THE 'NGAS' PEOPLE OF PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

THE RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE OF PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE OF PLATEAU, NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

African Traditional Religion has become part of the African lifestyle in such a way that separating one from the other is as good as annihilating the African continent and its inhabitants. This, we shall see in the way the Ngas people gave themselves to be molded, nurtured and cultured by their religion and traditions. Against this backdrop, emphasis will be made on the historical, religious and social life of the Ngas man, since we cannot separate his religious life from his social life.

For the purpose of this work, the writer will be limiting his research on one part of the Ngas people. We have the Hill Ngas and the Plain Ngas. The writer will write about the traditional religion of the Plain Ngas, inhabiting Amper, Kabwir, and other areas of Ampang East, Dawaki and Gyangyang in Kanke Local Government of Plateau State.

The beliefs and practices of the Ngas religion looks similar from one town to another, but also have some differences because the way things are done in one village varies from the other.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Ngas people are currently inhibiting the land of Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Areas in the Central Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria, some 120 kilometers and 150 kilometers respectively from Jos, the Plateau State capital. Pankshin occupies a land area of about 1523.6271 Sq. km, while kanke occupies a land area of about 926.0634 Sq. km respectively.

These people are said to have migrated from Egypt, Sudan or Chad to the Borno region. They set out of Borno, sometime between 1100 and 1350 A.D in search of a place to farm and care for their animals until they reach their current land which is called by the Ngas people Yil Ngas (Ngas land). The Plain Ngas settled in the areas of Amper, Kabwir, Dawaki, Ampang East and Gyangyang, about 600 to 800 metres above the sea level while the Hill Ngas occupies the mountains of Pankshin, Wokkos, Garam and many other places ranging from 800 to 1400 metres above the sea level.

THE CONCEPT OF A SUPREME BEING

The Ngas people believe in a Supreme Being called “Nen”. They do not have any other name that is revered as that of Nen because of his attributes. The omniscience of God is revealed in this statement, “Nen do gombi man!” meaning that God is all knowing. He is the Almighty, “Nen warang dung”, and the ever present God, “Nen gi”. He is also the God of justice and the God of the children, poor people, widows and orphans, and the sustainer of all things. However, he cannot be called upon directly, except during a serious need or when justice is denied.

THE CONCEPT OF THE SPIRIT WORLD

Spirits play a very important role in the beliefs of the Ngas religion. They are believed to have come from God to help mankind. These spirits are called “Zigol mwa” or “Kwi mwa”. The good spirits are called “Zigol rit mwa” or “Kwi rit mwa,” they bring blessings and stand between man and God. They are not and cannot be associated with evil. According to The Angas Creation Myth in a Christian Perspective, Kangdim says that “the process of multiplication started when the last spirit “Tingwut” gave birth to a son called “Kolji”. It was Kolji who was responsible for the generation of bad spirits” (T.C.N.N Reserch Buletin, number 11, November, 1981:3). These evil spirits bring about curses and all sorts of misfortune to the entire community. The evil spirits are called “Zigol bis mwa” or “Kwi bis mwa”. It was believed therefore that Nen is not the originator of evil, which is why he placed the good spirits to help mankind.

THE CONCEPT OF SALVATION

The Ngas people believe that there is life after death, where one’s spirit goes, stays for some time as the ancestor or living dead (wong) and comes back to be reincarnated or reborn.

They also believe in a concept of a ‘heaven’ called Zwal Sara (The Sara Hills). It was believed that when a person dies, what determines his life is how he gets to Sara. Rev. Dr. Gotom, in an oral interview said that, “Zwal Sara was said to be a blissful place, where they spend time enjoying and playing music”. They often say that “ngo sa bis mwa run Sara da ka!” meaning that the wicked and evil people will never get to Sara. Therefore, since the evil people cannot get to Sara, they come back as “Kapwan” (ghost) and torment people. The elders of the land are responsible for chasing the kapwan away, and his end is that he will continue to reduce in size and shape until he is finally picked up be a hawk (nkalin).

Another belief is that when a young person dies in battle or is attacked in the bush, provided women are not aware of it, the person will be called home by the elders. However, only particular sets of people are usually called home, they are called “jep rit mwa” or “gyemrit” meaning the blessed children or blessed child. But when the news of that fellow gets home before he arrives, the elders will talk to him and after which he lives to a distant land and lives his life as a normal human being. This belief is still held today, especially for those in the armed forces, which serves as a sign of security and protection in case of death in the battle field or accidents.

WORSHIP OF THE HIGH GOD

Worship is not directly to Nen because he is very remote from man. In an effort to reach him, they “wap kum” and “won mwa,” meaning the worship of idols, ancestor and divinities. Worship is usually done in the shrine “Lit”. It is in the shrine that the sacrifices and prayers that involve the whole community are carried out. This is done through the sprinkling of blood, water, mos (beer) and certain crops depending on the kind of sacrifice. Yilji captures this in the Ngas Concept of God and Spiritual Beings, a T.C.N.N Buletin as:

The Ngas traditionalists offer sacrifices to their ancestors but with the understanding that Nen who knows and sees everything will bring blessings as a result of their worship and prayers. Thus it appears as if the ancestors are not worshiped as such, but are mediators and fellow worshippers on a higher level, who also posses divine powers.(Number 16, February 1986:30-31).

However, failure to sacrifice to these ancestors and spirits will result to serious misfortune and calamity upon the whole community.

Fellowship meal (gwim) is usually prepared and the whole community partakes in it. This is to purify the community against tormenting people with evil spirits called “ne zi” or any act that is considered a taboo like stealing or adultery.

MAJOR DIVINITIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Kangdim in his work, The High God in African Tradition Religion mentions the following as the most important divinities in Ngas land: Tau, Yer, Kumpel, Poting, Tar, Gashi, and Fwan (T.C.N.N Research Bulletin, number 9, April, 1981:21). Worship to these divinities is marked by festivals either in the dry or rainy season.

TAU - this is a male divinity that is responsible for blessing the whole community in terms of fertility of humans, animals and farm crops. However, when sacrifices are not offered to him, or something goes wrong, he brings misfortune on the whole community.

YER-This is a female divinity responsible for the defense of the territory of the inhabitants. She also maintained peace and order in the community.

