BABA WA (Thank you, by the Spirit of Our Ancestors)

Ase'

When We Were Kings


Taharqa was king of Egypt

Taharqa was king of Egypt, and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. His reign can be dated from 690 BC to 664 BC. He was the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who had first conquered Egypt, and the younger brother and successor of Shebitku.


Kenneth Kitchen's book, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, provides a wealth of information about Taharqa and confirms that his reign lasted a minimum of 26 Years.[3] This is based on the evidence from Serapeum stela Cat. 192 "which records that an Apis bull who was born and installed (4th month of Peret, day 9) in Year 26 of Taharqa died in Year 20 of Psammetichus I (4th month of Shomu, day 20) having lived 21 years. This would give Taharqa a reign of 26 years and a fraction, in 690-664 B.C."[4] Taharqa was the brother of Shebitku or Sebaq-tawy, the previous king of Egypt. Taharqa explicitly states in Kawa Stela V, line 15 that he succeeded Shebitku with this statement: "I received the Crown in Memphis after the Falcon (ie: Shebitku) flew to heaven."

Scholars have identified him with Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, who waged war against Sennacherib during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9) and drove him from his intention of destroying Jerusalem and deporting its inhabitants—a critical action that, according to Henry T. Aubin, has shaped the Western world. For at this time, the Bible had not yet been written, nor had the concept of YWEH been fully defined. The events in the Biblical account are believed to have taken place in 701 BC, whereas Taharqa came to the throne some ten years later. A number of explanations have been proposed: one being that the title of king in the Biblical text refers to his future royal title, when at the time of this account he was likely only a military commander.

Taharqa indulged in rebuilding the temple at Kawa, across the Nile from present-day Dongola, which became a major center for the Nubian kings. He built at a number of other sites in Nubia, and carried out numerous restoration and building projects at the temple of Amun at Karnak—especially the First Court of Amun there—as well as at Medinet Habu. He was described by the ancient Greek historian Strabo as being counted among the greatest military tacticians of the ancient world.

It was during his reign that Egypt's enemy Assyria at last invaded Egypt. Esarhaddon led several campaigns against Taharqa, which he recorded on several monuments. His first attack in 677 BC, aimed to pacify Arab tribes around the Dead Sea, led him as far as the Brook of Egypt. Esarhaddon then proceeded to invade Egypt proper in Taharqa's 17th regnal year, after Esarhaddon had settled a revolt at Ashkelon. Taharqa defeated the Assyrians on that occasion. Three years later in 671 BC the Assyrian king captured and sacked Memphis, where he captured numerous members of the royal family. Taharqa fled to the south, and Esarhaddon reorganized the political structure in the north, establishing Necho I of the 26th dynasty as king at Sais.

Upon the Assyrian king's departure, however, Taharqa intrigued in the affairs of Lower Egypt, and fanned numerous revolts. Esarhaddon died before he could return to Egypt, and it was left to his heir Assurbanipal to once again invade Egypt. Assurbanipal defeated Taharqa, who afterwards fled first to Thebes, then up the Nile into his native homeland—Nubia. Taharqa died there in 664 BC and was succeeded by his appointed successor Tantamani, a son of Shabaka. Taharqa was buried at Nuri.

Taharqa was king of Egypt


Moshoeshoe I

Moshoeshoe (c.1786[1] -March 11, 1870) was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bakoteli lineage- a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan(sic). In his early childhood, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34 Moshoeshoe formed his own clan and became a chief. He and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain.

Moshoeshoe was born during a famine. He was given the name Lepoqo (Lepoqo means disasters) at his birth, due to the deprived conditions into which he was born and raised. Moshoeshoe’s parents had a large influence on the child as he grew up, teaching him about virtues and discipline in a politically inclined way. Moshoeshoe gained his place as a leader after a punitive raid on a cattle thief, returning with hundreds of heads of cattle, earning him his name “Moshoeshoe (the shaver)” as he was said to have shaved off the beard of his adversary (Ramonaheng). Moshoeshoe’s reign coincided with the growth in power of the well-known Zulu chief, Shaka. During the early 1800s Shaka raided many smaller clans along the eastern coast of Southern Africa, incorporating parts of them into his steadily growing Zulu chiefdom. Various small clans were forced to flee the Zulu chief. An era of great wars of calamity followed, known as the Mfecane/lifaqane. It was marked by aggression against the Sotho people by the invading Nguni clans. The attacks also forced Moshoeshoe to move his settlement to the Qiloane plateau. The name was later changed to Thaba Bosiu or "mountain of the night" because it was believed to be growing during the night and shrinking during day. It proved to be an impassable stronghold against enemies.

