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 Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:32pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]the same constitutional pattern as that of the other African states already described . The Kongo's economic system of agriculture and handicraft industries, organized into guilds, was the same ; apprenticeship training for all skilled occupations was the same ; and the general pattern of social organization was also the same as other African societies. The Kongo Kingdom was prosperous, carrying on external trade by both land and rivers with states farther north, east and west . The states to the south, later to become Angola, were in an uneasy commotion due to the increasing presence of foreigners on the coast, on nearby islands, and now sailing up the rivers toward the interior . Migrations from the Angola states increased, even though the Portuguese were then bypassing the region in favor of the more highly advanced Kingdom of Kongo. Was it the flight of so many potential slaves from the coastal areas that caused the Portuguese to move up the river closer to population centers? It was more likely a strategic move . By establishing a stronghold in the Kongo kingdom the Angola region would then be caught between Portuguese armed forces on the Angolan northern border and those on the seacoast and off-shore islands . In short, Portugal waass getting in a position to take over this whole region of black states . Many historians and apologists for Portuguese imperialism in Africa use the Kongo kingdom as the classic example of the Portuguese policy of racial equality . For did they not themselves declare this to be their policy? And did not the King of Portugal himself address the King of Kongo as "brother?" What happened was that the Portuguese captains had met . Kongo leaders, not just the King, who were in fact not only their equal, but men so anxious to advance their nation further that they were willing for anything new and better than the white world had to offer . They took the Westerners at their word . They had painted their monarch as the greatest king in a world that had advanced to a pinnacle of civilization under the guidance of a universal religion that was headed by a Supreme Pontiff who was appointed by the Son of God himself. Moreover, this same Successor to the First Head of the Church, the Apostle Peter, would not only welcome the King of Kongo and his people in the great Christian fold, but would send missionaries and teachers to help make his kingdom the greatest in Africa . Portuguese records indicate that far more than religion and Western education was offered-material benefits, such as great wealth from trade, were persuasive.[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:30pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]Now things were changing rapidly and the people were becoming sharply aware that they were being hemmed in from all directions . To begin with, the Arabs were spreading out and penetrating formerly forbidden borders of black states . They could therefore enter black territory from which Whites were barred . These Black Arabs (many were unmixed) confused African leaders everywhere, increased the tensions and tribal wars among them, and helped mightily in destroying the independence of African states . Having discussed this in connection with the fall of the Mossi States and elsewhere, my return to the same subject again is to keep a focus on the race's self-imposed chains as well as on those imposed by the whites . A further reason is that Blacks themselves do not like to discuss these internal handicaps at all, not even among themselves . We prefer to pretend that certain things do not exist . This fact in itself is a weakness that strengthens the white power position over the Blacks . The Portuguese were the first white European people to arrive in West and Central Africa . They were not long in adopting the Arab strategy in dividing the Blacks against themselves-a strategy since adopted by all white people . THE KONGO-ANGOLA STORY The Portuguese arrived at the mouth of the great Congo river in West Africa in 1488. Their aim was to make their tiny European state into a vast African-Indian empire . They had two men of vision to inspire the all-out efforts to realize the dream : Joao I and his son, Henry . Africa had been secure from invasions from this quarter because the Western world had believed that the earth was flat . Now the myth had been exploded when in 1434 Gil Eanes dared to sail beyond the area where the Atlantic Ocean was supposed to end and ships plunge into the void : He sailed around Cape Bojador . Thenceforth the Blacks of West Africa had to confront the "white devils" from Europe and the Americas . The Portuguese, as ignorant of the African people as they had been about the shape of the earth, were not prepared to find highly advanced states there . The Kingdom of the Kongo was their first great surprise, because its political structure and expertly organized administrative machinery equaled that of Portugal or any other European state known to them . That system requires no discussion here because it followed[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:27pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]White Devils from the West BEFORE THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY MOST AFRICANS ON THE continent had never seen a real white face . Since in many societies all devils and other evil spirits were white, the ritual to ward these off was always led by chanting dancers whose faces and bodies were hideously painted with white chalk . That there were in fact white humans-living "white devils"-was unbelievable (probably few reports are better known than those of first contact where the boldest of the unbelievers would venture to rub the skin of whites to see if the "paint" would come off). Over a thousand years had passed since Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Turks had taken over Egypt, and Arabs now also ruled the Eastern Sudan . Arab-Hebrew rule was steadfast in isolated Abyssinia, while the Arabs along the East Coast, operating from their Zanzibar stronghold, had not themselves ventured far into the interior . Their Afro-Arab agents generally spearheaded slave-hunting operations. Ghana and Mali had disappeared, and now Songhay was making its last stand against Arab, Coloured, and Berber armies from across the desert . Even there where black armies clashed with invading white armies, the masses never saw white people . This refers not only to the countless thousands who fled upon the approach of enemy troops, but also to those who remained scattered over the country in their villages[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:25pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]The role of great leaders as benefactors in human affairs was repeated and made clear again in the life and work of Shyaam the Great and in that of at least two of his successors . Shyaam's economic revolution that promoted remarkable progress and prosperity made his new title of "Lieutenant of God on Earth" readily acceptable ; for were not those leaders who looked after the welfare of the people the instruments of the divine will? As we have seen, a political phenomenon develops from this circumstance in which the people's confidence in the leader is so great that he may be allowed to exercise powers unlimited to further advance the public welfare . It is the genesis of absolutism . Therefore, the study of this state was also a study of how an African democracy evolved into an autocracy without any external influence whatsoever . Kuba revealed something else . We also saw that there was a black imperialism in Africa, all African, and without outside influence . Indeed, we saw the microcosm of all the conquests of Blacks by Blacks, the oppression and enslavement of Blacks by Blacks, all of which left us the heritage of suspicion, distrust and hatred that accounts for "tribalism," disunity, fear and unrest today . In spite of it all, the Kuban state was relatively secure as a black power entity until they allowed the whites to come in . At that point the history of the Blacks in Egypt and everywhere else was being repeated, and in exactly the same way . The Blacks -had learned nothing from their previous experiences with whites . The Blacks were therefore doomed to repeat the same big mistakes over and over, meanwhile losing both their civilization and their freedom . As the last days of the kingdom show, the separatist chiefdoms struggling for power actually sought alliances with the whites to overcome this or that black faction . They did this in Egypt and lost ; there they continued to form alliances with the whites against Blacks even after black rule had been pushed southward below the First Cataract . The whites were only too anxious to oblige in thus helping the Blacks to speed up the work in which they were so busily engaged : social disorganization and the internecine strife that led to white control of their lives . One may wonder if Kot a Pe, the last of the figurehead "Kings" under Belgium role, ever reflected on how and why the Blacks so often seal their own doom.