Moral purity of the people is maintained by her and she could kill a person involve who is involved in fornication, adultery and theft except the person confess and sacrifices are offered to appease her.

KUMPEL-Is responsible for the fertility of women as well as the potency of men.

POTING- This is a highly respected divinity because he brings about the riches and wealth of the community in every dimension. Individuals seeking personal fortune goes into agreement with this divinity; he promises them wealth in exchange of human’s life every year. Even though the individual becomes rich, it is usually short-lived because when he sacrifices all the members of his family, poting will also kill him in the end.

TAR- This is the moon divinity, and is responsible for the harvest and bringing in the new year (dry season). He is usually celebrated at the end of the rainy season, around October before the people harvest their farm produce.

GASHI- This is the war divinity and must be consulted before going for any battle. He also defenses the kingship against wickedness and evil intentions.

FWAN-It means rain. This rain divinity is directly responsible for the rains. Sacrifices are made before the rain, during and after the rain to avoid drought or limited rainfall.

 THE RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE

PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH

In the Ngas culture, when a woman takes in, serious attention is given to her because she may be carrying one of the ancestors. The pregnant woman is usually taken care of by the elderly women in the family. Just some few months or weeks to her delivery, certain herbs like “sin njamma” and “yom mwal” are giving to the woman to ease delivery. Mr. Goyin Gotus says that “once these herbs are giving to her, she will deliver without having difficulty” (interviewed in Jos). The circumstances surrounding the birth of a child determine the name that will be given to him or her. If the child is born in the night, his or her name will be “Gopar” or “Napar”, and this form the basis for naming. In some instances, Nen is used in the names giving go people, for example, Nenrot or Nenfot means God loves or God hears respectively.

Twins have special names; if they are both males, their names are Jan and Dakom; if they are both females, Ngas call them Janna and Nakom. If they are mixed, that is male and female or female and male, the first person retains the first name above while the second person retains the last name whether male or female.

CIRCUMCISION

In Ngas traditional religion, only males are circumcised. Circumcision (Vwang) is usually carried out on young adults who are getting to a new phase in their lives. This stage marks the beginning of education into the Ngas religion. The young adults are camped in a far place away from home, this rite of separation usually last for about 30 to 60 days, and many mysteries of worship, the ancestors and the spirits will be revealed to them. This is the period to test and know who is who among the young men. The brave are referred to as real men (gomis), while the weak might never get to the end. If a person dies during this period, the slogan is that “won se kora”, meaning that the ancestors have eaten him up.

No woman is allowed to see “wong” or the participants. Therefore, when wong is coming, the slogan used to inform people about his presence is “mat lammo!” meaning that all women should hide or disappear. This also holds for male children who are not circumcised because they are considered as women.

The first and most important thing for any male to be a man is circumcision. Part of the training is that you will be severely beaten to an extent that if you are not brave you will die. Another form of training is that they will introduce you to “wong mwa” (ancestors). From there, you will also be taken by night to go and see the graves of your ancestors. Before the end of the camp, you will be taken to “Lit” (shrine), and there, you will be taught how to worship the ancestors and some basics or rudiments of the traditional religious system will be revealed. Gonet says that ““Manok” or “wong gum” is concerned with the circumcision and initiation of boys” (1994:60). This “wong” instills discipline and removes fear from the young men, he also removes the women nature out of them so that they hold sacred everything that is done and this cannot be revealed to any woman, not even your mother or wife later in the future.

At the end of this initiation, the rite of incorporation into the community is marked by a festival, welcoming the warriors back home, not as the boys who left some months back but as men, tested and trusted. During this celebration, the Ngolong (chief) will come to the village square to welcome them. The families of the initiated men will also come with gifts for them. Family in Ngas land includes the father, mother, grand and great grandparents as well as uncles and everybody that is related to them. The gifts for these young warriors include: Pas (spear), banne (traditional attire), skin of wild animals and different things will be presented to them.

It is imperative to say that initiation into the traditional religion does not end after the circumcision, but that as one grows in obedience and dedication to the worship of “wong wma,” the more the person is initiated into more forms and ways of worship. The key to this is being truthful and living a morally pure life.

From this stage, you are not to engage in fornication or adultery, because you will become “ngo sa bis” an evil person and as such cut off from the shrine worship. In fact, the greatest evil that one can do is to go into sexual relationship with somebody’s wife. You will be an outcast and it will never end well with you. This is illustrated in the statement that “ngo sa bis khi rap kin” meaning that associating with this kind of person is putting yourself at risk or under attack by the ancestors.

 MARRIAGE

The first criteria for marriage in Ngas land is that the man must be circumcised, while the woman must have experienced menstruation (but le nyi). There is a kind of dance called “Nahiet” and if a man knows how to sing, dance or play the drum (kung) very well, ladies will usually rally round him. If he likes any of them, he will have to inform his parents to investigate her family and thereafter start the process. Another way of getting to know who you want to marry may be an interest of the parents; in a way of continuing with friendship, parents can organize that their children marry each other. A young man may also have interest in a lady and approach her (kwem). If she agrees, he will relate it to his parents.

After this stage, the parents of the young man will go and introduce themselves to the family of the lady, and inform them about the interest of their son. They usually go with “taba” (tobacco). Before the parents agree, the lady must be consulted first before any one smokes the tobacco. If the says yes, she is pledging and agreeing that the process of marriage should continue, but if she says no then nothing will go on again.

The next thing after the tobacco is “kin” (salt). The salt will be share to all the extended members of the family, informing them that their daughter is about to marry. After this period, the friends of the young man will snatch the girl to his home. Since they are not yet married, the girl will stay with his mother. The following day, she will be taken back to her parents with four to five goats as dowry. The man will then organize his friends to go and farm for his in-laws.

The man will build houses, usually round shape, and harvest grasses that will be used to roof the houses. The lady will in turn invite her friends to assist her in weaving the grasses for the roofing, as well as building the places for cooking and house work. She will still return home to her parents before she comes back fully as a wife.

The women in her family will then organize a send-forth for her. What they do is to educate her on how to run her family. They also tell her that this is how we do things in our clan, so if you go, do this and that.

 DEATH AND BURIAL

When a person dies, the Ngas people usually mourn (mep) for three days. This is a period of wailing, where the relatives of the deceased and the whole community come together to sympathize with each other because they are fully integrated. After three days, the mourning is concluded (mwa fat pi), but the impact of the lost remains with the community for a while.

