marcus garvey pan african university - Blackherbals.com
marcus garvey pan african university - Blackherbals.com marcus garvey pan african university - Blackherbals.com
Cont’d from page 1 – MPAU - MARCUS GARVEY PAN- AFRICAN UNIVERSITY Why Pan-African, Why Marcus Garvey? The university is designated as a ‘Pan-Afrikan’ institution in recognition of the continuing efforts by African people to create an African nation expressed in the need to establish the United States of Africa. However the concept of ‘pan-Africanism’ has undergone several understandings followed by different schools and ideological orientations. Two understandings of Pan-Africanism stand out in the course of the struggles for leadership of Africans in the Diaspora: that propounded by the African- American scholar W. W. Du Bois and the African- Jamaican mass mobiliser, largely self-taught Marcus Garvey. Du Bois advocated securing the right of Africans to participate in governments in their respective countries and later for self-rule. Garvey on the other hand, advocated the uniting of all Africans the world over, to establish a bridgehead on the continent of Africa from which to fight colonialism and weld the whole of Africa into a united nation. The decision to name the University after Marcus Garvey is a celebration of his devotion to making African people not only self-governing but more importantly as a united nation. Garvey believed in the power of the ordinary people to organize themselves into a powerful force, which could achieve African regeneration. He advocated the need for Africans to organize and not agonize and encouraged them to educate themselves in every way, arguing that no one had the monopoly of learning. His philosophy on education can be summed up as follows: “To be learned in all that is worthwhile knowing. Not to be crammed with the subject matter of the book or the philosophy of the class room, but to store away in your head such facts as you need for the daily application of life, so that you may (be) the better in all things understanding your fellowmen, and interpret (of) your relationship to your Creator. You can be educated in soul, vision and feeling, as well as in mind. To see your enemy and know him is a part of the complete education of man; to spiritually regulate one's self is another form of the higher education that fits man for a nobler place in life, and still, to approach your brother by the feeling of your own humanity, is an education that softens the ills of the world and makes us kind indeed. Many a man was educated outside the school room. It is something you let out, not completely take in. You are part of it, for it is natural; it is dormant simply because you will not develop it, but God creates every man with it knowingly or unknowingly to him who possesses it - that's the difference. Develop yours and you become as great and full of knowledge as the other fellow without even entering the classroom.” Marcus Garvey’s philosophy and opinions are one of the rich heritages of the African people that have inspired MPAU to provide the students, adult learners and the communities with an interactive space both on campus and CSoKs where they can learn, research, discuss and expand on their existing knowledge and, with their teachers and indigenous knowledge experts in the community deepen it. Such a process will enable them to carry out theoretical formulations and reflections in an inter-disciplinary, plural-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary as well as comparative manner. The ultimate objective will be to generate knowledge not only for its own sake but for the sake of utilizing it in society by doing and acting to transform their lives through interaction with the wider world and humanity in the process of African recovery and rebirth. For a Pan-Afrikan University to emerge and set a new path in the search for knowledge and truth it must first and foremost be built on a sound cultural and spiritual basis that highlights those aspects of African spiritual life that have enabled the African people to survive as a human community throughout the centuries. It should, as Chancellor Williams, reminds us, go beyond European classical humanism with its social class, socio-economic and geographical limitations based on Greece and the Athenian City-State, which was based on a system of slavery. Pan-African humanism must, according to him, lead to an “enlarged humanities” and recapture that original meaning of humanity found in Africa, which Western scholars, beginning with Plato, in their hollow and lopsided search for material progress, abandoned. To make a break with this past, the Pan-Afrikan University must abandon the present African political and economic elites’ mindsets, which have tended to look at their village compatriots as ignorant and illiterate people. In response, the African people in the villages have also tended to look at these elites as ‘Mzungu (European) minded.’ Hostility exists between the two camps and there is no trust between them since relationships between them is based on the colonial system of Top-Down communication in which there is very little dialogue and understanding between them. This “Top-Down” approach also informs the “development” strategies and programmes, which are dictated by the external economic interests, which are passed to the “ignorant masses” for implementation for Continued on page 15 2- Traditional African Clinic – August 2013
AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY Pan Africanism and Religion By Rammonaseswa Lucas Molomo The term ‘religion’ refers to a system of spiritual beliefs found amongst individuals or groups of individuals. Properly understood religion is a personal relation of the individual to the Supreme Being. This presupposes that every human being does conceive of the existence of a supreme being who is behind all creation and is in control of life and death. It is such belief and acknowledgement that is called religion. The forms of acknowledgement differ widely from place to place. The said Supreme Being is called by different names in different places. Even the methods of communing with such Supreme Being differ from place to place. I wish I could say how this being looks like in the inward eye of each beholder. I cannot, I do not know. Africans have developed unique systems of spiritual beliefs. The spiritual systems are a product of many millennia of historical experiences, of social interaction with natural environments, of communion with spiritual deities, of experimentation with the primordial forces of the universe. All these things have merged and blended in to a sacred or divine culture that explains controls and regulates all existence. This is a clear infestation of the existence and presence of the Supreme Being (God, Allah, and Buddha) in the day to day life of every individual. It is evident from this that African religious system is a complex and integrated whole which is larger than the sum of its parts. A brief outline of its basic structure brings out its complexity and pervasiveness. Structure of African Religion: 4. Belief in the existence of a supreme being who is the creator of the universe. 5. He is called by different names in different places and languages 6. Believed to be somewhere high in the sky and contactable only through the agency of the ancestral spirits, spiritual deities. 7. Believed to control and regulate all existence including life and death, health and wellness, rain and good harvest, procreation and good fortune, general success and happiness. 8. Believed to communicate with human beings, again via -------------------------- Managing Editor: Nakato Lewis Publisher: Kiwanuka R.G.Lewis Published monthly and freely by BHSN for the ATHR Clinic http://www.blackherbals.com/athrc_newsletters.htm The traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural history the agency of the ancestral spirits who deliver messages in different ways, e.g. calamities to express his displeasure or good fortune to express his satisfaction. 1. Responses to these communications are presented in the form of offerings through the same channels, the ancestral spirits, e.g. libations; blood or body parts of some animal, performing a ritual prescribed by a doctor (Sangoma, Nyanga) etc. 2. Sometimes geographical features in the environment e.g. mountains, rivers, forests are regarded as habitats of ancestral spirits and may not be approached unless specific procedures have been observed. 3. Shrines are sacred places were appeasement offerings and sacrifices are presented-violation against their sanctity is sacrilege and offenders receive condign punishment. What, then, is the link or relationship between religion, at any rate, African religion, and Pan Africanism, as was noted earlier on, is a happier life for all in an independent and united Africa. This presupposes material prosperity. Man’s primary needs are material needs: food, shelter, clothing and health wellness. The second and equally primary need is spiritual balance: a feeling of being under the protection of a superior power or of being in a state, of being blessed and safe. Together the material and spiritual well-being make for happiness and peace of mind and good neighbourliness. This is how Mangaliso Sobukwe, founder president of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, summed it; To Live in Harmony with His fellow Man, Man must Recognise the Primacy of the Material and Spiritual Interests of his Fellow Man. Continued on page 23 3- Traditional African Clinic – August 2013
- Page 1: African Traditional Herbal Research
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AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY<br />
Pan Africanism and Religion<br />
By Rammonaseswa Lucas Molomo<br />
The term ‘religion’ refers to a system of spiritual beliefs<br />
found amongst individuals or groups of individuals. Properly<br />
understood religion is a personal relation of the individual to<br />
the Supreme Being. This presupposes that every human being<br />
does conceive of the existence of a supreme being who is<br />
behind all creation and is in control of life and death. It is<br />
such belief and acknowledgement that is called religion. The<br />
forms of acknowledgement differ widely from place to place.<br />
The said Supreme Being is called by different names in<br />
different places. Even the methods of <strong>com</strong>muning with such<br />
Supreme Being differ from place to place. I wish I could say<br />
how this being looks like in the inward eye of each beholder.<br />
I cannot, I do not know.<br />
Africans have developed unique systems of spiritual beliefs.<br />
The spiritual systems are a product of many millennia of<br />
historical experiences, of social interaction with natural<br />
environments, of <strong>com</strong>munion with spiritual deities, of<br />
experimentation with the primordial forces of the universe.<br />
All these things have merged and blended in to a sacred or<br />
divine culture that explains controls and regulates all<br />
existence. This is a clear infestation of the existence and<br />
presence of the Supreme Being (God, Allah, and Buddha) in<br />
the day to day life of every individual. It is evident from this<br />
that African religious system is a <strong>com</strong>plex and integrated<br />
whole which is larger than the sum of its parts. A brief outline<br />
of its basic structure brings out its <strong>com</strong>plexity and<br />
pervasiveness.<br />
Structure of African Religion:<br />
4. Belief in the existence of a supreme being who is the<br />
creator of the universe.<br />
5. He is called by different names in different places and<br />
languages<br />
6. Believed to be somewhere high in the sky and<br />
contactable only through the agency of the ancestral<br />
spirits, spiritual deities.<br />
7. Believed to control and regulate all existence including<br />
life and death, health and wellness, rain and good harvest,<br />
procreation and good fortune, general success and<br />
happiness.<br />
8. Believed to <strong>com</strong>municate with human beings, again via<br />
--------------------------<br />
Managing Editor: Nakato Lewis<br />
Publisher: Kiwanuka R.G.Lewis<br />
Published monthly and freely by BHSN for the ATHR Clinic<br />
http://www.blackherbals.<strong>com</strong>/athrc_newsletters.htm<br />
The traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural history<br />
the agency of the ancestral spirits who deliver<br />
messages in different ways, e.g. calamities to<br />
express his displeasure or good fortune to<br />
express his satisfaction.<br />
1. Responses to these <strong>com</strong>munications are<br />
presented in the form of offerings through the<br />
same channels, the ancestral spirits, e.g.<br />
libations; blood or body parts of some animal,<br />
performing a ritual prescribed by a doctor<br />
(Sangoma, Nyanga) etc.<br />
2. Sometimes geographical features in the<br />
environment e.g. mountains, rivers, forests are<br />
regarded as habitats of ancestral spirits and may<br />
not be approached unless specific procedures<br />
have been observed.<br />
3. Shrines are sacred places were appeasement<br />
offerings and sacrifices are presented-violation<br />
against their sanctity is sacrilege and offenders<br />
receive condign punishment.<br />
What, then, is the link or relationship between<br />
religion, at any rate, African religion, and Pan<br />
Africanism, as was noted earlier on, is a happier life<br />
for all in an independent and united Africa. This<br />
presupposes material prosperity. Man’s primary<br />
needs are material needs: food, shelter, clothing and<br />
health wellness. The second and equally primary<br />
need is spiritual balance: a feeling of being under<br />
the protection of a superior power or of being in a<br />
state, of being blessed and safe. Together the<br />
material and spiritual well-being make for<br />
happiness and peace of mind and good<br />
neighbourliness. This is how Mangaliso Sobukwe,<br />
founder president of the Pan Africanist Congress of<br />
Azania, summed it;<br />
To Live in Harmony with His fellow Man, Man<br />
must Recognise the Primacy of the Material<br />
and Spiritual Interests of his Fellow Man.<br />
Continued on page 23<br />
3- Traditional African Clinic – August 2013
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