[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:24pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]hands it thought had come to bestow Christian blessings . But it was too late. The temporary restoration of the king was too late . The Congo Free State's gesture of assistance was too late . Death arrived according to a schedule-and that was determined by the whites . In 1916, the European-controlled Kot a Pe, the last to hold the fictitious title of "King" to disguise white rule, passed from the scene ; and the kingdom of Kuba, having long since died, now had its death certified by the equally small state of Belgium that now ruled a Black African region ten times its size . Kuba was the African experience in so many important respects that it was taken as a case-study typical of that experience. We have therefore seen how many of the migrations ended after the people had been uprooted from one place after another. Those who went to the farthest regions found what they believed to be a place of refuge, and began to build again as a separate, isolated society, slowly developing new forms of speech and variations from the original culture . Others found refuge in swamps, caves and forests or deserts where the natural environment alone was an effective barrier to progress and an unspoken command to retrogress to barbarism . Still others, such as the Bushoongs, united with other tribes to form a new nation . Out of this new nation there emerged not only a new people composed of many diverse groups but also a new language similary made up of different languages and dialects . It was also significant that the new state was formed under the guidelines of the traditional African constitution : Kings were to be elected and the power center was in the Council of State . There appeared to be a studied program of nation-building by glorifying the unique cultural offerings of each society and making its contributions as part of the whole nation's heritage . Significant, too, was the fact that religion, like other basic institutions, was essentially the same as it was in the "Heartland of the Race ." The Sky God-was still the Sun God, and the sun was simply the obvious way to symbolize the reality of the One God concept, the Creator of the Universe .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:19pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]to have regarded them as a godsend that would solve two critical problems: The Portuguese offer to buy all of the captured rebels and other troublemakers and the replenishing of a drained treasury by the sale of these war prisoners. The first would tend to end civil strife and restore domestic peace, and the second was a new source of great wealth. To be relieved of the cost and trouble of maintaining prisonerof- war camps was still another incentive for selling them . For such reasons the unforgivable sale of Blacks into slavery by Blacks began . The fact that African chiefs and kings had a quite different conception of slavery than that of the Caucasians does not excuse them ; for in the course of time they had to know that in the West the captured Blacks became slaves in fact, and not, as in Africa, persons who became members of the community, were integrated into families, became members of any of the crafts, had rights to farm land, held offices and, in fact, had all the rights and privileges enjoyed by their original captors . So, I am saying that while at first the African slave sellers may not have known the fate to which they were consigning their brothers, in time they did learn . And for this reason these Blacks will stand condemned forever before the bar of history, King ma Mbul along with the others . The sale of malcontents into slavery did not end the civil strife because, for one thing, all the rebels were neither captured nor defeated . Besides, the permanent center of conflict was in the royal lineage itself . The general upheaval after 1885, the year the European conquest of all Africa began, made it easy for the whites to enter and spread all over the country . The traders and missionaries were the first to take over the country by first allying themselves with opposing chiefdoms and opposing royal factions, urging on each to keep up the fight against the others . Indeed, the missionaries in Kuba were missionaries of damnation, not salvation . They wore the deceptive garb of religion but their activities were not only almost wholly political but were concerned with furthering the disintegration and collapse of this little black nation . They obviously did not come to help, spiritually or otherwise . They came to hinder, at least until the country was completely under white rule . Their next step, therefore, was to actually set up chiefdoms themselves, install puppet chiefs, and rule the country through the chiefdoms over which they and the traders had control! When the 20th century dawned, a dying Kuba was gasping for breath, making its last desperate attempts to free itself from the choking[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:18pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]attention of the now world-conquering Europeans . They now had business to "explore" up and down the Kasai and Sankuru rivers, checking on the operations of the Bakuba . Once again the most crucial points in the history of the Blacks were being epitomized by a single small nation. It was to escape the Europeans that, centuries before, the people who formed the Kuban state had continued their migrations from the Atlantic seaboard and journeyed far into the interior . They had come on and along the same rivers the advance scouts of the enemy were now exploring . The Blacks, as usual, were too busy fighting among themselves to mark the heralds of their doom or see the significance of their coming . Up to this time they had been wise enough to adhere to the rule followed by most African states by rigidly barring all non-Africans from crossing their borders . The record of over four thousand years showed that in each and every case where the rule of exclusion was relaxed and Asians or Europeans were admitted under whatever pretext, the ultimate fate of the Blacks was sealed . First a lone Portuguese came, "seeking trade ." Who would be silly enough to fear a lone white man? And were not the Kubans the great traders, always looking for new markets? Nor were the few Germans who came later any occasion for concern other than new opportunities for trade . The exploring expeditions up and down the rivers did not cause alarm . Trading relations with the Europeans were indeed established and were becoming more and more profitable . The Europeans were not yet permitted to settle within the county . But no matter . They were, as we have said, long-range schemers . The pattern of worldwide imperialism had been determined long ago, and the techniques of penetration and dominance were fixed and universally applied . So, instead of invading the country by force, something they were never prepared to do initially anyway, they ringed the country with trading posts along its borders . To these outposts missionaries assembled to form missions (for God and the empire) and were later followed by armed detachments, ostensibly to protect the trading routes and new markets from imaginary raiders . To make matters worse, the European crisis began to develop near the end of the longest and most strife-ridden reign in Kuban history . King Mbop a Mabunc ma Mbul was in the fifth decade of his rule, tired and worn out both by age and endless fighting . Far from seeing the gathering Europeans as a threat, he and his immediate successors seem[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:17pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]All these observations can be drawn from the most eventful fifty years in the history of Kuba, 1630-1680 . Notwithstanding the unprecedented changes in the constitution, ironically enough, the periods of Kuba's glory and greatest achievements were under the leadership of her three great autocratic kings-Shyaam the Great, Mboong a Leeng and Mbo Mboosh, 1650-1680 . With the death of Mbo Mboosh an era of relative peace, stability and progress came to an end . But that era left us with a perplexing question . Considering the history of the nation before Shyaam and after Mboosh, that question is whether democracy actually served the welfare of the people as well as autocracy . It is an awful question, but here is a specific case where the question rises under its own power . In view of the record, no one has to raise it. It therefore has to be faced . It may be that the tradition-bound councils which we glorify so much because they represented the people and served as a check on chiefs and kings, may also have served tb check progress under the leadership of dedicated chiefs and kings of farseeing vision . This in turn introduced the question of the role of leadership in the affairs of men, and particularly in the history of every people that had great leaders who lit the blaze which banished the darkness from their marching paths . Since leadership is indispensable in any group situation, large or small, the ultimate solution in a democracy may be centered around-the question not of how much power a leader has, but rather in whose interest and for whose welfare that power is to be used . This presupposes an alert people who know when and where to draw the line between their welfare and the actions of a powerful leader . When Mboong went to the extreme by appointing and deposing chiefs at his pleasure, the people could have checked him . Therefore, the great kings who did so much to build a strong nation also planted the seeds for its destruction from within long before the Europeans completed its destruction from without. From 1680 until the coming of the Europeans in the 1800's