Ujamaa

Habarajani:

I suppose that by now, some may have had the chance to peruse the Arusha Declaration and appreciate the similarities between the principle of Ujamaa and the models for the development of community asarticulated by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

The concept of Ujamaa....cooperative economics, is a principle that speaks to the fact that what Kwanzaa is reaching for, is not just to address the material needs of the community, it is not solely the control of economic activity by black folk.

If I understand the observation of Walter Rodney, work is not only the production of goods and services, but the creation of culture.
Ujamaa offers a healthy a wholistic system, through which to pursue our essential needs with the integrity of culture.
Cooperation humanizes the mundane pursuit of resources for survival, comfort as against the competition and conflict, accepted as natural and even sacred in the economic model of the dominant global culture.

In the paradigm of monopoly capitalism, the so-called realist approach, offers that when there are finite resources, one side or the other must dominate, us against them, winners and losers. In fact, the condition of great need, imbalance, is seen as a driving, if not defining element of capitalism.

Cooperation in contrast, posits that precisely because there is limited resources there should be greater collaboration, harmony and sharing.
This is the wisdom of a culture that appreciates and has the depth, to trust the inherent creative capacity the human to solve her problems. Relations of harmony offer the fertile soil for maturation of that seed.

Our culture, the ancient wisdom that informs Kwanzaa, ( at it's best ) chooses MAAT, problem solving, trust and creativity over destruction.
"The Ujamaa village is a new conception, based on the post Arusha Declaration understanding that what we need to develop is people, not things, and that people can only develop themselves . . . " Julius Nyerere.
The competition evidenced by those in the dominant global economic culture, sees those very relations as a threat.
The answer to supposed scarcity becomes ......reduce the population rather than redistribute the wealth.

My proposal is that the embrace and actualization of the principle of Ujamaa, cooperative economics, offers us control of our communities.
But beyond that, if successful, this puts us on an inevitable collision course, with those who rule, those who enjoy privilege and power through exploitation, domination and treachery.
Ujamaa then, becomes a bold challenge, an act of righteous revolution against this system, that engorges itself by preying on us here in the diaspora and those in the motherland.
Ujamaa, is unity expressed in the process of collective responsibility, to achieve sovereignty- self-determination in taking care of our collective, economic well being.

Peace

Ujima

Greetings Family
Reflecting on this third day of Kwanzaa, Ujima, the following thoughts emerged and I would like to share them with you, if okay.
In thinking of Ujima, collective work and responsibility, the appreciation of relationships again comes forth as seminal to our liberation and development. Faced with significant personal and collective challenge, the need for nourishing experiences becomes even more profound.
This nourishment can only be experienced by being present and truly appreciating the collective process, at work in our every moment of existence and I guess beyond.
That the workers and their families the multitude of other humans, who make it possible for us to soak away our worries in a warm bath, or produce this medium that we are now using, etc, etc., are all contributing, working collectively to produce with us this experience called life.
In that consciousness, it becomes possible to rise to and above the challenges of struggle and embrace to wonderful offerings of the universe.
Our very definition of achievement, of well being, of victory changes, e.g. finance capital, is no longer the "bottom line", the ultimate the determining factor, but again the quality of our engagement as we discharge our collective responsibilities. On the finance question, check out Mwalimu Julius Nyerere's comments on the role of money in our liberation.
Likewise we, even despite ourselves, contribute continuously to the lives of others, contributions that will linger, long after we have transcended this realm of existence.
The conscious experience of working for the human rights and dignity of our people is an opportunity not only to contribute and reap objective benefits, but in many ways to be present at that ever evolving circle of creation. Ujima therefore, is not only a wonderful productive process, but an affirmation of our the inherent creative potential, possible in our every encounter, every relationship.

Since tomorrow is Ujamaa, I think it would be useful to revisit, the work of Mwalimu, particularly the Arusha Declaration.

