RBG Afrikan- Centered Cultural Development and Education

RBG Street Scholars Think Tank's Purpose:
This Educational Program and Research Project is Dedicated to Further Building the Hip Hop--Black Liberation Movement Connection by Integrating Conscious Digital Edutainment with A Scholarly Self Directed Learning Environment.

Welcome to one of the baddest EduTainment Resources on the Web. A one-stop-shop for education,consciousness raising, entertainment and liberation. And the nicest thing about it is that you can become a contributor. Just start out by reading this overview and learning how things work. You can play a video right within this start page and even browse to it's music. Or turn on an audio playlist to facilitate your browsing. Tons of other options, too numerous to mention here are also right at you finger tips. Ride it however you like, it's all good. Once you get going, check out a Multi-Media Article that interests you and make a comment. I, RBG Street Scholar-Your Zine author, editor and guru will respond. The aforementioned approach is a kol gateway to doing bigger and better things in and with the Communiversity.

WHAT IS RBG STREET SCHOLARS THINK TANK AT ZIMBIO ALL ABOUT?

It's about creating and maintaining the best "Afri-Conscious Cyber EduTainment Portal / Communiversity on the Web".

It's about saving time doing study, learning / teaching together and having madd fun doing it.
The merticulously researched choice of links can be thought of as our votes in the popularity contest that is the "Best of the Best in Black Internet" . The intention is to provide a diverse and concise starting point for you to begin your quest for whatever information you are looking for from a progressive/radical/revolutionary Black perspective . As most of these sites have vast links sections of their own, so do the sites they link to, and so on, and so forth—starting from these links, you can delve further into whatever area interests you.

You got a myspace, youtube, odeo, website etc.
Add your Stuff Folx--and let's learn from each other, build together and teach the world

Our Zines are intended to help us develop and maintain a resource for scholarly research, build together and learn about any subject / topic related to what we're already about: Namely, the "Africentric Idea of Education" let's take the learner from G.E.D. to Ph.D in the contemporary liberal arts and sciences;

Including:
> computers & information technology,
> history and cultural development,
> religion and spirituality,
> sociology,
> political science,
> creative productions/ entertainment,
> education,
> health promotion and disease prevention
> economics and
> psychology
A one stop shop using all forms of media to interactively showcase our ideas of relavent education, unification, collectivity and self definition.

They say " Black Folx Can't Unite, I say they're a lie" Let's show the world our truth and culture; all under the umbrella of Black Nationalism> PanAfrikanism> Scientific Socialism> Revolutionary Change>Afrikan Internationalism.

Browse existing content in any of our four Zines and you will discover that they are all concentricly integrated, thus providing you with a most rich and wholesome interactive learning experience.

Help RBG Street Scholar, your Resident Guru, build our school with your good works.

Rate each others work as to keep us on point.

I'VE STARTED US OUT WITH SOME SOLID CONTENT. NOW WE MUST CONTINUE BY BUILDING TOGETHER. A GOOD WAY TO START IS BY FIRST SIGNING UP AND THEN BROWSING EACH FIELD IN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS PANE TO THE LEFT AS TO GET QUICKLY ORIENTED. A LINK BELOW TO "RBG STREET SCHOLARS THINK TANK RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" WILL TAKE YOU DEEPER STILL.

THE FOLLOWING IS A GUIDING SYNOSIS TAKEN FROM THE COMMUNIVERSITY PROPER:
With strick attention to developing our student’s basic education skills in the context of the highest standards of academic excellence, suitable for one to confidently sit for high stake exams(ie. SAT/ACT and MCATs, LSATs), we simutaneously advance the psycho-emotional healing and spiritual upliftment of our people by providing KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM AND OVERSTANDING of the historo-cultural, socio-political and psycho-educational experiences of Africans in America in away that RADICALLY REAPPRAISES EDUCATION from the pained and angry perspective of the oppressed black community.

WHY WE NEED TO DO THIS:
With the present day high rates of Black on Black homicide, suicide, and imprisonment and a rise in single-parent homes, rampant police brutality, unprecedented unemployment, and Blacks use of popular (ENEMY) culture (through music, video games and popular movies) to celebrate "anti-intellectualism, ignorance, irresponsible parenthood, drunkenness, dope dealing, weed smoking, cocaine, x-pills, loose sexual behavior and criminal lifestyles / thuggism"; we have chose to design a curriculum that, rather than getting caught up in the entertainment / BLACKPLOTATION aspects of hip hop/rap, will use hip hop/rap within a historo-cultural, socio-political and psycho-educational framework to address these various death walks forthrightly. Our new methodological style is intended to get our young people to begin to think critically about themselves, their world and their role as people of Afrikan descent.

WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE WANNA GO:
This work is a comprehensive (but only a core framework) sequenced survey of subjects and topics that have confronted Afrikans in America throughout our 246 years of chattel slavery, 100 years of aparthied and only “one generation of freedom” here in America. I like to describe the school as a “cultural development and leadership training communiversity”. From our research, we have determined that the idea of Sankofa, which means "We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today", really encompasses the whole Afrikan-centered ideal. Nonetheless, as this is a work in evolution and always under construction, we have chosen to focus our teaching/learning journey most directly on the past 45 years of our struggle for human and civil rights—

THE THEME “THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THINGS STAY THE SAME, WE NEED A REVOLUTION, THE SYSTEM AIN’T GONA CHANGE UNLESS WE MAKE IT CHANGE”.

