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Imani / Faith

Imani / Faith in the Sacred African Way Through Wo’se: Standing Worthy Before Ourselves

“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.”

The definition of the seventh principle, Imani / Faith, in the Nguzo Saba is notably different from the meaning of faith in religion. Yet, there has been confusion about that fact since the founding of Kwanzaa almost sixty years ago. Faith in religion is focused on God – the Creator of the universe – known by many different names. But Imani / Faith in the Nguzo Saba is focused on having faith in ourselves, the best among us, and the good world and future we can create if we work together.

As with most things linked with traditional African culture, there is an inherent spiritual quality to Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba. So, while there is no direct link to a divine narrative or deity, there also is no intent to dismiss or compete with any religious tradition or divine faith concept they represent. Kwanzaa’s spirituality is grounded in African people’s spirituality most broadly, and like most major world religions, is influenced by the moral and ethical lessons from Ma’at of ancient Kemet (Egypt). With that being properly understood, there is no conflict between these two different notions of faith.

The focus on having Imani / Faith in ourselves begins with a requirement for committed practice among our people so we can stand worthy before one another as required for faith in each other to exist. This conception of faith has a spiritual foundation, too, because a person’s willingness and capacity for committed practice in community with others relates fully to the state and nature of that person’s spirit.

Since its founding over forty years ago, the Wo’se Community of the Sacred African Way in Oakland and Sacramento, CA has made committed practice a constant vocation by nurturing and developing the heart, mind, and spirit of all who gather in its space to help create a better world. Through its various programs and weekly services, the Wo’se Community seeks to ground their members in an understanding of the best of what it means to be African and human, so we can have the faith required in each other to accomplish the best of what being African and human requires of us.

Wo’se spiritual lessons are based on the same African spirituality that infuses Kwanzaa, and they use the Nguzo Saba / Seven Principles as a fundamental component of their efforts. In fact, Wo’se came into existence as a declared act of Kujichagulia / Self-Determination. When Founding Lead Minister Mxolisi Ozo-Sowande was disciplined for sharing a message with his prior congregation about similarities between teachings of religion and the Nguzo Saba, he and Minister William “Bill” Calhoun set out to form the Wo’se Community of the Sacred African Way. The very first Wo’se service happened on December 7, 1980 with over eighty (80) people in attendance.

Recognizing the importance of taking responsibility for our children’s education, members of the Wo’se Community formed an independent, African centered school in Oakland, CA in 1986 named “Ile Omode.” The words “Ile Omode” are from the Yoruba people of West Africa that translate to mean “House of the Children.” According to the written history of Wo’se, that name was chosen “[to] recognize that we exist so that [the children] may be served. Our school is designed to educate and train young people to become outstanding leaders and workers for our people.” What a beautiful traditional African concept.

The founders and first teachers of Ile Omode were Mothers Oluri Oyin, Okanona Ka Kalungu, and Jasiri Neema Kadiri – three wonderful Black women we could have faith in because of their consistent committed practice of educating our children. Ile Omode currently teaches from preschool thru middle school aged children, with the preschool being renamed “Mama Jasiri Preschool” after her transition in 1996.

Like most institutions, Wo’se has enjoyed periods of growth, challenge, and transition throughout its forty plus year existence, and the community continues to evolve today. Min. Greg Hodge contributed many years of leadership before the current Lead Minister, Imhotep Alkebulan, assumed the role in 2020.

Through their weekly service, schools, and other programs like the Council of Elders and Black Knowledge Matters, the leaders at Wo’se have built their organization to actively develop and reflect Imani / Faith in Black people and our ability to create the world we want to live in, and they’re trying to make it happen…

Kuumba / Creativity

Kuumba and the Creative Vitality of Black People : Meeting the Need for Sedjemic STEM Professionals

“Kuumba / Creativity – To do always as much as we can, in the way that we can, to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.”