intermittent internal strife darkened the whole period . The struggles centered around the various constitutional violations and changes . These were the main issues whether the rebellions were led by whole tribes or were civil strife led by royal sons on the one hand and royal nephews on the other . Through it all, however, foreign and domestic trade somehow continued to flourish . In fact, the Kuban markets were so widespread outside of the country that these enterprising Blacks attracted the[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:15pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]The King-general dealt with these with an iron hand, was successful, and proceeded with another important assault on the constitution . He outlawed migrations from the country . This had been one of the Black man's greatest freedoms, the right of every dissatisfied individual or group to withdraw from the community, migrate elsewhere, and either join some other group or set up a new chiefdom . The universal use of this freedom, let it be remembered at every point, is one of the reasons for so many different little societies and language groups throughout the continent, while at the same time indicating a common origin and background. This relatively small and generally unknown kingdom in the Congo region was a microcosm of Black Africa in other respects and, as in other African states, it presents the concrete evidence and specific validation of much of the history of the black people. There was still another development of the highest importance for ethnologists, but one which they generally bypass or treat very lightly . This had to do with still another way new tribes, new chiefdoms and new language groups were formed, ultimately leaving not a trace of what the respective members of such groups had been in former times . A new tribe and chiefdom of this kind was formed by "strays" and stragglers, individuals and very small groups that had become detached from their main society during the migrations . Speaking different languages and dialects, they were unaffiliated persons who were lost in the corporate society of Kuba . Even to become second class citizens as newcomers, strangers had to be members of a single group large enough to have the traditional tribal sociopolitical structure headed by a chief . Because of these conditions and circumstances many stray individuals and small groups from different tribes united and began the formation of a new tribe, a new language from the merger of many, and a new tradition or oral. history . Here too is how and why oral tradition may become confused and misleading during the first two or three generations . For the first chief and his family, chosen as founders of the new chiefdom, may attempt to overplay their role in the founding and progress of the new society . The central point that is stressed here again, however, is that the historical process in Africa of segmentation, remerging, segmentation and remerging ad infinitum defies all attempts by Western anthropologists to divide and classify the race by opposing ethnic societies . It cannot be done either by linguistics or by conclusions arrived at on the basis of widely different physical features and/or characteristcs .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:14pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]to many important posts . This move was significant because it bypassed the nephews in favor of the sons, thus satisfying the natural but never spoken desire of most fathers in a matrilineal society . THE KING-GENERAL Shyaam left a record of achievements that none of his successors could match . He was a legend even in his own lifetime . The people had never known or heard about such a leader, and had never experienced in their own lives the direct benefits of such leadership . It had to be magic and, therefore, Shyaam had been the "Great Magician ." Since magic in Africa was simply another religious means of invoking the aid of a deity, to call their chief intercessor with God a magician meant that he was actually securing benefits for the people, and that he was indeed the "Lieutenant of God on Earth ." In short, "magic" was another form of prayer, song or dance in the appeals to supernatural powers for help . Mboong a Leeng, Shyaam's successor, was not a "great magician ." He was a warrior-king, a great general . He did not have to carry on the economic revolution . It carried on itself from the momentum Shyaam had given it . Mboong a Leeng devoted himself to further wars of conquest and the expansion of the royal power which these wars made easy . The age-grade military system started by Shyaam was expanded from a militia to a strong standing army ("strong" for the period) . Prisoners of war, now slaves, formed the king's personal army . They were stationed in separate villages of their own . Now the king was powerful enough to attempt to make the modest changes in the matrilineal system under Shyaam more thoroughgoing and permament in the royal family itself. The royal nephews were all placed under permanent house arrest and sons of kings became heirs to the throne . Meanwhile they were appointed to important governing posts in different parts of the kingdom . And while it has been suggested that this radical breach of constitutional law was intended to reduce the factional power struggles in the royal family, what it did was to sharpen such struggles along more clearly defined lines . Mboong had divided not only the royal, but all the chiefs and people into the defenders of the traditional constitution on the one hand, and the "progressive" reformers on the other . This meant more unrest and more rebellions .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:12pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]These internal conflicts were of great historical importance because of the far-reaching consequences . The most important overall outcome was radical changes in the traditional constitution . To begin with, religion was drawn upon as an indirect means of social control by enhancing the divine role of the king . The traditional role of the king as the Chief Elder and, therefore, the Chief Representative of the people before God was very easily changed now to the conception of the king as the "Lieutenant of God on Earth ." As God's Lieutenant on Earth, the king could assume powers not recognized by the constitution and go unchallenged . But above and beyond this, the internal turmoil was regarded as such a threat to the nation's existence by the loyal chiefs and the people that even more powers than the king had dared to assume were bestowed upon him to enable him to crush rebellions by direct action and restore internal peace . Here, then, is how a democracy may become an absolute monarchy, not by a coup de tat, but by the consent of the people themselves . They seemed to be thinking only about the "others" (strangers causing trouble) when they allowed the Council to give the king the power over life and death . Another fatal blow to the African democractic system was allowing the king to raise and maintain his own national army. The national army, as we know, had always been made up of contingents under the supreme command of the Council operating through the respective paramount chiefs and provincial kings . This single change can be said to have completed the triumph of the King of Kuba as an absolute monarch . He had already acquired extraordinary powers quite naturally as the kingdom expanded over new territory . New administrative offices had to be made . Some of these were so important that the king encountered no open opposition when he also appointed them as members of the hitherto exclusive State Council . This marked the end of the traditional council as it had functioned under the African constitution . The core council of the eighteen elector states was now outnumbered by the appointees of the king . It appears that Shyaam made no display and very little use of his new powers vis-a-vis the elector chiefs . His chief interest continued to be in the field of internal improvement, building a capital city, and upgrading the social amenities that reflect a highly advanced society . These included new forms of court etiquette and procedures, resplendent regalia, etc . One of Shyaam's strategems for securing the loyalty and support of important chiefs and other notables was the appointment of their sons[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:10pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]The skilled crafts were expanded and methods of production improved and speeded up by new techniques . New weaving and embroidery methods were notable . The break with tradition was most clearly seen in the experiments in new art patterns and new styles in wood-carving . All this economic activity meant a marked transition from a subsistence to a surplus economy, and this of course led to general prosperity through the expansion of markets and foreign trade . Since Kuba was not within the orbit of the caravan routes of international commerce, her "foreign" trade was with other African areas . Kuban trade missions were sent near and far to promote trade through the establishment of markets at important trading centers in nearby and distant states . This was the most important aspect of Shyaam's Economic Revolution . In the decline of the civilization of the Blacks as they splintered off and scattered here and there over Africa and over the world, they lost this pioneering spirit of business enterprise, the