Showing posts with label Adelaide Sanford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adelaide Sanford. Show all posts

11.20.2015

EVENT ALERT: Salute to Regent Adelaide Sanford - Afrocentric Educator for All Times

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

 Hello All:

 Big doings this week end as BEPAA plan to celebrate the 90th Birthday Anniversary of Dr. Adelaide Sanford.  I cannot say enough about this wonderful sister.  She has my utmost admiration - and I'm definitely not alone in this adulation.

 I first met Dr. Sanford in 1985 - and I was totally in AWE!! Not only did she remind me of my favorite teacher in Oklahoma City, Ms. Lola B. Greer, but she even sounded like her.  She was elegant, confident, fashionable, large and in charge.  And an uncompromising advocate and activist for Black education.  What's not to like????

 She is the epitome of African Consciousness in Education and lifestyle. 
 She is the founder of Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry (BEPAA) and co-founder of Clarke House in Harlem (named in honor of John Henrik Clarke).
Educator Adelaide L. Sanford is a retired teacher, principal and former Vice-Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents; throughout her long and distinguished career, she has consistently epitomized the values of character, courage, and commitment in her unwavering service to her students, colleagues, and community.

Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford was born on November 27, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York.  She earned a Bachelor of Education degree from Brooklyn College in 1947,  a Master of Education degree from Wellesley College in 1950; and a Ph.D. in Education from Fordham University in 1967.

Dr. Adelaide Sanford is  dedicated to the education and uplift of African American children.  Adelaide L. Sanford's illustrious 35-year career as an educator in New York City included service as an elementary school teacher, a guidance counselor, an assistant principal and a principal in New York City.

As principal of the Crispus Attucks school in Brooklyn she established her reputation for promoting excellence and achievement in underserved schools, gaining city-wide recognition for her school's dramatic improvements in student achievement, teacher morale and gifted programs. 

Upon her retirement in 1985, Adelaide L. Sanford was solicited by Assemblyman Al Vann to replace the retiring Kenneth Clark, to the Board of Regents.  He had served 21 years, she in turn also served 21 years.  She was  elected to two 7-year terms as a member-at-large on the New York State Board of Regents, and served two 3-year terms as its vice chancellor; unwavering in her concern for the welfare of New York's most vulnerable children, she was chairperson of the Regents' Committee on Low Performing Schools; and played a pivotal role in shaping new educational policies towards closing gaps in student performance among New York State's schools.  This was a non-paying position, so she footed her own bill. 

Adelaide L. Sanford's positive impact on the educational well-being of children extends beyond her work on the New York State Board of Regents; she served as a consultant for the boards of education in Niagara Falls, Connecticut, Indiana and New Jersey, worked on several national committees, including the advisory committee on multicultural education for the National Association of State Boards of Education; served on the board of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone UMEZ), and played an instrumental role in creating the John Henrik Clarke meetinghouse.

Adelaide L. Sanford has won numerous accolades and awards for her outstanding leadership, commitment and accomplishment; her honors  include distinguished alumna awards from Wellesley College and Brooklyn College, the Josephine Shaw Lowell Award, the Ellen Lurie Award, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Humanitarian Award. 

Curriculum of Inclusion was developed by Dr. Sanford, and adopted throughout the entire school system.  The Board of Regent controls the curriculum; and the researchers, per Dr. Sanford, must come from the original ethnic group that is impacted by the curriculum. Dr. Leonard Jeffries was the selected scholar for African Americans, and each of the other groups had their own representative.

 As opposed to being just an advocate, Dr. Sanford was an activist as well.  She walked her talk utilizing her intellectual prowess - reaching out to people - Black people - from all levels of educational and economic standards.  

 She has always advocated Afrocentricity as a human right in education.  It's not enough to just congratulate her for her wonderful accomplishments, it's also necessary to begin implementing what she began.  

 Dr. Sanford and her husband established a monetary award for those who came to the Board of Regents who came up with the most innovative curriculum to be adopted in the school system, in the amount of $10,000.  Though the Board of Regents have dragged their feet on presenting the award, it is nevertheless still available.

 I love Dr. Sanford because she does not bite her tongue when it comes to standing for Black people and quality education.  

