Monday, September 17, 2012
Rastafarian Zimbabwean: What Zimbabweans really think of Jamaicans
Rastafarian Zimbabwean: What Zimbabweans really think of Jamaicans: By Masimba Musodza It was my first month in the UK, and I got a job at a construction site. Because I speak with rather a posh English ac...
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Enuktatash
"This generation must, out of relative obscurity, and exalted desperation, must discover and fulfill its mission. Betrayal of the sacrifices and spirit of the ancestors is no longer optional."
K. Abahu
In advance of the approaching Ethiopian New Year; inspired by the same and in a renewed spirit of solidarity, One World will be changing its name to One Africa, One Voice. In a move to encompass and speak more directly to the majority African World Diaspora, whether be it Brazil, the greater Caribbean, North America, Europe and of course the land we love, Mama Africa, we take the new years as a dawn for greater uprising.
We are challenged to become a beacon of inspired thought and cherished dialogue between peoples of African ascent around the globe. And for me personally, a global network for the African Rastafari Peoples nation.
Once again, we make the call for writers, artists, poets and others to help contribute to such works in the spirit of solidarity and progressive rebuilding of our family. Let your voice be heard. And let us rise our voice as one.
Enuktatash. Melkam Addis Amet. Melkam Addis Aalat.
K. Abahu
K. Abahu
In advance of the approaching Ethiopian New Year; inspired by the same and in a renewed spirit of solidarity, One World will be changing its name to One Africa, One Voice. In a move to encompass and speak more directly to the majority African World Diaspora, whether be it Brazil, the greater Caribbean, North America, Europe and of course the land we love, Mama Africa, we take the new years as a dawn for greater uprising.
We are challenged to become a beacon of inspired thought and cherished dialogue between peoples of African ascent around the globe. And for me personally, a global network for the African Rastafari Peoples nation.
Once again, we make the call for writers, artists, poets and others to help contribute to such works in the spirit of solidarity and progressive rebuilding of our family. Let your voice be heard. And let us rise our voice as one.
Enuktatash. Melkam Addis Amet. Melkam Addis Aalat.
K. Abahu
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Team Africa
I really do love watching just how many Diasporan Africans are coming away from the 2012 games with medals in hand. For that matter, simply how many have participated proudly for their countries and the Diaspora at large. They may be patriotic nationalists representing many divergent political agendas, but they too are global emissaries of Africans, proud Africans, who delight in seeing our brothers and sisters represent us so well. Let people say all they like that we behave as crabs in a barrel. There are moments, these games proves it well, that we do nothing but hold up each other and applaud all those who reach the top. I LOVE ALL THE LOVE FOR AFRICA... #GOTEAMAFRICA
Friday, August 10, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
"Intellectually, we are superior to the Blacks..."
"Botha speech 1985:
THE FOLLOWING is a speech made by former South African President P.W.
Botha to his Cabinet.
"Pretoria has been made by the White mind for the White man. We are not obliged even the least to try to prove to anybody and to the Blacks that we are superior people. We have demonstrated that to the Blacks in a thousand and one ways. The Republic of South Africa that we know of today has not been created by wishful thinking. We have created it at the expense of intelligence, sweat and blood. Were they Afrikaners who tried to eliminate the Australian Aborigines? Are they Afrikaners who discriminate against Blacks and call them Nigge*rs in the States? Were they Afrikaners who started the slave trade? Where is the Black man appreciated? England discriminates against its Black and their "Sus" law is out to discipline the Blacks. Canada, France, Russia, and Japan all play their discrimination too. Why in the hell then is so much noise made about us? Why are they biased against us? I am simply trying to prove to you all that there is nothing unusual we are doing that the so called civilized worlds are not doing. We are simply an honest people who have come out aloud with a clear philosophy of how we want to live our own White life.