When an elderly person dies, it is said that he has joined the ancestors, and a lot of shrine worship and sacrifices will be done before burial. Conversely, when a young person dies, the wailing is usually more because they believe that somebody must be responsible for his death. Mr. Gompil Y Bonkul said that “he will grieve his son very well because he knows that somebody or a witch is responsible for his death” (interviewed in Amper). This concept is reflected even today in the sense that when a person dies, the first consideration is who killed him.

Burial is done by digging a grave (tun), usually in the form of a well, and the deceased is placed sitting down of a stone, facing the East, and a big stone is rolled to seal the tomb. The deceased is usually dressed in the traditional attire to meet the ancestors. Very few people are allowed to see or touch the dead body, it is sacred and a taboo for children or women to touch it. Very elderly men as well as the men perform the burial rites. Sacrifices are done to send the deceased ancestor to the spirit realm where he can watch over them as the living dead.

The chief’s (Ngolong) tomb is just one, and when he dies, the tomb of the former Ngolong will be reopen, the bones of the former chief will be put aside so that the deceased chief will be buried. Burial of the chief also include rites and sacrifices to the ancestors.

 CONCLUSION

Having gone through this tribe and carefully study  it’s concept of God, spirits and the world in general, the writer will say that no matter how great these traditions seem, our final stand as Christians is the biblical concept of God, spirits, and how man can worship God in truth and in spirit. Any attempt to go out of this is going back to the traditional religion of our past ancestor.

It is mind bogging to see that the traditionalists gave themselves completely to the unknown God who is far away from them, yet committed to him in upholding purity and rites in their worship.

The way these people were able to put themselves in worship is really commendable; the scriptures made it clear that in the conscience of man, he knows that somebody somewhere who is bigger and better than him is responsible for all that is around him.

The shocking thing is that many so called ‘Christians’ today are neither Christians nor traditionalists. While thinking that they are out of traditional worship, they have not fully giving themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. Until we come to reality in Christ, we will be a lost generation who just exist without real essence or purpose in life.

The quest for God and how to worship him was the soul of Africa by African traditionalists. They tried to reach to God but could not reach him because they worked base on what their ancestors passed to them. For us Christians today, Christ has set a pattern for us to follow and unless we go after him, we may as well be chasing shadows like the people of the old.

It is my prayer that you will not just read this document and feel proud about the Rites of Passage of the Ngas People but that you will value your relationship with God even better than any other relationship.

God bless you, amen.

Raphaels Shiknet Manasseh

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gonet, Ishaya.             Angas Traditional Religious Sacrifices and its Influence on Christians in Amper district of Pankshin LGC, of Plateau State. Jos: JETS Thesis, 1994.

Kangdim, Jotham.       The High God in African Traditional Religion. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 9, 1981.

_____________          The Angas Creation Myth in Christian Perspective. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 11, 1981.

Yilji, Deshi.                The Ngas Concept of God and Spirit Beings. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 16, 1986.

Bonkul, Gompil.         Oral interview. Amper, kanke: 3^rd October, 2009.

Gotus, Goyin.             Oral interview. Jos: 10^th October, 2009.

Rev.Dr. Musa Gotom.Oral interview. Jos: 7^th October, 2009.

Kemet & Maat : before Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Kemet: The Place of The Blacks As Symbolized In The Medu Netcher (Hieroglyphics) And Related Issues)

Kemet: The Place of The Blacks As Symbolized In The Medu Netcher (Hieroglyphics) And Related issues Legrand H. Clegg II, Editor & Publisher *
Volume II, Edition  