Dr. Sanford lives now between New York and Philadelphia, PA.  Interestingly enough, when I was serving on the committee to transform Germantown High School into a Charter School (it was one of the 30 schools that had been shut down by Tom Corbett, former governor of Pennsylvania) and the organization was looking for advisors, I recommended Dr. Sanford.  One of the members of the organization stated that she would not "be acceptable because of the scandal of a charter school that had been named after her being forced to close."  How ignorant and ignominious!!! The issue of the school had absolutely nothing to do with the brilliance of this wonderful woman, who devoted her entire life to educating Black students, their parents and the educators who were responsible for educating them.  In point of fact, with the sorry state of the School District of Philadelphia, they should all be rolling out the red carpet to her door and begging her to come and help them turn this mess around.   When you have royalty in your midst, and you don't have the appropriate respect or understanding, yours is the greater loss (Hint to Philadelphia - uh, duh!!)
 
Not only should there be a full curriculum based on the combined philosophies of Dr. Adelaide Sanford and Carter G. Woodson, but it should be mandatory for all so-called educators to master them if they are going to be teaching in predominantly Black schools - and guess what folks - Philadelphia is 68% Black (Again Philly - uh, duh!!)

 Political machinations aside, it makes good sense, if you are trying to grow a world class city, to provide world class education for ALL your citizens.  And you can't do that playing russian roulette with the quality and standards.  It's like shooting yourself in the foot and expecting to continue to tap dance.  Can't be done.

 But, I digress (on purpose)  Dr. Sanford makes many of us half her age look dowdy - she wears some of the most beautiful Afrocentric clothes, jewelry, and hair styles - befitting a woman of elegance, charm, grace and style.  I have always marveled at the fact that she looks and acts much younger than many of us who.  She's not stodgy, she has a marvelous sense of humor and candor that is unforgettable.  

 If you can't attend her Birthday Anniversary Celebration, at least take the time to learn about this wonderful woman; and begin to demand that educators going forward know and emulate this great woman of soul.  That would be the greatest tribute of all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER ADELAIDE SANFORD!
AND MANY, MANY, MANY MORE

 STAY BLESSED & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK 

 Gloria



Subject: 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION DR. ADELAIDE SANFORD
To: Goat BrownJr <goatbrownjr@gmail.com>



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90th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION  MODEL EDUCATOR AND COMMUNITY SERVANT, ADELAIDE L. SANFORD
ALL CONTRIBUTIONS GO TO  2 PROJECTS DR. SANFORD
HAS DESIGNATED  1. JOHN HENRIK CLARKE HOUSE   IN NY
                                   2. ELDERS HOUSE IN SELMA ALABAMA

The credit card invitation can be found at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-adelaide-l-hines-sanfords-90th-birthday-celebration-tickets-18993837078
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Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday Celebration!

The Adelaide L. Sanford Institute, The Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry (BEPAA) and The Elders' House

Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST)

Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday...
Ticket Information
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General Admission Nov 2, 2015 $125.00 $0.00
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Please join us as we celebrate our beloved educator, Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford, Vice Chancellor Emerita on the occasion of her 90th birthday!  Dr. Sanford earned degrees from Brooklyn College, Wellesley College, and Fordham University.  In addition, she has also received four honorary doctoral degrees.  Dr. Sanford became principal, at the inner city school, Crispus Attucks in Brooklyn, NY.  It was there that she earned an outstanding reputation for promoting cultural and educational excellence in student achievement. In 1986, Sanford won unanimous election to the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.  As Chairperson of the Regents' Committee on Low Performing Schools, Dr. Sanford played an instrumental role in shaping new educational policies that sought to close the gap of student performance among schools.  She was elected to the position of Vice Chancellor in 2001 and re-elected in 2004.  Many honors and awards have been bestowed upon Dr. Sanford for her work.  She received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's humanitarian award, and distinguished alumna awards from Wellesley College and Brooklyn College.  Her legacy continues to flourish nationally and internationally through the work of The Dr. John Henrik Clarke House, Elders’ House “The Elders’ Gift to the Children” and The Adelaide Sanford Institute.
We look forward to seeing you in November.  

When & Where

MIST Harlem
46 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10026
Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST) 


The Adelaide L. Sanford Institute, The Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry (BEPAA) and The Elders' House

  Contact the Organizer
Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday Celebration! New York, NY Events Party Charity & Causes
TO ORDER BY PAYPAL GO TO LINK BELOW
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11.11.2015

EVENT ALERT: GUEST BLOG FROM BEPAA NOVEMBER 12TH THROUGH NOVEMBER 30TH BE THERE

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson



Hello All:

Sometimes the information is so essential and intense, it doesn't make sense to do anything but present it as it is.

