I'm not picking on him. What you highlighted in my post was sincere. The references and books he's suggested are all good information for those that have an interest in the subject. I just don't see too many people interested is all...
Somehow being called a blockhead and singled out for his abuse keeps me from considering this suggestion. I'm open to anyone with an opposing opinion, but I'll sure as fire&brimstone make my opinion known too.
The Essential Theory And Praxis of National Culture as explained by a1000, in my humble opinion, doesn't reflect the Bahamian way. It doesn't apply to today's Bahamas. This isn't the deep south of America, South Africa, nor any one of a multitude of examples of 'the man keepin' us down'. This country's geographic and cultural history has been influenced by countries around the world. Its relatively stable government, its financial advantage, and its exposure to billions of people over the course of time elevates it to a league of it's own.
Being close to two world superpowers (UK diplomatically & USA geographically) has provided the Bahamas the opportunity to secure modern and progressive ideals, instruments, goods and services that would have never been available under different circumstances. Look at your computer, watch, car, TV, Xbox, cable TV, cell phone, or the stuff under your Christmas tree and tell me I'm wrong....
Haiti is a land of lush forests, natural resources, lots of space, mountains, streams of fresh water, workable farmland, etc. It should be a friggin' utopia with a booming economy and a population of educated and peaceful people. Yet Haiti hasn't enjoyed the same prosperity that a chain of 700 limestone rocks has enjoyed for decades. Why? Part of it can be explained by our alliances with both the Old (UK) and New (US) Worlds. We take advantage of their advances while still maintaining the island way of life. The UK provided the basis for governing, the US provides the technology and modern goods. Our location as a tax haven invites money from around the globe. We pose a huge security threat to the US making it important that we remain their ally.
Last though before this gets too long (too late?) is the fact that the Bahamas has enjoyed the leadership of the majority for 30 years. Despite what we read in the paper, white people have consistantly lived in relative harmony under a Black leader. Currently we also have a black woman Deputy leader. The US and the UK haven't really gotten close to these accomplishments, as pathetic as that is.
Regardless of how a1000 wants to phrase it, there is already an acceptance and ackowledgement here that black leaders are just as (un)worthy as any white one. The praxis is already somewhat in effect, but bourne of different conditions than the references made by a1000...


cheers!!!:cheers: i kno i think thrice b4 even reading a thread that a1boongy last posted on...

seventh generation, namaste, theory of this, Praxis of that ... he's a friggin nutcase ... not one word he says makes one bit of sense, and everyone on here knows it, as not all of the others on here are nutty like him.

is this an old thread...or has it just been burning up the daily rant circuit??
LOL

Man, a100 lost me when he started off on the trees and stuff...i assumed it was a drug induced rant, and waived it off!!
LOL
:sarcastic

Namaste:

Its been a great year thus far, a few comrades and I will be looking at the theoretical and practical application of the work of Oba T’Shaka The Art of Leardership Vol 1 and 2. It is always a great and mind expanding thing engage in group studies. In fact the lack of group cohesiveness is one of the major factors that keep us as a people and a country from becoming a nation.

I am doing some house cleaning in this thread as we prepare for talking it to another level, there are several lose ideas that have to be brought into the fold so to speak. I thought I would just deal with these thoughts here by Casual observer:

Just who do you think you are? As best as anyone can tell, you aren't Bahamian nor have any connection to the Bahamas. What right to you have to purport any national culture issues here?

As I have written before:

Actually Casual Observer the failure of the FNM to deliver on the 1992 Manifesto gives me the authority to write the Theory and Praxis of National Culture. I am well aware of the Neocolonial Culture that prevails in the Bahamas, as I have been fighting against it while you were but a concept in the minds of your parents. You make a lot of assumptions about your importance, and I must inform you that whether you respond or not I will write in this thread, your participation is neither necessary or mandatory, nor any of the other response in this thread as they have for the most part been of no value to the subject at hand. Its amazing that you are unable to see the parallels between Black people in Harlem and black people in the Bahamas, that dose not surprise me tho as we as a people have an exaggerated sense of our importance in fact we believe that we are not even part of the Caribbean. My challenge to you is the same challenge to every one who posts in this thread which is that you think about what you post, this is not about opinions I am not picking you out because, you are not special. If you read instead of acting the fool you would realize that when I labeled you and others block heads it was because you were not thinking, look at the post, it’s all there. I am still waiting for the comparison to the emperor’s new clothes, which you have not yet produced.

