Note: As of July 3, 2009, only the RSS feeds on this blog will be updated so I can focus my energies on my 
In recent weeks, news outlets and the blogosphere have been abuzz over anti-white comments made by Dr. Kamau Kambon, a Raliegh, North Carolina bookstore owner and former adjunct instructor at North Carolina State University, at a forum held at Howard University October 14. The forum, on media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, was one of the prequel events to the Millions More March. Some of the commentary blasted C-SPAN for carrying "hate speech." Others saw the lack of major media attention to the incident as evidence of liberal press hypocrisy, arguing that the obscure activist's comments deserved as much attention as recent controversial statements by talk-show host and former Education Secretary Bill Bennett. After researching this incident, it seems to me that one could get some decent stories out of it, but they are probably not the stories that conservative critics are looking for.
The controversy
According to widely referenced blog post on the website of the conservative North Carolina think tank, the John Locke Foundation, Kambon concluded his remarks to the panel by saying:
And then finally I want to say that we need one idea, and we're not thinking about a solution to the problem....
Now how do I know that the white people know that we are going to come up with a solution to the problem? I know it because they have retina scans, they have what they call racial profiling, DNA banks, and they’re monitoring our people to try to prevent the one person from coming up with the one idea. And the one idea is, how we are going to exterminate white people because that in my estimation is the only conclusion I have come to. We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem. Now I don’t care whether you clap or not, but I’m saying to you that we need to solve this problem because they are going to kill us. And I will leave on that. So we just have to just set up our own system and stop playing and get very serious and not be diverted from coming up with a solution to the problem and the problem on the planet is white people.
What the blog entry doesn't note is that Kambon's remarks were immediately challenged by other members of the panel, including its organizer, filmmaker Opio Sokoni. Sokoni later told a writer for the Raliegh News Observer:
"The people at that conference do not support the extermination of white people. That is ridiculous. You can't back up a statement like that. It is immoral. Even the most radical people don't talk like that."
In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Sokoni said,"No one could have ever known that this former North Carolina State University professor would go off the cuff and make such immoral and unproductive remarks."
North Carolina State also issued a denunciation. Provost Larry Nielsen said,"This type of speech is counter to any
reasoned discussion on the issue of race relations, and is absolutely unacceptable in the NC State community." Students, faculty and staff interviewed for the NC State newspaper, the Technician said they were surprised and dismayed by the comments. None of the people interviewed for the story, included former a student of Kambon's, recalled having heard him express such views before.
Who is Kamau Kambon?
Kambon has reportedly refused media requests to talk about his remarks. I was able to get a few scant clues about the man and his beliefs from poking around on the Internet and in library archives. What I found about Kambon before the Howard University incident identifies his views as Africentric, but not violent.
The 11 entries on the Lexis-Nexis news database about Kambon focus solely on the incident and the controversy, providing no substantive information about the man himself.
The website for Kambon's bookstore, Blacknificent Books, is down, and the cached version of the site also contained no substantive information.
I found listings for the introductory-level African Studies course Kambon taught at NCSU,African civilizations and Introduction to African American Studies, but his syllabi were not online.
In an effort to find out about Kambon's scholarship, I searched a number of academic databases.
The Psych-Info database has a record of Kambon's 1978 doctoral dissertation for Columbia Teacher's College, "The effect of introversion-extraversion on reading achievement in a male tutee-tutor situation: An exploratory study."
Searches of the EbscoHost and Ethnic Newswatch databases, which catalogue a wide range of scholarly, popular and ethnic publications yielded nothing. Nor did a search of JStor and Project Muse, databases that contain the contents of journals from a wide range of disciplines, including African American Studies. I also got goose-eggs from searching Primary Sources in African American History -- which is where I can usually pick up something from the FBI files of 60s-era activists.
There is a post on the Assata Shakur website, said to be authored by his son,Obadele Kambon, which defends him by calling him a latter-day David Walker. Walker was a free black man who published a tract in 1829 arguing that slaves would be morally justified in rising up against their masters.
Obadele Kambon argued in his father's defense that the treatment of African Americans during Hurricane Katrina is the latest in a long series of assaults on the race over the last four centuries. Some of the events he cited, such as the Tulsa Race Riots, did happen; others are conjecture, such as the belief that AIDS was created to kill of black people. Still others, such as the King Alfred Plan are fiction.
According to the transcript of a local North Carolina public affairs show, Kambon believes the arguments put forth in a number of discredited, but popular conspiracy manuscripts, such as The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.
In short, it does not appear that Kambon has been active or credible scholar in recent years.
What's the news value?
Kamau's outburst probably didn't get the play that Bill Bennett's remarks got for several legitimate reasons:
Bennett is a much better known figure who has actually had a role in shaping policy, and who has a following.
Kambon's remarks were immediately and widely rejected.
Big-tent efforts such as the Millions More Movement have yielded fireworks in the past -- remember how Jesse Jackson got criticized for including Sister Souljah in his African American leadership summit after remarks that she made following the 1992 violence in the wake of the Rodney King verdict? Bill Clinton's public denunciation of her comments made that incident news, and helped establish Clinton's bona fides as a political moderate.
Kambon's remarks did not lead to any such high-profile controversy, and so the news value was judged to be limited.
Posts
38 comments:
When have we ever had a "reasoned discussion" on the issue of race relations?...Are most white folks even capable of such a thing?
Thanks for posting this. I haven't heard anything about this man before.
You're welcome.
And Ronnie, you reminded me that when I was a kid, I used to spend hours watching James Baldwin talk about race with well meaning white people of various political persuasions. Usually, the conversations started with the white person saying, "Such-and-such a (colored gentleman)(Negro)(Black person) has become the first to .... Don't you think we are making progress?" And Baldwin would say something like, "No, we are not! Not while my brothers in Harlem can't educate their children or walk the streets without being afraid of racist cops, not when people in Mississippi take their lives into their hands if they so much as deign to exercise their simple constitutional rights...." And I loved to watch it. I ate it up. I dreamed of being as brilliant as Baldwin and able to teach and preach and signify in that way....
To the Son of Kamau Kambon: Put Up or Shut Up
In an effort not to play in to Willie Lynch and to remember the lessons we have all learned from COINTELPRO, I will be respectful. This will be hard to do when having been disrespected in the recent piece you wrote entitled, "Genocide, Group-Defense and the Historical Context of Dr. Kamau Kambon's Appeal." In this well-researched piece, you compared your father's "exterminate all white people from the planet" remarks to the work of David Walker. You stated, when referring to David Walker's Appeal, "He was roundly criticized by white abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison as well as by fearful Negroes very similar to Opio Sokoni and Lawrence Guyot of Pro-Black Media Forum fame." This is a first for me in that in my young life I have never backed away from struggle, but oftentimes have crazily run towards it. My work in the struggle has been about strategy, organizing and action - not pontification, making shock statements and definitely not writing fictional books and giving As and Bs to the college children of those who enslaved our parents. While my credentials may even prove more courageous than you and your father's, I am sure Lawrence Guyot's many brushes with death in Mississippi as a youth leader during the 50s and 60s will out-match all of ours. Guyot's statement, following your father's, was correct in it's admonition to come up with a plan and not merely make fanatical statements. A key word is "plan." What is your father's plan.
What You Don't Know
Your father is twice my age and I had never heard of him until about two weeks before the Pro-Black Media Forum. I trusted an elder, a publisher one of your father's books, who referred your father to me for the forum. Your father's publisher (who will remain nameless out of respect) thought he was fit to be on this program to talk about the subject at hand and to come baring a solution. Bad judgment on my part for taking that advice. All we got was a shock statement meant to sell books and disrespect from your father and his wife who accused my mentor (who was moderating the program and will also remain nameless) of nepotism and male gender bias. In a nasty note written and delivered during the forum, she charged my mentor with nepotism for not calling on your father more during the event. And, the gender issue was bizarre at best since my mentor is a female and women received as much time as the men. I was nice to the Kambons after the program even though this happened.
Dissing Black Colleges and Benefited from White, Pro-slave NC State
Your father also made statements against Black Colleges while at a podium of the very Black learning institution that made it possible for him to teach at North Carolina State University. This southern university that your father served as an adjunct professor was recently discovered to have bought and owned slaves. I am sure the checks he received from his white bosses there benefited him and his family. I also wonder how many white students your father gave As to - grades that allowed the same people he talked about exterminating to advance in life.
Good Black People Can Disagree
There are many people, Sir, who we all admire for their ACTIONS in the Black struggle that did not agree with what your father did, where he did it, the manner in which he did it, and when he did it. This does not make them scary Negros. As a matter fact, while I am not one to take up for liberal white people, William Lloyd Garrison did qualify his disapproval of The Appeal by stating that, "...it is not for the American people, as a nation, to denounce it as bloody or monstrous." He continued by saying, "Every sentence they write -- every word they speak -- every resistance they make is a call upon their slaves to destroy them." Do you agree with Garrison in context, and if so, make the call to action - or are you a scary negro?