And that is the case with the information I just received from brother James McIntosh from CEMOTAP:  So I'm presenting his events list in its entirety.   Too much relevant info to streamline it. Plus the celebration of one of my favorite SHEROES - DR. ADELAIDE SANFORD - who will be 90 this year, and is an icon and a beacon in Black History and Education.  (An event I wanted to attend, but have to forego because of a previous engagement at my alma mater, LINCOLN UNIVERSITY on the same date, and at the same time). 

Not to mention the gray Molefi Asanti who will be featured at Clarke House.  The roads between New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia have a dedicated route as our three great Black Communities continue to collaborate and fellowship and support each other in our common endeavors and causes.  

 So mark your calendars and let's see if we can do a different kind of tailgating between our three  great Black communities!

STAY BLESSED
Gloria



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On Sunday November 22, 2015 The Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry will host a lecture by the prolific writer and scholar Dr. Molefi K. Asante. Dr. Asante is the author of over 70 books. He will discuss his book African Pyramids of Knowledges. The lecture will be held at John Henrik Clarke house from 3pm to 6 PM. Admission is free but call 347-907-0629 to RSVP.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY 
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante is Professor and Chair, Department of African American Studies at Temple University. Considered by his peers to be one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars, Asante has published 77 books, among the most recent are The Dramatic Genius of Charles Fuller,African American Traditions, Facing South to Africa, The History of Africa 2nd Edition, As I Run Toward Africa, The African American People, Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait, An Afrocentric Manifesto, Encyclopedia of African Religion, co-edited with Ama Mazama, Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait, Handbook of Black Studies, co-edited with Maulana Karenga, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, co-edited with Ama Mazama, Race, Rhetoric, and Identity: The Architecton of Soul, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation, Ancient Egyptian Philosophers, Scattered to the Wind, and 100 Greatest African Americans. Asante’s high school text, African American History: Journey of Liberation, 2nd Edition, is used in more than 400 schools throughout North America.

Asante has been recognized as one of the ten most widely cited African Americans. He is honored as a HistoryMaker with an archival interview in the US Library of Congress. In the 1990s, Black Issues in Higher Education recognized him as one of the most influential leaders in the decade. Molefi Kete Asante graduated from Oklahoma Christian College in 1964. He completed his M.A. at Pepperdine University in 1965. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA at the age of 26 in 1968 and was appointed a full professor at the age of 30 at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1969 he was the co-founder with Robert Singleton of the Journal of Black Studies. Asante directed UCLA’s Center for Afro American Studies from 1969 to 1973. He chaired the Communication Department at SUNY-Buffalo from 1973-1980. He worked in Zimbabwe as a trainer of journalists from 1980 to 1982. In the Fall of 1984 Dr. Asante became chair of the African American Studies Program at Temple University where he created the first Ph.D. Program in African American Studies in 1987. He has directed more than 140 Ph.D. dissertations. He has written more than 550 articles and essays for journals, books and magazines and is the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity.

Asante was born in Valdosta, Ga., one of sixteen children. He is a poet, dramatist, and a painter. His work on African culture and philosophy and African American education has been cited by journals such as the Matices, Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Communication, American Scholar, Daedalus, Western Journal of Black Studies, and Africaological Perspectives. The Utne Reader called him one of the “100 Leading Thinkers” in America. In 2001, Transition Magazine reported “Asante may be the most important professor in Black America.” He has appeared on Nightline, Nighttalk, BET, Macnell Lehrer News Hour, Today Show, the Tony Brown Show, Night Watch, Like It Is and 60 Minutes and more than one hundred local and international television shows. He has appeared in several movies including 500 Years Later, The Faces of Evil, and The Black Candle. In 2002 he received the distinguished Douglas Ehninger Award for Rhetorical Scholarship from the National Communication Association. The African Union cited him as one of the twelve top scholars of African descent when it invited him to give one of the keynote addresses at the Conference of Intellectuals of Africa and the Diaspora in Dakar in 2004. He was inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University in 2004. In April 2014 he was invited to give a speech at the UN’s General Assembly on Peace in Africa. In 2014 he was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Japan Black Studies Association’s 60th conference in Kyoto, Japan. Dr. Asante holds more than 100 awards for scholarship and teaching including the Fulbright, honorary doctorates from three universities, and is a guest professor at Zhejiang University and Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa.


