10.20.2009

Historia de Allah y Los 'Five Percenters'




Historia de Allah y Los 'Five Percenters'

Allah físicamente nació en el 22 de Febrero 1928 en Danville, VA. El nacio Clarence Edward Smith. El tuvo artos hermanos. Su madre lo apodó "Puddin". En una joven edad, en los tempranos 1940, su madre fue a NY para trabajar y Allah viajó con ella, trabajando donde podia, uno de que fue un soporte de fruta. El también desarrolló un amor por las apuestas.

El encontró finalmente Wileen Jowars con quien él tuvo a un niños. Para demostrar a su familia él no fue apretado para tener una mujer (la madre de Wileen no permitiría que ella casarselo) él encontró finalmente y tuvo a niños con otra mujer Dora denominado. En 1952 Allah entró en el Ejército y sirvió en la Guerra de Korea durante 7 años. El soporto cada una de sus familias con las apuestas y enbiaba el dinero por correo a cada una de sus familias.

Allah volvió a casa y encontró que su "mujer" Dora había unido la Nación de Islam, y el se unio tambien. Allah pasó 3 años en Mezquita No. 7, que en ese momento fue dirigido por Malcom X. El vendió papeles y llegó a ser finalmente muy capaz en su memorización y recitiation de las "lecciones" o la Sabiduría Suprema como los musulmanes lo llaman. (Nosotros le llamamos “120 grados/degrees"). El vino finalmente a su propia comprensión de que él mismo es Dios y comenzó a propagar esto en la Mezquita. Los musulmanes bajo Elijah Muhammad enseñaron que el hombre negro fue Dios por la naturaleza pero por ellos todavía "veneraron" a un hombre denominada W. D. Fard, un hombre y el cofundador pakistaníes de la Nación de Islam. Allah no se abonaría a esto porque si hay sólo UN DIOS y su nombre es ALLAH, cómo Fard era Dios y "él" no fue? El hombre Original, el hombre negro, es UNO.También, que el "hombre negro" son todos hombres de color- de indios a africano a asiáticos. Esto, por supuesto, incluye llamado latinoamericanos. Todos somo parte de la "familia negra" y manifesto por sombras diferentes de la oscuridad- de la oscuridad para encender. Nuestro "color" viene de nuestra melanina, basado en el "Carbón" de elemento, el elemento "negro". También a causa de nuestro origen cósmico entre el sol, la luna y las estrellas. La oscuridad del universo. La oscuridad de la mente. Todos descendemos de las primeras personas en el planeta.

Allah, siendo de la calle, lo tomó sobre él mismo dejar la Mezquita con otro hermano Abu Shahid (se refirió a como el 'Semilla Marron de Padre'/ Father's Brown Seed). Ellos dejaron las Mezquita y volvieron a las calles (conseguir dinero como Abu Shahid me ha dicho). Ahi fue cuando Allah tomó su nombre y comenzó a referirse a él mismo como "ALLAH". El entonces comenzó a enseñar quién él era a los niños en la calle.

La primera persona que él enseñó fue una juventud 'Matthew', que despues fue llamado "Karriem". Allah le dio el nombre de "Mesías Negro" (Black Messiah). Esto fue porque él fue una semilla "negra" (piel oscura), una semilla del "conocimiento", como decimos (1,2,3-, conocimiento,sabiduría, comprendimiento- negro, marrón, amarillo). Allah entonces enseñó a 8 otros jóvenes, junto con Mesías Negro/Black Messiah, quien es referido como el 'Primero Nacido'. Todos estuvieron entre las edades de 14 y 19. Y ellos son así:

Black Messiah
Bisme Allah
Al-Jamil
Akbar
Uhuru
Kiheem
ABG#7
First Born Prince
I-Salaam

El más joven fue Kiheem (14) y el más viejo I-Salaam (19). Cada uno fue instruido en ensenar a 9 hombres para crecer y multiplicarse. En este momento ellos fueron referidos como Allah's 'Five Percenters'. Allah primero los había traído junto en el 10 de octubre 1964 ('día 1' o el año 1964 son considerados' año 1') instruirlos en su misión.

Mientras en la calle Allah había ligado con una persona que fue anteriormente en la Mezquita pero que la había dejado antes- un hombre llamado Justicia (que fue también referrd a como "Jesus", 'Jimmy Jam' o Cuatro Cifra Akbar/Four Cipher Akbar). En la Primavera de 1965, Allah fue detenido para la alteración del orden público, por negar de separar una "cifra" en medio de una acera en la petición de un oficial.

Allah fue traído antes del Juez Francis X O'Brian, donde él solicitó para defenderse, desde que él fue "Allah". El Juez lo consideró "loco" (técnicamente- 'criminalmente loco') y él fue enviado al barrio psiquiátrico del hospital de Bellevue. Esto es donde él encontró y enseñó el primer miembro Caucasico de las Nación (que tenia15 o 16 anos en aquel momento), quien él denominó "Azrael". Allah fue transferido finalmente interior a Beacon, NY al Hospital psiquiátrico del Estado de Mattewan durante un apagón, en tentativas al seperate él de los jóvenes Five Percenters (debilitar su influencia y separarnos). Allah sirvió 22 meses en individual. El fue soltado en la Primavera de 1967.

Ese fue el mismo año que nuestra Bandera Universal de Islam fue diseñada por Universal Shammgaud Allah. El primer "Parlamento Universal" tomo lugar en abril de 1967 en Mt. Morris Park en Harlem. Al tiempo que esto paso ya habian cientos de jovenes que eran Five Percenters. La extensión del Conocimiento salio de Meca (Harlem) y fue a Medina (Brooklyn) a Pelan (Bronx) y entonces a los otros barrios. Entonces fue a Springfield, Massachussetts y entonces a Philadelphia.

Barry Gotherer, la ayuda al Alcalde John V Lindsay de NY fue hecho responsable con establecer una relación con Allah 'limitar cualquier violencia' desde que nosotros fuimos considerados por las autoridades como un 'la pandilla de la calle de juventud'. Barry Gotherer y Allah llegaron a ser muy cercanos, y con la asistencia de Barry tuvimos nuestro primer Parlamento. El ayudó a conseguirnos alfileres de la bandera Universal de solapa que adornarían nuestros nombres justos, para que podamos ser identificados como Five Percenters y no musulmanes. Barry también consiguió la ciudad para proporcionar autobuses para tomar a los niños al parque y a la playa. También, él pudo obtener el apoyo de la ciudad para patrocinar paseos para el jóvenes. Finalmente, la ciudad en conjunción con la Liga Urbana nos dio nuestra primera escuela, conocido como la Escuela de Alá en Meca, para $1 un mes durante 99 años.

12 de junio, fue la última vez que cualquiera habló con Allah, como él construyó durante horas en la ciencia de hombre y mujer en la Escuela de Alá. Esto fue cuando él reveló a ellos que ellos hacen ya no es el suyo 'Five Percenters', que ellos serían el suyo 'la Nación de Dios y Tierras'. Allah fue asesinado la mañana temprana de 13 de junio, 1969 en el elevador de la construcción de su madre. El fue disparado 7 veces. El asesina nunca fue resuelto.

*Un par de otras cosas para señalar en fue que el nombre de la primera Tierra fue "Hermana Carmen", una hermana de puertorriqueño que fue la mujer de Abu Shahid. La Tierra tiene su propia lista de la Tierra primero nacida que puedo proporcionar a usted en una fecha posterior. También, la primera latina en la Nacion fue una 'Regla nacida del Poder' (o "Power Rule" en ingles- PR, el abreviation para 'puertorriqueño') nombre fue 'Kendu Islam'. Algún otro primer nacido latina fue primo físico de Kendu- Allah Sha Sha, y Monique. Kendu y Sha Sha tomaron las enseñanzas a Puerto Rico en los tardes 1970. Ellos abrieron aún la "Escuela de Alá/Allah's school" en San Juan estuvo sólo abierto durante unos pocos años. Esa fue la primera ves que las enseñanzas fueron llevadas al Caribe e Latinoamérica.

Paz!

(Compuesto y traducido por Sha-King Cehum Allah- 2009)

10.12.2009

Reconsidering Columbus Day



Reconsider Columbus Day and the implications it has regarding America's amnesia towards the Indigenous holocaust.

Proper Education Allows for Cultural Emergence

PEACE!

9.24.2009

Indigenous Representation @Pittsburgh G-20



Myself, Boriken Afro-Taino, present at the G-20 summit in my home city, Pittsburgh. Here is a video of a protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Viva La Revolucion!

9.14.2009

"Somos Originales"




Article from- "Knowledge of Self Anthology: A Collection of Wisdom on the Science of Everything in Life"

Somos Originales
By Sha-King Cehum Allah

The ‘Americas’ have long been considered a melting pot of sorts for various cultures and ethnicities. This is especially true when we consider the institution of slavery. Across North, Central and South America, Native, African , European and even Asian chromosomes have been infused through the hard times and hunger brought on by colonialism. Yet, it is the predominance of the African and “Indian” blood and culture that serves as the main pillars of civilization on these continents.

