African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

15
Page 1 of 15 THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADINKRA PROJECT: AALUJA By Asar Imhotep (June 30, 2012) The MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research luntu/lumtu/muntu The African-American Cultural Development Project (AACDP) is an ongoing national venture which seeks to consciously create a viable and robust African-American culture (see Imhotep 2009). 1 Culture simply can be said to be the ways by which a population solves its problems. Culture is developed by a people to shape human behavior in a way that benefits society. The culture itself is held up by four major pillars: Cos-Mythology, Motif, Ethos and History. Cos-Mythology seeks to explain the creation of the universe and man’s place in it. Motif is the dominant set of themes or ideas that are captured in a people’s creative expressions which informs their economic system. Ethos is the shared value-system of a people that shapes their political organization and spiritual practices. And History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events; it is the bio-genetic rope that ties all of the present together, while guiding human action towards a desired future. History is also what gives people their identity. This essay will focus on an aspect of one of the major pillars of culture, and that is motif. The word motif is a variation of the word motive, which derives from: mid-14c., "something brought forward," from O.Fr. motif (n.), from motif (fem. motive), adj., "moving," from M.L. motivus "moving, impelling," from L. motus, pp. of movere "to move" (see move). Meaning "that which inwardly moves a person to behave a certain way" is from early 15c. 1 Who I call the Bakala, Nkala, or Nkale.

description

I just wanted to share with you a preliminary article I have written in regards to a new endeavor I hope all of you in the near future will be willing to participate in. It is called the African-American Adinkra Project and it is an ongoing project that seeks to develop a series of signs and symbols that are representative of African-American culture and philosophy, in the same way that the Adinkra symbols have come to identify Akan philosophy and culture. I have decided to initiate the endeavor by creating the first symbol which I call AALUJA. It is similar in conceptualization to the Sankofa bird and concept with our own spin to it. The other symbols will come from the creative and artistic minds of the African-American community. So this is an open project. More details are to come.

Transcript of African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 1: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 1 of 15

THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADINKRA PROJECT: AALUJA By Asar Imhotep (June 30, 2012)

The MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research

luntu/lumtu/muntu

The African-American Cultural Development Project (AACDP) is an ongoing national venture which seeks to consciously create a viable and robust African-American culture (see Imhotep 2009).1 Culture simply can be said to be the ways by which a population solves its problems. Culture is developed by a people to shape human behavior in a way that benefits society. The culture itself is held up by four major pillars: Cos-Mythology, Motif, Ethos and History.

Cos-Mythology seeks to explain the creation of the universe and man’s place in it. Motif is the dominant set of themes or ideas that are captured in a people’s creative expressions which informs their economic system. Ethos is the shared value-system of a people that shapes their political organization and spiritual practices. And History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events; it is the bio-genetic rope that ties all of the present together, while guiding human action towards a desired future. History is also what gives people their identity.

This essay will focus on an aspect of one of the major pillars of culture, and that is motif. The word motif is a variation of the word motive, which derives from:

mid-14c., "something brought forward," from O.Fr. motif (n.), from motif (fem. motive), adj., "moving," from M.L. motivus "moving, impelling," from L. motus, pp. of movere "to move" (see move). Meaning "that which inwardly moves a person to behave a certain way" is from early 15c.

1 Who I call the Bakala, Nkala, or Nkale.

Page 2: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 2 of 15

Essentially, creative motifs are symbols that compel us to move, act, be active and produce. They are inward oracles that motivate us to be agents of change and inspire us to discover new more satisfying dimensions of being human.

The African-American Adinkra Project (AAAP) is a sub-project of the larger AACDP that aims to create a set of cultural icons that represent and speak to the collective values and philosophy of African-American people (as much as humanly possible). They would be used, in part, to serve as identity markers for African-American people in the same way that mdw nTr (hieroglyphs) identify the ancient Egyptians and cuneiform identifies the ancient Sumerians as cultural products.

The inspiration for this endeavor comes from examining the important role signs and symbols play in the overall cultural production and identity of African communities of memory. In an ongoing effort to re-establish that which what was lost in the Trans-Atlantic holocaust of enslavement, it is believed that a project such as this will help to solidify our identity on our own terms.