In 1995 he was made a traditional king, Nana Okru Asante Peasah, Kyidomhene of Tafo, Akyem, Ghana. In 2012 he was given the title of Wanadoo of Gao in the court of the Amiru Hassimi Maiga of Songhoy. Dr. Asante has been or is presently a consultant for a dozen school districts. He was the Chair of the United States Commission for FESMAN III for three years. Asante was elected in September, 2009, by the Council of African Intellectuals as the Chair for the Diaspora Intellectuals in support of the United States of Africa. Dr. Molefi Asante believes it is not enough to know; one must act to humanize the world.
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SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH CHARLES & INEZ BARRON AT CEMOTAP

“WE FOUGHT BACK”
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2015
3:00 PM 
CEMOTAP CENTER 
135-05 ROCKAWAY BOULEVARD
SOUTH OZONE PARK, QUEENS, NY 11420


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3.
Jazz at Sistas' Place


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Greetings!

Afrocentricity International
cordially invites you to a discussion of 

Dr. Frances Cress Welsing’s book, 
The Isis Papers. The Keys to the Colors.
We will focus on Chapter 6
“The Politics Behind Black Male Passivity, Effeminization, Bisexuality and Homosexuality”
.
 Please come and join on

Thursday, November 19, 2015, 6-7:30 pm
for a lively discussion about the faltering of black masculinity and manhood under white supremacy.


Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies
5535 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19144


Unity is our Aim, Victory is our Destiny!
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http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/v/ve.gif
Brothers and Sisters
     We invite you to  a meeting on Monday, November 23rd at 7 pm at Sistas' Place to discuss the present situation in Venezuela. Many people don't know or have forgotten the subsidized oil deliveries which the Venezuelan government has supplied to poor communities of color around the U.S. to ensure that they have adequate heat during the winter. 
     The discussion will examine the current situation in the context of the UN International Decade for People of African Descent [IDPAD]. We will have the honor of a visit by a distinguished Afro-Venezuelan who will give us an update on the programs which Venezuela is implementing for the IDPAD.
      Please get back to confirm your attendance at this important meeting.

Yours in Pan-African Unity,

Roger Wareham
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THE PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS
P.O. BOX 22505
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07101
CONTACT: LAWRENCE HAMM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE RALLY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015
CONDEMNING NON-INDICTMENT OF OFFICERS IN RADAZZ HEARNS SHOOTING
SUPPORTING FILMMAKER QUENTIN TARANTINO’S STAND AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY!

          On Thursday, November 12, 2015, the People's Organization for Progress (POP) will host an emergency press conference and rally to condemn a State grand jury’s decision to not indict the officers involved in the shooting of Trenton teen, Radazz Hearns.
          The press conference will take place at the Peter Rodino Federal Building, 970 Broad Street, Newark, N.J. at 5:00 P.M.
          The press conference and rally will also support filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s recent outspoken condemnation of police brutality.  
          The decision to not indict the officers came down on Monday, November 9, 2015.

           Hearns, 14, was shot in the back and in the legs several times on August 7th in Trenton. He miraculously survived the shooting. He still faces questionable charges of weapons possession.
          “We have four active police shooting cases right here in New Jersey, and we still cannot get an indictment of police officers using excessive here in this state,” said an upset Lawrence Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress.
          In addition to the Hearns case, POP has also rallied for justice for the families of Abdul Kamal, Kashad Ashford and Jerame Reid, the other police shootings victims Hamm was referring to.
          POP has called for a federal investigation in each of those cases.
          Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has come under fire from police unions for his recent condemnation of police brutality. He has said his criticism of several high profile police brutality cases are not meant to be taken as a general condemnation of the police, but of those officers involved in those cases and in those involved in that kind of behavior. Police unions have called for a boycott of his films for his criticisms.
          “There was a time when artists like Tarantino were an active part of the Civil Rights Movement, and when they come forward like Tarantino has just recently, the movement for justice ought to support them as a matter of principle, and we will proudly do so,” Hamm said supportively.

