What Amiri Baraka Said About Kwame Nkrumah (ll)

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ATWOMOH 11 years ago

Right now. ignorance is ruling the world whilst intelligence carries the burden!

Right now. ignorance is ruling the world whilst intelligence carries the burden!
Okyere Akatakyie Prempeh 11 years ago

Intellectually honest and progressive appreciation of history.

Intellectually honest and progressive appreciation of history.
asonaba kofi 11 years ago

this is avery well written article with a lot of information.ghana is blessed to have a man like nkrumah to be one of us. its incomprehensible that a film has not been made of a man voted as the african of the last century. t ...
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this is avery well written article with a lot of information.ghana is blessed to have a man like nkrumah to be one of us. its incomprehensible that a film has not been made of a man voted as the african of the last century. to add salt to our injury the gateway to ghana is named after one kotoka.what did kotoka do for ghana?
Nii Ashitey 11 years ago

This is a powerful historical account of the friends of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and what they stood for.I hope Francis will set up a think thank called the Nkrumah Institute to rival the Ahoofe and Otchere Darku's Danquah i ...
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This is a powerful historical account of the friends of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and what they stood for.I hope Francis will set up a think thank called the Nkrumah Institute to rival the Ahoofe and Otchere Darku's Danquah institute even if it is only to teach them what is style and substance.

Else where on the web a group is calling for the disorientation of our mind on the positives of colonialism in our school syllabus instead of the positives of Nkrumaism.I hope they will take their inspiration from you.

I have also noticed the presence of Dr Molef Asante on Ghnanaweb.I think this one of your most singular achievement.
Son of Man' 11 years ago

Danquah institute for what? What did they do for Ghana, what is there to learn about them? Please give us a break.

Danquah institute for what? What did they do for Ghana, what is there to learn about them? Please give us a break.
YAW 11 years ago

Very good.Nkrumah was a remarkable man.

Very good.Nkrumah was a remarkable man.
Panucci 11 years ago

First, Spike Lee's movie on Malcolm X was crap. Second, Senghor's 'negritude' implied that the African had no history of great achievement -- L'emotion est negre et la raison d'hellenne. CLR James wrote a great book which wh ...
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First, Spike Lee's movie on Malcolm X was crap. Second, Senghor's 'negritude' implied that the African had no history of great achievement -- L'emotion est negre et la raison d'hellenne. CLR James wrote a great book which when he became President of Trinidad banned. Kwame Nkrumah did not espouse 'Afrocentrism'. He was a panafricanist. Be very careful how you lump some of these pseudo-black nationalist into your discussion. There are some brothers who never sold out -- Nkrumah, Malcolm, etc. A lot of them have sold out. I don't believe in the personalization of a people's aspirations. Kwame Nkrumah did not have all the answers to Africa's problems; he showed a particular path that still needs to be developed as circumstances change. Honestly, I cannot stand any discussion of African liberation and its intellectual architects without the name of Cheikh Anta Diop. You mentioned 'Afrocentrism'; Diop gave the scientific, historical and anthropological arsenal for the crystallization of the Afrocentric ideology. Understand this, not every black person who once spoke ill of European injustices against Africa is necessarily a true 'soldier'. Martin Luther King used to be called 'a brainwashed negro' by Baraka but the King in his last years on this planet was not the sanitized King of the establishment that is fed the masses.
francis kwarteng 11 years ago

Dear Pannuci,

Go to my essay "Busia And The Politics Of Racial Inferiority."

I have criticized Negritude. I raised many scholars who have criticed it. There, in "Busia And The Politics of Racial Inferiority," I specifi ...
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Dear Pannuci,

Go to my essay "Busia And The Politics Of Racial Inferiority."

I have criticized Negritude. I raised many scholars who have criticed it. There, in "Busia And The Politics of Racial Inferiority," I specifically mentioned Busia, Cheikh Anta Diop, and others. I also addressed the question of why it was a weak philosphy.

Let me also point out to you that there is no animal called "Afrocentrism." Its called "Afrocentricity." People who are not familiar with the theory call it such.