As clearly noted in previous issues of the Maat Newsletter, there have been many attacks on African-centered scholarship in the past few years. These not-so-subtle attempts to diffuse the spreading of more accurate information about the history of Africans in the world have ranged from personal attacks to character assassinations on such eminent scholars as Ivan Sertima and Asa G. Hilliard III. The bulk of the media and scholarly venom has been directed toward scholars who insist on placing Ancient Kemet in its proper position as an African Nation. Even those European scholars who considered an African origin for the civilization of Kemet felt the need to contribute the growth of the ancient language of Kemet to outside influence, specifically Mesopotamia. Consider this quote from Alan Gardiner (Martin Bernal�s grandfather), whose Egyptian Grammar book is considered the bible for many European egyptologists: "Unfortunately the origin of the Egyptian Language lies so far back in the uncharted past that only little that is certain can be said about it. Since it is generally agreed that the oldest population of Egypt was of African race, it might be expected that their language should be African too."(1) Gardiner goes on to say that the affinity between Semitic languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic is "equally unmistakable, if indeed not greater" than the African influence." The German scholar Adolph Erman wrote in the 19th century that: "The question of the race-origin of the Egyptians has long been a matter of dispute between the ethnologists and philologists, the former maintaining the African theory of descent, the latter the Asiatic. Ethnologists assert that nothing exists in the physical structure of the Egyptian to distinguish him from the native African, and that from the Egyptian to the negro population of tropical Africa, a series of links exists which do not admit of a break."(2) He states further: "Therefore, they say, many old customs of the ancient Egyptians are now found amongst the people of the Upper Nile. I will only instance the curious head-rest still used in the east of the Sudan to protect the wig� On the other side philologists maintain that the language of the ancient Egyptians has distinct kinship with that of the so-called Semitic nations."(3) So it seems that these two well-respected egyptologists, one English, the other German, conceded to a generally accepted view of the ancient population of Kemet as being African. The unsettled question is how an African population could develop a language with such strong "Semitic" language ties? Dr. Theophile Obenga, one of the world�s foremost linguists, has diachronic and synchronic linguistics to solve this problem. Diachronic linguistics is the study of a language and its modifications over a long period of time. Synchronic linguistics is the study of a language at any given moment. By using the interlocking studies of diachronic and synchronic linguistics, together with the comparative method of studying languages, Dr. Obenga has reached these insights: The language of ancient Kemet is not genetically linked to either the Semitic or the Berber languages. The terms "Hamito-Semitic" or Afro-Asiatic" are products of a scientific hoax. According to Dr. Obenga, "�Hamito-Semitic� or �Afro-Asiatic� reminds us of another famous scientific swindle, but this time in archaeology, the bogus discovery of the alleged remains of prehistoric man, Piltdown Man in 1912."(4) There can be shown scientifically the genetic affinities between the language of ancient Kemet and: Acoli (Nilotic) Banda (Central African Republic) Ngbandi (Central African Republic) Luganda (Uganda) Sena (Zambia) Zulu (South Africa) Baoule (Ivory Coast) Snufo (Manianka, Mali) Hausa (Nigeria) Bambara (Mali) Wolof (Senegal) and many other African languages. "The numerous morphological, syntactic, phonetic and lexicological concordances that can be clearly established between Pharaonic Egyptian, Coptic, and all modern black African languages are of an historical genetic order�"(5) Those who perpetuate the unscientific approach to Medu Netcher (hieroglyphics) by using such terms as "Hamito-Semitic" or "Afro-Asiatic" wish to place the ancient world of the Jewish people (the Hebrews) and the Pharaonic world of the Nile Valley on an equal footing, although we know that the Hebrews created no significant contribution to the development of civilization in antiquity except in [a] religion for which ancient Egypt is owed a tremendous debt."(6) This type of reasoning, though logical and well documented, tends to become buried under the endless chatter of scholars and journalists whose only mission, it seems, is to try to discredit African people. Preying in the lack of information concerning the language of Kemet among the general public, a deception has been perpetrated for years by European scholars who have distorted the meaning of the word "Kemet." Kemet is what the ancient people of the Nile Valley called what is erroneously known as "Ancient Egypt." According to European egyptologists Egypt is a Greek word, a corruption of the city name "He ka Ptah" (city of Ptah). The word Egypt was not used until 300 b.c.e., after the conquest of Kemet by Alexander, son of Phillip of Macedonia. In books by European egyptologists, Kemet is translated as "the black land," in an attempt to state that the people named their country after the soil that resulted from the annual inundation of the Nile River. This is not the translation that the texts themselves show us. Before looking at the correct meaning of the word Kemet, a brief description of the way Medu Netcher operates will be provided. Medu Netcher is a highly complex language that exists on many levels. It is pictorial (ideograms), symbolic (determinatives), and phonetic (phonograms) at the same time. Any symbol could be pictorial (used to represent itself). Determinatives are generally used at the end of words to help clarify meaning. There are three types of phonograms: monoliterals (one sign, one sound), biliterals (one sign, two sounds), and triliterals (one sign, three sounds). Monoliterals are also used as phonetic complements. A phonetic complement is used as a reading aid; it may be placed before or after a bi- or triliteral as a visual reminder or reinforcement of the pronunciation of the word shown. This is the word Kemet . The first symbol, a piece of charred wood (some say a crocodile�s spine), is the biliteral "km." The owl symbolizes the monoliteral "m," used in this instance as a phonetic complement. The third symbol is a loaf of bread, the monoliteral "t." The last symbol, a determinative, is very important for our discussion of this word. This symbol depicts an aerial view of a circular walled settlement displaying a network of roads. Here the symbol is drawn in abstract which has been reduced to the two principal axes . These types of cities have been unearthed in excavations in Upper Kemet dating from the oldest epochs of urbanization. Also this symbol has been documented on predynastic palettes. This symbol is very easily distinguished from the symbol for land, ta, which represents the flat plain of the valley that is often painted black to represent the fertile soil. It invokes the idea of Ancient Kemet, the black flood plain, the gift of the Nile; which is quite different from the concept of Kemet as the civilized Country of the Blacks, which is the literal translation of the word Kemet in Medu Netcher. One concept represents the land given to the Ancient Africans by God, and the other represents the country as a civilized unit developed by the Africans themselves. As shown in Alan Gardiners� Egyptian Grammar book, is a naturally occurring symbol, and is a man-made symbol. Therefore it is not possible to correctly state that they mean the same thing; undeveloped land is different than developed land. When the people wanted to describe themselves, they used the same symbols, Kmt, but they changed the determinative to a seated man and woman, placed in front of the plural sign (three vertical strokes), indicating a collective nominative, referring to "human beings," "people," "ethnic groups," which taken in total can only be translated as "Black People." Most Europeans translate this word as "Egyptians." It is obvious that anyone who has studied the language of Kemet and continues to translate these words as "Egypt" or "Egyptian," is purposely attempting to mislead and misinform. The proper translation of classical African languages is part of the work that must be done in order to "�construct a body of modern human sciences, in order to renovate African culture."(7) Footnotes Sir Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxford University Press, 1961, pg. 19. Adolf Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, Dover Publications, Inc., 1971, pg. 29. Ibid. pg. 30. Theophile Obenga, "Genetic Linguistic Connections of Ancient Egypt and the Rest of Africa," in African Intellectual Heritage: A Book of Sources, ed. by Molefi Kete Asante and Abu S. Abarry, Temple University Press, 1996, pg. 266. See also Theophile Obenga, Ancient Egypt and Black Africa: A Student�s Handbook for the Study of Ancient Egypt in Philosophy, Linguistics, and Gender Relations, Kamak House, 1992. Ibid. pg. 281. Ibid. pg. 271. The spiritual system of Kemet laid the foundation for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. See also Who Is This King of Glory?, by Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Kessinger Publishing Co., Christianity Before Christ, John G. Jackson, and The Book Your Church Doesn�t Want You To Read, ed. by Tim Leedom. Cheikh Anta Diop, Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991, pg. 3. © 1998 CHEIKH ANTA DIOP INSTITUTE OF EGYPTOLOGY AND AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS

An ancient Black Africans’ belief about the white man worth revisiting

Dr Chancellor Williams writes in The Destruction of Black Civilisation an interesting narrative compelling enough which, once well understood, could explain many aspects of the African continent past and recent misfortunes. One particularly refers to what Black Africans thought of the white man represented in their subconscious and spectrum of beliefs, this before the latter settled in the land and transformed their lives forever. Williams reflects on some great African nations/empires of the past which prospered by among other things keeping at bay the white man. For example, the Mossi did not admit any settlement of foreigners in their territory. Mossi people believed that when the first white man appeared in the land the nation would die.

Williams explains,  ‘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 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.