One of the major things lost to us due to slavery was our collective sovereignty. The lost of sovereignty destroyed our ability, for a time, to define reality as we saw fit and to create cultural products that reflect our collective ethos. As Jordan Ngubane reminds us in his work Conflict of Minds (1979: 60),

To be human is to be able to say what and who you are and to be able to say why you are here and where you are going; it is to be able to define yourself. Ancient Zulu philosophers taught that the person was unique in that he defined himself; in that he knew the worth of the value he was.

The AAAP is about human agency. Cultural self-definition and expression is a human right and this was denied to African people in the West for a time. All cultures have collective signs and symbols that represent the ideas of its people and we want to reestablish among African-Americans the act of redefining reality as they see fit and reestablish our own sacred symbols.

What are Adinkra?

Adinkra are visual symbols, originally created by the Akan of Ghana and the Gyaman of Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, that represent concepts or aphorisms. It is believed that they were originally gold weights. These symbols are now used on pottery, textile, logos, advertisements, architecture and jewelry.

Each sign, besides having a decorative function, is associated with a proverb or aphorism which contains the people’s accumulated wisdom. One example can be given as follows:

ASASE YE DURU

“the earth has weight”

This symbol represents the importance of the earth in sustaining life. It is a symbol of the providence and the divinity of mother earth. Each symbol acts as a mnemonic device which ignites a memory that is understood in a greater context. A few more adinkra examples are given below:

Page 3: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 3 of 15

Rattray2 gives the following meanings to the symbols above:

1. Gyawu Atiko, lit. the back of Gyawu's head. Gyawu was a sub-chief of Bantama who at the annual Odwira ceremony is said to have had his hair shaved in this fashion. 2. Akoma ntoaso, lit. the joined hats. 3. Epa, handcuffs. See also No. 16. 4. Nkyimkyim, the twisted pattern. 5. Nsirewa, cowries. 6. Nsa, from a design of this name found on nsa cloths. 7. Mpuannum, lit. five tufts (of hair). 8. Duafe. the wooden comb. 9. Nkuruma kese, lit. dried okros. 10. Aya, the fern; the word also means ' I am not afraid of you ', ' I am independent of you' and the wearer may imply this by wearing it. 11. Aban, a two-storied house, a castle; this design was formerly worn by the King of Ashanti alone. 12. Nkotimsefuopua, certain attendants on the Queen Mother who dressed their hair in this fashion. It is really a variation of the swastika. 13 and 14 Both called Sankofa, lit. turn back and fetch it. See also Fig. 149 , No. 27. 15. Kuntinkantan, lit. bent and spread out ; nkuntinkantan is used in the sense of ' do not boast, do not be arrogant '. 16. Epa, handcuffs, same as No. 3.

These symbols have come to identify the very Akan of Ghana. In other words, these symbols are now synonymous with the Akan people. The way these symbols have come to identify the Akan people is the way I envision the symbols that we create for ourselves to be synonymous with African-American (Nkale) people in the United States.

2 R. S. Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti (Oxford, 1927). p. 265.

Page 4: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 4 of 15

The AAAP is a national project where African-Americans would be called on to create our own ‘adinkra’ symbols just like the Akan of West Africa have done for themselves (as well as other African people). Each logogram will be associated with a proverb or an aphorism. For the project we will create a base set of 39 adinkra symbols. The reason 39 was chosen as a number is to represent the 39 decades we have been in this country since the year 1619, to the last full decade ending in 2009. Over time I’m sure other symbols will be added, but the first 39 will be known as the ‘base’ or ‘foundation’ for all of the other symbols.

Ultimately we will call our set of symbols something other than adinkra. But for the time being, so that people better understand the dynamics of the project, we will use this name during the process of creating and solidifying our symbols. I wanted to have a reference point by which to measure authenticity and by which the people could comprehend the nature of the project.

An African-American Adinkra: Aaluja

The first adinkra I would like to submit for evaluation is what I call aaluja.

It is inspired by the Akan concept of sankofa which means to “go back and fetch it” or “return and retrieve it” (san “to return”; ko “to go”; fa “to look, to seek and take”). The symbol for this concept is represented by the icons below.

This symbol is often associated with the proverb: Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi in Twi which translates as, "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." The sankofa bird is often depicted looking backwards with an egg in its beak. It symbolizes one taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge.