We do not pretend like other Whites that we like Blacks. The fact that, Blacks look like human beings and act like human beings do not necessarily make them sensible human beings. Hedgehogs are not porcupines and lizards are not crocodiles simply because they look alike. If God wanted us to be equal to the Blacks, he would have created> us all of a uniform colour and intellect. But he created us
differently: Whites, Blacks, Yellow, Rulers and the ruled. Intellectually, we are superior to the Blacks; that has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt over the years. I believe that the Afrikaner is an honest, God fearing person, who has demonstrated practically the right way of being. Nevertheless, it is comforting to know that behind the scenes, Europe, America, Canada, Australia-and all others are behind us in spite of what they say. For diplomatic relations, we all know what language should be used and where. To prove my point, Comrades, does anyone of you know a White country without an investment or interest in South Africa? Who buys our gold? Who buys our diamonds? Who trades with us? Who is helping us develop other nuclear weapon? The very truth is that we are their people and they are our people. It's a big secret. The strength of our economy is backed by America, Britain, Germany. It is our strong conviction, therefore, that the Black is the raw material for the White man.
So Brothers and Sisters, let us join hands together to fight against this Black devil. I appeal to all Afrikaners to come out with any creative means of fighting this war. Surely God cannot forsake his own people whom we are. By now every one of us has seen it practically that the Blacks cannot rule themselves. Give them guns and they will kill each other. They are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives and indulging in sex. Let us all accept that the Black man is the symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence. Isn't it plausible? therefore that the White man is created to rule the Black man? Come to think of what would happen one day if you woke up and on the throne sat a Kaff*ir! Can you imagine what would happen to our women? Does anyone of you believe that the Blacks can rule this country?
Hence, we have good reasons to let them all-the Mandelas-rot in prison, and I think we should be commended for having kept them alive in spite of what we have at hand with which to finish them off. I wish to announce a number of new strategies that should be put to use to destroy this Black bug. We should now make use of the chemical weapon. Priority number one, we should not by all means allow any more increases of the Black population lest we be choked very soon. I have exciting news that our scientists have come with an efficient stuff. I am sending out more researchers to the field to identify as many venues as possible where the chemical weapons could be employed to combat any further population increases. The hospital is a very strategic opening, for example and should be fully utilized. The food supply channel should be used. We have eveloped excellent slow killing poisons and fertility destroyers.
Our only fear is in case such stuff came in! ! to their hands as they are bound to start using it against us if you care to think of the many Blacks working for us in our homes.
However, we are doing the best we can to make sure that the stuff remains strictly in our hands. Secondly, most Blacks are vulnerable to money inducements. I have set aside a special fund to exploit this venue. The old trick of divide and rule is still very valid today. Our experts should work day and night to set the Black man against his fellowman. His inferior sense of morals can be exploited beautifully.
And here is a creature that lacks foresight. There is a need for us to combat him in long term projections that he cannot suspect. The average Black does not plan his life beyond a year: that stance, for example,should be exploited. My special department is already working round the clock to come out with a long-term operation blueprint. I am also sending a special request to all Afrikaner mothers to double their birth rate. It may be necessary too to set up a population boom industry by putting up centres where we employ and support fully White young men and women to produce children for the nation. We are also investigating the merit of uterus rentals as a possible means of speeding up the growth of our population through surrogate mothers.
For the time being, we should also engage a higher gear to make sure that Black men are separated from their women and fines imposed upon married wives who bear illegitimate children.
I have a committee working on finding better methods of inciting Blacks against each other and encouraging murders among themselves. Murder cases among Blacks should bear very little punishment in order to encourage them.
My scientists have come up with a drug that could be smuggled into their brews to effect slow poisoning results and fertility destruction.
Working through drinks and manufacturing of soft drinks geared to the Blacks, could promote the channels of reducing their population. Ours is not a war that we can use the atomic bomb to destroy the Blacks, so we must use our intelligence to effect this. The person-to-person encounter can be very effective.
As the records show that the Black man is dying to go to bed with the White woman, here is our unique opportunity. Our Sex Mercenary Squad should go out and camouflage with Apartheid Fighters while doing their operations quietly administering slow killing poison and fertility destroyers to those Blacks they thus befriend.