Here casual observer makes his second point:

Just so you know, the Bahamas is not Harlem, Detroit, Compton or any other American city with majority populations of non-caucasians. Yes, 80% of the population is black, but that does not mean that the civil rights issues that exist in the US exist here in Bahamaland. We have black Prime Ministers and black business people with significant wealth.

Your posts fall on deaf ears because the theroies proposed have no relavance to this country, this culture, or this nation.

This is interesting because as I have stated before:

What did Casual Observer miss in his/her diatribe? Well this is a thread on the Praxis and Theory of National Culture, and as such a Thread I must note and you must be cognizant of the fact that; we live under a system of Neoconialism:”A system of indirect economic and cultural control that often takes the place of colonialism. Neocolonial countries, such as those of Africa, the Caribbean or Latin America, are countries where powerful multinational organizations, such as the World Bank and the international monetary fund and transnational corporations, dictate the value of goods that are sold on the world market. These international bodies impose their will on these countries through providing aid, on condition that western political system are established in the neocolonial, so that elites favorable to the west keep the country under western control. When economic manipulation doesn’t work, as in Ghana under Nkrumah or Chile under Allende, these Western institutions encourage corrupt elites within the country to overthrow leadership that is working for the people.”(Return To The African Mother Principle Of Male and Female Equality Volume 1 by Oba T’Shaka). I really cannot blame Casual Observer, him/her for their ignorance after all, which institution in the Bahamas will any of us learn about Neocolonialism or Culture? As I have written before this thread is implicitly what is stated in its heading,

The next point by casual obsever is down right stupid, as I have said once before this is not a thread for every one, even if you are a village idiot you must realize that its impossible to find something that interests everyone. Be that as it is lets here the man out:

Your in depth research is all well and good for what you want to learn, but don't assume that every black person in the whole world thinks the same way you do. What may be important to you is not necessarily important to anyone else. Respect that.

What can I say about the next points except that he has a god complex, but its important what casual observer says as he does/dose speak for a constituency. Being the flipmodian that I am I will hear him out?

While the books you've cited are probably all very good sources of information in one way or another, it just isn't of interest to many Bahamians. You challenge me directly to contribute on the subject, but you don't see any other Bahamians jumping into the thread either, do you?

The only reason the thread has this many posts is because people are either making fun of you or telling you to stop your diatribes. Get the hint, move on.

Ah they are great books, they aid in the understanding of the subject here that’s why I place them there duuuuuh, are you stupid don’t you think I know what I am writing “you empty skirt” quote from Michael savage and the savage nation.

Let me sum this critique up with these words:

You make a lot of assumptions about your importance, and I must inform you that whether you respond or not I will write in this thread, your participation is neither necessary or mandatory, nor any of the other response in this thread as they have for the most part been of no value to the subject at hand.

Namaste:

...blah, blah, blah...

I am doing some house cleaning in this thread as we prepare for talking it to another level, there are several lose ideas that have to be brought into the fold so to speak. I thought I would just deal with these thoughts here by Casual observer:

Wow, singled out again! What a friggin' suprise!


As I have written before:
Actually Casual Observer the failure of the FNM to deliver on the 1992 Manifesto gives me the authority to write the Theory and Praxis of National Culture.
Avoiding the initial question
I am well aware of the Neocolonial Culture that prevails in the Bahamas, as I have been fighting against it while you were but a concept in the minds of your parents.
What a bang up job you've been doing then. Your utopic ideology certainly has changed the landscape here. Man, I look around and I see we are all just super-enlightened, highly intelligent, peaceful, and prosperous.

You make a lot of assumptions about your importance, and I must inform you that whether you respond or not I will write in this thread, your participation is neither necessary or mandatory, nor any of the other response in this thread as they have for the most part been of no value to the subject at hand.

Meanwhile you can solve the educational system in only 5 years for only $1 million. Now who thinks they're important, you hypocrit? Someone has a different opinion so you label them a blockhead and stupid.


