A Solution to Revolution
The Initiate: A Solution to Revolution
I can’t even estimate how many times I have used the word in conversation and the person I’m speaking to looks at me dumbfounded because they’ve never heard it before. That word is “Kemet.” Kemet refers to any territories where people who practice Kemetic culture reside. Kemetic culture has its origins in the Nile Valley, the place considered to be the Cradle of Civilisation. Knowledge of astronomy, science, medicine, language, etc. have their origins in this first human society which dates back over 50,000 years (As the first human society, we can safely say that all human beings can find their Ancestral origins there). Our Ancestors’ knowledge in these areas was so advanced that the pyramids, temples and other physical monuments that they built used a science so highly advanced that, even until this day, there is still no sure explanation for how those monuments were built. Additionally, our Ancestors’ knowledge of spirituality and their understanding of the quality that it takes to be a good human being was highly advanced. The Valley of the Kings is where the pharaoh resided. The pharaoh was responsible for leading all human beings on the planet along the spiritual path. These aspects, among others, allowed Kemet to become the place to which people from all around the planet would travel in order to learn and be initiated by the schools of the Nile Valley.
Today, the Nile Valley is in ruins: the monuments have been looted, desecrated and have fallen into disrepair; statues have had their noses broken off of them; the people who live in the surrounding areas now are descendants of those who actually invaded the territory in more recent history. As for the people that are most closely descended from those Ancestors that maintained Kemetic society, so many of them no longer hold the values of their Ancestors but rather the values of the ones who have been most responsible for destroying their Ancestors’ culture for the past 2,000 years. As a result, these people--Black people--are no longer in the deciding place that they once held for the world.
It’s no secret. If you look around the world today it is easy to see that an enormous number of Black people in modern societies, the descendants Kemetic people, have handed their survival over to their Ancestors’ colonisers. All sectors of society--health care, education, the justice system, law-enforcement, language--are governed by the same people and values who have made it a goal to destroy Black culture for so many thousands of years. One can’t look around the world today and see, on a mass scale, Blacks in modern society practising traditional African healing, traditional initiations (rites of passage), traditional kingships, etc. This has broken down the real strength amongst Black people and has taken us out of the deciding place that we once held in human history. As the people who once maintained the culture that supported the pharaoh, we no longer have the responsibility of making decisions to direct humanity down the spiritual path--and we no longer have the governing authority to make many major decisions in our own lives. We are in a state of desperation.
What then is the solution?
One solution is traditional initiation. Initiation is a form of intense education that our Kemetic Ancestors utilised in order to teach young human beings how to fit into their community, their society and even the world. In initiation, people learn how to face the challenges of our existence using tools that have been passed down from spiritual master to spiritual disciple. These tools have survived over a span of many, many generations. Initiates may learn things such as a culture’s purest aspects of its language, life knowledge passed down for millennia, and knowledge of healing the human body. The closest concept that the reader may be familiar with is a “rite of passage.” In short, the initiate is exposed to the values (such as, what a person will or will not do at any cost) embedded within its culture. Also, initiation doesn’t end. Until the day a person dies, they are constantly fortifying their knowledge of the world to make decisions that will benefit them and their society. Removing the values of our oppressors and living according to the values our Ancestors once held is a way in which we can return to having the last say on the direction of our own lives.
The Earth Center, started by the traditional Dogon Prophet Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, is currently the only institution that offers traditional Kemetic initiation to the modern world. In seeing the state of destruction that the world has plummeted to today, the elders and leaders of traditional Kemetic culture in Meritah (Africa) have decided that something needs to be done in order to survive. Prophet Neb Naba saw that it would be necessary for people of the diaspora and all people seeking their Ancestors to have access to the traditional Kemetic initiation system. So, Prophet Naba travelled to see various traditional kings and spiritual authorities throughout Meritah to gain their approval--and succeeded. This was the first time in human history that the initiation process was allowed outside of Kemet.
