The season of MOSIAH, the renamed 8th month of the year given over to celebration of the life and legacy of the Most Eminent Prophet and King, His Excellency Marcus Mosiah Garvey is upon us. As a fitting prelude the Alkebu-Lan NOMMO happening on 31/07/15 will deal with ‘Mosiah Lives: The Lessons of Yesterday, The Action of Today (http://alkebulan.org/category/nommo-sessions/).The following day, the 1st of Mosiah also promises to be a beehive of activity. If we cast our minds back one year south west London was awash with red, gold, green and red, black green as Rastafari Movement UK (RMUK) galvanised several thousand Afrikans in a historic march from Brixton to Downing St (and back again) that received global coverage everywhere (except on white media in the UK). This year there will be dual activities in the form of a “1000 Drums” rally in starting at Windrush Square, Brixton and moving Kennington Park as well as the March also starting at Windrush Square and heading to Parliament Square. Although some in the community have queried why there appears to two separate events rather than the singular event of last year. Moreover, there is also lingering confusion about the route of the march given that this year, the 1st of Mosiah coincides with the Ride London cycle event resulting in several road closures around Parliament Square from as early as 5am until as late as 7pm on the day including: Pall Mall East, Trafalgar Square, The Strand, Lincoln’s Inn Field, Waterloo Bridge, Whitehall, The Mall, Horse Guards Road and Birdcage Walk.
Nevertheless, one thing that both activities bring to the fore is the issue of reparations – a notion that gained immense currency in the community in the last twelve months. However, while reparations is a term on many lips it’s meaning and overstanding varies.
Although the campaign for reparations is centuries (if not millennia) old, an important epoch in recent was the April 1993 First Pan-African Conference on Reparations that took place in Abuja, Nigeria and out of which came the seminal Abuja Proclamation. At that conference’s second Plenary Session, renowned scholar Professor Chinweizu read his paper, Reparations and A New Global Order, A Comparative that included the following:
“Let me begin by noting that reparation is not just about money: it is not even mostly about money; in fact, money is not even one percent of what reparation is about. Reparation is mostly about making repairs. self-made repairs, on ourselves: mental repairs, psychological repairs, cultural repairs, organizational repairs, social repairs, institutional repairs, technological repairs, economic repairs, political repairs, educational repairs, repairs of every type that we need in order to recreate and sustainable black societies. For the sad truth is that five centuries of holocaust have made our societies brittle and unviable. And as the great Marcus Garvey warned over 50 years ago, if we continue as we are, we are heading for extinction.”
As a consequence, some of the existing divergences has raised the question of whether, amongst some of the prominent advocates of reparations, the principle of self-repair is little more than what Mama Marimba Ani would refer to as a rhetorical ethic. Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka spoke to this issue on Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan on 13/07/15:
“Reparations means to repair, with the emphasis on self-repair as the pre-requisite for reparations. We cannot be preaching and teaching reparations and practicing demolition. We have to assume a posture and we have to assume an approach that is conducive to bringing our people together because that is the only way that we can engage in self-repair. We cannot be divided and repair ourselves. We can’t be divided, we can’t be fractured and at the same time repair.”
So we ask the question,
What does Reparations mean to us?
- Why are there separate events on 1st of Mosiah?
- How will road closures effect the march?
- If “money is not even one percent of what reparation is about” what is reparations mainly about?
- Are we “preaching reparations and practicing demolition”?
Our special guests are:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK. A veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence.
Empress Wolete Gabreal & Bro Shango Baku: Leading members of the Ethiopian World Federation and part of the executive of Rastafari Movement UK who are organising the “1000 Drums” rally on 1stof Mosiah.
Bro. Xtra and Sis. Latoya: who are involved in organising the march on 1st of Mosiah.
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This topic is poignant and its discussion with key players most significant both politically and spiritually. To beat the evil that deliberate division of Afrikan people was intended by the perpetrators of Racism our strategy has to approach has to be a United Front and our Spiritual strategy Conflict reconciliation at best or Conflict Resolution at minimum; especially among key players and activists around the Reparation’s movement.
We open up ourselves to physical dangers and lack of Ancestral protection by these chasms which are left in our mobilizing noxious and negative residue in relations while still moving ahead in dangerous space and times. Then when we encounter attacks and defeat we start to bawl and blame White Supremacy! When in fact we left ourselves open to attacks we were irresponsible in the preparation of our defences.
That is not to suggest that there is a basis to attack us period! But if we are prepared then the judgement and the victory over such evil will be ours. Our self-defeatism are our EGO, ARROGANCE, SELF-DECEPTION, SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, LACK OF HUMILITY and true LACK OF THE POWER CENTRE OF AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY!
Academic prowess and political expediency alone will not deliver us from the evil that is Racism. As many continue to scorn Conflict Resolution and even escalate the fractious dynamic we will only have ourselves to blame when we open up ourselves to the people to attacks or even loss of lives.
I will be liberating my spirit in meditation at home this year and sending out releases and forgiveness to those I need to do so for starting with myself. Sis/Mama Yishebah
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Questions below by Afrika Speaks with Al Kebulan!
“Reparations means to repair, with the emphasis on self-repair as the pre-requisite for reparations. We cannot be preaching and teaching reparations and practicing demolition. We have to assume a posture and we have to assume an approach that is conducive to bringing our people together because that is the only way that we can engage in self-repair. We cannot be divided and repair ourselves. We can’t be divided, we can’t be fractured and at the same time repair.”
So we ask the question,
What does Reparations mean to us?
Why are there separate events on 1st of Mosiah?
How will road closures effect the march?
If “money is not even one percent of what reparation is about” what is reparations mainly about?
Are we “preaching reparations and practicing demolition”?
I don’t see why we can’t have unity for this one important day why can’t we all march to parliament square together as a United force why are some of us going to Kensington park its nonsensical we should at least get this initial stage of repartiation together why can’t we do this this dis unity amongst us have always been the biggest problem let’s put differences behind together and March together to parliament square. It seems the ones that are going to Kensington park is giving the impression of speaking reparations and acting demolition.