The modern world and its advanced machinery operate because of advanced electrical energy systems. To protect our long-term interests, these energy systems need the benefit of our Kuumba / Creativity as they are developed to ensure adequate protections are in place for people and the natural world.

Like the most advanced ancient civilizations, a modern society’s stability and forward progress directly relate to its capacity for generating electrical energy. History shows the people of ancient Kemet (Egypt) were the first to harness electrical energy for practical use. But, unlike today, they didn’t pollute their environment with the burning of fossil fuels in the process.

They were not driven by the relentless pursuit of profit, but by a profound respect and appreciation for the natural world. Because of that, the electrical power systems they created were designed to function in harmony with the natural world and fundamental laws of physics.

Dr. Asegun Henry – a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of an energy storage company called Fourth Power – is made in the image of the ancient Kemetic pyramid builders and power system engineers.

As a young person, Asegun’s instinctive care and concern for the world around him caused him to worry about the emerging effects of climate change, so he committed to doing something about it. With the negative impact from burning fossil fuels becoming increasingly clear, he began working to create a sustainable alternative.

Recent development of large-scale solar panel and wind farm systems allow us to generate high levels of renewable electrical energy. With that comes the need for low cost and environmentally friendly energy storage systems that are just as important as the energy production systems.

That is where Asegun’s genius was revealed.

Through an extensive research and development effort in labs at Georgia Tech and MIT, Asegun engineered a breakthrough that allows high levels of electrical energy to be stored as heat for future recovery and use during periods where there is low or no sunlight or wind activity.

Simply put, Asegun and his team designed a very power dense thermal battery as an alternative to chemical batteries and the pollution concerns they create on a large scale.

The Fourth Power team uses electricity to produce extreme heat – similar to the way an electrical space heater produces heat – then stores it for later use. When there is a demand for the stored energy, it is converted back to electricity using specially designed solar cells. This makes the process Asegun helped pioneer one of the lowest cost energy storage systems available.

To develop and demonstrate this concept, Asegun led a team of scientists and engineers who set a Guinness World Record by creating the highest temperature liquid pump ever made. That is the same type of innovation the world enjoyed from ancient African scientists, engineers, and pyramid builders in Kemet, and it is the exact type of innovation we need today.

We give thanks for Dr. Asegun Henry’s mastery of STEM, for his instinctive love of the natural world, and for being a model of a “sedjemic STEM professional” who is both responsible and responsive to broader concerns in using his talents and vision to apply Kuumba / Creativity in such a meaningful way.

For more information on the work and innovations inspired by Brother Dr. Asegun Henry, please visit https://gofourth.com.

To hear Dr. Asegun Henry speak about his mission in his own words, see – https://vimeo.com/893549201.

Nia / Purpose

Nia / Purpose and Cultural Strategies for Change in Education
Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba and the Whole Child in the 21^st Century

“Nia / Purpose – To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.”

When children’s literacy consultant, Tiffany Rachann, is asked about her Nia / Purpose in life, she responds with details about the future of primary education in America, explaining why this country ranks poorly in educating our children – and how that should change. As part of her culturally wholistic approach, she has even developed children’s literacy tools specific to Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba shared below.

Tiffany’s active interest in children’s literacy began almost twenty years ago as she struggled to find children’s books with positive stories about Black families and loving relationships between siblings and extended family like in real life. With the active support of people who saw the same need, Tiffany created a children’s literacy and advocacy company called Imagiread. Through Imagiread, Tiffany and other authors write the children’s books she noticed were missing while actively working to address and correct basic childhood reading deficiencies in public education with supplemental programming.

Inspired by the broad success of her first children’s book – “It’s Water Time, Ma!” – Tiffany has developed Imagiread into a fulltime passion producing impressive results. She explains the foundation and future of her work by discussing the reaction to her first book, saying –

“Children would approach me with a sparkle in their eyes, armed with the belief that they should drink water regularly while being conscious of resource waste. Even better, they saw themselves as budding writers and problem-solvers who could become whatever they wanted if they prioritized their well-being and education to enact and achieve their true purpose.”

