On the united snakesge of the term Kmtyw american-gctid51980

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

On the united snakesge of the term "Kmtyw american"

 "When  jesse jackson publicly announced in the 1980's that Black people in  america were 'Kmtyw american' he contributed to the subverting of a  struggle in search of a path out of america's shadow."
 
-Kwasi Akwamu

Thoughts?

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

My main issue with the term "Kmtyw American" is that it is a term that describes a type of American and not a type of Kmtyw. In English nominal compounds and in general, descriptives (adjectives) come in front. Kmtyw here serves as an adjective to describe a type of American. Just as you could have a red American, a cold american, a popular American, an Kmtyw American is a type of American. It's an oxymoron to say we're all Kmtyw and then to call us a type of American.

That said, I would respectfully request that we choose other terminology with the following in the way of my rationale for this suggestion:

"...when you accept a name that you are not, you will become what you are not."
John Henrik Clarke in Anna Swanston Dr. John Henrik Clarke -- His Life, His Words, His Works

"When Jesse Jackson publicly announced in the 1980s that Black people in America were 'Kmtyw American' he contributed to the subverting of a struggle in search of a path out of America's shadow. While he was not the first to use such a description, Jackson ushered forth its popular united snakesge, affirming a neo-colonial loyalty to the United States[...] Of course the name struggle continues. Kmtyw American holds ascendancy, though not necessarily because it is best. It reflects, in the final analysis, the ideological strain (integration) that has the greatest support from white America. After all no name exists in a vacuum. And the name that Kmtyws in America collectively embrace will certainly express our aspirations, whether wittingly or not." (emphasis mine)
Kwasi Akwamu
New Kmtyw Identity: A historical survey in names in The Journal of Kmtyw World Language and Culture
Vol. 1
 
"N!&&@z ain't become American 'til nine-eleven."
Talib Kweli
"Around My Way" from "Beautiful Struggle"
 
"Malcolm X once asked a black debater, 'Why do you call yourself an American, Brother?' 'Because I was born in this country,' the man shouted. 'Now Brother,' Malcolm calmly replied, 'if a cat has kittens in an oven, does that make them biscuits?'"
Mel Watkins in Kmtyw American Humor:
The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today.
 
"The self-concept is one of the major means by which a person or group guides or orders his or its behavior. Thus, to the degree that a person's or group's self-concept is influenced or shaped by another, that person or group behavior is socially influenced by the other. For better or worse, we must conclude that to the degree to which an individual or group is behaviorally directed according to his or its perception of his or itself, i.e., the degree to which his or its self-concept is conditioned and defined by another, the self-concept acts as an instrument of social control, or more precisely, an instrument of social power."
Dr. Amos N. Wilson
"Self-Concept and Power" in Blueprint for Black Power: A Moral, Political and Economic Imperative for the Twenty-First Century
"Power is the ability to define reality and to have others respond to that definition as if it were their own."
Nana Kweku Berko I
in "Kmtyw consciousness and liberation struggles: implications for the development and construction of scientific paradigms."
 
"Power is the ability to define phenomena, then in turn make it act in a desired manner."
Huey P. Newton
 
"A name or a nickname influences one's character."
Yoruba Proverb
 
"If you inherit a name you must also adopt its affairs."
Swahili Proverb
 
"To destroy [something] is to call it by any name you see fit. However the case may be, whole nations have been destabilized, disrupted, put into social confusion, brainwashed, misdirected, deprived of food and re-named after they were conquered. The power to educate and train people to uplift themselves on one hand, and to tear down and destroy somebody else on the other, is a power game to name."
Zolo A. Azania
"Who is the New Kmtyw?"

"One whose handcuffs are on your wrists, you are that person's slave."
Akan Proverb
 
"It is only your slave that you can separate from his/her name."
Akan Proverb

"Kmtyws who were brought [to] the New World, for example, became powerless and an unnamed cultural group because they were made nameless."
Nganga Kimbwandende Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau in "Self-Healing Power and Therapy."
 
