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The world is not ready for the
delivery that's waiting on deck
In fact, the world would probably laugh and scorn this delivery if
They googled it and ran a background check
See, the world is big on presentation and everything looking just right
Yet, the world fails to realize that true delight and satisfaction
comes from the substance underneath the layer of an attractive sight
The world is a ruthless system, amoeba like, waiting to suck in lives
and make them its own
A deceiver only interested in conformism; no need to think, the world
will just make you a clone
Through the glittering ads, and the superficial fads the world says,
"look like this" we'll take you
And if you had a scary past and your grades were bad the world says,
"you can't make it like this" don't want you
You don't fit the bill if you at one time packed steel
Or at one time you chose to steal to get ahead and get Jacksons, Grants
and Franklins?you know them bills
The world's not ready to accept the truth that everything that glitters
ain't gold and that true treasures can come out of the trash heaps of
life
So we gon Shock the World, Transition High School is the lifeline for
those caught in society's quagmires, those who can't seem to get or
keep their head above the water
Matter of fact, we build bridges over troubled waters
Moving youths to places of self-determination and psychical restoration
so they can avoid the rivers of systemized slaughter
Avoid the sharks that devour and the waves that suffocate life
Movin youths, placing them on bridge after bridge
Givin them hands-on training so they can build and do the same thing we
did
Yeah, we gon Shock the World, let the world know that beauty ain't
always in the eye of the beholder; beauty is beauty
Sometimes beauty is wrapped in the packaging of pain, despair and
disappointment but it's still beauty
Sometimes beauty is hurting and scared, but it's still beauty
We gon Shock the world by delivering beauty that is unprecedented and
not a fit in the world's script
We gon Shock the world by presenting beauty that's been scarred, but
healed beauty that knows her worth, a worth not determined by how she
can make a man feel
We gon Shock the world with an array of beauty, once blemished and
tarnished due to suppressed ire
We gon Shock the world by delivering beauty that's reformed and
refined, real diamonds cause they came through fire
We gon Shock the world by presenting strength in its finest
Strength gained through struggle, mastered and controlled by an
intrinsic harness
We gon Shock the world by displaying strength not founded on physical
prowess but strength of mind
Strength that has been reeducated, schooled in the disciplines of
Afrocentricity
Skilled in the dynamics of community, edified in a culture of
forbearance and peace
We gon Shock the world by sending out strength that knows who he is
Strength that knows he's strength not because of his ability to produce
kids rather offspring and children
Cause our delivery is not one of animals, the day of the stud and
breeder is over
We bring forth enlightened ones, well-versed in the prose of the
greatest thinkers
In the history of humanity
Our beauty and strength will know the words and dispositions of 2Pac,
Dr. King and Marcus Garvey
Our beauty and strength will be empowered through knowledge of self
plus knowledge of divine destiny
They'll know that victory is theirs not because they're American but
because they're God's Property
They'll Shock the world because when delivered they won't attempt to
beguile or unnerve
Instead beauty and strength will smile and say hello world I'm here to
serve!
What's the prognosis?
Self-determination
Conscious restoration
Hate elimination
Why? Cause We build
We construct lives
We strategically survey the lands to see where they meet the waters
We carefully identify the trouble spots, the places of no return
And, We build
We erect all kinds of bridges, some moderate in size, others immense
Some of them we build at all heights to protect lands from dangers
low-risk and intense
We build
We lead through service, plant and water seeds
Create pathways toward change agency so our lands can provide for
people's needs
What's the prognosis?
Wholeness
Efficiency
Growth and Maturity
Why? We build
How? We ...
Pray
Teach
Model
Believe in
Correct
Inspire
Reflect
Listen
We build bridges over troubled waters through faith, courage and wisdom
We arise
We surmount
We build!
Transition Staff,
Yes, I happen to be one of those youth advocates who believe that many
of the problems of African (black)
youth are orchestrated by political motives that place little value on
their well-being. My accusation is
based on the belief that institutional/systemic racism still exists
unabated in America and continues to
be a barrier to African youth gaining access to the resources and
opportunities they need in order to
enhance their socialization.
As a result of these factors and others related to internalized
oppression, many of our youth are being
indoctrinated to a process of "desocialization". This definition
implies that a healthy, life-affirming process
for socializing African youth has been inverted and places the primary
responsibility for developing coping
skills and social competencies on the youth themselves. Clearly, what
has induced this inversion is the
failure of life supporting institutions, e.g., family, schools,
churches, neighborhoods, human services
agencies, etc., to meet the exceptional needs of African youth.