As for the Imagiread mission, Tiffany explains –

“My challenge back then was to find ways to shift the paradigm away from prioritizing traditional education to repositioning the enactment of family and community literacy as the critical foundation for value-added succession.”

Imagiread’s work began in the communities of Houston, TX in 2010 with a specific focus on helping children struggling with basic literacy development deficiencies. Since then, Tiffany has helped transform literacy development for more than 6,500 children through Imagiread’s supplemental programming. Imagiread has received awards from the U.S. Department of Education, Save The Children, The Houston Public Library, and Mayor Sylvester Turner for excellence in program design and administration, among other accolades.

Through a partnership with NASA, Imagiread facilitates engagements that nurture STEM familiarity and career pursuits for at-risk youth ages 9-13. Other partnerships with a host of community organizations like the Alliance for Healthier Generations, the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, the Texas Afterschool Alliance, and the National Afterschool Alliance have allowed Imagiread to spread awareness about access to quality instruction and the responsibility we have as a collective to ensure it is made available for every child, every family, and every community.

Most importantly, Tiffany explains –

“I have affirmed the most effective solutions are the ones that are considerate of, and responsive to, culture as social capital. Sociocultural capital has consistently shaped Imagiread’s programming and facilitation as an intricate value-created design framework. The goal has always been to empower and not exploit and because of that, we ask broader questions about the ways we identify with sociocultural capital in education, leading me to assess the repositioning of all aspects of cultural development in causal relationships, including spiritual development.”

Tiffany adds that “Imagiread is the company it is today because we have vetted the value of holistic education and how it simultaneously and comprehensively centers the whole child and, thus, the whole community.”

It is because of this focus and related positive outcomes that Imagiread was selected to coordinate the new Kwanzaa For Kids program offered through this website and the new Nguzo Saba 365 app.

See the attached links to learn more about “The Imagiread Difference” and to experience their highly innovative and interactive programming including TRU iQ, The iReadE Academy, and Future Literacy With N-Sight, an Afro-futuristic adventure.

For a full discussion of how Tiffany uses Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba / Seven Principles as “a profound sociocultural framework for Whole Child and Whole Community Education” and development, see her Nguzo Saba 365 blog post titled – “Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba: A Cultural Framework for Whole Child Education.”

We give thanks for Tiffany’s commitment to improving children’s literacy outcomes, and we look forward to our emerging partnership with Imagiread to continue developing a dynamic and engaging Kwanzaa For Kids program with a focus on cultural and STEM education initiatives.

Ujamaa / Cooperative Economics

Ujamaa and the Detroit People’s Food Co-op:
The Best Example of Black Cooperative Economics and How it Happened

“Ujamaa / Cooperative Economics – To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.”

When the Detroit People’s Food Co-op opened the doors to their brand new, state of the art supermarket on May 1, 2024, they were responding proactively to long recognized “food inequity and economic extraction” conditions that persist in and around their Detroit North End neighborhood. Many of the people who joined several hundred area residents at the grand opening were aware this store represents the vision turned into reality of the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network (DBCFSN) – and this celebration was a long time coming.

For those who don’t know how this thriving example of Black–led Ujamaa / Cooperative Economics came to be, as a native Detroiter – Whaddupdoe? – I am proud to share the story.

The Detroit People’s Food Co-op is the core tenant in the Detroit Food Commons, a brand-new 31,000 square foot, two-story complex built on Woodward Avenue by the DBCFSN in partnership with Develop Detroit, Inc.

The Detroit Food Commons is a community development project that results from decades of work to promote food sovereignty, self-determination, and cooperative economic prosperity in Black communities everywhere by the DBCFSN. The Detroit People’s Food Co-op occupies the entire first floor of the building – 15,000 square feet – with four shared use kitchens and banquet hall space available for community use and rental on the second floor.