I understand that this is your father and one would expect you to figure out a way to defend him. I am not hearing anyone else doing it. However, the four hour Pro-Black Media Forum was carried in it's entirety on C-SPAN and not some sensational television or radio show - unlike some of the ones I have had the experience of going on to address this matter. Your father's statements were not taken out of context and therefore does not need you to attempt to contextualize them. Anyone may go on to www.poli-tainment.com and click to view the entire forum.
Not Like David Walker
Your father's words were not similar to The Appeal. Mr. Walker's work was a call to action. David Walker's work was, as stated by historians, meant to inspire and to instill pride and hope. We are decent and creative people. We do not need to take pages from the worst of white people in an attempt to instill pride and hope in our people. In the 1930s and 40s, Hitler talked about extermination and a final solution - as did your father. Early in your father's speech, he also said that, "We are not niggers, we are imitation niggers." He said that we learned how to be niggers from the white man. Then, he immediately began imitating the exact content of Hitler's speeches and actions. Was your father's words a call to action? The couple of times he was at the podium, he had all of the opportunity in the world to make it plain. He did not. This is why when I went on the O'Reilly Factor, I stood strong. I told him about the whites who did what your father merely spoke.
Sacrifice in the Struggle
I was told that I took up for your father in that tv appearance and am still receiving 3am death calls because of it. I currently live in the Pacific Northwest which is a haven for Klan, skinheads and Nazis. You only have to look briefly to see how they have terrorized and killed Black people here. I am a very public man with a radio show. I can't, don't and won't hide. I am also a single parent of a teenage girl and was told by friends to send her to live with her mother until things cool down. I refused. Unlike your father, I never asked for protection because I believe that the struggle is about sacrifice. As a matter of history, when David Walker was advised to leave the country after his Appeal put fear in evil white people, he refused and said, "Somebody must die in this cause." He added, "I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote the work of emancipation." What a man!
I hear your father said in private that he meant something less firey than what he said on C-SPAN, i.e., we have to exterminate white people from our minds. This is why it is hard for me to buy the comparisons you make of your father to David Walker, let alone Nat Turner, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba and the others who stood firm on their words and ACTIONS. I am of the school that if you say something and you believe it is right, stand on it. In addition, I did street time growing up and we know that if you carried a gun, it better have bullets in it and if you did not act on your words, you were considered a fake gangsta. We use to say "put up or shut up." The great men you misused to make your point put up and lost their lives because of it - including David Walker who was, I believe, poisoned. This happened a couple months after The Appeal was published. I do not believe he died of tuberculosis.
The Bright Side
We all know the genocide that is taking place against our people and the various ways they are being carried out. But, what's the plan to end it. It is time for action and new solutions that we can be proud to employ. Let's stop giving white people so much credit and get about the work of coming up with our own solutions - and acting on them. When my friend sent me your piece concerning this matter, he stated that, "...this guy must not know you Opio." My friend knows about the work I have put in - not the talk. The few people that know me, or about me, know the deeds and strategies implemented - not empty rhetoric. The bright side to all of this is that the Pro-Black Media Forum I organized with the help of some incredible people has made C-SPAN history as being one of the top programs downloaded. This means our people, and others, got to see more than a shock statement. They saw an array of real, Pro-Black people that stuck to the script and shared solutions and actions being taken in an effort to liberate Black people. And they, unlike me, were eloquent while articulating their thoughts (smile).
Let's Not Repeat History
Finally, please do not take this writing in any way disrespectful. That is not my intention. I hope this better illustrates my position and love for our people. And, while I know the enemy may want to use this to aid in our destruction, they will surely miscalculate. I have read the history and am a generation that have studied, learned from and laughs at COINTELPRO. I love you brother. We are from the same family. Let's use this issue as an opportunity to teach and not destroy.
In the struggle forever,
Opio Lumumba Sokoni, J.D.
Dear Bro. Sokoni,
Thank you so much for your message. Might I use this as an opportunity to ask you a bit more about your own views? In the course of your activism, what conclusions have you come to with regard to the plans or strategies that are most useful in effecting change? In particular, what role do you you see for media and for media professionals?
I believe we must set up a communication system that will expose, counter, create, make change and do all that necessary and needed for Black liberation... Think of how effective the Civil Rights Movement would have been without the new tv medium showing abuse by police dogs, water hoses and state troopers... Anyone Black that is doing great work must have access to the public... This will give us a true sense of the various good people doing work... This will counter the negatives that Blacks receive in the media on a regular basis... As we set up this communication structure for activism, we can surely benefit from it the way armies benefit from communications during war...
I believe we must set up a communication system that will expose, counter, create, make change and do all that necessary and needed for Black liberation... Think of how effective the Civil Rights Movement would have been without the new tv medium showing abuse by police dogs, water hoses and state troopers... Anyone Black that is doing great work must have access to the public... This will give us a true sense of the various good people doing work... This will counter the negatives that Blacks receive in the media on a regular basis... As we set up this communication structure for activism, we can surely benefit from it the way armies benefit from communications during war...
THE OFFICIAL AND ONLY STATEMENT
OF
Dr. Kamau Kambon
I made a statement on a panel in Washington, D.C. on October 14, 2005 and today I am prepared to bring remarks on my original comments:
My Official Statement today is that, “I speak for No One”
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the Ancient Afrikans of Kemet- the original name that was changed by the greeks to Egypt- who were invaded and murdered in mass numbers, over the course of centuries by:
the hyksos, the assyrians, the libyans, the persians, the turks, the greeks, the romans, the spanish, the portuguese, the french, the british and the arabs-all of whom desecrated and pillaged Kemetic Temples, Royal tombs, and robbed from these Afrikan sanctuaries priceless artifacts and sacred texts that now sit in european museums, “prestigious” university basements, and the private homes of the rich throughout the world.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all of the Afrikans who were enslaved, shackled, made to march miles and miles over the Sahara by the Arabs who committed this atrocity for a period of approximately 1,300 years. According to some research, over 50 to 80 million Afrikans were murdered during this Arab enslavement. The survivors of this savage devastation were forced onto slave ships by these same Arabs and exported over the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea to parts of Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of the Afrikans in West Afrika who were terrorized and kidnapped by the europeans and enslaved in the dungeons of El Mina, Cape Coast, and in the hellholes of dungeons in Senegal.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of Afrikan men in those dungeons who refused to submit and were put three to four in a cell and were left there for all of the other enslaved Afrikans to see them die a slow and painful death
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of Afrikan women who were put 200, 300 and sometimes more in a stone room no bigger than small auditorium where they had to fight each other to get air that came only through a hole in the rock cell no bigger than the size of a soccer ball.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of Afrikan women who were selected by the white commander of the dungeon to be raped repeatedly and sometimes left to die in their own blood.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of Afrikan men and women who survived the dank, cold dungeons only to face being forced through THE DOOR OF NO RETURN and onto waiting ships that would transport them to places of grief and agony beyond their own Afrikan comprehension
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of Afrikans who were shackled to the bowels of stink ships where they had to ride next to their dead uncle, dead brother, dead sister, or dead mother on the long journey to lands where incomprehensible anguish awaited
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of captive Afrikan women aboard those ships who felt compelled to murder their own beautiful babies so these infants would never know or experience the nightmare of enslavement.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of captive Afrikan men who tore off their own legs from the shackles to dive overboard from those stinking vessels and who would rather face death in the jaws of man-eating sharks than remain enslaved
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for those millions of Afrkan men, women and children who suffered THE MIDDLE PASSAGE and whose bones are in the watery burial ground called the Atlantic Ocean- better known to those who know their history as THE AFRIKAN OCEAN because it overflows with the blood and life force of over 100 MILLION AFRIKANS
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of Afrikans who landed in the Caribbean Islands where they underwent THE SLAVE MAKING PROCESS of further de-humanization and the breaking of their arms, legs and AFRIKAN SPIRITS in preparation for the long and hard work and burdens they were to bear
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions of the Indigenous of the americas who were savagely brutalized, tortured, raped, secretly given smallpox in blankets, and murdered, simply for opening their hearts, minds and arms to white strangers coming off a long and weary journey. Impact of christopher columbus, as written by Father Bartolome De Las Casas in his book, “The Disruption of the Indies", highlighted that, directly or indirectly, columbus was responsible for the deaths of between 12 to 25 MILLION indigenous. The population of the indigenous was reduced from 100 MILLION to 25 MILLION, according to T. Browder, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all those Afrikans who arrived in North America bewildered, brutalized, weak, robbed of their culture, language, religions, families, cosmologies and longing for their own homeland
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the Haitians who soaked the earth with their own blood in war by giving their lives to defeat Napoleon, who led the mightiest army of that time. I speak for Boukman, for Toussaint, for and Dessailines, the leaders of the Haitians who never gave up their struggle for Freedom and Independence