This emblem has become a staple in Pan-Africanists circles as a symbol of the ongoing quest for historical knowledge and cultural grounding. While this symbol and concept is powerful and speaks to

Page 5: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 5 of 15

our general sense of history, I wanted our symbol (aaluja) to go a little deeper, while still possessing the main idea behind sankofa.

Its Meaning

The word aaluja comes from the modern ciLuba-Bantu language of Congo. Its first historical attestation, however, can be found among the ancient Egyptians as the word srwD:

srwD “make secure, set right (a wrong), provide, fulfill (a contract)”; “to restore,

repair, to make new again”; “to make grow, flourish.”

This term is usually part of a phrase srwD tA “restoring the world.” It is a polysemic phrase which carries with it the idea of raising up and restoring that which has been ruined; replenishing that which is lacking; strengthening that which has been weakened; setting right that which is wrong; and to make flourish that which is fragile and undeveloped (Karenga, 2008:23). The underlying premise is not only to go back and fetch useful examples from history, but to make what we restore (and fetch) more beautiful and beneficial than it was before.

The word srwD (with s- causative prefix) derives from the root rwD “strengthen, maintain, perpetuate, flourish, be prosperous, success, enduring, permanent, sturdy, steadfast, remain firm, firmness, consistency, be strong, prevail (over), competence, ability.” One cannot “restore” anything without knowledge of how it was before. And one surely cannot improve on a model without a complete understanding of its historical stages and limitations. So a sense of history is built into the very fabric of the Egyptian term. The word rwD also means “cord” and we can interpret this as the bio-genetic rope that binds living communities with its historical past (see Fu-Kiau 2001).

To get a sense of how srwD—as a key concept in maatian ethics—was used in the ancient Egyptian society, we can examine an excerpt from one of the Declaration of Virtues (DOV) given by Rediu Khnum who asserts that:

I restored (srwD) that which I found ruined (wsT); I joined (Ts) that which I found severed (fdq), and I replenished (mH) that which I found depleted (iAT) (cited in Karenga, 2006: 398)

Many examples could be given here, but space will not allow. The point here is that this term is used to identify an ongoing ethical obligation and practice that mandates that the body politic not only seek its own history, but continually builds and perfects the projects started by one’s ancestors. This is imitative of creation itself as pressures in nature are always causing things to deteriorate (via the 1st law of thermodynamics). The ongoing process of evolution ensures that all things change, but also that all things are renewed in a more stable and more robust state. This is the inspiration for srwD/rwD. So to srwD/rwD is to act in a divine manner that seeks to create stable and life-affirming environments in the midst of constant conflict, fluctuation and change.

As noted before, the root of srwD is rwD and this word finds its modern form in the ciLuba-Bantu language as the word aaluja/aalwija “restore, replace what had been removed or deleted”; aaluka “return, retrace (one’s steps)”; aaluja “make, provide, to retrace one’s steps, refer to the place of origin”; -aalukija “to think, reflect, consider, to render, to make.”

Page 6: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 6 of 15

Aaluja is related to the term -aalabula “change, modify, alter, return, extend, open”; -aalabuka “changed, alter, be modified, turn back, withdraw”; aalula “change (of place, position, shape), transformation, metamorphosis.”

Aaluja is synonymous with sangula “revive (in the next generation), ascendancy, reproduce in its descendants”; busangù "birthmark similar to that of a deceased relative"; -sangulula "reproduce, to revive in his descendants"; -sàngula "take out, pull out, remove." And these terms are synonymous with Lundula "activate", "to raise, grow", "stir (fire, life)."

The idea is that much has been taken away from us as a result of the transatlantic slave holocaust including our languages, motifs, our conceptualizations of reality, and most of all, our sovereignty. The mission of the AACDP and the AAAP is to aaluja “retrace one’s steps, refer to a place of origin” in order to aaluja “restore, replace what had been removed or deleted.”

The objective is not to wholesale take what was old and try to preserve it in its historical state in modern times: i.e., to live in a mythological past of perfection. But to be rooted and grounded in tradition while moving forward to discover new more satisfying dimensions of being human. We aim here, then, to be in harmony with best of what our ancestors brought into the world, while at the same time speaking in our own name and our own special cultural truths. A Bairu proverb states, “Having a family field doesn’t prevent you from digging your own.” While being grounded in a larger tradition, we seek to create our own traditions.