most common urgent need, in recapturing their lost status in the modern world of aggressive competition . The traders were also organized into societies . Every occupation except agriculture had its society or guild . Farmers were not so organized because just about everybody was a farmer in addition to his trade . Any townsman who did not have a farm somewhere would have been considered "strange ." One's trade or profession, then, was seen as possible only because of the basic economy and, for that reason everyone was responsible for a share in agricultural production . The general prosperity engendered by the Economic Revolution did not bring general internal peace . The inevitable increase in population was further expanded by the annexation of new territories and the influx of the endless streams of migrating people who were attracted to this new land of opportunity . But they were "strangers," and this fact, as noted above, was a cause of unrest among them and even greater unrest among the conquered groups . It appears that the national prosperity served to heighten the tensions rather than reduce them . More trouble came from Bieeng elements in the country, members of a major tribe that had challenged the Bushoong leadership even before the move from Iyool . Rebellions also broke out just before Shyaam assumed the leadership . The Pyaang and Kete succeeded in capturing and destroying the capital city, while the unsubdued Bieeng continued their attacks from the area still under their control .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:09pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]SHYAAM THE GREAT Shyaam I was one of the greatest leaders that the black race ever produced and, considering the conditions and circumstances of his time, I think he was the greatest . He became king of Kuba in 1630, and during the relatively short period of ten years he set in motion an economic development that transformed the nation and gave it a new forword direction . He was not only far ahead of his own time in perceiving that economic development was the only way to restore the ancient greatness of the Blacks, but he is still ahead of the whole black world today in the revival of economic activities on all possible fronts . The economy had remained on the subsistence level. It could hardly be otherwise because the nation was still in its formative stage, still very young . The main activities were still in the fields of agriculture, fishing, weaving, mat-making, basketry, wood-carving, carpentry, furnituremakng, pottery, iron and coppersmithing, sculpture and painting . There was a remarkable advance in all the arts, especially the pictorial arts.Since it was from the latter that the Blacks developed their writing system in earlier times (and lost it through migrations) one may wonder whether there was any rediscovery and revival of writing in Kuba . Oral history does not tell us . Or does it? We do not know . What we do know is that the kind of stable society and institutions were developing in this nation from which writing develops as a compelling and almost indipensable need . Shyaam's economic revolution stimulated many facets of the national renassance about which we now know very little . For the Revolution of 1630 was a revolution in thinking and a search for new and better ways of doing things . The new King was interested in new styles and a break frot the traditional arts forms . His drive was for national consolidation and internal development rather than the wars of conquests that so much occupied the time and energies of his predecessors . The slowly developing economy now experienced a sense of urgency and national direction. New crops were introduced : sorghum, corn, millet (not entirely new in the area), tobacco, yams, and beans . The "external influence" here was black "external influence" and now hardly external to Kuba, because some of the tribes now constituting the nation came from areas where these crops were grown . Would yams and tobacco grow in Kuba? "Let's find out," Shyaam seemed to have been saying on all fronts all down the line .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:59pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY Each Kuban tribe was responsible for its own history, and the state was responsible for the history of the nation . It was oral history . The oral historian, again as in the case of all other crafts, was a trained historian . His basic training was in a Mnemotechnical system . This training in memorization began as an apprentice to a recognized historian other than the principal oral historian . There were special occasions for members of the clan to assemble to listen to the story of the clan and another occasion for the general community to assemble for the overall history of the nation . The absence of written history made the task of the oral historian very exacting . He was generally held so strictly accountable for any errors made in his account that at times the reaction to mistakes made seems to have been unreasonable . For while he was allowed the widest latitude in commentaries of his own and even in fantastic embellishments designed to shock his listeners or entertain them, he dared not err in reciting the factual data of history . It seems quite clear that not only the elders (who were also well versed in oral tradition) knew the difference between the mythical and the truly historical account, but the people also understood what was intended as amusement and what was their real history . Aside from "tall tales," the historian often used proverbs reflecting the philosophy of great leaders and that of the race, praise songs of great men and great events, songs which we would call "the Blues" which told of past failures and heartaches, and dances of victories won and of thanksgiving . But the assembled elders were always keeping a sharp watch out for any serious errors on the part of the oral historian . He might be removed or even banished . In either case his career would be ended in disgrace and his disgrace might wreck his life among his people . On the other hand, if successful, the rewards were great because the oral historian was the community's storehouse of wisdom and one of its most honored personalities . He was the core of the educational system . The lineage was the key to the history of the extended family, the tribe and the nation . Within the lineage were the social, religious, economic and political ties that held together the family, tribe and nation .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:58pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]The Bakuba (people of Kuba) believed that two contending spirits affected man : the spirit of good and the spirit of evil . Evil was thought to be expressed most clearly in witchcraft, which in turn characterized persons engaged in the practice of trying to do harm to others . In Kuba, as throughout Africa, the penalty for witchcraft was either death or punishment. The much misrepresented "witch doctor," far from engaging in the practice himself, had the task of combating the practice by trying to help its victims . Hence the title "witch doctor," which came to be applied to all African doctors indiscriminately because of the widespread belief that almost all human ills resulted from the work of evil spirits through evil operators-witches . A long chapter could be devoted to the training of the native doctors and their practice of medicine . This is not our purpose at this point. But it should be noted in passing that writers have generally focused their attention on the entirely superficial externals that disguised the African doctor's real practice of the healing arts . They spent years in the forests studying the medicinal properties of various plants and herbs . They went through the same long periods of apprenticeship that the members of all the other skilled crafts had to go through under a master. The people were not fools . The prescribed medicine had to be beneficial. If not, the doctor was held to account far more rigidly than doctors are in our times . The African doctor's entire future in his community depended upon his successful ministrations, and these must overshadow inevitable failures now and then . And while the psychological ritual of hideous masks was used to frighten off evil spirits, the wild dance and mystical speech were all intended to impress the people with the mysteries of healing (carried over to modern medicine in Latin prescriptions) . After all of this, the native physician still had to produce satisfactory results or be disgraced . Religion was involved in the practice of medicine, as religion was involved in every aspect of African life . Disease was believed to be the result of some misdeed on the part of the individual himself or the working of an evil spirit . If widespread, the community as a whole may have sinned, either by commission or omission of something that offended either the deities or the ever watchful ancestors . Songs, dances and sacrifices were communal activities designed to reestablish the proper relationship between'the people and the unseen powers .