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for Harriet Tubman, who made 19 trips to free enslaved Afrikans, forcing some, as she said, “to be Free or Die” In her moments of contemplation, she was overheard saying, “ I freed hundreds of slaves, and would have freed hundreds more, if only they knew they were slaves”
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, Fredrick Douglass, and all the Black people who begged and petitioned the american government to intercede to stop white people from the wanton beatings, murdering, lynching, raping and terrorizing of Black men, Black women and Black children-the government did nothing-the deaths continued
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all of the thousands upon thousands of the enslaved Afrikans who were set “free” by the emancipation proclamation but given absolutely nothing by their former slave masters: no food, only the clothes on their backs, and no way to get away
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the thousands of newly “freed” enslaved Afrikans who were arrested en masse as vagrants, panhandlers, and bums; then hired out to corporations and chain gangs to be forced to work for free, again, and these men literally worked themselves to death
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the thousands of Black soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Gulf War only to return to their america and be lynched, physically, economically or socially, while wearing their u.s. uniforms as white people sang “America the Beautiful"
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the over 2 THOUSAND Black people, mostly men, who, at the turn of the 19th century, were lynched, castrated, some burned alive, and others whose fingers, toes, penises and eyeballs were cut from their living bodies and used as souvenirs and trophies by white people
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the many men, women and children who were murdered in Wilmington, North Carolina and Tulsa Oklahoma-both considered BLACK WALL STREETS- and their land stolen from them with the sanction of the american government. Mention here about Las Vegas where Black people lost their land, like they did in Tulsa, Oklahoma
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the Tuskegee men who were experimented on by the white doctors who intentionally gave the Black men syphilis while the antidote was withheld as the experiment went on for some 40 years
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the 7,600 Black and poor women in North Carolina, and two other states, who were sterilized without their knowledge or permission in clinics as part of the population control program. These sterilizations went on from 1929 to 1974- 65,000 Black and poor women, in this country, were sterilized during this period.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the over 6 million Black people in america who were members of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and who mourned the arrest, trumped-up trial and deportation of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey. This man, the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, was a man who wanted only to give his people back their true BlackNificent history, teach them meaningful skills, teach them to love their BLACK SELVES, and return to AFRIKA and resurrect the Black Woman and the Black Man to their rightful place of glory and majesty among the families of the earth
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all those Black people around the country who watched in anguish as the u.s. government harassed Elijah Muhammad, W.E.B Dubois, Paul Robeson, and many others and drove one of our greatest politicians, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., out of office on concocted charges.
That night, October 14, 2005
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the 1,227 Black troops who were SLAUGHTERED, BY THEIR OWN WHITE SOLIDERS, AND BURIED IN a MASS GRAVE-at Camp Van Dorn, a military base in southwestern Mississippi and near a small town called Centerville. The full story is outlined in the book, “The Slaughter”, by Carroll Case.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the many Black people who supported William Patterson and Paul Robeson who were two of the many authors of a petition to the United Nations entitled ‘WE CHARGE GENOCIDE”, that catalogued the evidence in the form of names, dates, times and places of Black people murdered around america at the hands of savage white people, while no one in government did anything to stop the violence or improve the social, housing, educational or health conditions of under which Black people lived..
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the Black Panthers who were killed under COINTELPRO, and for Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Imam Jamil- Al- Amin, and all the MANY BLACK POLITICAL PRISONERS who languish in the maximum-security hell pit jail cells of america. I speak for those Black political prisoners who have been held for over twenty to thirty years and are tortured, experimented on and put on hallucinogenic experimental drugs because their crimes include trying to stop the police murders of young Black men, implementing breakfast and food programs for those in their communities, trying to provide decent housing and good health care for all those in need and trying to educate the children so they don’t grow up ignorant.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the dead members of M.O.V.E., in Philadelphia, who the city decided to drop a bomb on and kill babies, children, women and men in an act of premeditated murder
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for Emmitt Til and the countless Black boys and Black men who have been murdered by white men and their bodies thrown in swamps, rivers, streams or whose lifeless Black bodies now rest in shallow, unmarked graves all around the country
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the mothers, and grandmothers, who have lost their sons to the streets, drugs, prisons and graveyards, and their daughters to a concocted white standard of beauty that is absolutely impossible for them to attain. These inherently beautiful Black girls and women have spent millions and millions of dollars every year in an industry that helped to create an inferiority complex in them and then profits from it.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the untold numbers of young Black men who write to me from prison cells asking me to send them books, or who are on death row, soon to be executed, screaming to me through their letters, “I DIDN’T DO IT, MY LAWYER OR JUDGE MADE MISTAKES DURING THE TRIAL”
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the young Black men who come to me, just released from prison who, like the newly freed enslaved Afrikans under emancipation, have no where to go, no job possibilities, and no hope for a brighter future. Those who have skills and are working, are fired when it is discovered they have a prison record. The only place that will accept them is the newly built prison.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for all the beautiful Black children who are so excited to start school and have big plans for success, only to get there and find that the white female teachers already have quite a different plan for them.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the millions, upon millions of Black babies who died from poor health care during pre-natal term and for those who came to term but died from poor nutrition or malnutrition. And for the many children, teens, young adults and adults today who are raised eating techno-food, fast food, and who have never tasted any real food. And for those whose brains are short-circuited, from a lack of proper minerals and vitamins, who are labeled “special education”, mentally retarded or hyperactive-the new code words that replace those used in the early eugenics movement.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the elderly Black people, who have struggled most of their lives to navigate through a system that was against them all the way, only to reach eldership status and find they have inadequate health care, no decent food, and are trapped in a system that considers them disposable people
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the Herrero people of Namibia who were eradicated by the germans, the Tasmanians, eradicated by the white australians, the 130 million southern Afrikans murdered by cecil rhodes so he could control diamond and gold mines, the 13 million Congolese whose arms, legs and ears were cut off and murdered by leopold, of belgium
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the Black people who marched-and got murdered by whites, those Black people who voted and got murdered by whites, those Black people who tried to go to school to get an education and got murdered by whites, those Black people who have tried to start their own businesses and got murdered by whites, those Black people who have become politicians to try to make a better way for Black people and got murdered by whites, those Black people who have tried to set up their own little independent groups and got character assassinated.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for the worldwide Afrikan victims of A.I.D.S and any and all man-made diseases, who have died and are in the process of dying.
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for myself, as I watch while white people, who have power, guns, information and influence, ride around in 60-70 thousand dollar cars, waste millions of gallons of water watering lawns and golf courses, run off on luxury cruises, conceal their identities and criminality by hiding behind “Inc”, make 80 billion dollars in profits off of oil, while ordinary people and the elderly freeze to death in small apartments, while the government bails out (code word for welfare) airlines that lose millions in one fiscal quarter yet, simultaneously, cutback on financial aid to Black students, while Black professors in white higher educational institutions have to struggle for fairness in the hiring and tenure process, while Black students seek constantly for fairness in grading and assessment, while Black faculty and Black staff have to seek constantly for fairness in evaluations, while white people window shop in malls, play golf, play bridge, sit in T.V. studios watching Dr. Phil or at home watching foolishness, and, by their actions, convey, generally, they just don’t give a damn about the great, great, great grandchildren whose Ancestors’ blood is soaked in the very ground on which we all stand
I speak for no one EXCEPT for the 600 million to ONE BILLION Afrikan people killed worldwide, from the time the Afrikan first encountered the white man, in the greatest atrocity this earth has ever seen – some call it “The Black Holocaust”, others call it “The Maafa”, but in the realm of this context and reality, there is no word for it. And when all is tabulated about what has happened, AND STILL HAPPENING, to the Afrikan, Black people, it defies and goes well beyond human comprehension. Some have asked white people, referring here to the government and corporations, to just consider talking about reparations, and those requests have fallen on deaf ears. Are there no reparations for Black people? Who is the best qualified on this earth, other than the Afrikan, Black people, to receive justice, compensation, due process and whatever else the reparation people are proposing? Why are white people not listening to, and implementing, the National Urban League when it issues the annual report, “The State of Black America”? Why are white people not listening to, and implementing, the suggestions of all the civic groups trying to advance the social, economic, educational, health and cultural concerns of Black people?
