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By Pershara, on February 14th, 2010
My childhood was spent in a community where talk of preparing for the future by accumulating material things was non-existent. When I came to the US, I found opposing priorities to the ones back home. Back home no one ever discussed going to college or validating ourselves with the accolades and titles handed out by the system. We lived one day at a time, because we had what we needed for survival. When I realized how things are done here, I felt deprived because I did not fit in. School was presented as a possible equalizer but I did not even have an idea of what I would be going to school for.
 In colonial society, planning for the future means planning how we will make and spend our money. We even plan our families based on how much money we make. Ironically, our possessions do not come with us when we die but the actions we take to obtain them do. I remember someone who came from the US to visit my community and was very surprised at how simply we lived. He said he had never seen people living without worrying about money or doing anything that pertained to saving things for the future. Our future was the continuation of our survival by teaching the children what we knew. Nevertheless, I left home because I was searching for something that I thought I had found when I came to America. All of the lessons of my childhood started to fade as I got more and more caught up into catching up to the way things are done here. It wasn’t until I came to the Earth Center that I realized that all my planning for the future (going to college, insurance plans, jobs, and so on), as I came to perceive it, was only a set-up that was making me dependent on this system while distracting me from living in reality or coming to know what I came to Earth for.
Continue reading Fallacy of the Future
By Nehez, on February 14th, 2010
 The graduates: Akib Zari'imou (left) and Ikertbanitah Zari'imou (right) presenting their certificates. These graduates are the remaining initiates of a group which started almost two years ago. This group, as a whole, fell to the distractions of internal politics and discouragement following the death of The Earth Center founder and director, Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig. It was Master Naba himself who stated, “Many will make the mistake of focusing on the finger of the guide who is pointing to the moon, instead of on the moon itself.” They have proven that they understood, they have persisted on their path.
Continue reading The Light of The Ancestors:
Kem Integrity through M’TAM
By Baheru, on February 14th, 2010
 Traditional cultures have an age old history of producing high quality individuals, strong families and tight-knit communities as shown in these photos. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of traditional people are being drawn to the glamour of modern culture at the cost of the values that define them
Through extensive investigation and analysis, history has revealed that most native people of any land, regardless of location, were able to survive for centuries because they had a system set in place that worked. Protecting which is of value, such as culture and tradition, entails a level of responsibility and commitment in order to maintain harmony. Whether it was in relation to the spiritual (non-material) or practical (material) world, they were able to adapt to their environment, regardless of its internal or external conditions. Despite their struggles, they were successful at preserving their values while living in harmony with the existence. If we assess these once stable and powerful cultures today, we will find that most no longer exist.
The conditioning that we have may immediately lead us to “believe” that traditional lifestyle is backwards, for savages, and that it is more comfortable to live life in the way the modern system has constructed it. These are some of the stereotypes that those who are trying to preserve traditional culture are faced with. We have to understand that in order for any culture that has ever existed to go from great splendor to squalor and ruins, it must have been influenced by either internal or external forces.In M’TAM, (the oldest initiatic education known to mankind), we are taught that a structure is only as strong as the people who uphold it. A society of highly developed individuals is necessary for achieving the goal of having a stable structure. For tens of thousands of years, the Kemetic structure (commonly known as Egyptian by the modern world) has given the world a model to follow for all aspects of life. The cultures that followed the Kemetic spiritual model were able to maintain themselves.
Highly developed people with the same collective goals are what make a harmonious society. The Kemetic structure is very demanding and requires those that follow it to be morally upright. From the Pharaoh to the commoner, everyone was expected to exemplify the Kemetic structure, because they all had the same objectives, which were to constantly improve their human qualities with the goal of building a world that resembled the divine world. This wasn’t just some notion, it was a reality.
Continue reading Preserving Traditional Culture
By Baashu, on February 14th, 2010
The Eastern bank of the Mississippi River, in Northwestern Illinois, is the setting of an American travesty yet again. Historically a pristine wilderness with the longest stretch of sand dunes in Illinois and home to Americas symbol of freedom, the Bald Eagle, until they nearly went extinct. The Bald Eagle is once again nesting along these banks, but only after a 100 year environmental disaster that lingers on and possibly with some new neighbors.
 The bald eagle, which is native to Western Illinois, nearby the Mississippi River, was nearly driven to extinction. The transfer of inmates from the infamous Guantanamo Bay Military Prison in Cuba to the Thompson Correctional Center in Western Illinois is reported by many sources to be a very real possibility. Politicians like the US Senator from Illinois, Richard Durbin, seem supportive of this transfer. Presumably due the the financial gain involved for those associated with the Illinois prison system. As a politician who has spoken out against the Guantanamo Bay Prison, it is revealing to see Sen. Durbin now support the incarceration of its inmates locally.
Arguably, Sen. Durbin’s position regarding the transfer of inmates from Guantanamo Bay to Thompson Correctional Center is one that is in accordance with a majority of Illinois residents. The major concern, as stated in an NPR news release, is security. There is a request for the Defense Department to conduct a security review on all the inmates to be transferred. As a regular newspaper reader and resident of the Chicagoland area, the security threat is probably one that I have heard before: “With many potential targets (including nuclear sites) close to the Thompson Correctional Center, is it too risky to house “known” terrorists?”. This is a reasonable argument only within the context of being involved in a “War on Terror”. While in this “War on Terror”, any action seems reasonable to prevent terrorists from blowing up Chicago buildings and killing our families. This is a continuance of the promotion of fear that reached recent heights under the Bush administration but has been in practice for centuries.
Continue reading What Is News? – Guantanamo Illinois
By Baashu, on February 14th, 2010
The cold and dry seasons prove to be a more difficult and challenging time than our seasons of warmth and abundance. Issues with homelessness and hunger become more severe. Impacting these issues will require more than a short article, but alleviating the suffering of those subject to homelessness or hunger is as easy as bringing food or clothes to the nearest person in need. However, humans are not the only creatures who struggle and suffer through these challenging seasons.
 We can learn a lot from observing nature. Trees produce nuts that squirrels eat. Squirrels bury nuts, some of which eventually turn into trees. Maybe the tree the squirrel is standing on started out as a nut buried by a squirrel. An observant look around even the most concrete jungle will reveal a myriad of creatures working for survival. A great benefit can be had by the individual who keeps these creatures in their consideration. When one observes any of these creatures, they will see them engaged in the work of survival. This work provides the daily and future needs of the individual and their family. In this aspect, we as humans can relate to the importance of working for the survival of ourselves and our family.
Continue reading What Is News? – Going Green
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The Sidereal Calendar
Year 409
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Philosphy Podium
Volume 1:
A Dogon Perspective
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