GDW EVENT ALERT ASCAC Presents Their Mid-Atlantic Region Conference: The African Worldview In These Times Dec. 11-13

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

 

 

Well, we are winding down 2020 and are fast approaching 2021, and the end of an era of errors and egregious acts of aggression and suppression.  Not to mention the obvious surviving a plandemic that threatened to wipe us out physically, emotionally, socially, financially.  For those of us who are still standing, surviving, and in your right mind, you are to be commended.  For those who did not make it, my condolences. 

One hallmark of being Black in America is that we are resilient and intrepid - and that is definitely true of ASCAC, which is hosting their annual conference this week.  Like everyone else, they have adapted to the situation of the times and are going virtual in order to provide the maximum access to the brilliant presenters who will be covering the issues that must be addressed.

I spoke with Baba Ron McCoy, who is always enthusiastic and focused - and this promises to be three days of enlightenment, focus, clarity, and action, commencing Friday evening, December 11, and culminating Sunday afternoon December 13 with none other than the dynamic duo of Professors Len and Rosalind Jeffries - One of my favorite married partners!  

What better time to hold this event than at the threshold of a new year - with much more to look forward to as we begin to consolidate our considerable intelligence and creativity.  So mark your calendars, contact your friends, share the link and join us on Friday for ASCAC's Mid-Antlantic Virtual Conference.  - GDW

Presented by the Mid-Atlantic Region of ASCAC

Historical Analysis

From the day whites invaded Africa and began the human trafficking trade, they began creating propaganda to justify the enslavement, torture, experimentation, rape, and murder of Africans/Blacks.  When Blacks escaped the control of their white enslavers, whites commissioned whites to find these self-liberated Blacks and bring them back.  These groups of vigilantes evolved into our modern-day police force.  The racist ideologies from institutionalized racism perfected during the four hundred years of slavery ensured the continuation of mental, physical, economic, and legal abuse. Since the end of legal slavery, whites from all walks of life police, judges, educators, lawyers, people from all of the trades (electricians, plumbers, etc.), Ku Klux Klan members (and other hate groups), have created laws that have allowed whites to continue acts of violence against Blacks of all ages.  Acts of violence have included preventing Blacks from employment with fair pay, charging Blacks higher interest rates for cars, credit cards and homes (if you could get a mortgage because racist lenders frequently denied home mortgages).  

One of the most horrific periods of time since slavery was the Red Summer (1917-1923) when white supremacist terrorism and massacres of Black men, women, children, and babies took place in more than three dozen cities across the U.S. The massacre of 3,000 people of African descent in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921 is one of many examples of the atrocities that occurred during the Red Summer. Acts of terrorism by whites against Blacks continued with the sanction of the legal system.  In 1985, Philadelphia officials collaborated with the police to murder men, women and children by dropping a bomb on members of the MOVE Organization.  The second time a bomb was dropped in the United States by racist whites murdering defenseless Blacks.  The Emancipation Proclamation did not give us freedom only the illusion of freedom.  The police have been given the legal authority to murder Blacks since the days of slavery and the list continues to grow:

                  

Stephan Clark-St. Louis, Missouri

                    Terence Crutcher- Tulsa, Oklahoma

                    Philando Castile - Falcon Heights, Minnesota 

                    Alton Sterling-Baton Rouge, Louisiana

                    Tony Robinson (Mentally ill ) 

                    Ramain Brisbon- Phoenix, Arizona

                    Tamir Rice- Cleveland, Ohio

                    Michael Brown Jr.- Ferguson, Missouri 

        Jayvis Benjamin – Atlanta, Georgia

                   Eric Garner-New York City   

                    Dontre Hamilton- Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

                    John Crawford 111- Dayton, Ohio

                    Ezell Ford- Florence, California

                    Donte Parker- Victorville, California

                    Tanisha Anderson- (Mentally ill)-Cleveland, Ohio

                    Jerame Reid- Bridgeton, New Jersey

                   Walter Scott- North Charleston, South Carolina 

                   Freddy Gray -Baltimore, Maryland

                    Elijah McClain- Aurora, Colorado

                   George Floyd-Minneapolis, Minnesota 

                   Breonna Taylor-Louisville, Kentucky

                   David McAtee- Louisville, Kentucky

    

These are but a few of the police murders!