When asking questions, for instance, of what is a good life, one does not start from scratch, but raises those questions in the context of a definite tradition and of reflection on that tradition (Karenga, 2006: 273). The constant reengagement of history is to search for the “unchanging values” which ensures the community’s continuity and permanence here on earth.

We do not neglect our history. Our success is predicated on our knowledge of history and is why we continually appeal and consult the past and its traditions. Tradition becomes our ground of understanding; it becomes our horizon from which we may view the world. In this spirit, we are using Africa, not only as a reference (in terms of location and being able to name people), but a resource from which to build our own successful societies here in the West.

We study Africa and we ask it fundamental questions of life and of human possibility. From there we take what is useful for our current context and make it work for us with the aim of making our society to flourish and expand (srwD/aaluja/sangula/lundula), while maturing our own wisdom traditions.

As Confucius in his Analects (2, 11) observed, “A man who reviews the old so as to find out the new is qualified to teach others.” John W. Vandercook, in his book Tom-Tom, makes the meaningful statement that:

A race is like a man. Until it uses its own talents, takes pride in its own history, and loves its own memories, it can never fulfill itself completely.

Tradition is a ground of understanding insofar as it is capable of merging with the past and present in a meaningful discourse which involves both reception and interpretation of an inherited experience which is constantly on a quest for new and deeper insights: new more satisfying dimensions of being human.

The challenge, then, is to not blindly accept or blindly reject tradition, but to constantly explore it for new insights in light of current needs and understanding (Karenga 2006, Kajangu 2006). The objective is

Page 7: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 7 of 15

both preservation and expansion. We engage tradition to make it live and respond effectively to current circumstances. This is what this symbol of aaluja represents for us.

Obligation to the Future

The aaluja adinkra symbol not only represents our quest for a better understanding of our historical selves, but it is a symbol which reminds us of our obligation to the future. In its most expansive sense, it is concerned with how we speak to the future, act for the future, look towards or into the future, and think for the future (what is good and useful for the future). In other words, one is deeply concerned with the kind of legacy one leaves for one’s children.

An obligation to the future is really a commitment to personal and communal excellence which ensures a bright future for generations to come. The ones who become our most famous people in history, are the ones who were the greatest visionaries. These are the people who we say were “ahead of their time.” So it is not enough to simply look to the future, but to plan for it. The future is shaped by the past and if we understand the past and the laws which govern change, we can anticipate what’s ahead in the future and prepare to meet it with the proper resources and insight that will allow us to flourish during its most challenging times.

If we wish to live for eternity, we must build for eternity. This is what makes the ancient Egyptian society so appealing to modern cultures because they operated from the standpoint that if we are going to build, we must build for eternity (thus the moments that have stood the test of time). In order for us to build for eternity, we must build on solid and unchanging values, while at the same time constantly expanding and bringing new ideas into existence.

The word swrD has the symbol of a hand included in its set of glyphs and the hands are used to “create” and “build” things. This may have been a conscious inclusion and not one strictly based on phonetics. Either way, the idea of “production” is present with the sign of the hand, and one could argue that the idea of “development” and “future” is implied when one examines the chick glyph. The fact that it is a baby bird indicates that it still has time to “grow” and “develop.” In the Egyptian language the

chick glyph means “to build” (Budge, 144a).

We study Egypt to discover examples of excellence and to ascertain the collective framework that allowed them to constantly and consistently innovate while still preserving the best of their traditions. We often borrow ideas from ancient Egypt (and Africa in general), not with the intent on reduplicating ancient Egypt, but with the intent to build an even greater, more robust society of our own; a society with our own character and spirit.

This is why I have chosen a modern variation of the term rwD instead of using the ancient Egyptian form. Aaluja is connected to a people for whom many African-Americans directly descend from.3 It also speaks to our unique circumstance of being African people transported against our will to a far-away land and made to forget our ancestral ways and aspirations. It is not only a term or a sign, but it is a challenge to the current and future generations to reestablish our economic, political, and creative sovereignty.

