Archive for May, 2010
How does the continued historically negative conception and perception of African Americans affect the lives and experiences of Africans not just in America but Worldwide? Click the image above for the essay.
Click Image to learn how to prolong your life with alkaline foods.
The depth and profound spiritual insight our ancestors garnered from the smallest and seemingly most insignificant things gave humans the most profound spiritual and scientific wisdom EVER created by man! To find out what I am speaking of click the image for the article.
For more info on the subject discussed in this piece see this article on Reincarnation by Innocent Onyewuenyi
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n the Yonkers, New York, downtown-waterfront district, unused land–adjacent to Philipse Manor Hall–is being reclaimed for sustainable development as a meditative sculpture garden. Local artist, Vinnie Bagwell is leading and defining the conceptual direction of the public art project titled “The Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden.” This green space will commemorate enslaved Africans who resided at Philipse Manor Hall–six of whom were the first to be manumitted by law in the United States, 76 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. ArtsWestchester, the leading advocate for public art in Westchester County, is the fiscal administrator for the project.
The idea of a rain garden has been chosen to marry culture with nature to demonstrate the aspects of sustainability and environmental responsibility that will make up the design. A rain garden is a planted depression that is designed to allow rainwater runoff the opportunity to be absorbed from impervious urban areas like driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas. This reduces rain runoff by allowing storm water to soak into the ground (as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters which causes erosion, water pollution, flooding, and diminished groundwater). Rain gardens can cut down on the amount of pollution reaching creeks and streams by up to 30%. The concept of a rain garden began in the 1990s in the state of Maryland. They are now one of the fastest growing areas of interest for landscapes.
Phase I — Entails the design and development of the maquettes and site plan. Sculptor Vinnie Bagwell’s artistic style is direct, intimate, and powerful. She envisions the transformation of the unused land adjoining the lawn to Philipse Manor Hall as a stirring composition of five portraits of enslaved Africans being people–going about their daily lives with dignity and elegance which will inevitably engage the heart and mind of their viewers: A young woman carrying fish, while balancing a bucket on her head, the determination of an elder, who tends the garden, a report of honor from a boatman, and the camaraderie between siblings. They are all met on a serpentine path, which leads visitors from one to another. Text-in-pavement and -in-seating will aid in putting the visuals in context. Each of the sculpture’s vignettes or decisive moments take place at different vantage point in a garden setting, adjacent to the manor.
The Yonkers African-American Heritage Committee is managing in-kind service contributions. Town meetings are being conducted to introduce the concept to the community, to make clear the goals and strategies. A Strategic Alliance Board of Directors has been assembled to aid in the fund-raising process of development and grants to create maquettes. The maquettes will be unveiled at the ArtsWestchester Exchange Gallery in early 2010, and the exhibit will travel to local museums as well.
Phase II — Entails the sculpture enlargement(s) and installation of the rain garden. Among others, visual-arts, photography, and film students from the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School arts magnet and the Riverside High School science and technology magnet will participate in a series of workshops that introduce the elements of design as well as creating the armature, mold-making, and lost-wax bronze casting. Students will attend planning sessions with the architectural landscaper to design the site plan and develop green-fielding strategies for the rain garden, learning hands-on how to develop responsible landscaping solutions to better the ecology and preserve green space for future generations. Other workshops will concentrate on combining the students’ technical know-how with the conceptual and organizational skills required to develop a well-rounded documentary.
The final phase is anticipated to culminate in a formal dedication ceremony gala event to introduce the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden to public life in 2012.
Artist’s Statement
“My pursuit of artistic excellence is grounded in my desire to use sculpture as a visual language that is resonant and has the power to reach out, strike the heart, and enrich the lives of others. Anchored in realism, my style is defined by portraiture which provides insight into human character and shows a precise articulation of the human spirit. My subjects are meant to be engaged to invite memories of experiences and feelings. Each character is designed to remind viewers that artistry is a powerful, useful tool of social transformation; one capable of condensing our thoughts, distilling our minds, and renewing our hopes and aspirations.”
Parliament is defined as “a national representative body having supreme legislative powers within the state”, or “the supreme legislative body or assembly of a major political unit that is a continuing institution comprising a series of individual assemblages.” Although the word parliament derives from the French “parler” meaning “to speak”, parliaments are found in many different states and cultures around the world. The process of “parlement” referred to a legislative council, congress or conference. It referred to a formal process of deliberation by which the community made collective decisions concerning the issues of concern.