          On January 15th, POP is also calling for an International Day of Action in observation of Martin Luther King’s birth anniversary, with a special focus on police brutality, among other issues.
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 Subject: 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION DR. ADELAIDE SANFORD
To: Goat BrownJr <goatbrownjr@gmail.com>

​

 90th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION  MODEL EDUCATOR AND COMMUNITY SERVANT, ADELAIDE L. SANFORD
ALL CONTRIBUTIONS GO TO  2 PROJECTS DR. SANFORD
HAS DESIGNATED  1. JOHN HENRIK CLARKE HOUSE   IN NY
                                   2. ELDERS HOUSE IN SELMA ALABAMA

 The credit card invitation can be found at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-adelaide-l-hines-sanfords-90th-birthday-celebration-tickets-18993837078
Skip Main Navigation

Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday Celebration!

The Adelaide L. Sanford Institute, The Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry (BEPAA) and The Elders' House 

Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST)

Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday...                     

Ticket Information

Ticket TypeSales EndPriceFeeQuantity
General AdmissionNov 2, 2015$125.00$0.00
Share Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday Celebration!
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Event Details

Please join us as we celebrate our beloved educator, Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford, Vice Chancellor Emerita on the occasion of her 90th birthday!  Dr. Sanford earned degrees from Brooklyn College, Wellesley College, and Fordham University.  In addition, she has also received four honorary doctoral degrees.  Dr. Sanford became principal, at the inner city school, Crispus Attucks in Brooklyn, NY.  It was there that she earned an outstanding reputation for promoting cultural and educational excellence in student achievement. In 1986, Sanford won unanimous election to the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.  As Chairperson of the Regents' Committee on Low Performing Schools, Dr. Sanford played an instrumental role in shaping new educational policies that sought to close the gap of student performance among schools.  She was elected to the position of Vice Chancellor in 2001 and re-elected in 2004.  Many honors and awards have been bestowed upon Dr. Sanford for her work.  She received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's humanitarian award, and distinguished alumna awards from Wellesley College and Brooklyn College.  Her legacy continues to flourish nationally and internationally through the work of The Dr. John Henrik Clarke House, Elders’ House “The Elders’ Gift to the Children” and The Adelaide Sanford Institute.
We look forward to seeing you in November.  

When & Where

MIST Harlem
46 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10026

Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST)


   Add to my calendar

Organizer

The Adelaide L. Sanford Institute, The Board for the Education of People of African Ancestry (BEPAA) and The Elders' House 

  Contact the Organizer
Dr. Adelaide L. Hines Sanford's 90th Birthday Celebration! New York, NY Events Party Charity & Causes
 TO ORDER BY PAYPAL GO TO LINK BELOW
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-adelaide-l-sanfords-90th-birthday-celebration-tickets-18658291452
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8

The Sacred Narrative of Nat Turner:
Engaging the Great Work of Freedom
 
Dr. Maulana Karenga
Part 1.
When we remember and recount the sacred narrative of Nat Turner, we must remember also the Kawaida fundamental teaching that our oppressor cannot be our teacher, especially about our heroes and heroines, about what is good or evil or about what counts as real, relevant or righteous. We must remember too Min. Malcolm X's teaching that the oppressor thru his immoral and amoral mind and his fantasy, fiction and falsehood generating media can and routinely does "turn the victim into the criminal and the criminal into the victim". And we must remember also the Hon. Marcus Garvey's teaching that "Our history is too important to leave in alien hands", especially the hands and history books of our oppressor. And finally, we must remember Harriet Tubman with freedom on her mind and weapon in her hand, courageously breaking her chains and calling on her enslaved people to rise up in rebellion and "go free or die".
Only in this context of a history of righteous and relentless struggle by our people, awareness of the outright erasure, falsification and devious denial of our history by our oppressor and the fictitious inflation and shameless fabrication of his own can we know and recount the sacred narrative of Nat Turner, Fire Prophet and freedom fighter. And only then can we understand, appreciate and recount the sacred narrative of our people as a whole in their awesome world-shaping and self-making march and struggle thru human history.
Nat Turner judges enslavement as a radical evil in the world. Even before the words and concepts of genocide and the Holocaust of enslavement are developed, he reasons that enslavement is a morally monstrous system of human death, destruction, deformation and diminishment. And he is determined to sacrifice his life to eradicate and end it. His use of the category and image of the serpent, which in biblical language and imagery represents the devil, reaffirms his conception of enslavement as a radical evil in the world.