Make sure to investigate a subject thoroughly before critizing it. I have read nearly every single book on Afrocentricity. I shall pardon you for putting it in quotes. In fact,

Dr. Molfei Kete Asante who developed the theory relied on the works of two important thinkers: Kwame Nkrumah, Cheikh Anta Diop, Harold Cruse, etc. None of these scholars specifically used the word "Afrocentricity." Some call it African-Centered. Read Dr. Asante's worK "Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait."

Anyway, Afrocentricity appeared in bits and pieces in several works in the Western Hemisphere before the works of Diop even became known in America. Recall that it was Henrik Clarke, Leonard Jeffries, Ivan Van Sertima, etc., introduced Diop to the American world. Talk to Dr. Asante and he will tell how much Kwame Nkrumah contributed to Afrocentric theory. I have written about these in many of my articles. Haven't you read them?

For instance, Rene Decartes, the French mathematician and philospher, formulated what is called "Newton's Second Law of Motion." Decartes did not call it as such though Issac Newton had read Decartes work on this particular law.

The Afro-Aram scholar Al-Jahiz (781-868) worked on "natural selection," "survival of the fittest," and several aspects of evolution hindreds of years before Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell appeared on the scene. Al-Jahiz did not even use Arabic versions of "natural selection," "survival of the fittest," etc. Europeans including Charles Dawrin and Alfred Russell read Al-Jahiz. Ibn Khaldun work on modern sociology influenced many later European socioogists though he did not call his "sociology." I can give you thousands of examples.

The fact that Nkrumah did not use the word "Afrocentricity" does not mean he never contributed to the theory in his politial, anthropolitical, sociological, and historical. Some aspects of te works of WEB Du Bois', Cheikh Anta Diop, Harold Cruse, Jomo Kenyatta (such as his influential worl "Facing Mount Kenya"), Marcus Garvey, Walter Rodney, etc., predated Dr. Asante's work on Afrocentricity. In fact, Afrocentricity is merely a ward that has a long history in the works of many scholars scattered across Africa, the Caribbeam, America, South America! Don'r overwork youeself by confusing yourself. Anyway, your pseudo-nationalists are wiser, bolder, more intelligent than JB Danqua, Buasia, and the rest!

You will not be confused yourself if you had read "Busia And The Politics of Racial Inferiority." Martin Luther King, Jr. is part of the great souls who made America what it's today. Together, JB Danquah and Busia could have achieved what Martin Luther King acj=hieved alone.

Anyway, Baraka and Martin Luther King. Jr. are both canonized in the American conscioussness. Both made America what it is today! Aren't they both great Africans? What about you, JB Dnaquah, and Busia? Who knows them outside Akyem and Wenchi? Din't Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr. insult each other until one became the Presidient and the other Vice President. Such as is politics.

Give us the context. Baraka made his comment when he was firmly in the camp of Black Nationalism. Did he stick to that when he rejected Black Nationalism? If you had read his works as critically as I have dne over the years, you have realized that Baraka still died a Black Nationalist.

Watch out for Part 3. Please Get to read all the works on Afrocentricity and talk to the leading thinkers working in the field of Arocentricity. Don't come here here talking about topics you are not familiar with. Stop confusing yourself and our readers. You don't seem to have a grasp of the theoretical history of Afrocentricity. Lest I forget, the word is Afrocentricity. Put that in nverted commas.

Part 3 is coming your way, Pannuci.

Overlook my errors
Old CPPist 11 years ago

Thanks for giving voice to my own rejection of Kwarteng’s characterization of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X as a great opus. In truth that biopic was cartoonish and influentially resulted in the consumerization of Malcolm’s leg ...
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Thanks for giving voice to my own rejection of Kwarteng’s characterization of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X as a great opus. In truth that biopic was cartoonish and influentially resulted in the consumerization of Malcolm’s legacy. Malcolm’s essence became a faddish baseball hat, t-shirt, bags and what-have-you with the X logo instead of his militant articulation of black personhood, his rallying cry towards black liberation by all means possible and black economic agency in America, his pan-Africanism and his catharsis to universalism from the multi-racial experience of the bond of Islam he witnessed during his pilgrimage to Mecca.
As for Senghor, his insulting “Reason is to Greece, as emotion is to Africa” is best left in the dustbin of poetry, as eloquently sung by the pathetic phony whose validation rested on being an “honorary Duke of Normandy.”
The articulation of Kwarteng’s ideas, though interesting, is often lost in language that succumbs to over-hyperbolization of his intellectual constructs, rendering his apparent goal of unifying multiple, conflicting philosophical theories even more of a confusing path in a dense forest of his deliberate making. An understanding and utilization of the dialectical materialist process that underpinned Nkrumah’s theoretical work will yield a more lucid analysis.
francis kwarteng 11 years ago

You sound confused just like Pannuci, your Siamese twin.