Parliament has a long history in Africa dating back thousands of years. However, the story of parliament in Africa has been badly explained, and history books that date from the colonial occupation totally ignored the institution, or have used words that are derogatory when talking about African parliaments. – Click image above for entire article.
COSMOLOGY:
Unity in Kemetic Wisdom
Kemetic teachings stress the reality that there is only one Creator. All that we consider life and existence are a result of the actions of the Creator. Everything is a manifestation of the will of the one Creator. The Creator is the one true NTR (pronounced necher). The title of NTR is commonly mistranslated to mean God by Egyptologists, historians, and others trained by the culture of the European worldview. A more correct definition of the term NTR would be essential activating presence of the Creator within every and all aspects of existence. The intent of the NTR determines the growth and purpose of all life. This is acknowledging that the Creator is within all life and that the Creator’s presence is the force that drives every part of life to do the things it does. This is analogous to the spiritual concepts of traditional Native American teachings. Modern day European trained scientists examine the cells and atoms of everything to find a reason for life. They look for the origin of life by examining the physical properties of life. Their favorite methods are to cut off a piece (called a sample) of an organism or kill the organism in its entirety then subject it to a series of tests. The life force of the organism is never present when European scientists perform their examination. Neither method is capable of discerning the life processes of the organism from the Kemetic perspective. Kemetic teachings inform us that cells and atoms receive impulses on a sub-atomic level that directs them to operate, move, and grow in certain ways that manifests in the life forms seen under microscopes. These impulses are the province of the NTRW (plural for NTR). The NTR is the governor of the reproductive process. As an example, most plants are fertilized to reproduce with the help of birds and insects. These animals help in the reproductive process but do nothing to change the resultant offspring of the plants. The result of a fertilized plant seed is another plant not a combination plant and insect or bird. Cells and atoms follow the will of the NTR. The will of the NTR sets the parameters for all life.
The goal of education in the Temples of KMT was to teach all students how to become aware of and internalize the aspects of the one true NTR present in all life. This could only be accomplished to the extent that students developed their abilities and capacities by sensitizing themselves to the presence of the NTR in all life. Just as people have different sensitivities in using their five senses of taste, touch, hearing, smell, and sight we all have different sensitivities in detecting the NTRW in life. This is one reason for the multiplicity of NTRW in Kemetic teachings. There is a basic foundation of NTRW for all life that everyone must know. However, everyone has an area of specialization. They will give more energy to the NTR of that area of specialization or sensitivity. For example, a musician will seek to develop a relationship with the NTR of sound vibrations; an athlete will seek to develop a relationship with the NTR of muscles and coordination; a mathematician will seek to develop a relationship with the NTR of mental cognition and reasoning.
The second reason for the multitude of NTRW is a consequence of the Creator manifesting itself in harmony with the environmental conditions of each area of KMT and the world at-large. In those areas of KMT that had an abundance of fertile, arable land for farming the NTRW connected with growing crops were most important. In those areas of KMT with large mineral resources the NTRW of the minerals and the mining process were the most important. The animals and plants that live and thrive in a farming area are functionally and physically different from the animals and plants that live in a mining area. Even people who live in these two areas develop different personality traits and goals in response to their environment, job, and lifestyle. These variations are seen as the manifestation of different aspects of the one true NTR. The process of helping everyone become aware of the presence of the NTRW creates an acceptance, respect, and understanding of the variety of life in all its forms. It would be an overstatement to say that everyone in KMT always got along and that love and respect was a constant throughout everybody’s life. The historical record tells us that conflict and the resolution of conflict were a recurring part of life in KMT. It is important to know that the ideals and goals of Kemetic education were centered in the attempt to understand the fullness of the NTR to the best of your ability. The story of life’s creation, as told by the priests of KMT, can be understood on several different levels through the use of metaphor. All of them serve to reveal deeper meanings of the NTRW from a practical and scientific perspective. Understanding the concept of the NTR necessitates examining existence from a metaphysical aspect as well. All this can be gleaned from an analysis of the Kemetic creation story.
