Kabuki Flamenco's blog: "Rants from the lunatic Fringe"

This is going to be long..doubtful anyone will read this...but I'm doing this, more so for me, than for anyone else. I already have a Yahoo 360 Blog. But I just felt like putting some General Bullshit into here as well. My Yahoo 360 Blog is like the antithesis of dearth. There is so much bullshit in there that you could get lost in it. Anyway, There was someone's blog, on Yahoo, that I was reading, about a week ago...he posted an entry about "The N word." Now, he didnt write the article, itself. He had found it somewhere on the web and had posted it to his site. I saw, what I thought to be a few inaccuracies in the article and decided to point them out. Really, my only problem with the whole post, just stemmed from some historical distortions. Which was a paragraph, at best. So, I decided to comment on his page with some of my own opinions, concerning his post. I suppose I should Just copy and paste the article in here first...and then after that..I'll paste my own response to it...along with his..and lastly..my latest response to his reply...make sense? lol, well see. Of course, the comments get a bit off track from the original article..and dwelve more into history than anything else. But, if was enjoyable, none the less and jus figured i'de share...will anyone read this...who knows...do i care...not really ;p Ok...here is the article: THE "N" WORD By Tanya Schneider History should tell a people Who they are, Where they came from and What their potential is as a people. The name that a people call themselves must provide them with an understanding of their history by connecting them to a land mass, a language, a culture, a religion, a philosophy and so on. There is no such place as Negroland, Coloredland, or Blackland, and there's no ethnic group in Africa that calls itself Negro or its language negro. We are the descendants of our African ancestors....Period! Identification with one's past history is an important step towards mental liberation. The word Negro is Spanish for BLACK. The Spanish language comes from Latin, which has its origins in Classical Greek. The word Negro in Greek, is derived from the root word 'necro', meaning dead. The act of ancestral worship known as necromancy or communication with the dead, was the practice of the Egyptians in order of honoring the lives of ancestors Who came before. They believed by doing so could offer guidance and direction to the living. Temples (monuments) were designed as places where the ancestors could be honored, and holidays (Holy Days) were the days designated for worshipping. The Greeks thought of these sun-burnt people (Egyptians) to have a preoccupation with death and didn't understand the worship of the dead (Necromancy), and took their distorted beliefs back to Europe and the word Negro evolved out of this misunderstanding. What used to be known as a physical condition has been applied to an entire race of people. European (White) people manufactured the word Negro during the slave trade. In addition, the term Negro on the other hand is introduced to obscure the Africaness of the classical Pharaonic civilizations. These Eurocentric determinations alienate and distort the historical achievements of African people. Numerous scholars have fallen into the intellectual trap when writing about African people by referring to them as Negroes or semi-negroes. This is a weak attempt at separating Africans of today (Africans worldwide), with Africans of yesterday (Egyptian-Africans and other great African civilizations). Historically, the Greeks came to Africa as students over 2,500 years ago to discover what Africans already knew. Writing, science, medicine, and religion were already a part of the Egyptian civilization. History had already been documented thousands of years before Herodotus (The so-called 'Father of History') was even born. Herodotus, Plato, Phythagorus, Socrates, and other Greek Philosophers...were all students of African priests (SONS OF LIGHT). When the Greeks returned to Europe, they planned the destruction and pillage of the remaining African empires. Less than 300 years after the first Greeks came to Egypt as students, their descendants returned as conquerors. They (Greeks/Europeans) destroyed the cities, temples and libraries of the Egyptians and claimed African knowledge as their own. To justify the enslavement of Africans, in short, it was culturally necessary to believe, or be able to believe, that Africans were inherently and naturally less than human but were beings of a somehow sub-human, non-human, nature. This we see proven with the written words documented in the original text of the Constitution of the United States which originally stated that Africans were 'three-fifths' a man (by law). It became necessary to dehumanize Africans and devalue their historical worth as a people in order to ensure their value as slaves. When the word nigger was devised, the meaning it implied was of a debased, ignorant, or very low person. Then, African-Americans dropped the 'ER' and added an 'A' thus forming a new word NIGGA. This word has been accepted and approved because 'the word now has a new meaning, we mean it a different way' is the obnoxious excuse. This is the same word that was used against our ancestors who shed blood for...now being accepted and used (daily) by the same people it was used against! The term is meaningless in reality but has become a useful word for those who help perpetuate the negative stereotypes of Africans worldwide. Why would we choose to use a word that degrades Africans everywhere and turn around and call someone who looks just like you, a NIGGA! We can't possibly believe that we have the power to change the meaning of a word and expect other people to follow along with this mentality, this isn't progress folks. The enslavement of the African mind was born out of the educational system and for good reasons. It was forbidden for the Africans to learn to read or write! The education of the