IS CHRISTMAS JUDEO-CHRISTIAN OR AFRICAN?
(FIRST PUBLISHED ON DECEMBER 24, 2005)
How about both? There are three books which provide fascinating insight on this topic: Yosef ben-Jochannan, African Origins of the Major "Western Religions" (New York: Alkebu-Lan Books, 1970); Cheikh Anta Diop, The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality (New York: Lawrence Hill, 1976); and John G. Jackson, Christianity Before Christ (Austin, Texas: American Atheist Press, 1985).

The Egyptian "god," Wosir (known to the Greeks as Osiris) was humankind’s first resurrected savior. He was the "god" of bread and wine. Wosir’s son, Heru (known to the Greeks as Horus) was conceived in the womb of Auset (known to the Greeks as Isis) after Wosir’s death. How could this be? Well, the technical term is "parthenogenesis," that is "virgin birth." In the very beginning, in prehistoric times, it appears that humans believed that they reproduced exclusively through parthenogenesis. Thus the female was deemed to be divine. Resonances of this belief are found in humanity’s fundamental myths. Auset is presented as the most preeminent of beings whose only son, Heru, had no earthly father. Indeed, Heru and his putative father, Wosir, are indistinguishable one from the other.

This confirms Auset’s position as the mother of god who conceived and bore a son, even though as Mary of our Gospel proclaims: "I know not man." It is clear that Christian doctrine was developed by streamlining thousands of years of African theological tradition. Christianity did not reject the pre-existing Egyptian Mystery System, rather the New Way brought to fulfillment and sorted out the imperfect and frequently self-contradictory collection of doctrines which Africans had developed over the many millennia of civilized existence.

As a direct consequence of white supremacy, which really took firm hold as a socioeconomic system only with the industrial revolution, Christians are loathe to acknowledge their fundamentally African theological roots. They have no problem relating to Greco-Roman paganism or to the various so-called "Eastern" theological tradition. But they become extremely uneasy when the "amazing connections" are made between Christianity and any expression of "African Philosophy and Religions" (to use John S. Mibiti’s terms). Catholic Christians are comfortable with Halloween, but get real nervous when it comes to the common elements shared by Orisha and Roman Catholicism.

We argued in our 1996 book, Amazing Connections: Kemet to Hispanophone Africana Literature, that Roman Catholicism is the most African of the so-called world religions. Christmas is one of the most obvious manifestations of the African origin of Catholicism and all Christianity. Christ is identified with Ra. He is the sun (Ra) who was born at one minute after midnight on December 25. Ra was symbolized by palm branches, which look like the rays of the sun. Ra’s ark, boat, was pulled through the sky by a donkey. This explains the symbolism of Palm Sunday. Christ is the resurrected Savior, the Son of God, who was prefigured by a series of Chirst-like figures, the first of whom was Wosir. According to Jackson, all of these Christ figures were black (that is African) men.

MOTHER OF GOD OR PREGNANT, UNWED TEENAGER
As the New Way forged its identity, the Church Fathers, at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431, formally declared Mary to be the Mother of God. The Church Fathers would have known that the title "mother of god" was the greatest of all the praise names the ancient Egyptians gave to Auset (whom the Greeks called Isis).

The ancient Egyptians created the first great civilization in human history. Auset was for them the Great Mother, the Mother Goddess, the Divine Feminine. The title "mother of god" included all of this. Charles S. Finch, III in Echoes of the Old Darkland sheds some light on the significance of the title: "Thus when the human mind began to grapple with what Jungians call the 'superordinate idea,' i.e. 'God,' the female in her life producing capacity would have served as the first model of prime causation" (p. 65).

The Christmas Mystery is not just about an unwed teenager becoming pregnant. It is more about "the female in her life producing capacity" serving as "the first mode of prime causation."

Deal with that, Chuck Norris!

ASSAULT ON WASHINTON D.C. POLICE OFFICER CONDONED
Since when is it O.K. for a group of civilians to assault a police officer? Well, if these civilians are white and the police officer is black, then it's O.K.

Suppose a group of bored black young people had decided to thorw snowballs at a passing motorist who was a mature white man? Would that have been O.K.? And suppose the mature white man turned out to be a police officer?