3 See Winifred K. Vass’ work The Bantu Speaking Heritage of the United States (Afro-American Culture and Society ; V. 2). University of California. (1980); and Joseph E. Holloway (Editor) Africanisms in American Culture, 2nd Edition. Indiana University Press. (2005).

Page 8: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 8 of 15

The Adinkra Symbol Explained

Now that we have the basic meaning of the term explained, it is time to move on to the actual symbol itself. The aaluja symbol, although a singular image, is in fact very multi-layered and consists of various meaningful smaller parts.

First and foremost, like our sankofa example, the overall image is that of an abstract bird (a heron more specifically). Birds have been used to represent various ideas since the dawn of man. This bird is a mix of African and Native American iconography. We use a bird here to represent one major theme: mobility. This overall theme encompasses two major precepts:

1. Social and economic mobility, and 2. The mind’s ability to travel far distances in space and time to discover new more satisfying

dimensions of being human (in other words, a visionary and creative mind).

Although number 2 comes before 1, it is my argument that it is the most important and that it informs and gives salience to number 1. The great physicist Albert Einstein is quoted to have said, “Imagination is more important than science because science is limited, whereas imagination embraces the world-wide.” In simple language, Einstein makes the suggestion that one cannot be a great scientist without also having an expansive imagination. It is from our imagination that scientific breakthroughs arise and it is science that compels industry, thus it is the foundation for social and economic mobility.

But even before him, the Honorable Marcus Garvey of Jamaica gave a most profound speech in the early 20th century that reinforces the conviction of Einstein in regards to the liberation of Black people. Garvey tells us to:

Dive down Black Men and Dig! Reach up Black Men and Women and Pull all nature's knowledge to you. Turn ye around, and make a conquest of everything, North and South, East and West. And then when ye have wrought well, you would have inherited God's blessings, you would have become God's chosen people, naturally you'll become leaders of the world because of the superiority of your Mind and your achievements (…) The world is indebted to us for the benefits of civilization. They stole our arts and sciences from Africa, then why should we be ashamed of ourselves (…) And out of our own Creative Genius we make ourselves what we want to be, follow always that great Law. There is no Height that which you cannot climb without the active intelligence of your mind. Mind creates and as much as we desire in Nature, we can have through the creation of our own minds. But in your homes and everywhere possible you must teach the higher developments of SCIENCE to your children. And make sure...And make sure that we have a race of SCIENTISTS PAR EXCELLENCE! For in science lies our only hope to withstand the evil designs of modern materialism.

Page 9: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 9 of 15

This sentiment is shared among the Amazulu of South Africa. In discussing the meaning of the name zulu for which the Amazulu people are named, the renowned sangoma priest Credo Mutwa in an interview4 made the following statement:

Credo Mutwa: The Zulu people, who are famous as a warrior people, the people to whom King Shaka Zulu, of the last century, belonged. When you ask a South African White anthropologist what the name of Zulu means, he will say it means “the sky” (laughter), and therefore the Zulu call themselves “people of the sky”. That, sir, is non-sense. In the Zulu language, our name for the sky, the blue sky, is sibakabaka. Our name for inter-planetary space, however, is izulu and the weduzulu, which means “inter-planetary space, the dark sky that you see with stars in it every night”, also has to do with traveling, sir. The Zulu word for traveling at random, like a nomad or a gypsy, is izula. Now, you can see that the Zulu people in South Africa were aware of the fact that you can travel through space-not through the sky like a bird-but you can travel through space...

This ability to travel throughout interplanetary-space was not only associated with physical travel, but became symbolic of the mind’s ability to travel space (eternity) in search for new more satisfying dimensions of being human. This is reinforced by another Amazulu, Jordon Ngubane (1979), who informs us about a court poet who challenged Senzangakhona ka Jama Zulu (Tshaka’s father) with the following words in response to the political turmoil during his reign:

Raise me from the depths; to heights take me, that with grain I may return; the grain I shall winnow; The grain I shall cook. (Should you do that) O Ndaba, They will forever preach to each other about it. The foes will; So will those on our side. A cord of destiny let us weave, O Menzi, scion of Jama, That To universes beyond the reach of spirit-forms We may ascend. (So long must the cord be) The spirit-forms themselves Will break their tiny toes, Should they dare to climb!

