Black People : 2hr Discussion with Marimba Ani (Very important)

[Keita Kenyatta]

Well the first good idea that she has is one that I am a staunch supporter of....and that's the idea that we need to be concentrating on our young as opposed to some old heads that have been thoroughly conditioned. At least with the young there isn't that much to deprogram and they are information oriented, meaning that they will at least look at, read and weight out for themselves what the truth is, what they must do with it and how it affects them.

 

[Asomfwaa]

It's audio... and thanks.. "Elder".. "Brother".. But I'm looking right through your right now.. and advising everyone else to do the same.. Marimba Ani presents some very important ideas in some very interesting ways in this discussion.. and I'm hoping we can break a couple of her ideas open and take a closer look.

- Peace

With due respect, James has a point. Marimba Ani's name speaks for itself, but so often do African people get a video with the only description being "Very Important" and that's the end of that.

When I post even ten minute videos, I make sure to write a pretty full description of what can be expected in the video. This should be more emphasized for two hours, because frankly two hours can cover a lot. What exactly is it that the offer of the video wants communicated?

Sometimes we see a two-hour video that is 30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes much to do about nothing, 30 minutes of content, and 30 minutes of people getting up.

Here, we don't even get a context, besides that it's very important--but very important to whom? Why? What are we to get from it?

I could have written papers in school with the thesis "This is very important" and frankly I did. But teachers didn't like that.

I intend to watch the video--because of the speaker--but I don't see a reason to not take James comment to heart. Of course we as a people waste time--but we know what we are wasting out time on. This should be an excellent way to spend our time--but beside from name recognition--most of us don't know why.

 

[skuderjaymes]

With due respect, James has a point. Marimba Ani's name speaks for itself, but so often do African people get a video with the only description being "Very Important" and that's the end of that.

When I post even ten minute videos, I make sure to write a pretty full description of what can be expected in the video. This should be more emphasized for two hours, because frankly two hours can cover a lot. What exactly is it that the offer of the video wants communicated?

Sometimes we see a two-hour video that is 30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes much to do about nothing, 30 minutes of content, and 30 minutes of people getting up.

Here, we don't even get a context, besides that it's very important--but very important to whom? Why? What are we to get from it?

I could have written papers in school with the thesis "This is very important" and frankly I did. But teachers didn't like that.

I intend to watch the video--because of the speaker--but I don't see a reason to not take James comment to heart. Of course we as a people waste time--but we know what we are wasting out time on. This should be an excellent way to spend our time--but beside from name recognition--most of us don't know why.

Peace ABSliblings,

The Context of this discussion is set by the site itself, by the creator of the thread's name and by primary participant in the recorded discussion: Marimba Ani. The theme of the discussion is clearly stated in the inital post...

Yurugu: An African Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior.​

And "Due Respect" is contributing to the discussion of the thread topic. Whether or not you agree with James is not relevant here.. so please, if you have nothing to say about the actual topic presented for discussion, please just move on to a topic where you do have something to contribute. That would be the respectful thing to do. James's comment was a petty and unnecessary jab that has taken you and I and possibly others off topic and away from the important ideas that are contained within this discussion. He has over 17,000 posts.. he knows exactly why he is wrong. enuf said.

 

[skuderjaymes]

Well the first good idea that she has is one that I am a staunch supporter of....and that's the idea that we need to be concentrating on our young as opposed to some old heads that have been thoroughly conditioned. At least with the young there isn't that much to deprogram and they are information oriented, meaning that they will at least look at, read and weight out for themselves what the truth is, what they must do with it and how it affects them.

Peace Keita,

that's actually one of the first things that resonated with me also. A Yoruba aquantance of mine from Nigeria said to me that the first thing that shocked him when he got to America was that the old were not wiser than the young. Of course I had to take that with a huge grain of salt.. first.. because I hate the innaccuracy of generalizations and 2nd because understand the culturally competitive nature of my Nigerian friends.. but I had come to similar conclusions in my own thinking and writing.. The lion's share of the assault against us is aimed at our children for a reason.

When Oscar Grant was murdered by that cop, I was talking to this older lady about it.. and she blurted out, "he didn't mean to do that".. and I was struck with how her first statement was in defense of the white cop.. and when she finally did talk about Oscar, it was detached and cold.. like he was nothing. and it wasn't just her.. I started to notice the same kind of thinking all around me.. I started to think back and pull old experiences through this new realization and I saw even more clearly how so many older people had seemingly emotionally disconnected themselves from us as a people.. and I can kind of understand how it got that way.. I could see it as a survival mechanism.. 50 or 60 years of heartbreak.. of watching your people marginalized.. murdered.. crushed into dust.. combined with the disposition of age.. of coming to terms with your own mortality.. etc.. I could see how those dynamics could synergize into a kind of irreversible apathy.

And so, the heavy intellectual lifting would have to be done by the young and/or the able... BUT.. that could just be rationalizing-away the pain of the realization that, from this pit that we are in.. there are very few places to look for guidance toward liberation.. toward respect for black life.. toward anything other than coping.. ducking.. getting down and staying down and out of site.. conforming.. learning to accept the blood of our children running down into the gutters like rainwater.. learning to make the most of the crumbs we do have.. etc.. to accept what these folks are doing to us as natural.. to think of it in the same way we think of hurricanes or tsunamis.. just acts of god... and they say, god has a plan for our individual lives.. for my life.. but not my group.. and so I should learn to only think about that.. to only worry about me.. (even though the whole bible is about groups..) and I should accept that god's plan for Oscar's life was for him to die on that train platform.. and god's plan for the cop that killed him was for him to do 10 months in protective custody then be set free.

And while I recognize that their is wisdom in surviving, I can't help but want more than that.. and I can't help but hope for more than that.. and so I have to.. we have to.. strike out on our own.. take the point.. and move forward toward the future that those of us who haven't given-up want to see.

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

do not post a two hour viedeo. tell us what it is that there is to be learned. give us the synopsis.
tell us what YOU think. i will not sit and look at a 2 hour video.