Its amazing that you are unable to see the parallels between Black people in Harlem and black people in the Bahamas, that dose not surprise me tho as we as a people have an exaggerated sense of our importance in fact we believe that we are not even part of the Caribbean.
Misquote (suprise, suprise)

I never said we weren't a part of the Caribbean. I said we are different than the rest of the Caribbean because of our location. Prove me substantially wrong and I'll retract it, but you only put words into my mouth. Shows your utter lack of comprehension or your unwillingness to listen to dissenting opinions.

My challenge to you is the same challenge to every one who posts in this thread which is that you think about what you post, this is not about opinions I am not picking you out because, you are not special. If you read instead of acting the fool you would realize that when I labeled you and others block heads it was because you were not thinking, look at the post, it’s all there. I am still waiting for the comparison to the emperor’s new clothes, which you have not yet produced.
This thread is not about opinions!? Oh, you mean this thread is not about anyone else's opinion but your own. Aren't you important!


Here casual observer makes his second point:
This is interesting because as I have stated before:
What did Casual Observer miss in his/her diatribe? Well this is a thread on the Praxis and Theory of National Culture, and as such a Thread I must note and you must be cognizant of the fact that; we live under a system of Neoconialism:”A system of indirect economic and cultural control that often takes the place of colonialism. Neocolonial countries, such as those of Africa, the Caribbean or Latin America, are countries where powerful multinational organizations, such as the World Bank and the international monetary fund and transnational corporations, dictate the value of goods that are sold on the world market. These international bodies impose their will on these countries through providing aid, on condition that western political system are established in the neocolonial, so that elites favorable to the west keep the country under western control. When economic manipulation doesn’t work, as in Ghana under Nkrumah or Chile under Allende, these Western institutions encourage corrupt elites within the country to overthrow leadership that is working for the people.”(Return To The African Mother Principle Of Male and Female Equality Volume 1 by Oba T’Shaka). I really cannot blame Casual Observer, him/her for their ignorance after all, which institution in the Bahamas will any of us learn about Neocolonialism or Culture? As I have written before this thread is implicitly what is stated in its heading,

Yeah, yeah, you posted this before. You are repeating yourself.

The next point by casual obsever is down right stupid, F :mad: you as I have said once before this is not a thread for every one, even if you are a village idiot you must realize that its impossible to find something that interests everyone.
Again, you aren't digesting my words, but simply regurgitating and manipulating. I said that your posts aren't engaging 'anyone' on the subject, not 'everyone'. I think you secretly love the fact that I challenge you as you think it gives you credibility.
Be that as it is lets here the man out:
What can I say about the next points except that he has a god complex, but its important what casual observer says as he does/dose speak for a constituency. The constituency of the logical and sane. Being the flipmodian that I am I will hear him out? Is this a statement or a question, because I know you won't hear me out. You'll hear whatever you want to hear.

Ah they are great books, they aid in the understanding of the subject here that’s why I place them there duuuuuh, are you stupid don’t you think I know what I am writing “you empty skirt” quote from Michael savage and the savage nation. No, I don't think you know what you're writing, because I think someone else wrote it before you. It's like me starting a thread titled 'A Brief History of Time' and making it seem like Hawking's words are my own.


Let me sum this critique up with these words:
You make a lot of assumptions about your importance, and I must inform you that whether you respond or not I will write in this thread, your participation is neither necessary or mandatory, nor any of the other response in this thread as they have for the most part been of no value to the subject at hand.

Now you are just copying yourself twice in the same post! Run out of ideas, huh? What a shame. I guess it's time to close the thread, yes? Perhaps a 40 year fast on internet connections would also serve to cleanse the soul too.


I know you'll come back with some frivolous crap, totally avoiding what I've said and accusing me of a God Complex.