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:56pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]neither did other Africans, if Western writers are using the term in the sense that one worships God-and of course they are using worship in this sense . Just as they pretend not to understand the roll of the numerous African deities but understood the role of these same deities in Western civilization if we call them patron saints, in that same way as just about every other aspect of African life and history has been misrepresented and distorted . Yet one can understand why a people for whom the idea of immortality is merely a creed would find it hard to understand the all-encompassing religious philosophy of a people who actually believed in life beyond death . From this central belief numerous other beliefs developed naturally. An important one was that relatives who had passed on maintained a continuing interest in the welfare of those left behind . To justify and preserve this continuing oversight of their ancestors, the living did those things that might merit ancestral approbation . There was ancestor reverence, not ancestor worship . This reverence for elders began in early life with the living and increased with the dead . When food was periodically placed at the graves, nobody expected the ancestral spirits to eat it (only fools outside of Africa allege that they did) . What they were doing was a demonstration that the communal spirit of sharing was being maintained . Furthermore, if the ancestors approved their behavior, they were in a position to intercede on their behalf with the deities in times of crisis . The Blacks' conception of God was on a scale too grand to be acceptable to Western minds . They had to reduce it by using a term that is equated with paganism, "primitive" backwardness and barbarism . The word is "animism ." But the historian and anthropologist are witnesses against themselves, still proving the very opposite of what they intend . In documenting animism as the chief characteristic of the religion of the Blacks from remotest times they are also documenting the fact that the Blacks' belief in the existence as well as the nature of one Universal God also goes back to times immemorial . And what is animism? As applied to Africans it is the belief that the spirit of the Creator or the Universal God permeates all of His creations, living and dead . Therefore, any object, animate or inanimate, may be sacred . This concept of God and His creations would be regarded as highly "civilized" if expressed by a Westerner in some such terms as a "reverence for life." Indeed, precisely the same African religious belief becomes the doctrine of "Immanence" in Christian civilization .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:54pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]their identity through intermarriages with almost all the other groups . Their mingling with other groups was more widespread because, unlike them, they did not occupy a particular province but were scattered in all of them . The descendants of a Cwa-Maluk marriage in King Mishe ma Tuun's day (1620) could not be described as having "Pygmoid" features today, or Maluk either . The reason is simple : There have been too many other "crossings and recrossings" during the three to four hundred years that have passed . THE RELIGION OF KUBA There was no problem of religious unity in Kuba because there was no problem of religious conflicts in traditional Africa . The Blacks, having a common origin and a common center of civilization, had the same fundamental religious beliefs throughout the continent, just as all of their other basic institutions were similar . The inevitable variations were insignificant when compared with the universal similarities. The Kubans believed, as all Africans believed, in one almighty God, the Creator of the Universe . There were numerous ways of expressing the one-god concept . He might be identified with the sun and called the Sun God, or, as a variation of this, he might be called the Sky God . The numerous other gods, far from being in conflict with the Great God, were a necessary part of His divine plan-His own deputies and emissaries who had direct charge of the various departments of life that concerned human needs-the earth (soil), water, illness, health, fertility, planting, harvest, the forests, war, hunting, fishing, rain, etc . There were lesser gods under these . Their rank or importance was determined by their role and the extent of their role . Different tribes might have different tribal gods or a group of kindred tribes might have the same sub-gods . Each family or clan might or might not have its own clan god, and each member of the family might or might not have his own personal god. In short, the traditional African religion respecting an Almighty God and a hierarchy of lesser deities was later taken over by Christianity in the forms of patron saints and higher deities who rank next to God Himself. It is said that religion in Kuba did not include "Ancestor Worship ." This ancestor worship thing is another one of those overdone myths about Africans . The Bakuba did not "worship" their ancestors . But[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:53pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]neighboring societies, the reasons for future conflicts were also being expanded . These reasons, noted here in Kuba, were Africa-wide and account for the internal conflicts in the new African states today, even though all discontent has not come to the surface. And, as in the case of Kuba, the trouble stems from the failure to include every segment of the population in a national program of absolute equality, and the opportunity to participate so fully in every phase of the national life that a sense of patriotism and belonging to the nation will gradually outweigh that of belonging to a tribe . In short, what we do deprecatingly call "tribalism" is, in fact, the necessary cohesive and social mechanism for survival and defense against threats to survival . The tribe is the unit through which the race itself has survived during all of its migrating and scattered circumstances . The enemies that beset it were black as well as white . This the tribes of today know as well as their black brothers outside of the "Circle of 18" knew four hundred years ago in Kuba . Tribalism will disappear only when the reasons for its existence in the first place disappear . The most noteworthy thing about Kuba in this connection, however, was that despite the great disorganizing factor just mentioned, its original program of uniting many language groups into one nation was so successful that it has not been equaled by any nation in modern Africa . For look what actually happened : Many tribes, including the Bushoong group, merged so completely that they lost their individual tribal identity and language and became one people, speaking one language derived from all the others, the Bakuba or "People of Kuba ." This E Pluribus Unum process that went on continuously all over Africa is what makes the work of ethnologists and linguists so baffling and their dogmatic conclusions often misleading, imprecise, and sometimes simply false . Splitting off from a major into a dozen smaller groups, each developing a different language or dialect, then the remerger of any twelve splinted groups into another major group, forming once again one people and one language out of many, and so on until the next segmentation of many and the later re-formation of the many into a society and language group again. It is, therefore, unlikely, to put it modestly, that any anthropologist or linguist on Africa could take a group of Bakuba today and determine which had ancestors who were Bushoong under Queen Ngokady, or Pyanpyanng when Lashyaang Mbal was King, or Ngeende when Mbo Mboosh reigned, 1680-1695, etc. Even members of a group as distinctive as the Pygmies (Cwa) lost[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:49pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]THE GOVERNMENT OF KUBA The Council of State (a) The King presiding (b) The Linguist (interpreter and special aide to King) (c) "The Chief of Chiefs (Prime Minister . The title "Chief of Chiefs" actuallY is that of the King . Here it means to say to all the chiefs of Kuba : "Whenyou see and speak to my Chief Minister, you see and speak to the King ."  (d) The Governors of provinces (Paramount chiefs) . Each paramount chief of one of his elected generals was in supreme command of all military forces in his province . The King, who was also a governor of his particular tribal province, had only the soldiers of his province under his command. 