Real Emancipation is Reaching for the Stars

This morning I woke up with the thought, "Why doesn't America celebrate the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation?" Or at the very least, African-Americans?

And even all people of African descent living Stateside, but are foreign-born? Due to the direct benefits of Emancipation and eventually Civil Rights forcing to change immigration laws that allowed more black folk to emigrate; not the precious laws that were afforded a certain European immigrant that many tend to think was graciously extended.

But I digress. Me and my cotton picking ways.

At one pint in time, there was a celebration in Washington DC where former slaves gathered with their slave masters in an annual reunion. Uuuuhhhh, ixnay on the slave master for me; however, I get it, it was a time of rememberance, though many want to forget, but that has caused seasonal amnesia to be embedded in American culture. And with it, the beauty of the process of re-defining freedomand liberation with its struggle.

Yet, we rush to Kroger's to get slabs of ribs, links, ground beef and kegs of Heineken to gorge our bellies on July 4th, clearly knowing that, that date hadn't anything to do with the liberation of enslaved African people; yet most of us don't even know the day of Emancipation and will suck up a rib bone in contented ignorance.

And honestly, I didn't know until a couple of minutes ago, September 22, 1865, five months after the Confederates surrendered to the Union Army. Though that day was probably mentioned in a history class or two, it was irrelevant at the time. I was in a different mindset, somewhere between being too ignoarant to be proud of etching that date in my mind, or too "black" to accept a handout by Lincoln, who in actuality, signed the document due to political reasons rather than moral or humanitarian.

A few years back, I posted alternatives in celebrating US Independence with sites or places we can visit and pay homage to the genius and strugggle of our ancestors. One of them being the serpent mounds in Ohio.

Serpent Mounds in Ohio are part of a chain of structures that replicate the solar system.
For more info, read Ross Hamilton's Star Mounds.

Since then, I have read and heard a lot more about these mounds that were part of a a string of collection of structures that span from Ohio to Vermont and down to Kentucky that accurately replicate the solar system. These structures now known as "Star Mounds" are described as earth-based paradisio landmasses that were built in a way that promoted optimal life and a pristine ecological system that ran on raw energy.

The date of the mounds date tens of thousands of years, if not more, but a lot of them were destroyed in good ole American expansion in the 1700s and 1800s. Nevertheless, there is enough evidence to show that an intelligent civilization that is still light years ahead of us, existed. According to Hamilton, it was the dependence on their sophisticated technology that put them in a pickle and caused the disruption and de-evolution.

We can learn from that. Because as we barbecue, there are people being neutralized with high-tech weapons either made in the USA or funded by the USA. Our DNA is being altered with genetically modified food so that the cheesecake is created by mutant milk. Though technology pushes progress, it can also enable non-progressive thoughts and actions.

So in your little time, look to the stars and find your liberation. It ain't in a hotdog homie.

July 4th Alternatives

Photo: Great Serpent Mound

Near Peebles, OH (Southwest Ohio).

Every year I think of the hypocrisies of US Independence Day when it applies to African-Americans and First Nation Peoples (Native Americans). I know, I know, people moan and groan about the history, but ‘tis true, our ancestors were enslaved, and many indigenous nations had either been massacred or displaced as former British subjects celebrated freedom.

Photo: African Burial Memorial New York City

I always think of doing something different on that day, be it big or small. Personally, fireworks stopped thrilling me a long time ago, and in this economy, there are cities that are asking to be funded. I know the traditional barbecue, is a perfect family outing, but why don’t you throw a traditional dish in there that reminds you where you came from and where we came from. Why don’t we be the change that we need, instead of relying on it being dictated to us.

Here are just some of my ideas.

1. Morning prayers that recognize your ancestral lineage.
2. Visiting a Native American site.
3. Visiting a family member’s site.
4. Play some of your folks favorite songs, such as gospel, blues, African, soul.
5. Fasting half of the day.
6. Invite all your folk to your house, even the ones you can’t stand to have a day of fun and love.
7. Replace pork ribs with a healthier alternative.
8. Eat all organic foods for the barbecue.
9. Get all your ingredients from a local farmer’s market.
10. Donate to a worthy cause.
11. Read the history of the American Indian Movement
12. Brush up on the Manifesto for the Independence of Native Americans

13. Write a letter to universities and NFL teams that still use Native American images as their mascots and demand that they stop the dehumanizing practice.
14. Strike a pleasant conversation with someone you do not know.
15. Dance like there is no tomorrow.
16. Attend the Maafa Celebration in New Orleans hosted by the Ashe Cultural Center in Armstrong Park's Congo Square in New Orleans.