… 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 adopted by all white people. [please look at recent divisions among African leaders on issues of Libya and Ivory Coast or ongoing prevalence of AFRICOM in a number of African countries]

…”Christian civilisation” served as the charm words in the white man’s magic with the incantations which hypnotised both the victims and himself. They believed they were being introduced to a better life, while the latter convinced himself that even the enslaved people were better under the white standard for civilisation – besides which there was no other.

But they were smart enough to realise that the foundation for a permanent empire in the land of another people, built with their own sweat and blood, would be more successful if the minds of the people could be captured first [think of Hollywood movies, 24/7 global broadcasters of today which shape the thinking of billions of people around the world, financial institutions such as IMF and WB promoting economic policies which favour expansion of Western multinationals, while WTO cannot open up Western markets to products from developing countries].

One did not go in with guns blazing. Only fools did this, except in cases where the “natives” were too damn smart and saw through every scheme, no matter how shining the Cross or how white the extended hand. …First of all, the really big thing was to change the Blacks into the white man’s image – process, which caused Blacks to reject  and become ashamed of both their culture and themselves, the only people on earth to do so.

…The Africans who adopted European or Asian institutions, such as Islam and Christianity, for example, were not only “influenced” by them, but often transformed into “Black Arabs,” “Black Portuguese,””Black Frenchmen,””Black Englishmen” and so on.

In fact, it was this very transforming external influence that played a decisive role in first destroying the best in African civilisation while at the same time giving worldwide publicity to all remaining elements of barbarism that could be found. The new masters of the continent were in the position of all-power and could, therefore, make their viewpoints the viewpoints of the world. The system of reducing Blacks to non-persons was so thoroughgoing that not only did the various people of the world regard them as such, but –tragedy of tragedies-the Blacks themselves came to feel inferior and to hate themselves and all of their kind. Magic? Here, indeed, a magical thing had happened since these whites who called themselves Portuguese had arrived.

As the 15th century moved on toward the 19th, the Europeans became less and less “white devils” and more white masters, backed up by awesome firepower. “White” was no longer the face of evil in the Black world. It had changed places with “black.” Now “black” was the badge of evil, all that was bad – even bad luck. To make a white man look evil you had to dress him in black; life’s final tragedy, death, called for mourning in black; happy events, such as baptisms and weddings, required the wearing of white. God Himself, being white, had cursed the Blacks and made them the “servants of man” – man being white man, for was not he made in the “image of God?” To worship God, in effect, was to worship the white man.

In present times the white man has settled everywhere on the African continent. At the time of the Mossi Empire, since its people were great traders and needed to travel places to sell their products, they allowed to settle in the land only foreigners who were traders [probably with a number of criteria that they had to fulfil]. In modern times, global structures and agreements between nations have been established particularly since the two World Wars. But these mechanisms are dominated by the white man and the result of such situation is that they have been serving its interests more than anybody or anything else.

Examples of using the United Nations [where permanent powers represented by the victors of WW2] are numerous to prove that Western countries, mainly US, UK and France use the institution to preserve their comparative world influence. UN and its contingents in Democratic Republic of Congo, working with friendly dictators like Museveni of Uganda, Kagame of Rwanda, Zenawi of Ethiopia, and others on the African continent, this at the expense of the welfare of natives, are additional cases to demonstrate evolving tactics that the white man continues to use to pursue the decline and death of the black nations.

Libyan and Ivory Coast recent invasions/interventions by the West, even though allowed through UN, are part and parcel of the same strategies of economic occupation of the continent. The way African leaders behaved throughout the two political crises show that the continent will find very difficult to retrieve its glorious place in the world, like this was during the times of pharaohs. A new spirit and generation of Africans guided by the greatness of their ancestors who were black world leaders that the rest looked upon are needed.

The Black God and his Black Bull

In ancient Egypt the bull (Eg. ka, neka, ah) was a symbol of fertility, renewal, sexual virility, and brute strength or power, which is why ancient Egyptian kings were particularly associated with the virile male species of the animal. The horns of the bull came to signify masculinity and sexual virility. Bulls were also strongly linked to the moon (Eg. Aah) and the constellation of Ursa Major. From the earliest times in ancient Egypt the wild bull (Lat. bos primigenius), unlike the cow, was not always sacred and was often hunted, eaten and sacrificed. Bulls appeared to have been associated with creation in that at the beginning of time the creator-god (probably alluding to Atum or Atum-Re) had created four pairs of bulls and cows. In the Pyramid Texts there are many references to bulls and wild bulls in association with the king and the sky of the Duat. According to inscriptions dated to the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BCE) the bull was associated with the god Re. Several kings of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE) bore the titles of ‘mighty bull’ (ka-nakht), ‘Bull of Horus’ (Heru ka), ‘Horus the mighty bull’ (Heru ka-nakht), ‘Bull of Heaven’ (An-Smet, Ka-Pet), and ‘Bull of his mother’ (Kamutef). The king was also the bull calf (Eg. mes, mess). The king’s mother would represent herself as a cow (i.e., Apt, Hathor, Hes, Isis) or red-golden heifer, which was considered particularly sacred, although it could be sacrificed as well. There were three types of bulls particularly sacrosanct to the ancient Egyptians: the Apis bull, the Mnevis bull and the Buchis bull. Perhaps the most sacred of these were the Apis and Buchis.

Statue of the Apis Bull shown with markings and carrying the solar disc with uraeus.

As well as being associated with the king, The Apis (associated with Hapi or Hor-Hapi) was considered the soul or ba of Re or ‘herald’ (Eg. whmw) of Ptah. The Apis is also the image of the soul of Osiris, the Bull of Eternity, the Bull of Djedu. The Apis was revered at the Temple of Ptah at ancient Memphis, and was thought to have been chosen for sacrifice but the animal had to be clean of hairs and free of blemishes. Some experts doubt this to be true. The Apis was also the bull of futuries, being able to bestow omens and prophecies and to even grant people wishes.

In 450 BCE the Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote that the cult of the Apis began during the second dynasty (2890-2686 BCE), also wrote that the Apis bull was completely black but bore a white diamond on its forehead, had the image of a vulture (no doubt representing either Mut or Nekhbet) on its back, double hairs on its tail, and a mark in the shape of a scarab under its tongue. The Apis was thought to have been born from a flash of lightning, which would explain the god Min’s association with the title Kamutef. The god Min, whose cult was celebrated on the new moon and whose shrine also featured the horns of a bull, was thought to be a black bull which reincarnated into a white bull, representing the transformation from death to life. Min, of course, was the god of thunder and lightning par excellence which suitably recalls the lightning flash motif associated with the Apis bull. Herodotus also writes that the mother cow of the Apis bull can only give birth once in its entire lifetime.

