Language is a form of communication based in audible symbolism. Each sound made, and the formation of the mouth when uttering the sounds, is representative of some material or non-material concepts- be it person, place or thing. Language is very important to us as human beings because it is how we start to understand to the world and communicate or transmit that understanding to others. It is an aspect of 'cultura' that is very integral to our existence.
Language gives you the ability to define reality for one's self. In the Bible, supposedly God gave man the ability to speak firstly, the ability to give names to all the animals in the garden. This can be interpreted as meaning or signifying the value of language. For once one can 'give names' to things, those things become subjected to our perception. This kindles our ability to control our our destiny to live as we understand and to define ourselves. It fuels self-determination.
The oppressors, understanding this, devised ways to take our language from us. They changed the method and mode of communication between man and woman, brother and sister. In the western hemisphere, the campaign of coloniazation and chattel slavery was carried out against Native Americans and Africans. Both, enslaved together, shackled, beaten, raped, killed. Our language and culture was stripped from us and supplanted with another's culture. This attempt was made as an effort to have us internalize someone's else views and perspective of us. We were stripped our our ability to simply be us. Most of us were given new names and identities, methods of enforcing division and seperation amongst us, preventing unification, organization, and rebellion.
In an effort to relcaim our history, identity and sense of self we often times seek out language. We or what is speaking to us in a way we can understand. We often seek the language of our specific lineage of people. B-u-t beyond that, beyond Arawak, Sioux, Algonquin, Amharic, Ki-Swahili, and verbal languages of the world exist our languages. Other forms of communication. Body language, music, art, Morse Code, Plains Indian sign language are all forms of language and ways of communication. These are all ways to exchange ideas on the social level, amongst social creatures.
Within the Nation of Gods and Earths we speak 'mathematics'. By this, we do not mean that we mumble numbers an equations to each other. We live by a value system based on the numbers 1-9 and 0 which we call the 'Supreme Mathematics', and the letters A-Z which we call the 'Supreme Alphabet'. This was a system developed by Allah and serves foundation of our ideology and a way of living. Each number and letter corresponds with a specific principle, each having a value, to be practiced daily. This values are the summation of the universe's most apparent principles of operation. We equate our value system and it's simplicity to the system which holds the universe together, which is ultimately the science of mathematics. This is, how we are able to speak the language of the universe in this day and time. Everything is operating according to the principles of mathematics. Mathematics is the most universal language, from cell to cell. Regardless to the words you may use for the numbers '1' and '2', their values remain the same everywhere on the planet and throughout the known cosmos.
So in the social contex, the Supreme Mathematics serve as a mental/social model for human development. Many of the principles are familiar terms with unfamiliar definitions. The definitions have been revised and made more applicable to the reality we create and experience on a day to day basis. We have reharnassed the ability to self-define and have done so, starting with one of the most popular words in the English language- GOD. By this stance of redefinition, by reanalyzing the world and seeing ourselves within it and it within us, the Nation of Gods and Earths serves as a 'resistance movement'. We are resisting the state/system and it's sanctions and definitions placed upon us. We are reclaiming ourselves and rewriting history, rather than seeking self-definition in a place and time that no longer exist and a people who have forever been changed.
Most than just a word, the concept of 'race' as well has been redefined. Allah's vision was for all the Original people to be brought together. In unity. This was to be done by the reuniting of the 'seeds' (men). Allah wanted to bring the shades of the Original man together- black, brown and yellow. Each seed represents a specific 'shade' or variation thereof. However, this classification spoke to shade and not ethnicity. In a superificial society we have been conditioned to yearn to be other than who we are and subconciously many of us want to be 'white.' Many of us look down upon our darker brother and sister. Many of us deny any African or Indian blood and have looked toward Europe or the US as the ultimate authority. We have relinquished our power to the overbearing influence of colonization. Allah promoted the unity of all the Original people, the first people on the planet. He wanted to bring us together and show us we are all one people, regardless to our unique customs, cultures and ethinicities. We are all of the same family, the BLACK family.