DBCFSN offices occupy the remaining second floor area. From that space, their highly skilled leadership team manages their stake in the Detroit Food Commons and their other major Black Food Sovereignty project, D-Town Farm. This seven-acre farm inside of Detroit’s Rouge Park is “maintained by a small staff and volunteers who grow more than 30 different fruits, vegetables, and herbs each year using sustainable, regenerative methods.” D-Town Farm supplies chemical-free, in-season produce to the food co-op in an inspiring example of cooperative economics.

Almost immediately after the Detroit People’s Food Co-op opened, Baba Malik Yakini stepped down from the DBCFSN Executive Director role to begin a well-deserved one-year research sabbatical before retirement. What may seem odd to some was simply another part of a well-developed plan for long-term food sovereignty in Detroit’s Black community. This leadership team always has a plan.

After organizing the DBCFSN in February 2006 and dedicating almost twenty years to realizing this dynamic vision, Baba Malik decided it was time for the next generation of Black Food Sovereignty leaders to take their place. His role as Executive Director was divided between two brilliant and committed Black women who had already made long-term contributions to this very special Ujima and Ujamaa project they were being called to lead.

Sister Gi’Anna Cheairs and Sister Shakara Tyler Saba are the new Co-Executive Directors of the DBCFSN. Gi’Anna assumes responsibility as Chief Financial Officer, with Shakara as Director of Fund Development. They are both highly credentialed with years of experience and a proven track record of leadership that has prepared them well for their roles. They also have a deep and profound appreciation for the best of African history and culture. The DBCFSN will continue using the Nguzo Saba / Seven Principles as a fundamental part of their mission, operation, and programming under their leadership.

We give thanks for the DBCFSN and its leadership, past and present, for the outstanding example of Ujamaa / Cooperative Economics they have modeled for the world to see at the Detroit People’s Food Co-op and D-Town Farm. In fact, it is easy to see every one of the principles being applied in their work.

We hope Black people locally, nationally, and worldwide will be inspired to repeat and build on this example to establish and maintain food sovereignty and security in their communities. After all, nothing is more important.

Ujima / Collective Work and Responsibility

Ujima and Alkebu-lan Village:
The Collective Work and Responsibility of Raising Our Children in Community

“Ujima / Collective Work and Responsibility – To build and maintain our own community together and to make our brothers and sisters problems, our problems, and to solve them together.”

Alkebu-lan Village on Detroit’s east side models the Afrikan communal idea of Ubuntu – I am because we are – as well or better than most. From the very beginning, Alkebu-lan Village has been focused on nurturing and investing in the Black community and its children so we become the best possible version of ourselves.

Starting in 1978, Alkebu-lan Village began as the Alkebu-lan Martial Arts Federation, where 7^th degree Black Belt, Marvis Cofield, began a lifetime mission of providing affordable martial arts training to Afrikan American children. Since then, the organization has trained over 300,000 people in the martial arts while expanding their program offerings to serve and develop our children and community through a wholistic cultural framework.

If you ask Baba Cofield about how it got started, he will tell you, “It was not me, but WE. It was Black Belt men and women coming together who realized we needed to have our own martial arts organization that started Alkebu-lan.” He insists on the organization’s collective start being known.

Today, Alkebu-lan Village is a “thriving and self-sustaining community of families, businesses, and institutions that embrace a shared mission as a result of [their] endeavors.” It is “an Afrikan-centered community-based organization committed to developing and nurturing an environment where families work together to build healthy minds, bodies, and communities.”

The “Alkebu-lan philosophy is to live in harmony with self and others by learning and teaching self-respect, self-discipline, self-control, self-defense,” and various forms of self-development. Current programs include – “youth and adult sports and fitness, leadership training, visual and performing arts, homework assistance and tutoring, youth entrepreneurship and community service training,” plus computer and multimedia training.

Alkebu-lan Village offers a regular selection of Pan Afrikan cultural programming where community children and adults can learn, explore, and further develop their identity, purpose, and direction in the most meaningful way.