A festival was given in honour of the Apis bull, which lasted several days whereupon a grand procession was given. When the bull died the priests, guided by the wisdom of their sacred texts, would scout for another Apis bull to take its place. The new bull, which was considered a manifestation of the soul or ba of Osiris, was kept for forty days near a city close to the Nile; during which only women were allowed to see it. The bull was then taken to the city of Memphis upon a boat. The Apis bull was said to have lived for some twenty five years and no more, after which the bull was sacrificed and the search for a new Apis began again. Sometimes the Apis would die a natural death, which apparently a very momentous occasion was given as a result. The sacrificed Apis bull was embalmed at Memphis and public lamentations began not unlike that given for the death of Osiris.

The death of an Apis bull was associated with the death of Osiris, who was in turn also associated with the dead king. As previously mentioned this occasion prompted national mourning, and a great procession was held taking the embalmed animal from Memphis to Sakkara to be buried in the underground catacombs (Lat.Serapeum). The identification of the dead Apis with Osiris led to the development of the syncretistic god Osorapis, and later in Greco-Roman times the god Serapis was introduced at Alexandria in Lower Egypt.

Mnevis Bull

From Heliopolis in the south came the Mnevis (Eg. Men-wer) bull or Mnevis ox or Bull of Hapi. The Mnevis bull was regarded as the ba of Re at Heliopolis. It was depicted as a completely black bull carrying a solar disc and uraeusbetween its huge horns. Like the Apis it was the bull of oracles and prophecies, and it had its own separate cult. The Mnevis bull came to be associated with the creator-god Atum-Re, and was even adopted by Akhenaton (1352-1336 BCE). The Greeks believed, due to the bull’s veneration at Heliopolis, that the Mnevis was closely associated with the sun. The goddess Hesat or Hest was thought to have given birth to the Mnevis bull.

The Buchis (Eg. Bakha) was the sacred bull of the war-god Montu at Armant (anc. Iunu-Montu). The Buchis bull was considered to be the ba of both Osiris and Re. The bull was chosen on the basis of its unique markings, and along with the mothers of the bulls the Buchis bull was buried in the underground catacombs (Lat. Bucheum). The Greek god Bacchus, who is sometimes shown with the head of an ox, is thought to be associated with the bull due to the fact that Bacchus is the god chiefly identified with Osiris in Greco-Roman times.

Scene from the stele of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205-180 BCE) showing the Buchis bull.

Other bulls in ancient Egypt included the pure white ‘Bull of Min’ at Koptos (anc.Gebtu) and the ‘Great Black bull’ (Eg. Kem-wer) at Athribis (anc. Hut Repyt). Osiris was the ‘Bull of the West’ (ka amenti) whilst his son Horus was the bull-headed hawk in his name of Hor-ka-pet (‘Horus bull of the Sky’). In the old Pyramid Texts the lunar god Thoth is described as ‘the Great Bull’ (ka-wer). There was the ‘Burning Bull’ (Eg. ka pasy), and the red bull (Eg. ah-tesher) at Karnak was that of the god Khonsu. The bull was revered at Kanobos in Lower Egypt. As the bull was strongly linked to the moon and the constellation of Ursa Major (‘Great Bear’), the division in which the constellation of Orion (Eg. Sah) sits is known in astrological terms as Taurus. Taurus is actually a cluster of stars known as the Hyades (‘the Rainy Ones’), which form a ‘V’ resembling the head of a bull and the two bright stars mark the tips of the horns.

Urgent Health Campaign for Robert Seth Hayes #74-A-2280

Urgent        Health Campaign for         Robert Seth Hayes#74-A-2280

Talking Points:

Robert Seth      Hayes is currently 65 years old. We are requesting  an appropriate medical      work-up in an outside facility for abnormal      weight loss, because Mr. Hayes has lost 40 pounds in the last 3 months      and currently weighs only    140 pounds max. 40 lbs of weight loss in a few months is very concerning      for cancer and cancer      needs to be ruled out. This is most urgently needed for Seth’s health      right now. This weight loss is acute and clearly urgent.

Mr. Hayes  was      first diagnosed with Type II diabetes in the year 2000. In the 13 years      since        then, DOCCS has        been completely unable to control his blood sugar levels. At the time      he was diagnosed, Mr. Hayes was at Clinton. He was transferred to Wende      in        2003 and then to Sullivan in 2010.

Throughout this time,      Mr. Hayes’ sugar      levels have either soared to the 300 to 400 levels or been extremely low,      in the 50 to 70 levels, both    life-threatening. Mr. Hayes also has Hepatitis C, for which he is currently    not receiving any treatment. Diabetes      is an insidious disease, and the constant sugar fluctuations can lead to      renal    failure, coma or stroke.

NYS DOCCS states on its      website that denial of adequate medical care is a violation of a person’s      eighth amendment constitutional rights, as this would be cruel and unusual      punishment. Of course, adequate medical care    would include a diabetic diet, which is absolutely not provided by NYS DOCCS.    Additionally, they refuse to allow food package items such as diabetic cookies    and candies.

Since NYS DOCCS has been      completely unable to control Mr. Hayes’ sugar    levels during the past 13 years, the community requests that he be taken    to an outside medical facility for a complete diagnosis and adequate care.

Of course, if Robert Seth Hayes had been released on parole instead of having    15 years added to his sentence by the NYS DOCCS Parole Board, he would be    a free man today and would have better access to adequate medical care than    he currently does.

Please write,      call, fax and email the following people and insist that Robert Seth Hayes,      DIN No. 74-A-2280, be taken to an outside medical facility as    soon as possible. If you are a doctor, nurse, or any other kind of medical    personnel, please use your letterhead. Please email nycjericho@gmail.com    and let us know what response you receive. Also, if you are able to find    out any additional phone or fax numbers, we will be grateful for the information.