There were four major Temple systems in KMT that have left intact records of the creation stories. Each Temple in KMT told the story of creation in a way that fit their lifestyle, environment, and understanding. The Temple of Iunu (Heliopolis) was dedicated to Atum, The Temple of Khemenu (Hermopolis) was dedicated to Tehuti, the Temple of Waset (Thebes) was dedicated to Amun, and the Temple of Mem-nefer (Memphis) was dedicated to Ptah. There were many elements of the story common to all of KMT for its entire 4,000 plus year history. The most popular version was the one taught by the priests of the Temple at Iunu. In summary the story is: ‘Before the beginning of time and space all was Chaos, an unformed, undifferentiated mass they called Nun. In order to perceive itself Atum, the creator, had to differentiate itself from Nun. Atum then manifested itself as a mound of land in the chaotic, waterlike mass of Nun. Next Atum created air in the form of the twins Shu and Tefnut. The union of Shu and Tefnut created heaven, Nut, and earth, Geb. Shu, Tefnut, Nut, and Geb are NTRW with cosmic qualities. Nut and Geb united and created four children, Ausar (Osiris), Auset (Isis), Set, and Nebt-Het (Nephthys). These four children of Nut and Geb are the NTRW who have dominion over the Earth.’
People who read this story often misunderstand it by placing too much emphasis on the names of the NTRW. The names refer to the internal qualities of the elements made by Atum. I will repeat the story giving equal weight to the qualities and NTRW. This will reveal how metaphor was used to help understand the deeper meanings and memorize the story. ‘The Creator of all life existed as part of an inconceivable, undifferentiated realm known as Nun. In order to show that it was unique the Creator manifested itself as a mound of land known as Atum. This is another way of saying that something with a form that was different from the all-encompassing mass came into being. Next the Creator made air or atmosphere which has two qualities, light and moisture. These two qualities are called Shu and Tefnut respectively. The creation of the air provided a barrier around the entirety of the land. All land was now separate from the undifferentiated mass. This separation created the sky (heaven) and the earth as two distinct entities, Nut and Geb respectively. The sky (heaven) and the earth still interacted with each other. The result of their interaction created four beings that could function in the heavens and on the earth. These are the first semi-divine beings of Ausar, Auset, Set, and Nebt-Het. When Atum made humanity these four were the NTRW who were the closest to humanity. They communicated the rules of society and civilization from the heavens to humanity.’
Let’s look at the most popular stories given by Western science and religion for the creation of all life. Our current cultural paradigm is founded in the superiority of the physical form. Scientists of today hypothesize that all of existence began with one singular event. This event is called the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang is actually an unproven hypothesis based on the visual observations of certain physical phenomena by the astronomer Edwin Hubble (Hubble: 2002). In 1929 Hubble discovered that the galaxies of the universe appear to be moving away from each other at an ever-increasing speed. He postulated that the universe is constantly expanding. Since all galaxies are moving away from each other in an outward direction something must have happened in the beginning to get them all moving. This is thought to be a colossal explosion (hence the name “Big Bang”) of a single atom in which all the potential of the universe was concentrated. Scientists are using the most advanced telescopes available looking throughout space for evidence of this singularity. If they ever found the exact location of the physical event they still would not know what caused the atom to explode.
The leading school of spiritual thought in European society is Christianity. According to Christian theological teachings all of existence began with God creating light. This is outlined in the book of Genesis in the Bible (The Open Bible: 1975). ‘According to the Biblical account of creation God first created the heaven and the earth and the earth had no form. The spirit of God moved upon the waters. God said let there be light, which began the cycle of day and night. God then said let there be a firmament in the middle of the waters to divide the waters from the waters. The firmament was called heaven. God commanded the waters under heaven to gather together and let dry land appear which he called Earth. God then commanded vegetation to appear followed by the stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies. Of these heavenly bodies he made two with special qualities so that one could rule the day and the other could rule the night. God proceeded to create animals that live in the sea and air followed by the animals of the land. He then created male humans and later created females from a part of the male.’ The Big Bang Theory and the Bible both seek to explain the creation of life by an examination of physical elements. The book of Genesis does not attempt to explain the creation of life by an examination of spiritual elements. It is revealing that the creation story of KMT has more detail and is more complete even though it predates the Big Bang Theory by 6,000 years and the book of Genesis by 3,000 years. Many contradictions in the Big Bang theory and the book of Genesis were resolved by the scholar/priests of KMT in their Creation stories.