Peace

Kujichagulia

Habaragani Family

Wishing you and all your relations the very best at this time of celebration and reflection.
As we continue this often challenging, yet rewarding journey of life, we want to thank you for sharing it with us.
Though the path is fraught with pitfalls, organic to the reality of our
status within the dominant culture, we stride towards the future with confidence.
It is a consciousness born from the work/struggle we have shared with dear comrades/family, such as yourself.
Every step you take towards liberation, unity and self-determination,
in affirming our irrepressible humanity and our responsibility to create a better world, replenishes and inspires our own capacity to carry on.
Victory is certain and the only thing we need to realize it is our sincere solidarity with each other and devotion to the total liberation and sovereignty of our people everywhere.
Our most sacred charge is to build those relationships with you.
You, we, are the light. Shine on for the ancestors, for us here present
and for those yet to come.

Much love, respect and appreciation to you and all your relations.

Kujichagulia
From all of us, Donna, Aziza, Ayinde and myself, Lyndon (Kwame)

Greetings Friends, Comrades,
Been a long time, but I am still here. As actors and activists in the International Community prepare for the Durban Review Conference in Geneva,later this month.I would like to reflect on the possible meaning of WCAR for the ongoing tragedy in the DRC, one among many tragedies on the continent. In my opinion, the major implication is that the dehumanization of African people has been the most profound legacy, of the crime against humanity that is called slavery. I agree that the roots of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and other forms of slavery are economic. But the fruits of slavery has been the dehumanization of African people everywhere. This history lives in the prevailing global structure, that allows the denial of human rights to individual sons and daughters of Africa, much as larger communities and states of Africa are subject to abuse, that would not and should not be tolerated anywhere else. This signals to me that the legacy of the crime of slavery is to define human worth, a categorization of humanity that buries the African today so deep, that we can be slaughtered and arouse as much concern as the culling of wild animals.
The death of almost six million souls, and counting, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a profound and obscene expression of that legacy, in which the worth of African life is reduced to a spectacle, horrific but still a side-show. The terror of rape as part of the war on African people, makes the point that,that most essential human right to life, to dream of, or to contribute the future by being able to bear children for one's own self determination does not apply. The paradigm is rooted in the terror of slavery and it's associated institutions that built the global economy, with Africans, being sacrificed on the altar of the global economy.
Hence my conclusion that the situation in the DRC, should fall squarely on the agenda in Geneva, as an appreciation of that ongoing legacy of slavery. We understand the shrill cries of those found guilty, that there should be no suggestion of "linkage" of slavery to the current conditions, as it would further indite and lay bare the lies about the roots of their economic and military dominance. The crimes against humanity, evident not only in the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, but also in the so called Congo Free State of Leopold, these crimes continue today for the same reasons, to advance the economic interests of the dominant global cultures at the expense of the humanity of African people. Reparations must not be hush money or some cynical attempt at sympathy for "lesser" people. The goal of reparations has to be that of restoration. The restoration of the human rights and dignity of all people, in essence changing their relationship to power, power wrought at the expense of Africans and their ancestors. Reparations must facilitate the empowerment of the everyday people to access and exercise their human rights, well being and dignity and full confessions by the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity

Some Brief Thoughts on the Rise of Obama

"Each generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it," Franz Fanon

Too soon to judge Mr Obama but.........

