sba the reawakening of the african mind

7/29/2019 SBA the Reawakening of the African Mind

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SBA: The Reawakening of theAfrican MindBirchett, Colleen. Chicago Defender [Chicago, Ill] 09 Nov 2007: S40-S41.In SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind, Hilliard provides a detaileddescription of the disorder. He describes the history of it, focusing on the impactsof slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism on the current "world order." He thenpresents a prescription for its cure, one that involves "Sebait," studying andteaching This treatment, he says, would result in people of African descentlearning to think with an African-centered consciousness, or WHMY MSW, the ancientKemetic (Egyptian) term for reawakening the African mind and community.The ideology also involved the "whitening" of African consciousness by forcingthem to affirm European-based culture while disrespecting their own. The Europeanhegemonic program involved convincing people of African descent that whitemarriage partners were trophies-trophies that would help dilute African blood andphysical features. It was a program resulting in many Africans being happy to markon census forms "mixed" or "other." This was based on the false notion thatidentities are based primarily on phenotype and pigment.[Asa Hilliard] also points out how desegregating the schools became a part of theeducational methodology that helped create "sleepwalking" people of Africandescent As schools desegregated people of European descent moved away from theneighborhoods, and put their children in private schools. At the same time, withinthe so-called integrated schools, tracking and special education classes succeededin segregating children of African descent away from children of European descent.There was no fund redistribution to develop educational programs to connectchildren of African descent with their heritage. All the while, white supremacistsystems defined "others" as uncivilized, pagan, nonhuman and "not capable."Full text


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Translate Full textTranslateTurn on search term navigationTurn on search term navigationIf asked most of us would say we have never actually met a person who wassleepwalking Our answer would likely be based on a technical definition ofsleepwalking such as that of the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders:

"Sleepwalking disorder, also called somnambulism, is characterized by repeatingepisodes of motor activity during sleep such as sitting up in bed, rising andwalking around among others. The person appears to be awake because their eyesare usually open and they can maneuver around objects, but is considered asleep."But according to Dr. Asa Hilliard, in SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind,the vast majority of people of African descent today are engaged in a form ofsleepwalking and don't even know it Hilliard says most of our African minds havebeen put to sleep long ago. And we are now walking around not knowing where wecame from, what our current state is or where we are going Without proper treatment,Hilliard says, our people and communities are highly vulnerable and in danger ofgenocide.While the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders is somewhat ambiguous about the mosteffective cure for sleepwalking as a physical disease, Hilliard is very specificabout the key to our empowerment He is very thorough in his recommendation as tohow this current psychological form of African sleepwalking can be treated Firstthe disorder must be diagnosed Then a history of the disease must be taken. Thenit must be treatedIn SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind, Hilliard provides a detaileddescription of the disorder. He describes the history of it, focusing on the impactsof slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism on the current "world order." He thenpresents a prescription for its cure, one that involves "Sebait," studying andteachingThis treatment, he says, would result in people of African descent learningto think with an African-centered consciousness, or WHMY MSW, the ancientKemetic(Egyptian) term for reawakening the African mind and community.


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The effectiveness of the treatment would be evidenced by Africans engaging in theAfrican sacred processes of deep thought (SBA). Ultimately, it would result incommunities being based on ancient and sacred principles of MAAT, the Kemetictermfor concepts of truth, justice, order, righteousness, balance, reciprocity andharmony.This spiritual transformation would be brought about through the use of educationalpractices rooted in ancient African pedagogies, such as those of Ptahhotep (thelegendary ancient KemeticDoctor), and those of African traditional educatorsthroughout practices on the African continent The ultimate goal of the educationalprocess would be an African-centered community, infused with HEKA, (spiritualpower, or divine energy)-the reawakening of individuals as they become part ofthe African community as a whole.The Problem. Hilliard cites numerous examples of how Africans all over the worldare "on the bottom" and descending That is, we do not make our own plans. Othersmake them for us. We are not paying attention to politics on a local or globalscale. Far too many of us do not think of ourselves as African. In fact, most ofus still look through the lenses of how others, outside of our African-basedculture, see us. That is the double consciousness Dr. W.E.B. DuBois described atthe beginning of the 20th century.In his book, Hilliard discusses how people of African descent begin to think asthey accept specific practices of European hegemony. That is, Europeans all overthe world have engaged in propaganda that has systematically cast physiology andculture of Africans in a negative light They have found means to hide Africanness,either by destroying it, segregating it or assimilating it into "mainstream"European culture. Hilliard cites examples of this in the United States. And theeducational system has been complicit in this. Africans who attend both publicand private schools, for the most parr, do not learn about African contributionsto world civilization.As a result, Africans worldwide are often ignorant of our own culture. Africansare not only victims of oppression, and/or physical containment and violence, 'Theyare victims of mental containment," says Hilliard. They are not conscious." Toooften, we do not believe our own children have the ability to achieve in school.We are not aware of those effective public and private schools that succeed ineducating our children to think and behave as African children. When our children