The merging of the African and Indian is what brought forth the reality of the "so-called Latino." For the two centuries we have been told that we are a ‘tri-racial peoples‘, a cosmic combination consisting of African, Indian and Spanish (European) blood. Yet, the focus has always been put on the 'Spanish' lineage as the result of self-esteem issues and cultural conditioning. We have a tendency to associate with that which is 'lighter' or that which is seen as closer to 'white', while at the same time pushing ourselves away from that which is ‘dark’ and embracing 'blackness' because our overseers and educators stipulated it as a 'sin' and equated it with inferiority. This is the unfortunate by-product of the mental and physical slavery we have endured. While there are many black and brown 'Latinos' and Native Americans, a large segment of our populations is 'yellow'. This has been exploited by our oppressors and has contributed to the masses of people's lack of understanding of who they really are. We have been psychological diced up and separated from ourselves. This acquisition and merger of Native and African culture and people is not solely the result of slavery and stands as a testament to who we are, beyond the Spanish interjection and inference. The Spanish no doubt have a role in our history and cultura from language to religion, but can not and are not the anchor for our identity. We are the Original people on this part of the planet earth- Nativos y Africanos. One people.

Many Native Americans, as well as so-called Latin Americans, have the misconception that the mixing of African and Indian was something that was primarily characteristic of the Caribbean, South and Central America, and the U.S. South, as the result of chattel slavery. Research and studies have shown from archaeology and anthropology that African peoples were traveling to the Americas, trading and building with the Native peoples, a considerable amount of time before the arrival of Columbus. Most of the supportive evidence has been found throughout Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. Still much evidence shows and proves this taking place in North America as well, especially from the tribal stories handed down through the centuries, like those of the Anishnabe/Chippewa and the tale of Neganii and Abukar. Upon the advent of chattel slavery, they continued merging together for survival and developed many settlements throughout North, Central and South America.

These interactions between Original peoples reveal more about the “Americas” than we have ever been taught in school, and verify the forging together of a new cultural identity prior to what many Euro-centrists attribute as a result of slavery.

We came together prior to colonialism and not just ‘in the struggle’ and poverty of the urban jungle, cotton fields or encomiendas. The coming together and existing together of both peoples was essentially ‘nation building’ and reasonably the foundation for Elijah Muhammad’s use of the terminology 'Original Nation' in reference to the collective African-Indian population in America. This is a very important concept to understand giving that a large population of so-called African Americans possess Native blood just as many so-called Latin Americans possess African blood. The basis for Native and African peoples coming together is both cultural and political, while usually only seen as political in modern times. The perspective and assumption for it to be solely political, limits our understanding of each other and ourselves, as well as our ability to continue to elevate to our highest state of consciousness and existence. We are brothers and sisters and are literally, one people. The Original people.

We have been bombarded with notions of an “Espana” motherland from the start of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. It was the conquistadores, themselves of questionable ethnic origin, that perpetuated the idea of whiteness based on the ‘one drop’ theory, a contrast to it’s role in North American racial ideology- ‘one drop’ of black blood makes you ‘black’. It is through this mental framework that they would subdue the masses of African and Native people, seizing their identity as they raped and pillaged our women, replacing our self-esteem with obligations to the crown and church. Not only were we separated from our people and our legacy, we were further separated from our true selves by nationalism. New labels of identification were instituted as the countries of the Americas eventually fought for and obtained independence from Spain and other European empires. New labels that forced us to identity with our oppressor and unite under ’his’ common cause.

These labels- mestizo, mulatto, zambo, pardo, and triguena- were conceived with the intent to further divide us from ourselves and each other. Although, these labels would eventually take a back seat in favor of ’nationalism’. It should be noted that the independence movement in Latin America was headed by the intellectuals and elites. As they sought independence from Spain, the cause to fight became the propaganda for a common reality they all shared in being 'oppressed' by Spain. This common reality became 'nationalism' and ended up being to Latin America what liberalism was to the United States. However in many cases the revolution simmered down, people's vision were lost, and the oppression of Spain was replaced by the oppression of the intellectual elite of the European colonizers.

In time, they then sought a common identity, something that spoke out to the universal heritage and infusion of blood throughout Latin America. It was an identity that was to speak to the differences between those born in ‘Las Americas’ and the ‘Peninsulares’ (those born on the Iberian peninsula- Spain and Portugal). This identity would serve to tie them into the 'new land' where many of them were born, and highlighted the bloodline that birthed this new reality. This concept was Indigenismo. Yet, it did not represent truly the identity of the people but rather utilized the notion of the “Indians” as a novelty and placed it within the bounds of being a ‘heritage’ as opposed to ethnic or racial identity. It would later take on even more momentum as a tool against the campaign of ‘mestizaje’ or the ‘whitening’ of society, that took place during the mid to late 1800’s and which still persists today. It would become the rallying cry for such revolutionary figures as Augustino Cesar Sandino and Emiliano Zapata against the oppression of the ruling class.

Indigenismo is a wonderful concept. Even more powerful is it's application and implementation. That is, when the seed is cast out to be sown and takes root amongst the hearts and minds of the people. Something even more eventful than the blooming of flowers and the fruit of the crops. It is the moment when the seed is planted, when it actually resonates within a person or people. Indigenismo has been such a unifying concept through the 'Americas'. Yet like most things positive and unifying, there are those who are opposed to it. Through out 'Latin America' it has been the ruling oligarchies, the Euro-elite, whom undoubtedly were victims of the colonial education system and whose influences came from the European "Enlightenment" period of the 1800’s, who have opposed this idea with ferocity. It is they and their descendants, whom nowadays, have plagued us with the label of being nothing more than a 'mixed raced people', with no real point of origin. Owing ourselves and our livelihood to that 'Iberian connection', a perspective which is termed 'hispanismo'. And thus, the introduction and usage of the term 'hispanic.'

The use of this terminology was then able to tie non-European peoples into an identity centered-around conquest. In lands colonized by English-speaking Europeans- Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, etc., the people ended up viewing “England” as their motherland. Nowadays our people freely refer to themselves as ‘Hispanic’ and especially “Spanish”. Although we may continue to speak in the tongue of our conquerors, let it be understood that “Castillian” is not our original language. Still, many Spanish-speaking people are adamant about speaking the colonizers language, which allows them to relish in the desire to be other than our own selves. The manner in which someone speaks the language is considered a status of one’s social and cultural status, as many countries pride themselves on speaking, what they consider to be, the closest to how it is spoken in Spain. Still, each Latin American countries dialect(s) is unique and is reflective of the Indigenous and African peoples that lived in those areas and very much a mirror of the suppressed identity of the people.

“Inside every mestizo there is either one dead Indian, or an Indian waiting to re-emerge” -Jose Barreiro, Guajira-Taino Scholar and Editor of ‘Indian County’

Since their empires have been built from our blood and bondage, they ultimately fear that which will unseat them from their colonial thrones. So they have down played the Indian and African in us. Yet, it was the Indian and African in us that would not accept a life of servitude. As I have touched on before, to ‘identify with the oppressor’ is the goal of the imperial indoctrination and colonialism. This mentality they have sought to kindle in us to maintain their status quo and prevent 'us' from reclaiming power over our own destinies. Historians, intellectuals, government officials, have often made claims that the 'Indians' in Latin America were all wiped out, especially in Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. This outrageous claim is far from the truth. The classification of who and what we are has been in the hands of those who sought to exploit us. History has been recorded by those who have conquered and pillaged. ‘Their’ writings only serve as propaganda to authorize and justify their cruel treatment of the Original inhabitants of this part of the planet earth. But again, they do this to prevent any potential of us destabilizing their colonial power and reclaiming our lands, let alone our identity. They do this to make us think we are all different and to prevent a mass uprising of the marginalized, the voicing of our condition and demand for our rights across the planet. It prevents us from learning and cherishing our history. For a people without a history have no future. They want us to believe our history began in 1492 and that it started with them.

They have fomented a popular mentality that makes a mockery of anyone who attempts to reclaim their Native ancestry. And the most contemporary example would be us, so-called Latin Americans. Making knowledge born (making information known) and attempting to unify people around who we are is simply brushed off by the main stream and viewed as a fledgling attempt at planting our own roots and staking claim to geography (as the U.S. and Latin America colonizers are guilty of). While intension of what appears to be ‘land grabs’ are assumed, this is far from the truth. The truth being that “we are the Original people”. We are “los indios”, whether full-blood or mestizo or zambo. Of course, this is something they do not want to admit because of it’s implications of the eventual displacing of European descendants from our land. All the more reason for the reclassifying job done on race and ethnicity by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000. By placing “Latinos” in the category of ‘white‘, it boosts their population numbers and is an extremely political move. One that will have continued cultural consequences via the constant barrage of Euro-centric propaganda. It's bad enough that we've had to deal with the mind set of "the whiter the better" for over 516 years throughout Latin America. People are still being forced to compromise their identity to move ahead in society.

The revisions in the Census Bureau’s survey classifications on race having merged the "Hispanic" population into the "White" category was deliberate. White people are very aware that they are about to become the minority in their own country and this is just one effort in reversing the state of things and discouraging the unity of the Original people. They take the largest and fastest growing "minority" in America, covering them under the cloak of "tricknowledge" and white supremacy by calling them white. This is what happened in 1846 after the United States ‘stole’ the Republic of Texas from our Mexican brothers and sisters, and called it an "annexation". The majority of white settlers in Texas were slave holders and the U.S. government feared that revenge would be taken by the Mexicans and the other Original people who resided there. To prevent an uprising they classified "Mexicans" as "white" (despite their overwhelming Indian bloodline), a label which continued to appear of Texan birth certificates until the 1960's. "Mexica" is actually the name of the people we refer to as the ‘Aztecs‘. The ’Aztec” was conjured up by historians due to their proposed ancient homeland "Aztlan"- Southwestern U.S.) Regardless to one's actually skin color, there is much more in their bio-chemical make-up that constitutes who they are. Someone may appear 'white', but they aren't. The are light-skinned “people of color”, and their 'blood' and DNA bears witness. As Original people we range from very dark to very light. However, many remain confused due to how we were/are educated and saturated with notions of “Spain’ and Europe, yearning to be other than our own selves.