I wonder if you have that relationship with the rain, thunder and lightning that I have. I grew up listening to my grand mother and aunts talking about Obeah stories, about fixing people, and about Shango. At the time I did not know but these are parts of my family African roots, it is part of our seeing the world, our world view/ part of the cultural matrix that slavery colonialism and neocolonialism strived to remove. I have to do some idea/concept cleaning here, some time back in this thread Growing posted some interesting thoughts I do not know how common these thoughts are but it is important to reflect on them in the process of coming to a common understanding:

a1000... you say you want discussion about how we have no culture and must now go about 'creating' some form of culture... and apparently you think you are some kind of authority that has the depth of mind to direct this endeavor but you come off as a self-important, and yet self-hating, not to mention nauseatingly verbose numbskull... it amazes me that you cannot see the culture that does abound in the bahamas... maybe you haven't been in a while... or maybe you were shut off from the real bahamian experience while here... that's unfortunate...
only bahamians do it the way bahamians do it... we have our very own and unique ways of preparing foods, worshipping, celebrating various occasions and socializing with one another... also in the way that we govern ourselves, regardless of its flaws (and don't give me any foolishness about majority rule & 1967 blah blah blah because the black bahamian people of this country had leaders amongst themselves during colonialism)... rite down to the way we speak... even if we take american or jamaican slang, we almost always bahamianize it phonetically, and the context changes... there's even a way to sweetheart that's all bahamian... all of it, the good, the bad and the OGLY, is our culture... geez... i haven't even said anything as for music and arts and crafts.... i won't, b/c i'll go off on a tangent... the fact of the matter is that all of these things vary slightly from island to island, community to community, family to family, but they are all immediately recognized by bahamians as bahamian.... you could be a black, white or asian bahamian reading mao's writings in beijing and overhear 'i'n ga lie, i was divin more conch jes nah, muddoz' and you KNOOOOOOOW that another bahamian is present and knows perfectly well about the traffic coming out of the east in the mornings, sheep tongue souse, regatta time, whether their family is historically plp or fnm, what strongback is for and exactly WHO in da mornin!!


Now that I have time to reflect on the years of childhood, combined with study and participation its incredible how much African principles/cultural were preserved within my family matrix, and if you think about it you will find that there are some with in yours.

It rained here on 13 of Friday January 2006, the sky was all grey, all I needed was some thunder and lighting and my mind and sprit would be travel to reams. Shango and the ancestors and I had a conversation. A very strong concept here is the interconnectedness of existence, let’s look at Y2kbad thoughts as they are insightful in regards to the degree that our minds have been incarcerated:

is this an old thread...or has it just been burning up the daily rant circuit??
LOL

Man, a100 lost me when he started off on the trees and stuff...i assumed it was a drug induced rant, and waived it off!!
LOL


A conversation about the interconnectedness of existence, that the world is not divided into good and bad PlP and FNM, Communist and Capitalist that in our world view everything is related all of it is sacred. I almost cried when this principal was revealed to me, I felt if you need a term of reference like John in Revelation. This is part of the cornerstone of the The Essential Theory and Praxis of National Culture, that our African Culture/matrix/world view gives us a different way of seeing and interacting with the world. Our African Centered/Cultural/Matrix/World View is diametrically opposed to the Eurocentric world view that is shoved into our heads on continuous bases through slavery/colonialism and now through neocolonialism. The Eurocentric/Cultural/Matrix/World View the world as a threat, and a reality that must be controlled (see Marimba Ani book YURUGU, also the book Plato’ Republic, and Michael Bradley’s book The Iceman Inheritance, also see the thread Do believers have to practice "Old Testament" Laws?). As I sat eating a veggie burger spirit in the company of Shango and the Ancestors I began to see why it is the responsibility of the entire community for the raising of children as all adults were mothers and fathers. It is first the oral tradition that the values of community were taught, this is why my extended family was critical to my development, they taught me by stories, orally the principles of an African Centered World View. They did not call it that, they did not call it anything, but the oral was the first mode of transmission. I need to bring some other ideas into the fold so to speak, from the thread Majority Rule Day loosing Significance!

Boi I tell ya! Why dn't you leave the real world alone & go stick your nose back in a book? Cause you seem to be good at that,then maybe you can come up for air ,when you figure out how to built this "historically conscious people" you keep rattling on about. SMT!

