What's Wrong With African Americans?

[Thuso]

What is wrong with African Americans?
Written by Keidi Obi Awadu

Our childbearing age youth have adopted a bizarre set of values and morality.

During the course of the past nine years of publishing the Conscious Rasta Report I have engaged in a number of empirical studies of social, political, economic, cultural and psychological factors that have affected the black community in America and around the world. In keeping with the season for setting resolutions for a new year, I wish to point out some 13 key areas in which our community must focus to resolve persistent problems. We must become more systematic in addressing the serious question of "What is wrong with African Americans?

1. THE COMPLEXITY OF "THE PROBLEM" HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY MISUNDERSTOOD--We are living in an incredibly complex society that requires us as individuals to make tens of thousands of decisions each day. For us, as a group, to weave our way through the complexity of this environment toward policies that will benefit the group, we must begin to understand the interconnectedness between factors affecting the group. Rather than focus merely on economic solutions, we will begin to relate economics to education; education to health; health to psychology; psychology to social conflict; etc. In economics this is known as cumulative causation: that in a complex society, problems are interconnected.

SOLUTION: Create think tanks and educational facilities for leaders of the race. We can, and must hold Black Media responsible for focusing group attention.

Our so-called leaders are talking loud yet producing very poor returns decade after decade.


2. THERE EXIST COMPETING UNITS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY-- By our behaviors we have given life to a fictional character named "Willie Lynch." We have become fractured into small competing groups and too often the poverty of our collective circumstance has us scrapping with each other for resources and prestige. Contrary to the position of "Race First" as was advocated by the Garvey movement of the last century, we have fractionalized into religious denominations, economic castes, age groupings, and divisions based upon education, geography, gender, etc. Some of us are even holding onto divisions based upon body type, skin color and hair texture!

SOLUTION: We are forced to declare these petty rivalries taboo and instigate punitive measures against those who perpetuate them.


3. THERE ARE CONTINUING STRUGGLES WITH COMPETING EXTERNAL GROUPS--In contradiction to the well-meaning efforts of the previous generation, for too many Blacks integration has meant the sapping of our economic, productive and creative resources away from our own self-interests. We have immigrant groups moving halfway around the planet just to open shops in our neighborhoods. The mass media often treats us as if we are cultural savages and sociopaths. The medical-pharmaceutical industry uses as experimental subjects. Other groups use our ethnicity to legitimize their group aspirations. Corporations use the talent and creativity of our youth to generate billions of dollars of annual profit.

SOLUTION: Black Media should identify and prioritize these external competitors after which we should take all actions short of open violence to undermine their hegemony over us.

Have we properly instructed our youth in the glorious achievements of our long past?


4. INTERNAL TRADE / ECONOMIC BARRIERS--Affirmative action aside, Blacks in America had conducted a very successful economic boycott of black merchants and producers. Far from the time when our communities in the various cities contained at least one major street where vibrant business were concentrated, today it is competing outside groups who enjoy the fruits of our economic commitment. If we would wish to better compete as a social group for the vast resources of the industrialized world, we will by necessity begin to demonstrate more savvy as an organized group. The policy of "Race First" when it comes to economics appears to be a sound policy.

SOLUTION: An economic plan of action must be worked out by an appropriate committee and all media should be constantly used to reinforce their determinations.


5. GOVERNING OFFICIALS WITH CONFLICTING LOYALTIES--We have layers of leaders ranging from educators, clergy, elected officials and media figures. Many times, out of the range of scrutiny by their constituency, these community leaders use their position for self-aggrandizement, self-enrichment and self-promotion at the expense of the majority of the black community. This process could not continue if we, as a group, did a better job of monitoring the policies, associations and behaviors of those individuals who are functioning as black leaders. The intense drainage of resources away from our long-term self interests could simply not occur if it were not for the often treasonous behavior of some of our community leaders.

SOLUTION: An appropriate think tank committee should be charged with publishing periodic report cards on the top national and regional leaders. Upon failing our predetermined values, punitive measures must be implemented against these leaders.

We have been committing our loyalties to anyone who offers us the right price. Too often, these commitments have cost some of us our very existence.


6. INTERNAL DISINTEGRATION & DEGRADATION--History records well when Africans lived in the most highly developed societies in the world. As one tours extensively through the various communities of Blacks in the Western world you come to quickly deduce that we are too often confined to urban and rural ghettos. How did the builders of great wonders of the world become reduced in productivity and responsibility to where they are living in some of the poorest housing districts of this nation? We have allowed ourselves to degrade and disintegrate and have become all too dependent on the good will of others to share with us that which they have developed for themselves. Further, our cultural, moral and intellectual positions, as a group within this society, have been consistently declining for far too long.

SOLUTION: Culture is the vehicle through which such values are instilled over a broad basis. This requires the creation of national holidays, sacred rituals, educational facilities, entertainment, pageants and festivals which will enculturate the values of Ma'at, our sacred moral inheritance.