The people whom descend from the lands of so-called Latin America have a color complex. Many of us still think that “white is right”. We continue to link our reality back to a population and culture who are un-alike us, simply because of language, religion, and certain elements of our traditions. Many of us actuality believe the lies and think that we are “Spanish”, in spite of our latent embrace of ‘indigenismo’. We have been taught that we have Indian in us but we aren’t Indian. We have been told that we have African in us but that we aren’t African. We end up psychologically ‘riding the fence’ and making racial selections to suit our needs in society. Still, by the hand of the oppressor, indigenismo ended up only being a buffer to keep from being called “black”. While it has been documented that 85% of Dominicans have black blood, Carol Amoruso, editor of the Hispanic Village, in her series entitled “Explorations in Black and Tan” noted: “At the same time, a great number of Dominicans still reject their blackness. In an article I wrote for the Hispanic American Village in 2002, I interviewed Dominican aestheticians, specialists in hair relaxing, proud of their ability to make black seem white. Observed one, "…we do not say that we are black. We invent a lot of names for our skin, like indio claro, indio lava[d]o or indio canela, but never black. So, the idea is to make you look white if you are black. They teach us that in the Dominican Republic.”


Indigenismo has been a double-edged sword. While unifying in many ways, it has been used at the hands of the elites to reshape 'Latin American' society in their particular image and taste. They purported that the average everyday Latino was a 'mestizo', a ‘mixture’ of Spanish , Indian and African. However, this perspective was adopted to create a false sense of 'equality' throughout society and served their purposes as a compliment to nationalism, attempting to erase any evidences or situations that could potentially spark future revolutions and revolts. The ‘Indianess’ of indigenismo served to distinguish between being looked at as 'white' and being looked at as 'black', which was far worse for the intellectual overseer's. Once formulated, this concept was then packaged in the form of literature and sent out to penetrate the mindset of the people. Yet all the while, telling the masses of Indian/African people that the majority of Indians died out or had mixed with the Africans so much that no one was actually 'black' or 'African' or 'Indian' anymore. And thus, Carol Amoruso, also noted in her series about recent immigrants to the United States- “The new Latinos come mostly from the Latin American mainland where the culture is more “indio” and European.” Most people from countries such as Mexico, Peru or El Salvador will claim to have "no black in them" when this is far from the truth. Nowadays, biologically speaking, while most people who are so called Puerto Rican, Dominican or Cuban have Indian, African and European blood, so do many other people throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America. The presence of Afro-Indio culture and blood has always been very abundant, even after the decimation of the people, especially population wise . On page 29 of "Black Indians", author William Loren Katz states: "By 1650 Mexico alone had an African-Indian population (some with white ancestry) of one hundred thousand. A new race was being born." Still, many Mexica continue the propaganda that Mexicans are not ‘black‘, and that only certain towns and neighborhoods have "black blood", although the truth continues to remain.

Many of our brothers and sisters who come to the U.S. from Central America are very indigenous in appearance. On face value, through media, we look over these people as 'Mexicans', not aware of their unique history. They too, have had considerable amounts of African blood infused into them, although they may contest it. Especially mi gente from Cuscatlan or as the devil now calls “El Salvador.” Descendants of the Pipil peoples, who are actually of the Maya, Salvi's or Salvadorenos have been institutionally and systemically conditioned to think they are different from Africans and have no African blood in them. They have been the victims of a vicious campaign, similar to that which took place in the Dominican Republic under Presidente Rafael Trujillo when he made every effort to 'whiten' society by killing thousands of Haitians and reducing the African presence in the Dominican Republic down to a myth. This is truth, not a conspiracy theory, and far from a mere political ploy to 'unite' the two groups of Original people under false bonds for the benefit of bi-partisan struggle. Many brothers and sisters who are Indigenous and are of the Pan-Indigenous Diaspora actually exist within the African Diaspora as well. With this truth in mind, while someone may chose to embrace one people over the other (usually due to upbringing or life experience), we must strive to embrace both, as both peoples are who we are.

It is very important to understand our relationship to each other and that we are really all one family- we are all of the ‘black family‘. We, however, exist within distinct degrees of melanin, which we call 'shades of black' within the Nation of Gods and Earths, defined as: black, brown and yellow. "Black" is typically seen as just a 'color' and most often associated with ’skin’ color, but it isn't a stagnant or fixed idea. It is dynamic. What is "black" in social standards varies with countries and cultures to be sure, which is the reason why so many so-called Latinos are reluctant to embrace the term. We also must look at the world and universe around us. Do not be blinded by the illusion of the daytime, for even our ancestors knew that the universe and space is black. The illumination of the Sun was born out of the blackness of this space and subsequently everything else in the universe and our solar system. The first organism of our intellectual and social capabilities to manifest presence on our planet, human being, has been recognized in science and anthropology as "black". This does not mean that were 'as' black as the universe, but a manifestation, in the physical degree, and a supreme embodiment of the sub-atomic intelligence that drives energy through it's different forms and brings forth life and matter. The word 'black' has more of a political connotation for us as human beings, especially nowadays, so someone who is referred to as 'black' isn't literally 'black'. And within the Nation of Gods and Earths we use it to define all people of color, regardless of their shade, as a term of solidarity and reverence for our common origin, whether cosmic or in terms of civilizations. Still, in the mainstream, Puerto Ricans (along with other so-called Latinos) who assert our Blackness are not only outcast by those who identify more so with their Spanish conqueror than their African ancestors, but are also shunned by so-called African Americans who do not see us as ‘black.’ Irregardless, whether someone is Navajo, Quechua, Mandinga, Ghanian or even Hmong or Pinoy, they are “black.”

It has been the traditional perspective, of the Nation of Gods and Earths, of Latinos as being 'Native American' and the Original owners of the Americas, but in no way limits us solely to that category. Nor is it to blanket someone's individual history in favor of the collective identity, as some forms of Pan-Africanism often do, attributing any and everything to the greatness of Africa alone. It is a perspective that links us all to an underlying factor, a common point of reference. It is a rallying cry to all my Indigenous brothers and sisters. A rallying cry of unity and solidarity, as expressed through the understanding of Allah and his will to unite 'all the seeds (shades of the Original man)’.
The Nation of Gods and Earths embraces all Original people by tearing down the labels of nationalism and tribal identity that create barriers, and bring everyone together for one common cause: education and elevation of our quality of living.

It is this perspective that speaks to so-called Latinos, not from a nationalist standpoint, but from a reality that harkens back further than ‘Latin Nationalism.’ It goes beyond state established boundaries and ties us all in to a shared history and ancestral memories. It is not merely the product of intellectuals but a perspective taken on by many Native peoples through the documented history of the Americas. Tecumseh, of the Shawnee, sought to unite all nations and tribes, under one common Pan-Indigenous identity, in attempts to resist and prevent the westward expansion of the 13 American colonies and the genocide against the Original people. He traveled from his home in the Ohio River valley, down south to Cherokee country, amongst the Chickasaw and Seminole, and even west ward a bit until he voyaged back north to Prophet's town (the city that he and his brother established as the center of their mission).

It is in this same vein and vision that we need to unite all those of Latin American descent. We need to unify and create a solidarity beyond our country borders and ethnic prejudices. It is up to us- the Original people, the black, brown and yellow sons and daughters of the Americas, to re-establish who we are and what belongs to us, especially our birthright. We must be determined in the fight for the freedom to define ourselves in today's society. We must reclaim our place amongst our black brother and sisters worldwide, as we are black men and women. Somos las personal Originales del Planeta Tierra!

To order your copy of the book, visit: http://knowledgeofself.viviti.com/

9.07.2009

8.18.2009

Palante Siempre!


















Lo siento mi gente! I apologize for the brief hiatus. A lot of change has been manifesting within my cipher over the summer. Nevertheless, "resistance blogging" must and will continue.

Remain steadfast and diligent for change. Above all, be prepared and be active in ushering it in.

"Los Indios" continuara en Septiembre!

6.25.2009

Que?



















I recently came across a book on Amazon.com entitled "Taino ti"- a native Taino greeting of the Original people of the Caribbean. The artwork on the cover appears to be anime or what many refers to as "Japanime" because of it's origin in Japanese cartoons, such as the famous "Ninja Scrolls" and "Fist of the North Star".

Here is the product description-

"Yuis Rosales can't remember a time when he wasn't haunted by dreams of strange people, jungles,and the gods whose forms only he can create. Just when these nightmares are threatening to overtake him, he meets Felipe, who quickly invades both his waking, and his sleeping hours.

Yuis only wants to see his art hanging in a gallery, but when he leaves for Puerto Rico, he discovers a history so horrifying that his dreams pale in comparison. His past as a Taino shaman collides with a madman's lust for mystical dominion...

