Over the years there have been many conversations and discussions on or about our-stort, his-story and knowledge of self. Clinically speaking the definiton of self is the union of elements(emotion, thoughts and sensations) that contribute to the individuality and identity of a person. So if we have a basic understanding of this entity called self when we learn about self we should be able to indentify with the information that is being dispensed. However, that is not the case in the schools systems in this country. How do you a expect a black child or a Hispanic child from the inner city to be able to identify with history when it's taught we are not contributors or really have nothing to do with it unless it is of a negative connotation.
Many cultures exist and thrive today because of three basic things: They learned the culture from their elders, they preserve the knowledge and then they taught it to the children. We know that as a people we were uprooted and taken away from our languages, customs and rituals and made to adapt to a way of life that to this day is foreign to us. This type of indoctrination was coined by Dr. Carter G. Woodson as "miseducation." We are taught the philosophies of Plato, Socrates and others, but not taught they themselves were educated in places like Timbuktu and Egypt because they were the learning centers of the world. Even in current society our children are not taught that just about every so-called modern convenience that is used today, from the refrigerator, filament in the light bulb, the traffic light, the broom, comb and brush, was invented by a person of color. Now don't get me wrong learning about other cultures makes for a more well rounded individual, but at the expense of not learning your own will make you an unbalanced individual.
The Eurocentric way of living is designed to further separate you from not only your "history" but your greatness. Think about it; if we new growing up that people of African descent was responsible for some many things imagine the self esteem that would provide a child knowing that he comes from that. Instead we are taught to assimilate and adapt something that is the total opposite of us and we wonder why so many of us are confused. It is our duty to first educate ourselves, then our children because to educate is to empower for when one is empowered is ability to decipher the truth from falsehood it enables them to see how this information directly or indirectly relates to them. Truth seeks out truth and it is in the core (heart) of the human being where it is recognized. So remember that Positive Education Always Corrects Error and it is in that spirit that I end this missive. Peace.
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