Acting Commissioner            Anthony J. Annucci   NYS Department of Corrections   and Community Supervision   Harriman State Campus, Building 2   1220 Washington Ave   Albany, New York 12226-2050   Phone: (518) 457-8126	Carl J. Koenigsmann          M.D. Deputy Commissioner/Chief      Medical Officer NYS DOCCS Division of Health Services Harriman State Campus, Building #2 1220 Washington Avenue Albany, New York 12226-2050 Phone: 518-457-7073 Fax: 518-457-2115
Elizabeth Ritter         Assistant Commissioner         for Health Services         NYS DOCCS Division of Health Services         Harriman State Campus, Building #2         1220 Washington Avenue         Albany, New York 12226-2050Elizabeth.Ritter@doccs.ny.gov	Division of Health Services   Nancy A. Lyng, MS, Director of Health Services   Operations and Management   Harriman State Campus, Building #2   1220 Washington Avenue   Albany, New York 12226-2050 (518) 457-7072
Sullivan Correctional            Facility   P.O. Box 116, 325 Riverside Drive   Fallsburg, NY 12733-0116 845-434-2080   Patrick Griffin, Superintendent

The letter Huey P. Newton to the Republic of New Afrika

This is Huey P. Newton at Los Padres, California 1969, September 13. Greetings to the Republic of New Africa and President Robert Williams. I’m very happy to be able to welcome you back home. I might add that this is perfect timing. And we need you very much, the people need you very much. And now that the consciousness of the people is at such a high level, perhaps they will be able to appreciate your leadership, and also be ready to move in a very revolutionary fashion.

Some time ago I received a message from the Republic of New Africa with a series of questions concerning the philosophy of the Black Panther Party; and very detailed questions on certain stands, and our thinking on these positions. At that time I wasn’t prepared to send a message out. I’ve had to think about many of the questions, and due to the situation here it’s very difficult for me to communicate, so this explains the lapse of time between question and answer. I won’t be able to expound on all the questions but I would like to give some general explanations of the Black Panther Party’s position, as related to the Republic of New Africa.

The Black Panther Party’s position is that the Black people in the country are definitely colonized, and suffer from the colonial plight more than any ethnic group in the country. Perhaps with the exception of the Indian, but surely as much even as the Indian population. We too, realize that the American people in general are colonized. And they’re colonized simply because they’re under a capitalist society, with a small clique of rulers who are the owners of the means of production in control of decision making. They’re the decision making body, therefore, that takes the freedom from the American people in general, and they simply work for the enrichment of this ruling class. As far as Blacks are concerned, of course, we’re at the very bottom of this ladder, we’re exploited not only by the small group of ruling class, we’re oppressed, and repressed by even the working class Whites in the country. And this is simply because the ruling class, the White ruling class uses the old Roman policy of divide and conquer. In other words the White working class is used as pawns or tools of the ruling class, but they too are enslaved. So it’s with that historical policy of dividing and ruling, that the ruling class can effectively and successfully keep the majority of the people in an oppressed position; because they’re divided in certain interest groups, even though these interests that the lower class groups carry doesn’t necessarily serve as beneficial to them.

As far as our stand on separation, we’ve demanded, as you very well know, a plebiscite of the U.N. to supervise, so that Blacks can decide whether they want to secede the union, or what position they’ll take on it. As far as the Black Panther Party is concerned we’re subject to the will of the people, but we feel that the Republic of New Africa is perfectly justified in demanding and declaring the right to secede the union. So we don’t have any contradiction between the Black Panther Party’s position and the Republic of New Africa’s position it’s simply a matter of timing. We feel that certain conditions will have to exist before we’re even given the right to make that choice. We also take into consideration the fact that if Blacks at this very minute were able to secede the union, and say have five states, or six states, it would be almost impossible to function in freedom side by side with a capitalist imperialist country. We all know that mother Africa is not free simply because of imperialism, because of Western domination. And there’s no indication that it would be any different if we were to have a separate country here in North America. As a matter of fact, by all logics we would suffer imperialism and colonialism even more so than the Third World is suffering it now. They are geographically better located, thousands of miles away, but yet they are not able to be free simply because of high technological developments, the highest technological developments that the West has that makes the world so much smaller, one small neighborhood.

So taking all these things into consideration, we conclude that the only way that we’re going to be free is to wipe out once and for all the oppressive structure of America. We realize we can’t do this without a popular struggle, without many alliances and coalitions, and this is the reason that we’re moving in the direction that we are, to get as many alliances as possible of people that are equally dissatisfied with the system. And also we’re carrying on, or attempting to carry on a political education campaign so that the people will be aware of the conditions and therefore perhaps they will be able to take steps to controlling these conditions. We think that the most important thing at this time, is to be able to organize in some fashion so that we’ll have a formidable force to challenge the structure of the American empire. So we invite the Republic of New Africa to struggle with us, because we know from people I’ve talked to, (I’ve talked to May Mallory, and other people who are familiar with the philosophy of the Republic of New Africa), they seem to be very aware that the whole structure of America will have to be changed in order for the people of America to be free. And this again is with the full knowledge and full view of the end goal of the Republic of New Africa to secede. In other words, we’re not really handling this question at this time because we feel that for us that is somewhat premature, that I realize the psychological value of fighting for a territory. But at this time the Black Panther Party feels that we don’t want to be in an enclave type situation where we would be more isolated than we already are now. We’re isolated in the ghetto areas, concentrated in the north, in the metropolitan areas, in the industrial areas, and we think that this is a very good location as far as strategy is concerned, as far as waging a strong battle against the established order. And again I think that it would be perfectly justified if Blacks decided that they wanted to secede the union, but I think the question should be left up to the popular masses, the popular majority. So this is it in a nutshell.