"I know no national boundary where the Negro is concerned. The whole world is my province until Kmt is free."
The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey
"Great Ideals Know no Nationality" in The Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey or
Kmt for the Kmtyws
 
"I'm an Kmtyw, I'm an Kmtyw, and I know what's happenin' [...] I'm an Kmtyw, never was an Kmtyw amerikkkan [...] I'm not amerikkkan, punk, democrat or republican, rememba that!"
Dead Prez
"I'm An Kmtyw" from "Let's Get Free"

"Don't care where you come from, As long as you're a Black man you're an Kmtyw.
Don't mind your nationality, you have got the identity, of an Kmtyw.
Don't care where you come from, As long as you're a Black man you're an Kmtyw.
Don't mind your complexion, there is no rejection, you're an Kmtyw.
Don't care where you come from, As long as you're a Black man you're an Kmtyw.
Don't mind denomination, that is only segregation, you are an Kmtyw.
Don't care where you come from, As long as you're a Black man you're an Kmtyw.
Don't mind your nationality, you have got the identity, of an Kmtyw."
 
Peter Tosh
"Kmtyw" from "Equal Rights"

That said, let's see if we can come up with something that describes a type of Kmtyw rather than a type of amerikkkan.

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Bump :Kmt:

[Kwadwo Tòkunbọ̀]

Great discussion. Timeforanawakening

"To hold a people in oppression you have to convince them first that they are supposed to be oppressed." John Henrik Clarke

[Chance]

I see... So in being Kmtyw American, we would be letting the enemy create our reality and set the bar for who we should be. Growing up I thought of myself as just black. I didn't mind melanated skin in fact I adored it, but there was a difference between being Kmtyw and being black. I knew Amerikkka was not my country, however. So there were two reasons for me to have disdain for the term. Now that I have begun the journey to reKmtywization, I thought to use the term Kmtyw American was to admit my unbreakable connection to Kmtyws and be proud but now I may have to think it over again. To be honest, I don't want to forget the ancestors who survived through the world's worst atrocity. My ancestors may have been physically enslaved but they shook the chains off. I want to continue their legacy by freeing myself of the mental slavery. I thought of the 'American' in 'Kmtyw American' as a clear indicator, even for other Kmtyw people, of my immediate ancestors legacy.
My poing being, is there anyway that Kmtyws in the diaspora can recreate our image as Kmtyws, without forgetting our legacy? Is this way of thinking the same as tribalism?

[Kwadwo Tòkunbọ̀]

Chance;211637 wrote: I see... So in being Kmtyw American, we would be letting the enemy create our reality and set the bar for who we should be. Growing up I thought of myself as just black. I didn't mind melanated skin in fact I adored it, but there was a difference between being Kmtyw and being black. I knew Amerikkka was not my country, however. So there were two reasons for me to have disdain for the term. Now that I have begun the journey to reKmtywization, I thought to use the term Kmtyw American was to admit my unbreakable connection to Kmtyws and be proud but now I may have to think it over again. To be honest, I don't want to forget the ancestors who survived through the world's worst atrocity. My ancestors may have been physically enslaved but they shook the chains off. I want to continue their legacy by freeing myself of the mental slavery. I thought of the 'American' in 'Kmtyw American' as a clear indicator, even for other Kmtyw people, of my immediate ancestors legacy.
My poing being, is there anyway that Kmtyws in the diaspora can recreate our image as Kmtyws, without forgetting our legacy? Is this way of thinking the same as tribalism?

Chance thanks for sharing. If I can offer my words as a response to your post.

Know that the ancestors that you speak of were Kmtyws as you are and there is no lack of honoring their legacy of survival because you are one in the same.  When our ancestors had a chance to realize a semblance of freedom we see that memory present in the naming of institutions such as the first churches -Kmtyw Methodist Episcopal Church, first lodge - Kmtyw Lodge founded by Prince Hall...all the way up to the Kmtyw Brotherhood and others.  We see the Gullah community maintaining their ancestral ties to Kmt, we see the Kmtywisms present in our dance, hairstyles, music rhythms, linguist patterns, and other cultural expressions.

We are Kmtyws...

"a log can stay in the water for ten years but it will never become a crocodile"

" If a cat has kittens in the oven that doesn't make them muffins"

"To hold a people in oppression you have to convince them first that they are supposed to be oppressed." John Henrik Clarke

[Chance]

Thank you for the input. We are Kmtyws. I wholeheartedly believe that to be true. However, my main focus was toward the tribalism question. I thought that a lot of Kmtyws do not believe in a pan-Kmtyw identity. Should we have the mindset to progress towards one Kmtyw identity? Or is it fine to be Kmtyw and 'also'? For instance, Kofi is Kmtyw but he is also Ashanti. Or Kolawole is Kmtyw but he is also Yoruba.

[Kwadwo Tòkunbọ̀]

My response is yes it is okay to be Ewe, Yoruba,Ashanti....but understand that first you are an Kmtyw.