A lot of people will shy away from the term 'black'. They will insist that they are not 'black.' There is a difference between being 'black' and being so-called 'African American'. The shades of the black family according to Allah are- black, brown and yellow. These three main variations exist amongst all people of color- think not, travel a little and you'll see. You'll see so-called Africans and African-Americans from very dark to virtually white. You'll see the same amongst so-called Latin Americans, Asians, and even Native Americans. We are the first people on the planet descended from the heavens, space, the infinite blackness of the mind. This is where we come from, the deepest regions of the mind where thought is formed. And through space and time, manifested in our current form, continuing the creative power of the universe in this, the physical realm.
Elijah Muhammad used to speak on the Native American and like many people in his day, and in this day, referred to the Indigenous American as the 'Red Man'. He explained that during the selective birthing process it took to bring about white people, the 600 years grafting process, Yakub had to travel through each shade of the Original man. By taking the genes as far from there origin as possible he was able to graft the genes of the blackman, by seperating the genes and thinning the blood. This was done until the seed was no more 'original.' Elijah says the process started with the black which produced the brown, red, yellow and then the white germ. This is not to say that these germs or genes did not exist prior to the whiteman's creation. It simply speaks to the shades that had to be directly altered and tampered with during 'this process'. However, if the process took 600 years and it was advised that it took 200 years to get from one shade to the next, the process would have really taken 800 years.
Thus, we do not refer to the Native American as 'red'. He is an Original blackman. Although many are predominately 'brown and yellow' in these days and times. Many Indigenous men and women have a deep copper tone or tint to their 'brownness' which gives their complexion a 'reddish' undertone. I see this as another means to seperate the Original people, by instigating labels and definitions. There were Native tribal Nations who intentionally wore red paint on their bodies which as well contributed to the Europeans close-mindedness and lack of understanding.
"One thing that is known about the Beothuk was their love of the color red. While the use of red ocre was common among Native Americans, no other tribe used it as extensively as the Beothuk. They literally covered everything - their bodies, faces, hair, clothing, personal possessions, and tools - with a red paint made from powdered ochre mixed with either fish oil or animal grease. It was also employed in burials. The reasons are unknown, but speculation has ranged from their religion (about which we know very little) to protection from insects. The practice was so excessive, even the Micmac referred to them as the Red Indians, and it is believed the term "redskin" used for Native Americans probably originated from early contacts between European fishermen and Beothuk."- http://www.tolatsga.org/beot
Below is an article (old but very applicable) about labels and images in society. It shows how the image of the Indigenous man and woman has been exploited. It serves as an example of what happens when someone takes your identity from you and our struggle to reclaim it. One way is to redefine ourselves in the face of those who claim to know us so well. Words are not just words anymore, as evidence to the English languages. Words mean so much more and can never be taken lightly. Even though we give the word itself it's meaning, those in power do the same. Those who oppress do often times do so through words, images and other forms of propaganda. They intend to paint what they want you to see. This is how they continue to control public opinion, or at least, the appearance of one.
Seeing Red over 'Redskins'
by Bill Fletcher
November 23, 2003
"It's football season and I feel the same way I do every autumn. Perhaps it is just that I want to have a team that I can follow and root for. I don't know, but my stomach turns each year with both anger and disappointment.
I am not going to repeat all of the reasons that the name of the 'Washington Redskins' is so offensive to Native Americans and anyone else who believes in respecting human beings.
I am not going to remind an audience of African-Americans what it would feel like if the team were known as the Washington Niggers, or if there were the New York Coons, or if a WNBA team had been known as the Chicago Aunt Jemima's. These points have all been made time and again. What is striking is that despite these points being made that there is not a broader cry for the altering of the Washington Redskins' name, and for that matter, the elimination of other names insulting to Native Americans. I am struck that, even among African- Americans, there is not a widespread cry that we have had enough of such language, and of such insults. Consider for a moment the outcry from Black America about the continued use of the Confederate flag in many Southern states.