Yes. Racism is alive and well in "America."

"WE THE PEOPLE" AND HEALTH CARE REFORM
In the preface to From Pharaoh Narmer to President Obama: Keeping Audacious Hope Alive, the author declares: We the people" of 1776 were really a tiny group of privileged white males. Barack Hussein Obama has always given them the benefit of the doubt by interpreting their declarations to be simply the expression of a dream, a promise of things to come. On 4 November 2008 the promise was fulfilled, "We the people" had evolved fully.

The vast majority of "We the people," that is, we the real people of this nation who elected President Obama, are clamoring for meaningful health care reform. The 1776 "We the people" oppose meaningful health care reform and have bought the support of some 45 senators.

It is true that we the real people elected President Obama. However, that was only the beginning. We the real people have to work with our president to correct the fundamental "democracy deficit." We the people want meaningful health care reform. So let's fight for it.

HEARING FROM THE BASE
The faculty and students constitute "the base" of a university, even an historically black college or university (HBCU). Apparently, the Howard University board of trustees is out of touch with its specific base. Much of the material published on this blog should be of interest to the members of the Howard University board of trustees. Perhaps one of the readers of the blog who has the ear of the board might want to provide them with the link, giving them thereby the experience of hearing from the base.

THE ORIGINAL "DEMOCRACY DEFICIT"
The term "democracy deficit" is currently used to characterize the situation with the health care debate in which 45 percent of the United States Senate seeks the interest of the tiny, tiny minority of the super rich at the expense of the vast majority of the citizenry.

In a real sense, the nation was founded on a fundamental (original, in fact) "democracy deficit." In 1776, the Founding Fathers proudly proclaimed in their Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." The native peoples were not included, for they are referred to in that document as "merciless Indian savages."

Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution proclaims Blacks to be only three-fifths human. This fundamental "democracy deficit" was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857 through the Dred Scott decision, which determined Blacks to be "beings of an inferior order and altogether unfit to associate with the white race either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

The Republicans and the sell-out Democratic senators are only doing what comes naturally. The "democracy deficit" will prevail unless "We the People" stand up, for real and not just with simple-minded rethoric.

THE SAME OLD RACISM
Black folks know that one of the most effective tools of the white supremacist system is the double standard: a black candidate has to be ten, even one hundred, times better qualified than her/his white counterpart.

Everyone knows that power is never conceded. Obama's presidency is certainly not a concession by the white power elite. They did not prevent it, because they needed him to clean up the mess created by the neocons.

White progressives and liberals have given themselves credit for Obama's election. Furthermore, they, too, expect him to clean up the mess. They demand that his job performance surpass that of any other president by a factor of ten, even one hundred. And they stand aside quietly while hardcore racists work unrelentingly, virulently, vociferously to ensure that President Obama is an utter failure.

Has anything really changed?

DUE DILIGENCE
Dude, Where's My HBCU? contributed to the removal of H. Patrick Swygert as president of Howard University. Surely, Swygert's replacement would make it his business to read the book. Surely, too, this book should be obligatory reading for the members of the University's board of trustees.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY HBCU? AND THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
"Why are you always complaining?" some people ask angrily. Others comment: "If you don't like things around here, just go elsewhere." Many declare with ill concealed irritation: "Stop dwelling on the negative. Focus on the positive. Eat the meat and spit out the fat."

Do these people not understand that Dude, Where's My HBCU? plays a role analogous to that of the Holocaust Museum?

"WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?"
Classes, finals, even the posting of grades are all behind us now. Conversation among colleagues at this time normally includes the question: "So, what are you working on?" At the great universities it would not be unusual for a faculty member to be engaged in groundbreaking research, the kind that leads to a Nobel Prize. In any university worth its salt, a faculty member would be pleased to share with his/her interlocutor the outline of some new book or article.

I am, indeed, like any serious faculty member, currently working on some forthcoming publications. However, much of my attention is focused on establishing my teaching schedule for next semester (classes begin in just under a month). The administration has indicated that my concerns are being addressed. So, I'm keeping hope alive.