Greetings,

Unfortunately, what seems to be truly UPSIDE DOWN is our perceptions or MISperceptions of what “Real Black” is. I’m wondering if you’ve ever read J.A. Roger’s books “Sex and Race” volumes 1-3. If not, I would strongly suggest it, as he does an in-depth study on all the various shades of Black People throughout the world. You’d be surprised (though, as an Afrikan you should already be aware of this), at just how beautifully varied the Children of Mama Afrika truly are. Like brothah/teacher Ashra Kwesi so well puts it:

ONE CANNOT DEFINE AN AFRIKAN BY ANY PARTICULAR SHADE OF COLOR, EYE COLOR, HAIR TEXTURE OR FEATURES.

We are as beautifully varied as Creation Herself, and believe it not, there really are some of us at the LIGHTEST Spectrum of the Afrikan Rainbow who are RELENTLESSY dedicated to the Afrikan Struggle, whether some of us recognize each other or not. To a warrior, such attacks mean as much as the dirt under a dogs toenail. As we are truly only accountable to ONE, the Most High of all Creation. And our works go recognized by the more conscious Afrikan Collective, irregardless.

Below is a link and picture of brothah Haile Gerima, the Ethiopian film maker who wrote, directed and produced the movie “Sankofa”, not to mention several others. Would you describe him as less then “Real Black”?

http://www.sankofa.com/haile_gerima.shtml

How about our sistah Kathleen Cleaver of the Black Panther Party? Is she anything less then “Real Black”?

Kathleen Cleaver
The Fight Against Racism and Economic Injustice

Kathleen Cleaver, a major voice in the Black liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s, continues today, to speak out against racism, sexism and economic inequality. In 1966, Cleaver fist became active in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). From 1967 to 1971, she was the Communications Secretary of the Black Panther Party and the first woman member of its Central Committee. After sharing years of exile with her former husband Eldridge Cleaver, she returned to the United States in late 1975. Since graduating from Yale Law School in 1987, Cleaver has combined legal work, teaching and activism. She has taught at numerous universities including Emory, Yale and Sara Lawrence. She served on the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts and became a Board Member of the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights. She has been active in the campaigns to free death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and former Panther Geronimo Pratt (released in 1997). Her writings and essays have appeared in numerous magazines, books and newspapers and her memoir, Memories of Love and War, is forthcoming from Random House.

RIZE UP RASTA!

ROOTS