Summoning his own power, Yuis must learn to trust his totem beast, Mukaro...and his passionate lover.
"

It seems that some elements of our Taino culture have been appropriated for someone else's fantasy story, which is not suprising, yet still disappointing. I can't help but wonder what this person's relationship to us is. This also stands out in my mind as another representation of how Native cultures are considered as mythical in and of themselves, putting us in the realm of witches, elves, gnomes, unicorns, etc.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Taino-Ti-ebook/dp/B002CCAICY/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245935739&sr=1-10

6.24.2009

Making the Unknown, Known




We must not be afraid of the 'unknown'. We must embrace the 'unknown' as a medium through which questions about life and reality can be revealed. We must understand that we have become hindered by our lack of understanding of the unknown. Our relations have been divided and severed because of our ignorance of our people. Instead of embracing the 'unknown' and seeing it as a chance to challenge ourselves and our ability to break through societal imposed limitations, we came to accept it and internal it as an assumed static state of humanity, as if we can and will never 'know' beyond what we already think we know.

Many of us claim to know about ourselves and our ancestors. We claim to know about our culture and who are 'people' are. Yet most often times we are only regurgitating and rehashing what was 'taught to us' and told to us by those whom imposed the boundaries, divisions and restrictions of colonization. These people aren't "our" people and so on- perpetuating the 'us vs. them' mentality and contributing to the crumbling of the sacred hoop of life. May of us will rather quickly accept the oppressor and the oppressors children as our own before we embrace other children of the Sun- "melanated" sons and daughters of the planet. So we can bear witness to the deep psychological impact of colonization and slavery, and the survival mechanism and adaptation strategy of 'identifying with the aggressor', as it is referred to in western psychology. Which means, not only have we taken on many of the same behaviors and mannerisms of the oppressor, but likewise, psychologically identify with them and see them as more favorable, and consequently looking at our other oppressed brothers and sisters in the same perspective that they do.

It is critical to our healing that we reunite and bring together the 'Original' nation, the Indigenous family. We must struggle to break beyond the limitations we have inherited over the decades and re-establish our connection with each other. We must not think we 'know' of each other from our exposure to television and media propaganda nor must we allow ourselves to dwell in a pool of ignorance and be content with 'not knowing' or even yearning to know about the other. I assure you, if we embrace the 'unknown' as a chance to heal, we will find that it will bring together all legacies and histories to one point, like the outer points of the letter "X" which meet in the center. "X" in mathematics represents the 'unknown'. And we can solve and 'resolve' the equations of inequality by coming together and realizing our oneness, not just in struggle, but in the universal spectrum of existance.




Native and African Americans chronicle history together for first time in Louisiana
by Carol Forsloff

In Natchitoches, Louisiana history was made today. The Native American and African American communities were separate communities in the South by design of white oppression. Now, for the first time, they are sharing their histories.
The African American and Native American communities of North Central Louisiana, specifically the area around Powhatan in Natchitoches Parish, had knowledge of each other’s existence but at the same time virtually no real social interaction.

Native Americans were second-class citizens and felt different and isolated, while African Americans were the lowest on the social pecking order in a highly stratified society that in some ways remains in certain historical patterns.

Therefore, history has been predominantly oral and genealogical as opposed to written. The “White” or predominant history has included both African American groups and Native Americans, but their intimate knowledge of that history has been limited by the stratification and taboos that took place, according to the participants in a videotaped forum today.

Chief Rufus Davis, Dora Belton, Shirley Love and Vern Fisher met at the Adai Cultural Center today and initiated a shared history platform in order to put together the missing pieces of their ancestral involvement, known about, but never fully shared in conversation.

Chief Davis is the head of the Adai Nation, a tribe of approximately 1800 members in Texas and Louisiana, 68 years old and a resident of the Parish since birth.

Dora Belton, of mixed Choctaw, African American and French ancestry, 93, lived in the Parish until age 18, then moved to Illinois and Texas where she worked as a licensed practical nurse until the age of 65 when she retired and returned to her home in the Parish.

Vern Fisher, 54, is an African American from Mallard, Louisiana, two miles from the Adai Cultural Center.

Shirley Love, 51, is originally from the area surrounding Powhatan in Natchitoches Parish but has been living in Michigan since she left high school. All came together for the first time as a group today to begin a pioneer effort to bring their shared history to each other and potentially to the public. The first segment was videotaped today over a period of more than two hours. I was there today as the moderator of the filming, asking the questions and celebrating with the group what is history making in terms of this shared experience.

Natchitoches Parish is a place rich in history because it is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase and where various European, African and Native American groups lived separately but shared a common history on some levels.

The problem is the intimate details of that history were neglected due to the imposed restrictions on social interaction. The Native American and African American communities, according to Belton, Davis and Fisher, knew about each other and relied on each other to exchange herbal remedies, quilting and other cultural knowledge, but without deep intimacy and communication. The separate groups were mutually supportive in each other’s survival and grew up knowing “their place” and knew that place was separate from their white neighbors of predominantly French, Spanish and English ancestry.

Today, old stories were shared, some for the first time. This is part of a growing opportunity, initiated by Chief Davis, to help groups provide each other important data that helps to reinforce group identity and integrity.

According to the forum participants, the Native Americans and African Americans had mutual regard for their separate ways, knew from the whispers of their ancestors what shops to avoid and what patterns of behavior to evidence. But these truths have not been spoken or written down in detail, as is now being done.

It was for the participants a stunning occasion, and the ongoing experience will be shared as the stories of shared history take shape. Old neighbors are experiencing communication and interaction in this way for the first time, as the process is taking place for this to be formalized.

Videotaping will allow the preservation of information and the evolution of written documentation to be completed. This “first” brought a celebratory mood to those involved as they take the first steps in cementing a new brother and sisterhood they said today will only enhance their individual sense of community and pride.


Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/274667

6.19.2009

Astronomical Understanding












Our people have long been 'scientists' and have had a very keen knowledge and understanding of the the universe. It is this knowledge and understanding that cultivated our understanding of the relationship between the 'heavens' and ourselves. In the post-industrial age where our sky has become polluted to a point that we can no longer view the cosmos with a clear eye nor discern the objects and celestial bodies abound within it, it is beautiful to hear of our people striving to reclaim that legacy. The Universe is 'everything'- Sun, Moon, and stars- and especially U N I (You and I).

While we were at the forefront of agricultural sciences, we must also be able to understand our civilizations as multi-faceted and layered and not regulated to farming alone, although it was a large bound. Our mastery of agricultural techniques often came from our knowledge and understanding of celestial bodies and their movements, which affected weather year round and the conditions of planting and harvesting. We were able to observe and internalize what we learned about the universe, manifesting it in our day to day lives and bringing our peoples into a wholistic worldview and way of living. In this day and time, it is imperative that we continue forward with reclaiming our legacy on all fronts- from agriculture to astronomy- in order to save ourselves from the ignorance perpetuated by 'western science' against our people.

This is one of the many reasons why, within the Nation of Gods and Earths, we place so much emphasis of learning about the universe and refer to man as the "Sun", woman as the "Moon" or "Earth" and children as the "stars', adorning symbols of such on our "Universal Flag". The universe represents the origin of all. The movements and interactions of the celestial bodies display a wonderful example of harmony and order from which we draw inspire, examples which we strive to parallel in our social relationships, according to our degree of understanding.



Andean Astro-Olympics in Bolivia

La Paz, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina) Bolivia will host the First Andean Olympics of Astronomy and Astrophysics receiving this week representatives of South American countries announced the Science and Technology vice minister.

Sessions of the celestial event will take place in Bolivian venues considered natural wonders such as Lake Titicaca and the Archeological center of Tiwanaku, both in La Paz province.

According to a press release by the vice minister the Olympics will run Saturday and Sunday with participation of teams from Chile, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador and the host country.

Bolivia organized the event to coincide with the winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere during which the Aimara peoples receive New Year, 5,517, with ritual traditions.

Among the objectives is the promotion of activities related to astronomy and astrophysics from a regional world view.

Source: http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92953&Itemid=1

6.15.2009

Lack of PR DAY Parade Coverage




Paz!

I wasn't able to attend this year. However, it was brought to my attention that there wasn't really any media coverage of the event as there was in past years. Could it be an attempt to stifle the image of the true cultural, social and political influence we hold within America? Considering the recent contraversies concerning Judge Sotomayor, it isn't surprising. The media and those upset with her nomination coil at the idea that the majority of Borikuas support her. As we have seen in their open remarks to her nomination, the mindset of the ruling class has been churning with disgust and anxiety at a "Afro-Latinized" America. In their eyes it is simply too much power for people of color to brandish as it upsets the long standing status quo in our society. With her proud embrace and relationship to her raices, her roots, Sotomayor has set the tone for many other Borikuas to make similar statements, such as Dem. Rep Serrano (whom welcomed Venezuelan Presidente Hugo Chavez on his trip to the Bronx) and reaffirming the reality that we, as children of Boriken, are to immigrants and stand in solidarity with our Mexica, Mayan and other so-called Latin American family members. It brings attention to the fact that our citizenship is an illusion, and that we continue to remain as colonials of an empire. Despite how many of us have relocated in el norte and assimilated as a mens to adapt, adjust and overcome the impact of colonization on la isla. The Puerto Rican Day Parade is a reminding, and maybe even a slap in the face to the Bible-belt Americanos, that we are Borikua first and foremost.