Mapping Police Violence’s 2017 Police Violence Report showed that 1% of police were charged with a crime in over 1,000 police killings that year. Although video surveillance was provided in 70% of those cases, and most of that evidence came from police body cameras, the officers involved were not charged.

The protests against police violence in many cities over the past weeks were sparked by the killing of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by a police officer of the Minneapolis Police Department. Protests have continued because they are not just about that single killing but the rampant police brutality across America that targets Black people and has little to no consequences for the white murderers.

  

The African World View in These Times

A shift is happening in the world. The accumulated resistance of colonized people around the world has been reignited with the phrase “Black Lives Matter!” which is itself, a by-product of phrases like “Africa for the Africans” or “Black Power” or “Uhuru Sasa” meaning Freedom Now! Movements shaped and cultivated by hundreds of years' worth of strategizing, resisting, and rebelling. It is no coincidence that the descendants of the first human beings, who emerged in Africa, are at the forefront of human rights initiatives that seek to establish balance and order throughout the planet. This moment of protest against the brutal and unlawful killing of Black people, is the boiling point for those who either felt unheard or who were disconnected from the voices of resistance they have inherited. The roles we each play and how we each contribute may vary but our focus remains the same. We recognize that our roles may vary but our commitment remains the same: from frontline warriors, to cultivators of the land, to teachers and students, to parents and builders of the nation. 

The Association for the Study of Classical Afrikan Civilizations (ASCAC)  provides a body of knowledge that continuously contributes to the rescue,  reconstruction, and restoration of African history and culture. Our purpose is to promote the study of African civilizations for the development of an African world view. Our strategy is to use our accumulated knowledge for the liberation of African people wherever they may be living. We recognize that a crucial step in liberating ourselves is building African centered study groups and strengthening existing institutions. ASCAC was created by great African thinkers who recognized miseducation at the hands of their oppressors was in fact, intellectual warfare. The study of classical African civilizations has always been about the restoration of

the confidence of our people, and the assertion of African history as intrinsic to any discourse on

global history and human existence. Amplifying the voices of the Ancestors who built advanced civilizations thousands of years before the transatlantic slave trade and who identified the ways of being in the world that are the most sustainable, spiritual and humane. 

ASCAC Recommends the following anti-racist actions+:

•  Police

• Defund the police and support the abolition of prisons, which are industrial complexes perpetuating modern-day slavery

• Demilitarize the police

• Redistribute tax dollars taken from the police budget to public hospitals and clinics, the public-school system, affordable housing, etc.

• Establish community security and watch organizations that support our well-being

• No ex par te with individual citizens. Black advocates must be present to make sure police follow policies and procedures on all stops and activities

• Hold police accountable for their actions by charging and prosecuting them for violating the rights of Blacks

• Assess police candidates prior to hire to ensure anti-racist values and behaviors

• Assess current police and remove racist police from duty/employment

• Document the demographics of all people stopped by the police and maintain data on each police officer regarding each encounter with civilians

Hire Black police and promote Black police to leadership positions

• History & Analysis of the Police

• Examine the historical connection between catchers of enslaved Blacks, bounty hunters, and the police.

• Examine and eliminate racist policies in police departments

• Community-based Educational Initiatives 

• Study

• Study our family members of the recent and distant past, along with our collective Ancestors, to learn more about who we are

• Explore the ways that our Ancestors designed the world and established humane governments/societies

• Rites of Passage 

• Teach young people the truth about world histories from ancient times to the present

• Use the examples of existing models such as Ankobea (D.C.) to establish consistent support systems for children of African descent.

• Establish rites of passage programs in every city for Blacks from birth to Elderhood 

• Political, Educational & Legal Systems

• Study and understand local, state and national government systems

• Prepare young Blacks to win local, state and federal positions

• Provide necessary training in Black high schools, colleges and universities so that graduates may transition into leadership positions in the police force, military and the legal system (judges, magistrates and district attorneys)

• Sovereignty

• Exercise the power to govern our own lives

• Grow our own food (create food-coops), social, cultural, political sovereignty 

• Health & Wellness

• Ensure that African people have adequate health care and the resources to address the impact of COVID 19 by mandating resources based on the numbers of Blacks infected

• Identify Black health care workers to provide culturally responsive care 

• Food Security

• Create community gardens & farmer’s markets to strengthen our connection to the African foodways we have inherited. 