 Enslavement is the will and work of the devil and evil, and he believes God wants and wills freedom in the world, freedom from enslavement and oppression.
Like Harriet Tubman later, he will not let his oppressor be his teacher or tutor, his priest or his preacher. He will dare to understand and commune with God in his own way. He will see his own visions, hear the divine voice with his own ears and heart, and he will pray his own prayers of liberation and practice acts of audacious self-determination. Indeed, Tubman informs us that she would not let the enslaver teach her about God or teach her how to pray. Instead, she said "I prayed to God to make me strong and able to fight and that's what I have prayed for ever since". Thus, Nat Turner tells us the Divine speaks to him calling him to a "great work". The recorder does not let him speak the word, but it's the great work of freedom or liberty as it was often called in those times. Like the Old Testament prophets and the biblical scriptures, he fashions the voices and visions into a freedom call and commitment, and he talks of fire and brimstone, freedom for the captive and oppressed, and the redemptive shedding of blood.

 To call freedom, liberty or liberation a great and divinely inspired and assigned work invests it with a spiritual and moral authority and urgency that makes him and his fellow freedom fighters fearless and willing to sacrifice their lives to this sacred cause.
Nat Turner sketches in outline some conceptual building blocks for a liberation theology, as it would develop throughout early history and emerge in full form in the 60's. By theology I mean, as the dean of Black theology James Cone says, "God talk", that is to say in Kawaida, talk about the will, wants and ways of God as we are able to discern them. And by liberation theology, I mean a theology that roots liberation in the will, wants and ways of God. In other words, we are talking about a theology that focuses on freedom as a divinely endowed and sanctioned condition and capacity for human beings. Thus, in Nat Turner's account of his actions to free the enslaved Africans, he tells us that his mission of liberation is divinely assigned and he parallels Jesus' sacrifice for the redemption of humankind with his divine assignment to redeem, i.e., liberate, his people. He says, "On the 12th day of May, 1828, I heard a loud voice in the heavens and the spirit instantly appeared to me and said the serpent was loose and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the serpent for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first".
Note that he calls the White enslaver the serpent, i.e., the devil, indicating he represents and embodies radical evil in the world. Note too that he conceives of his project as a struggle through which the first is made last and the last is made first. This is rooted in biblical teachings concerning the new world to come, but it also finds reaffirmation in Frantz Fanon's assertion that in decolonization or true liberation "there is therefore the need of a complete calling into question of the colonial situation. If we wish to describe it precisely, we might find it in the well-known words: "the last shall be first and the first last". It is, in a word, putting the conditions and practice of freedom by the colonized and enslaved people first, their interests first and defeating and disempowering the oppressor, ending his ability to dominate, deprive and degrade.
Captured and put on trial, Nat Turner pleads not guilty and reaffirms that he feels, believes and reasons he has done nothing wrong in fighting for the freedom of his people. Again, he calls the fight for freedom, a great work and offers his life, as the ultimate sacrifice, for it. And yet in this so-called "confession", called this by his pretended lawyer, there is, again, no mention of freedom by Nat, and no discussion of the sin, savagery and radical evil of the Holocaust of enslavement. Instead, there is only a tale of killings without cause or context. But as we will see, Nat Turner is a reluctant soldier even in his unbreakable will to achieve freedom for our people.
In his so-called confession, after being convicted, there is only one time the word "freedom" is mentioned. It is when a man named Will joins the struggle, and Nat reports that he "asked Will how came he there". And "he answered his life was worth no more than others and his liberty was as dear to him". Then Nat says he asked Will, "If he thought to obtain it?" and "he said he would or lose his life" trying. Now, Will uses the word liberty for freedom, as was done in those days. For example, in a similar defiance of death and commitment to freedom, Harriet Tubman says she would "go free or die". And she says, "I reasoned that out in my mind; there was two things I had a right to: liberty or death". "If I couldn't have one I'd have the other." And so reasoned Nat Turner and all our freedom fighters and martyrs for liberation before and after him.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Introduction to Black Studies, 4th Edition, www.MaulanaKarenga.org.
11-02-15


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7.13.2010

A Great Read: Sister Betty Dopson's SHARED SECRETS OF ELDER SISTERS WHO PROVE THAT AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Sister Betty Dopson has written her first book. Or maybe I should say “our” first book, because she wrote it for us -- we Black women, and it’s appropriately entitled: SHARED SECRETS OF ELDER SISTERS WHO PROVE THAT AGE IS JUST A NUMBER.