In the Kemetic story the Creator willed itself into existence. The Big Bang theory hypothesizes that a random explosion of unknown cause occurred. In the Bible the creator made heaven and earth yet the earth had no form. The Kemetic story speaks to the will and intent of the creator as being the origin of the force that creates the definite area of existence. The Kemetic story offers a possible cause for the Big Bang but does not state that an act of potential violence occurred. The Bible states that heaven and earth were made yet the earth had no form. No reason is given to substantiate the existence of something that has no form and cannot be differentiated from other things. In the Kemetic story, after forming into a mound of land the creator makes air (or atmosphere) that separates the sky from the land. This is a representation of the sequential appearance of physical life on this planet. Life on this planet, as it currently is, could not exist without the air or atmosphere that envelops the land. The layer of air that surrounds this planet acts as a filter to block the deadly radiation of the Van Allen radiation belt and interstellar space from killing life as we know it (Van Allen et. al: 1958; Conspiracy Theory: 2001). We experience warmth on Earth when the rays of the Sun interact with the atmosphere. The area of interstellar space outside the envelope of air that surrounds this planet is also extremely cold. The temperature of interstellar space is estimated to be 3 degrees Kelvin or –273 Celsius (Keohane: 2002). This is cold enough to stop molecules from moving. It is much colder than any point on earth could ever be. This is evidence that the rays of the Sun carry no heat or warmth at all. The interaction of the rays of the Sun with the atmosphere of the planet is the cause of the light we see. The area of existence outside the envelope of air that surrounds this planet is totally dark and with out any sounds we can hear with our ears or measure with machines. We hear sounds when the air is caused to vibrate by certain excitations. In the absence of air there is no sound, light or warmth. Air and the qualities of the atmosphere are pre-requisites for life on this planet. The Kemetic creation story is the only one of the three that follows a sequence that can be confirmed using rational, logical, and scientific examination. The Big Bang theory does not attempt to resolve the issue of a sequential ordering of life. It merely presumes the explosions continued with certain masses sticking together to create planets, stars, and other things. The Bible’s book of Genesis has the spirit of the creator moving on waters that appeared immediately following the creation of heaven and earth. In Genesis the creator then manifested light by the use of sounds (speaking a word) yet no source for continued light was established. After establishing light the Bible has the Creator putting a firmament called heaven in the middle of the waters. If heaven was created first did the Creator back up and do it again? The actions of the Creator in the Bible do not follow the order of sequence needed to create or maintain life on this planet. When logical people ask how things could happen in this sequence they are told to develop more faith in unseen things.
In addition to informing us of the origin of life on this planet the Kemetic creation story is an example of the mathematical process used by the scholar/priests of KMT and taught to every child. The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus shows us that in KMT a process of doubling was used to do computations (Finch: 1998; Robins and Shute: 1987; Chace: 1979). A simple demonstration is to start with the number one, when you double the one you get two, when you double the two you get four, double the four you get eight, so on and so on. In the Kemetic creation story you start off with something indescribable, you make one come out of it, it makes two come out of it, these two make two more come out of them, the second two make four more come out of them. This is an example of the doubling process of one making two, two making four, and four making eight. This same process was used for algebra, multiplication, division, geometry, and trigonometry. The Kemetic creation story started with an indescribable undifferentiated mass. The Big Bang theory and the Bible tell us nothing existed before the creation began. The number systems of the Western societies place a zero prior to the number one. Nun (chaos) is the basis for all existence (Verharen: 2002). In our current system the zero holds a place to symbolize empty space. The Kemetic people did not have a number zero in their system. Due to the existence of something prior to the Creator manifesting itself as one it is never possible for the absence of all things to occur (Assman: 1989; Hornung: 1982). To quote Erik Hornung:
“For Egyptians the entire extent of the universe, both space and time, is embedded in the limitless expanse of the non-existent. The non-existence does not even stop short at the boundaries of the existent but penetrates all of creation (1971).
This signifies that KMT had a systematic unification of all Creation in 3,000 BCE (Allen: 1988). Einstein’s unified field theory and Quantum Physics have been trying to verify this for the past 60 years.
© 2002 Atiba King
{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature}
Jazz and Mdw Ntr: Divine Speech
by Stephanie Joy Tisdale
My teachers — both in print and in person — always remind me to study the beginning. That is, to study the source and to seek the origin, or dig until I locate the roots. I will admit that too often I am a wayward student and waste precious, valuable time. While my heart’s intentions are wedded to the idea of Liberation, I know that my actions impede the process of reaching this goal. When it is all said and done, I hope to reconcile myself and my future with this fact. And to also do better: immediately.