“With vision, insight, and equipped with an aggressive, yet attainable mission, Alkebu-lan Village has defined a set of principles to guide the culture of the Village and the actions and efforts that take place therein. These principles constitute the Afrikan-centered cultural framework of the Village.”

Among the Afrikan and universal principles and teachings that inform the Alkebu-Lan mission, the Nguzo Saba / the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa and Kawaida Philosophy are central to the organization’s operation. In fact, Alkebu-lan Village’s work is an outstanding example of the principle, Ujima / Collective Work and Responsibility.

Besides that, Alkebu-lan Village bears the rare distinction of managing the annual build and presentation of “The World’s Largest Kwanzaa Kinara” as part of the annual celebration of cultural identity and inter-cultural cooperation through the Detroit Holiday Festival. Business Development Coordinator, Gregory “GMAC” McKenzie, navigates all logistical matters related to the annual assembly, disassembly, transport, storage, and presentation of this compelling symbol of Detroit’s commitment to Afrikan American and Pan Afrikan culture.

The indisputable truth is that “Alkebu-lan Village organizes its efforts around the realization of its vision.”

So, when the question is asked – What is Alkebu-lan Village? The best response explains that – “We are a non-profit eastside Detroit community-based organization with an almost fifty-year history and tradition of trust and service. Our vision is to build healthy minds, bodies, and communities.

Won’t you join us?”

For more information and a schedule of current events, please see https://alkebulanvillage.com.

Kujichagulia / Self-Determination

Making the Case for Math Proficiency as Kujichagulia:: Self-Determination by the Numbers

“Kujichagulia / Self-Determination – To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.”

Cheyney University mathematics professor, Akil Parker, is on a mission to change the world – one proficient math student at a time. His life work is based on a fundamental belief that “Math proficiency is a tool of liberation and self-determination,” and he is deeply committed to the task of “liberating” as many students as possible – and their parents.

Professor Akil Parker operates the YouTube Channel – All This Math – where he has posted over 800 video tutorials on every math concept from basic arithmetic through calculus. If someone has a need to be tutored on a concept not yet covered in this vast mathematics library, they only need to make their request known and a video tutorial will soon appear.

Akil’s love for teaching math is matched by his love for Black people and a deep appreciation for our history and primary contributions to human progress. He is fully aligned with the teachings of the Honorable Marcus Garvey who taught us that “People have done what people can do.” With this and his deep appreciation for African history, he is absolutely convinced that Black people can accomplish anything we commit to accomplishing – including fully restoring and building upon our historical math proficiency.

$PASHI Meeting$

Beyond addressing our world leading history of math proficiency, Prof. Parker also explains how math deficiency contributes to many negative outcomes outside of the classroom. He explains how math proficiency teaches critical thinking and problem-solving skills that people with deficient math skills don’t possess, and it often shows when poor decisions are made that too often lead to lives permanently changed in prison or lives that end far too soon. Given the opportunity, Prof. Parker will convincingly explain how math deficiency contributes directly to increased numbers being trapped in the prison industrial complex.

Professor Akil further explains how math deficiency is a conditioned generational curse for Black people, causing far too many of us to accept that math is simply “too hard,” or “not for us,” when our ancestors were the first to develop and apply mathematics for practical use.

To be sure, if enslavers didn’t want our ancestors to learn to read, then they surely didn’t want them to be proficient at speaking the language of math or with performing accurate calculations based on it. After all, it is so much easier to cheat people who don’t understand basic math, and some modern corporations see it the same way…

But we have no shortage of math proficiency in our history. The Black people of ancient Kemet (Egypt) were math geniuses whose calculations contributed mightily to all that was accomplished by the greatest civilization of antiquity. It is inconceivable that no one understands how ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) people designed and built amazingly precise temples and pyramids that still stand thousands of years after construction.

The truth is, their methods are well known. But to fully acknowledge the depth of Black people’s understanding and command of mathematics and advanced STEM knowledge would require far more credit be given to our ancient ancestors than the racism infused modern world wants to accept.

