₦airaland Forum

pacer: why all the fighting on this thread?is that how you guys will live if you go back to africa? i am white/german and i'm appalled by the silliness of this thread in itself .not all white people are racist and some blacks are also racist .race does not matter ,every human is capable its just human nature,ignore racist people and move on..
north america is white and black country and continent ,nothing for white and black to look forward to in europe or africa.jamaicans have a beautiful island they should unite and develop .i agree with some comments here.I agree with the comments of morpheus24 and Anylove

I, for one, couldn't care less about your white stamp of approval on a damn thing. You have a lot of nerve thinking anyone is sitting around waiting for your blessing.

macof: direct this questions to African Christians and Muslims. I used to hate everything African before, I was a total brainwashed fool- couldn't speak Yoruba, didn't even have the accent to say the words I knew properly, hated Adire and all native wears, hated African music, hated African religions I thought they were devil worshipers. But all that ended when I went back to my home town for the first time in 8years, I began to speak Yoruba by force cus all those old men and women didn't understand English. My trip to Ido-Ekiti that year, made me realise that nothing could be better than being A Yoruba African. I went to Osun state after that to learn more about Yoruba history, I got invited to Osun shrine, and then my interest in Yoruba religion started, I began to ask questions, read books and met with Orisa Osun worshipers. I came to the conclusion that Christianity and Islam are enemies of Africa- these religions make u think ur people are not people of God, that only them are destined for heaven, and unless u believe what they believe u go to hell.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Evil Brain: Or teach your children that the imported religions are bullshȋt and warn them to guard their minds against the indoctrination they will inevitably face from christian and muslim evangelists fanatics.

Absolutely. We have to prepare our children for an onslaught of negativity from day one!

adahib: Yes, he said we can only live by hating ourselves. It's a pity where we are. A lost race with no sense of self.

So marry a traditional and help build it back up. That's what I did. It starts with us.

Jayvarley: Should they be granted Citizenship in African countries?

Hopefully not mine. I find that diasporans are western in culture/spirit though some of them look like us. Skin color doesn't really mean anything as there are already enough westernized Africans on the continent. No more are necessary. Some diasporans foster dreams similar to adoptees who long for their birth mother but they are founded on little of any substance.

Jayvarley: And will they be accepted by the people?

Their money will be accepted but that's honestly about it.

50calibre: Miss Ghana is dark like its lights out.

Typical disrespectful speech from the type of person whose goal is probably to breed his own color out of existence.

[quote author=Inked_Nerd][size=12pt][font=times]
"Male Daughters and Female Husbands" by Ifi Amadiume[/quote]This book has nothing to do with homosexuality and appears to be the only book on "homosexuality" written by an African in your list. The book is about owning a person's labor and allegiance regardless of their gender/sex.

It's beyond me why any financially stable African woman would marry an American man.

Fulaman198: How is what she said racist? If Europeans were speaking African languages, how would you feel?

Whites are so used to black people bending over backward to accommodate them, so used to not being confronted with one of us who has pride. This ghastly looking woman has probably been raised to think that she is something special, at least in comparison to an African who has always been the lowest rung on the ladder that she has barely ascended. When whites like this are confronted with someone who tells them the truth they just don't know what to do. This infant just spew out nonsense in response showing that her intelligence matches her looks.

richeyy: Is that a white guy among the graduates in the 3rd picture?

Most certainly. There are a lot of pics of this guy with white "initiates." Suspect to me.

Orikinla: You are still a learner and you don't know much of Ifa.

So then what part of Ifa supports your being "born again"? Do tell.

onila: Friends of the bridegroom prostrating (a mark of ultimate respect) in front of the brides family in a Traditional wedding ceremony

Nigeria via Owel

Some aspects of the matrilineality of african society before the coming of invaders and colonizers.that is the YORUBAS, in this way when their daughter gets to her husbands house, she reciprocate by showing respect to all her in~laws except those born after her marriage!

Lovely picture. As as my understanding of matrilineality it is the woman's name that is passed down and it is the husband who comes to live with the wife's family. In addition any children would remain with the woman's family after a divorce. What matrilineal traits do Yorubas have?

macof: The things I know about Esu
1. He is a trickster and troublemaker
2. He is a messenger between the spirit world and earth(works for both men and the gods)
3. He is present when humans choose their destiny
4. He tests humans faithfulness to Olodumare/God(causes temptations)
5. He checks if/how much humans remember about their destiny on earth.
6. He has great influence over death, sickness and curse
7. He is a gate keeper and time keeper and owns all records of life on earth
8. He keeps balance between good and evil

things I know about satan
1. He is a thief, killer and destroyer
2. He attempts to make humans drift away from Jehovah/God(causing temptations)
3. He lives in hell after his banishment from heaven
4. He had the highest rank among angels in heaven
5. He gives riches and some sort of good things that last only for a while after claiming the soul
6. He is greedy and opposes God
7. He has his minions called demons
8. He is the bringer and father of all evil

According to my research Esu and satan do have similarities especially the temptation part but Esu is not evil as he only tempts/test in order to report back to God for blessing of the individual(if passed the test), But satan is pure evil as every thing unholy is attributed to him, and tempts in order to cause a drift between man and God

Additional fact/truth about Esu/Legba - He exists. Satan does not.