Mdw Ntr is the oldest example that we have of our speech — our oldest record of our ancient form of communication. This Mdw Ntr — “Divine Speech” — is not just about written or even spoken language. It is about a worldview and a way of life. In Intellectual Warfare, Dr. Jacob Carruthers (Jedi Shemsu Jehewty, Maa Kheru) explains that “the exaltation of Speech” was at the center of the Kemetic (African) worldview (1999, p276). Dr. Carruthers refers to the Shabaka text (transcribed during the 25th Dynasty of Kemet, also called the Nubian Dynasty) where Mdw Ntr is defined by its own practitioners:
“The seeing of the eyes, the hearing of the ears and the sniffing of the nose report to the mind, which makes every understanding come forward. As to the tongue, it repeats what the mind has planned, thus all divine powers were created. For every divine speech came about through what the mind planned and the tongue commanded, thus all labor and all crafts are made, the actions of the hand, the motions of the legs, the movement of the limbs, according to this command which is planned by the mind and comes forth on the tongue and creates the performance of everything” (1999, 282).
Dr. Carruthers goes on to explain,”When you look at humanity and observe humanity, in its human form, acting as human, then you observe it acting through speech… Speech is humanity when humanity is at its best” (1999, 283).
In theory, this was never hard for me to understand because it made sense. In practice, I tried to envision Mdw Ntr in my own lifetime and space but never felt like I was fully manifesting the concept or the vision as it is so eloquently described in the Shabaka text.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Jazz lately. Growing up, I dibbled and dabbled in Jazz — in school choirs and music courses — never planting my feet firmly in the genre long enough to access the deep roots. I collect records though, and through my journey as an amateur vinyl connoisseur (wink…smile to myself), I’ve come across lots of rare finds. Over the years, my curiosity has led me farther and deeper into the world of Jazz. And more recently, I’ve come across some amazing music, created by some extraordinary people.
From my observations, Jazz is more about sound than anything else. A good amount of Jazz music is instrumental, without lyrics or vocalists to amplify the message. And yet, with great clarity, these instrumentals speak. As if to ensure that the focus of these “speaking” instrumentals would not be lost in translation, the master Jazz musicians titled their work in ways that left nothing to chance. From “Nubia” and “When There is No Sun” to “You Got to Have Freedom,” “Balance of Life (Peace of Mind),” “Selflessness” and “Uhuru Sasa.”
In retrospect, it seems as if a wave of African worldview consciousness invigorated the Jazz community. Beginning in the 1950s, some Jazz musicians even changed their names to reflect their new found understanding. Some, like Sun Ra — and later Pharoah Sanders — took on names directly related to the ancient African (Kemetic) worldview. Others, like Ahmad Jamal, Yusef Lateef, Art Blakey (Abdullah Ibn Buhaina), and Idris Muhammad, changed their names as a result of their conversion to Islam. Regardless, the music would ultimately speak for itself and reflect the cultural orientation of the creators.
I will not pretend to be a Jazz historian. Besides, no real discussion of Jazz could exist without exploring the global context of the African Diaspora and Africa itself — which is missing from this particular discussion. However, even from what I have learned so far, it is quite clear that there was a deliberate expression of Mdw Ntr (Divine Speech) in the Jazz created by these great men and women: in the midst of American racism, socioeconomic oppression, political disenfranchisement and brutal violence against African people.
I am humbled by the efforts made by these individuals to connect with, and reinvigorate the memory of, a worldview that dates back many thousands of years. To boldly proclaim the African worldview in a world saturated with notions of assimilation and forgetfulness. To remember, in spite of the efforts of their enemies and oppressors to trick them into willful amnesia.
I am not surprised because their diligence was born out of a long and deep tradition of creative resistance. However, when juxtaposed against those who did not (or could not) speak the language of their foreparents, these Jazz women and men emerge as exceptional and extraordinary. So much so that Sun Ra’s discography alone is overflowing with specific references to distinct aspects of the most ancient African worldview. And then there is the spiritual enlightenment of John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas. Or the protest compositions of Nina Simone, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Charles Mingus, Gary Bartz and Gil Scott-Heron. The cultural reinforcement of Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and Idris Muhammad.
These are just a few examples. The collective force of these individuals together with their musical counterparts (in the form of trios, quartets, quintets, “arkestras,” and ensembles), is a force that was born of many foreparents and in turn, replicated itself over and over. Sometimes in quiet spaces, other times in loud venues for all the world to see.