I speak for no one, EXCEPT for my Ancestors, our dead, and for myself and I am saying that I don’t even know half of the true history of Black people, but I have seen and know enough to be able to say, “the war and genocide against Black people, in all of the areas of life activity, worldwide, must stop."
Do you have a better solution to offer to solve this problem?
I am Kamau R. Kambon
10/28/05
Questions & Answers
PERSONAL PROFILE
OF
Dr. Kambon Kambon
LIFESTYLE-WELL-BEING AND PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION # 1
DR. KAMBON
BASED ON WHAT SEEMS LIKE VAST EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFESTYLE AND HOW YOU CAME TO DO AND PRACTICE THOSE THINGS YOU DEEM NECESSARY TO DO AS AN AFRIKAN MAN
PERSONAL PROFILE
OF
Dr. Kambon Kambon
LIFESTYLE-WELL-BEING AND PHILOSOPHY
I am Afrikan, and see mySelf connected to Afrikans all over the world.
I am Vegan and have not consumed any pork, beef, chicken, or fish in 29 years; I consume no eggs, no cheese, no milk, no ice cream or other dairy products and have followed this lifestyle for 29 years. I drink no sodas, coffee or consume junk food: French fries, chips, etc. I consume no refined sugars: no white sugar, no turbinado, sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, saccharine, sweet and low, cane juice or whatever other sweeteners are on the market. I consume no white flour products or white salt, food additives or coloring in foods.
I consume no alcohol and have not had any alcohol in over thirty years; I was never an alcoholic.
I am not homosexual or a child predator
I do not smoke cigarettes or any other drug.
I have never taken any drugs and do not take, nor have I taken, any prescription medication in thirty years
I try to go to sleep before 10 PM because the search says that if one goes to sleep before 10:00 PM, every hour of sleep after 12 midnight is worth 2 hours of sleep-I seldom sleep late, and usually am awake by 4:30 AM and work 14-16 hours every day
I try to exercise 2 to 3 times every week because the research says this will keep the body healthy. I try to drink ½ my body weight in ounces of water everyday and this is of great benefit
My blood pressure is at its optimum best and in my last physical, about a year ago, the doctor said that, barring getting run over by a car, I should live to be very old.
I have no chest pains and have not had a headache in over 33 years and have not had even an aspirin in 33 years
For the record, I am neither despondent, nor have I ever been suicidal. I love living, and enjoy nature and animals immensely. I love jazz & hoop.
I am neither a member of a fraternal, civic, religious, political, nor social group; nor have I ever been a member of any cult, sect, gang, martial arts club, military group, or any national or international movement of any kind.
I neither fancy myself as a leader nor a hero
I pay my entire share of taxes and never evade paying taxes.
I have never been to jail or to prison and do not have a prison record.
I do not have any real luxury items, nor am I interested in obtaining any, and drive a car that is 15 years old.
I am happily married to the same Afrikan woman for almost three decades and I have never had an illicit affair outside of my marriage. My philosophy is that if a man has an affair outside of his marriage, the very next day he should file for and get a divorce. I have no children out of wedlock.
Over the course of my life, I have never intentionally physically harmed anyone, and am polite, express good manners, generally quiet with not much to say and do not hate anyone.
I have not celebrated a european holiday since around 1970
I read a lot and am interested in most subjects: science, culture, economics, education, psychology, oceanography and more.
I never want to do anything to harm or hurt Black people; I love Black people and seek protection for them, and myself and family, and want Black people, as well as myself and family, to have much abundance, and abundance here means: access, without restriction or penalty, to clean fresh drinkable water, healthy uncontaminated, non-genetically modified foods, to be able to breathe clean fresh air, be free of addictions, and live a simple basic life that does not impinge on others, the land, the water or the air or animals.
I want all of the various groups-the chinese, the japanese, the south koreans, east indians, arabs, and the whites to stop messing with Black people, wherever Black people are on this earth. I want to see an end to the national and international Black Holocaust in the areas of psychology, culture, education, economics, social relations, on jobs, on the highways and in all of the areas of life activity.
I do not want to be killed by the government or any white or Black person –or any other person for that matter- who does not like what I have had to say. I am merely reporting the historical facts and the facts speak for themselves. Anything that I have said is verifiable and anyone can go and look up the same information, if they want to become an educated person. I do not want white people or Black people, or any other people to be intentionally mis-educated, dis-informed, or victimized into making inappropriate decisions based on mis-information. I want the problem solved so Black people no longer suffer needlessly –not because they are Black, but rather because those bringing the harm are white-those who bring the harm just because they have power, guns, money, or information.
I want to live in a country, this country, where the soil is soaked with the blood of my people, at the hands of white people, overtly and covertly, and not be afraid to travel because people will be angry with me for giving them an analysis to a problem too long unsolved, yet they have the ability, but not the will to solve it.
I want to live in a country where the media have the awesome power to make the whole world enchanted with and love a little cartoon mouse and a goofy dog, so much that people will work hard all year long to save enough money and then spend millions and millions of dollars to travel from the far corners of the earth to visit a mouse, that is not even real. People, white people, say, “it doesn’t matter if you are white, yellow, Black or green” Well apparently, white people prefer green; because they can get the whole country to bring out the welcome wagons for a little green frog, who is traveling around the country being celebrated. The media, and those with influence, can get the whole country to take time out to celebrate, and go wild, over a little green fake toy named Kermit the Frog. If the media, and those who wield influence and power, can do that, they ought to easily be able to enchant the same world with the marvel, accomplishments, scientific inventions, paradigms and yet to be realized abilities of the Black Man and the Black Woman. If the media wanted to, if they simply so decided, they can literally change minds-we have been pleading and asking them to change the image they have been projecting of Black people from the 1850’s to the present. Change now.
Thirty years ago a white co-worker asked me, “What do Black people want”? I can now answer that question for myself and no one else, after years and years of deep, deep study, attending hundreds of lectures, purchasing tapes, buying books, etc:
I want our store, cultural center, and ventures to manifest in a strong, fruitful and positive way by bringing Black people from all over to our place and, in turn, the Afrikan spirit will be rekindled, renewed and flourish throughout the land.
I want Freedom for all Black people
.
QUESTION # 2
DR. KAMBON
PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES?
Dr. Kambon holds a B.A. degree in education/history from a university in New England, has a master’s degree in physical education from a university in New England, has both a M.A. and a M. Ed. degree in education/administration from an Ivy League school, and an Ed. D. in urban education/curriculum and instruction from an Ivy League School. Over the course of eighteen years, Dr. Kambon served as an assistant professor at a HBCU in the south and has taught general psychology, tests and measurements, educational psychology, teaching of reading, seminars in education, modern elementary school, methods in science and mathematics, methods in secondary education, and methods in the social sciences. He also has been certified as a high principal, curriculum specialist –at the doctoral level-and a language arts teacher, K-12. Over the past seven years, Dr. Kambon has taught Introduction to Black Studies and Introduction to Afrikan Civilization at the University level. Although not practicing, Dr. Kambon holds a degree in naturopathy.
• In addition to the above, Dr. Kambon served as a counselor and then director, for three years, of a pre-matriculation program for pre-college students that focused on their intensive and enhanced development in reading, comprehension, test-taking skills, study skills, mathematics and exposure to a vast cultural experience. This program produced outstanding results and received national acclaim: some of the graduates went on to become admission directors of several different universities and one became a millionaire. There were many other major success stories as a result of this pre-college experience. Dr. Kambon received an award for his service to the program.
• Dr. Kambon taught high school social studies and geography for two years in New England
• Director of a summer program, two years, for middle school-junior high school students in the inner city: Dr. Kambon coordinated this foundation funded summer program that worked intensively with inner city youth to build and enhance their academic abilities in language arts, mathematics, and culture. Dr. Kambon received an award for outstanding service to this program-one of the students later received a full scholarship in filmmaking.
• Dr. Kambon created J.I.E.P., Juvenile Intervention and Enlightenment Program, designed to take inner city youth to visit inmates in prison. This program, a very successful one, was modeled after the “Scared Straight Program”
• Dr. Kambon designed, created, and successfully implemented, an Intervention Alternative Program, a funded program, that hired college students as counselors to work with in-coming high school students and not only give them appropriate counseling, but also assist them with their homework and visit the parents to give updates on students’ academic and social development.
• Dr. Kambon was the coordinator, and academic advisor, of an Adult External College Degree Program in which he designed the liberal arts curriculum for the adults that enabled them to fulfill all academic requirements for graduation. Three years
• Dr. Kambon designed a Child Abuse Prevention Program for parents, primarily mothers, to assist them in learning and implementing effective emotional and psychological strategies to reduce anger relative to their interaction with their child(ren). This was a two-year program that was successful.
