Ujamaa Of Rites Of Passage 2

 

Great Nia

I am trying to adjust to my new schedule, and on some parts of it I am victorious but on other parts….. My goal was to switch the time of my show, and do it in the evening so that I could have more time in the morning, but now I am tired and dragging throughout the day. I also wanted to spend time doing Folktales & Proverbs on the Wisdom platform, but that is not working. I also am trying to get familiar with some new software that will help with my blog, it works well but I lost a whole article and had to rebuild it. Thank goodness I backup all my stuff on Gdoc. By the way the tobacco beast has taken a bite and is holding on, so that is also complicating the whole thing. So that is enough of my woes, now it is time to take another dive into the culture. I hope that you are getting some value and inspiration from these discussions. Remember we are not just talking about these things to just talk, we are having these discussions to make changes first with ourselves, and then by our practice, transform the world around us. I believe that this is the real alchemy that the ancients spoke of. 

“I know that my way of life is a bit different than yours, but if you want to know more then listen and learn.”

Yesterday we spoke about ROP as a resource that helped cultures maintain their structure, and help them survive and in some cases even thrive. Now I want to look more at the Nia of the resource of ROP. Just imagine that each generation entering this world had to start over from zero. I mean that in order for you to live you had to learn everything you needed in your lifetime. Life would be very hard. There would be very little progress if any, we could sit right here and create a list of things that we would not have as a civilization. Progress is necessary, but can only be maintained if information is able to be created, stored and passed forward. This is part of the function of the ROP to culture. The ROP also passes the group's way of seeing the world, how the group should be protected and how individuals are supposed to operate within the group. This helps maintain an orderly society where progress is possible. 

“The Nia of the ROP is not just some myth, but a real power that can change your life.”

The culture learns and passes what it has gathered down to the people, and the people in return grow and develop better methods of protecting and growing the culture. This goes on for generations as long as the environment is hospitable, and the people are not subjected to a larger and more powerful (or violent) group. The Culture through its myths, folktales, proverbs, etc. gives the group meaning and purpose, The ROP gives the training to its group so that they are able get a glimpse of the meaning, and move the group toward fulfilling its and their purpose.

“The culture provides the people with meaning and purpose.”

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Just like human beings, cultures have purpose, and when that purpose is pursued that group can become powerful. But just like human beings, cultures have to be able to learn, adapt, and overcome issues. This is where the resource of the ROP is supposed to really kick in. ROP is a lifelong process that happens within a people in a visible & invisible fashion. The ROP is much bigger than the ceremonies and the rituals that people hear about, or in some cases try to duplicate. The ROP is a lifestyle that is embraced by the group from cradle to grave.Many of the lessons that the people go through happen in daily life, and they receive the lessons vicariously. This is why myths, legends, folktales, proverbs, lore, clothing, music, etc. is important to a culture because through all of these things,  lessons are flowing to the people involved with the culture. In fact, to truly conquer a people you either must destroy their culture (which means exterminate all of them), or warp the culture to serve you. But cultures if not totally destroyed can and will rise again. They will hide in the knucks, and crannies of the carrier's mind waiting for an opportunity to affect someone else. Even in servitude cultures are always striving to come back, and in their return bring the golden resource of ROP to begin producing its adherents. We can see this fact with us here in America. Our culture is calling to us, and many of us are rising up and forming tribes to plant the seeds of the culture in the mind of the young. 

“You will become more successful if you understand the ROP of your culture and the people.”

 “ROP: embracing culture building as a generational practice.”

ROP is for Black folks in America an overlooked treasure. It is a method of spreading our culture back into the hearts and minds of our people. Many folks do not realize all of the ROP like events that we have going on in our lives right now that are “one knowing person” away from being totally taken over by us. ROP can be found in religion, sports, cooking, eating, music, dance, education, social services, and etc. all of these things have to do with shaping culture. The question is for whose culture are we being shaped, and who benefits. If what we are doing does not directly benefit our people in the long run then it is clear that the practice is not for us, but does not mean that it can not be co-opted by us and redirected to the service of our people. By embracing the fact that Culture building is a generational practice we can take some of the pressure off of ourselves. Yes we can  and should see progress in our lifetime but we have to understand that change takes time, and of course go back to the GNJ mantra…. Be the change you want to see. Plug into a tribe that has a serious ROP, not just a show for grants. A group that is taking this resource of ROP and using it to liberate minds, and walk within our principles. These groups are forming all over the world, and if there is not one near you, then that simply means part of your Nia now is to become a builder. Don’t be afraid GNJMedia is here to help you. We have been putting out content just for you for years. We have over a thousand blogs on our site GyeNyameJourney.com, we have over a thousand podcasts on spreaker stations, and we are currently creating content on a daily basis. You can join us on the “Daily Toast” to get your day started, or even better you can get on our Email list…. But the absolute best choice is to become a supporter of ours, and get access to all of our digital content which includes 4 books that are based on Plugging into our Culture & ROP. We at Gye-Nyame Journey aka GNJMedia are not “new to this, we are true to this”!!!!