The content and character of the curriculum is Afrikan-centered and the goal is academic excellence in persuit of black power. We tease out the social, political, economic and moral imparatives of black power in the 21st century by zooming in on two povital questions throughout our course of study:

“WHAT IS BLACK OPPRESSION IN AMERICA AND WHAT IS AFRIKAN LIBERATION.”

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African Traditional Religions (Spiritual Cultures)

Written by RBGStreetScholar on

Modified From:
IfasehunReincarnated
Never Let Them Disrespect the Ancestors

Link to the discussion in our forum@ Assata Speaks

6 Indigenous African Religions
(Spiritual Cultures) Practiced in West

Togo/Ghana/Benin -- Vodun/Mami Wata

Haiti -- Vodou (Voodoo)

Yoruba - Orisa/Santeria etc..

Africa/USA influences -- Orisa'Ifa
(try to practice as close to african as possible)
Africa/USA -- Anago
(try to practice as close to african as possible)
USA/Africa -- Oyotunji
(will not accept any ethnicity except for African, including latinos etc. try to practice as close to african as possible)
Cuba -- Lukumi /Santeria
Brazil -- Candomble / Umbanda
Trinidad -- Sango Baptiste

Central Africa/Pan-American -- Kongo / Palo Mayombe

Ghana/Togo -- Akan

Nubia/Kemet (Egypt) -- Ausar Auset Society:

(A spiritual system that stems from "classical" African history, not "traditional" Africa for you history buffs. Resurrected in 70s/80s in USA, but has roots in Africa. Deemed only legitimate manifestation of Kemetic spirituality in world, as it is only system that can actually invoke and possess its priesthood with Kemetic deities and speak in ancient tongues during this period.)

Caribbean/ Central Africa -- Obeah

Elements to admire in African Traditional

(Spiritual Cultures) Religions

IN THE RELIGIOUS SPHERE

There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent.
Africans have a sense of the sacred and a sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated.
Belief in the afterlife is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies.
The invisible world of spirits and ancestors is always present and the intentions of these spirits can be ascertained; care is taken to ascertain the will of the spirit to whom sacrifices may be due or from whom protection may be sought.
Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is no dichotomy between life and religion.
Ancestors mediate between God and man.
Belief in the efficacy of intercessory prayer is widespread.
Bodily purification is required before one may approach to offer sacrifice to God; there are nevertheless provisions for spiritual purification also.
It is believed that sin harms the public good; hence there are periodical purification rites in order to promote public welfare.
Worship requires a fundamental attitude of strict discipline and reverence.
Pardon is final and acknowledged by all: an offence, once forgiven, is never recalled.

IN THE RITUAL SPHERE

Rites form an essential part of social life.
Ancestors and the dead are invoked by rites.
The seasonal cycles and the stages of life are sanctified by ritual action. Ritual attention is given to crisis situations.
The whole person, body and soul, is totally involved in worship.
In worship and sacrifice there is co-responsibility each person contributes his share in a spirit of participation.
Symbols bridge the spheres of the sacred and secular and so make possible a balanced and unified view of reality.
Rites of passage, of initiation and of consecration are widespread.
There are many rites of purification of individuals and communities.
The sick are healed in rites which involve their families and the community.
Religious sacredness is preserved in ritual, in dress and the arrangements of the places of worship.
Some of the traditional blessings are rich and very meaningful.

IN THE RELIGIO-MORAL SPHERE:

There is respect for life: children are treasured, abortion is an abomination.
The sacredness of human life is guarded by taboos and rituals.
There is respect for the dignity of man; each man has his own inalienable chi ("selfhood", "destiny").
To be faithful in undertakings is regarded as becoming a man.
That life makes moral demands is accepted, and this is shown among other things by the sense of the person and attachment to life itself.
Sin is perceived in both its personal and communal dimensions.
Moderation in the use of alcohol is inculcated: only adults may drink. Drunkenness is shameful. Indeed moderation is required in every aspect of human behavior.

IN THE RELIGIO-CULTURAL SPHERE:

Attention is given to locating man within his environment and making him feel at home in it.
Tradition is handed down through stories, poems, hymns, proverbs, riddles and art.
The whole community is involved in the training of the young, and education itself has a necessary community and social aspect.
The moral education of youth is taken seriously.
Life has a festive dimension and is celebrated in adequate rites.
Old folk are held in high esteem. The community regards their wisdom as prophetic, that is, as able to give direction for living in the circumstances of the present day.
Silence is treasured as a value.
Marriage is an alliance between families and persons; cultural provisions are made to uphold its stability.
Youth is given a gradual initiation to life and society.
Blood alliances bind with a bond that is rarely broken.

IN THE RELIGIO-SOCIAL SPHERE:

Hospitality is a duty and is the most common value in African Traditional Religion all over Africa.
Between kith and kin and people of the same clan there is a very strong sense of sharing and of solidarity and belonging.
Efforts are made to secure and promote justice and peace within the community.
The nuclear family and the extended family have been the pivots of the African social system.
Respect for authority, sanctioned by the ancestors, is strong and represents the common will.
The poor and the sick are taken care of; widows and orphans are looked after.

Most African spiritual communities have spiritual development classes that you can take without formally joining anything. This way, you can get a feel for what's best for you.

Also Launch:

RBG's Afri-centered Mythology, Religion and Spirituality Link Roll

Vodun: