AYA Educational Institute

A FB friend posted this question regarding “Looms:” Peace, Baba Wekesa, Hope all is well! I wanted to ask your opinion on these online susus that are occurring rapidly? My response: They are not “Susus.” Esusus, Tontines, Susu (various names) are based on community, relationships, and trust. These “Looms” are based on blind faith, not relationship-building faith. In esusus there is an agreed upon obligation and benefit. Everyone contributes a set amount per month, week, or other agreed upon interval. Each month the total pot is given to one member, then the pot rotates each week or month until everyone in the Esusu has received it. The Esusu is an agreement. The loom is a gamble. In an Esusu, collective money is rotated - not multiplied. TRUST in each other is multiplied. In a loom, money is multiplied.” Maybe your personal trust “in “abundance” and “universal flow of the universe is multiplied. Still, where does the money multiplication come from? What ...

My friend, Chike Akua, posted this video about skin bleaching in Jamaica. Here's my response: If we want to stop the bleaching we need to actively show our power by opposing the oppression.  There's a reason AYA Educational Institute starts with "Warrior-Healer-Builder" instead of "Healer-Builder-Warrior."  Power converts!  Whoever shows power garners converts - be it religious, body type, temperament, or phenotype. When the Afro was a symbol of power and purpose, people wanted it. Blacker skin is not only perce ived as "ugly," it's associated with powerlessness.  This is just one more reason that being intelligent is not enough. Healing is not enough. Some healing will only come as we actively oppose oppression. It's not enough to build wealth. Wealth born of capitulation only lauds the power of the oppressor, and with that surrender intact, "Black is Beautiful" and "We were kings and Queens" wi...

Thanks to all who wished me a Happy Birthday, Earthday, Solar Return on Nov. 19th, 2016 I'm humbled by your friendship and well wishes. I love the calls, the cards, the texts, the messages, and the videos. I love the love. I receive it and take it in. I'm inspired to celebrate all year long, then start again. In fact, every day is a celebration, for every day I do what I love to do - work to lift my family, my people, and the world - in that order. Your acknowledgment that I have touched yo u in some way gives me fuel to redouble my efforts and my creativity. Medase. Special shout out to my son -  Rising Sundjata  - for that dedication that spawned the dancing, and to  Nia Sadé Walker  for the video capturing me and Afiya dancing that has gone viral. Medase to all who were at the Kilombo 11th Annual Dinner Celebration who circled around us and cheered these 62-year-old joints into motion. Medase to my immediate family - my granddaughter and ...

Ok, so now you know. Get over the shock. You live in a racist, classist, sexist nation. Fact is, you've always lived in a racist, classist, sexist nation, state, city, and increasing - in a pro-racist "state of mind." For now, the "illusion-delusion" dance is over. An Illusion = a FAKE IMAGE. A delusion = A DENIAL OF REALITY. Together, they can dance forever. Problem is that white people from Wall Street to Pennsylvania Ave to the Trailer Park are no longer casting the "post-racial" illusion. The music has stopped, so our matching delusion just doesn't match anymore. Please get over the reality shock to our delusions. Please don't fashion another, stronger delusional bubble in spite of them shouting the reality in our face, or more accurately shooting the reality in our backs. Our ancestors most responsible for our real progress didn't need to DENY the reality of white racism and the daily oppression of Afrikan ...

More than entertainment. Join the movement! Harriet Tubman protected us. She came for us. Will you protect her? They are coming after her legacy. The "scholars" are picking her apart and putting her together as a wonderful woman of "faith and family." No longer will she be "the Moses" of her people." Hollywood is fast crafting her as a suffragette and American hero. No longer will she be the revolutionary. Why protect and expand her legacy? In reality, they are coming for our children. You see, while history is about the past, it serves the present and future. Will her story serve us or those who profit from our misery? There are many ways we can't protect our children and our people - this is one way we can stand our ground. She waded through swamps and crawled in the grass like a snake to get to us. She braved cold winters and the threat of death to get us to the next level of freedom. Will you inconvenience yourself? Come, we'll...

Asa G. Hilliard (Nana Baffour) once said: "I sure hope they (white Americas) don't come to love Black people the way they "love" the Native Americans. He was speaking of the empty love found in the adoration of Native American things from sweat lodges to turquoise beads. That's what I thought of when I first heard about  Araminta Harriet Tubman's  latest honor of being selected to grace the  US $20.00 bill . More than many others, Dr. Hilliard knew the power of story and of memory - especially group memory. As educators and parents, we too know the power of story. Araminta WHB Story in Atlanta, GA This Araminta Harriet Tubman Warrior-Healer-Builder presentation re-teaches us how to tell our stories from the "inside-out" not by lecturing, but by actually demonstrating it with a needed and poignant story of Harriet Tubman - a story designed to help us control her narrative! To Asa's point, the only way that they can ...