Consequently, the youth who are the "violated"
victims of this inversion seek alternative means to ensure their
survival in a debilitating environment that
too often fosters self-defeating and self-destructive behavior. For
many of these young people, their primary
reference for socialization becomes the media and the "street
institution", which assumes the role when we fail
to perform these responsibilities.
Our next "fragment" will further explore the historical context of this
dilemma. Remember, remain vigilant in
being critical consumers of educational thought and paradigms that will
empower our babies.
Peace & God Bless,
Prior to the late 1940's, most
young African (black) youth did have; at least, minimal access to
institutions that once shepherded and provided life affirming
socialization to them. These
institutions; e.g., church, mosque, family social organizations,
community centers, etc., were
fundamentally and foremost the cultural conduits for the proper
socialization of our children.
Among the cultural imperatives that they perpetuated were:
-- the care and love of children
-- community connections
-- strong kinship bonds
-- a sense of struggle
-- a moral reference for conduct (spiritual foundation)
Although the enslavement of African in America had diluted some of
these cultural imperatives;
nonetheless, many survived legalized slavery, protracted oppression,
and institutional racism.
The architects of America's diabolical and dehumanizing slave system
fully understood that to maintain
their uprooted captives in a perpetual state of chaos, dependency, and
despair they had to disengage them
from their traditional culture, which served as the foundation for
their socialization.
Part 3 of this series will further examine the need to reclaim and
resurrect historically based
socialization tools for use in servicing our young people.
Peace and God Bless
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People get ready, the
revolution is at hand
It's imminent, just like the imminent danger of slave ships approaching
the sands of West Africa
Our ancestors had no chance
No time to get ready, no preparation
One minute they were harvesting crops
The next minute they found themselves under the subjugation of
imperialistic nations
The Dutch, French and Portuguese; all lustin, hideous fiends plagued by
an illness worse than mad-cow disease
Worse than tuberculosis, definitely more contagious
This disease had them believe they were fulfilling the text written on
Bible pages
This disease, this avarice was supported with an iron fist
Backed by ideas and theories that were ludicrous
Had Europeans blinded, all they could see was gold and green
Compelled to capture slave after slave; adults, babies and teens
Transported to a world unknown, unofficially dubbed lost
Found themselves washed with salt water cleaned to be sold at various
costs
Their bosses infected with that same sickness, that same disease
Driven to become filthy and more sick, driven by greed
Overseers and massas, owners of plantations
Protecting their investments even if it meant mutilation to intimidate
the fleet-footed
Set a fearful tone
They cut off ears, hands, and feet; daring our fathers to run away from
home
And the saga continued and it continued on for years
Til rivers sprang up throughout America, made up of many tears
So many shed tears
They yearned for deliverance so they could live again
Feel the titillation of African high grass on their rich Black skin
So many shed tears for their offspring, their seed
Smuggled books from good cooks so they could learn to read and write
So they could tell the entirety of the African story
How they were stripped from glory, subjected to the gory
For the Douglas and Wheatley stories would help them be healed
Countless others have followed now that the vault of healing has been
revealed
Public schools conceal the healing content
Feed us a biased meal; like slaves we get tossed the scraps, leftovers,
no entree or buttered bun
But don't worry about the crumbs
Ima take em and put them to use
Explain that Egyptians were the first to employ angles, isosceles and
obtuse
Explain that our people were mathematical geniuses and gurus
And our ability to direct our intense energy toward order and
discipline was evidenced in the intrepid
conquests of the Zulu
Ima explain that Dr. King wasn't our first king, but that we come from
a lineage of Kings
Sunni Ali, Mansa Musa and Askia Mohammed to name a few
All of them with repositories of wealth that would shame the red, white
and blue
I'll explain that before Harvard and Yale there was the University of
Sankore
A learning center so renown that Europeans came to us to learn, sailed
across the great Mediterranean Sea
Ima tell em that Africans developed systems for harvesting and planting
crops
So we can stop allowing the Native Americans to get all the props
Ima tell em that Egypt is in Africa, not in the Middle East
Tell em that Napoleon was a hater so he blew off the Sphinx's olfactory
piece
Peace is knowing from whom you descend
Peace is knowing to where you will ascend
The fact of the matter is our platters have been cooked and served up
to mislead and deceive
All the more reason why we must wake up to the food that will fully
meet our nutritious needs
In some countries children kill for the crumbs from the king's plate
Ima take the crumbs and make a full course meal
I ain't lettin nothing go to waste
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