Spike Lee's movie popularized Malcolm X and made his cultural legacy part of America's mainstream. Spike Lee used his movie to drive Malcolm X into the national cons ...
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You sound confused just like Pannuci, your Siamese twin.

Spike Lee's movie popularized Malcolm X and made his cultural legacy part of America's mainstream. Spike Lee used his movie to drive Malcolm X into the national consciousness of America. The movie is used in American classrooms all over the country. Is there any comparable movie for Busia or Danquah?

Yes, the movie is not perfect. Yes, the "ghettoized" gait Denzel Washington displayed at the beginnning of the movie was untypical of Malcolm X. But it's better than nothing.

Most of the scenes matched his autobiography. Besides, every single movie done by Hollywwod or done anywhere else in the world have their constrctive critics and haters. My White German friend in New York once told me how Spike Lee's movie positively changed the minds of many Germans about race relations.

As for Senghor, he gave sanctuary and passports to Apartheid activists while Busia did nothing for them. Busia would rather have Apartheid activists jailed than allow the racists to let them loose to fight for Black south Africa.

I have addressed the Senghorian quote you put out here. In fact, the ill-formed and misguided comments you make here is probably why Senghor made such a comment in the first place. Emotion seems to cloud your understanding of philosphy, history, Afrocentricity, etc.

You seemed confused about everything here. I have critiqued this Senghorian quote over and over and over. But neither JB Danquah nor Busia could match the intellect and global stature of Senghor. Even Busia and Danquah put together don't match Amiri Baraka.

Finally, send me an email (franciskkwarteng@yahho.com) and I shall tell you how many American/Asian/African journals have asked me to serve on their editorial boards because of these articles you seem to have problems with.

Anyway, I shall give you all of their names (and all necessary information) after which you could write to them for confirmation as to whether they want me to serve on their editorial boards. They are not third-class journals. I have five of them so far.

Watch out for Part 3. Remember Senghor is an intellectual giant (unlike the mediocre Busia and Danquah). Forget them, Busia and Danquah. I don't want to waste time discussing them. They offered nothing intellectually useful for Africa. It's why they are locked in Wenchi and Akyem.

Please let's talk abou Senghor, Nkrumah, Diop, etc., and leave Busia and Danquah in the gutter of paleontology! They belong in the dead world of dinosaurs and mammoths.

francis kwarteng 11 years ago

Dr. Antonio Damasio is one of the world's leading neuroscientists.

His work has dramatically changed the world's perception on what we know about the relationship between "emotion" and "rationalization."

First, read ab ...
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Dr. Antonio Damasio is one of the world's leading neuroscientists.

His work has dramatically changed the world's perception on what we know about the relationship between "emotion" and "rationalization."

First, read about him on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Damasio

When you are done read his books "Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain." Read also "Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain."

I know wealthy Jewish woman in New York whose private school uses his ideas to train students. After reading these books, your perception about Senghor's poetic "reason/europe" and "emotion/africa" will change. Fundamentally, Damasio uses the best of scienctic technologies to prove that rationalism is not possible without a homeostatic relationship between "emotion" and "cognition." In other words, "emotion" feeds or makes "rationalism" possible. It's like you have charcoal and kerosine without a match. Match is "emotion" and you need that to make charcoal and kerosine work.

Get the books and read them send me an email if you are not the science type. These books are not easy reads. You will appreciate Senghor's poetic statment and how more intelligent he was than Busia and Danquah put together. Damasio and modern science will tell you just that. Senghor was ahead of this science.

Talk to me only after reading these books. I have tons of questions for you after you read them.
Ayirebi Asante. 11 years ago

As always the author presents an interesting overview of afrocentralism to his readers. Such brilliant intellectual essays are priceless.