Here is a video I picked up from mibodegaonline.com:

This quick clip was made to address the lack of media coverage for one of the biggest parades in NYC. The one channel that covered the parade was surprisingly Fox news. The question we have to ask ourselves is A) Why isn’t there really any media coverage of this big traditionally held parade? The Puerto Rican Day Parade has been done every year since April 12, 1958. So why is it so hard to find coverage of this parade?

6.10.2009

A Message from the Miskitos









Peace- Paz-




Each and everyday we find ourselves bearing witness to more changes within societies around the world. As 'change' is inevitable, and the 'only' constant in the universe, 'change' is only good or bad depending upon the perspective. We are seeing more and more Original people being active in their own lives, seeking changes and life outside the parameters established by the 'state' and imposed by colonization. These 'changes' and the struggle to achieve them will not doubt create some friction in our/their lives as we engage the world's governmental systems in order to re-take control of our people's destinies and re-establish our own cultural sovereignty. Despite the mirroring struggle of many of these systems to resist these changes, as we have struggled to resist their tyranny, it must and will happen. For it is, as I understand it, 'universal law'. Justice. Because the ways and actions of those seeking to oppress and exploit the caretakers of the planet and her resources, for their own economic gain, have not and can not be justified. Regardless to how much they try to lie to themselves, they can not lie to the universe or Mother Earth. As she still bears the scars. Likewise, no matter how much some of us may try to lie to ourselves, compromising the 'truth' with fabricating compassion for the atrocities of the past 517 years, the changes taking place both socially and 'scientifically' (climate, nature, etc.) are the evidence of a struggle for justice, a struggle to regain balance and harmony. They are the voice of an uprising, rooted not simply in people's desire to alter the course of history, but rather, deeply rooted in a cosmic, bio-chemical and 'spiritual' struggle for 'peace'. It is the awakening of ancestral memories seeded in each and every sub-atomic particle of existance, an intelligence that flows and 'knows', and seeks to re-establish itself as the foundation for this 'cipher' of human civilization.


Unbeknownst to the western world, many of us are seperating from them. Not separating to become many, but separating to realign with each other and with the oneness of the mind, the oneness of the universe.


An Independence Claim in Nicaragua

PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua — After declaring independence from the rest of Nicaragua in April, a group of indigenous activists from the Mosquito Coast readied a grand celebration to commemorate the occasion. Their feast would be ruined, however, when the regional government sent in the police to seize the main course.

Commercial sales of turtle meat, which has long been a delicacy here, is restricted in Nicaragua because of declining populations of endangered green sea turtles — one of many cultural clashes that the people in this remote corner of Nicaragua, who have eaten turtle for generations, say have propelled them to create their own country, which they have dubbed the Communitarian Nation of Mosquitia.


The Council of Elders of the Miskito people has an extensive list of grievances. For as long local residents can remember, the federal government has allowed outside companies to exploit the raw materials in their jungle territory — everything from lobster to lumber to gold. Little benefit has come to the people who eke out a living here, they say.

Fed up, the separatists seized the region’s ruling party headquarters on April 19 and appointed Héctor Williams as their wihta tara, or great judge. Mr. Williams, a local religious leader whose thin black mustache stretches out toward his deep dimples, said the region suffered from a variety of woes — devastating hurricanes and rat plagues to a mysterious disease known as grisi siknis, which is marked by collective bouts of hysteria.

“We have the right to autonomy and self-government,” declared Wycleff Diego, the breakaway movement’s ambassador abroad, as he held up the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Over the weekend, the ruling party, Yatama, literally “Sons of Mother Earth,” retook the headquarters in what it said was a peaceful operation. The separatists denied that, saying weapons were used, and vowed to continue to fight for independence.

Despite the setback, the budding independence movement is giving the Nicaraguan government headaches and rekindling some of the ire from the contra war that tore through this country in the 1980s. Mr. Diego was a soldier in that war, a fighter for the American-backed contras.
Many Miskito people, who make up one of several ethnic groups on Nicaragua’s diverse Atlantic coast, joined with the contras. They were inspired by their historic animosity toward the rulers in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, which is 15 hours distant over bumpy dirt roads.

As in the rest of Nicaragua, the contra war would leave lasting pain along the coast. The Sandinista government’s armed forces led a fierce campaign to remove Miskitos from their native lands along the Coco River.

President Daniel Ortega, who led the Sandinistas in the 1980s and then returned to power in January 2007, is widely distrusted by local residents, even more so after his government’s lackluster response to Hurricane Felix, which leveled many coastal communities in September 2007.

The breakaway movement, some say, has also been fueled by the Ortega government’s failure to support thousands of impoverished contra war veterans, who had been promised land, housing and other assistance during his presidential campaign.

Even the government’s allies, while condemning the independence movement, concede that Managua could have responded better to the Miskitos’ needs. “We haven’t been the best administrators of public things, but that doesn’t mean we should spill blood,” said Steadman Fagoth, a former Miskito independence leader and contra commander who has since allied himself with Mr. Ortega.

A top Sandinista leader, Gustavo Porras, has accused Robert Callahan, the American ambassador to Nicaragua, of conspiring with the separatist movement in cold war-era fashion. Mr. Callahan, who worked in the American Embassy in Honduras when it was the command center for the Reagan administration’s contra campaign, denies involvement.

“The question regarding any contentious issues that may exist between parts of the Miskito community and the government of Nicaragua is a matter for the Nicaraguans, and one that they themselves must resolve,” he said in a statement.

Two major drilling concessions have been granted off Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, but officials involved in those efforts said that the separatist movement might scare away future investors. “It’s going to send the signal that you can’t do business in Nicaragua,” said Stan Ross, chief executive at Infinity Energy, a Denver-based company.

Concerned about provoking further instability, regional authorities had refrained from forcibly removing the independence leaders from the party offices. Puerto Cabezas has twice been racked by violent protests in recent years: in 2007, when residents complained that the government was not helping them enough to recover from the hurricane, and in 2008, when Mr. Ortega’s government postponed mayoral elections.

“We’re not going to fight between Miskito and Miskito,” Reynaldo Francis, the regional governor, said before this weekend’s action. “It’s not that we’re afraid of that movement.”
Mr. Williams, the separatist leader, who has enlisted the support of hundreds of Miskito lobster divers who are protesting a drop in pay as lobster prices plunge, said he had to discourage the divers this weekend from attacking the party offices.

The only weapons visible during a recent visit — before the weekend eviction — were slingshots, although the separatists said they were seeking financing to train and equip an army of 1,500.
“We’ll defend our natural resources,” vowed Guillermo Espinoza, the movement’s defense minister, who was known as Comandante Black Cat during the contra war. If no guns can be found, he said, the separatists will make weapons themselves.

Blake Schmidt reported from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and Marc Lacey from Mexico City.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/world/americas/10nicaragua.html?_r=2&ref=world

6.02.2009

Conocimiento de uno mismo!




It is the gift that all of humanity deserves to be presented with. To know the self. To be imparted with the awareness to constantly explore one’s ideas in the most empowering manner. To delve into one’s nature truthfully and share in a way that betters all. To have the greatest weaponry available to identify and protect oneself from any enemy’s oppressive measures. This is done supremely with knowing oneself.


Knowledge of self, where we know we are the creators of our entire universe and subsequent reality, we are not the first. In the history of the world, many of our ancestral cultures and civilizations shared the idea of man as God and the infeasibility of a mysterious and/or unknown God. However, The Nation of God and Earth truly adds on a unique perspective in many enlightening ways.


Firstly, all of these great, poor, righteous teachers did not look for the right student to expose themselves and their ideas; rather, they presented themselves as God or Earth and allowed potential students from any and all walks of life to inquire. This is a departure from the nomadic Sufis imparting insight and safely vacating to see another day or the Taoist masters who lived as mountain men away from society. The Gods and Earths have openly shared their understanding regardless of the consequences. The consequences have been great from the contradictions and hypocrisies of not living it out, being ostracized from one’s family and community to the direct oppression and harassment of the oppressive governments and power structure to even fatal demise. Still, the Gods and Earths continued to teach.


Secondly, the foundation of the teachings, the supreme mathematics made such a complex subject, man’s reality as creator, into a detailed law and order of the universe and description of the Original people with a simple word(s) for each numeral. With this innovation of the science of everything in life so simply defined and ready for application by anyone, these teachings are vital to any age group. It also elevates the insightful teachings of the Nation of Islam, extracted and refined as our 120 lessons, into a mathematical system of study and development.


Thirdly, we are the truth we seek in each and every problem or inquiry of life. A knowledge of self becomes the most empowering tool known because it is an actualizing of statements proven true. The Original man is God/I am the Earth. I am this and I prove it true. What then is within me that enables me to survive and thrive with and for all? Knowing oneself the answer presents itself.


Nothing could be more empowering, beautiful and engrossing as the Knowledge of Self.


Peace, Sunez Allah, Co-Editor




Knowledge of Self: A Collection of Writings on the Science of Everything in Life presents the thoughts of Five Percenters, both young and old, male and female, Black and white, in their own words. Through essays, poems, and even how-to articles, this anthology presents readers with an accurate portrait of what the Five Percent study, teach and live daily. With a foreword by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian, contributions from Cappadonna and Popa Wu of Wu-tang Clan, early founders of the Nation and Gods and Earths from the United States to England.Featured Writings and Topics Include:


• Love, Hell or Right: The many incredible life stories of Gods and Earths getting a Knowledge of themselves. • Who are the Original People?: Who is Black and Who is Not?; Somos Originales, why the Latino is also a Supreme Being?; Who are the Blacks In China? What is a mystery God? Why don’t we believe in a mystery God?