Its not just the written word as Marichal has written, but we have to remember that Oral traditions precedes the writing, and that history is one of the components that goes in to the making of a cultural functioning people. Lets look at the thread Armed Police in Schools and examine the thoughts of Lincoln:

Your thinking here is kinda twisted. The police are not their against the children. They are there to protect them from outsiders.
On the other hand. When I was in school (a private school) there were students 13 years old and up bringing guns to school. not to mention other weapons.

This was in response to these thoughts:

How counter seventh generation thinking this placing of arm policed in school is. They are our children. They are not enemy combatants. This is not an occupational zone. It is a school. This is a deep pathological symptom, when a society views its children as enemies of the state and must be watched by arm guards, we well as might place up chain link fence guard dogs guard towers, metal detectors, steel bars in each class, this is the natural progression of this idea. Are these the ideas and practices that will take us to the mythical develop nation status? Are these the ideas and practices that show great leadership? I wonder what happen to the parents and the grand parents the aunts and the uncles, the cousin the immediate family and the extended family, the neighbors. This placing of armed police in schools mean that all these units that make up a society are failing, dose it not make more sense to strengthen these units. Unless we really sit down and think about are actions we will always come up with suboptimal plans? As a country and we are not alone in this we have a habit of finding the most assine policies and then we pat our selves on the back as if to say aint it great.
What is the solution, I have already hinted at it, our country like all country are made up of smaller social units, this is why critical thinking is so important, this is why they don’t teach it in school or at the university level as well, because if we thought critically we would be another country instead of celebrating are incompetence, but I digress for a moment. But families, parents grand parents, aunties uncles neighborhoods, this is where are energy should be directed, these are the units that must be brought back to working order. Here are the units where a codes of conduct (the matrix of a culture I am going to pursue this concept in future post) come from, this is where I learnt, I never needed any armed police in school, I was not perfect, nor were my class mates perfect, but we had a codes of conduct that was instilled in us by family and reinforce by the various layers of the society, but even back then you could see as society was tending towards Americanization how these practices were not being preserved

Lincoln continued with the following:

In a perfect world this would be fine. Bring up your child...etc, etc. But in this world that apparently is not happening right now. Until we get to the point the you are talking about we will need temperary measures to sternly and effetively deal with this situation. If that means putting armed police in the schools then so be it.
But you can sit around and wait for everyone to start raising their kids properly. In the mean time the bad kids will currupt or terrify the good ones and the problem will fester.

This is counter to the African centered Perspective that I am advancing in fact it is very Eurocentric, control, I like what the Oracle said to Neo In the movie the Matrix, when Neo asked about the Merovingian’s goals with the Key Maker, she said “what do all men with power want, more power”

I always say to myself that I am just going to write a few lines and be done, well it has not happen, thus far, but during my conversation with the ancestors in the midst of Shango I heard the concept of collective work and responsibility. Once you are in the company of Shango and the Ancestors you know that you will find the path, collective work and responsibility, a blinding light. Hey do you realize that this flies against the capitalistic/conservative liberal ideology that we learn every day. My mother told me a story several times it was about crabs, white crabs and black crabs. My mother said that you could leave the lid of the cage with the black crabs but you have to keep the white crabs cage covered, first time I heard this story I asked why? She said well son, the white crabs will form a chain and pull each other out where as the black crabs will fight each other making sure that none get out. Black Crabs, White Crabs once you reflect on the mythology of the society you just cannot help but know what the solution is, this is what Growing miss:

lawt.... do you not hav a life a1000... i do... i have schoolwork to do and therefore cannot bring up every brer rabbie n brer bookie story in order to prove to u that i am aware of a culture that i know exists... i think you go on with these ridiculously long posts because no one in the real world takes you on.... i think you are mad that none of us are either... u really sound like you've taken the party line of some cult hook line and sinker... it's sad... it's really really sad... go outside more...

Black Crab or is it White Crab you decide?

wow! some of this stuff looks realy interesting! …………… too bad it comes from you, therefore losing all credibility in my view.


You don't know anything about the Bahamas other than what is found in wikipedia, do you?

yeah spell is right: cay
and proounce it: key

cheers!!! i kno i think thrice b4 even reading a thread that a1boongy last posted on...

shhhhhhh be still Shango is talking in the thunder.

sumone call the warden, its out again ...

sumone call the warden, its out again ...