Consider for a moment your reaction when you drive past a truck, car or motorcycle displaying a Confederate flag? For most of us of African descent, a Confederate flag is equivalent to the displaying of a Nazi flag. In response, some White people say that the flag is nothing of the kind, but a symbol of the heritage of the South. I don't know one thinking African-American who accepts such an explanation.
Yet, when it comes to displays insulting to Native American, many of us are willing to take a pass. We act as if it were a small thing; at best a minor scratch, not to be addressed. I will remember that the next time I hear someone talk about the Confederate flag.
The explanations - actually excuses - offered for why the Redskins cannot change their name are disingenuous to be the point of being absurd. Teams regularly change their names, and not just when they change cities. It is not that difficult.
So, then, why no outcry? It feels as if we have become hardened, or perhaps cynical, about the implications of genocide. Perhaps were there many more Native Americans protesting, we would sense that something is absolutely wrong with these insults. Given their relatively small numbers, and the press blackout or, frequently, press marginalization of Native American protests, many of us can sit back comfortably and believe that such outbursts are of little consequence.
Yet, when I hear the name 'Redskins,' I not only think of the insults regularly and historically thrown at African-Americans, but I also think about the demonization of the current 'enemy' รข€"Arabs and Muslims. In much the same way that Native Americans are not treated as genuine human beings - either romanticized, now that millions of them are dead, or demonized as savages and alcoholics - so, too, have been Arabs and Muslims. Idiotic statements and caricatures can be made of Arabs and Muslims and too many of us don't bat an eyelid. Jokes are regularly made, turning Arabs and Muslims into something other than human beings; jokes about a religion with more than 1 billion followers.
So, when I insist that something needs to be done about the name of the 'Washington Redskins,' it is not just that I believe that it is an insult to Native Americans, though that would be enough to demand a change. Rather it is in addition a demand against the continuous and racist demonization of the enemy of the month, or in the case of Native Americans, the enemy of the last five centuries. This is demanding a lot of the United States, I realize, since it is a demand for settling accounts with the actual history of the U.S.A., a history that involved massive genocide against the original inhabitants of this land, the theft of their land and the destruction of their civilizations. For African- Americans it should not be too big a leap for us to realize which side we should be on. So, if you want to do something other than simply shake your head, I hope you are in agreement with my suggestions."- www.znet.org
Language gives you the ability to define reality for one's self. In the Bible, supposedly God gave man the ability to speak firstly, the ability to give names to all the animals in the garden. This can be interpreted as meaning or signifying the value of language. For once one can 'give names' to things, those things become subjected to our perception. This kindles our ability to control our our destiny to live as we understand and to define ourselves. It fuels self-determination.
The oppressors, understanding this, devised ways to take our language from us. They changed the method and mode of communication between man and woman, brother and sister. In the western hemisphere, the campaign of coloniazation and chattel slavery was carried out against Native Americans and Africans. Both, enslaved together, shackled, beaten, raped, killed. Our language and culture was stripped from us and supplanted with another's culture. This attempt was made as an effort to have us internalize someone's else views and perspective of us. We were stripped our our ability to simply be us. Most of us were given new names and identities, methods of enforcing division and seperation amongst us, preventing unification, organization, and rebellion.
In an effort to relcaim our history, identity and sense of self we often times seek out language. We or what is speaking to us in a way we can understand. We often seek the language of our specific lineage of people. B-u-t beyond that, beyond Arawak, Sioux, Algonquin, Amharic, Ki-Swahili, and verbal languages of the world exist our languages. Other forms of communication. Body language, music, art, Morse Code, Plains Indian sign language are all forms of language and ways of communication. These are all ways to exchange ideas on the social level, amongst social creatures.
Within the Nation of Gods and Earths we speak 'mathematics'. By this, we do not mean that we mumble numbers an equations to each other. We live by a value system based on the numbers 1-9 and 0 which we call the 'Supreme Mathematics', and the letters A-Z which we call the 'Supreme Alphabet'. This was a system developed by Allah and serves foundation of our ideology and a way of living. Each number and letter corresponds with a specific principle, each having a value, to be practiced daily. This values are the summation of the universe's most apparent principles of operation. We equate our value system and it's simplicity to the system which holds the universe together, which is ultimately the science of mathematics. This is, how we are able to speak the language of the universe in this day and time. Everything is operating according to the principles of mathematics. Mathematics is the most universal language, from cell to cell. Regardless to the words you may use for the numbers '1' and '2', their values remain the same everywhere on the planet and throughout the known cosmos.