This event marks the culmination of a journey to achieve the American dream, to fulfill the quest to show that we are just as capable or competent as other folks.
I can salute those travelers for proving that a Black Man can occupy the highest office in the land and I respect their convictions.
But for me the dream of America, rises on a sordid history and is sustained in a current reality which is much more a nightmare than a dream.
But putting a brilliant black man in the office and a beautiful Black Family in the White House, could only amount to something short of victory for African People or humanity.
Because the cost, the price to achieve that dream would demand something that Brother Obama and his team, in my opinion, do not appear to possess.
That requirement is, the commitment to bring into reality a world that upholds the irreducible worth and dignity of humanity at all costs. A commitment that the likes of Dr King was prepared to fight for, to serve the people with and when necessary died for.
Being black, being African in my humble opinion, is about a way of constantly honoring life with the integrity of all our thoughts and actions. I would like to briefly refer to another of our brethren who rose to lead his people in even more dread and challenging times and did have to be principled in understanding his historic mission. Black as redefined by Jean Jacques Dessalines means lover of liberty and black is the color and texture of liberty.
Obama may well bring some of that to the Whitehouse, although I propose that he has already had to deny, disconnect from and disavow significant parts of himself, to get pass the guards.
Yes I am sure that Brother Obama, from his soul, may even be moved to pull out the harpoon fired into lives of the wretched of the earth by global imperialism.But like Brother Malcolm offered pulling out the blade halfway" as pragmatic as it might be, is not justice.
One of many examples of this conundrum is the planned redeployment of the hapless servants, dying and killing in Iraq, to do the same thing in Afghanistan.Obama must have been advised that the technology and skill, the art of war of the American military, was now advanced enough to totality obliterate the grim history. The fate of failure, of multiple imperial invasions into the lives of the Afghan people in that land that has suffered so much and for too long.
Obama, a student of history, should learn it's lessons and try something else, to win the peace, with the wisdom and maturity of peace, not with the brutal ignorance of death and destruction as the only solution. Unfortunately it strikes me that he, Obama, could be suffering from the same fever, that led so many to create more misery and ultimately fail in their imperial enterprise.
Dr King's legacy is, as is our other freedom fighters, to change the nature of this beast, these arrogant ways of thinking, resident in the highest corridors and houses of power in the land. If he could not, then he was willing to die trying to keep his pledge.
But King's vision extended beyond the beast. It was a vision of the Beloved Community, brought into reality by a revolution of values, yet aware of the threat of the triple evils. This beloved ancestor was looking for a better world at the mountain top. I doubt that it was about,being enstooled in the Oval Office. That would be sterling, only if the office itself was used to change the nature of the dominant culture, to one true to the principles of universal human rights and dignity for all.
This may be presumptuous and is in effect somewhat unfair to the brother, to suggest that he does not have "it". I can acknowledge that he can and probably is committed to softening the blows of oppression that fall on "his people", maybe even to help us "progress" in this current national and global order. I am sure that few of us wanted another 4 years of the abuse, the assault on humanity that came out of Washington.
I can salute him for that and my expectations are therein, guarded.
Obama's promises to address the ills of society, are laudatory but only valid within the tortured confines of the neo-liberal, agenda of integration.
I cannot give undue credit or expect him to fulfill an agenda, a sojourn for liberation and human dignity that he has not really claimed or been defined by. It would in many ways be unfair to judge him for failing to achieve those objectives.
I also must note that Obama the human and President Obama-the office, are not necessarily organic and my critique is sensitive to this reality.
So what does Obama mean to me. Well, I feel good, real nice to see a brother up there, sincerely, I get the same chills as when looking at the Williams Sisters, Tiger Woods, Muhammed Ali, trounce their opponents. Yes we can, we can win, but are we sure that the game we are in,is really about us and that the prize will be worthy of our investment. I feel that our dream, the promise we are reaching for, is way beyond the capacity and imagination of the White House, even with a black man in it.
But I do expect things to be a little less painful and maybe, brother might even slow down the rate at which the Titanic is going under.
I hope that the brother proves me very wrong and that the ceremonial spear his grandmother brings inspires him to rise and met Fanon's challenge, noted above.

Sizwe

Doom and Gloom or Opportunity for Change?

Greetings Fellow Travelers,

Hope that this New Year, brings the well deserved blessings to you all. The way forward seems littered with awesome economic obstacles, which threaten to redefine the essential structure and nature, not only of markets, but of the societies that therein exist. Indeed a glacial shift in the global economies, the real New World Order, may be coming forth with relentless force. Though much of the attention has been focused on those actors at the commanding heights of industry, finance, etc, in the most economically developed societies, the impact of this meltdown actually falls with violent force, on those at the lower levels of the economic structure.
It is to us who work to live, those whose life and not classic profit margins, stock portfolios, etc, are dependent on the health of the economies. The ironic question, is about the viability of such dependence on the traditional economic models. Should workers who toil day to day, to feed, house and clothe our families, entrust their investments to the judgment of the likes of those responsible for the current economic crisis. Indeed the added question is, whether or not this was a error made by a system that works, or if this was the inevitable outcome of a model based on the exploitation of humanity and nature, consumerism, ever expanding profit and greed, that time and time again has shown that its essential rhythm is "boom and bust". The result is crisis, scramble for survival, vulture like preying on fellow competitors and historically violent conflict, that escalates to global warfare.
If these reflections present a picture of doom and gloom, it is only the partial message, what I really feel, is that the opportunity for significant and substantial change is present. That the recognition of the need to do the work of detoxifying, cleansing from the wanton excesses, overindulgence and pathological dependency of the current era is finally in effect. For those of us who work to live, this could well be our opportunity to redefine our way of being, our way of living in a more sterling and nourishing way.