We are modifying the Sex Mercenary Squad by introducing White men who should go for the militant Black woman and any other vulnerable Black woman. We have received a new supply of prostitutes from Europe and America who are desperate and too keen to take up the appointments.
My latest appeal is that the maternity hospital operations should be intensified. We are not paying those people to help bring Black babies to this world but to eliminate them on the very delivery moment. If this department worked very efficiently, a great deal could be achieved.
My Government has set aside a special fund for erecting more covert hospitals and clinics to promote this programme. Money can do anything for you. So while we have it, we should make the best use of it. In the meantime my beloved White citizens, do not take to heart what the world says, and don't be ashamed of being called racists. I do not mind being called the architect and King of Apartheid. I shall not become a monkey simply because someone has called me a monkey. I will still remain your bright star
THE FOLLOWING is a speech made by former South African President P.W.
Botha to his Cabinet.
"Pretoria has been made by the White mind for the White man. We are not obliged even the least to try to prove to anybody and to the Blacks that we are superior people. We have demonstrated that to the Blacks in a thousand and one ways. The Republic of South Africa that we know of today has not been created by wishful thinking. We have created it at the expense of intelligence, sweat and blood. Were they Afrikaners who tried to eliminate the Australian Aborigines? Are they Afrikaners who discriminate against Blacks and call them Nigge*rs in the States? Were they Afrikaners who started the slave trade? Where is the Black man appreciated? England discriminates against its Black and their "Sus" law is out to discipline the Blacks. Canada, France, Russia, and Japan all play their discrimination too. Why in the hell then is so much noise made about us? Why are they biased against us? I am simply trying to prove to you all that there is nothing unusual we are doing that the so called civilized worlds are not doing. We are simply an honest people who have come out aloud with a clear philosophy of how we want to live our own White life.
We do not pretend like other Whites that we like Blacks. The fact that, Blacks look like human beings and act like human beings do not necessarily make them sensible human beings. Hedgehogs are not porcupines and lizards are not crocodiles simply because they look alike. If God wanted us to be equal to the Blacks, he would have created> us all of a uniform colour and intellect. But he created us
differently: Whites, Blacks, Yellow, Rulers and the ruled. Intellectually, we are superior to the Blacks; that has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt over the years. I believe that the Afrikaner is an honest, God fearing person, who has demonstrated practically the right way of being. Nevertheless, it is comforting to know that behind the scenes, Europe, America, Canada, Australia-and all others are behind us in spite of what they say. For diplomatic relations, we all know what language should be used and where. To prove my point, Comrades, does anyone of you know a White country without an investment or interest in South Africa? Who buys our gold? Who buys our diamonds? Who trades with us? Who is helping us develop other nuclear weapon? The very truth is that we are their people and they are our people. It's a big secret. The strength of our economy is backed by America, Britain, Germany. It is our strong conviction, therefore, that the Black is the raw material for the White man.
So Brothers and Sisters, let us join hands together to fight against this Black devil. I appeal to all Afrikaners to come out with any creative means of fighting this war. Surely God cannot forsake his own people whom we are. By now every one of us has seen it practically that the Blacks cannot rule themselves. Give them guns and they will kill each other. They are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives and indulging in sex. Let us all accept that the Black man is the symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence. Isn't it plausible? therefore that the White man is created to rule the Black man? Come to think of what would happen one day if you woke up and on the throne sat a Kaff*ir! Can you imagine what would happen to our women? Does anyone of you believe that the Blacks can rule this country?
Hence, we have good reasons to let them all-the Mandelas-rot in prison, and I think we should be commended for having kept them alive in spite of what we have at hand with which to finish them off. I wish to announce a number of new strategies that should be put to use to destroy this Black bug. We should now make use of the chemical weapon. Priority number one, we should not by all means allow any more increases of the Black population lest we be choked very soon. I have exciting news that our scientists have come with an efficient stuff. I am sending out more researchers to the field to identify as many venues as possible where the chemical weapons could be employed to combat any further population increases. The hospital is a very strategic opening, for example and should be fully utilized. The food supply channel should be used. We have eveloped excellent slow killing poisons and fertility destroyers.