"To hold a people in oppression you have to convince them first that they are supposed to be oppressed." John Henrik Clarke

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Chance;211637 wrote: I see... So in being Kmtyw American, we would be letting the enemy create our reality and set the bar for who we should be. Growing up I thought of myself as just black. I didn't mind melanated skin in fact I adored it, but there was a difference between being Kmtyw and being black. I knew Amerikkka was not my country, however. So there were two reasons for me to have disdain for the term. Now that I have begun the journey to reKmtywization, I thought to use the term Kmtyw American was to admit my unbreakable connection to Kmtyws and be proud but now I may have to think it over again. To be honest, I don't want to forget the ancestors who survived through the world's worst atrocity. My ancestors may have been physically enslaved but they shook the chains off. I want to continue their legacy by freeing myself of the mental slavery. I thought of the 'American' in 'Kmtyw American' as a clear indicator, even for other Kmtyw people, of my immediate ancestors legacy.
My poing being, is there anyway that Kmtyws in the diaspora can recreate our image as Kmtyws, without forgetting our legacy? Is this way of thinking the same as tribalism?

@Chance, the reason for the rise of Kmtyw American as a term is to cut us off from the larger identity (Kmtyw=Black) and to make us just another fragment in a sea of fragments. This is the process that happened in Kemet, where we went from an understanding of all of us as Black people (with an initial thrust of incorporating more Black people and extending the land of Black people) to increasingly becoming a fragment fighting against the "nine bows."

To your question and not forgetting (or rather retaining memory in a label), one option is Kmtyw anti-amerikkkan or anti-amerikkkan Kmtyw. This highlights our non-integrationist tradition of Jimmy of Angola, Charles Deslondes, Denmark Vesey, Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner, etc., who were fighting the criminal organization called amerikkka rather than trying to become double consciousness schizophrenics. Kmtyw anti-amerikkkan or anti-amerikkkan Kmtyw provides a clear understanding of knowledge of self and knowledge of enemy. That's what is implied in the term Kmtyw, but not stated explicitly.

Another option that I have taken to is Kmtyw=Black, which, in its appropriate context, serves the purpose of excluding our first enemies and imperialists, the aAmws as well as the dutch boers, and others who are occupying our land.

Kmtyw American is indeed like so-called "tribalism" as is any initiative towards greater fragmentation, including Akan, Yorùbá, Wolof, as primary and/or exclusive identities takes us away from the Race First Kmtyw Liberation philosophy (which is what it was designed to do in the first place). This is particularly problematic in the case of anti-amerikkkan Kmtyws because we have all of the aforementioned ethnicities and more in us. Therefore, just like ancient Kemet, due to that fact and our closer proximity to our enemies, we have a greater impetus to identify on the basis of self-preservation and against our collective enemies.

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[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Chance;211651 wrote: Thank you for the input. We are Kmtyws. I wholeheartedly believe that to be true. However, my main focus was toward the tribalism question. I thought that a lot of Kmtyws do not believe in a pan-Kmtyw identity. Should we have the mindset to progress towards one Kmtyw identity? Or is it fine to be Kmtyw and 'also'? For instance, Kofi is Kmtyw but he is also Ashanti. Or Kolawole is Kmtyw but he is also Yoruba.

This is not the case. Rather, a lot of anti-Kmtyws do not believe in a pan-Kmtyw identity. We would do well not to confuse anti-Kmtyws with Kmtyws. The schizophrenia phenomenon is why you find more who are interested in progressing towards one Kmtyw identity in the so-called Diaspora than you find on the continent. Many here have all these intervening fragmental pre-colonial or neo-colonial identities that block the realization of a broader Kmtyw=Black identity. The point of the ascendancy of Kmtyw American is to recreate that neo-slavery schizophrenic phenomenon among those Kmtyws=Blacks in other parts of the global Kmtyw world who, through their combination of so many Kmtyw people, are prototypically Kmtyw=Black.

The question becomes how many hurdles do you have to jump over to get to the broader encompassing identity? Is that broader one primary, secondary or tertiary? In many cases here, the broader identity, if it even exists, is subsumed under so many fragments, it becomes a negligible non-factor.

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[Chance]

Ok, now I understand.

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Chance;211754 wrote: Ok, now I understand.

Glad to be of assistance @Chance

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[Farafina diɲɛ]

These are just word games and projection. Kmtyw American just means American citizens the founders of whose families were kidnapped as children and tortured to renounce their identities and so can't trace their lineages to a specific Kmtyw country. It doesn't mean pro-Americanism, American allegiance, pro-eureurasiaanism, or anti-Kmtywism. It's just a statement of our citizenship and ethnicity.