2. Administrators not members of the State Council (a) First Chief of the Treasury (b) Chief of Border Defenses (c) Supervisor-General of Tax Collection, Goods and Services (d) Chief of the King's Household and Protector of Ancestral Tombs aid Regalia (e) Chief of Roads and Markets (f) Collector-General for Tributary States (This office was created in tle wake of Mboong a Leeng's imperialist expansion in 1650.) Then were twenty-six kings during the three hundred and forty-two years of Kuban history, or from about 1568 to 1910 . As in the cases of Ethiopa, Egypt, Makuria and the other states studied, here only a few of the outsanding leaders will be mentioned . In thus rigidly limiting the scope, we necessarily passed over many great leaders and important events,just as we shall be doing in the case of Kuba . Here also, we are not as interested in chronological details as we are in such things as the development of national policies to unite diverse tribes in a patriotic devotion to one nation and other policies that would clearly defeat that objective. The founder or founders of a nation constitute the specially honoured group through out Africa and it was the source of royalty itself . So Kula was still following the African constitution when it made the central or nuclear group of 18 founders the permanent ruling council to the exclusion of "strangers" (in Africa, all those who came after the communityor nation is established .) Yet it is equally clear that as newcomers increased the population and as the nation, expanded by conquering[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:36pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]economic activity along broad national lines . The Bushoongs were still the leading boatmakers, fisherman, and hunters . Because they were the most numerous, this tended to )versupply Kuba markets with fish and game. On the other hand, farm production was not only far below demand but it was also too limited in variety . This meant a very limited diet of millet, bananas, peanuts, fish and fowl . The cloth-making industries expanded as the ironsmith and other crafts developed . The building trades were the busiest in the new nation-building . These included architects, carpenters, Drick-makers and masons . THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION The political structure actually began with the family council or clan council, which is the basic socia unit of kinsmen . During the formative period of the state each clan had its own village . As new immigrants swelled villages into towns and cities, these became divided into clan sections or wards . Each ward sent its elder as a representative to the village, town, or city council, ov°r which presided the village headman, town subchief, or city chief. These chiefs, in turn, served as representatives of their areas on the provincial. council over which the Paramount Chief of the whole tribe presided . The Paramount Chiefs of the central provinces or states, the original eighteen founders, represented their provinces in the Central State Council over which the elected King of Kuba presided . Conquered states and tribes which came after the federal union was formed were not eligible for re aresentation on the State Council and their chiefs, therefore, could not participate in the election of kings . There were other special benefit; and privileges enjoyed by the eighteen elector-chiefs which other chief; did not have or, more pointedly, the newcomers had burdens and responsibilities from which the elector chiefs were free . The heaviest of these were the tributary taxes levied on all chiefs except the "original eighteen ." This, too, was to cause trouble later[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:35pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]themselves first of all . They not only treated all of the different language groups as equals, but they promoted a national policy of glorifying those cultural variations in any groups which were so outstanding that they should be adopted nationally . Hence, every tribe that in isolation had developed something noteworthy but peculiar to itself, no matter how "strange" or different from all others, could see its unique culture pattern become a national institution and be filled with both pride and gratitude . If the Pende had a different kind of dance and excelled with it, theirs would become the national dance of Kuba . If the Luba excelled in the architectural arts, they would be the leading planners and builders ; and so on in all human endeavors . Each group could win national distinction in one way or another for excellence in one or more fields, including agriculture and cattle breeding . The kingdom was south of Zambiz in Northern Katanga, covering the Province of Kasai between the Sankuri and Kasai rivers . There were five rulers during the short period of 19 years between 1568 and 1587, one being a woman . It is not known whether the Council, sitting as an electoral college, set what seems to indicate fouryear terms . After 1587 longer but still fixed terms for kings (or queens) also seem to be indicated . It appears that these limited terms of office by kings continued during the supremacy of the Council . For a long time ten years in office seemed to be the limit . This brings us to a third reason for selecting Kuba as both a sample and example state . Kuba shows how the Blacks themselves do undermine and destroy some of their own best institutions and replace black democracy with black autocracy without the slightest external influence or aid whatsoever . What is more, and often overlooked, a king may become a despot by the will of the people! This development, incidentally, is a further justification of my rejection of two equally false doctrines : One is the contention of whites that the great institutions in Africa were Caucasian in origin ; and whites that the great institutions in Africa were Caucasian in origin ; and the other is the contention of Blacks that great African institutions were destroyed by Caucasians and other outsiders, and by them alone . What it all means is that the African people act and react just as all other peoples do with the same motivations, conditions or similar circumstances, aims and objectives . The democratic direction of this state was well-established in 1587 when Lashyaang Mbal assumed the leadership . The economy was still operating along provincial interest lines and apparently without state[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:34pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]became members of the federal union under Woot as the elected king .2 Many of the splintered-off segments from the central groups came in later from different directions to join the federation . Other members were the Mongo l Pende, Ilebo, Shoowa, Kel, Kaam, Kayilweeng, Lulua, Luba, Ngeende, Maluk, Pyaang, Ngoombe, Byeeng, Coofa, and Mbeengi Ngongo. From the very beginning the core group of Bushoong set an example for nation-building for all Africa, but few African states ever followed it . First of all, the total population at the formation of the federal kingdom can be estimated at between 75,000 and 100,000, of which number the Bushoongs were 80 percent . All the other tribes combined, therefore, were only one-fifth of the total population . This means that even under the most liberal democratic system the Bushoongs could have dominated and ruled all the other tribes by the sheer weight and power of overwhelming numbers . They did not choose to do so . Here was what might be considered to be a justifiable occasion to depart from the traditional African constitution with its all-embracing democratic system . Quite to the contrary, they followed it to the letter by simply transforming the Village Council of Elders into a council of State in which each tribe, now constituting a constituent province, was represented as an equal by its own chief or a representative of its choice . The members of the state council were the electors who chose the king . As it was throughout Africa, the Council represented the people and, therefore, all powers not delegated rested with the Council . The significance of this was that the smallest tribe or province, which might be only 2 percent of the population, was equal in the Council to the Bushoong group that was 80 percent of the population, a situation which headcounters might criticize as the very antithesis of democracy .3 But the numerically dominant Bushoongs seem to have been statesmen with a larger view of what democracy meant if it were to operate as a unifying force with divergent and formerly independent groups . What they did in effect was to make a frontal attack on tribalism not by futile denunciations or exhortations, but by actually detribalizing ----------------------------------------------------- Notes 2. There is a record listing Woot in a much earlier period . 3. The Kaam might be the smallest minority in the "Kaam State," but only a Kaam could be the chosen councillor .[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:31pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]inland from the Atlantic, enlisting new followers as they moved or temporarily stopped . They were headed toward the Congo region . Fleeing from the whites was not the only problem for them as it was not the only problem for the millions who had trampled over Africa before them. When they had settled on the Lower Kwango early in the 16th century, their immediate foes were the fierce Jaga warriors, a roaming tribe that seemed to be more interested in raids of destruction than in settling anywhere . They were destroyers, not builders ; and they were set on a course to prevent others from settling and building . And while large groups of them did split off from the main body to merge with others and form states, they seemed to be nothing more nor less than bloodthirsty barbarians who engaged in warfare for the sheer thrill of warfare . These eventually opened war against the Bushoong state that was forming over a wide area along the Kwango . Under relentless and savage attacks by the Jaga warriors, the Bushoongs were forced to retreat along the Kasai and Sanguru rivers, many groups splitting off from the main body and going in different directions . The main body, led by its chief, Woot, entered the plain of Iyool in Kasai and began the formation of a little-known state during the third quarter of the 16th century . It is precisely because it was small and generally unheard of that I selected it for a summary study . There was another reason : It was typical of hundreds of other small black states which, unlike the worldrenowned Ghana, Mali and Songhay, the migrating Blacks had built all over Africa, but which seemed to be so insignificant to