Greetings Beloved Family,

And I believe that it becomes a troubled continent because there are those who must always cause confusion so that we do not keep these natural resources.
Miriam Makeba


Thought I would share a few reflections on the transition of our dear and beloved Mama Africa.
You know, many of us grew up, swaying gently to and being serenaded by the beautiful melodies of Miriam Makeba and will always have her in our hearts. She spoke and sung in the unconquered and unconquerable language of Mother Africa and so gently touched our souls.
In a time when respect for Africa was all but unthinkable, she like so many others brought me and I am sure many of you, a special message. A message of dignity and self respect. That there was a place called home, where we could be, love and celebrate ourselves in ways that could never be defined, or confined by the oppressor. And did not need their endorsement either. For me it was much later in life, before I was truly able to appreciate that she was a beacon of hope,for the liberation of African people everywhere and for the upliftment of all humanity. She not only sang and talked about love for and the liberation of Africa, but she worked and lived for the realization of that promise in every moment of her life. What an example of service and love.
I mean this sister, mother goddess, stood uncompromised and ultimately triumphant against the trials
and tribulations, the slings and arrows that came her way from the racist settler regime in South Africa.
A bunch of the original thugs and oppressors, who were in effect manifestations of the unsheathed point of the obscene weapon,that is imperialism.
The victory over that bastion of inhumanity was won by countless noble and unacknowledged souls, Miriam Makeba
stands in their ranks, an shining example to all, to us devoted to working for a better world. She stands now with, Malcolm X, Samora Machel, Walter Rodney, Patrice Lumumba, Sekou Toure, Kwame Toure, Che Guerva, Nzinga , Yaa Asante Waa, Marcus Garvey and the legions of other freedom fighters.
Of course we know that "A Luta Continua" ( The Struggle Continues). As Mama Africa made the rounds, visiting the liberated zones in Southern Africa and elsewhere, this message from FRELIMO in Mozambique was romanticized in her own rendition, written by Bongi, and later on our brother Big Youth's version. The message, "the Struggle Continues" reverberates across the decades, guided our sister and we would do well to heed in in these heady and sometimes, seemingly contradictory times of the apparently amazing achievement of Africans in America. Beautiful in word and song, spirit and body, our beloved ancestor was still a disciplined freedom fighter. A characteristic that has been and will remain vital to our every success.
We are reminded that in her dance through this life, our Mama Africa, showed that even at it's most daunting nadir, the African Star is always rising. We are ascendant, continuously reborn in the the heart and soul of our sacred circle--- our ancestors, those present in this time and our beloved unborn. As the brother said " you can kill the revolutionary you can't kill the revolution" Fred Hampton Sr.
Thank you Mama Africa for allowing us , the privilege and honor, to share this wonderful journey with you and along the way remember how to hold ourselves a little more tenderly, love ourselves a lot more, as we honor our motherland.
In the quiet moments of the dawn, or indeed anytime, I am quite sure I can hear the sweetly delicious echoes of Malika or Ngoma Nkurila that help lift us all to Higher Ground.
To honor your legacy and indeed all of our honored ancestors, I like so many who received your blessings pause at this bittersweet moment, to rededicate myself to work for the total liberation of African people and human rights and dignity everywhere.
As a Pan Africanist I am appreciative and inspired by your contribution to the restoration, the reconnection, the healing and renaissance of our people.
Medase Mama

Africa has her mysteries, and even a wise man cannot understand them. But a wise man respects them.

Miriam Makeba