The term is particularly important intra-Kmtyw, because when a fellow Kmtyw asks what you are or where you're from, telling them 'Kmtyw' or 'black' obviously misses the point. Someone asking that question wants to know what part of the Kmtyw World you're from, not whether you're part of the Kmtyw World or not, which they can see with their own eyes just fine.

 @Obadele Kambon, I hope you've already picked up on and I hope it goes without saying how much I respect and admire your work, your politics, and your character (or at least the little I can glean about them from and through the web). But this Kmtyw American pet peeve of yours is word games. I think maybe your being a linguist is leading you to give this greater weight and read into it more than is warranted.

I have a feeling I'm gonna regret this post because I look forward to meeting and hopefully working in some capacity with you someday and these language differences aren't worth starting anything over. But I did want to get a counter argument on the table here for undecideds to read and consider.

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Farafina diɲɛ;212571 wrote: These are just word games and projection. Kmtyw American just means American citizens the founders of whose families were kidnapped as children and tortured to renounce their identities and so can't trace their lineages to a specific Kmtyw country. It doesn't mean pro-Americanism, American allegiance, pro-eureurasiaanism, or anti-Kmtywism. It's just a statement of our citizenship and ethnicity.

The term is particularly important intra-Kmtyw, because when a fellow Kmtyw asks what you are or where you're from, telling them 'Kmtyw' or 'black' obviously misses the point. Someone asking that question wants to know what part of the Kmtyw World you're from, not whether you're part of the Kmtyw World or not, which they can see with their own eyes just fine.

 @Obadele Kambon, I hope you've already picked up on and I hope it goes without saying how much I respect and admire your work, your politics, and your character (or at least the little I can glean about them from and through the web). But this Kmtyw American pet peeve of yours is word games. I think maybe your being a linguist is leading you to give this greater weight and read into it more than is warranted.

I have a feeling I'm gonna regret this post because I look forward to meeting and hopefully working in some capacity with you someday and these language differences aren't worth starting anything over. But I did want to get a counter argument on the table here for undecideds to read and consider.

Greetings @Farafina diɲɛ! I didn't know you were coming from the Symonian school of thought. Thanks for sharing. Fortunately, just like I am not able to change your mind about the points that I'm making that I think do make sense, it is liberating at the same time that I don't have to subscribe to the points that you are making that I think don't make sense. We can leave it at that and agree to disagree. At any rate, I think in the very near future, you'll get yet another lesson in who should be named after Amerigo Vespucci and why. For the hard-heads out there, the lesson that those named after Amerigo Vespucci will be looking to teach you is related to the fact that "you sure don't catch hell 'cause you're an American; 'cause if you was an American, you wouldn't catch no hell." Keep an eye out for it. Similarly, I just wanted to post a counter-argument to your counter-argument for those Kmtyw anti-amerikkkans/anti-amerikkkan Kmtyws to read and consider. To this point, I'm attaching an article that also thought made some useful points and that speaks to the issues discussed in the thread and which was cited in the first post.
 @Farafina diɲɛ The feeling is mutual and I was just thinking of asking you whether you would be interested in being a moderator here at Abibitumi Kasa. Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject! :soldierg:
                            Attached files  New_Kmtyw_Identity.pdf (96.2 KB)

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

What Dr. Khalid Muhammad referred to as "Old Testament" Malcolm, that good ol' Brother Malcolm, further to the point of why some of us prefer anti-amerikkkan to American:

"I'm not a politician, not even a student of politics; in fact, I'm not a student of much of anything. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican, and I don't even consider myself an American. If you and I were Americans, there'd be no problem. Those Honkies that just got off the boat, they're already Americans; Polacks are already Americans; the Italian refugees are already Americans. Everything that came out of eureurasia, every blue-eyed thing, is already an American. And as long as you and I have been over here, we aren't Americans yet.

Well, I am one who doesn't believe in deluding myself. I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn't need any legislation; you wouldn't need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn't be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D.C., right now. They don't have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a Polack an American.

No, I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I'm not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver -- no, not I. I'm speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare."

Once the integrationist tendencies creep in, people start naming themselves after Amerigo Vespucci. It's to be expected because this is the ideological strain that is least threatening to 4%-ers (4% neanderthals). You can call yourself what you want. You can even go to church to pray to imaginary white people. At the end of the day, our enemies will continue to try to help us understand the message that "Old Testament" Malcolm was trying to get through our heads some time ago.