the conquering Europeans that they were swept away, their people scattered, with no Vansinas to seek out its oral historians to hear how things came to be, what was achieved or failed to be achieved before death came to their society at last . The little kingdom of Kuba, then, having its history recaptured, will be telling their story also, telling it substantially as it was in all fundamental particulars . The Bushoong, or central organizing group, was allied in a federation of voluntary kindred groups, and other tribes, numbering eighteen at the outset . The Cwa and the Kete were indigenous, the Cwa, as previously stated, having lived there "since the world began ." They offered no opposition to the invaders, seemed to welcome them and[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:30pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]One of these wandering groups, unlike the Kongolese and Angolans, began to migrate from the Atlantic seaboard before the whites arrived, was free from contacts with them much longer and, therefore, founded a new nation that lasted much longer . The core group was made up of Blacks who came to be known as Bushoongs . They were moving from place to place toward the interior and finally began the development of the new state during the period when the white storm clouds were slowly rising in all directions-the 200 years between 1475, the most critical in the history of the Blacks . It was during this period that the great noose of encirclement was completed and fixed, and the Blacks of Africa found themselves hemmed in and threatened from all directions, from the north, from the east, from the west and, finally, from the south . The white man's march toward world conquest and world domination was in full swing . This most critical period in the history of the race, I say, was such because this closing in on the Blacks from all directions was the beginning of the final death-blows to what remained of their own civilization . There were dire consequences in terms of their psychological impact on Africans under perpetual danger . A new fatalism emerged that carried the sentence of ultimate doom to the minds of thousands . Some gave up resistance to anything, including a resistance to slavery and resistance to the barbarism that engulfed those who either went backwards or stood still for mental atrophy ; some tried to save themselves by serving the invaders' cause, even if it meant enslaving and killing their own people ; some believed that because the white man came in big ships with big, earth-shaking guns (cannons), surely they must be the gods of the world ; others saw no sense in trying to maintain unity in the face of such overwhelming odds . Rather, the drive must be to secure these guns and ammunition from the whites even if it meant ceaseless wars rs to secure the slaves the whites demanded, secure them by warring on their own kinsmen in neighboring territories . And still others resolved never to yield, to move and keep on moving rather than submit, to rebuild, and keep rebuilding, never giving up ; and to fight for unity as the only route to survival-voluntary unity if possible, unity by force if all else failed . These last "others" were the ones who had the spirit that accounts for the survival of the most bruised and battered of the races of mankind . Such a representative group were the Bushoongs . This their record will show . As the Portuguese slave raids spread, the Bushoongs moved[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:23pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
The Great Prophecy of the Mossi turned out to be the prophecy for all Africa : "When the first white man appears in the land the nation will die ." [b]Central Africa : Evidence from a Small State THE KINGDOM OF KUBA WE MUST NOT LOSE SIGHT OF WHAT WE ARE DOING-THE important points of what we have been doing : A partial view of the early history of the Blacks from the loss of Egyptian homeland to the coming of the Europeans has been presented through a summary study of a representative number of states ; a continent-wide view of what happened to the whole by looking at typical situations . We saw a people . . . a people forever migrating, forever on the move, forever in flight from threats to survival ; a new location found, sighs of relief and thanksgiving for a new breathing spell, and new efforts at reunification and state-building all over again . But every decade of unsettled life, every decade of wandering over deserts, savannas and through the forests-every such decade was one of retrogression, of disintegration, decades of decline, and no newly established state was able to reach the levels of achievements of the past before it was engulfed either by the , Islamic East or the Christian West . This is what we have witnessed, no matter what Black state was studied or in what region of Africa it was located .' -------------------------------------------------- Notes I . Jan Vansina has done pioneering and most outstanding oral history studies in this area . I draw heavily on his field studies here, although, and perhaps because of my own field work in the region, I interpret some of his data differently . See Bibliographical Note[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:21pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
Wobogo, who seemed to grow in courage as his country collapsed all around him . In 1897 the French, unable to secure the surrender of the Mossi leader (who continued to elude them and stage counterattacks), finally appointed a Mogho Naba who would serve them. Mossi guerrillas continued the war from the bush year after year, long after all hope for victory was gone. They were fighting on just as though they did not know that the first white man had long since come and that, therefore, the nation had died . They fought on because, while their empire passed, the deathless Mossi spirit lived on, in witness whereof their own Mogho Naba, the last of the elected line, fought with them side by side from the bush and never surrendered to France . *** |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:18pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]and more European-minded brother became Mogho Naba . Had it not been for a stronger and not so trusting Council, he would have been taken in more easily . The wide use of "black" agents, usually Mulattoes, continued to be the white man's secret weapon in becoming masters of the black world . When the Blacks were on top they could pose as loyal members of the black race-as many of them were in fact ; or they could, having "white blood," ally themselves with the whites and serve their interests . The whites always made this both easy and attractive not only by emphasizing their superiority by blood, but by giving them better education and economic opportunities than Blacks under constant survival pressures could ever hope to achieve . This system became worldwide in dividing the race and creating hostile color bars within it . For since the Mulattoes had a better education and, therefore, a higher income than their black half-brothers and sisters, they, like the whites, regarded this superior social and economic status as the index of inherent superiority itself . Here superiority seemed to be a demonstrated fact of life, not a theory . And that was why the Mulatto, or Creole George Ekern Ferguson from Sierra Leone, now playing the role of a loyal Black African, was able not only to reach the Mogho Naba without any trouble, but even to negotiate a treaty on behalf of the British, something that all the Europeans had been unable to do . The internal situation was changing ; the fierce spirit of nationalism that diverted the German Togo threat had somehow declined . Now the shadows lengthened, The whites had also been busily building up and training strong black armies . Blacks trained to hate, kill, and conquer Blacks . Blood of Blacks was to sprinkle and further darken the pages of their history . The French were the most efficient in this development, the baffling phenomenon of Blacks more readily fighting and dying for the white man's cause then they are for their own . Indeed, Africa was conquered for the whites by the Blacks, and thereafter kept under colonial control by black police and black soldiers . Very little white blood was ever spilled . Black troops, small staffs of white officers and a core group of European soldiers . Instructions were strict and brief : Always use the Blacks . Keep European forces in reserve or in the rear . And so it was that in July, 1896 a French lieutenant named Voulet and his staff led a strong army of black cavalry and infantry across the Mossi borders to battle their way to Wagadugu . The last of the great black states in Africa was now makng its last stand under Mogho Naba[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:13pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]real importance in the history of the African people, however, was his reaffirmation of the white man's unchanging attitude toward the Blacks . Said he, "I feel that a white man traveling in this country, whoever he may be, should not prostrate himself before a black king, however powerful the latter may be . (He was not expected to do this .) It is necessary that a white man should inspire respect and consideration wherever he goes. They should come as masters (italics added), as the superior class of the society, and not have to bow their heads before indigenous chiefs to whom they are definitely superior in all