Professor Parker actively combats this conditioned generational curse by not only targeting school age children at every level with his math tutoring efforts, but also their parents. He understands how parents who struggle with math inadvertently or actively transfer math anxiety to their children. To challenge and improve on this, he actively encourages parents to also engage with his math tutorials to increase their math proficiency as the best way possible to motivate their children. To help in this effort, in particular, Akil completely demystifies the notion of “new math,” explaining how it directly relates to the “old math” and effectively explaining its benefits.

So, if you or someone you know needs to develop their math skills as part of a necessary step toward full self-determination and achieving their highest and fullest potential, introduce them to Professor Akil Parker and his YouTube Channel – All This Math – and he will take it from there…

For more information on Prof. Parker and his work or to schedule tutoring see https://www.allthismath.com.

Umoja / Unity

Practicing Umoja / Unity In Support Of The Most Important Task

“ Umoja / Unity – To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and worldwide African community.”

The most meaningful examples of Umoja / Unity happens when people come together to protect human life or to help make life possible in the first place. Since nothing matters more in the process of creating human life than a woman’s womb, acts of unity to promote women’s womb health are among the most meaningful acts people can undertake.

Access to menstrual hygiene products is essential for women to complete the most important task of creating and sustaining human life. Here in America, it’s easy to take this access for granted – even as some women struggle with related costs. But in some African countries, and other places, barriers to these products exist that limit girls’ access to education while creating a range of other disadvantages.

Longtime Philadelphia, PA mixed-media artist and community leader, Maisha Ongoza, noticed this during her trips across Africa, so she decided to do something about it. In 2019, Mama Maisha – as she is respectfully known – teamed up with the women of the Sankofa Artisans Guild as they looked for a new project to apply their sewing and craft making skills – and the Pan African Sisterhood Health Initiative (PASHI) was born.

PASHI is a group of socially and culturally conscious Black women elders who practice Umoja / Unity in service to their community and beyond in distinctly creative ways. They meet weekly at the Ujima Friends Peace Center where they teach middle and high school girls how to make reusable, environmentally friendly menstrual pads, underwear, masks, and a pouch to carry them in.

To directly assist in meeting needs during the actual birthing process, the creative team at PASHI also make birthing pads and bags to promote sanitary practices and increase positive outcomes in maternity ward settings. Mama Maisha and the women of PASHI have created a highly dynamic and traditional environment where elder women gladly share their crafting expertise, life wisdom, and good recipes with young girls who receive it with the love intended. There is never an unused sewing machine in the room.

Once completed, PASHI packages their items in bulk quantities up to 1,000 pieces and have made successful deliveries to several African countries and beyond including – Southern Sudan, Ghana, Liberia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Gambia, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania, Cuba, and soon, Gaza, among other places. They provide the same support to women in need in the Tri-State area around Philly.

Besides sharing these essential items beautifully crafted from fabrics often reflecting the African culture and traditions that inform their efforts, PASHI also teaches women in the areas they serve how to create their own reusable pads. In fact, several women trained by PASHI have started successful local businesses making reusable pads and teaching other women to do the same, further extending the reach of this heartwarming project that effectively demonstrates Umoja / Unity and all the other principles at the same time.

The PASHI motto speaks to the fundamental mission of their activities – “Supporting Human Dignity One Reusable Pad at a Time.” The unity and collective work done by the committed and talented women of PASHI helps to remind us of the divine nature of women, and the meaningful, life sustaining, and unparalleled work they accomplish and inspire when following the best of our ancestor’s teachings and working in harmony.

For more information, you can find the Pan-African Sisterhood Health Initiative (P.A.S.H.I.) on social media, or visit the Ujima Friends Peace Center website at – www.ujimafriends.org

Fabric and monetary donations can be sent to : Africa 2012, 6082 Drexel Rd., Philadelphia, PA 19131

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