7. SURPLUS IS NOT BEING INVESTED WISELY--Every successful group in history has advanced itself by investing a significant portion of its surplus into what economists call productive innovation. To the contrary, African American surplus is largely being invested in the accouterments of petty bourgeoisie consumerism. As such we are the profit margin for other more disciplined groups. Further, a significant number of Blacks are now investing their surplus into stocks and bonds. The problem with this is that the moneys we invest in Wall Street are available to external groups who then use our surplus to further compete against us as a group. As such, the individual may advance because of such investments while the community suffers.

SOLUTION: There should be cabinet-level positions, established by the think tanks, to constantly reinforce those areas of development which demonstrate the greatest value: fertility, patents & inventions, media, land acquisition, private education, health maintenance, etc.

What shall we do with those who betray our loyalty, again and again? Certainly, we should NOT reward them with leadership status!


8. KEY RESOURCES ARE BEING CAPTURED BY EXTERNAL GROUPS--In order to advance the position of the group we must have policies that channel key resources into specific areas of development. These include not only economic but labor, media, fertility and intellectual resources. As it stands these are all areas where our own creativity is being tapped by competing groups to their great advantage ($$$) and to our great disadvantage. Let it be very clear, African Americans are reported to have at their disposal over two-thirds trillion dollars annually in discretionary income. We are thus not a poor nation-within-a-nation by any means. We are wealthy but disorganized. Seek out any similar group with such wealth but yet disorganized and you'll see how easily exploited they are. Sheep are always going to be fleeced.

SOLUTION: It can be established, through proper research, which external industries are gaining a disproportionate share of our group resources. Thus established, countering strategies will be constantly broadcast through media under our control.


9. WE HAVE YET TO COMMIT TO MEANS OF EXPANSION--Darwin's work on The Origin of Species clearly demonstrates that when a fast-growing group and a slow-growing group are in close proximity to each other, eventually the fast-growing group will completely displace the slow-growing group. Through policies of land acquisition, military expansion, economic hegemony, population expansion and religious proselytizing a group moves beyond its borders and encroaches on the areas of others; this is not a bad thing, this is a natural thing. Yet in each of these areas except for religion African Americans are on the losing end of the social competition. Our religious expansion has been at the expense of rational intellectualism, surplus reinvestment, unity of the group and concentration of limited resources. Unless we determine specific areas for expansion and commit ourselves as a group to success in those areas, we will continue to lose ground to every other group in this society.

SOLUTION: We must commit the leadership to expansion of necessary resources of industry, land, educational facilities, demographic concentration. This leadership also includes the media by all means. In addition, religious organizations must be shepherded by a better educated cadre and their leaders' loyalties and economics better scrutinized.

We must never lose site of the greatest wealth of all -- human resource. Yet every year we lose an average of 400,000 black babies to abortion. What did the KKK ever do to us that equals this self-administered genocide?


10. THE RATE OF RESOURCE INVESTMENT IN THE SOCIAL GROUP HAS DIMINISHED--We have identified a number of resources that are key to the survival of a group; these include: economic, labor, media, fertility, intellectual, etc. What we must point out at this point is that it is not only necessary that we as individuals must assure that our surplus is being wisely invested in our long-term self interests, but there must be a similar investment by the group for the group's self interests. Thus when black controlled institutions invest precious resources that do not directly or indirectly serve such long-term interests, then continued decay can only be expected. If you only have a few dollars to spare, you tend to be more conservative and deliberate in how you invest those dollars. This is an intelligent position.

SOLUTION: We should determine areas in which the community can be taxed for the group benefit. Areas such as commerce, religious institutions, telethons, and benefit concerts can be utilized to raise large sums of money which will be targeted toward specific initiatives.


11. THERE IS A TERRIBLE DISCONNECTION BETWEEN THE ADULTS AND YOUTH--The gulf between younger and older generations within the black community has no doubt long reached a point of terrible crisis. These days many youth are displaying behaviors that show utter contempt for their parent's generation. One might conclude that the youth have much to be disgruntled about especially when it comes to creating employment opportunities, proper education, protection, the loyalty of both birth parents, etc. Despite the condemnations of a few brain-dead Negro sell-outs and stool pigeons, our youth are creative and talented. Why is it that others outside our community, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepsi Cola, MTV and many other major corporations, look at out youth and see stacks of dollars, but too many black leaders see these same youth as a "Menace II Society?"

SOLUTION: Initiative designed to bridge the gap between generations must be carefully designed and initiated by the older generations. Big Brothers and Big Sisters societies, fraternal organizations, rites-of-passage programs, entertainment and parent-support organizations must be enlisted to instill a common set of values in every subsequent generation. These same organizations must also commit to reinforcing those values by punishment and reward.


Rather than to continue to gripe about the myriad of problems, the Conscious Rasta has put the solutions in a well-written, practical and progressive book: THE ROAD TO POWER: Seven Steps to an African Global Order.


12. THERE IS A FEELING OF DESPAIR AND LACK OF HOPE THAT HAS BECOME CULTURALLY INGRAINED--We have long understood that culture is the primary determinant of behavior in the individual, family, group, community and nation. Thus if we are living within a culture of success, high education, group achievement and integrity, then it will naturally follow that the behaviors of the majority of individuals within that national culture will similarly reflect these values. Yet when it comes to the so-called African American there have persisted tags of illiteracy, non-commitment, infidelity, criminality, spousal abuse, and other aspects of non-competitiveness. Beyond all doubt, we know that cultural patters can be changed within a short period of time for those that commit the right resources. It is in our best interest to socially engineer a culture for our people that will uplift the race.

SOLUTION: Anthropology has demonstrated that culture is transmitted through: religion, traditions, historical perspective, morality, declared values and language. The greatest vehicle for consolidating these values within a group is the use of mass media and entertainment. An engineered society can produce the desired results.


13. WE HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY ILLITERATE--After all the suffering that we have experienced as a consequence of our enslavement by Europeans and Arabs, we had been on an upward course of development for most of the previous century. Yet a wide variety of evidence has appeared to confirm that the process of increased literacy in the emancipated former enslaved has begun to reverse itself. Too many of us, while being able to read, spend little if any of our daily time challenging our intellect with appropriate reading material. We are too addicted to television, movies, romance novels, trashy literature, and endless rounds of an obsession with King James' Version. Thus, when our literacy declines so does our ability to make intelligent decisions within this increasingly complex and competitive society. This process is intellectual and cultural suicide. Our ancestors did not suffer so much so that we could give it all away within our generation. We have work to do.

SOLUTION: Growing illiteracy can best be counteracted by intensifying reading programs for the youngest members of the community, rewards for children who demonstrate grasp of reading, de-emphasizing the cult of celebrity within popular culture, raising the level of consciousness within popular media and saturating the community with books. Media icons must be made to commit wholly and completely to this program by threat of punitive measures from the group; this must be a part of the price that such figures pay for celebrity.


Keidi Obi Awadu
Founder of the LIBRadio Network
310.673.5423
Black Star Media
http://www.LIBRadio.com

[samres]

Greetings/Hotep.

I agree 100% with the post containing the words of Keidi Obi Awadu. However, more important than my agreement is something that most "African-Americans" are in denial of, to their own litteral destruction....THE FACTS OF HISTORY, HUMAN BEHAVIOR, SCIENCE, ETC., AGREE 100% with the post by the founder of the LIB Radio/Media Network.

In addition to all the solutions to our problems posted below, LIB has showcased people and individuals who have PROVEN solutions to our (African-American, Afro-Everybody) problems! That is why, back in early 2003, while still a college student, I became a dedicated listener and supporter of the LIB family. Of the 4 all Black endevors I have pleged a life-long commitment to, this was the third, with a vision to support Izania being the 4th. The Ghana Nkwanta Project (GNP) is 3rd, preceded by two others that I will reveal when I think it is time. Please be on the lookout for more news concerning the GNP later. Since I'm only 1 person, as far as life-long commitments to all Black endevors, let's just say that four is more than enough for me to do my part, when one considers their own obligations to family and spiritual life.

I've come to realize that the majority of "African-Americans" are not yet "sick and tired of being sick and tired". Thus, they continue to attend "State of Black America" conferences on Euro-America's CNN and have the big name Black folk stay at the 4 and 5 star hotels that these conferences enrich. They also fail to realize that only activities designed to make so-called "Afro-Americans" INDEPENDANT of the "need" of Euro-American supplied food, shelter(includes clothing), education, economics, and culture, will help us "overcome" racism. Every other ethnic group in America strives to control the 5 basics I just mentioned. Black so-called Afro-Americans, as a group, seek to integrate. That's why we are weak.

For those that are serious, I suggest listen to Mr. Awadu.

peace and love,

Samuel Burnham

[jrichd]

I am a righteous brother who like culturally refined aspects that are African, European and Asian. I am no less a brother than any one else. I know my history and cultural but we live in a global world and being the blackest brother of helping a country in Africa will not solve it.

The issues in Africa will be solved by the Africans not the African Americans.
Most are in worst shape than they were when they were under European rule because of mismanagement and dictatorships.

I personally like Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union. At least this brother is doing something. You may not agree with everything Jesse and Al does but they love our people and will be there when you and I are not.

We can uplift without tearing each other down. The use of "Real African Americans" sounds like "House Negro and Field Negro" In many cases it was the Field Negro and not the House Negro that squealed on other revolting slaves.

Peace Out,

Frugal Frank on the Blackside

[Thuso]

I have long been committed to seeking ways to "improve the condition of Black folks" -- starting with ME. At a young age, I looked into the mirror and asked, "Why not me?" So I set about striving for excellence -- in school, on the athletic field and courts, in business, at church, with my family.

What I discovered was no lack of great advice, or effort from other Black folks. In fact, I discovered that the very best advice was offered immediately before and after the end of slavery. The advice of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Sojourner Truth, and other leaders of that era articulated the very same ideals and practical advice over one hundred fifty years ago. So, why is it that more of us don't listen and heed the encouragement of Carter G. Woodson in The Miseducation of the Negro?

Some Black folks even convinced the government of the USA to help fund the creation of Liberia. And look what a mess that country, and the sister initiative in Sierra Leone have wrought? Why has the NAACP, Urban League, SNCC, SCLC, Operation Rainbow/PUSH not resulted in significant advancement of our people? Marcus Garvey's movement was ruined, Malcolm and Martin were murdered, W.E.B. Dubois and Paul Robeson were exiled.

This is a budding thesis, now that I am slipping into old age, but I think the answer lies in "The Assimilation of the African in America." I have seen some discussions recently that speak about integration as a bad objective. I don't see very much discussion about assimilation. But President George W. Bush stated in the State of the Union Message 2007, that "assimilation of immigrants into our society is a goal of the melting pot." He said this so casually that it didn't even raise anyone's interest. What Black folks have endured uniquely, apart from all other ethnic groups is "forced assimilation." For others, this is a choice.

There are Chinese who come to this country, and never learn to speak a word of English. They choose not to assimilate. The Hispanic ethnic groups have refused to give up their language -- even in the face of "English only" initiatives all over the country. Apart from learning English for work, and to pass the naturalization process, they speak their native language among themselves, and have demanded that customer service include acknowledgement of their language to satisfy their needs.

Africans were robbed of all connections to our language, heritage, and culture during slavery. We were systematically taught that we were inferior, and abused in ways that made us ashamed of ourselves -- with light skin/dark skin issues, and the emasculation of our men, who could not protect our women from rape and the shame of bearing the master's children.

The goal of assimilation is to remove all traces of the old culture, and replace it with the new. Except with Africans during slavery, the replacement was an image of a shiftless, lazy, unintelligent, cowardly, over-sexed brute that could not be trustd with important matters. Then the image of "White is better" was paraded before us to prove we were inferior. The result was so effective, that when young Blacks strive for excellence they sometimes are accused of "trying to be White."

So, what I see today is two efforts afoot. There are those who are resisting assimilation, but have no firm foundation to fall back on. They have been so far removed from their African heritage, that there are "made up" attempts at recapturing our Africanness -- like Kwanzaa, changing our names, wearing African clothing, using a few African greetings. When we go to Africa, we seek to Americanize our African brothers and sisters. And now they want to come to the West. When they arrive in the USA, complete with their African heritage intact, we reject them, instead of embracing them. This group has yet to come to grips with the reality that what they must do is to "de-program" and shake off the effects of 400 years of assimilation programming. Our African brothers and sisters can help, but we don't take full advantage of the help. We cling to our assimilation brainwashing, and we try to create the image of an "American Black man or woman" or some variation of the "N" word. Many of these don't want to acknowledge that they are what W.E.B. Du Bois described as "Africans in America." They still want to be Americans first -- proclaiming "I was born here. I have a right to be here and enjoy the fruits of (assimilation)."

The other group wants to "perfect and complete the assimilation process." They are duped by terms like "color blind society." They have allowed the beneficiaries of their former oppressors to turn Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement -- "judge me by the content of my character, not the color of my skin" -- on it's head and undo all "affirmative efforts" to advance Black people, and filter out the few who "voluntarily assimilate" to achieve a small measure of acceptance. These Black people want "be like White People" and "Liked by White People" and "accepted by White people" and "to be invisible to White people."

In the 21st century, assimilation is much more subtle. When a Black person speaks the English language properly, he or she is called "articulate." Privately, their White friends say to them, "You are not like the others. Why can't they be like you?" These Black people spend a lot of their time "apologizing for being Black" because they can never be quite White enough -- for the promotions they deserve, for the loans they qualify for, or the homes they want to live in (and when they do move to the White suburbs, they tell their Black visitors, "We can't be too loud.").

So, I'll stop here and let others respond. I will speak later about actions we can take to deal with the effects of "forced assimilation."

Amandla!

[fredthefactor]

Originally Posted by Thuso

What is wrong with African Americans?
Written by Keidi Obi Awadu

Our childbearing age youth have adopted a bizarre set of values and morality.

During the course of the past nine years of publishing the Conscious Rasta Report I have engaged in a number of empirical studies of social, political, economic, cultural and psychological factors that have affected the black community in America and around the world. In keeping with the season for setting resolutions for a new year, I wish to point out some 13 key areas in which our community must focus to resolve persistent problems. We must become more systematic in addressing the serious question of "What is wrong with African Americans?

1. THE COMPLEXITY OF "THE PROBLEM" HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY MISUNDERSTOOD--We are living in an incredibly complex society that requires us as individuals to make tens of thousands of decisions each day. For us, as a group, to weave our way through the complexity of this environment toward policies that will benefit the group, we must begin to understand the interconnectedness between factors affecting the group. Rather than focus merely on economic solutions, we will begin to relate economics to education; education to health; health to psychology; psychology to social conflict; etc. In economics this is known as cumulative causation: that in a complex society, problems are interconnected.

SOLUTION: Create think tanks and educational facilities for leaders of the race. We can, and must hold Black Media responsible for focusing group attention.

Our so-called leaders are talking loud yet producing very poor returns decade after decade.


2. THERE EXIST COMPETING UNITS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY-- By our behaviors we have given life to a fictional character named "Willie Lynch." We have become fractured into small competing groups and too often the poverty of our collective circumstance has us scrapping with each other for resources and prestige. Contrary to the position of "Race First" as was advocated by the Garvey movement of the last century, we have fractionalized into religious denominations, economic castes, age groupings, and divisions based upon education, geography, gender, etc. Some of us are even holding onto divisions based upon body type, skin color and hair texture!

SOLUTION: We are forced to declare these petty rivalries taboo and instigate punitive measures against those who perpetuate them.


3. THERE ARE CONTINUING STRUGGLES WITH COMPETING EXTERNAL GROUPS--In contradiction to the well-meaning efforts of the previous generation, for too many Blacks integration has meant the sapping of our economic, productive and creative resources away from our own self-interests. We have immigrant groups moving halfway around the planet just to open shops in our neighborhoods. The mass media often treats us as if we are cultural savages and sociopaths. The medical-pharmaceutical industry uses as experimental subjects. Other groups use our ethnicity to legitimize their group aspirations. Corporations use the talent and creativity of our youth to generate billions of dollars of annual profit.

SOLUTION: Black Media should identify and prioritize these external competitors after which we should take all actions short of open violence to undermine their hegemony over us.

Have we properly instructed our youth in the glorious achievements of our long past?


4. INTERNAL TRADE / ECONOMIC BARRIERS--Affirmative action aside, Blacks in America had conducted a very successful economic boycott of black merchants and producers. Far from the time when our communities in the various cities contained at least one major street where vibrant business were concentrated, today it is competing outside groups who enjoy the fruits of our economic commitment. If we would wish to better compete as a social group for the vast resources of the industrialized world, we will by necessity begin to demonstrate more savvy as an organized group. The policy of "Race First" when it comes to economics appears to be a sound policy.

SOLUTION: An economic plan of action must be worked out by an appropriate committee and all media should be constantly used to reinforce their determinations.


5. GOVERNING OFFICIALS WITH CONFLICTING LOYALTIES--We have layers of leaders ranging from educators, clergy, elected officials and media figures. Many times, out of the range of scrutiny by their constituency, these community leaders use their position for self-aggrandizement, self-enrichment and self-promotion at the expense of the majority of the black community. This process could not continue if we, as a group, did a better job of monitoring the policies, associations and behaviors of those individuals who are functioning as black leaders. The intense drainage of resources away from our long-term self interests could simply not occur if it were not for the often treasonous behavior of some of our community leaders.

SOLUTION: An appropriate think tank committee should be charged with publishing periodic report cards on the top national and regional leaders. Upon failing our predetermined values, punitive measures must be implemented against these leaders.

We have been committing our loyalties to anyone who offers us the right price. Too often, these commitments have cost some of us our very existence.


6. INTERNAL DISINTEGRATION & DEGRADATION--History records well when Africans lived in the most highly developed societies in the world. As one tours extensively through the various communities of Blacks in the Western world you come to quickly deduce that we are too often confined to urban and rural ghettos. How did the builders of great wonders of the world become reduced in productivity and responsibility to where they are living in some of the poorest housing districts of this nation? We have allowed ourselves to degrade and disintegrate and have become all too dependent on the good will of others to share with us that which they have developed for themselves. Further, our cultural, moral and intellectual positions, as a group within this society, have been consistently declining for far too long.

SOLUTION: Culture is the vehicle through which such values are instilled over a broad basis. This requires the creation of national holidays, sacred rituals, educational facilities, entertainment, pageants and festivals which will enculturate the values of Ma'at, our sacred moral inheritance.


7. SURPLUS IS NOT BEING INVESTED WISELY--Every successful group in history has advanced itself by investing a significant portion of its surplus into what economists call productive innovation. To the contrary, African American surplus is largely being invested in the accouterments of petty bourgeoisie consumerism. As such we are the profit margin for other more disciplined groups. Further, a significant number of Blacks are now investing their surplus into stocks and bonds. The problem with this is that the moneys we invest in Wall Street are available to external groups who then use our surplus to further compete against us as a group. As such, the individual may advance because of such investments while the community suffers.

SOLUTION: There should be cabinet-level positions, established by the think tanks, to constantly reinforce those areas of development which demonstrate the greatest value: fertility, patents & inventions, media, land acquisition, private education, health maintenance, etc.

What shall we do with those who betray our loyalty, again and again? Certainly, we should NOT reward them with leadership status!


8. KEY RESOURCES ARE BEING CAPTURED BY EXTERNAL GROUPS--In order to advance the position of the group we must have policies that channel key resources into specific areas of development. These include not only economic but labor, media, fertility and intellectual resources. As it stands these are all areas where our own creativity is being tapped by competing groups to their great advantage ($$$) and to our great disadvantage. Let it be very clear, African Americans are reported to have at their disposal over two-thirds trillion dollars annually in discretionary income. We are thus not a poor nation-within-a-nation by any means. We are wealthy but disorganized. Seek out any similar group with such wealth but yet disorganized and you'll see how easily exploited they are. Sheep are always going to be fleeced.

SOLUTION: It can be established, through proper research, which external industries are gaining a disproportionate share of our group resources. Thus established, countering strategies will be constantly broadcast through media under our control.


9. WE HAVE YET TO COMMIT TO MEANS OF EXPANSION--Darwin's work on The Origin of Species clearly demonstrates that when a fast-growing group and a slow-growing group are in close proximity to each other, eventually the fast-growing group will completely displace the slow-growing group. Through policies of land acquisition, military expansion, economic hegemony, population expansion and religious proselytizing a group moves beyond its borders and encroaches on the areas of others; this is not a bad thing, this is a natural thing. Yet in each of these areas except for religion African Americans are on the losing end of the social competition. Our religious expansion has been at the expense of rational intellectualism, surplus reinvestment, unity of the group and concentration of limited resources. Unless we determine specific areas for expansion and commit ourselves as a group to success in those areas, we will continue to lose ground to every other group in this society.

SOLUTION: We must commit the leadership to expansion of necessary resources of industry, land, educational facilities, demographic concentration. This leadership also includes the media by all means. In addition, religious organizations must be shepherded by a better educated cadre and their leaders' loyalties and economics better scrutinized.

We must never lose site of the greatest wealth of all -- human resource. Yet every year we lose an average of 400,000 black babies to abortion. What did the KKK ever do to us that equals this self-administered genocide?


10. THE RATE OF RESOURCE INVESTMENT IN THE SOCIAL GROUP HAS DIMINISHED--We have identified a number of resources that are key to the survival of a group; these include: economic, labor, media, fertility, intellectual, etc. What we must point out at this point is that it is not only necessary that we as individuals must assure that our surplus is being wisely invested in our long-term self interests, but there must be a similar investment by the group for the group's self interests. Thus when black controlled institutions invest precious resources that do not directly or indirectly serve such long-term interests, then continued decay can only be expected. If you only have a few dollars to spare, you tend to be more conservative and deliberate in how you invest those dollars. This is an intelligent position.

SOLUTION: We should determine areas in which the community can be taxed for the group benefit. Areas such as commerce, religious institutions, telethons, and benefit concerts can be utilized to raise large sums of money which will be targeted toward specific initiatives.


11. THERE IS A TERRIBLE DISCONNECTION BETWEEN THE ADULTS AND YOUTH--The gulf between younger and older generations within the black community has no doubt long reached a point of terrible crisis. These days many youth are displaying behaviors that show utter contempt for their parent's generation. One might conclude that the youth have much to be disgruntled about especially when it comes to creating employment opportunities, proper education, protection, the loyalty of both birth parents, etc. Despite the condemnations of a few brain-dead Negro sell-outs and stool pigeons, our youth are creative and talented. Why is it that others outside our community, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepsi Cola, MTV and many other major corporations, look at out youth and see stacks of dollars, but too many black leaders see these same youth as a "Menace II Society?"

SOLUTION: Initiative designed to bridge the gap between generations must be carefully designed and initiated by the older generations. Big Brothers and Big Sisters societies, fraternal organizations, rites-of-passage programs, entertainment and parent-support organizations must be enlisted to instill a common set of values in every subsequent generation. These same organizations must also commit to reinforcing those values by punishment and reward.


Rather than to continue to gripe about the myriad of problems, the Conscious Rasta has put the solutions in a well-written, practical and progressive book: THE ROAD TO POWER: Seven Steps to an African Global Order.


12. THERE IS A FEELING OF DESPAIR AND LACK OF HOPE THAT HAS BECOME CULTURALLY INGRAINED--We have long understood that culture is the primary determinant of behavior in the individual, family, group, community and nation. Thus if we are living within a culture of success, high education, group achievement and integrity, then it will naturally follow that the behaviors of the majority of individuals within that national culture will similarly reflect these values. Yet when it comes to the so-called African American there have persisted tags of illiteracy, non-commitment, infidelity, criminality, spousal abuse, and other aspects of non-competitiveness. Beyond all doubt, we know that cultural patters can be changed within a short period of time for those that commit the right resources. It is in our best interest to socially engineer a culture for our people that will uplift the race.

SOLUTION: Anthropology has demonstrated that culture is transmitted through: religion, traditions, historical perspective, morality, declared values and language. The greatest vehicle for consolidating these values within a group is the use of mass media and entertainment. An engineered society can produce the desired results.


13. WE HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY ILLITERATE--After all the suffering that we have experienced as a consequence of our enslavement by Europeans and Arabs, we had been on an upward course of development for most of the previous century. Yet a wide variety of evidence has appeared to confirm that the process of increased literacy in the emancipated former enslaved has begun to reverse itself. Too many of us, while being able to read, spend little if any of our daily time challenging our intellect with appropriate reading material. We are too addicted to television, movies, romance novels, trashy literature, and endless rounds of an obsession with King James' Version. Thus, when our literacy declines so does our ability to make intelligent decisions within this increasingly complex and competitive society. This process is intellectual and cultural suicide. Our ancestors did not suffer so much so that we could give it all away within our generation. We have work to do.

SOLUTION: Growing illiteracy can best be counteracted by intensifying reading programs for the youngest members of the community, rewards for children who demonstrate grasp of reading, de-emphasizing the cult of celebrity within popular culture, raising the level of consciousness within popular media and saturating the community with books. Media icons must be made to commit wholly and completely to this program by threat of punitive measures from the group; this must be a part of the price that such figures pay for celebrity.


Keidi Obi Awadu
Founder of the LIBRadio Network
310.673.5423
Black Star Media
http://www.LIBRadio.com

thank you brother for shareing your knowledge about this subject.
Keep on writing and i will turn every brother and sister on to you .
thanks again.

[fredthefactor]

Originally Posted by samres

Greetings/Hotep.

I agree 100% with the post containing the words of Keidi Obi Awadu. However, more important than my agreement is something that most "African-Americans" are in denial of, to their own litteral destruction....THE FACTS OF HISTORY, HUMAN BEHAVIOR, SCIENCE, ETC., AGREE 100% with the post by the founder of the LIB Radio/Media Network.

In addition to all the solutions to our problems posted below, LIB has showcased people and individuals who have PROVEN solutions to our (African-American, Afro-Everybody) problems! That is why, back in early 2003, while still a college student, I became a dedicated listener and supporter of the LIB family. Of the 4 all Black endevors I have pleged a life-long commitment to, this was the third, with a vision to support Izania being the 4th. The Ghana Nkwanta Project (GNP) is 3rd, preceded by two others that I will reveal when I think it is time. Please be on the lookout for more news concerning the GNP later. Since I'm only 1 person, as far as life-long commitments to all Black endevors, let's just say that four is more than enough for me to do my part, when one considers their own obligations to family and spiritual life.

I've come to realize that the majority of "African-Americans" are not yet "sick and tired of being sick and tired". Thus, they continue to attend "State of Black America" conferences on Euro-America's CNN and have the big name Black folk stay at the 4 and 5 star hotels that these conferences enrich. They also fail to realize that only activities designed to make so-called "Afro-Americans" INDEPENDANT of the "need" of Euro-American supplied food, shelter(includes clothing), education, economics, and culture, will help us "overcome" racism. Every other ethnic group in America strives to control the 5 basics I just mentioned. Black so-called Afro-Americans, as a group, seek to integrate. That's why we are weak.

For those that are serious, I suggest listen to Mr. Awadu.

peace and love,

Samuel Burnham

Mr. burnham I'm looking forward to engageing in discussion on this topic of importance it will not be a debate it will be for me to reach out and fellowship with my brother in arms.

[fredthefactor]

Originally Posted by jrichd

I am a righteous brother who like culturally refined aspects that are African, European and Asian. I am no less a brother than any one else. I know my history and cultural but we live in a global world and being the blackest brother of helping a country in Africa will not solve it.

The issues in Africa will be solved by the Africans not the African Americans.
Most are in worst shape than they were when they were under European rule because of mismanagement and dictatorships.

I personally like Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union. At least this brother is doing something. You may not agree with everything Jesse and Al does but they love our people and will be there when you and I are not.

We can uplift without tearing each other down. The use of "Real African Americans" sounds like "House Negro and Field Negro" In many cases it was the Field Negro and not the House Negro that squealed on other revolting slaves.

Peace Out,

Frugal Frank on the Blackside

Whats up my brother .
I'm knew to this forum but i really need to ask a question.
have you ever been around somebody White and noticed that when you stopped talking to them and started to talk to one of your brothers in a conversation they was'nt apart of how that look of wondering what those two "brothers " are talking about look go's over there faces if not check it out some time.

[fredthefactor]

Originally Posted by Thuso

I have long been committed to seeking ways to "improve the condition of Black folks" -- starting with ME. At a young age, I looked into the mirror and asked, "Why not me?" So I set about striving for excellence -- in school, on the athletic field and courts, in business, at church, with my family.

What I discovered was no lack of great advice, or effort from other Black folks. In fact, I discovered that the very best advice was offered immediately before and after the end of slavery. The advice of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Sojourner Truth, and other leaders of that era articulated the very same ideals and practical advice over one hundred fifty years ago. So, why is it that more of us don't listen and heed the encouragement of Carter G. Woodson in The Miseducation of the Negro?

Some Black folks even convinced the government of the USA to help fund the creation of Liberia. And look what a mess that country, and the sister initiative in Sierra Leone have wrought? Why has the NAACP, Urban League, SNCC, SCLC, Operation Rainbow/PUSH not resulted in significant advancement of our people? Marcus Garvey's movement was ruined, Malcolm and Martin were murdered, W.E.B. Dubois and Paul Robeson were exiled.

This is a budding thesis, now that I am slipping into old age, but I think the answer lies in "The Assimilation of the African in America." I have seen some discussions recently that speak about integration as a bad objective. I don't see very much discussion about assimilation. But President George W. Bush stated in the State of the Union Message 2007, that "assimilation of immigrants into our society is a goal of the melting pot." He said this so casually that it didn't even raise anyone's interest. What Black folks have endured uniquely, apart from all other ethnic groups is "forced assimilation." For others, this is a choice.

There are Chinese who come to this country, and never learn to speak a word of English. They choose not to assimilate. The Hispanic ethnic groups have refused to give up their language -- even in the face of "English only" initiatives all over the country. Apart from learning English for work, and to pass the naturalization process, they speak their native language among themselves, and have demanded that customer service include acknowledgement of their language to satisfy their needs.

Africans were robbed of all connections to our language, heritage, and culture during slavery. We were systematically taught that we were inferior, and abused in ways that made us ashamed of ourselves -- with light skin/dark skin issues, and the emasculation of our men, who could not protect our women from rape and the shame of bearing the master's children.

The goal of assimilation is to remove all traces of the old culture, and replace it with the new. Except with Africans during slavery, the replacement was an image of a shiftless, lazy, unintelligent, cowardly, over-sexed brute that could not be trustd with important matters. Then the image of "White is better" was paraded before us to prove we were inferior. The result was so effective, that when young Blacks strive for excellence they sometimes are accused of "trying to be White."

So, what I see today is two efforts afoot. There are those who are resisting assimilation, but have no firm foundation to fall back on. They have been so far removed from their African heritage, that there are "made up" attempts at recapturing our Africanness -- like Kwanzaa, changing our names, wearing African clothing, using a few African greetings. When we go to Africa, we seek to Americanize our African brothers and sisters. And now they want to come to the West. When they arrive in the USA, complete with their African heritage intact, we reject them, instead of embracing them. This group has yet to come to grips with the reality that what they must do is to "de-program" and shake off the effects of 400 years of assimilation programming. Our African brothers and sisters can help, but we don't take full advantage of the help. We cling to our assimilation brainwashing, and we try to create the image of an "American Black man or woman" or some variation of the "N" word. Many of these don't want to acknowledge that they are what W.E.B. Du Bois described as "Africans in America." They still want to be Americans first -- proclaiing "I was born here. I have a right to be here and enjoy the fruits of (assimilation)."

The other group wants to "perfect and complete the assimilation process." They are duped by terms like "color blind society." They have allowed the beneficiaries of their former oppressors to turn Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement -- "judge me by the content of my character, not the color of my skin" -- on it's head and undo all "affirmative efforts" to advance Black people, and filter out the few who "voluntarily assimilate" to achieve a small measure of acceptance. These Black people want "be like White People" and "Liked by White People" and "accepted by White people" and "to be invisible to White people."

In the 21st century, assimilation is much more subtle. When a Black person speaks the English language properly, he or she is called "articulate." Privately, their White friends say to them, "You are not like the others. Why can't they be like you?" These Black people spend a lot of their time "apologizing for being Black" because they can never be quite White enough -- for the promotions they deserve, for the loans they qualify for, or the homes they want to live in (and when they do move to the White suburbs, they tell their Black visitors, "We can't be too loud.").

So, I'll stop here and let others respond. I will speak later about actions we can take to deal with the effects of "forced assimilation."

Amandla!

How are you ?
I Feel very fortuned to have found a forum that does'nt hold back any information like this back from the "masses".
Right now I'm speachless from all of the information I've just received on this topic.
Keep on going my brothers I'm knew to this forum but be assured that i will be giving much feedback on our Black sititution in Kansas City Mo
And remember my beautiful Sisters and Brothers there will not be any gain from us fighting with each other over the wrong that has and still is done to us daily.
Peace from the Show me State..