Synchronicity is everything. I distinctly remember asking Sister Betty, at the recently held African Voices Awards Ceremony in June, what her beauty secrets were. Though she had just turned 76, she looks as though she was in her mid-40’s. She just smiled, but didn’t say a word about this book. So when I got the call from her to cover her book opening at Sista’s Place in Brooklyn, on July 10th, I thought, “how did she write that book so fast?”

Most people think of beauty in frivolous terms. But it’s much more than that. It’s the standard by which a whole race of people (us and other non-whites) have been weighed in the balance and found wanting by most mainstream (WASP) criteria.

But Sister Betty re-establishes the fact that beauty is not only more than skin deep, it goes to the very core of who we are. It includes Betty’s personal advice to Eclectically Black women of all ages and origins -- African, African American, Caribbean.

But the most significant feature is that she’s coupled it with interviews and profiles of Black women between the ages of 76 and 101 years of age, who are Black, proud, and beautiful. Is the list exhaustive? No. We each know someone, whether in our family or in our community who have defied the so-called accepted concepts about age and beauty, and maintained their youth, dignity, grace.

Among the women she included in the book are Dr. Adelaide Sanford, educator, and former New York State Regent, who is 84 years old; Agnes “Brooksy” Brooks, age 93; educator and cultural activist Nana Camille Yarborough, ?? Years old; actress Cecily Tyson, 76 years; the late Lena Horne, who lived to age 94; vocalist extraordinaire Aretha Franklin, ?? Years; and sister Lina Moore age 101; Sylvia Stokes, age 76; Mae Lewis, age 89.

In this book is the wisdom of ages being shared by a woman who walks her talk. Sister Betty Dopson is a natural beauty, who has maintained her beauty and her figure, while at the same time heading a proactive organization CEMOTAP, (Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive To African People) to protect us from invective media hype and onslaught of negativity that has been leveled at Black people from the day we were stolen from Africa and dragged kicking and screaming to these hostile shores.

Sister Betty is more than well aware of the distortions and lies that have been promulgated about Black women in the mainstream media; the false advertisements; the never ending barrage of crapola that passes for commercials that cause us to eat the wrong foods, chose cosmetics over natural beauty, and behavior patterns that don’t serve our highest and best good.

Sister Betty’s wisdom of ages is interlaced throughout each and every chapter, packed with advice for us no what our age, no matter where we find ourselves on the chronology of life. In fact, one of the first things she advises is that we stop lying about our age, and be proud of our ages regardless of what others may think.

And it truly is about time a candid, conversational, down to earth examination of what it is that we can do to mature, rather than just age, or get older. We’ve been mis-educated from a Eurocentric standpoint, which is counterintuitive to who we are genetically, culturally, and racially. Instead of celebrating our beauty and qualities, the mainstream has devoted most of its time to either denigrating us, or stealing our knowledge and appropriating it as though the concepts started with them.

This book is more a good study than it is just a great read -- and it is indeed a great read. Getting a peek into the lives of such great women, how they managed to stay so eternally beautiful -- look at Dr. Sanford, who dresses so beautifully, with those wonderful high cheekbones, and not a wrinkle on her face; or Viola Plummer, who is definitely an Ebony queen (no false eyelashes, no bleached blonde hair, no wigs here!) She also pays homage to First Lady Michelle Obama, who, she asserts, broke the mold for standards of Black femininity.

Issues such as whether or not going “blonde” really enhances who we are as Black women; concerns about dietary supplements, certain types of cosmetics, as well things that affect your mental, physical and spiritual health, are also included.

This book could not have come at a better time, with so many of our young women going down a path that is both hostile and negative; so full of hatred for their own people that their mannerisms toward their elders, and each other, borders on the confrontational.

In 1966 Stokely Carmichael enunciated the famous phrase, “Black is Beautiful!” Since then there has been a not-so-silent revolution going on among Black people; and SHARED SECRETS OF ELDER SISTERS is the culmination of at least 40 years of a struggle for the hearts and minds of Black people to love themselves, and enhance what it is that we have so naturally, rather than abandoning it for other standards.

