Faith in Action

On Thursday, April 10, 2008 I was invited to give a brief presentation to Morgan State University students about Genocide in Darfur Sudan. As my regular readers know, this has been a primary issue for me for the past three years. After more than 500 emails, a stack of sermons, a folder full of articles, a handful of rallies, advocating for two important divestment bills, and organizing a local Baltimore for Darfur event (Thank you Pastor Qismat Alim of Payne Memorial AME Church), I’m not tired yet. There is so much more that needs to be done on this issue.

And while I’m cognizant of some of the valid concerns that some African Americans are raising in reference to the flurry of activity on this issue by non-Africans; I am not content with doing nothing just because those that are waving the biggest banner on this issue may have ulterior motives. If you want to criticize the Jewish-led Save Darfur organization - fine. Yes, they have some problems, but don’t waste precious energy on critiquing them. We Diasporan Africans must put our hands to the plow in mass on this issue - taking the lead while welcoming all sincere offers of assistance.

The Morgan State University Deltas are great. They packed the room with about 50 students - mostly young ladies - all there to hear more about what is happening in Darfur and how they can help. (Shout out to Kiana Buckson - Chair of International Awareness & Involvement!) One of the most pointed recommendations that I gave the group of attentive students was to petition Morgan State’s Board of Regents with a request to have the University divest from Sudan like Howard University has done. (H.U. was the first Historically Black College or University to divest from Sudan.)

The MSU Deltas’ focus on this issue is right on time. This AP Report reveals that the United Nations believes that the Darfur conflict is worsening. According to the UN, there is no prospect of a political settlement, a new peacekeeping force won’t be deployed until 2009, and the UN World Food Program will have to cut in half the amount of food they are delivering to the needy because humanitarian convoys are being attacked! I’ve just about lost all faith in the international community of nations. They have willingly failed miserably on this issue choosing to vomit up words like “never again” again and again while our Sudanese sisters and brothers suffer.

I pray that Morgan students and all students in this nation will commit themselves to this issue. History has shown that students have often led the way in bringing about the radical realities of justice with peace that most adults only have strength to speak about.

Come on youth and young adults! History is once again beckoning us to the forefront!

…they published my latest op/ed on Darfur and local divestment activities.

Click here to read my piece and feel free to comment.

I believe that it was Bro. Sitawi Jahi - a faithful “Faith in Actioner” (regular visitor/supporter of my blog) that first put me on to Pastor Ray Hagins out of St. Louis, Missouri.

After Jahi put the name out there in the comment section and forwarded me an email, I thought I’d check out this Hagins guy and see what he was all about. It turns out that Hagins isn’t just some guy - he’s a Master Teacher and Conscious Preacher who preaches a challenging message about engaging God, the Bible, and the Christian Faith with “new eyes.”

My seminary journey at Virginia Union and and self-imposed aggressive reading schedule since school has blessed me to be exposed to a healthy portion of what Hagins preaches. He proclaims a challenging and unsettling word that many “sunday morning church folk” would choke on rather quickly. Hagins speaks on the origins of the Bible, Constatine’s impact on the Faith, the Kemetic influence of the scriptures (especially the Old Testament), and many other intriguing topics.

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A big thank you to everyone who took the time to send an email to members of the Baltimore City Council in reference to the Sudan Divestment Bill. 

I’m proud to announce that the bill passed and was signed into enactment by the Mayor on November 27, 2007!  YOU MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE!  I especially want to thank Tanae and Adam (all the way from Ohio!) for sending emails to City Councilwoman Helen Holton in regard to the bill.  [if you sent an email as well let me know and I'll be quick to publicly give you your props.]  See that - right from your keyboard - at work, home, or school you helped to pass a bill to support the people of Darfur.  Don’t you feel empowered?!  You should. 

I just received an email from Joe Madison as well informing me that DC just passed its own Sudan Divestment Bill!  The avalanche is growing and pressure is mounting on the government of Sudan to end this tragedy.

So what next?…you did know there was a next right?  This is not a 40 yard dash people.  This is a marathon.  So now we have got to make sure that Baltimore, the state of Maryland, and DC make the legislation come to life.  No equivicating!  Don’t just have the press conference legislators! Divest the money! 

I’ll be making a list and checking it twice, E-ACTIVISTS, to make sure the legislation is really enacted.  If it isn’t, you know I’ll blow the trumpet. 

FYI: I’ve learned that last month a new documentary starring Don Cheadle called DARFUR NOW came out.  This can be a great tool in raising awareness and encouraging action on this issue.  Here’s an idea: Get a group of your friends together and go see the movie.  You might just win over some new Darfur Activists.  Great idea right?  There’s only one problem

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“Without the African connection we are a disjointed people…begging for entry into somebody else’s house”

The Institute for Urban Research will host scholar, Dr. Marimba Ani, author of Yurugu: An African-Centered Critique of European Thought and Behavior, on Saturday, December 1, 2007 6PM - 10PM at Morgan State University’s Engineering Building Auditorium.

The long anticipated 2nd Edition of Yurugu marks a milestone in the long career of Professor Ani’s contributions in the deconstruction of western thought and behavior.

Marimba Ani holds a BA degree in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, and the MA Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School University.  Professor Ani has taught at Hunter College in the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies for the past 25 years and was a colleague of the eminent Black historian, Dr. John Henrik Clarke.