And their talent continues to remain unparalleled. Somehow, they combined exquisite mastery of music with deliberate speech (verbal and otherwise) to create lasting expressions of the African worldview. And it all seems so effortless. So incredibly seamless, in fact, that they set a new tone and made that the tone: speaking loudly and Divinely, just like Mdw Ntr.
Already, I am forced to renew and to redefine my definitions of art, music, spirituality, and more importantly Liberation. It would appear that I, along with my generation, am much freer to do, say and think, than those who came before me. However, the Jazz that I’m talking about oozes freedom. It questions and answers, it protests and defies, it loves and remembers and repeats what it knows to be true. Over and over again. Despite their imperfections (on a personal level and collectively), somehow they managed to keep “it” together, manifesting something that was at once ancient and futuristic.
All while improvising, wowing the crowds and recreating a genre in ways that will remain etched in our cultural memory.
How clever!
–
Notes:
Carruthers, Jacob. 1999. Intellectual Warfare. Third World Press.
More and more we are finding ordinary citizens are fed up with games our elected officials’ are playing with our collective future. Too many politicians are bed with corporate interests which is stemming the tide of progress for many average Americans. To combat this problem of politicians who make decisions that only benefit their personal bottom line or those corporations that line their pockets. Many citizens are running for government office in record numbers to try and get the change they desperately seek but can’t find in the people who are supposed to have the public’s best interest at heart. An Innerview (interview) with Karimah Williams who is running for District Leader in the West Ward in Newark, NJ in June 2010.
This article makes it clear why we must resurrect the Susu Economics in as many places we African dwell as possible.
DOUALA, Cameroon— When Samuel Nansi needed $35,000 to open his Joie de Vivre Bar here, he did not bother with banks. Instead he turned to the tontines, an informal credit system rooted in African tradition. Without signing a paper or filling out a form, Mr. Nansi emerged from his monthly tontine meeting with $35,000 in cash.
For years development economists saw Africans’ tontines as archaic tribal institutions that would die out with the rise of modern economies based on European-style banking systems. But now many economists see the tontines as a highly efficient method of promoting grass-roots efforts in capitalism.
They cite Cameroon. In the first half of the 1980′s, this Central African nation had the continent’s highest average economic growth rate, 7 percent a year. Cameroonians’ rate of participation in tontines – 47 percent – was the highest in five French-speaking African countries surveyed by Marcomer Gallup International. By contrast, only 13 percent of the people surveyed in the five nations had savings accounts.
”Banks don’t match the mentality of the people,” said Theodoret-Marie Fansi, the director of an economic consulting firm here. ”They are colonial structures.” Social Pressure for Payment
In Cameroon, bankers complain of loan delinquency rates as high as 50 percent. But tontine payments are taken so seriously that borrowers faced with delinquency have been known to commit suicide.
Tontines work, economists say, because their loans are backed by social pressure, a system familiar to Africans. Banks perform poorly because their loans are backed by paper guarantees made to strangers, a concept alien to Africans.
Tontines exist in much of sub-Saharan Africa, from Burkina Faso to Ghana to Zaire and Rwanda. But Cameroon’s enterprising Bamileke tribesmen have popularized interest-bearing tontines to such an extent that bankers complain that tontines contribute to the current crisis in banking liquidity.
”We are empty,” one foreign banker here said sourly. ”The tontines are drawing money out of the banking system.”
With uncounted millions of dollars flowing through this alternative finance system, Cameroonians use tontine credit for projects ranging from paying for a wedding, to buying a taxi, to building a hotel. How Tontines Developed
In their original form, tontines allowed peasants to pool their labor, rather than their money. With the introduction of the money economy in the 20th century, tontines took on a financial character, as informal savings associations. Every month each member would contribute a fixed share into a ”pot.” In a 12-member group, each member would receive the pot once a year.
The most recent innovation is the interest-bearing tontine. Each month, members bid the amount of interest they will pay for the tontine pot. Interest payments are collected in a separate loan fund and are distributed to members when the tontine is dissolved. Tontines are usually formed for two-year periods, and are generally limited to 24 members.
”I have attended tontines where the monthly pot is $1 million,” said Antoine L. Ntsimi, a Cameroonian banker with a business degree from the University of Chicago. With a tontine loan, Mr. Ntsimi recently started construction of a four-story, $850,000 building that will hold offices, retail stores and apartments.
This capital market has become so sophisticated that some enterprising Bamileke ”buy” money from rural tontines at low interest rates and then ”resell” it in Douala, the nation’s commercial capital, at higher interest rates. High- and Low-Yield Tontines
Similar to Americans spreading their money between money markets and savings accounts, Cameroonian investors spread their money between tontines.
”I made 47 percent interest in one tontine last year,” said Mr. Fansi of a high-yield tontine composed largely of import-export merchants. Although he knew he could never afford to borrow at the merchants’ high rates, Mr. Fansi joined to earn the high interest. For his personal borrowing needs, largely for home improvement, Mr. Fansi belongs to a tontine composed of friends with similar needs for small amounts of capital at low interest. Because these tontines have lower demand for capital, interest rates are low – the total interest payments over two years would be around 20 percent.
In contrast, banks here pay 7 percent annual interest on savings, and lend money at 13 percent a year. Inflation is about 13 percent. Interest earned on savings is subject to a 10 percent tax, while tontine earnings go unrecorded.
The more advantageous rates offered by tontines can be traced to their lack of overhead, their ability to set rates according to supply and demand, and their high repayment record.
”Banks are too expensive, too slow and too full of paperwork,” said Mr. Nansi, whose interest payments over the four-year life of his $35,000 tontine loan will total 20 percent. ”Banks demand too many conditions – a property title, a guarantor, a certificate of guaranteed future salary earnings, insurance.” Differing Images of Borrowers
Talking to bankers here, one gets the image of Cameroonian borrowers as careless and untrustworthy.
Talking to Tontine participants, one gets the image of a fastidiously punctual and well-disciplined people.
Tontines, built on trust, are generally made up of homogeneous groups – people from the same ethnic background, the same workplace or the same neighborhood.
”When people go to banks, they don’t feel that same urgency to reimburse the loan,” Mr. Ntsimi said. ”If you don’t make your payment to the tontine, you are rejected by the community. If you are banned from one group, you are banned from the others.”
Indeed, several years ago, several Bamileke traders committed suicide because they realized that they could not make their tontine payments.
The bylaws of one tontine, Njange 85 of Bamenda, reveal a strictly regulated system. ”A fine of 1,000 francs will be paid per minute of lateness” to the monthly meeting, the bylaws read. One-thousand Central African francs is about $3.50. Other fines are levied for ”rowdy and unruly conduct,” for bringing visitors and for paying the monthly contribution in small bills. The system of graduated fines for late payment of the contribution culminates with expulsion of any member who is 24 hours late. Sickness Isn’t Recognized
Similar to the boards of cooperative apartment buildings in New York, tontine members ”shall be under no obligation to give any reason for rejecting any appliation.”
”I have customers who call up from abroad and say: ‘I forgot the tontine. Send someone around with the money,’ ” the foreign banker said.
Raphael Toghoua, who used his tontine loan to start a bus service from here to his native village, recited a common saying, ”The tontine does not recognize sickness, death or travel.”
From time to time, Government officials lead campaigns against the tontines. They argue that tontines are tribalist, a way of evading taxes and a drain on the banking sector.
But the tontines remain legal, and Cameroonians rarely take the campaigns seriously. They assume that most Government officials are members of at least one tontine.
One recent finance minister was more outspoken than most in opposing tontines. He now lives in Tokyo, where he is Cameroon’s Ambassador to Japan.
Photo of Samuel Nansi outside his bar in Cameroon (NYT/James Brooke)
California, USA
December 9, 2001
It is indeed enlightening to know that by 2006, the combined Gross National Product (GNP) of Black America will be more than 600 billion dollars. Yet as encouraging as this news is, the fact remains if we continue with the policies of earning and spending, wasting and throwing away money in the businesses of other people, we are going to be nothing but slaves earning money and making others wealthy, while they continue to buy up our neighborhoods, live off the hard work of our ancestors and dominate the political, economic and intellectual life of the United States.
In like manner, Black nations around the world should work to build and expand their wealth and economies using efficient and effective means. (See the great book, “Susu and Susunomics,” published by www.iuniverse.com available at www.barnesandnoble.com
USING OUR MONEY WISELY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO OUR DEVELOPMENT
One of our major problems as Blacks in America is the fact that every dollar we make circulates only once in the Black community. By comparison, every dollar the white community makes circulates ten times or more in their community.