The most significant role Moshoeshoe played as a diplomat was his acts of friendship towards his beaten enemies. He provided land and protection to various people and this strengthened the growing Basotho nation. His influence and followers grew with the integration of a number of refugees and victims of the wars of calamity.

By the latter part of the 1800s, Moshoeshoe established the nation of the Basotho, in Basutoland. He was popularly known as Morena e Moholo/morena oa Basotho (Great King/King of the Basotho).

Guns were introduced with the arrival of the Dutch from the Cape Colony and Moshoeshoe determined that he needed these and a white advisor. From other tribes, he heard of the benefits missionaries brought. By chance, three representatives of the Society arrived in the heart of southern Africa : Eugene Casalis, Constant Gosselin and Thomas Arbousset. Moshoeshoe brought them to his kingdom. Later Roman Catholic Missionaries were to have a great influence on the shape of Basotho History (the first being, Bishop M.F. Allard O.M.I. and Fr. Joseph Gerard O.M.I.).

From 1837 to 1855 Casalis played the role of Moshoeshoe's Foreign Advisor. With his knowledge of the non-African world, he was able to inform and advise the king in his dealings with hostile foreigners. He also served as an interpreter for Moshoeshoe in his dealings with white people, and documented the Sesotho language.

In the late 1830s, Boer trekkers from the Cape Colony showed up on the western borders of Basutoland and subsequently claimed land rights. The trekkers' pioneer in this area was Jan de Winnaar, who settled in the Matlakeng area in May-June 1838. As more farmers were moving into the area they tried to colonise the land between the two rivers, even north of the Caledon, 'claiming' that it had been abandoned by the Sotho people. Moshoeshoe, when hearing of the trekker settlement above the junction, stated that "... the ground on which they were belonged to me, but I had no objections to their flocks grazing there until such time as they were able to proceed further; on condition, however, that they remained in peace with my people and recognised my authority.

Eugene Casalis later remarked that the trekkers had humbly asked for temporary rights while they were still few in number, but that when they felt "strong enough to throw off the mask" they went back on their initial intention.

The next 30 years were marked by conflicts.

Moshoeshoe signed a treaty with the British Governor, Sir George Thomas Napier. Among the provisions of this treaty was the annexation of a tract of land (now called the Orange River Sovereignty) that many Boers had settled. The outraged Boers were suppressed in a brief skirmish in 1848, but remained bitter at both the British and the Sotho.

The situation erupted in 1851. A British force was defeated by the Sotho army at Kolonyama, touching off an embarrassing war for the British. After repulsing another British attack in 1852, Moshoeshoe sent an appeal to the British commander that allowed him to save face. Once again, diplomacy saved the Sotho kingdom. After a final defeat of the Tloka in 1853, Moshoeshoe reigned supreme.

However, the British pulled out of the region in 1854, causing the de facto formation of two independent states: the Boer Orange Free State and the Sotho Kingdom.

In 1858 Moshoeshoe defeated the Boers in the Free State-Basotho War and in 1865 Moshoeshoe lost a great portion of the western lowlands. The last war in 1867 ended only when the British and Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British protectorate in 1868. The British were eager to check Boer advances, and Moshoeshoe, with advice from Eugene Casalis, realized that continued pressure from the Boers would lead to the destruction of his kingdom.

In 1869, the British signed a treaty at Aliwal with the Boers. It defined the boundaries of Basutoland and later Lesotho; those boundaries have not changed. The arable land west of the Caledon River remained in Boer hands, and is referred to as the Lost or Conquered Territory. This effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size.

Although he had ceded much territory, Moshoeshoe never suffered a major military defeat and retained most of his kingdom and all of his culture. His death in 1870 marked the end of the traditional era and the beginning of the modern colonial period. Moshoeshoe Day is a national holiday in Lesotho celebrated every year on March 11 to commemorate the day of Moshoeshoe's death.

Maroons of South America and the Caribbean

"The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of
civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant
animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty."

Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968.

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").


The above paper is so ture, and sad at the sametime.


Read a Book. Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology
By Diop Cheikh Anta.

Read a Book. Precolonial Black Africa. By Diop Cheikh Anta.


Ancestral Libation


To all our ancestors of antiquity, who developed great knowledge and gave civilization to the world.

(Group) Your will to be, lives in me. Ase!

To all our ancestors who were fortunate to be buried on the soil of Alkebu-lan (Africa) our motherland.


Group) Your will to be, lives in me. Ase!

To all our ancestors who were lost and killed during the voyage of the Middle Passage.

(Group) Your will to be, lives in me. Ase!

To all our ancestors who suffered the cruelty of the horrible institution of slavery, racism, segregation and oppression in North America, South America, the Caribbean Islands, the Middle East, and throughout the world.

(Group) Your will to be, lives in me. Ase!

We say thank you, great ancestors for the precious gift of your blood, sweat and tears who fought for freedom, justice and equality.

(Group) Your will to be, lives in me. Ase!

To our ancestors, in your honor,

(Group) I promise, as a descendant and benefactor of your life, to uphold truth without fear, and to never forget you and your sacrifices as I teach myself and our children to honor and respect you. Ase!

To our ancestors, in your honor,

(Group) I promise to assume the responsibility in continuing on the path of progress and build upon the foundation you have laid before us. Ase!

To our ancestors, in your honor,

(Group) I promise to remove the fear, ignorance, shame and self-hatred of my African History and Re-claim the cultural heritage and consciousness of spiritual oneness. Ase!

To our ancestors, in your honor,

(Group) I promise to continue to build a new world for and with our children, based on our traditional cultural principles and values. Ase!

To all the spirits of our individual families, known and unknown by name, and whom we silently remember in our hearts.

(Group) We praise and honor you. May your spirit be filled with light and progress and may the light guide us through the fear and ignorance of our times. Ase!


Moment of Silence:

ADUPE ARIKU BABA WA (Thank You, by the Spirit of Our Ancestors)

(ALL) Ase! Ase! Ase! (So shall it be!)

Maroons of South America and the Caribbean

In South America the slave revolts were most successful in Brazil and other areas where there were large areas of thick forest and wooded hills. Many Africans escaped the auction blocks and headed for the forests and hills where they were able to form separate African communities. These escaped Africans were later referred to as "Maroons."

The large number of Africans imported into Brazil came from diverse tribes in Africa, but under the pressures of slavery, they managed to settle their cultural differences and work together for liberty. Scattered communities of these escaped Africans existed throughout the America, not only in the swamps and forests of Brazil but also in the hills of Haiti and Jamaica in the Caribbean.

Africans in Brazil established two separate states, Bahia and Palmares. The Bahia slaves surrendered under military pressure from the Portuguese. Palmares, however, existed for at least 110 years, until 1695. It remained a rough-hewn African republic, until other Europeans living on the edge of Palmares helped the Portuguese government lead a superior military force to the area, destroying the state. The heroic stand the Africans took in defense of their state is a proud page in the story of how Africans pursued liberty away from home.

In other parts of South America, in the countries now called Guyana and Surinam, there was an uprising in the area of Berbice that became known as the "Berbice Revolt." These revolts were referred to as the "Bush Negro" rebellions. The important thing about the revolts mentioned here is that they occurred before the American Revolution. Therefore, these Africans in the Americas led the first revolts against tyranny in the New World.

The Caribbean Islands, like the plantations of South America, were incubators for revolts by slaves pursuing liberty in the New World. Because of the need for slave labor in the plantation system, coupled with the economic recovery of Europe after 1492, slavery was most harsh on islands that produced the largest economic benefits for Europeans.

The first revolt of African slaves, where the record is clear, occurred in Cuba in 1527, but most of the organized revolts started on the islands of Haiti and Jamaica. The greatest Caribbean revolts in pursuit of liberty took place in Jamaica, prior to the Haitian Revolution. The Jamaicans fought longer and harder than the Haitians, but they failed to gain their independence because the British had a small internal force in Jamaica. There were also numerous mulattos who had not decided where their loyalties lay. The mulattos did not join in the African revolt because they assumed that they would be fighting against their white fathers.

The Africans in Haiti were able to gain their independence and establish a free state because France, which had many other military entanglements, did not have a sufficient number of able troops to send to Haiti and put down a revolt.

The South American and Caribbean revolts in pursuit of liberty were successful partly for reasons of geography but more importantly because of African cultural continuity. Many slaves who were captured in the same general area, i.e., West Africa, maintained their African religion, language, and cultural continuity. In the United States, however, slaves were generally bought in small lots and resold by the end of the week. Families and cultural continuity were broken to such an extent that after a month in the United States, many slaves could not even identify other slaves who arrived with them on the same boat.

The revolts by slaves in South America and the Caribbean started 100 years before 1619, when slaves formally arrived in the British colony that became known as the United States, and before the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620.