Raisin in the Pun

Ufafanuzi wa Afrika U naozingatia (Afrikan Centered Manifesto) Preamble: We, the ascendants of the great peoples of the African Continent recognize and consciously acknowledge that we are free and sentient-human beings. We also recognize that we are profoundly African through our cultural heritage, melanin and our life experiences. We overstand and are conscious of the unmitigated truth that our African Ancestors created the first Sentient-Human, High Culture Civilizations beginning (at the latest) in circa 12,900 B.C.   This fact is proven through the truth found in physical, mathematical, astronomical, astrological and geographical data found in calculating the positions of the stone edifices of Kemet, Nubia, Sumer and Itiop built by our African Ancestors in relationship to the planets, stars and the unchanged and unchanging patterns and precise movement of all known bodies throughout the universe.      I.       ...

By Heru Ammen Lights, camera, action! Cue Baltimore. Wait for it. Wait for it. And now coming to the stage…..black pastors, ministers, academics, activists, leaders, pundits, politicians, and their wannabe sycophants. They are like dyslexic roaches coming out only when the lights come on - framing them in the center of the pomp and circumstance of another hood uprising. They all wax eloquently about this and that and the need for black folks to “come together.” They prance to and fro in front of or near the camera waiting for their 15 minutes of fame outfitted in their finest attire; neon silk, wool blend or polyester pinstripe suits, gators and staceys, monogram cotton or silk shirts complete with gold (or gold plated) cuff links and jeweled finger and neck accoutrements. When approached by a reporter, they dance a jig of excitement, make the appropriate gas face and invoke Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous staccato when they speak; all the while talking loud and offering n...

Many of my friends and family members have asked me over the years to post my "Nawlins" style Creole Gumbo recipe. It is actually my Mom's (Margaret S. Williams) recipe. She graciously passed it down to me. I've been inspired to post it because a lot of people have ask me too. Anyway... you guys wanted it...so here it goes.... Ingredients: 2 yellow onions finely chopped 1 large and firm bell pepper (or 2 small to medium size) finely chopped 8 stalks of celery hearts (No root or ends) thinly sliced 3 large bay leaves 2 32 ounce size boxes of unsalted chicken broth (No canned chicken broth) 1 15 oz can of seafood stock (Bar Harbor Brand preferred) 2 pkgs. of Andouille Sausage (substitute: 2 pkgs of polka kielbasa sausage) 2 bags of 40 count raw shrimp (or fresh tiger shrimp in proportion if available) 10-15 fresh chicken thighs or two large bags of frozen chicken drumettes (your choice) 1 lb of frozen or fresh okra sliced 16 oz can of tomat...

By Heru Ammen Many of you who have read my infrequent postings know where I stand regarding black leadership. It has utterly failed the communities it claims it serves. It’s been almost fifty years since the original Civil-Rights movement led by Dr. King gave us a modicum of the rights every American by law and the Constitution should have. However after all of the myriad of books, seminars, speeches, marches, pundit-fests and sermons regarding the abhorrent conditions and the lack of employment, educational and economic opportunities in our communities since that time forward, we find ourselves in a worse condition as a people than has ever been since the time from our enslavement through the Jim Crow era.  The murder of Treyvon Martin and the subsequent acquittal of the man that took his life for the crime of WWBWAHO (Walking While Black with a Hoody On) is a clear indication that our so called black leadership and we as a people have failed to make a case in this co...