TisaBone: I was once talking to a aquaintance of mine who is white. There was a certain man who was Nigerian, and she mistakenly referred to him as African American. I quickly corrected her. Do you know what her response was? " Same difference."

It is us that draw lines and make distinctions, when we really should be working together.

We are all Niggas.

I am a nigga who resides in America.

You are a nigga who resides in Africa.

This is where you make your mistake. You have a view of self based on how white people view you. Imagine how different your views would be if you would allow yourself to make a decision without their blessing. I'll never be a n****. This is the different between an enslaved/colonized mind and one that is not.

kwangi: Politically too.
Attaining political power will go a long way in restoring pride to black people from all over, as was postulated somewhere in this article.
http://www.nathanielturner.com/usafricamortaldangerforblackafricans.htm

Thank you for reminding me of Chinweizu (sp). I NEED to read his stuff!

kwangi: Word!
I guess this' what makes neo-colonialism worse than colonialism because they don't have to be around to make us do stuff. They have a firm grip on what to make us think through the media and all the institutions they left behind!
Right down to the so-called education.
Check the stuff they teach our kids at school. Downright degrading!
When studying history in Nigeria, you're basically studying european history with some crumbs and misinformation here and there about African history.
So basically, when you're undergoing the so-called "education", you're really doing nothing but being brainwashed into a dummy! You're been taught that you ain't worth shii without the whiteman.

I think this picture says a lot about what we're talking about here.
When our thinking is under external influence, we don't need to be told what to do!

That picture says it all. I just don't know how to begin to attack this type of thinking in West Africans. 8 out of 10 that I know have fallen victim to it.

kwangi: I thought when one falls, he's supposed to stand up and carry on. That's success!
But the 'African' seems to revel in the dust.

This dialogue reminds me of so many Carter G. Woodson quotes. Here's one where he says why we continue to lose better than I ever could:

If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.

I certainly understand the attraction because it's not really an attraction to things European. Initially we described them as stringy haired people with horrible skin so it's certainly not the way they look. It's more of an attraction to that which has overpowered us. They have proven time and time again that they can do as they please. They started out with better technology. Now they have not only better technology but also an overwhelmingly better sense of tho they are and what they want. On top of that exclusivity is always used by the in-group to solidify their position. They are seen as Gods because they actually appreciate who they are and accept no imitations. Compare that to us......I also desperately want Africans to be proud of themselves but we seem to be in an endless cycle of self-hate fueled nonsense.

kwangi: Yeah, about their religions being titles, that's so true.
Most of them can't bear being in church for more than one hour then I don't know how they expect to spend eternity in a supposedly similar surrounding/atmosphere (heaven).

The second part of your post reminds me of this line from "Patience" #DamianMarley #Nas...
"The Earth was flat if you went too far you would fall off
Now the Earth is round if the shape change again everybody woulda start laugh
The average man can't prove of most of the things that he chooses to speak of
And still won't research and find out the root of the truth that you seek of"
Tomorrow they might come up with another new study.
African are taught by the Slave Master to look down on themselves and the wisdom and knowledge of their ancestors despite the fact that Slave Master's "new studies keep on contradicting the old new studies"

Thanks for sharing that song. Clearly more than a few of us are on their nonsense.

kwangi: From observation, I've learnt that this is the case!
Any particular reason why this is so?

It's true because most westernized people worship money first and science second. The religions they espouse to are generally little less than titles that they put on and take off one day a week. Many others are atheists. They will believe anything a scientist says because they are taught in school that scientists have an 100% infallible, objective way of coming to conclusions. This is in spite of all the "new studies" contradicting the old "new studies."

somalia11: somalis are not slaves. unlike u negroids. Your self obsession for non negroids disgusts me

Hilarious. Somalis have been unwilling slaves to Arabs for millenia and you continue to be their willing slaves by propagating their religion and barbaric mistreatment of women. Your fixation with real Africans is hilarious.

Tegese: you give negative impression as if that's how Nigerians are, maybe that is how you are in your village. Smhsss

The Africans who actively seek to to transform themselves into Europeans are the ones who give negative impressions. People fail to respect those who respect neither themselves nor their own ancestors. This is not a problem for those of us who proudly maintain our languages, spiritualities, beliefs, looks, and villages.

Love this thread.

olumidaie: e gats enta front pahe oh

oya everybodi, LIKE my post to endorse this for FRONT PAGE.

You want ladies who beat the Oyo empire to be on the front page of nairaland. Aaaaaay Nigerian men are becoming more chivalrous everyday. I like it.

I believe this photo was taken after some of the soldiers were taken to France. Other Dahomean women joined Wild West shows in the U.S.