• Dr. Kambon was the director of an inner city summer camp program, for three years, and was responsible for sending hundreds of children to their first positive experience outside of the home. Three years.
• Dr. Kambon had a proposal funded that enabled him to design and implement a HomeWork Helper Program that had college level students in educational psychology help elementary school children learn effective study skills, successfully complete their homework in language arts and use educational computer games to learn mathematics. This program was in effect for 10 years, 9 weeks each semester, and served over 650 children and enabled over 125 college students to have a wholesome pre-student teaching experience.
• Dr. Kambon served as an evaluator in The Governor’s School Program that evaluated transcripts of gifted and talented students, who generally scored on the 97-98th percentile on their standardized tests. Students selected were able to attend a special summer program that permitted them to focus on their particular interests in either the arts or the sciences/mathematics. Out of about 700-800 students recommended by superintendents, principals, state legislators and teachers, only 150 were selected for each of the two state sites. Dr. Kambon received state recognition for his three years of service.
• Dr. Kambon was admitted to “Who’s Who Among College Professors” for two different years. He has two plaques honoring and denoting his achievements.
• Dr. Kambon was nominated three times and selected once, as “Professor of the Year”, by a college-wide student survey, as an outstanding teacher in teacher education.
• Dr. Kambon has numerous community awards and college citations for his services over the course of thirty years. He has appeared on numerous television and news programs discussing such topics as: “Kwanzaa”, “The Unsolved Murders of Black Women-Are the Police All They Can? “Food and Health of Black People”, “Academic Achievement of Black Children and the Role of Parents in Education”, and “Community Development”.
• As an “educational imperative”, Dr. Kambon’s philosophy is to never inject his personal opinions in the classroom setting. Students are always presented with an issue, a problem, a topic or a subject and asked to do further research, “and double check and triple check”, to verify and ascertain the authenticity, or dubiousness, of the topic, issue or problem. Part of this pedagogical approach is based on the idea that “students cannot, or should not, just sit in the classroom and expect to “get an education”. Students must get up and go and extend their own education and learning, because the most lasting learning is self-initiated learning”.
“Research, Research, Research; read everything and be a lifelong learner” It is vitally important for students to examine and question everything, and everyone-regardless of the person’s title, credentials, wealth, or stature- and not base judgments and decisions on “how I feel” or “what I believe”, or “what I think” or “what I know”, because there is a universe of knowledge that must be examined. There is enormous discussion, in the school setting and in the workplace, surrounding the value and importance of critical thinking; however, well beyond the importance of focus on critical thinking, critical listening and critical evaluation are perhaps essentially more significant components in the learning process and experience.
It is recommended that students, on all levels, listen to the news with critical eyes and ears and ask, “What is the real meaning of this particular story and is it the truth”? “Are there underlying implications, or hidden meanings, that are not being conveyed in the story”? “Was the entire story or issue forthrightly articulated or was the story used to perpetuate a certain agenda or promote one of the propaganda techniques: name calling, testimonial, glittering generalities, band wagon (everybody’s doing this or that; so should you), plain folks, etc. Ultimately, it is the job of each individual to get up off the couch, get off the golf course or the basketball court, get out of the malls, and get your own education and learn how to actually think for yourself, instead of having others think for you.
QUESTION #3
CAN YOU NAME SOME IMPORTANT BOOKS PEOPLE CAN READ IN ORDER TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HISTORY, MORE ON THE BLACK HOLOCAUST AND THE VARIOUS SUBTLE WAYS IT IS STILL CONTINUING? HOW CAN THE BLACK HOLOCAUST BE HALTED?
IMPORTANT BOOKS
• David Walker’s Appeal
• We Charge Genocide: William Patterson/Paul Robeson
• The Man Who Cried “I Am”- John Williams
• Count-Down to Black Genocide-Saggittarus
• Who Needs the Negro- Sidney Wilhelm
• Moniyhan Report-Daniel Patrick Moniyhan
• Global 2000 Report-population control-depopulation
• Are You Still A Slave? - - How Not to Eat Pork—S. Ali
• The Black Holocaust for Beginners- - S.E. Anderson
• Somebody’s Trying to Kill You –the Psychodynamics of white racism and Black Pathology- H. Davidson, Ph.D.
• The Slaughter-Carroll Case
• Tribalism, Mysticism, Primitivism, and the Rise of Genocide Against the African World- B. Shakari
• Slavery: The African American Psychic Trauma- S.Latif
• How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America- - M. Marable
• Breaking the Spirit of the American Black Male- S. Bradley
• Work of Arthur Jensen, Charles Murray, Wm Shockley
• Savage Inequalities- and Death at an Early Age- Jonathan Kozol
• Kill Them Before They Grow-Michael Porter
• Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization—Survival Strategies for African Americans
• 500 Years of European Behavior- Nana Butweiku II
• Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey
• Malcolm X Speaks to Young People—The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• Afrikan Holistic Health--- Nutricide—(health and nutrition)
• Schooling the Younger Generations about the Politics of Prison-Mumia
• Know Thy Self- - - Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery
• Isis Papers-
• United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept-
• From Superman to Man--- 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro- J.A. Rogers
• The Destruction of Black Civilization—Dr. Chancellor Williams
• See United Nations definition of “genocide”
• See the work of R.J. Rummel on “Democide”
• Learn about the principles of Ma’at
• Afrikan Woman, the Original Guardian Angel- Dr. Barashango
• Afrikan People and European Holidays: A Mental Genocide-Vol. 1 & 2 - - Dr. Barashango
• Goddess Black Woman- Akil
• Dressed to Kill, The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras- Singer and Grismaijer
• Black Women, For Beginners- S. Sharpe
• Economic Solutions- P. Kershaw
• The Natural Genius of the Black Child- Blueprint for Black Power—Black on Black Violence- -Dr. Amos Wilson
• The Best of the Little Known Black History Facts-V. Robinson
These, then, are just a small sample of the books that are available to you, if you so desire to increase your knowledge and education. Don’t be afraid of learning; it will take learning, and analysis, to solve the problem
Dr. Kambon is author of four books:
• "Black Guerrilla Warfare in amerika: a Peoples' Manual and Manifesto on Resistance and Survival" ·(Out of Print)
• Tips on Quick and Easy Ways Afrikans Can Commit Subtle Suicide" (Out of Print0
• "Food Health and You: Why Black People Die So Young" ·
• "The Case For A Class Action Educational Malpractice Lawsuit", monograph in, "To Heal A People", Kujichagulia Press, 1996
* “The Last Book”, featuring “The Last Black Man Standing”, has received worldwide acclaim and has been performed in high schools, colleges and churches from California to Florida to New York.
QUESTION
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY?
Yes! I did not have a real opportunity to remark on the profound significance and the importance of the conference theme regarding the media.
For over thirty years, thirty-five, to be exact, I have been acutely aware of the role of media and the extensive psychological and emotional damage they do to Black people.
(The word “media” is a plural word that refers to a collective: radio, T.V., print, and now electronic; therefore whenever using the word “media” the verb “are” should follow) For your information, the same is true for the word, “data”- the data are-is accurate.
I have written letters to major hollywood studios (admonishing them about showing old tarzan movies that misrepresent the true image of Afrika and the portrayal of Afrikan people as savages), I have written to television stations about their poor characterizations and negative portrayals of Blacks, written to radio stations and even to some magazines and college bulletins about how they demean Black people by presenting them in a slanted fashion.
When we talk of fighting against the media, we are actually talking about fighting against a “psychological system”, a “cultural system”, an “economic system” and, among others, a “social system”, all purposely designed to continue to perpetuate to other white people, to Black people and to the whole world, for some unknown reason, that Black people are not very bright, generally, that Blacks are clowns, buffoons, thugs, criminals, “niggaz”, “bitches” and “ho’s”. Why is this still being done, after thirty years of telling the white people they need to stop their misrepresentations of Black people to Black people and the world?
The projection of the negative images of Blacks goes way back in time, but for our purposes, this discussion will stay confined to Black people here in the u.s a. Some of the first negative portrayals of Blacks go back as far as the 1830s’, 1840’s and 1850’s. In order to rationalize or justify the brutal enslavement of Black people, white people had to declare that Blacks were “savages” (in psychology, this is referred to as “projection”), child-like, incapable of taking care of themselves, or, if they were left alone to take care of themselves, they would bungle it so badly, they would have to eventually go back to white people to get themselves straight. So, in order to justify, and maintain, the enslavement process, white people created about five, or more, IMAGES of Blacks to project to the world.
