Scholars freeing your African mind

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As South African freedom fighter Steve Biko once noted, “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor, is the minds of the oppressed.” This last December week concludes with the bornday anniversaries of several legendary African scholar warriors who devoted their lives to uncovering the Motherland’s true, glorious past, then sharing that mentally nourishing info with the general public.

“This month, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened an exhibition entitled ‘The African Origin of Civilization,’ and tribute to Cheikh Anta Diop (D.O.B. 12.29.23),” revealed Sons of Africa alumni, Brother Reggie Mabry. “In doing this, the gatekeepers have dropped their sword and put up a timeline of 3 million years of African achievements.”

Many Black psychologists contend that post traumatic slave syndrome has been very prevalent in African American communities for centuries due to the miseducation and religious propaganda being imposed by colonial powers. Several astute scholars have slipped through the cracks and created Black Studies programs at numerous colleges and universities, as well as study groups in local communities, such as ASCAC (The Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations) and African Echoes.

“We have to get into African history in order to remove the mystery, thinking that Europeans and Asians came before us,” urged historian Prof. James Small. “You’ll find on the throne African people who started the march of humanity.”

Dr. Chancellor Williams (DOB 12.22.23), Dr. Yosef A.A. ben Jochannan (12.31.18) and Dr. John Henrik Clarke (1.1.15) also scribed several books to preserve the info for future generations.

“They have accepted the torch that’s been passed on by others and they used that torch to light the way for others,” explains historian Dr. Leonard Jeffries (DOB 1.19.35), adding that all four scholars often worked together. “The colonizers have been stealing the African’s minds so that they can steal the African’s mines—diamonds, gold, etc.”

Before social media, lecture circuits such as the First World Alliance and the United African Movement were only a couple platforms where African griots with institutional degrees disseminated empowering information acquired on the grassroots level.

They utilized them as platforms to reverse the psychological damage which has been incurred.

“We are on a victorious path and sometimes we don’t see it because of the pain,” Brother Reggie optimistically indicated. “However, the fruits are for the future and those who believe, as Sweet Honey in the Rock has embedded in our minds, in Freedom, will not rest until it comes. The question is are you on the liberation train? Knowledge of Self is more important now than it has ever been. As we pay tribute to the Elders, we must work to become them and continue their work.”

Dr. Jeffries concluded: “Tap into the ‘great awakening,’ Pan-Africanism’s global family. We’re in the age of the African Renaissance—great African men and women who have acquired this knowledge and are sharing it with others. African people awakening to this war for our minds. It extends across the globe.”