Horus: [img]http://tsevanrabtan.files./2010/06/amazonas.jpg[/img]

Dahomey Amazons

[quote author=daz_york]I actually think that religion has been worse for Africa because Western education has not reached maximum penetration like foreign religion. The average tin shack village in the hinterlands likely has some christian or islamic agent teaching children that African spirituality and native science is 'witchcraft' and that their salvation must be imported from Jerusalem or Mecca.
I followed someone to their church service recently, and the white suited fool on stage was praying "You shall be the one to import cars from Dubai in Jesus, name" and I thought to myself, this Jewish god must really hate us Black people if he wants us to use what precious little economic leverage we have to IMPORT finished goods from an Islamic nation while our local industry remains moribund and our balance of trade reflects a negative balance which further weakens our currency and cements our status as a Banana republic.
Yet such people have a large, almost cultic following. The ways in which we Africans mock ourselves is nothing short of tragic.[/quote]You are right in many ways. Most followers of Abrahamic religions follow little more than something called "hypocrisy as a way of life." They may claim the name muslim or Christian but one would never really know by their behavior. Your example of praying for materials goods is typical of that type of behavior. The reason why I believe education is more toxic is because all of the people running our countries, from independence until today, have essentially been taught to view the word from a Eurocentric viewpoint. They aren't even allowed to think as Africans without wild justifications! I know Ivorians and Senegalese who know more about Russia than their own countries. We have a class of leaders and elites who fail to identify with Africa because they think nothing of her, just as their teachers trained them.

[quote author=daz_york]I am a native practitioner myself. The point was to point out the existential hypocrisy of adherents to colonial religions which claim to promote good but are tools of colonialism.
Mods front page pls[/quote]Thank you for clarifying. Your point is understand. It's great to find so many people who follow ATR's here. Yes replacing our religions was actually one of the most efficient ways to reinforce colonization. Only the education system has been more effective.

spongeback: Have you been to India before

Absolutely. The poverty situation in India is dire in many places. I understand what the OP is saying about keeping tradition alive and respecting their own ancestors and I absolutely think that is a positive but India is certainly not a model for poverty eradication or economic progress just yet.

In 2010 an article was published revealing that 8 Indian states have more poor than 26 poorest African nations:
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-07-12/india/28276383_1_measure-ophi-multidimensional-poverty-index

The West can see through the poverty of India and recognize its potential despite the fact that is also extremely corrupt and anti-female. The West doesn't afford the same optimism to African countries and, unfortunately, neither do Africans.

[quote author=daz_york]I say I want Africa to get better and I spend my time complaining about how it is ...but I will never go home to do something to make it better. (Diasporan)

I want our local industries to compete well with imports...but everything I buy is imported. (Middle class wannabe)

I want "the youths" to go out and protest...but I'd rather stay in and follow the Twitter protest hashtag.

I want Africa to be respected...but I spend my time online bad-mouthing it for the world to see.

I want my children to grow up with a sense of African pride...but I'll give birth to them in America. You know, just in case.

I insist I love myself the way I am...but I spend N50,000 a month on Brazilian hair extensions. Because you know, African hair is just so DIFFICULT to maintain.

I don't cultivate an inferiority complex in my kids...but I make sure their dolls and action figures are non-African, they only watch non-African TV and my girls burn their hair with chemicals to make it straight. Because African hair is so, y'know, DIFFICULT.

I'm all about "Africa Rising!" and "Black Power!"...but my new SUV is a Toyota. Innoson makes SUVs of the same specification and price range...but buying an African made car is you know, what you will do SOMEDAY .

I believe in the future of Africa...but my kids will grow up aspiring to go to Yale and Oxford so that white people will teach them to work for white people and solve white people's problems. We gotta get paid right?

"I believe that God created everyone equal and so as a Christian/Muslim, I have risen above the concept of race"...but I will burn the skin and hair God gave me so that I can look like someone else. I will also use much of my income to buy their hair and cover my own with it. God apparently didn't...you know...make me white enough.[/quote]You speak no lies here. We are our own worst enemy and have been so for some time now. The only thing I disagree with is the part about Christianity and Islam. I'll follow an indigenous religion until the day I die and it is not my goal to "rise above" my ethnicity.

Rebe: English is not our official language like almost everyone has stated, however, for the purpose of international job applications for admissions into Universities outside Nigeria, it is most times wise to state that you are a native English language speaker as English is the language of instruction for all our educational qualification from elementary to tertiary.

Doing that only continues to mislead people who are already woefully ignorant of Africans. I think it is preferable to assert that you speak English with native fluency. Otherwise ignorant foreigners continue to think that Africa is a country and our indigenous cultures are nonexistent or too petty to mention.

[quote author=IGBO-SON]^^^So Miss Kidjo is related to those fearsome battle axes!? It all adds up now.....i just knew there was something hardcore about that woman![/quote]Yes sir I love Ms. Kidjo moreso for her promotion of Beninese culture than her music. She is a bad mama indeed.

daywatcher: where has Christ taken you that a traditionalist has not been to or even got there before you?

Christ has taken him/her and others to a place where they comfortably disrespect their own traditions and ancestors and worship everything imported. That is a place where traditional religions never lead.