• Establish food banks and co-ops to support the basic needs within our neighborhoods 

• Create a coalition of African-centered organizations and institutions

• Collaborate across and between our organizations

• Economics

• Reparations as outlined by N’COBRA

We recognize that the current events are a result of an inherited resistance that began over 500 years ago when human beings born in Africa were purchased for money, and trafficked throughout the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and North American colonies. We know that this moment is the current aspect of many moments before it--known and unknown--and a reflection of the names and faces of those who came before us--known and unknown. We continue to be vigilant in our commitment to the liberation of African people.

SCHEDULE AND AGENDA:

ASCAC

Mid-Atlantic Region

Conference Schedule

Theme: The African Worldview In These Times

Friday, December 11, 2020

6:00 – 9:00 P.M.

    6:00 – 6:30 Drumming

6:30 – 6:50 Libations and Welcome

7:00 – 7:30 Position Paper

7:45 – 8:10 Evening Plenary I

Speaker: Akil Parker, ASCAC Scholar

 

    8:10 – 8:30 Evening Plenary II – Our Health

Speaker: Dr. Frederick W. Burton 

Saturday, December 12, 2020

9:00 – 9:15 A.M.

Drumming, Libations Welcome

9:20 – 9:45

Ubuntu Collaborative Student Alliance Project

Remarks: Mama Sharron Whitney, Dr. Ayesha Imani and Dr. Kelli Sparrow Mickens

Cultural Edutainment: Imhotep/Sankofa Charter School Scholars

10:00 – 11:15

Morning Plenary

Speaker: Dr. Mario Beatty

11:30 – 12:45

Mid-Morning Plenary

Panel Presenters: Kehinde Graham, Tarik Richardson and Stephanie Tisdale

12:45 – 2:00 P.M.   LUNCH 

2:00 – 3:15

Afternoon Plenary

Speaker: Dr. Ray Winbush

3:30 – 4:00

ASCAC Mid-Atlantic Region Rising Authors Corner:

    Mwaalkebu-Ian Akil
    Dr. Josh Myers

4:00 – 5:15

Mid-Afternoon Plenary

Panel Presenters: Eric Keith Grimes (Brother Shomari), Tahiya McCoy Nyahuma, Ph.D. and

    Michael Coard, Esquire

5:30 – 6:45

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Greg K. Carr

 

Sunday, December 13, 2020

2:00 – 3:00 P.M.

Plenary I

Speaker: Dr. Rosalind Jeffries

3:15 – 4:15

Plenary II

Speaker: Dr. Leonard Jeffries

NOW THAT YOU KNOW

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

 

Stay Blessed &

ECLECTICALLY BLACK  

 

Gloria DULAN-Wilson

 

Guest Post: Brooklyn Boro President Eric Adams on Police Reform and Policing From Within

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

TODAY IS PRIMARY DAY IN NEW YORK - 

MAKE SURE YOU VOTE - IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY COMPLETED EARLY VOTING OR VOTE BY MAIL 

I have had the honor of knowing Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams since the 80s, when he and a stalwart group of fellow Black policemen came together to stand against racist treatment by white police of Black and Latin New Yorkers, as well as racism in the ranks.   I've attended many meetings which he either spearheaded or attended, along with other Black law enforcement officers strategizing and taking action against corrupt police - often himself becoming the target.  
Since the atrocity that has occurred with the heinous murder of George Floyd, as well as other more egregious acts of inhumanity, the cries for defunding the police have become more and more widespread.  Having devoted his life and career to police reform, he is working with the community and leaders to ensure that policing throughout Brooklyn is resonant to the ending of abuse while simultaneously providing for the ongoing safety of the community.   He advocates changing from within - 
 

Borough President Eric Adams took a knee with 88th Precinct police officers on June 1 in solidarity with people protesting over the murder of George Floyd.

Share Post:

Op-ed: After George Floyd, we must work to change policing from within - By Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President (Brooklyn Paper)

Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York City

The great Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball, once commented that “Life is not a spectator sport.” You could remain on the sidelines or in the stands, but in order to be an agent for change, you had to be on the field. 
During his career, Robinson endured years of abuse and humiliation due to the color of his skin. He was forced to sleep in separate hotels from his teammates due to Jim Crow laws. Fans and fellow players alike hurled racist invectives at him when he was at bat. At one point, he sustained a major injury while playing first base when an opposing player gave him a seven-inch gash from his shoe spikes on Robinson’s leg. Yet he persevered, and today is credited with paving the way for integration in Major League Baseball.
Despite the progress seen in Robinson’s lifetime, the specter of racism that was so prevalent in his day still haunts many of our institutions in 2020.
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis ​has unleashed a justified wave of anger throughout the country, and reflects the widespread feeling among Black Americans that this country has had its knee on our necks for too long. Righteous protests have sprung up demanding a  ​comprehensive re-thinking of how we police in America. But the actions of Officer Derek Chauvin and the other officers involved in George Floyd’s murder, along with the excessive use of force used against protesters in the days since, have fed a pernicious view that will ultimately impede positive reform: the idea that police are fundamentally racist, and any person of color who joins is a traitor to their own race.
I know this sentiment well. When I was a 15-year-old living in South Jamaica, Queens, my brother and I were arrested on criminal trespassing charges. Shortly after, we were picked up from school by officers and brought to the 103rd Precinct. Out of the blue, one of the officers — both of them were white — asked us if we felt like a beatdown. They then took us to a room downstairs and kicked us in the groin repeatedly. It was only after a Black officer poked his head in the room and said “that’s enough” that the beating finally stopped. 
For​ a week after, I urinated blood every day. I promised myself repeatedly that if it continued, I’d tell my mother what had happened. Every blare of a siren brought back traumatic memories of the experience, and the glee the officers took in emasculating my brother and me. 
A few years later, I was approached by a group of Black leaders in the community with a proposition that sounded crazy to me at the time, as it probably would to many people of color today: Join the NYPD. Change the department from within.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. So I joined with a clear mission in mind, and that mission sustained me throughout my 22 years on the force. I committed myself to rectifying the systemic issues the department was facing internally, including the lack of diversity in the upper ranks, and externally, including the racially disparate ways policies like stop and frisk were being enforced. 
At times, my task felt like ​Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill. The entrenched hierarchy within police departments is often resistant to change — and when it comes, it comes slowly.​ On top of internal resistance, I often faced skepticism and even outright hostility from some in the African-American community, who despite my advocacy saw me as the enemy. But I retired from the NYPD at the rank of captain knowing that I and my fellow reformers had made a positive difference, drawing attention to ​issues like the racially disparate enforcement of stop-and-frisk, and opening the door to fellow change-makers. 
Take Edwin Raymond. A Lieutenant in the NYPD, Raymond joined a group of 11 minority colleagues in 2016 to expose a policy of targeting minorities in a transit patrol unit. He and his fellow plaintiffs allege they were explicitly told to go after Black and Latino people for low-level crimes such as jumping turnstiles, and avoid “soft” targets such as Whites and Asians. When they objected to this clearly unjust policy, they claimed they faced retaliation. They are now suing the department for discrimination, and the issue of quota-based policing​ has been forced ​into public view. 
People like Lieutenant Raymond and his colleagues are carrying the torch for reform. The protesters on the streets now are forcing a long-overdue conversation about racism in policing. But in order to effect meaningful change, we have to dispel this damaging idea that​ Lieutenant Raymond and others like him are Uncle Toms.  Change comes from within.
Case in point: in 1947, Jackie Robinson debuted as first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The following year, the Negro National League — a symbol of baseball’s segregation — disbanded. 
Eric Adams is borough president of Brooklyn. He served 22 years in the New York City Police Department (NYPD), retiring at the rank of captain, as well as represented District 20 in the New York State Senate from 2006 until his election as borough president in 2013.

 From the office of the Borough President of Brooklyn

New York is Now in Phase 2 of Post Corona

Today starts Phase 2.
Find out what the means for you and your community here:
• English: brooklyn-usa.org/wp-cont…/uploads/…/06/COVID_Phase2_v2-1.pdf

• Spanish: brooklyn-usa.org/wp-cont…/…/2020/06/COVID_Phase2_Spanish.pdf

Join my PA/PTA Leadership Series with PTAlink to support training for parent leaders throughout Brooklyn.
Join us virtually, tomorrow, June 23rd @ 6PM.
RSVP: jlowell@brooklynbp.nyc.gov

NOW THAT YOU KNOW - WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?  Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria Dulan-Wilson

 

 

 

-->