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Hey Family.  Please take 30 seconds to send Councilwoman Helen Holton an email about an important piece of legislation that’s going to be heard today by the Taxation & Finance Committee of the Baltimore City Council.  The bill - that will be voted on today at 10:15AM - would begin the process of divesting from Sudan in an effort to put pressure on that African nation to become a good faith partner in ending the cycle of violence in Darfur, protecting the people, and enabling them to return to their homes. 

Please take 30 seconds to send Councilwoman Holton an email.  No matter where you are in the world, you can do this.  I’ve written the email for you and I’ve provided a clickable complete with Holton (and others) email addresses already written in the “To” field.  All you have to do is click that link, copy/paste the email that I wrote in the message box and click “send.”

I just found out that I can’t go to the hearing today because I will be speaking at a local middle school for American Education Week activities.  While I’m disappointed that I can’t make the hearing, I’ll feel better knowing that people came to my blog and sent the Baltimore City Council a note encouraging them to pass this important bill.

Please Please Please go to my TAKE ACTION PAGE and follow the simple directions.  If you have any problems sending the email let me know. 

No matter where you are in the world, you can make a difference here in Baltimore and thousands of miles away in Darfur, Sudan.

Tomorrow - Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:30AM, I will be testifying before the Taxation and Finance Committee at Baltimore’s City Hall chaired by Councilwoman Helen Holton.  

They are hearing bill 07-0591; an ordinance that would prohibit the investment of public pensions or retirement funds in Sudan or in companies doing business in Sudan.  This type of legislation is designed to put pressure on the government of Sudan in Khartoum to become a good faith partner in brokering peaceful relations with the dissatisfied segments of Sudan’s population in the nation’s Darfur region which is still reeling from the vestiges of genocide and perpetual unrest.  I’ll be testifying in support of this bill and invite you to email or call Councilwoman Helen Holton expressing your support as well. (Her number is 410.396.4818)

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Just in case somebody out there stumbles across this blog today; I thought I’d provide a friendly reminder that Christopher Columbus did not discover “America”.  (How do you “discover” a place where others have already taken up residence?)  Columbus was actually a genocidal murderer who helped to spread European imperialism and usher in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

My favorite book about Columbus is written by Ivan Van Sertima.  The book is entitled: “They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America.”  Sertima provides archaeological, linguistic, and literary evidence that Africans had been visiting and engaging the natives of the land that would be called the Americas long before Columbus. 

I needed this book like 20 years ago when my teacher was indoctrinating my young, impressionable mind with poetic grounding for Columbus’ greatness.

Another great read on Columubus and many others: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. 

Strange is the land that gives murderers, rapists, and slave traders/owners national holidays. 

photo source: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images

I tuned into the FIBA Championship game on Sunday partly because of my love of the game of basketball and partly because I have a friend in Argentina and I wanted to see how her team would stack up against the “almighty” U.S. team.  The game basically followed the pattern of the other games in this year’s tournament involving the U.S. - they dominated from the tip off until the ending buzzer.

NBA players like Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmello Anthony and many others who were on that team were superstars in their own right.  They can stand alone in the small category of being some of the greatest active basketball players on the planet.  In spite of this, however, they realized that they would not win the gold medal if they did not work together. 

Those who follow the game, remember when these superstars learned this lesson.  At the 2002 FIBA World Championship Games, Argentina became the first team ever to defeat a U.S. team composed of NBA players.  At the 2004 Olympic Games, Team USA was again defeated by Argentina and this time Puerto Rico took them down as well.  Team U.S.A. limped back from Greece embarrassed by their performance.  Their humiliation taught them that while the U.S. version of the sport placed emphasis on individual playing ability, the world version of the game stressed teamwork and that’s the only way to win in the Olympics.  They proved their grasp of this concept during this year’s FIBA Games and hope to win gold as well in Beijing in 2008.

Enough cannot be said, however, about the chemistry that these superstars displayed and their willingness to make individual accomplishment secondary to cooperative play and collective achievement.  It reminds me of the emphasis that the African worldview places upon the saying, “There is no ‘me’ without ‘we’.”

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It is with profound sorrow, that I regret to inform you that Pan-Africanist educator, historian, and psychologist, Dr. Asa Hilliard made his transition on Sunday, August 12, 2007 while in Egypt.  The African family, and in fact the world, has lost a giant of a man who devoted his life to liberation of African people.  According to his obituary, “Dr. Hilliard was in Egypt to deliver a keynote lecture at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization (ASCAC), an organization he helped found.  He was also lecturing for a study trip led by Dr. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago.  The cause of death is attributed to complications from malaria.” 

I first gained knowledge of Dr. Hilliard while in seminary at Virginia Union University.  His book wasn’t a requirement for the class that I was in, but it was tucked away under the “Optional Reading” list.  I decided to get it because the title caught my eye: “SBA: The Reawakening the African Mind“.  It was a fascinating read that opened my eyes to how I was conditioned in the American European Educational System.  In grade school, I was socialized to embrace everything “White” and European as superior and everything Black and/or “African” as something of little to no significance.  (In fact, while it was a requirement for me to take European History and U.S. History in high school there was not even a class on African History - this despite the fact that the student population of the school was predominantlyAfrican American!)

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