By Stokely Grey
Let us look further into the mis-education of the Negro by Carter G Woodson. In Dr. Uhuru Hotep’s essay “Decolonizing the African mind: further analysis and strategy”, he interprets Carter G Woodson’s work as being monumental. He goes on to explain that the term mis-education can “describe the destructive effect on the Black mind by schools that use a pedagogy and curriculum that deliberately omits, distorts or trivializes the role of African people in and their seminal contributions to world history and culture.”
The media we see every day is another culprit of mis-education. The corporate sponsored media that we are washed in on a constant basis is filled with overt and subtle negative influences. The United States media especially glorifies a crimogenic society and disproportionately identify Africans with criminality. This glorification has impact on the lives of our youth as they translate the images and message to self destructive behavior. Though black history month had its origins with Dr. Woodson, who wanted it to be used as a tool to educate Blacks (Africans) about their true history, it has recently been “taken over” by the U.S corporate media houses. So, ironically, the society that created the need for a black history month now has more influence in dictating to Africans what black history will be highlighted and what will be ignored.
I sometimes question the legitimacy of our institutions that should be addressing these concerns of mis-education and a falsified consciousness. The school and the church which are the main intact institutions of our society are faced with an uphill task. If our institutions are to correct these inadequacies at the current rate then they are destined to fail. This failure will likely be due to them drawing solutions of an African problem from a European perspective. This perspective is so narrow that may not even recognize the problem as uniquely African.
It is my opinion that with lack of knowledge of the African contribution to history, society will be populated by the masses that lack a sense purpose. In the United States and the Caribbean there are mirrored social ills that defy among Blacks that defy laws of probability to such an extent that it would be silly for it to be written off as coincidence. Violent crime, poverty, a fractured family structure and hopelessness are a few of these problems that disproportionately affect Africans worldwide. Without a genuine sense of collective purpose these conditions will only become worse. An integrated African centered curriculum with a social and political sense of purpose can undoubtedly make a positive change. Once schools filled with African people install an African perspective then other institutions like churches and family structure will inevitably fall in line. No longer will we need to look towards European historical or religious iconography or ideologies as a remedy; we can once again, as we did before slavery, revere our icons like Nyame, Yaa Asantewaa, King Khufu and Asar as pieces to the puzzle in finding our purpose in the world.