The people did not need an interpreter for this poem. It was an extension of their cultural thought process. They believed that they were incarnations of eternal values and that the eternal in them was real and positive to all things; that it could do whatever it imagined. The Zulu had the power to traverse space and move from one universe to another in the endeavor to find more satisfying dimensions of being human.

The human being had it within himself to travel to the shores of eternity to bring back solutions to meet the one thousand and one challenges of life. Thus why in the poem above the poet challenged the king to “raise me from the depths; to heights take me, that with grain I shall return…” This is what the poem

4 http://www.metatech.org/credo_mutwa.html (retrieved June 30, 2012)

Page 10: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 10 of 15

was telling Senzangakhona: that it was time to take destiny in our own hands; to travel beyond the stars to find new solutions to our problems. The Zulu totem is that of a hawk.

The association of a bird with the mind can also be found among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Many African-Americans also descend from the Yoruba people. Baba Obafemi Origunwa provides us with such insight concerning bird symbolism in the Yoruba tradition.

In Yorùbá symbolic language, eiye ororo (the bird of descent) represents individual capacity for astral travel. Placed atop the king’s crown, it communicates female spiritual authority, organized around what might be termed the birds’ society. Similarly, the bird that tops the staff of the divinity of herbal wisdom, Osanyin, denotes medicinal potency. Likewise, ilé orí, the shrine dedicated to the divinity within, is completely covered in bird symbolism. Covered in cowries, and topped with a bird, ilé orí “conceals an allusion to a certain bird, whose white feathers are suggested by the overlapping cowries” (Thompson Page 11). In this instance, the bird symbolizes the emblem of the mind that God places in the head of every human being at the time of birth. Everywhere this mystic bird appears in Yorùbá sacred arts, it seems to signify spiritual elevation and divine consciousness.5 (emphasis mine)

So within this tradition, the overall usage of the bird is symbolic of the mind and its ability to transcend time and space and travel to the shores of eternity in search for solutions to our most challenging problems of today. These are the ideas associated with our aaluja bird and logogram.

As noted before, the aaluja logogram is multi-layered and it is broken up into 6 major areas of conceptualization. They are broken down as follows:

1) is the head and as we can see it is turned around looking backwards. This is in keeping with its meaning “to return, turn back, refer to place of origin and retrace one’s steps.” Unlike our sankofa bird which is looking towards the right while moving left, our symbol is moving right while looking back to the left. This

5 http://obafemio.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/sacred-arts-divine-consciousness/ (retrieved June 30, 2012)

Page 11: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 11 of 15

is because in the United States we read from left-to-right and therefore, for us, ‘left’ represents the beginning. It was the same in more ancient times in east Africa in the Nile Valley where their orientation was “south,” thus making the beginning of the day (sun rise) to start on their left side while the end, and what is to come, is associated with the right.

2) is a large dot at the center of a spiral coil. This is symbolic of the Divine, for it is out of the Divine from which all things arise. Therefore, when we are looking for answers, we should seek the Divine since all things were created by and exist within the Divine (the eternal, infinite, omnipresent). The dot in the center can represent the overall Divine or the divine aspect within us all. The Bantu-Kongo say that human beings often move in 6 directions in a vertical/horizontal plane. However, there is a 7th direction that many do not travel and this direction is critical for man’s perfect health, true self-knowing and self-healing (Fu-Kiau, 2001: 134). They say that “No matter what, you may walk leftwards, rightwards, forwards, backwards, upwards and downwards, you must come back to the core/center.” As the great African-American poet Lauryn Hill once said, “How you gonna win if you ain’t right within?” So this dot can also represent us going within ourselves to find our own solutions (trusting our God-given gifts; self-reflection).

3) is the actual coil line and simply represents the unwinding and cyclic nature of time and space and its perpetual evolution. It also represents continuity and our connection to the Source (the Divine). Circles and spirals often represent the human-being in African cultures and thus becomes is a symbol of man.6 With the spiral representing creation deriving from the Divine, this also informs us that the Divine is our greatest ancestor and mother/father of us all.