Incidentally this comment is composed a couple of miles from Baraka's home.

As always the author presents an interesting overview of afrocentralism to his readers. Such brilliant intellectual essays are priceless.

Incidentally this comment is composed a couple of miles from Baraka's home.
francis kwarteng 11 years ago

Hello,

I am happy to read from someone who is close to the heart and mind of one of our great men of letters.

Thanks.

Hello,

I am happy to read from someone who is close to the heart and mind of one of our great men of letters.

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 11 years ago

Panucci,

Try and read Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's "Our Most Electrifying Poet Has Gone To Sleep" on Ghanaweb. It's above my article. I believe it will straighten your mind a bit. Try and read my essay "What Amiri Baraka Said ...
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Panucci,

Try and read Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's "Our Most Electrifying Poet Has Gone To Sleep" on Ghanaweb. It's above my article. I believe it will straighten your mind a bit. Try and read my essay "What Amiri Baraka Said About Kwame Nkrumah (l)" to see how great Americans, black and white, see Amiri Baraka. I have enough resources for you on this as well.

When you are done shoot me an email (franciskkwarteng@yahoo.com) and I shall share with you many things you are not probably aware of Negritude and Afrocentricity. You are very misinformed on these subjects, particulary Afrocentricity.

I am ready to help you, however. I can start discussing with you the best scholary works on Afrocentricity. And when you done reading them, we can move a step ahead. This is a long list.

Send me an email!
francis kwarteng 11 years ago

This is Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's response to one of your central your question (I knew Nkrumah used the word but I wasn't sure when or where, so I communicatedwith him on that particular aspect of your rambling):

This is D ...
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This is Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's response to one of your central your question (I knew Nkrumah used the word but I wasn't sure when or where, so I communicatedwith him on that particular aspect of your rambling):

This is Dr. Molefi Kete Asante's response. I have not changed a word.

.....................................
Kwarteng,

Nkrumah was one of the first to use the term "Afro-centric" in the speech that he did at Legon in either l961 or 62 when he called for an "Afro-centric" education.

Zizwe Poe has written these ideas:

"A synthesis of Afrocentric paradigm constructed by Asante, and commented on by Keto, can provide an academic structure to evaluate Nkrumahism. Briefly stated, this paradigm involves the utilization of the following concepts:

1) Individual and organizational agency in the intellectual and social landscape;

2) Psychological, political, and philosophical location;

3) Historicity and hermeneutics;

4) Critique and delinking;

5) Denunciation of Eurocentric and Sinocentric hegemony, and

6) Assertion of an African culture, personality, and genius"

Furthermore, anyone who knows anything about Nkrumah knows that he rejected the domination of the Eurocentric view and worked to create what might now be viewed as a concept, consciencism, that depends upon African agency just as we do with Afrocentricity.

Victory, Molefi

......................................

Now you know how misinformed you are bout the subject.
Shadeed Ahmad 11 years ago

Consistent with the struggle for freedom, justice and equality in the world is the need to honor the Divine in all humanity. All human beings, whether conscious of it or not, have a spark of the Divine in them. Knowing that ...
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Consistent with the struggle for freedom, justice and equality in the world is the need to honor the Divine in all humanity. All human beings, whether conscious of it or not, have a spark of the Divine in them. Knowing that will uplift one's self-respect and respect of other's. White supremacy is futile in a world of people authentically knowing their own worth in the spectrum of human rights. Truth, logic, compassion and kindness constitute the passport needed for the upliftment of humanity. Spiritual light is beautiful. We all have a bit of light to contribute a brighter future.
francis kwarteng 11 years ago

Dear reader,

Beautiful comment you put out here.

It's factually poetic, straightforward, truthful, and bold. Great wisdom!

Thanks.

Dear reader,

Beautiful comment you put out here.

It's factually poetic, straightforward, truthful, and bold. Great wisdom!

Thanks.
Shadeed Ahmad 11 years ago

Thank you, Francis Kwarteng. I appreciate your entrainment with truth. All the best and stay positive.

Thank you, Francis Kwarteng. I appreciate your entrainment with truth. All the best and stay positive.

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What Amiri Baraka Said About Kwame Nkrumah (ll)

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