Be it Resolved

Our Challenge. One of the challenges we face as Nationalists, or Pan Africanists, or conscious Afrikans… you know Black People Who Love Black People (BPWLBP) is that the job of working to repair our broken condition is sometimes overwhelming. The needs we have are great. We (BPWLBP) also tend to be more ideological than the average person. Why else would we dare to imagine that we can be victorious against the euro slave monster? As a result we tend to think BIG. We don’t typically settle with tutoring a few students. We work to start a school. We’re not satisfied with maintaining a garden. We invest in large acreage so that we can build a farm. Needless to say objectives this big can be difficult to realize.

I had the opportunity to give a keynote address at the Regional Convention for Region III of the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) a few years ago. “Three Ready!!” Anyway, after the address, I met a bright young man who was just months away from graduation. He approached me indicating his conviction of the need for Black children to have better education. He asked for my thoughts on whether he should pursue a career in engineering or start an Afrikan-centered school himself. “Do you like engineering?” I asked.

“Yes” he replied.

“Are you good at it?”

“Yes, I’m very good.”

It is here that I realized his goal was too big. By this I do not mean that this young man was not capable. Rather, his vision of providing Black children with good education was not practical. It was not well-conceptualized or well-informed. We do not have many Afrikan-centered schools, and those that we do have are fledgling endeavors. They suffer largely from lack of support. One BPWLBP that earns the salary of an engineer could through regular financial contributions adopt one fledgling Afrikan-centered school and make it the hallmark of what Afrikan-centered education should be. By contrast this same BPWLBP could forego an engineer’s salary and join the small number of educators competing for the few dollars that we currently give to support our own education. In many ways, the first approach is more practical.

What’s the Point of This Story? It’s simple. In this season of resolution making, we can make substantial headway by thinking BIG and acting small. Black schools and teachers of Black children need instructional materials to support their work. If you draw, they need clipart of Black families engaged in Black activities. If you sing or write music, they need songs that tell stories of Black people engaged in work that is relevant to the Black community. If you bake or sew, or know sports, or write… whatever talents we have can be used by those who educate Black children to further their work. At Sankoré Institute we write curricula for teachers and parents; and make many of these lessons available free of charge in our gift shop. Tell teachers you know about this service. Also, I’m sure that Afrikan-centered schools could use cash. By committing $20 each month (or any amount) to an Afrikan-centered school and encouraging others to join our efforts, we would go a long way towards providing better education for Black children. The results would be fun to watch!

School to Support

Akoben Institute

c/o Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti

PO Box 10786

Atlanta, GA 30310



Jomo W. Mutegi is a husband and father committed to the improvement of the African world community, an author of science-related children’s books, and an Associate Professor of Science Education. To learn more about Jomo’s children’s books, visit www.JomoMutegi.com. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s research visit www.ES2RP.org.

My Christmas Rebellion

My Christmas Rebellion. Many of my friends and family members know that I no longer "celebrate" Christmas. Or as I call it... "The Merry Mess." My Christmas rebellion has occurred in stages, and it has included multiple incidents that covered several years. I don't want to get into the reasons for my rebellion, though I am sure that you could guess many of them. (If you are interested, read Barashango's Afrikan People, European Holidays). What I do want to do is share one good idea that came from one rebellious incident.

One Rebellious Incident. When my son was about 5 (maybe 6, I can't remember), we were preparing for a Merry Mess hell-ebration... (pardon me) ...celebration... when I asked him, "Do you remember the dart set I got you last year?" He looked at me sadly and said, "Yeah Dad, I remember it, but I never got to play with it. I had too many other gifts to open and to play with..."

I don't know where the conversation went from there. It didn't really matter. What occurred to me was yet another absurdity of the Merry Mess. We give children so much junk... (oops!) ...We give children so many gifts that they don't have time to truly appreciate them. So this spawned the idea that I will share.

The One Good Idea? From this point on (or at least until I abandoned the Merry Mess all together), I opted out of the gift giving except for one "special gift." The "special gift" was accompanied with much fanfare. After all it was a special gift. The "special gift" was a lesson on a topic of his choosing. The first year he wanted to learn to shoot a bow and arrow. The Lord of the Rings was out that year and he had aspirations of Logalos-like heroics. So, for the cost of a Jr. Archery Set and a foam target. This gift gave us an enjoyable activity that we were able to share year round ever since.

A Few More Ideas. What special gifts or lessons can we as parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers and family friends give to the children in our care? We can teach a child to... change oil in the car, bake a pie, write a letter to a relative, arrange a floral bouquet, host a dinner party, build a bookcase, hang a picture, make strawberry jam, pitch a tent, stitch a hem, or any one of thousands of other practical hands-on skills. Have Fun!



Jomo W. Mutegi is a husband and father committed to the improvement of the African world community, an author of science-related children’s books, and an Associate Professor of Science Education. To learn more about Jomo’s children’s books, visit www.JomoMutegi.com. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s research visit www.ES2RP.org.