Now, before I go forward with this, it is important to say here that white people are excellent at giving their VISION OR VERSION of reality. A version of something means it is not the original; a version is simply an imitation of, or a piece of, the original. For example, the great singer and song stylist, Nat “King” Cole sang one of the most popular and best selling songs ever when he sang, “The christmas Song”. His was the original; yet many, many, many other singers have given their rendition, or version, of this song, only to fail to sing it better than Nat. These other singers sang their VERSION of the song and the version can, in some cases be good, but the VERSION can never be better than the original. Although you may not like the comparison, the king james’ “VERSION” of the bible is another example of a false and concocted VISION or VERSION, of actual sacred texts, coming from the perspective of white people. The king james’ VERSION of the bible is just that, a VERSION; again, the VERSION can never be better than the original. Therefore, it would be in the self-interest of Black people to go and find the original, because it is the authentic. It is vitally important to put, and keep, in mind that the VERSION is never the ORIGINAL; it is only a fraction of, a piece of, a fake copy of, a portion of, or an imitation of the ORIGINAL.
Getting back to the issue of the images of Black people in the media, especially in film, whether T.V. or “the silver screen”, white people in the time of enslavement created the following images in order to keep Black people enslaved:
• “The Mammy”(a big, fat, jet Black, loudmouth and domineering woman in her own home, yet loving, nurturing, and docile in the plantation owner’s home),
• “The Pick-a-ninny” (a small “negro” child, who was generally portrayed as half naked, hair unkempt, afraid of ghosts, and/or being chased or eaten by animals)
• “The Sambo” (the portrayal of a simpleton Black man who always ran away from work, loved to sing and dance, loved having fun and always schemed and thought of creative ways to try to smooth talk or trick people out something (resources)
• “The Coon” (the portrayal of a Black man who feigned intelligence, mispronounced and used words, usually “big” words, out of their proper context- this image would convey, and prove to all, that even if Blacks were set free from being enslaved, they were too ignorant to be able to do anything for themselves-ultimately, they would have to come back to “the master” for assistance and guidance
• “The Uncle”(a docile ole’, generally happy, man in his twilight years who is now projected as having been happy being enslaved and now didn’t mind walking around the plantation telling the young ones about “the good ole’ days”. He was also very submissive.
These, then, are the primary images that the white people, who have power, guns, money, and influence, have passed down to their white children, like a baton in a relay race, from one generation of white media controllers to their progeny. The white children of the creators of these images have added, to our great dismay and displeasure, to this assorted menagerie by their creations and perpetuation of “the Black gangstas, a slicker VERSION of the dumb Black athlete, the loyal Black sidekick-assistant (a cop, a detective, a military man, etc) to the “intelligent” white leader, the thugs, and the “chicken-eatin’-hamburger-eatin’-rap-singin’- happy negro” etc.”
This character assassination of Black men, especially, has been continuous, unabated, and relentless, despite years and years of letter writing, in protest, to studio owners, scriptwriters, casting directors, producers, and directors. Yet these letters, written by reputable Black organizations, academicians, and Black people who hold no particular credentials, fall on deaf ears and are thrown into the wastebaskets of people who have another agenda set for Black people. Why do white people utterly refuse to change the negative images of Black people that they are endlessly willing to project to all around the world?
The media are a system, as was pointed out earlier, and perhaps the most important of these is the “psychological system”. The “white psychological system” is designed (through TELL-OUR-VISION, OR TELL-OUR-VERSION) to CONVEY, AND IMPLANT, CONCEPTS OR BASIC IDEAS INTO THE MINDS OF THE VIEWERS that are psychologically and emotionally destructive to Black people and reinforce hatred for Blacks by whites. Many Blacks, and most whites, have been trained to believe that “if it’s on T.V., it must be the truth! Well, Black people, and white people, “it ain’t necessarily so” (as the song goes). Since time does not permit, the following is a brief outline of the “psychological system” and what it is designed to project about, and to, Black people and the world, especially the entire white world:
• Black is ugly, evil and negative: anything that is Black is bad and everything that is white is good. Black people, and the white world, internalized, or absorbed, this concept and believe it, even though it is outside the scope of reality. This is why it is important for people to move outside of what they “think, feel, know and believe”, because these notions generally have no bearing on reality. A quick example: One might be sitting indoors, in mid-August- and say, “ I think, I feel, I know, or I believe” it is going to snow. Then the person walks outside, into the REALITY, and finds that it is not snowing. So how a person feels, or what she thinks, or what she knows or what she believes is really irrelevant-when these notions are matched against REALITY. This is why it is imperative to always get FACTS about the subject, issue, idea, topic or problem before saying, doing or concluding anything based on “feelings”, “thinking”, “believing” or “knowing” alone and without examining the actual facts.
• The projection that the standard of beauty is “BLOND HAIR, BLUE EYES, THIN LIPS AND HAVE AN ANORECTIC BODY”. Of course, the projection of this CONCEPT, CONVEYED THROUGH THE MEDIA, is very destructive to Black people, both men and women. Why? How? The projection of this concept is so compelling it forces Black women to compare themselves against “the standard”. Black women then have to discover, through self-analysis, whether they fall below the standard, meet the standard or exceed the standard. Invariably, they find they fall below the standard-and spend the rest of their lives trying to “make-up” (figuratively and literally) or compensate for not measuring up to the standard.
How do Black women compensate? By going to “beauty parlors” and spending time, untold millions of dollars and destroying their health (chemicals that are put on the scalp seep through the pores and destroy brain cells and poison the organs). The white standard of “beauty” affects Black men in that the men are always comparing Black women against the same white model. White people, who put forward the CONCEPT of the standard of “beauty”, created in Black women, and in all women, for that matter, an inferiority complex that is so deep, Black women would rather face death by chemical poisoning than not perm their hair. Undoubtedly, if Black adults are so brainwashed over this false “standard of beauty”, their children, especially girls who love blond, blue-eyed dolls, don’t have a chance at developing either a strong positive identification with Afrika or enhancing their own self esteem.
• Blacks are “MINORITY”- This CONCEPT, like the concept of beauty, creates in Black people feelings of inferiority because, here, Black people are comparing themselves against “the standard”, or what seems like “the majority”-the white people. In fact, we know that Black people, in the complete context of the world, constitute about ONE BILLION PEOPLE ON THE PLANET. In fact, when Black people see themselves as part of an international Afrikan family of Black people, who live in Brazil, who live in Trinidad, Blacks who live in england, Blacks who live in australia, and in Afrika, Black people are not a “minority’, at all.
• “Third World”: Most whites, and Blacks, readily assume that the “first world” means the “white world”. This is an understandable assumption, since white people have power, guns, money and influence and they tell people what to think. However, the assumption is incorrect. It is assumed that the white world is the “first world” and that the Asian bloc constitutes the “second world”, presumably, and that Afrika is part of the “third world, presumably. This characterization is outside the scope of REALITY because the first people, in the very first world, according to Black scientists (Diop/Obenga) and white scientists, were Afrikans. So how and why did white people flip the script to make us believe otherwise?
• “Middle East”- discussed earlier
• Thanks to the media, especially T.V., there is a new image of the Black family, absent the Black man. So often we see the Black woman and the children, with no man in the picture. If there is a man in the picture, he is usually in the background, has no significant speaking role (he usually grunts, looks dazed, or smiles only) or is some kind of clown or jokester-usually the joke is on him because he is dumb. In many, many instances, the Black woman stands alone in the commercial, as an “independent woman”, with no need for a man. Or the Black woman is doing the news, and of course, co-hosted with a, you guessed it, white man. Are you getting the idea that there is a grand design to eliminate Black men? If so, why?
In summary, then, the fight Black people have against the “media” is really a battle against CONCEPTS. This is, at best, a very, very difficult battle to win because the minds of Black people are filled to overflowing with white concepts. There is no space left in the minds of Black people for any, or for very few, Black concepts to enter and have sufficient room to take root, grow, develop and flourish. If you have ever worked with concrete mix, you know that initially, when mixed with water, the concrete is malleable and can be shaped. But after it gets hard, you can’t do anything to change it; it cannot be changed.
This is what happens to Black people when white concepts get into their minds: there is no room left in their minds’ for the concept of, for example, sending their child to an Independent Black School, or buying books from Black Bookstores, or “buying anything from anyone Black, for that matter. Black people are so filled with white concepts fulfilling their obligations to the white concepts keep them too busy being slaves to the white concepts, they neither have time for, nor room in their heads’ for, “Black”
Yes, there is a vital need for a Black media collective or better, a Black media SYSTEM-but any Black media system must first figure out how to break through the concrete concepts white people have so shrewdly and skillfully placed into the minds of Black people. Once we figure out the antidote for “white concept bustin’”, we can then effectively conceive, develop, and implement a Black Media System. One thing is absolutely sure, as long as these negative images of Black people, especially of Black men, persist in the various forms of media, you can bet The Black Holocaust is still going on, and in full effect: The Black Holocaust of the mind, that is. When you see an end to these negative depictions of Black people, in movies, on T.V., in magazines, on radio talk shows, there is a pretty good chance the Black Holocaust of the mind has come to an end.
As my saying goes, “The first one to the mind is the winner!!!”
Suggested sources to verify the information above:
University of California, at Berkeley produced two films: Ethnic Notions and Color Adjustment
Film: Black History-Lost, Stolen or Strayed-narrated by Bill Cosby
I am Dr. Kamau Kambon
Getting out of the kitchen when it gets too hot:
"It'll be hard to follow that one. You can get as Black as you want but I don't know if you can get that...uh uh..."
Opio Sokoni
"His comments were not pro-black."
Opio Sokoni
Dr. Kambon,
Thank you for your comments. Just as I asked questions of Dr. Sokoni, so I have some questions for you:
1. When you refer to "white people," are you referring to the socially constructed category "white" that is an outgrowth of white supremacy, or are you referring to people of primarily European descent?
2. What role does class play in your analysis? Where do poor whites and other impoverished non-Africans fit?
3. Many of the authors whose works you cite (Wells-Barnett, Douglass, Du Bois, Marable, for example) explicitly believed in coalitions across lines of race and class, and rejected racial essentialism. What is your take on this?
4. What do you think of the news coverage of your remarks?
Kambon scuppered his own credibility when he described veganism and home-birthing as something radical. What out of touch nonsence! A man who can lovingly describe how his two children were born on the same date two years apart and then continue with 'exterminate blah blah ...' is little more than an idiot!
The ramifications of Kambon's comments worry me not as personally, I credit listeners and readers as having minds of their own and Kambon's call to join with nuclear armed forces such as North Korea reduces his cridibilty to way less zero!
TeKuiti
Everyone loves to blame the white man for all the problems. But remember it was our African brothers who first fought wars against each other and who first sold each other into slavery to the whites. Now even today, we fight among ourselves, killing, raping, tearing apart our own peoples families. Until we stop the black on black hate, we cannot possibly begin to change the way another race looks at us. It does not matter if I clean up the outside of my house, if the inside is filthy.
That sir, is a historically inaccurate, asinine comment. It is comments like those that keep us (Black people) in a constant state of self-hate and mental slavery. Why don't you research history for your self instead of regurgitating racist comments someone else has made?
The majority of Black people are law abiding, honest, and family oriented. Also, Blacks were never a major component of slavery, I can see why you posted as anonymous as your statements are indefensible.
It is a fact that the first slaves sold in Africa were sold by Africans. Call it a "racist comment" if you like, but that won't make it any less a fact. Black African men reaped the first rewards of Black African enslavement.At this point in history, the only one holding down the Black man IS the Black man. We won't solve the problems that poison our culture and destroy our youth until all of us -- EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US -- accept that it is OUR problem. Instead, we have kooks -- and I am very sincere in using that word -- KOOKS like Dr. Kambon proving that the foul things Whitey says about us ARE TRUE. Dr. Kambon got up on that microphone and he PROVED WHITEY RIGHT.
Black African Kingdoms were overwhelmingly the source for black slaves all over the world since at leat the 1200's. If you dont know that, then you need to check your facts. The black slaves that came to what is now the United States were acquired from arican kindoms. It may be hard for you to believe, but the slave trading started because the African kings ran out of gold and ivory, and having literally nothing else to trade, they had the Eurpeans take slaves instead. They didnt even want them, but the African kings had them accept it. Eurpeans didnt go into central Africa to take slaves either. Do you need an explanation why? Because the death rate for Europeans in Africa was astronimical, its called common sense to trade for them with African kings who did the capturing, the killing, etc. If you want to hide from the historical facts, than do it on your own time and dont post your naive thoughts on a web site.
Actually, I can't let a partial truth like that stand. It's true that there were African kingdoms involved in the Atlantic slave trade. There were also Africans who fought against slavery. African kings who dealt in slavery usually sold prisoners of war. African slavery differed in character from the slavery practiced in the Americas, however. In Africa, slaves were not considered subhuman. Also, slave status was not hereditary. Indeed, just as in Greece and Rome, some slaves were allowed to acquire property, become counselors to royalty, and even marry into their "owners" households. While there is nothing pleasant or defensible about participating in slavery, it should be understood that what African rulers did was quite different from the slavery practiced in the US and Caribbean.
I am white and had to listen to my white teacher talk about this Kambon character like he's a God amongst men. I go to Temple University which is about 60% white 30% black and 10% other. I would have loved to raise my hand and inform her that her hero was a modern day African Hitler but I could not because of the 1/2 black 1/2 white class. I'm sure all the black people in class would have wanted to beat me up for being "racist" or something. I think most African Americans need to stop looking at the past and look at the future. Stop dwelling on ancestory. Although they would like to believe that something is owed to them, what happened 150 years ago bears no leftovers for todays white people to make up for. That would be like telling All modern day german soldiers that they owe the jews something. It's just completely assinine. And from what I've seen and what many African Americans tell me, they want to live in black communities. I feel that blacks willingly and deliberately segregate themselves from white people. As far as Hurricane Katrina goes, they were told to leave. If they could not get out because of poverty and lack of transportation, than it is no ones fault but their own. I'm sure most who complain about "the lack of help and the horrible treatment of blacks" were the ones who were ignorant and decided to stay on their own free will. Most of all I'm just tired of hearing African Americans in general, complain. America was founded by Europeans. Therefore America will always be EUROCENTRIC. It seems like everyone wants to live here but complain at the same time. If white people are so terrible and so evil, and America gives no oppurtunity to the black man, than just leave. Go somewhere else. That is all.
I would hope that somewhere in your studies at Temple University, you will learn to make arguments on the basis of facts and logic, not supposition and non-sequitirs. First, if you read the comments in this thread and look at the overall coverage of Kambon, you will find that he is a fairly marginal figure, even among Afrocentrists. Further Afrocentrists only represent a small segment of the spectrum of black thought. Second, I wonder what evidence you had for your assumption that the black students would have assumed you were racist solely on the basis of your criticism of Kambon. It seems strange that you make an argument against reparations by arguing that slavery has no bearing on the present, but you close by invoking your understanding of history when you argue for Eurocentrism. Either history matters or it doesn't. Your Holocaust analogy is also historically inaccurate. Your assertion about "most" African-Americans wanting to live in all-black communities does not square with the latest census data. Even if you were factually correct, you would be incorrect to call such a preference segregation. (You might find Beverly Daniel Tatum's "Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" helpful in this last regard.) Your characterization of the circumstances under which people of all races were stranded during Hurricane Katrina is also light on substantiation. If you want to criticize Kambon, be my guest. But you seem to be arguing that there is some widespread sympathy among African-Americans for Kambon's views, and that is simply not the case.
The comments were not "immediately challenged." They were lightly applauded, and then brushed aside as if they weren't even stated. They should have been immediately disclaimed, but they weren't. Tell me why? Also, tell me why this Kambou was never punished for this hate crime, this incitement to genocide.
i am white, i feel sorrow for the true hatred amd murder that my older generations have done the afrikan people, yet you wish death on me . isnt that the exact thing you are angry about happening to your ppeople
I found a post on a libertarian website about Dr. Kambons comments and was very sorry for the African-American cause. From the posts on this site I am glad to see that informed African-Americans do not subscribe to this view.
I am white and some would call me a (legally) gun toting redneck. I am registered republican, but wish I could vote for a Libertarian. I believe that the democrats and popular African-American figures are the worst enemy of equality.
My concern is never with a persons color, but their character. I have worked with people of all ethnicities, recommended a black man be promoted to my equal, and watched them surpass me, with no regrets.
The problem with the media is that they cater to their market. Gangster rap sells records. I used to watch MTV to see rock videos; rap videos sold more cd's. I used to watch Bill Cosby on TV, and was interested by his comments on black culture; then disappointed when the rest of his community abandoned him.
I was even more disappointed when Lynn Swann didn't receive the support of the African-American community and lost the election in my state. Ed Rendell is a crook. He tells the elderly and the poor (I am a member of the latter) what they want to hear; government programs will fix all; give a man a fish ect...
I hope that the readers of this site can get positive values to resonate in the masses to increase equality and not let radicalism and violence reduce it.
I will continue to follow this thread and the cause. I hope it succeeds, not just for the black community, but for society as a whole. I hope that my comments contribute to the rational discussion of racial equality.
How intelligent is it to use the educations that you have achieved to further such inane points of view?
This entire story and everything I see about it just makes me sad. We haven't begun at all have we?
Search you hearts people, because your brains have failed you.