• The Mind is the Master Key: What is the Mind, its power and how do we augment it supremely? What are the oppressive conditions we are living, how do we identify them and use our mind to change our reality?


• The Martial Law of the Martial Arts: What is the relationship of the Martial Arts and its philosophies and the Gods and Earths?


• The Pedagogy of the Five Percent: What are the teaching styles of the Gods and Earths. How do we educate our youth and save the babies? What is the civilization class? An analysis of the P.E.A.C.E. Course, one of the many courses offered at Allah School in Mecca, the first school of the Nation.


• Life after Life?: What happens when we die? What is the mental death vs. the physical death? The Gods and Earths’ ideas on the afterlife and death are offered in detail.


(Features some writing from yours truly...Please support!)


5.13.2009

Who is Indigenous/Original? Simon says....




















Peace! On this day of knowledge and understanding, I wanted to give a hat-tip to Angry Indian (www.angryindian.blogspot.com) for this article. It shows the continuing deterioration of our people's mindset and perspectives due to colonization. It shows how important our monetary relationship with the United states is and in all actuality reveals how much we are 'not' as sovereign as many of us claim to be, because we continue to divide amongst our own just to meet standards by the government. Of course, this "standard" being the ever popular and controversial 'blood quantum' ideology, introduced, undeniably by the oppressors in their quest to pull the rug (land) out from under our feet. It peeves me at times, however, I stand firm in my own understanding of my self and others like me whom are not officially 'enrolled' nor look for or need anyone else's 'thumbs up' approval of our identity. I recognize no 'master' over my self, other than self, and therefore do no give into 'tap dancin'' around for any 'massa' to look upon me favorablely. I am who I am. And for all my Original brothers and sisters still clingin' on to the book that was used to enslave us, I AM THAT I AM. What's even more interesting about this article is how it brings up the refusal to accept other tribal nations by other nations. You very well could be "mixed blood" with many different tribal nations but not be considered "Indigenous" by one, whom you share ancestry with. As well as the continued ignorance by some Northern tribes of the history and lineage of their Caribbean, Central and South American brothers and sisters, as being 'indigenous' men and women. I guess they feel we would be cuttin' in on their welfare checks (government funds). It's so unfortunate, as well as a testament to the necessity for a Pan-Indigenous movement.

From NPR....

As Requirements Change, Just Who Is An Indian?
by Brian Bull


Many Native American communities are struggling with a basic question: just who is an Indian? As tribal numbers dwindle, many are reexamining how they define what it means to be a member. But lowering the blood requirement for membership has both political and economic impacts for many groups.

At a ranch house in Wisconsin Rapids, about 100 miles from Madison, five generations of a Native American family gathered under one roof. Florence Camacho, an 89-year-old Potawatomi elder, helps her grandson Dontae make a traditional piece of neckwear. They've scattered red, yellow and brass beads all over the kitchen table.

"After you're done beading it, you have to tie knots right there," Dontae says. "Then my grandmother's going to have to leather it, right there."

Nearby, Camacho's other grandchild, Mareenah Poulin, cradles her son, Leeam, who is just two weeks old.

Leeam's soft brown eyes open for a moment, then he's back to sleep as Poulin's mom, Amber Malone, looks on. She wants Leeam to learn all about her tribe, the Prairie Band of Potawatomi. Only technically he's not actually a member. Most tribes, including the Potawatomi, require at least one-quarter tribal blood to become official — complete with enrollment card and number. Malone says she's worried how enrolled members will treat her grandson — who doesn't have that one-quarter tribal blood — as he grows up.

"I know of people that have asked for proof," Malone says. "If you don't have proof, then you're not an Indian. In the native culture, some people treat them as substandard individuals. As wannabes."

Malone says there's talk among the Potawatomi of lowering the requirement to one-eighth. That — in a stroke of a pen — could double the tribe's membership, but there's a lot at stake here. Enrolled members enjoy tribal benefits, including health care and education, and there are science and art programs, too. Malone would love that for her own family.

"Anything that's going to better enrich their lives — whereas you have children that are nontribally enrolled, you're kind of stonewalled as far as trying to get them the help and the tools to help better culture their minds," she says.

In recent years, some tribes have gone the other way. They've actually reduced membership. While leaders say it's a matter of legitimacy, critics say it's all about money — namely per capita payments based on casino revenues.

"And to be quite honest with you, I think with a lot of tribes it all comes down to the money issue," Malone says. "They lower the blood quantum, there's a lot more people that are going to be able to come onto the rolls. And that per capita is going to be cut right in half."

Across the room, Malone's dad, Fred Camacho, is watching a ballgame on TV. He says many tribes are considering lowering their blood quantum and that it's inevitable.

"Understanding that if you maintain a quarter-blood quantum, at some point the tribe will disappear," he says. "Unless, and I have seen the argument, you marry another one of your tribe."




The Struggle For Identity

That issue, marriage, is a contentious one among Native Americans. In Madison, Melissa Lompre tells a story: She was looking for a new church and recalls enjoying the services at a local Native American church, until "a man got up, and he made a comment: 'Our Native American brothers and sisters, here, they're not married to or with other Native American people.' I was going to stand up and say, 'Well, I'm here as a Native American person praying with all of you, what does it matter who I'm living with, who I'm married to?' and I just didn't go back to that service anymore."

Lompre's part Menominee, Ojibwe and Delaware, but two of her kids are half Puerto Rican, from their father's side.

"They're less than 25 percent Menominee," Lompre says.

The struggle for identity among Native Americans isn't just about outsiders; Lompre says other natives have looked down on her for not growing up on the reservation.

"I wish there was a magical mutt nation that you could put people in that could have that identity given to them, but there's not," she says.

Even if someone is enrolled and lives on a reservation, that's still no guarantee they'll be considered Indian, as Denise Hobson-Ryan knows — she's half Navajo and half Irish.

In a dry, scrubby park in Phoenix, Ryan swings then hurls a round metal weight across a field. It's all practice for an upcoming Highland Games tournament. As her dad measures the distance, Ryan recalls how other kids on the reservation where she grew up teased her for her lighter complexion.

"Well, they would say 'billagona billasaana' because it rhymed really nice, and billagona means white person, and billasaana means apple," Hobson-Ryan says. "So it was, 'billagona billasaana' I heard that all my life growing up. But I lived with my Indian grandma for awhile when I was little. And she'd tell me some things in Navajo to say back to them. So I would say some pretty mean things back. Probably not something you can say on the radio!"

Hobson-Ryan later went to Dartmouth College where she says the upper-class Indian students routinely questioned her identity.

"I mean, I'd never been to a powwow, I had really nothing to add to the conversation," she says. "I think that was sort of where they drew their traditional ideas was, 'Well, you don't do powwows, then you're not an Indian'."

Vying For Status

In central Wisconsin recently, the Brothertown Indians held a powwow of sorts. The only problem? According to the federal government, they're not technically Indians. Dressed in their finest beaded and feathered regalia, attendees look and sound like other natives. But the Brothertown aren't federally recognized, which limits them in many ways, like their land.

"The parcel of land that we're standing on here is about a three-fourths acre piece of land that was purchased by the tribe a number of years back, in the process of the federal acknowledgment effort," says tribal member Darren Kroenke, as he walks across tribal property in snow and freezing rain.

The Brothertown are among 300-some Indian tribes seeking federal recognition. A storage garage is the only building. Kroenke says tribal members are anxious for a place at the table, with Wisconsin's 11 federally recognized tribes.

"The issue that I raise is that federal acknowledgment is used as a qualifier," Kroenke says. "But it shouldn't have anything to do with that, it shouldn't prejudice or substantiate history or culture."

Kroenke says it's just a fact that the Brothertown Tribe has a long history in Wisconsin. But after decades, they're still waiting for the government to make them official.

Original source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103938042

5.03.2009

Pachamama: "Musica de Raices"



"Musica del barrio que mueve el barrio"




www.reverbnation.com/pachamamaestela

4.13.2009

The Great Law of Peace and the Origin of Democracy



Let it be known and understood that democracy did not come from the colonizers. We were the bearers of democracy and it was from the Original people, and specifically the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). While many may debate such, the truth lies in the annals of American history, as I reveal on the streets of Philadelphia, one time nation capitol and home to "Indian-phile" Benjamin Franklin.

For more history about the Great Law of Peace, please visit the blog of my brother Divine King Allah (Haudenosaunee)- http://www.dkallah.blogspot.com



4.08.2009

Colombia's Forgotten Black President

(Left-photo of Jose Nieto Gil, Right- his 'whitened' portrait)




From The Observers-

"At the end of the 19th century, Jose Nieto Gil was president of Colombia. And yet, you won't find him in a single history book. Why? Presumably because he was black.

While Americans are proud to let the world know they've elected their first black president, the Colombians kept theirs hidden for over a century.