Negro, then, becomes a perfect device for control from without. The evolution of the Negro from Colored, to Black, to African-American represents a progression of self-consciousness. Referring to each other with respect and dignity by calling each other "brother/sister" instead of "nigga/bitch", you're more likely to talk to your "brother/sister" in a dispute instead of killing a "nigga" in the same situation. The Negro/Nigger/Nigga - a race of dead people with a dead history and no hope for resurrection as long as they remain ignorant of their past. This new breed of Black people, the "Nigga" has become the death of the mind, body, and spirit of African people. I've read several conflicting stories regarding the origin of the word "Negro/Nigger". It matters that we educate ourselves and get pass this destructive ideology when we hear this word or its use against us. We need to identify its purpose and once realized, not allow ourselves to sink to the perpetrators level by allowing this word to control our thoughts of ourselves! Look at the source of where this word is coming from before sinking to their level of thinking. As mentioned previously, a Nigger is a debased, ignorant, and rather low person. Do You Fit This Description? Follow in the footsteps of the ancestors, for the mind is trained through knowledge. The End This was my response to the article: well, I hate to come across as the white devil. I hope it doesnt come off that way. Let me first preface this by saying, that my heritage is Irish, Spanish, Italian, Shepardic Jew, and African. To put that in perspective for you...my father was Irish and my mother is Cuban. So, you can figure out the ethnic blends. Overall, I enjoyed the article and found it very informative. I rather enjoy history, and as such, i'm fascinated by it. So, although i found the article to be well written, I disagree with a few points...well...for the most part..I disagree with a paragraph. "Historically, the Greeks came to Africa as students over 2,500 years ago to discover what Africans already knew. Writing, science, medicine, and religion were already a part of the Egyptian civilization. History had already been documented thousands of years before Herodotus (The so-called 'Father of History') was even born. Herodotus, Plato, Phythagorus, Socrates, and other Greek Philosophers...were all students of African priests (SONS OF LIGHT). When the Greeks returned to Europe, they planned the destruction and pillage of the remaining African empires. Less than 300 years after the first Greeks came to Egypt as students, their descendants returned as conquerors. They (Greeks/Europeans) destroyed the cities, temples and libraries of the Egyptians and claimed African knowledge as their as their own" Ok...my first point of contention is that knowledge doesnt solely belong to anyone. Knowledge has a life of its own almost like a biological entity, or a virus, if you will. Knowledge travels from mind to mind, it's inevitable. There is a term which was coined by Dr. Richard Dawkins..called "memes"...who wrote a book called the selfish gene...which explains it's theory...for more information about memes...here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme So, to say that knowledge is exclusive to one stock or class or group of people would be false, in my most humble opinion. It's widely known that science, medicine, math, originated in india..I would provide citations for this as well...lol..but i'm gonna be lazy and just say..that you're free to google it if you dispute it. I do agree that egypt was a place of study among scholars..as were many other places as well. Information travels...merchants, traders, soldiers, scholars, and religious followers, etc..etc...again this information was not exclusive to egyptians... My second contention is the one based on false pride...descendats of slaves in america today came from western africa...we all know...or at least..we should, if we know our geography, that egypt is in north eastern africa..on the whole other side of the continent...it would be a stretch to say that todays african americans are descendants of past egyptain glory or culture. Much in the same way, that it's a shame that many african americans think that cleopatra was a black woman, when in fact she was from the house of ptolemy, who were greeks..which has nothing to do with the article..but just a common misconception that i thought i would quickly address... As for the rest..I agree with alot of it...although i havent checked this authors facts or read any citations,...not that she provided any in her article... but...but the most part...i understand the position that the article is written in and based on that...in theory...i agree with it..what I dont agree with is distorted facts to give people a false sense of pride. That's my two cents..humbly yours..Eric oh..ps...i'm sure this is a mess of grammatical errors and typos...*shrugs* such is life. Ok..and then...The person, who this blog, belonged to..well..he of course is an African American man..and his name is Dray...This was his response to what I wrote: Eric, Great comment. Africa is the Birth Place of Man, let alone civilization. It's Just so happens the people are Brown, Tan and Dark Brown and even Black. You can Fit the United States in Africa Three times. EveryThing from that Continent represents ME and People with Brown skin. It is Our Heritage whether we Come from Ghana or Kenya. We Represent Africa. If not we would be called something else. Bottom line, Africa is a Name that was given to the Continent by someone else just like every other thing about Black People, Colored, Afro-Americans, African-Americans or whatever they call us. Therefore, it’s not Distorted and after surviving Slavery, The Civil Rights Massacre and the condition and State of Black America Today, a Sense of Pride, be it Distorted or not, doesn’t promote gun violence, self hatred, or Drug Dealing. Find the Book the Study of Civilization by Will Durant, in this book he shows