As l said before, I don’t have the facilities here to carry on long discussions. I look forward to talking with Milton Henry [later known as Gaidi Obadele–Rashid] in the near future, if it’s possible, (I know that he has his hands full now) or representatives of the Republic of New Africa, so we can talk these things over. There are many things I heard, things I read, I’m in total agreement with. I would like for the Republic of New Africa to know that we support Robert Williams, and his plight at this time; that we support him one hundred per cent, and we’re willing to give all services asked of us, and we would like to find out exactly what we can do that would be most helpful in the court proceedings coming up, what moral support we could give. Perhaps we could send some representatives, and we will publish in our paper, “THE BLACK PANTHER,” the criminal activities that he’s been victim of for some eight or nine years. I would also like to request of the Republic of New Africa to give us some support to Bobby Seale our Chairman of the Black Panther Party. Bobby Seale is now in prison as you know in San Francisco, he has a case coming up in Chicago, and one in Conn., and we invite the Republic of New Africa to come in support. We would like this very much, and whatever moral support they could possibly give, we would welcome it. We should be working closer together than we are and perhaps this would be an issue that we could work together on. The issue is the political prisoners of America, and people as one to stand for the release of all political prisoners; and this might be a rallying point where all the Black revolutionary organizations and parties could rally around. Because I truly believe that some good comes out of every attack that the oppressor makes, so perhaps this will be a turning point in both our organizations and parties. So I would like to say, “ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE, AND MORE POWER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRICA, ROBERT WILLIAMS.”

SANYIKA SHAKUR contemplates Thug Life (Writes on Tupac Shakur)

Soul Invictus

SANYIKA SHAKUR contemplates Thug Life

This, the shooting death of my dear friend Tupac, is beyond being explained away with a simple cliché such as "Live by the sword, die by the sword." These sorts of excuses are invoked by the tepid in order to overstand (fully realize) the actuality of our existence here in amerika - and, subsequently, the virtual stranglehold that this entails.

Collectively, we are dying a slow, agonizing death, almost as if by strangulation. Such a death as strangulation, ending with suffocation, is a terrible way to die. So, rather than face forward, seemingly leaning into the clutching palms of this hostile force, we tend by some atavistic character defect to turn and run backwards, We run headlong in the direction opposite of progress towards some nonexistent nostalgic Utopia. And in order to attach some sense of logic to this abnormal behaviour, we parrot inane cliches which consequently (supposedly) absolve our foolishness - cliches such as "the good ol' days","back in the day", etc. This form of dementia was coined "colonial warfare mental disorder" by Dr Franz Fanon. As a colonized nation, we suffer en masse the effects of such conditioning.

In his material, Tupac did not so much prophesy his own death as the slow, agonizing death of us all. On fist glance it would appear that Pac, with his lyrical fusillade, had the uncanny ability to foretell coming events, as if indeed he were an adept of some esoteric theosophy. And, in all honesty, he did tend to buzz about as if he alone were privy to some deep secret that would soon unveil itself. However, upon closer examination of his material and indeed his actions, it would appear that he was just in tune to the maniacal machinations of this menacing society. And, as a consequence of his overstanding this, he chose to be a formidable menace himself. A menace to the society - of which he was keenly aware - that activated thuggery on every level.

Tupac was, and recognized himself to be, an outlaw. Every colonial subject must reconcile themselves with one day becoming an outlaw; it is the nature of the threat to create laws to exclude us. Pac functioned outside of established law because he overstood that amerika as an empire was founded on gangsterism - that, in fact, amerika is a gnagster nation headed up by international thugs. He had no respect for them, for to recognize their legitimacy or even the legality of the amerikan empire would be tantamount to condoning. Our national oppression, therefore - every law the empire instituted - Pac clearly, often violently, opposed.

And to further antagonize the already tenuous relationship between the colonizer and the colonized rebel. Pac began his own peculiar form of thuggery and called it Thug Life. Thus by dint of practicality and symolistic activation, millions were awakened to its existence. Unlike the amerikan thugs, who veiled their criminal activity in well-to-do cloaks of "democracy," etc. Pac flaunted his, and the people responded with overstanding.
Without a doubt, Pac was a rider, a courageous young brother and a street soldier who represented what he wrote about. He was not simply a "camera" which recorded a scene and relayed it. He was a practitioner of his prose. Perhaps if he had been butr a studio gangsta, a wax banger like most, he would still be among us physically. However - and ironically - his death is testament to his authenticity. A most unfortuante way to prove a point.

Languishing here as I do, having incurred the extreme disfavour of my captors, there is no access to electronic appliances, newspapers, magazines, etc. It is utterly frustrating, therefore, having to rely on unsure sources of crucial data. Although Pac was shoth on the seventh of September, it wasn't until the 11th that a corrections officer came to me and said, "You know they shot your boy, huh?" I asked whom he was referring to and he said, "Tupac Shakur." When I pressed for details, he had none to offer. I slid back into my darkened cell and paced the curt space. Like most, my thoughts went to the East Coast and I knew, just like in the early ;80s when another lethal conflict took my youth, that I'd have to administer some of my military expertise to quell this threat. And it's ironic, really, in two ways, because I told Pac that this thing was getting too hostile - that either he had to smash his foes or they'd smash him. Now it seems, however, that Pac was shot by some indigenous Westerners. Crips, the word is. Is there then a possible connection with the earlier brawl in the MGM parking lot, which was with some South Side Compton Crips, and Suge Knight's Piru affiliation? Did Pac underestimate the nature of indigenous Westerners thru some Death Row-orchestrated illusion? We are left to contemplate these issues.

Although Pac was a bona fide street soldier, it's obvious that his actions as of late in conjunction with Death Row had taken him out of his element. Most, if not all, of his former connections with Cato and Mental's homies from the Inglewood Village Crips had been cut. And it was obvious - even before he'd gotten the MOB tattoo - that he was leaning dangerously close to the Piru Mob in Compton. The initial clash (and here I'm merely speculating) could have occured as a consequence of Red and Blue rivalries, which again would have taken Pac out of his element.
As it happened, I was notified of his death about 10:30 pm. The C/O simply said, "Oh, yeah, Tupac passed away today at 4:03 pm." I sent my thoughts for his spirit to the ancestors and felt comfortable in their infinite wisdom to accept him warmly.
I'm hurt, yes. He was my friend. He an I, along with Mike Tyson, exchanged many letters while we were prisoners. We had plans of constructing a youth organization of which he was the progenitor. Just Us is what he called it. Now, more than ever, Mike and I have to work to make this, his vision, live. In closing, I'm reminded of the last conversation I had with his mother, Afeni. She said, "Sanyika, it's strange, 'cause we've been having such good luck lately. We're just hoping it lasts; but at the same time we are bracing ourselves for whatever." None of us could have envisioned it to be this hard. To Sista-Mother Afeni, your immediate family and the whole Shakur Tribe: "Keep ya head up."