I am an initiate of The Earth Center and can vouch for the fact that it is indeed possible to come out of a state of desperation. One of the greatest tools is to be an example to the world. In my initiation I learnt that if you want to change the world then you must be the change you want to see. No matter how hard I try, I can’t change a person’s mind. What I can do, however, is be an example of someone who found success in making the effort to return to the values of his Ancestors. By doing this, I can inspire other people who I come into contact with to do the same.
In being an example, it will be important to take each and every opportunity to come out of desperation. In initiation we learn different values coming from our Ancestor’s culture, and throughout the day, in any given situation, we have the choice to approach that situation using a value coming from our Ancestors or a habit ingrained by our oppressors. Each time a person chooses to utilise a value coming from their oppressors it becomes a battle that their oppressor has won. Each time a person chooses to utilise a value coming from their Ancestors then they have taken an opportunity to grow, come out of desperation and come closer to the culture that brought so much positivity to the world.
It is also important to confront humility or shame. Humility is a concept that can’t be fully understood in one article. To give the reader a basic understanding of how it is seen in the traditions, humility is a behaviour that is considered “the human being’s greatest tool”. It involves separating yourself from the things that you are attached to and putting yourself in situations that you find uncomfortable and unfamiliar. In life, we commonly find ourselves in uncomfortable situations, but the one who survives is the one who is able to work their way through them. The one who is not able to handle them likely will not. For a being that is constantly fighting in order to survive, the greatest tool is going to be the one that helps him to continue on with his life.
In initiation we learn that humility is necessary for someone’s growth. Humility is especially prevalent in a person’s life when they are letting go of values they hold and have to listen, watch and pay attention to the people who are expressing the values that they wish to acquire. This is because when a person has little or no skill in something and they try to do it, then they make mistakes. When we make a mistake or step wrong in life and then have to deal with the humiliation associated with that event, it makes us want to avoid repeating that act at all costs and become better. Thus, in the traditions, that humiliation is seen as a tool to build a strong, thinking human being. So, in being an example, I will make sure not to avoid situations of humiliation that push me to not repeat acts that keep me oppressed or divert me away from the spiritual path. If I can do this and confront situations that I find uncomfortable then I can give myself a better chance at surviving the various challenges that life presents.
Lastly, it will be important for me to speak about the benefits that I myself have seen in my life. The initiation provides a wealth of knowledge for any human being seeking quality, but it is useless if human beings don’t know about it. By speaking to strangers or acquaintances about my life then it provides them with an opportunity to see what it has done for me and can inspire them to make changes within themselves. In fact, we learn that the purpose of communication is to “change the world.” Every time I open my mouth it is an opportunity to do so.
What this initiation has done is given Black people, and essentially all human beings, a chance to survive. Where once we exemplified a quality so high that the rest of the world relied on our culture as a leader, now we cannot function without having given up our values. But, there is a way out. For my part, I can set an example of the various ways in which I have made the choice to uphold my culture again and slowly but surely begin to reclaim the values of my Ancestors. This is how we build the world that we want to see. I know that this works because I’ve been inspired by a teacher of mine who is doing the same. Where once I judged him for his mistakes or shameful situations that he had to endure, now I find myself strongly inspired by the growth that I’ve seen in him over the years. It has been done before, it worked, and it produced the results that I want for myself. So, this is the method that I choose to take, even if I can’t change the mind of every person I know.
Really, I am not writing to force anyone to change--I can’t do that. I know that many people won’t ever read this, and I know that for the ones that do read it some will put the magazine down and not give it a second thought. But I write with confidence that expressing the benefits and changes I’ve seen in my life will inspire others to want the same. So, I write to let people know that it’s possible to change the self—as a 27-year-old black male that grew up in the cities of America I started a family using my Ancestors’ values as a basis; I am learning the language that my Ancestors spoke and I speak it every day; I use traditional Kemetic herbs to heal my ailments; I have a wife and child and walk with pride because I can show the world that there are still black men that take care of their families; I am preparing to buy land to give my family the opportunity to build on it and live a lifestyle where we can survive without our coloniser’s “help,” and more. It was possible for me, and I write to let you know that it’s possible for you.