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do not learn, we often readily accept the notion that they are deficient, ratherthan the educational system. Educational systems are not being held accountableby African communities, so the result in our communities throughout the Diasporais-sleepwalkingThe History. Hilliard describes in detail how the above condition evolved Hefocuses on how a carefully planned ideology of white supremacy came to permeatethe interactions between Europeans and Africans, throughout the world Thisideology was designed to ensure white domination. It involved suppressing andfalsifying history - particularly as it was taught in the schools. It involvedsuppressing any African consciousness and preventing any efforts for those ofAfrican descent to unify. It also involved depicting Africans, as the problem,not the problematic system of exploitation and genocide.The ideology also involved the "whitening" of African consciousness by forcingthem to affirm European-based culture while disrespecting their own. The Europeanhegemonic program involved convincing people of African descent that whitemarriage partners were trophies-trophies that would help dilute African blood andphysical features. It was a program resulting in many Africans being happy to markon census forms "mixed" or "other." This was based on the false notion thatidentities are based primarily on phenotype and pigment.Hilliard also points out how desegregating the schools became a part of theeducational methodology that helped create "sleepwalking" people of Africandescent As schools desegregated people of European descent moved away from theneighborhoods, and put their children in private schools. At the same time, withinthe so-called integrated schools, tracking and special education classes succeededin segregating children of African descent away from children of European descent.There was no fund redistribution to develop educational programs to connectchildren of African descent with their heritage. All the while, white supremacistsystems defined "others" as uncivilized, pagan, nonhuman and "not capable."The Cure. Hilliard's prescription is a teaching/learning process based on ancient,traditional, African educational principles. Focusing on principles from ancientPtahhotep and West African educational practices, Hilliard begins with teachers.He says teachers should teach as they act They should model good speech, MDW NTR,also known as divine speech, and should avoid bad speech (Isfet). TeachingforAfrican teachers should be more than a technical practice. It is through


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teachingthat teachers take a proactive stance and aim to reverse the damage doneby slavery, segregation, colonization and apartheid Teachers must realize thehighest forms of identity are not privileged social classes and gender, butethnicity and culture.The goal of teachingwould be that students are transformed into spiritual beings,more like God-a central goal in ancient Kemeticeducation. Teachers bring this aboutby focusing on character and teachingprinciples of MAAT. An aim of reconnectingstudents with their African heritage would be to resist genocide. This is the wayto raise achievement levels of students of African descent, and it would resultin deep thinkers, who speak beautiful speech to others and to themselves (MDW NTR).Teachingshould be viewed as a spiritual task, not a technical one.Then Hilliard focuses on the learner. The goal of the learner is to be a hearerand listener. One of the outcomes of the learner's education is to be a model ofand for children of the great It involves being devoted to the teacher, realizingone is not born wise, that wisdom is cultivated and learning itself, is divine.The learner must believe that hearing well is learning to speak well, and theoutcome of the learning process is good will. However, a learner must hear withthe heart and then act upon what is heard The only way to avoid living as asleepwalker is to accurately take in information. That involves focusingattention.This is a highly recommended book for anyone involved with an educational programthat impacts African children throughout the Diaspora. But it is not the only legacyHilliard has left us.SBA: Reawakening of the African Mind is only one of several books in which Hilliardaddresses the abovementioned themes. His other books include The Maroon WithinUs: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization; African Power:Affirming African Indigenous Socialization in the Face of Culture Wars; Strengths:AfricanAmerican Children and Families; Infusion of African and African AmericanContent in the School Curriculum (with Larry Williams, and LucretiaPayton-Stewart). He presented his prescriptions in hundreds of articles in a widevariety of journals. He also developed and edited a collection of essays beingused by teachers throughout the country to incorporate information about thecontributions of Africans to world civilization. These essays can be secured fromthe Portland Public Schools website,www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/essays.php.
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/essays.phphttp://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/essays.phphttp://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/essays.php


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Hilliard's books can be ordered from the Akiba Bookstore at www.tuccorgandwww.amazon.com.

AuthorAffiliationby Dr. Colleen
http://www.tuccorg/http://www.tuccorg/http://www.amazon.com/http://www.amazon.com/http://www.tuccorg/

sba the reawakening of the african mind

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