Other highlights include: Sharp Tongue and Attitude: Nothing Ages You Faster Than A Wicked Tongue; Melanin Cannot be Manufactured; Sisters Suffer More Intense Public Degradation; We Live in a Racist World; Aging is Natural and It Does Bring About Physical Changes; Don’t Hide Behind Excuses; Face and Conquer Your Fears; Search Your Soul and Find Out Who You Are.

Sister Betty extols our skin tones, full lips, wide baby-carrying hips, thick, dark hair, almond shaped eyes -- all attributes of our African beauty heritage, which became popular during the 60’s. It was during this period of Black power that we began to really focus on things African, and our residual African nature; wear clothes that more accentuated our figures, hair styles than enhanced our faces, walk more proudly, and wear jewelry that was more organic and reflective of our natural origins. We began learning the languages, dances, music, and customs of our African ancestors. We began tracing our African roots and routes.

In many instances, while we were becoming more in tuned with our African heritage, many of our African sisters (and brothers) were trying to look more European. So we had Black women from Africa wearing wigs, while we African Americans were going natural or wearing corn rows (they are not “French Braids“, by the way - the French had nothing to do with that African hair style); or extensions. Interesting contrast, what? SHARED SECRETS will be as useful for them as it is for African Americans born and raised in the Diaspora.

In fact SHARED SECRETS picks up the continuity of where most of us were before we were so rudely interrupted by the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and this current new millennium, with bombardments of the direct antithesis of all that brought us together as a people. So intense has been the brainwashing, CEMOTAP’s focus on combating it has been a 24/7 responsibility.

SHARED SECRETS OF ELDER SISTERS should be a primer for women (and men) of all ages; but would be an excellent entre for pre-teens (as well as their own mothers, who are often the victims of media hype themselves). But it is an essential for those of us who are most assuredly planning to be here at least until age 100, and who may have already crossed the line of demarcation.

While we are all individuals, with our own personal issues and attributes, I think SHARED SECRETS has something for each and every one of us. And to make it even more action oriented, Sister Betty has included a helpful questionnaire to assist you in determining where you are (or need to be) on the continuum of ageless beauty. Her “Successful Sister Scale” can help the reader rate herself in how serious she is about living life to the fullest at least for a century.

Additionally, her “Age Busting Beauty Tips”, which I think should be framed and hung next to the mirror either in your bedroom or your bathroom (or both), are a must have.

I, for one, will be rolling around with this book for the next few weeks, adding to the repertoire of wisdom I’ve already gleaned from my beautiful mom, Ruby Love Dulan who, at 87, is still energetic, beautiful and sharp; my aunt Mary, her older sister, who at 88 drives a beautiful gold Cadillac Brougham and is living and thriving in Los Angeles. As a kid my maternal Grandmom Cornelia Gaines (a Cherokee beauty) and my paternal Grandmom Zady Dulan (Crow and Black), both beautiful women, taught me about cornstarch, baking soda, and herbs. In truth, we are surrounded by so many living, breathing examples of the old saying, “good Black don’t crack.”

Sister Betty states: “In order for a Sister to live a long, healthy, successful and purposeful life, she must maintain a healthy mental state, good personal health, a sense of humor, a cheerful personality, maintain good relationships with family and friends, enjoy sex, love a bunch of people and believe that she will live to reach the age of 100. “

While the media marvels on the likes of several white actresses who have made it to the age of 60, other timeless beauties, such as Sylvia Woods (83), owner and founder of Sylvia‘s Queen of Soul Food Restaurant, and former City Council rep, Una Clarke (??), are putting us (and them) to shame. While they may not have been included in the book, they definitely are well respected (loved), alive, well, active, involved and gorgeous. I often ask them the same question I posed to sister Betty Dopson and Adelaide Sanford: “What are your beauty secrets? How do you manage to maintain your youth; where did you get that fabulous outfit? I just love that jewelry! Where’d you get those shoes!! I love that hat!”

Now, with Sister Betty Dopson’s book, SHARED SECRETS OF ELDER SISTERS WHO PROVE THAT AGE IS JUST A NUMBER I finally have an answer to those questions and so much more.

Check it out for yourselves. Look for Sister Betty Dopson this weekend, July 17 & 18, 2010, at the Harlem Book Fair, where she will be reading excerpts from her book and signing autographs.

Also check for other Black writers who will be participating in this wonderful annual event that showcases Black authors. It takes place on 135ths Street, from Malcolm X Blvd. to Fredrick Douglass.

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
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