The white European sense of self-preservation and economic domination and control is so strong that they will even create copies of Black culture such as boy groups and girl groups to sing Black music by calling it “pop,” or copy industries such as Black hair care, music and food products to compete and destroy what Blacks have created.
USING SUSU; ITS TIME TO APPLY ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS THAT WORK
Despite the one way passage of Black dollars in the Black community, there are many ethnic Black communities in the U.S. who put in use the application of traditional economic methods, pride in self and use the knowledge that economic power is as important as political power.
One such group is the Afro-Caribbean community, another is the African immigrant population and the largest of that population happens to be Blacks from the South, where economic integration (some call it Black economic distruction) has not brought about the destruction of Black business to the extent that it has happened in other parts of the U.S.
Moreover, one of the most ancient forms of economic development called susu economics is being used by Afro-West Indians to develop their communities, build businesses, build schools and invest in their communities (see the book, “Susu and Susunomics: The Theory and Practice of Pan-African Economic, Cultural and Racial Self-Preservation,” published by www.iuniverse.com Susu was also significant in helping the Jewish refugee population who began migrating to New York after World War II, to develop a strong economic community.
The time has come to start putting methods and systems that will contribute to Black development. The power of Black America to serve in the same function that white America serves as a force on this planet is very much within our grasp.
Why are we in a continual downslide toward underdevelopment around the world? We African-Americans and Africans in the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars at our disposal, yet, why are we sitting aside as a scattered people, with no influence, no nationalistic agenda and no ability to contribute to the liberation of Blacks in America and in other parts of the world?
ITS TIME TO USE BLACK MONEY TO BUILD A WORLD BLACK ECONOMY
Today, Blacks in Latin America, Brazil, India, Papua New Guinea, Africa, the Caribbean, Melanesia, Europe and the Indian Ocean, Australia and elsewhere are uniting despite the distances from each other. Today, there seems to be an international awakening among Blacks and despite the problems we face, a world Black renaissance is on its way to becoming a reality.
Here in the U.S., too many of us are simply wasting the benefits we have, whether its wasting good media on music videos and one type of music, whether its wasting money on cars and things we can do withouit while our Black colleges are shut down and our ownership of real property is lessened, or whether its falling for the marry, devorce and break up the Black faimily plague that is destroying the African-American family.
In retrospect, its time to make a change and to work to stand as a positive force in the world. We have a GNP of over 600 billion dollars at our disposal, its time to put that money to good use to develop our communities and to contribute to building a better Black world. Afterall, if we can use our money to develop markets in other parts of the world and can build a manufacturing base, we will have helped develop a Black world that will be open to trade and commerce with us.
Paul Barton
Author of:
“Susu Economics: The History of Pan-African Trade, Commerce, Money and Wealth,” published by 1stbooks Library, www.1stbooks.com
Susu Economics is a facinating and well researched book that presents the history of African/Black civilizations from ancient Egypt to India, Mesopotamia, Nubia-Kush (the nation of Sudan, presently occupied by Arabs where Africans are being enslaved), Olmec Mexico, the Mound Civilization of the Southern and Midwestern United States, Sabea/South Arabia, Shang China and many other great civilizations. The book describes why Africans migrated from Africa. The idea of hunting animals and migrating is mentioned as well as the even more important possibility that trade and commerce, commodities and goods were being sought as well.
“Susu and Susunomics: The Theory and Practice of Pan-African Economic, Cultural and Racial Self-Preservation,” published by www.iuniverse.com Susu and Susunomics is an effective blueprint for cultural, social and economic development of Black America and the Black world. This book is already a well-known world renouned text used by some economists as a practical guide to development.
A History of the African-Olmecs: Black Civilizations of America from Prehistoric Times to the Present Era,” published by 1stbooks Library www.1stbooks.com
The above book, “A History of the African-Olmecs is one of the most important books written on the prehistoric Black presence in the Americas, including the United States. This book is even more important today since at the present moment, evidence of an ancient civilization more than eight thousand years was found off the coast of Cuba, beneath Cuban waters. Among the latest discoveries which support the history in the book is the discovery of well made and refined tools in South Africa that give an age of about 70,000 years old. This book gives an accurate and well researched history of how such civilizations were built in the Americas by prehistoric Africans from the Nile Corridor, West Africa and the Sahara.
Paul Barton
http://community.webtv.net/paulnubiaempire
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