This guy sounds like parietal x100.....
:jawdroop:

The creator has smiled on me, its still raining. As I have written before I am in the process of cleaning and bringing stray concepts into the fold,:bouncy: thus with out further delay I am going to examine the following ideas:

Told ya'll he was a communist!

That is obvious.

If he was really a critical thinker he would see that Communism does not work. Even the Chinese are slowly backing away from it, where they can - without losing face. Hong Kong is their capitalist outlet. Even the teachings of Mao are not held as in as high regard as they once were, in fact they are a bit of an embarrassment to the Chinese.

Communism works the same way a lightbulb works - in a perfect vacuum denied influences of other elements. But are we sure that he really understands communism that well to be labeled a communist?

very good point

I wonder about the thinking process of these persons who can make the jump that just because I am using Quotations of Chairman Mao I am communist this is a large jump, I will also be drawing on other works my struggle by Adolf Hitler as well:shhh: will that make me a natzi, here is what I wrote;

This season brings back thoughts of the great leader chairman Mao of china. I remember spending hours in deep study of The Red Book. All countries as they continue the task of solidifying its national identity or as I prefer the term national culture must have among its rank the vanguard. One of the task entrusted to the vanguard is the production of the national Culture theory and praxis, thus as a vanguard I am putting fourth in addition to philosophy of education, the theory and praxis of national culture of the Bahamas.These are an excerpts from The Red Book by Mao don’t leave home without it.

also see the following post::escape:

How dose Chairman Mao relate to this discussion? At the basic level China under went a revolution, a bold move, in many ways it is still undergoing that revolution and it is very difficult for me to predict where they will end up. However Chairman Mao works are an excellent back drop to examine such an important subject. I must be cognizant that for the most part that which passes as intellectual in the Bahamas are for the most part counter revolutionaries, just spitting out the trash that they have swallowed from their colonial masters. Where as the masses are just ignorant, and follow where the wind blows, but in all this there are a few vanguards holding the point, thus all is not lost.On culture:

Now lets go into this idea of communism and socialism, I had the chance to have break fast with Clarke, in Columbus Ohio once and its only fitting that I will let him speak from his book Notes For An African World Revolution Africans at the Crossroads. Page 248-249:

“………………….. And when I say I am a Socialist, I am not necessarily talking about what Karl Marx was talking about. Because, the socialism that I am talking about existed before Karl Marx was born before Europe was born. I am talking about the socialism that came out of the communal societies in Africa and parts of Asia that dictated that a man should have, in each society, goods and services according to his needs. And this was not a European creation, because the European has never been humane enough to create any system that gives to each according to his needs……..”Clarke continues see pages 35-36:

“……………………………… These other African societies were mainly communal. They were neither rich nor poor. These societies were collectively owned by all of the people. People could neither be brought or sold because people belong to everybody. There were no orphanages because no one discarded their children. There were no old people’s home because no one discarded their mother and father. There was no welfare as such because the entire state was a welfare state, welfare for all people. I maintain that these societies at their best had the purest form of socialism ever known to man and that we in our search for socialism as a means to get away from capitalistic society that imprisoned and exploited us through the years, need to look back at these societies and the impact of change on them……………….”


Clark has spoken! It is important look at these issue in the broadest possible manner, this thread is not just theory but it is also praxis. :sailing:

clark is gey :voodoo:

I demand that Clarke is told about this website and your postings on it. He should know what kind of damage he is doing to an already compromised mind. He should be mindful of the effects of his words on you. I'm going to get his email address somehow. Rory, help?

Either we're looking at a drug induced haze or an unstable person. I'm glad he isn't in the country right now. Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Namaste:

I wonder if you have heard Shango, or listen to the voice of the ancestors, may be you thought about The Generation to come, and in this way you were thinking and being part of the Seventh generation. Saturday was a great day, we had the Martin Luther King Day Youth symposium, along with a community meeting, which were self determine ventures. Driving along just thinking about the world, radio fixed on talk radio, let me just pause and say this that I find talk radio the most offensive bit of garbage out there. But despite this I listen to talk radio for mental fitness, one should always be engage in Mental Aikido (mental sparing), most of the time it’s easy to see through the weakness in thinking, but some times there are golden nuggets. Now while I was listening I came a cross a program that was from the left, as they call it but both right and left are different faces of the same coin ( if you have seen 1984 or read it then you will be aware of the creation of allegiances, and enemies through the use of media). But what I found interesting is they were discussing the importance of individualism and the concept of democracy, they were discussing the importance of the creation of this individual and the formation of western society, along with the difficulty of expecting Iraqi to be a democracy in terms of the western ideal.

Why is this, the creation of individualism important you may be wondering?

It’s important because it is anti Seventh Generation. It is anti Community. It is anti family and extended family. It is one of the bars that build the prison of our mind.

I have been calling this house cleaning in a metaphoric sense, may be I should call it thread cleaning? However as I was driving and thinking and listening I decided that I would share this with you with out further delay here is Marimba Ani in here book YURUGU, I can not say enough of this book it will change your life and expand your mind::cheers:

"Cultural Imperialism; The systematic imposition of an alien culture in the attempt to destroy the will of a politically dominated people. The mechanism of cultural imperialism causes cultural insecurity and self doubt within the dominated group. Separation from their ancestral legacy, they lose access to their source of all political resistance. (see YURUGU introduction pages xxvi)"

I am going to look at two post in light of the concepts of cultural imperialism and form the back drop of Modernity:

The Essential Theory And Praxis of National Culture as explained by a1000, in my humble opinion, doesn't reflect the Bahamian way. It doesn't apply to today's Bahamas. This isn't the deep south of America, South Africa, nor any one of a multitude of examples of 'the man keepin' us down'. This country's geographic and cultural history has been influenced by countries around the world. Its relatively stable government, its financial advantage, and its exposure to billions of people over the course of time elevates it to a league of it's own.
Being close to two world superpowers (UK diplomatically & USA geographically) has provided the Bahamas the opportunity to secure modern and progressive ideals, instruments, goods and services that would have never been available under different circumstances. Look at your computer, watch, car, TV, Xbox, cable TV, cell phone, or the stuff under your Christmas tree and tell me I'm wrong....

From the thread Bahamas Votes for Communism I have found:

After reading most of the post on this thread it seems most of you agree with the gov voting the way it did.
Well i have only one vote so i would let it be heard.
The Bahamas rely on Uncle Sam more than any other country and here we are biting the hand that feeds us and the sad thing about it is without the people knowledge.
I mean the last time i check tourist numbers from Venezula, Cuba and China are down and doest seem to be getting no better, Mr Mitchell said in yesterdays Tribune that trade b etween the US and China is up to 120m from 35m, while this is to be applauded it is chicken feed to what we trade with our pro democracy countries.
IMO it seems that The honorable minister for foreign affairs is so intrested in pleaseing our caricom neighbours that he have no problem in pissing of US,CAN or EU.
In the carribean they refer to us as little america or america's playground ut how many of these countries would like to be in the position we are in.
While i do belive in TRUE INDEPENDENCE i am also a realist and belive that when you are truly independent you must be able to stand on your own 2 feet, and the Bahamas is to dependant right now to do that.
I am sure all of you on this post remember when your mother told you "Ya aint no man under my roof, when you are on your own then you can do as you want". And sadly right now we are not on our own and wont be for a very long time.


Marimba Ani writes in YURUGU page 22:


‘{……………….. To be useful, “modernity” has to be redefined, so that, for instance, we can speak of modern African dress or modern African art using an African-centered frame of reference. Presently, the concept of modernity is much too Eurocentric to be either practical or of theoretical value in a critique of European culture. We must begin with the assumption that Europeanness is not inevitable. And since we wish to describe “a certain mode of cultural being as opposed to “a certain level of history” European development is a product of European ideology. Consequently, it represents a particular view and approach to the world-as partial as any other. And as any other ideological construct, it can theoretically, therefore, be rejected, critique, or replaced. This is not to say that the rejection of Europeanness is an easy task, or that Europe does not give the illusion of being ubiquitous. But the question of the universal validity of European forms must not be confused with the successful expansionism of European culture. And the resistance to Europe, as it is now defined, can only be achieved through a commitment to that resistance. Those who begin with the assumption that they are simply dealing with character of “modernity” are doomed from the start, for they have already accepted the terms of European ideology……”

Due unicity,
UNICITY: The notion that oneness is the hidden law of the cosmos. Human beings, the Earth and the cosmos are conceived as interconnecting circles, or cycles within ever greater circles or cycles.:angel:

I must look at all the players both major and minor so to speak that come to bear on the Bahamas.:sailing:

I demand that Clarke is told about this website and your postings on it. He should know what kind of damage he is doing to an already compromised mind. He should be mindful of the effects of his words on you. I'm going to get his email address somehow. Rory, help?
Either we're looking at a drug induced haze or an unstable person. I'm glad he isn't in the country right now. Be afraid. Be very afraid!


yeah he's definately lost it ... stuck in a strange world mixed up with matrix movies and ET books.

evoke the concept of Kawaida from the book From Plan To Planet Life Studies: The Need for African Minds and Institutions. Page 80:driving: :

“………Umoja- Unity: To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Kujichagulia-Self-determination: To define ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

Ujima-Collective work and responsibility: To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.

Ujamaa-Cooperative Economics: To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other business and to profit from them together.

Nia-purpose: To make as our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba-Creativity: To do always as much as we can in the way we can in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani-Faith: To believe with all our hearts in our parents, our teachers, our leaders, our people, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”

I had to walk away from this thread for a while and relax, and examine other threads posting as applicable. I must inform you that I found many interesting concepts, and some that were down right silly. But while I was travelin to and fro devouring all that I could find I came across thread after thread created by Tafadhali, bless her heart. She must have diarrhea of threads, but I did however find an idea, and before she made a complete debacle :eek: of the subject of education I think I will bring it here and fit it with in the frame :hammer: work of The Essential Theory And Praxis Of National Culture http://www.bahamasissues.com/showthread.php?t=2572&page=4

“Wade Nobels defines culture as {a process which gives people a general design for living and patterns for interpreting their reality}. Its ‘aspects’ he says, are ideology, ethos, and world view; its ‘factors’ are ontology, cosmology, and axiology; and its ‘manifestation’ consist of behavior, value, and attitude. “Marimba Ani continues; if we look at the phenomenon of culture, we are impressed by the following characteristics:
1. It acts to unify and to order experience, so that its members perceive organization, consistency, and system. In this respect it provides a ‘world-view’ that offers up orienting conceptions of reality.
2. It gives people group identification, as it builds on shared historical experience, creating a sense of collective cultural identity.
3. It ‘tells ‘its members ‘what to do’ thereby creating a ‘voice’ of prescriptive authority. To its members, culture re-presents values (which they themselves have created together out of shared experiences) as a systematic set of ideas and a single coherent statement.
4. It provides the basis for commitment, priority, and choice, thereby imparting direction to group development and behavior; indeed, it acts to limit the parameters of change and to pattern the behavior of its members. In this way culture helps to initiate and authorize its own creation.
5. It provides for the creation of shared symbols and meanings. It is, therefore, the primary creative force of collective consciousness.
6. For all the above reasons, it impacts on the definition of group interest and it’s potentially political. (Pages 4-5 of Yurgu)”

I am brining the definition of culture back to the fore front. :hammer: Let’s look at the book From Plan To Planet Life Studies: The Need For Afrikan Minds and Institution by Don Lee, page 30:

“………………….The Need For An African Education.

Our Position On Black Education is Very Clear and simple. Either a people prepare their youth to be responsible and responsive to their needs as a people or somebody else will teach them to be responsible and responsive to somebody else’s needs at the expense and detriment of themselves and their people.”Mwalimu Julius Nyeree has stated that the purpose of (education) is to transmit from one generation to the next the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the society, and to prepare the young people for their membership of the society and their active participation in its maintenance or development’. The most important asset a people has is its young. Without children there is no continuation, there is no future. You cannot build a Black Nation or a world with just one generation; we need generations. We need a youth that can complete that which we start, a youth that can challenge the future we’re bound for. We need offspring that is skilled in the necessary areas of world building…………”

As we explore the issue of education in this new paradigm/cultural matrix let us be mindful of this defention.:sailing: