Going in Circles, Part Two
By Dr. Gloria Latimore-Peace
Presented by Omni-U Virtual University
"Every people should be the originators of their own designs, the
projectors of their own schemes, and creators of the events that lead to their destiny, the consummation of their desires."1
Martin Robinson Delaney
In order to facilitate our examination of the issue raised in Part1 of "Going in Circles"- that "Black people still don't get it"- I believe it would be beneficial to seek the counsel of those, such as Ancestor Martin R. Delaney, Maa Kherew, who clearly did "get it". In fact, he “got it” to such a far-reaching extent that he developed a plan of action to elevate the "Colored People of the United States." After having reminded Our Ancestors of their condition, he called their attention to their human rights, i.e.," to be the originators of their own designs, the projectors of their own schemes, and creators of the events that lead to their destiny..." To this premise we take the liberty of adding: Every people should practice a way of looking at the world that achieves these outcomes. It is from the foregoing that we re- invoke the question- if not Us. who?
If not Us, who will be the originators of our designs, i.e., plans, blueprints?
If not Us, who will be the projectors of our schemes, i.e., plans?
If not Us, who will be the creators of the events that lead to our destiny…?
These are fundamental questions that must be answered by every people in the context of their way of thinking, i,e. looking at the world through the lens of their own culture. Therein lies the crux of the problem.
For the more than 500 years since our conquest, we have been - and are still being- subjected to a protracted process that makes these outcomes almost unthinkable.
In "The Miseducation of the Negro," Ancestor Carter G. Woodson, Maa Kherew, teaches Us:
…the Negro's mind has been brought under the control of his oppressor. When you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his proper place and stay in it."[2]
Thus, for more than 500 years, we have not been Us and those who has been suppressing our human right to be human have been creating the events that , thus far, have led our tendency to "walk in circles." This is being carried out while others create the events that lead not to the consummation of Our desires but to theirs .
Since the preceding quote was taken from a book on the "miseducation" of Us, it stands to reason that it is "miseducation"- which, for all intents and purposes, is synonymous with schooling- plays a major role in our inability to "get it."
Since the " it" that we still don't get is a good "education" or a "good job" - which we also don't get because working for others ,who profit more from our labor than we do, can never be equated with "good"- we ought to ask- and answer the question -: "What are the functions that schools serve vis a vis Black children?" If the schools don't serve our children as either another source of Self-knowledge and development of the gifts they bring to the classroom or, at the very least, as a pipeline to life- sustaining employment, whose purposes do they serve? Getting a "good education" or a "good job" are not likely to be the reason(s) for mandating school attendance so, those objectives should probably be ruled out.
In "The Mis-Education of the Black Child," Useni Eugene Perkins, Maa Kherew, writes:
" The public schools serve as the cradle for institutional racism. It is in these institutions that the [B]lack Child is first introduced to the myth of American democracy, which acts as a veil for America's posture toward [B]lack people. And it is in these institutions that the [B]lack Child first begins to form a negative concept of himself because there are few things in the public schools which place emphasis on his own cultural heritage…
And the remainder of his early years are saturated with the noble legends of the Founding Fathers…the romanticism of America's free enterprise system, the justification for [B]lack slavery, learning Mother Goose rhymes and reading an array of white fantasies, ranging from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs " to the charming escapades of " Goldilocks," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Cinderella." And when time permits, he is taught the three R's of education, but they are secondary to his orientation of white history and white mythology."[3]
If not us, who will get "it" together for Black America? "Who will take care of our lives and those of [our] children"?
Dr.Sizemore's declaration shouldn't be required to convince us that, "We can't leave this up to other people because they're not going to do it!". To reiterate an old Jacksonian Proverb: "Nobody is going to save Us but Us!" [4]
If we are to be "the originators of [our] own designs, the projectors of [our] own schemes" and *the creators of the events that lead [our] destiny…" We must overcome.
For more insight on what's happening to our children in the public and corporate, i.e., ”charter schools,” and why "we need to get it together", please view, "Going in Circles", an H3O Art of Life Show Featuring: Ancestor Dr. Barbara A. Sizemore. The Link is provided below.
BlogNotes/Recommended Reading
[1] Martin Robeson Delany.The Condition, Elevation,Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States.
[2] Carter G. Woodson. The- Mis-Education of the Negro.
[3] Useni Eugene Perkins. Home is Dirty Street: The Social Oppression of Black Children.
[4] Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson quote
Kiarri T.H. Cheatwood. To Save the Blood of Black Babies.
Dr. Neeley Fuller, Maa Kherew.The United-Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept Textbook
See also Recommended Reading "Going in Circles: Ancestor Dr." Barbara A. Sizemore, Maa Kherew, Part One
Recommended Viewing:
Going in Circles : Dr. Barbara A. Sizemore
Recommended Listening:
“ Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Howard Gospel Choir
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" by J. Rosamond Johnson, Maa Kherew, and James Weldon, Johnson, Maa Kherew
… Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea
… Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on till victory is won
… Stony the road we trod
Bitter the chastening rod
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died
Yet with a steady beat
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
… We have come over a way that with tears has been watered
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered
Out from the gloomy past
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast
… God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way
Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light
Keep us forever in the path, we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee
… Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee
Shadowed beneath Thy hand
May we forever stand
True to our God
True to our native land
Our native land
Comments