4) is a series of dots following the spiral path and simply represents major moments in time (time stamps). 5) is pointed at the tail of the bird. This also is associated with history. The tail of a bird is used to help steer

and navigate during its flight. I argue here that history and tradition serves the same purpose. The tail of a bird also helps it to land safely. So for us, knowing our history and ourselves helps us to land in the precise locations we desire. As the proverb states, “You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.” The landing point represents our collective and individual goals.

6) points to the feet of the bird. This could represent several different things, but primarily this is symbolic of the future. You rarely, if ever, see a bird moving backwards. They are always moving forward into the future. So while we make ‘look’ to the past, our actions/movement is always directed towards the future; always creating new realities. Since the feet symbolize movement, I argue that it can also represent “action.” This means that we can only move forward if we are ‘doing’ and not simply theorizing what is possible. Our desired future arises because our actions bring it into being. In other words, we translate our inspirations into experience by doing.

The aphorisms associated with this logogram come directly out of the African-American definition of the person (see Imhotep 2009) which (in part) states:

I am I am alive; I am conscious and aware; I am unique; I am who I say I am; I am the value of Infinite Consciousness (the Divine) I forever evolve inwardly and outwardly in response to the challenge of my nature I am the face of humanity

Aaluja, then, is the act of restoring the conditions that allow for maximum human flourishing; a physical and social environment that adds life to life. It is about possessing an active, creative and expansive mind that will always dream up solutions to ever evolving problems in our communities. This is our

6 This will be explained more in an upcoming publication by the author: Ogun, African Fire Philosophy and the Meaning of KMT. MOCHA-Versity Press. Houston, TX.

Page 12: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 12 of 15

responsibility as children of the earth and children of the stars. The adinkra symbols will help us to crystallize strategies that will aid in our ability to tower over life’s one thousand and one challenges. It will also allow us to better celebrate life’s beauties and unveil life’s mysteries.

Conclusion

The six (really seven) items listed above represents the very basic interpretation of the symbol. We could expand this article into an edited volume as the symbol is pregnant with meaning. I’m pretty sure the reader may discover or add other meanings that are mutually enriching.

I plan to do a more extensive treaty on the AAAP in the near future. In the meantime, we understand that symbols are rich in meaning and that they are a catalyst for deep thought and reflection (a picture is worth a thousand words). This is part of the aim of the AAAP. The other part is economic and political. It is my argument that we cannot realize a thriving economy amongst African-Americans if we are not in tuned with our creative selves.7 Economies are built by the drawing from and expression of one’s culture.

The goal, in part, is to create an African-American (Bakala/Nkala) aesthetic that can be translated and transferred to different products that we create. Imagine going to a Black owned furniture store and seeing our own adinkra signs used as part of the layout of the pieces designed by Black craftsmen. Imagine as well that a talented African-American woman designed the beautiful bed covers and pillow cases, which incorporate our adinkra signs, to go with the new bed frame you just purchased from that Black owned furniture store.

Imagine that an African-American architecture firm designed a community center with our adinkra symbols lacing the outer parameter of the building. Imagine African-American philosophers, script writers, animation artists and 3D renderers getting together to create sci-fi dramas utilizing the symbols and their inherent philosophies as the backdrop of the storyline similar to what one witnesses in Japanimation films. These are just a few ideas that come to mind when I think of commercial uses of these icons. Another use is in education.

These adinkra symbols will be sacred to us and will be part of our spiritual and cultural grand-strategy. Besides having an economic thrust, they will also offer down-to-earth and practical strategies that aid in the knowing of life and how to stem the tide of foolishness and conflict. Therefore, each adinkra will also be associated with a proverb, aphorism or poem. These symbols will be used to inspire us to take charge of our destinies and to look for enlightenment in our own terms. Each sign that we create and understand will add to our bag of wisdom. The very nature of a public project such as this invites us to integrate the insights from various wisdom traditions and make them work for us. This is an open textured and open-ended project of recovery, reconstruction and effective application. You (the reader) will have an opportunity to participate in this project as well.

Each of the symbols (once completed) will be freely available to use however you wish. It will be expected, however, that one uses the symbols with the integrity, respect and in the spirit for which the symbols were created. You can currently download the first symbol in the series (aaluja) at the link below. The other 38 symbols will be created, named and chosen by the larger African-American community.

7 The other part of that equation is having access to the tools and resources to translate our inspirations into experience. But that’s a different lecture.

Page 13: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 13 of 15

Download Link www.asarimhotep.com/documentdownloads/images/Aaluja.zip

The zip file is approx 2.9mb and contains various file versions of the logogram: jpeg, eps, pdf, ai (illustrator), svg, and png. If you desire to make t-shirts using the logo, or you want to make large signs or what not, it is best that you use the .ai file as it is the original file the artwork was created in and you can blow up the image as large as you like as it is a vector file. The Illustrator (.ai) file is saved for Illustrator CS2 and above. If you have any problems with the file, please contact me at [email protected]. In the near future more details about how you can participate and contribute to the AAAP will be available, so keep your ear to the streets (or just hit me up).

In the meantime, I leave you with the words of the great Cheikh Anta Diop who challenged us with the following task when he came to America and spoke at Morehouse College in 1985:

We must reconstruct a new Afro-American cultural personality within the framework of our respective nations. Our history from the beginning of mankind, rediscovered and relived as such, will be the foundation of this new personality (Van Sertima, 1986: 320).

The AACDP invites us to revisit the original notion of humans as bearers of dignity and divinity. We extract from tradition insights into the enduring questions of defining self in the most expansive ways, enlarging our conceptions of our lives as social and natural beings without reducing our sense of personal uniqueness, specialness and self-possessive dignity (Karenga 2006). The AAAP ultimately is about sovereignty, agency and speaking our own special cultural truths.

Page 14: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 14 of 15

Asar Imhotep is a computer programmer and Africana researcher from Houston, TX whose research focus is the cultural, linguistic and philosophical links between the Ancient Egyptian civilizations and modern BaNtu cultures of central and South Africa. He is the founder of the MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research and the Madu-Ndela Institute for the Advancement of Science and Culture. He is also the author of The Bakala of North America, the Living Suns of Vitality: In Search for a Meaningful Name for African-Americans, Passion of the Christ or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth and Ogun, African Fire Philosophy and the Meaning of KMT. Asar is a noted speaker and philosopher and is currently organizing efforts in a nation-wide venture titled The African-American Cultural Development Project—a national project aimed at creating a framework for an African-American culture which will help vitally stimulate the economic, political, scientific and cultural spheres of African-American life in the United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACHAMPONG, Nana S. (2011). Adinkra (i'kon')-concepts: Concept icons of the Ashanti Akan of West Africa. Achampong&Sons. Baltimore, MD.

BUDGE, E.W., (2003). Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Vol.1 and II. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. New York, NY

FAULKNER, R.O. (1962). A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum.

FU-KIAU, K. K Bunseki. (2006). Simba Simbi: Hold up that which holds you up. Dorrance Publishing, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA _______ (2001).African Cosmology of the Bantu Kongo: Principles of Life & Living. Athelia Henrietta Press. Brooklyn, NY.

IMHOTEP, Asar. (2011). Passion of the Christ or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth. MOCHA-Versity Press. Houston, TX. _______ (2009). The Bakala or North America, The Living Suns of Vitality: In Search of a Meaningful Name for African-Americans. MOCHA-Versity Press. Houston, TX. _______ (2012). Ogún, African Fire Philosophy and the Meaning of KMT. MOCHA-Versity Press (forth coming).

KAJANGU, Kykosa. (2006). Wisdom Poetry.Blooming Twig Books.East Setauket, NY.

KARENGA, Maulana. (2006). Maat: The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt. Sankore University Press : Los Angeles, CA.

NGUBANE, J. (1979). Conflict of Minds: Changing Power Dispositions in South Africa, Books in Focus, Inc.

SERTIMA, Ivan V. (Ed.). (1986). Great African Thinkers: Cheikh Anta Diop. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick, NJ.

WILSON, Amos. (1998). Blueprint for Black Power: A Moral, Political and Economic Imperative for the Twenty-First Century. African World InfoSystems : Brooklyn, NY.

WEBSITES

Page 15: African-American Adinkra Project: AALUJA

Page 15 of 15

Beinlich Egyptian Online Dictionary http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/er/beinlich/beinlich.html (German)

Dictionnaire ciLuba http://www.ciyem.ugent.be/ (French)