I recall Dr. Sokoni speaking about how he doesnt give the children of slave masters A's and B's. Who said all white people are the children of slave masters? My ancestors were part of Europe's poor until the early 1900's, and the same goes for millions of other whites.
And to "Kim", you agree with the guy who tells us he can't remember when white people were able to talk civily about race, and you tell us that he reminds you of one of your heros?
Give me a break both of you
I really am curious about why I'm getting so many new comments on what I thought was a long-dead topic, but c'est la vie. But I'll say just two things in response to this last comment:
1. Since I had never heard of Opio Sokoni before, and know nothing of his views beyond what you see here, I will have to take your word for what you say he said. However, if that is his practice, he would be subject to legal action under our civil rights laws, and deservedly so. Someone's ancestry has no bearing on how they should be graded in a class.
2. As for what I presume to be your characterization of my reference to James Baldwin above, I never said I agreed with Ronnie. I said his comment reminded me of the kinds of things that I heard Baldwin say. I also said that as a child, I was impressed by Baldwin's rhetorical skills and passion. I didn't even say that I agreed with the substance of what Baldwin said, then or now. Now if you what I think of what Ronnie said, ask me. My answer at the moment is that I think Ronnie was very frustrated, and I understand how that can happen. It's the frustration that reminded me of Baldwin. I can't tell you whether that's what I was thinking when I wrote the comment, many months ago.
And if you read further, you might infer, correctly, I think "race" is essentially a social and legal fiction, and therefore racial generalizations are meaningless.
seems like i misunderstood you, sorry for that.
gotta agree with your last comment though.
Any person that would try to explain away disgusting comments recommending genocide of any race because of actual or percieved earlier genocide by that race is insane. Find me a race of people that at some point hasn't done something horrible to another and you'll only find them in the pages of a fictional novel.
Keep focusing on the past and we'll only fail as a race, the human race.
As a white guy who grew up in a black neighborhood in Brooklyn I am a little sick of hearing about how the white man kept the black man down when I was fighting two or three at a time cause they were bored and wanted to take out their anger on someone. As I say that I have also seen the other side of things when we had the numbers on our side and things didn't go so well for a black kid who had no idea why he was being attacked.
In the end there are people on both sides that bad things happened to that would do well to talk about the future and not the past because of stupidity.
I am raising my children in a mixed race neighborhood where they have friends of all races and we all share our homes and cultures with each other. This is the only hope for the future as we all rely on each other.
What can be done?
We constantly talk about it... We constantly use terms to try and soften prejudice that surfaced in the past (eg African Americans etc... no euro americans?... Never heard of a African Canadian - although they very well could use that term, I dunno)...
We created Affirmative Action, to try and even out those who receive proper education and employ multiple races in various fields to help even out those statistics (correct me if I'm wrong, I think that's the purpose)...
Yet, what is affirmative action? It's a dividing tool. A tool that asks explicitly what race you are to help determine your eligibility.
I'm not looking for sympathy, just understanding - I'm 25 and white. I grew up with a single mom who was a waitress. I've ridden the city bus my whole life (only had a 500 dollar car for a couple months). Just this year I finally got into college. I've been homeless and on welfare already. But about 5 years ago, things started looking up.
I tried to get into college with no money... Looked for scholarships for blond hair blue eyed white guys... None... Saw about a thousand others for Asians, Hispanics, 'African Americans', Eskimos, and just about any other 'minority' you could think of... I think there were some for specific interests, but as far as race goes, only the minorities could receive a scholarship with the one major prerequisite being their skin.
So I postponed school until now. I've been a security guard, and still am. I work and go to school. Still ride the bus etc...
I have a friend at work who was born in Egypt but lived nearly his entire life in America. He still lives at home, drives a lexus, works the same job as me, his mom makes a tad more money than my mom did; and yet he goes to school for free... Why? Because of his heritage. Is this fair?
Is it fair to say to an individual that they cannot proceed on the same path as someone else because of their skin?
Is it fair to see my black friends get to go to school because they are black? Now I know there are a thousand other reasons why things like this happen. I have no qualms with a rich family getting no assistance, because obviously they can afford it. But is it really right to base it on race? Not all blacks are poor, and not all whites are well off.
In fact, I believe its true that there are millions more white people below the poverty line than blacks. The ratio of poor white to well off white is lower than the that of the black population, so I understand that...
I dunno, something just seems wrong... It seems like we want to fix discrimination with more of it... I don't know how well that will work...
sorry for ranting
I ubderstand your frustration, however, some of it seems based on misinformation:
1. There are Afro-Canadians -- here's a link to quick information:
http://www.answers.com/topic/black-canadian
2. Class-based AA programs do exist. New Jersey's EOF program accepts students on the basis of family income, among other factors. There are white males in the program. The real problem with financial aid in this country has been the trend toward merit scholarships, as opposed to need-based scholarships. That means that there isn't enough financial aid for poor students, period, regardless of their racial background.
Here's a report you might find helpful:
http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2006/rnihep041406.html
3. Whatever scholarships your Egyptian friend received, they were not the result of race-linked financial aid programs. Egyptians are considered white under US law.
I hope this is helpful.
This may be long dead or not but I just had a thought I felt like putting out there.
First off, I came upon this blog after being prompted to read about Kamau Kambon following NCSU's re-statement that Mr. Kambon was not affiliated with the university anymore.
I attend NC State University and have to disagree with assertations that it is a racist/pro-slavery university. Indescretions in the past, while deplorable, have to be forgiven sometime in light of attepmts to right those wrongs. NCSU is very active in educating incoming and current students on the virtue of diversity. Having formerly worked as a student employee of the University I can guarantee they require extensive diversity training and expect everyone to share and coexist.
It is my opinion, no matter how you choose to weight it, that racism in this country is on the decline. With exceptions of people ignorantly clinging to some hate, fueling their racist beliefs, I believe that once the generations of Americans who have witnessed segregation leave us (politically and physically) this country will be much better off. I hold no qualms with anyone because of race. I only form opinions based on my own experience with individuals.
This was just me ranting, but while everyone was discussing (implied) stereotypes, lets not cast NCSU in a bad light just because it is located in the south.
"But you seem to be arguing that there is some widespread sympathy among African-Americans for Kambon's views, and that is simply not the case." - Dr. Kim
Perhaps it's most telling that there is no widespread denunciation of his comments here.
"'But you seem to be arguing that there is some widespread sympathy among African-Americans for Kambon's views, and that is simply not the case.' - Dr. Kim
"Perhaps it's most telling that there is no widespread denunciation of his comments here." -- Anonymous
If it tells you anything, it's that Kambon does not merit sustained attention.
This blog doesn't get a lot of comments, so I wouldn't take what you see here as representative of much of anything.
That said, I doubt that many African-Americans even know who Kambon is -- I had certainly never heard of him before. I do a lot of reading, and have studied and taught African American studies courses, and I have never heard anyone cite him, refer to him or express any sympathy for his views. Even the person responsible for giving him a national platform, whom I had also never heard of, disassociated himself from Kambon.
There are white supremacist groups operating on the 'Net and all over this country, who have actual organizations and who talk about race war. Should others who happen to share the same racial phenotype be expected to chase down every utterance by someone on the racist fringe so that can be seen vocally condemning them? I think not.
What Kambon said was obviously despicable, irrational and far outside of the range of intellectual and political thought among African-Americans. The only newsworthy thing about him is that until that moment, he had apparently been seen as someone who had some legitimate expertise. That no longer seems to be the case, as it should be.
"Egyptians are considered white under US law."
Egyptian-Americans with sub-Saharan ancestry are not considered "white", according to the ones I know.
I work with such a man, and he says he's never been listed as a white male. He's as dark as any African American I know. He counts towards the total minorities employed by our company.
The census category associated with Middle Eastern Americans in the US has a complex legal history. At the moment, it appears that North Africans are classified as white under US law. You are right that many people classified this way are indistinguishable from people we consider black in this country. That is one of the many reasons that some argue that race is a social construct. I find this case history especially fascinating in that regard.
White Americans are afraid to open discussions on solving the race relations. Anytime anything is discussed, it is considered "racist" by the black community however, the black community is allowed to make racist remarks. There can never be the Great Discussion until each side is allowed to discuss openly. For instance...
Could I open a Bookstore called
"WHITEMAGNIFICENT" ?? No, that would definitely be racist...right?
Would Whitemagnificent books be racist? Depends on the motivation behind the name, I suppose. Presumably the motivation behind Kambon's choice of names for his bookstore is to counter a tradition that has deemed people of African descent as inferior.
But to respond to your larger point, to treat Kambon as if he is representative of African American thought. Most African Americans have no idea who the man even is.
We are all Gods Children...No matter the color of our skin, that whats we all need to remember.
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