that many of the People on islands like Crete were people with complexions and habits the were more African then anything else. The invention of the Sail brought Africans & their Technology to many of these places like Hawaii and even what is Called America today. No one is saying that Africans or Egyptians hold the Patens on Civilization and or technology. The most advance forms of Civilization and technology did start there. Marco Polo didn’t Find the things he brought from his Journeys, he took them can claim them as his own. The British took hundreds of years to take over South Africa (it parallels the American Revolution) and they teach that they were there first. Talk about distorted Facts. Talking about taking something and claiming it to be your Own. I believe that anyone African-American (with Tan, Brown or Dark and even Black skin) has the Right To Claim anything from Africa and America Too for obvious reasons. It’s Time For People of African Ascent to Live-up to the history of Africa and of African-Americas. This is the Main Reason for not Hating yourself with words that curse a persons Pride and Spirit and Soul. Personally, I don’t deal in Pride, unless the Creator is Proud of me. This is how I work at staying humble. I do of course have basic pride for doing a job well done, etc. but pride goes before a Fall. During the Time of the Nubian, African and Egyptian Civilization and technology, the rest of the World was in the Dark Ages. Thx 4Stoppin’ By. Your opinions are Greatly appreciated, Right, Wrong or Indifferent, it’s about the commentary. Ok...are y'all following along..lol...bored yet? So...I read that..Didnt really agree with much of it..and this was my response to it: Well, Dray, thank you...in regards your post, I dont know if we can say for a certainty that Africa is the birthplace of man...there seems to be swirling inconclusive debate between the "Out of Africa Theory" and the "Multi-Regional Theory" Also I'de point out that the Berbers of north Africa are generally, although not always...blond haired blue eyed people..and although..perhaps not indigious to the continent..I would say thier foothold on the contentinent goes back before the time of writen history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_people Africa, represents my heritage as well...although I identify myself as white, because..when you look at me me..that's what you see...But, it still represents me none the less...I've explained my ethnic make-up in my previous post. I agree that that pride doesnt promote...gun violence, self hatred and drug dealing...but I dont beleive that ethnocentrism is a solution. I will most certianly look into the book, "the Study of Civilization by Will Durant" although...it's been a well known fact, that people of the greek islands were also a blonde haired blue eyed people..much like the Berbers of North Africa... untill the invasion of the turks...which is why now..most people from greek backgrounds have darker features due to the influx of turkish blood. The people of Hawaii were originaly from korea...and therefore your point about african sails would be moot, in my own humble opinion, and based more on conjecture and speculation than concrete fact. "No one is saying that Africans or Egyptians hold the Patens on Civilization and or technology. The most advance forms of Civilization and technology did start there." Again, I'de have to disagree with you on that point....and direct you towards Harrapan Civilizaions in India, along with Sumeria in the Middle East, not to mention, China as well. And perhaps a good reference would be to read some words by Brian M. Fagan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_M._Fagan "Marco Polo didn’t Find the things he brought from his Journeys, he took them can claim them as his own." You are correct, he found them in Asia/India..and directs you to my paragraph above. "The British took hundreds of years to take over South Africa (it parallels the American Revolution) and they teach that they were there first. Talk about distorted Facts." I'm not knowledgable about what happened in South Africa with the British, so it would be foolish for me to comment on something I know nothing about...But you wrote...."they teach that they were there first. Talk about distorted Facts." I'm unclear about what you are trying to say..Would you care to elaborate and explain in more detail..what you mean? "During the Time of the Nubian, African and Egyptian Civilization and technology, the rest of the World was in the Dark Ages." Again, I would disagree with this...because as I've already mentioned,...Harrapan Civilizations were considered some of the most advanced in pre-history...Here are a few quotes to illustrate my point. "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made!" - Albert Einstein "India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most astrictive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only!" - Mark Twain "India was the mother of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages. She was the mother of our philosophy, mother through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics, mother through Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity, mother through village communities of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all." - Will Durant "Civilizations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient and modern times, wonderful ideas have been carried forward from one race to another...But mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and the march of embattled cohorts. Each idea had to be soaked in a deluge of blood..... Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of millions, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows. This, many other nations have taught; but India for thousands of years peacefully existed. Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist... Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live!" - Swami Vivekananda, Great Indian Philosopher Another Thing I just figured I'de share, Some of the following facts may or may not be known to you. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY & FACTS 1 India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history. 2 India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta. 3 The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. 4 According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software. 5 Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. 6 Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth. 7 The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. 8 The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year, officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European mathematicians. 9 Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053. 10 According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world. 11 USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi. 12 The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra. 13 Chess was invented in India. 14 Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India 15 When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilisation). 16 The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. It is a pleasure, bouncing ideas...around with you...and I agree...it’s about the commentary. Thanks for taking the time to read Eric Well...that's the gist of it...if and when he responds..I'll include that in here, as well...but as I said..this is more so..for myself, than anyone else. Well, he did respond..although I dont have the time to really read it and reply. I'm just going to paste it here and respond later: Eric, in South Africa they Teach that Whites were there before the indigenous people. This sparked the student protest that Bishop Desmond Tutu was involved in. During the time we are speaking of the continents were all one land mass. If you look at a map you can see how the continents fit together like a puzzle. The Whole of African Descendants existence Here in America, Black People were not identified as Americans (and as per American documents in pervious blogs we were not intended to be American citizens). People were killed trying to vote in the 60’s and 70’s and are still being Killed for being Black and trying to be equal. We Sho-Nuf are not and were not being recognized as Americans by the Government and society. As a result we are separated as a people and we have fragmented success. So, unity as a Race is the only Option. It’s nothing to with hate with unity of a People. It’s called Kujichagulia = Self Determination. When I was reading Will Durant, I had to read between the lines about the people of African descent on these islands he described. So, The history has been written by the Liars and Storytellers to make their story about them good. So, the history thing is a by-product of the Need to identify ourselves In a positive light, by ourselves for ourselves. Because of the negative images and hate America has Dumped us for over five generations. Check any info you can find on the City of Carthage’s and the Plessey vs. Ferguson case. Thx4 for your informative comments. ================================================== As I said...I'll have to read and respond to that later. And now..I have..blah..I didnt spend much time with this response..But this is what I wrote none the less. As I stated before, I'm not aware of what The british in south africa were teaching..but it's interestingly, food for thought and something i will read up on, thx. "If you look at a map you can see how the continents fit together like a puzzle." Of course...the giant land mass was called, Pangaea. "The Whole of African Descendants existence Here in America, Black People were not identified as Americans" I agree with you..They were not..I've read interesting articles concerning Lincoln's stance on African americans and it wasnt one of warmth and inclusive...I've also read articles concerning, why the philippines...were ultimately granted independece by the USA..for the very same reasons...they were considered too different from their european american counter-parts to try and assimulate..I'de love to provide some citations based on this very fact...but I dont have any bookmarked. But I do completely agree, that the founding of the republic, was issued without regard for African americans. "When I was reading Will Durant, I had to read between the lines about the people of African descent on these islands he described. So, The history has been written by the Liars and Storytellers to make their story about them good." In that case you start dealing with emotion and opinion as opposed to logic and fact. And science and modern scholarly history..isnt concerned with emotion or popular/unpopular opinion...but theoretical facts. So, I cant agree that "history has been written by the Liars and Storytellers to make their story about them good." Because that comes across as emotional revisionistic rhetoric. I rather deal in logic, reason, facts, and the scientific method. "So, the history thing is a by-product of the Need to identify ourselves In a positive light, by ourselves for ourselves. Because of the negative images and hate America has Dumped us for over five generations." Understandably, Progress is a slow process, but I rather work towards simularites as opposed to differences. I rather see the comparisons and not the contrasts....Ethnocentrism is what lead to World War II..and Hitler's rise to power. In essense...the same sun that shines down on you...shines down on me..and I rather work from there, than work from my skin tone being different than your skin tone. "Check any info you can find on the City of Carthage’s and the Plessey vs. Ferguson case." I will look into that..I'm all about increasing my knowledge base...and your comments have been very informative as well..and although i might not agree with all you wrote, I've enjoyed reading your ideas none the less. Eric That's my first Cherry Tap Blog Entry!!! Peace Out -N- One Love