respects ."7 In short, and in even plainer language, the lowest white scum of Europe, the most depraved, are, nevertheless, the superiors of the greatest black kings . The Caucasian Creed . It is a creed for destruction and death . Millions have already died for it and because of it . How many millions more? The future holds this secret . Meanwhile, the 1888 German army under Von Francois halted at the Mossi border . The great zongagongos (war drums) had sounded throughout Mossiland and easily reached the ears of the German forces. They were not fools . The death-defying Mossi armies were as well known as were their industries and flourishing trade . The Germans also knew that the Mossi forces were waiting for them, probably impatiently, under the personal command of the Tansoba himself (Minister of War) . One may wonder why Von Francois did not realize even before leaving Togoland garrisons, how foolhardy it would be to invade the country of the Mossi . In any event, he turned his forces back and thus avoided certain annihilation. The fact is that neither of the three great powers contending for Mossiland wanted to risk its forces in armed combat with these Blacks . Another stratagem was adopted : A war of attrition . Hit these fighting Blacks where it would hurt the most . Weaken them within by destroying their great international caravan routes . Throw the country into an economic panic. The British, French and Germans all participated in the great conspiracy . While the war against Mossi commerce was quietly pushed, the "friendly" missions to the Mogho Naba went forward, one after another, This was easy now ; after the death of Sanum, his weaker --------------------------------------------------- Notes 7 . Quoted in E .P . Skinner, The Mossi of the Upper Volta.[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 8:08pm On Mar 08, 2012 |
[b]even though Arabs and Europeans were increasingly based in all the surrounding countries during the 19th century . It was during the 19th century, however, that the Mossi exclusion of foreigners became less rigid, and there began a gradual relaxation of restrictions, especially of Muslim traders. Some were allowed to settle . And while it is true that the vanguard were Black Muslims from the now wholly Islamized neighboring black states, they paved the way and made it smoother for their white Muslim brothers. Moreover, an increasing number of young "modern" Mossi leaders began to consider the age-old policy of excluding whites as unenlightened, if not downright uncivilized . What did a great military power, the greatest in Africa, have to fear from a few white faces in the land? But what about the great Prophecy : when the first white man appeared in the land the nation would die? Nothing in Mossiland was better known and more universally believed than this rophecy . It was backed up because early Africans regarded white as evil in itself. Still the young moderns could declare the prophecy to be just another old saying," manifestly untrue, because some Arabs had been admitted into the country long ago and the nation still lived, stronger than ever. So it seemed . Meanwhile, Europeans were closing in on the continent and had the Mossi States surrounded : the British on the Gold Coast and in Ashanti to the south, the Germans next door in Togoland, while the French were pressing down from the north and the Ivory Coast on the west . All had their agents busily gathering as much as data as they could about this powerful and "overly proud" black nation . At first these agents had to operate from the outside, Dupuis from Ashanti, Koelle from Sierra Leone, and Krause from Togoland. There were many others . Krause, a German in Togoland, was supposed to be the first European to slip into the country with a caravan . The Great Prophecy was now about to be fulfilled, almost precisely . The first white European had entered the country . The next white man came in boldly in 1888, backed by the supreme powers of the French Empire (albeit called a Republic) . This emissary of conquest was Louis Binger. He came to place the country "under the protection of France ." He met a strong leader, still ready to fight, in the Mogho Naba Sanum, He rejected the proffered French protectorate as a ruse for conquest, resented Binger's haughty and disrespectful attitude, and ordered him out of the country at once . The Mogho Naba knew that at that very moment German troops were marching toward his borders . Binger's[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:50pm On Feb 28, 2012 |
To be continued, |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:45pm On Feb 28, 2012 |
[b]people can c on their own initiative without the aid of or even having seen a whitman . It was a basically farming society . A superficial, or even a non-expert look at the redish-brown soil would lead one to think that this would or could note a land for a flourishing agriculture . It gave the lie to my description , what in appearance seemed to be unproductive land in other parts of the continent-hard brown soil, robbed of its top soil and moisture . He in the Mossi States just about everything grew : cotton, millet, wheat, corn, peppers, yams, rice, peanuts, kola nuts, onions, tobacco, etc their industries included tanning, fine leather works, cloth making, bastry, straw hats, iron, lead and antimony, and copper ware, mats, jars, ps, pans, soap and dried fish . All of this production meant that the six caravan routes that crisscrossed the,country were the highways for a thriving export and import trade . They transported salt, coffee, tea, perfumes, carpets, fine robes and other things needed, such as needles, which they themselves did not produce. Ciron and cotton cloth seemed to lead in the Mossi export trade for a very long time . Honey was also an important part of the market tradition but I do not know whether it was found wild in abundance or was derived from a cultivated beehive industry .6 There we taxes levied on all trading transactions, on caravan transports through the country to other lands, and on foreign traders in the local markets throughout the country. The people paid an "income tax" in the form of a percentage of farm produce at harvest time or other commodities The Europeans had been hearing about this prosperous land that barred the whites from entering since the 15th century . Attempts had been madey various European "travelers and traders" to get inside this interior country for several centuries . All without success. Some sought permission just to pass through . But again without success . Even the usual white strategy of contacting and forming friendly relations with possible heirs to the throne and dissident factions did not succeed, -------------------------------------------------------- Notes 6 . I received conflicting answers to this question.[/b] |
| Politics › Re: The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams by Tochi3(op): 9:37pm On Feb 28, 2012 |
[b]Naba made the public proclamation with all the ceremonial pomp and splendid ostentation befitting one carged with such an awesome responsibility as that of naming the emperor . Yet everyone knew very well that the Ouidi Naba was merely announcing an election that had already been made by the Council of State . In addition to these councils at various local levels, the Mossi developed another way of controlling the behavior of rulers . This was the practice of moving from one unsatisfactory village or district to a more favorable one . Whole village ; might move from one district to another . No district chief could afford this direct reflection on his ability to "keep the people" 5, the most important of his inauguration oaths . It also tended to undermine the economy of his area . The question of absolutism in traditional Africa is interesting because it so often means the very opposite of what is understood by the term in Asia and the West. In seven different societies covered in my field studies in different regions, all declared that their traditional kings had "absolute powers" as rulers . Follow up analysis revealed that what was meant was that the chiefs or kings have "absolute power" to carry out the clearly understood will of the people-which, of course, is a far cry from self-assumed absolutism . There was no absolutism in Western terms . Even Shaka of the great Zulu empire complained because the council failed to check him in his excesses. He expected some control and guidance . This control was not attempted by a council overawed by his greatness as a leader . As indicated elsewhere, my studies show that factors such as the Zululand situation help to explain the decline of ancient African democratic systems .Asia and Europe were not responsible for everything that happened aDversely . The Mossi became the outstandig horse breeding country . The finest, swiftest breeds became their specialty . It was probably from this fact that they had dashing cavalry forces that so often carried them to victory and protected their land from conquest for over 500 years . There was a great outside demand for Mossi horses and donkeys . These became an important factor in one of the most economically advanced countries in Africa . We turn next to their economic enterprise and the prosperity that flowed from it as still nother illustration of what black ------------------------------------------------- Notes 5 . An African leader's oath to "keep the people" meant protecting and promoting the welfare of the people .[/b] |
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