Colombian historian Orlando Fals Borda discovered a portrait of Jose Nieto Gil when digging in a palace loft in Cartagena more than 30 years ago. Fals Borda then spent his entire life trying to do justice to the forgotten politician. But it wasn't until the death of the historian last August that the Colombian media discovered the first African American to reach such an exceptional post.

"This story only proves that racist prejudices are deeply rooted in the Colombian elite"

Anne Losonczy is an anthropologist and director of Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, a graduate school in Paris. A specialist on Colombia, she's particularly interested in the deprived areas of Chocó and the Caribbean coast, where Jose Nieto Gil came from.


Nieto Gil was erased from the history books because he was "mulatto" but also because he came from the Caribbean coast, which is largely populated by people of African descent and has always been considered marginal by the central power in Bogota.

Nieto Gil was a liberal republican. He was a deputy during what is called the "Grenadine Confederation" era and later became a state governor of Bolivia. In 1861, along with several liberal allies, he overthrew the conservative government in power and proclaimed himself president.

His accession was somewhat of an accident. One of his white friends was supposed to become president, but he didn't get to the inauguration in time, so Nieto Gil took his place. He stayed in the post for six months.

His portrait was painted just before he became president. It was immediately sent to France, where it was whitened and altered to make Nieto Gil more "worthy" for the elite of Cartagena, who were racially very closed. The painting was then "re-darkened" in 1974, when Fals Borda found it. But it was only recently that it was displayed in Cartagena's museum.

Nieto Gil is still absent from the official time line, while other presidents who stayed in power for less time than he are regularly mentioned. This story only proves that racist prejudices are deeply rooted in the Colombian elite."

"There’s no way Colombia would elect a black president today"

Juan Carlos Jaramillo is a former Colombian diplomat. He currently works as a political consultant in Bogota.


People were already very racist in Nieto Gil's time. White people didn't even go to the beach in fear of getting a bit tanned, and these prejudices are still very present today.

Indigenous people are also victims of racism, but they're more organised when it comes to demanding rights. They've set up their own pressure groups to weigh in on the democratic assemblies.

Black people, however, even today are literally excluded from politics. They 'ghettoed' to the Choco region. And even there, where they make up 95% of the population, resources, like goldmines for example, are owned by the white minority. The people there are extremely poor, and literacy levels are low.

That might explain why chunks of history, either inaccurate or entirely forgotten, haven't been retrieved by the Afro-Caribbean population.

Power is very centralised in Colombia. It's the white people in Bogota who decide on the country's history. If you look at the police and top civil servants, you don't find the ethnic diversity that Colombia's made up of. There's no way Colombia would elect a black president today.

Honestly this story has interested intellectuals more than the general population. Most people are still none the wiser when it comes to the existence of this man."

Original Source: http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20090324-black-president-colombia-forgot-racism-jose-nieto-gil

Special 'hat-tip' to 'Angry Indian' for this post.

3.29.2009

Piensa!



Peace to my brother Nasim Allah (Cubanakan Taino)for this video. First and foremost it is quite humorous and raises some interesting questions.

And let us remember, when dealing with the idea of 'immigration' we are ultimately discussing the movement of a people across colonially imposed boundaries.

Piensa!

3.25.2009

"Tribu De Shabazz"




Peace! Paz!


I wanted to send love and support to Rasheed Allah and the Gods down in Mexico City. As we in the North watch and hear about whats taking place in Aztlan/Mexico through the government corruption, poverty and drug-violence- those brothers are walking the streets with it. This is no easy path and I want to commend those brothers for elevating themselves and seeking to be the “founders” (21st degree, 1-40) of a Nation cipher in Master Equality Known (MEX).The Earth belongs to the Original man, every square inch, so it is beautiful to see the Original man reclaiming what is his. And for those who may not be that conscious of so-called Latino culture and life, doing so is a struggle as it is anywhere else- but especially in the face of such concentrated control and influence of the Church, and the predominance of European cultural elements like 'swine'. Our people take more pride in 'pork' than our brothers and sisters in the southern U.S. states, not to mention that they don’t see themselves as one with them.We have been locked into a prison of behaviorism that continues to errode our very being and we have been bound by traditions that were imposed upon us. So it is a tremendous initiative to undertake, taking a stance in opposition of the identify we have been conditioned with. We may underestimate the pedagogy and strategy needed to reach our people outside of the U.S. For those that have, you understand the difficulties not present here in the United States.





Support your Nation! Support independent Hip-Hop!


The Gods in Mexico City are releasing a new mixtape this month, featuring various emcees from Mexico. The mixtape is entitled “Tribu De Shabazz” (“Tribe of Shabazz“) and features some music from yours truly- Sha-King Allah. It is available, along with t-shirts, at: myspace.com/supremese7en


Paz a los Dioses!

2.04.2009

Hatuey, Vodou and the Haitian Revolution




Peace! Paz! Tau!


Today's mathematics is 'culture'. La matematica de hoy es "cultura".


As I reflect upon 'culture' I think about it in regards to the culture and cultures of Original people. Culture is the medium through which a people's knowledge and wisdom continue through space and time. It has been our culture that has served as the drive behind our struggle against colonialism, racism and the continuance of our people into this day and time. As Amilcar Cabral states in his work "National Liberation and Culture"- "Whatever may be the ideological or idealistic characteristics of cultural expression, culture is an essential element of the history of a people."


It is the elements of culture that serve as the catapult for freedom. For within the Nation of Gods and Earths we understand that we can never expel the devilishment and influence of the oppressor and have freedom in our cipher unless we bring culture into the cipher and continue to add on to that culture with the world we are looking to bring about. Your culture will empower you and will foster the drive and ability to change and control our destinies. As our people understood, it was and never will be our destiny to be subserviant to external forces. As Cabral further states," The value of culture as an element of resistance to foreign domination, lies in the fact that culture is the vigorous manifestation on the ideological or idealist plane of the physical and historical reality of the society that is dominated or to be dominated. Culture is simultaneously the fruit of a people’s history and a determinant of history, by the positive or negative influence which it exerts on the evolution of relationships between man and his environment, among men or groups of men within a society, as well as among different societies."


We have many examples of resistance in our culture. The culture given to us by Allah is in this same vein of resistance because we have and continue to resist the reality that's dictated to us by authority. We resist by taking our lives out of the systems hands and into our own. By not being products of our environment but producers of environment and by redirecting the power of words by redefining them. Indigenous cultures in general provide many examples and inspiration of the resistance that flows through our cellular memory. It is who we are.


Below is an article written by a Taino Elder and my brother, Ni Bon Te Ban. The title is pretty self-explanatory, as it examines the culture of the Taino as it persists in the Haitian people and the power to reclaim the sovereignty over themselves via the Haitian Revolution. For my brothers and sisters within the Nation of Gods and Earths whom may be a little abject to the concept of 'spirit'- you must understand the culture of Native peoples. Indigenous people of the Americas have a lot of natural symbolism in our cultures. Before 1492, we had no concept of religion, spirituality or even 'science'. The aspects of these disciplines were apart and totally inseparable from our way of life. So spirit is not used in the same manner as Western religion. "Spirit" in my understanding, refers to the intelligence and life that animates all living things. "Spirit" can also be used synomously with a energy or 'power' in many Native cultures. To be mindful of this is to be effective in communicating with Indigenous people, without them tuning you out because of your opposition to the terminology many of us use. Learn more about Native culture so you can understand how Indigenous people percieve the world and what parallels with the principles we espose rather than trying to understand their culture on face value, like the Europeans, and overlooking the knowledge, wisdom and understanding to be gained.


With that said, I invite you to 'do the knowledge' to the follwing article and take the best part for yourself. It is a wonderful article and full of information and insight.



Hatuey, Vodou and the Haitian Revolution


The Spirit of Hatuey has continued to make his presence known not only within his homeland of Haiti but across the Caribbean. We call him the Father of the Resurgence or more precisely the Father of the Resistance!


Hatuey was a great Casike, whose name means “Certainty of the Sun”. He had been engaging guerilla warfare in Cuba against the invading Spanish and warning the Taino people of Cuba about the evil nature of the Christian invaders. He warned his people of the cruel and wicked nature of these Christians telling of their loyalty and love for THEIR god, Gold and Jewels (money), making a clear distinction between the object of the Christian’s worship and the Taino understanding of their own “Deities”.


The Christians captured Hatuey (possibly it is said through a betrayal from one of his own), tied him to a stake and prepared to burn him alive. A monk attempted to convert Hatuey to Christianity, and told him that if he believed in Christianity he (Hatuey) would go to “heaven” where there would be glory and eternal rest or if he did not believe in Christianity he (Hatuey) would go to hell, where he would suffer torments and punishment. Hatuey was silent for a short time, then he asked the monk if the Christians went to heaven, and the monk said that the good Christians went to heaven. Hatuey immediately answered that he did not want to go to heaven, but would rather go to hell so as to not be in the same place as the cruel Christians. Hatuey was subsequently burnt at the stake and it is said that his Soul flew immediately to the Sun.


Hatuey refused to submit to entrapment by the Christians, he maintained the integrity of his Soul and Spirit by refusing at a moment of intense torture to compromise with the Christian god whom he knew to be evil based on the actions of this god’s followers. Remember Hatuey had been witness to mass murder, genocide, rape, murder of unborn children and the total desecration of the sacredness of his Yukayekes by these Christians who said that they came in the name of God and Christ. He understood the true deity that these people were worshiping and refused any deals with this evil entity (the beast).