Our only fear is in case such stuff came in! ! to their hands as they are bound to start using it against us if you care to think of the many Blacks working for us in our homes.
However, we are doing the best we can to make sure that the stuff remains strictly in our hands. Secondly, most Blacks are vulnerable to money inducements. I have set aside a special fund to exploit this venue. The old trick of divide and rule is still very valid today. Our experts should work day and night to set the Black man against his fellowman. His inferior sense of morals can be exploited beautifully.
And here is a creature that lacks foresight. There is a need for us to combat him in long term projections that he cannot suspect. The average Black does not plan his life beyond a year: that stance, for example,should be exploited. My special department is already working round the clock to come out with a long-term operation blueprint. I am also sending a special request to all Afrikaner mothers to double their birth rate. It may be necessary too to set up a population boom industry by putting up centres where we employ and support fully White young men and women to produce children for the nation. We are also investigating the merit of uterus rentals as a possible means of speeding up the growth of our population through surrogate mothers.
For the time being, we should also engage a higher gear to make sure that Black men are separated from their women and fines imposed upon married wives who bear illegitimate children.
I have a committee working on finding better methods of inciting Blacks against each other and encouraging murders among themselves. Murder cases among Blacks should bear very little punishment in order to encourage them.
My scientists have come up with a drug that could be smuggled into their brews to effect slow poisoning results and fertility destruction.
Working through drinks and manufacturing of soft drinks geared to the Blacks, could promote the channels of reducing their population. Ours is not a war that we can use the atomic bomb to destroy the Blacks, so we must use our intelligence to effect this. The person-to-person encounter can be very effective.
As the records show that the Black man is dying to go to bed with the White woman, here is our unique opportunity. Our Sex Mercenary Squad should go out and camouflage with Apartheid Fighters while doing their operations quietly administering slow killing poison and fertility destroyers to those Blacks they thus befriend.
We are modifying the Sex Mercenary Squad by introducing White men who should go for the militant Black woman and any other vulnerable Black woman. We have received a new supply of prostitutes from Europe and America who are desperate and too keen to take up the appointments.
My latest appeal is that the maternity hospital operations should be intensified. We are not paying those people to help bring Black babies to this world but to eliminate them on the very delivery moment. If this department worked very efficiently, a great deal could be achieved.
My Government has set aside a special fund for erecting more covert hospitals and clinics to promote this programme. Money can do anything for you. So while we have it, we should make the best use of it. In the meantime my beloved White citizens, do not take to heart what the world says, and don't be ashamed of being called racists. I do not mind being called the architect and King of Apartheid. I shall not become a monkey simply because someone has called me a monkey. I will still remain your bright star
Six Flags Theme Parks: good enough to take our money but not our employ.
Thanks so much for helping to get the word out. Still there is so much more that we need to do and a short bit of time to make a valued impact. Summer is rapidly approaching and that means millions of students and families looking for something to do this summer. Let us help redirect our massive spending potential away from Six Flags until they make a change in the way they view our youth. Because it is the very same youth, dreadlocks or not, who we push to look for summer employment especially in a depressed economy, that Six Flags won't even interview.
So if you are a beautician, barber or salon and barbershop owner or if you know one, please start talking about this in the environment that will properly engage the fullness of the debate. We support the businesses that do not disenfranchise us. Point blank period.
Talk about this at church and at work. If your child doesn't have dreadlocks but a friend of theirs does, then it is relevant to you still.
K. Abahu
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Equal Employment Opportunities for Equal Patronage: Six Flags Stop Discrimination Against Dreadlocks
If anyone can recall the last time they have been to one of the many Six Flags Theme Parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada, you would have undoubtedly notice that many of the patrons, regardless of ethnic demography or religious affiliation, wore dreadlocks as a hairstyle. It might however surprise people to know that according to Six Flags employment policy, dreadlocks is one of the "extreme" hairstyles that are not acceptable at the parks.
This is a little disparaging as many of the patrons, as noted, themselves wear dreadlocks and actually spend quite a substantial amount of money, year to year in the parks. While it should also be noted that though many peoples in the year 2012 have taken to wearing dreadlocks, for myriad reasons, the predominant racial and ethnic demographics for the hairstyle are American-African or Caribbean-African peoples. While a hairstyle once primarily associated with those who profess Rastafari as a culture and faith, today the hairstyle has been dramatically accepted by many of African ancestry as a significant cultural representation of their innate Africanity.
This petition is aimed in part to do several things. As this particular issue was brought to my own attention this very evening, as a very good friend's oldest child returned home after being turned away from furthering the interview process simply due to her hair, it is not the first time in recent years that the matter has received some visibility. In a time when the "voice of the people" can indeed be witnessed to move mountains, let us in one accord raise our voice. If Six Flags refuses to change it's policies, then we must refuse to spend our monies and time in their parks and with their affiliates. And especially for those of African ancestry, we must make a serious effort to reach out and make sure that Six Flags either change their ways or lose our patronage.
As the school year begins to wind down and many are making summer plans, we are asking to make Six Flags Theme Parks a non-option this year. There are other amusement parks options, and maybe even a better option, given the current state of the economy, is to support local carnivals and festivals. We spend way too much money at places like Six Flags theme parks for them to discriminate against any members of our community. Let us also exercise our voice with our dollars.
There is no excuse in 2012 for such abhorrent employment policies. In a country that purports itself to be the greatest "melting pot" of social values and ideals, a Eurocentric asthetic ideal does little more than devalue and disenfranchise whole swaths of the American electorate and populace in general. This is an election year. Let us make sure we make our voices heard and the register and at the ballot.
If you haven't yet signed, stop procrastinating. If you have, make sure your friends do too.
With regard,
K. Abahu
Friday, June 1, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Should the diaspora continue looking toward Africa?
"It is only when man becomes master of his fate, able to determine his destiny, that he can
be free from fears and inferiority. Such an individual or a nation stands respected by all."
H.I.M. Haile Selassie I
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar, for lack of a better word, on Africa from a Pan-African perspective. Given my determination to see 'all things African', as my eldest says, I was very enthused to attend. And I certainly was not disappointed. I met several peoples there in attendance who, like myself, though born in the west, had Africa and 'all things African' emblazoned deeply on their hearts and souls.
So it is with that testament that I found myself more than a little disappointed by yet another story from African shores, from in the land, my land once long lost but never forgotten. One more story of how some of the family back home just doesn't take to some of us who were either stolen or forced out, and who presently find ourselves ascending from that lineage.
be free from fears and inferiority. Such an individual or a nation stands respected by all."
H.I.M. Haile Selassie I
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar, for lack of a better word, on Africa from a Pan-African perspective. Given my determination to see 'all things African', as my eldest says, I was very enthused to attend. And I certainly was not disappointed. I met several peoples there in attendance who, like myself, though born in the west, had Africa and 'all things African' emblazoned deeply on their hearts and souls.
So it is with that testament that I found myself more than a little disappointed by yet another story from African shores, from in the land, my land once long lost but never forgotten. One more story of how some of the family back home just doesn't take to some of us who were either stolen or forced out, and who presently find ourselves ascending from that lineage.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Rastafari through the Arts 2
“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children,
and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is
unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they
are our children.”
Rosaleen Dickson
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older
they judge them; sometimes, they forgive them”
Oscar Wilde
Okay, so I may be a little bit biased. After all, the few poems I have selected, even the artwork from the previous blog of this name, are from ones and ones that I know personally. Though from my perspective, who better to showcase. I'm sure they are many more artists that I could sample, even amongst my same very circle and in time I will do just that. But right now, I present just another small sampling of poems written by an acquaintance who just so happens to be Rastafari. Notice that the topics are as diverse as the members of the Rastafari nation are varied.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Rastafari through the arts
"To control a people, you must first control what they think about themselves and how they regard their history and culture. And when your conqueror makes you ashamed of your culture and your history, he needs no prison walls and no chains to hold you."
Dr. John Henrik Clarke
 |
| Laura James: Black Madonna |
I just wanted to take a brief moment and highlight some poetry from an associate of mine whose blog I also follow. Though they may not be in the pantheon of great poets from time immemorial, I thought the work to be good enough to support. Given that there have been recent calls for artistic works from all throughout the Rastafari Diaspora, for a proposed exhibit in Ethiopia in 2014, I feel secure in my doing so.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Universal heart of celebration: Ethiopia's Patriots Victory Day
"The tribulations and afflictions which befell us during the past five years and which cannot be recounted and numbered in detail will be a great lesson to us all, and with industry, unity, co-operation and love engraved in your hearts, will be a great incentive to you to be my helpers in the affairs of Ethiopia which I have in mind. In the New Ethiopia I want you to be a people undivided and endowed with freedom and equality before the law. You will have to join me in my efforts for the prosperity of the country, for the riches of the people, for the development of agriculture, commerce, education and learning, for the protection of the life and resources of our people, and for the perfection on modern lines of administration of the country."
H.I.M. Haile Selassie I, May 5, 1941
H.I.M. Haile Selassie I, May 5, 1941
 | ||||||||||
Shown here: Ethiopian patriots gathered in Addis Ababa to celebrate Victory Day on May 5
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An Open Letter to Simon Cowell and "THE X FACTOR, USA"
Sometimes we get thrown the unforeseen curve-ball though of the broken family and no matter how much life has prepared you for the systematic quagmire, it can be the most devastating thing to manifest within a family unit. Without going into my own storied past, and present for that matter, I felt a gut punch when I happened across a good friend's post on Facebook earlier this evening. Never expecting to read such heavy subject matter on this day, flashes of my day, earlier this very day, danced lazily across my computer screen blurring words but not the message.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
On the porch with my Elders: A conversation with Dr. Leonard Jeffries
"I only debate my equals. All others I teach"
Dr. John Henrik Clarke
"...the student's obligation was to build upon the previous generation's work, to find what is missing, omitted (intentional or not), neglected, and flat out incorrect, so we can make the necessary changes for the following generation."
Dr. John Henrik Clarke
Sunday April 22, was a very special day for me this year. A strength (week) before my earthday and I had been blessed with the opportunity to hear, in person finally, and eventually meet a man who had peppered the television screens and newspaper headlines when I was still a teenager. I'm speaking of the incomparable Dr. Leonard Jeffries.
For those who have not heard of him, I will say that you really must try and take a minute of your future moments to glean for yourself a bit of the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding this young and spirited 75 year old has to offer. For all those that have, well you may already know the depths of which I write here today but nevertheless, feel free to read on.
Dr. John Henrik Clarke
"...the student's obligation was to build upon the previous generation's work, to find what is missing, omitted (intentional or not), neglected, and flat out incorrect, so we can make the necessary changes for the following generation."
Dr. John Henrik Clarke
 |
| Dr. Leonard Jeffries |
For those who have not heard of him, I will say that you really must try and take a minute of your future moments to glean for yourself a bit of the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding this young and spirited 75 year old has to offer. For all those that have, well you may already know the depths of which I write here today but nevertheless, feel free to read on.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Witness of an Pan-African legend
"There is no passion to be found playing small- in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living"
Nelson Mandela
As I think back, there may have been a few times that I caught an interview with Dr. Thompson on Like It Is, a Sunday morning news perspective hosted by the late Gil Noble. I have to give thanks that my parents had the good sense to instill that kind of social value into our lives.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
An abomination of the highest degree
“Defilement is an action, not an idea, and therefore it is not freedom of expression. It does treachery to freedom of expression. Secondly, it is a part of a trend that enrages Islamism around the world. Therefore it has to be interpreted in this context.”
Mohammad Khatami
“We despise all reverences and all objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our list of sacred things and yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy for us”
Mark Twain
Last Friday I was hit with a barrage of emails and text messages over the above video clip. Turns out that during the premiere of the recently released authorized documentary of Bob Marley, someone used a representation of the Ethiopian flag down on the ground in place of the traditional "red carpet". Given that Marley was seemingly devoutly Rastafari, whether by faith or livity, to many the use of the flag in this manner was a desecration.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Let's Keep Getting The Word Out: Stop Exploiting the Name and Image of Rastafari
“If one benefits tangibly from the exploitation of others who are weak, is one morally implicated in their predicament? Or are basic rights of human existence confined to the civilized societies that are wealthy enough to afford them? Our values are defined by what we will tolerate when it is done to others.”
I just wanted people to take pause and think about what they actually view what may or not be "foreign cultures". While people do indeed traverse the world and engage new cultures on a scale like at no other time in recent history; travel is no longer only the whim of the rich or plight of the slave, oft times given the "right" and freedom of expression here in the States, peoples culture gets ridiculed without second thought.
William Greider
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Another Woman Takes the Helm in Africa
“WOMEN must be at the forefront of nation-building to bring the South African citizenry together and, therefore, develop a whole new ethos of human co-existence,”
Steve Biko
“There's no transformation process that could bear the desired outcomes without women throwing their weight behind that change initiative, and the same holds for the nation-building process.”
Steve Biko
 |
| President Joyce Banda |
I would be more than a little remiss if I did not take a brief moment to acknowledge Malawi's new President, The Hon. Joyce Banda. To be honest, I knew of President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and that the current presidents of Brazil, Argentina and Germany were all women. But when I took a second to verify just how many current female heads of state there were in the world, I was shocked to say the least.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Too Much Commercialization
“The best people have left and the old people have retired, and commercialization has taken hold.”
Xu Tian
It has been some time since my last official post. My hiatus was self-imposed and much needed in the scope of things. However much has occurred in the time since we last connected and I will be attempting to cover as much as I can, of that which is relevant to our interests and pursuits as Rastafari.
That said, I stumbled across something quite disturbing the other day. As a matter of fact, it was downright deplorable. But first let me explain how I reached that moment in my day.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Idi Amin Dada: Hero of Africa? as told by Jaffar Amin
"If we knew the meaning to everything that is happening to us, then there would be no meaning."
Idi Amin
“If we knew the meaning to everything that is happening to us, then there would be no meaning.”
Idi Amin Dada
Last night I had the pleasure again to cohost Black truth Media's radio program. As mentioned before, I am honoured that the invitation was extended to me and am proud to help out in any capacity. For what it's worth, I have received several positive comments and hope to continue providing the quality programming that Priest Jaja and the Black truth Media audience are accustomed too.
Further, last night was my introduction, and maybe many of the listening audience as well, to Jaffar Amin, son of the late Idi Amin Dada, former President of Uganda. These days most peoples opinions and understandings may be based on the recently released "Last King of Scotland", starring Forrest Whitaker as Amin. As dynamic a performer as Whitaker is, I'm not sure how well received the film was amongst Diasporic Africans, at least in the circles I run.
For all of the myth of Dada, as many affectionately call him, much has been left out of the popular propaganda and profile of one of post-colonial Africa's most notable and visible figures. As a man, Amin was a very imposing figure of formidable stature. Jaffar Amin, one of Idi Amin's 60 children, explained how his father was a very good man, despite all accounts to the contrary. He related to the listeners that his the late Amin was a very "mothering father", perhaps having to do with his being raised by a single mother.
There was so much more I wanted to ask but time was against us the night, and with long distance service between D.C. and Ghana, even on Skype, the connection wasn't always great. But I implore you to listen for yourself and exercise your own judgement about the man who some people say proclaimed himself, The Last King of Scotland.
Jaffar Amin's book is titled Idi Amin: Hero or Villain? and is co-authored by Margaret Akulia
Listen to internet radio with Black Truth Media on Blog Talk Radio
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Happy 55 Years Ghana/ "Let I People Go...Repatriation Now"
“The best way of learning to be an independent sovereign state is to be an independent sovereign state.”
Kwame Nkrumah
“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.”
Kwame Nkrumah
First and foremost, I want to officially and sincerely give thanks to Black Truth Media and it's host, the Hon. Priest Jaja, for inviting me to co-host last night and guest host in his stead as he takes a brief leave. The experience is altogether new to me and I am being handed some pretty big shoes to fill. Still, that the Priest and his coterie have put their trust in me to navigate the ship, gives me confidence that I will do justice to the Black Truth program and for it's audience.
Secondly, as yesterday marked a very seminal event in the history of African peoples universally, I must extend heartfelt extolment to the Republic of Ghana for 55 years of independence from imperialist European colonial overseers. Under the stewardship of the stalwart Hon. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana positioned itself as the first sub-Saharan African state to remove colonial rule and gain self governance. This move not only secured their place in modern history, it to this day marks Ghana as one of the important gateways into Africa for many members of the Diaspora who through the wickedly brutal and devilishly vile African Holocaust of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, have had to trace their African roots from outside the continent.
Kwame Nkrumah
“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.”
Kwame Nkrumah
First and foremost, I want to officially and sincerely give thanks to Black Truth Media and it's host, the Hon. Priest Jaja, for inviting me to co-host last night and guest host in his stead as he takes a brief leave. The experience is altogether new to me and I am being handed some pretty big shoes to fill. Still, that the Priest and his coterie have put their trust in me to navigate the ship, gives me confidence that I will do justice to the Black Truth program and for it's audience.
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| Dr. Kwame Nkrumah |
Monday, March 5, 2012
Black Food TV
“There's no transformation process that could bear the desired outcomes without women throwing their weight behind that change initiative, and the same holds for the nation-building process.”
Steve Biko
“WOMEN must be at the forefront of nation-building to bring the South African citizenry together and, therefore, develop a whole new ethos of human co-existence,”
Steve Biko
https://sites.google.com/site/owovmedia/black-food-tv
Watch live video from BlackFoodTV on Justin.tv
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
African Spectacles
"My main point here is that if you are the child of God and God is a part of you, the in your imagination God suppose to look like you. And when you accept a picture of the deity assigned to you by another people, you become the spiritual prisoners of that other people."
John Henrik Clarke
"Powerful people cannot afford to educate the people that they oppress, because once you are truly educated, you will not ask for power. You will take it. "
John Henrik Clarke
Eeenie Meanie Miney Moe, Don't Forget My Toe
"We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man's mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds."
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| King Emmanuel and HIM Haile Selassie 1st |
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Message To The African Diaspora
"If God lives in you, then you have the obligation to walk the earth as a God . Everything that touches your life must be an instrument of your liberation, or you must throw it into the trash can of history."
Dr. John Henrik Clarke
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
Steve Biko: Speech in Cape Town, 1971
I received the following letter in my inbox several days ago and wanted to share it with my family. It was already shared with many ones and ones throughout the African Diaspora and it has received a great deal of attention and congratulatory praises from many. I had already been writing a brief piece myself when it reached my desk, in regards something very similar but the author hit the mark much stronger than I.
The letter, 14 pages long and I understand that it was whittled down from over 20 pages, is a history lesson of sorts, inasmuch as it is an introduction, or further introduction for Diasporan Africans both continentally and abroad. There are too many salient points for me to address in these few lines, so I attach here for your viewing and edification. It is rather long but it well worth the read. Feel free to comment and help the conversation continue. The only way we are ever going to get to the point that we are truly family once more, is through open honest communication.
"God is love, so let us love."
"God is love, so let us love."
Follow me on Twitter @JahKwasiAbahu
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