So in the social contex, the Supreme Mathematics serve as a mental/social model for human development. Many of the principles are familiar terms with unfamiliar definitions. The definitions have been revised and made more applicable to the reality we create and experience on a day to day basis. We have reharnassed the ability to self-define and have done so, starting with one of the most popular words in the English language- GOD. By this stance of redefinition, by reanalyzing the world and seeing ourselves within it and it within us, the Nation of Gods and Earths serves as a 'resistance movement'. We are resisting the state/system and it's sanctions and definitions placed upon us. We are reclaiming ourselves and rewriting history, rather than seeking self-definition in a place and time that no longer exist and a people who have forever been changed.
Most than just a word, the concept of 'race' as well has been redefined. Allah's vision was for all the Original people to be brought together. In unity. This was to be done by the reuniting of the 'seeds' (men). Allah wanted to bring the shades of the Original man together- black, brown and yellow. Each seed represents a specific 'shade' or variation thereof. However, this classification spoke to shade and not ethnicity. In a superificial society we have been conditioned to yearn to be other than who we are and subconciously many of us want to be 'white.' Many of us look down upon our darker brother and sister. Many of us deny any African or Indian blood and have looked toward Europe or the US as the ultimate authority. We have relinquished our power to the overbearing influence of colonization. Allah promoted the unity of all the Original people, the first people on the planet. He wanted to bring us together and show us we are all one people, regardless to our unique customs, cultures and ethinicities. We are all of the same family, the BLACK family.
A lot of people will shy away from the term 'black'. They will insist that they are not 'black.' There is a difference between being 'black' and being so-called 'African American'. The shades of the black family according to Allah are- black, brown and yellow. These three main variations exist amongst all people of color- think not, travel a little and you'll see. You'll see so-called Africans and African-Americans from very dark to virtually white. You'll see the same amongst so-called Latin Americans, Asians, and even Native Americans. We are the first people on the planet descended from the heavens, space, the infinite blackness of the mind. This is where we come from, the deepest regions of the mind where thought is formed. And through space and time, manifested in our current form, continuing the creative power of the universe in this, the physical realm.
Elijah Muhammad used to speak on the Native American and like many people in his day, and in this day, referred to the Indigenous American as the 'Red Man'. He explained that during the selective birthing process it took to bring about white people, the 600 years grafting process, Yakub had to travel through each shade of the Original man. By taking the genes as far from there origin as possible he was able to graft the genes of the blackman, by seperating the genes and thinning the blood. This was done until the seed was no more 'original.' Elijah says the process started with the black which produced the brown, red, yellow and then the white germ. This is not to say that these germs or genes did not exist prior to the whiteman's creation. It simply speaks to the shades that had to be directly altered and tampered with during 'this process'. However, if the process took 600 years and it was advised that it took 200 years to get from one shade to the next, the process would have really taken 800 years.
Thus, we do not refer to the Native American as 'red'. He is an Original blackman. Although many are predominately 'brown and yellow' in these days and times. Many Indigenous men and women have a deep copper tone or tint to their 'brownness' which gives their complexion a 'reddish' undertone. I see this as another means to seperate the Original people, by instigating labels and definitions. There were Native tribal Nations who intentionally wore red paint on their bodies which as well contributed to the Europeans close-mindedness and lack of understanding.
"One thing that is known about the Beothuk was their love of the color red. While the use of red ocre was common among Native Americans, no other tribe used it as extensively as the Beothuk. They literally covered everything - their bodies, faces, hair, clothing, personal possessions, and tools - with a red paint made from powdered ochre mixed with either fish oil or animal grease. It was also employed in burials. The reasons are unknown, but speculation has ranged from their religion (about which we know very little) to protection from insects. The practice was so excessive, even the Micmac referred to them as the Red Indians, and it is believed the term "redskin" used for Native Americans probably originated from early contacts between European fishermen and Beothuk."- http://www.tolatsga.org/beot
Below is an article (old but very applicable) about labels and images in society. It shows how the image of the Indigenous man and woman has been exploited. It serves as an example of what happens when someone takes your identity from you and our struggle to reclaim it. One way is to redefine ourselves in the face of those who claim to know us so well. Words are not just words anymore, as evidence to the English languages. Words mean so much more and can never be taken lightly. Even though we give the word itself it's meaning, those in power do the same. Those who oppress do often times do so through words, images and other forms of propaganda. They intend to paint what they want you to see. This is how they continue to control public opinion, or at least, the appearance of one.
Seeing Red over 'Redskins'
by Bill Fletcher
November 23, 2003
"It's football season and I feel the same way I do every autumn. Perhaps it is just that I want to have a team that I can follow and root for. I don't know, but my stomach turns each year with both anger and disappointment.
I am not going to repeat all of the reasons that the name of the 'Washington Redskins' is so offensive to Native Americans and anyone else who believes in respecting human beings.
I am not going to remind an audience of African-Americans what it would feel like if the team were known as the Washington Niggers, or if there were the New York Coons, or if a WNBA team had been known as the Chicago Aunt Jemima's. These points have all been made time and again. What is striking is that despite these points being made that there is not a broader cry for the altering of the Washington Redskins' name, and for that matter, the elimination of other names insulting to Native Americans. I am struck that, even among African- Americans, there is not a widespread cry that we have had enough of such language, and of such insults. Consider for a moment the outcry from Black America about the continued use of the Confederate flag in many Southern states.
Consider for a moment your reaction when you drive past a truck, car or motorcycle displaying a Confederate flag? For most of us of African descent, a Confederate flag is equivalent to the displaying of a Nazi flag. In response, some White people say that the flag is nothing of the kind, but a symbol of the heritage of the South. I don't know one thinking African-American who accepts such an explanation.
Yet, when it comes to displays insulting to Native American, many of us are willing to take a pass. We act as if it were a small thing; at best a minor scratch, not to be addressed. I will remember that the next time I hear someone talk about the Confederate flag.
The explanations - actually excuses - offered for why the Redskins cannot change their name are disingenuous to be the point of being absurd. Teams regularly change their names, and not just when they change cities. It is not that difficult.
So, then, why no outcry? It feels as if we have become hardened, or perhaps cynical, about the implications of genocide. Perhaps were there many more Native Americans protesting, we would sense that something is absolutely wrong with these insults. Given their relatively small numbers, and the press blackout or, frequently, press marginalization of Native American protests, many of us can sit back comfortably and believe that such outbursts are of little consequence.
Yet, when I hear the name 'Redskins,' I not only think of the insults regularly and historically thrown at African-Americans, but I also think about the demonization of the current 'enemy' รข€"Arabs and Muslims. In much the same way that Native Americans are not treated as genuine human beings - either romanticized, now that millions of them are dead, or demonized as savages and alcoholics - so, too, have been Arabs and Muslims. Idiotic statements and caricatures can be made of Arabs and Muslims and too many of us don't bat an eyelid. Jokes are regularly made, turning Arabs and Muslims into something other than human beings; jokes about a religion with more than 1 billion followers.
So, when I insist that something needs to be done about the name of the 'Washington Redskins,' it is not just that I believe that it is an insult to Native Americans, though that would be enough to demand a change. Rather it is in addition a demand against the continuous and racist demonization of the enemy of the month, or in the case of Native Americans, the enemy of the last five centuries. This is demanding a lot of the United States, I realize, since it is a demand for settling accounts with the actual history of the U.S.A., a history that involved massive genocide against the original inhabitants of this land, the theft of their land and the destruction of their civilizations. For African- Americans it should not be too big a leap for us to realize which side we should be on. So, if you want to do something other than simply shake your head, I hope you are in agreement with my suggestions."- www.znet.org
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