After Hatuey’s death, the war between the Taino and the Spaniards continued. When the Spaniards began to import Africans in the chains of slavery they began with Black Muslims from Spain itself. These Muslims immediately rebelled escaping to the mountains and hills joining with the Taino and forming the first Maroon People. After this the Spainards became afraid to import more Muslims and began bringing Africans directly from Africa, most of whom were following various African Spiritual Traditions, these people also rebelled, many finding their ways to Maroon communities and also developing the tradition of Vodou within the communities and in secret upon the plantations.


As the French gained control of Haiti they launched a massive exploitation of the Land itself and the people of the land, Haiti is still recovering from this exploitation, as well as more modern exploitations of the elite.


Within the tradition of Vodou the Rada Cult is Dahomeyan in nature, more peaceful and sedate due to the influence from the nations of Africa which had solid social structures, cities, centralized authority and stable, peaceful (for the most part) kingdoms. However, the more violent and explosive Petro Cult is born from the synthesis of the tradition of the Taino-Arawak people and the traditions of the Congo and other African peoples. It was the Petro cult that was more rebellious and gave rise directly to the Haitian Revolution that put Fear in the heart of every slave-owner across the planet!


Maya Derens a woman who in her researches into Haitian Vodou becomes an initiate and directly experienced the tradition, writes in her book “Divine Horsemen, the living gods of Haiti” concerning the Petro Cult:


It led me, further, to sense, for instance, that the Petro dance and drumming were not merely another ritual- not merely a more violent canvas by the same painter- but that they were of a different character- a canvas by another painter altogether. This distinction arrested my attention and I began to observe the difference in major forms, which eventually led me to look for the possible interpolation of another culture, to investigate the history of the Spanish and Indian period of the islands, and finally, to the determination of the Indian influence as elaborated in the Appendix to this book. What emerges from this research is the fact that the African culture in Haiti was saved by the Indian culture which, in the Petro cult, provided the Negroes with divinities sufficiently aggressive (as was not true of the divinities of the generally stabilized African Kingdoms) to be the moral force behind the revolution. In a sense the Indians took their revenge on the white man through the Negro.”





The photo above shows Negre Marron a statue of the African who broke free from Slavery, armed with a Machete, and calling forth rebellion and revolution with a Conch shell (not only a musical instrument but an important Spiritual instrument and Symbol to the Taino).


We can continue to trace the footsteps of the Spirit of Hatuey as he makes his way through history, inciting rebellion and revolution, calling forth for the abandonment of Christianity and the building of independence from colonial powers.


Francis Macandal (a Guinea born man) was a slave on the Lenormand plantation, through an accident he lost his arm in a sugar press, and some time subsequently he escaped and became a Maroon. In 1757 he organized a conspiracy to poison all the whites across St.Dominique (the colonial name for Haiti at that time). Some 6,000 deaths were attributed to him (perhaps exaggerated) before he was captured in 1758 through a betrayal from within (by one of his own). Francis Macandal was a muslim Marabout, meaning he was a medicine man in his own right, he could predict the future and have revelations and had skill at making amulets. He was called the Old man from the Mountains.


When Francis Macandal was captured he was tied to the pole and prepared to be burned January 20th, 1758. However the pole snapped tossing him out of the flames of the fire. This was seen as a sign of immortality by the onlookers. He told the onlookers at his death as he was dying that he was going to turn into a fly and fly away. Eventually the colonists tied him to a plank and threw him into the fire.


In Macandal’s story we can see the trail of Hatuey in the whole incident with the fire, the statement of flying away and the fact that Macandal was a muslim, in opposition to Christianity and that he had the skills of a Bohitu (Marabout in his culture). We see the threads of FIRE, FLIGHT, IMMORTALITY, understanding of the nature of Christianity and the skills of the BOHITU.


Now we come to perhaps the most critical turning point for Haiti, the Vodou ceremony conducted by the Houngan Boukmann at the very same Lenormand plantation, which is historically agreed upon as the moment that began the Haitian Revolution.Boukmann Dutty was a field slave imported from Jamaica. He was conducting a Vodou ceremony on August 14, 1971. During the ceremony “a great storm arose, and there appeared a Negress whose body was trembling violently and who danced a wild dance holding a large knife over her head. As a climax of the dance she sacrificed a black pig. All the participants drank of the blood of the pig, and swore to follow Boukman. A week later the revolution was in swing…. The description of the ceremony makes it clear that it was a Petro ceremony since those are distinguished by pig sacrifices. It is possible that the woman was Marinette, or was possessed by Marinette, the major and violent female of the Petro Nation.” (Quote from Maya Derens book “Divine Horsemen”).


Remember that the Taino had a very intimate relationship with the “Deities” powers and forces of the storm, and a very powerful feminine deity, Guabancex, connected with snakes, the storm and embodying all feminine attributes.


Boukmann stated in Kreyole during the ceremony:“The god who created the Sun which gives us light, who rouses the waves and rules the storm, though hidden in the clouds, he watches us. He sees all that the white man does. The god of the white man inspires him with crime, but our god calls upon us to do good works. Our god who is good to us orders us to revenge our wrongs. He will direct our arms and aid us. Throw away the symbol of the god of the whites who has so often caused us to weep and listen to the voice of liberty, which speaks in the hearts of us all.”


The symbol that Boukmann was referring to was the crosses that slaves would wear around their necks. Here we can hear Hatuey’s voice echoing in Boukmann’s words; The reference to Sun, and the clear distinction between the Deity and Divine Concepts of the African, African-Taino, and the white man. Both men, hundreds of years apart in time were speaking of the same thing, both knowing the manipulation and evil inherent within the Christianity of the colonizers. We also see that the Spirit itself (a female deity of the Petro Cult) performed the sacrifice herself, making it clear that the impulse that brought about the Haitian Revolution came directly from the Spirit itself! And not only the Spirit itself but the Taino Spirit who found an ally and Guaitiou in the African Spirit and together they became the Spirits of retribution that not only eradicated slavery from Haiti but opened the door for the abolishing of slavery over the entire continent and the development of a movement of solidarity across the Caribbean and South, Central America.


A week after this on August 22, 1791 100,000 field hands revolted burning plantations and killing the owners and overseers. Led by the houngans and mambos (female vodou priestess) the field hands were armed by nothing more than machetes and other tools and began what was ultimately a very successful revolution. Boukmann was killed a few months later and his head was placed on a pole in a square in order to intimidate the population. However his spirit, joined with Hatuey continued the struggle.


This revolution lasted until its successful outcome in 1804. A towering figure within the revolution was an African man called Louverture Toussaint Breda. He was the descendent of Arada kings, his father Gaou Guinou through power struggles in Africa was enslaved and shipped to the Caribbean. His father’s name “Gaou Guinou” means minister of war who is always on the battle field, for his father was also a powerful warrior. Toussaint was born on all souls day (November 1) in the Caribbean, and grew up to be a skilled medical practitioner, herbalist, horse rider and African healer. His Vodou name was “Fatara Bato” meaning “he who leads well the ceremonies”, clearly indicating that he was a houngan of some skill. Toussaint became the leading African general inside of the revolution and developed a plan to destroy the slave trade at its roots in Africa and abolish slavery world wide. Through trickery he was captured by the French and died in a French prison in April 1803 but not before he told his captors:


In overthrowing me, you have cut down in Haiti only the tree of Liberty. It will spring up again by the roots for they are numerous and deep.”


Not long after this the Haitian revolutionaries completely defeated Napoleon’s army, sending only 4,000 out of an initial 30,000 men running back to France. Napoleon had planned to wipe out all the African Haitian men, women and children over the age of 12 and restock with new slaves imported from Africa, because he knew that the revolutionary Spirit was so powerful in Haiti. Along with the remaining 4,000 French soldiers, 4,000 remaining French colonials also evacuated in a hurry to Jamaica. Dessalines the Haitian leader at this point returned the Indigenous Taino name of HAITI to the country, acknowledging (consciously or unconsciously) the Taino roots of the Revolution! Haiti is the FIRST BLACK INDEPENDENT NATION post-colonialism in the world.


The Haitian revolution spread Terror throughout slaveholders across the Americas. The country itself continues to war against the powers of colonialism which continue to attack it on every level. It is also very important to note that Simon Bolivar came to Haiti to seek financial support for his Bolivarian revolution of independence for Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru at a point when Bolivar himself was very low on resources. The then leader of Haiti, Alexandre Petion gave Bolivar weapons, ammunition, money and Haitian volunteers for his fight for liberty for Venezuela and asked only in return for the abolition of slavery in all countries that Bolivar would liberate.


The Spirit of Hatuey and his refusal to bow to the god of the Christian conquistadors has rippled through this whole continent continually throughout the last 500 years. We can see that at the root of this story is a profound understanding and knowledge of Spirituality and Medicine! We continue to honor the Spirit of Hatuey and his Spirit of Resistance and we continue to look for his trail among the events, wars, battles that have occurred since his time right up to the present.


May the power and blessing of Hatuey continue to expand, influence and speak within our Present! And may we continue to recognize the Spirit of Hatuey in our Brothers and Sisters wherever we may find it! And may the blessings and power of the Cemis, Ancestors, Nkisi, Mpungo continue to be manifest in our lives! Blessings and gratitude for all that they have brought about!


Suggested Reading: Maya Derens “Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti”