Posts

Showing posts from July, 2022

Featured Post

CANEI: Constant and Never-Ending Improvement

Image
CANEI: Constant and Never-Ending Improvement Great Day, Family. This reflection is for the Elders, Warriors, and Nation Builders out there who understand that growth doesn't stop at a certain age or title. This one is personal—and tribal. Because I’m walking this path, just like you. Today’s theme? CANEI : Constant and Never-Ending Improvement. From Kanai to CANEI: How the Journey Began Long before it was a concept, CANEI was my life. Back in the early days of Gye Nyame, I had the honor—and the challenge—of raising my sons. I was blessed with a contract through a program called Kanai that allowed me to work with African American boys many deemed “difficult.” But what they called “difficult,” I called “diamonds in the dirt.” These young men became the Gye Nyame Boys , and we birthed what would become the Gye Nyame House . Through that sacred work, I realized something powerful: self-improvement wasn’t enough. We had to aim for self-mastery. That shift in perspective laid th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dont'T Let Them Get Comfortable

Image
  Don’t Let Them Get Comfortable I am surprised the fox is just now coming around in my selection of folktales. Those that don’t know the fox in Aesop fables is in every role, from the bad guy, to the hero, to the instigator, and traitor. This animal is the trickster that you find on every content and in every story tradition on this planet. (My fault he was the bowman and the lion tale) In this story format which you run into maybe a few more times in reading Aesop. The fox is introduced to something new. He has never seen a lion,and he is terrified. But as time goes on he eventually begins to talk to him and finally becomes comfortable around him. Since Aesop stresses I think it is one that we need to cover. For some reason aesop feels that he needs to warn us against allowing people to get comfortable around us. In fact in another story that we eventually cover this comfortableness leads to slavery. I believe that the message is that in our dealings never let people get too comf...
Post a Comment
Read more

Experience Matters

Image
  Experience Matters I love this story because it stresses the power of experience. The mother is looking over her chicks and raising them up and from her bag of experience she not only taught them a powerful lesson, but also those of us who read the story. The moral of the story is “Self help is the best help” which is a powerful statement on its own, but the lesson I learned from the story was take time and learn from your elders. The lark in the story through observation had learned the ways of man. Through her observation she knew exactly when to flee. Even though her young ones were ready she knew that they had time to put more weight on, and eat before it was too late. This type of experiential learning is not only a lesson for the young, but is also a lesson for the old. Are you an elder that can present the young with good advice because you have truly observed the world and participated in it. Are you giving sound advice to the young so that they can build up their mental ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stand Up, But Be ready To Fight

Image
  Stand Up, But Be ready to Fight Seeking what is yours in the court of an oppressor never works out well. This story reminds us of this. I think that it was stories like this that really made me fall in love with Aesop. He showed that if you really want something that requires you getting permission from others you have to be willing to fight. Freedom can never be given it has to be snatched out of the hands of oppressors. This story does a much better job of demonstrating this because in this story the lions make a reply to the poor hares.  I can see the hares going to lion universities integrating into their system, and still be hunted as prey. Learning the ways and laws of lions, but after all that they end up being shut down by the simple  fact.  What is crazy to me is the rabbits were not seeking separation, they simply were asking to be treated equally, by the lions and other animals. But this request was out the question because the one thing that rabbits nee...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Don’t Lose What You Have For Imaginary Gains Here is another folktale about losing ourselves in pursuit of something that is not ours, and truly can never be. We to birds that were gifted with the ability to sing, that became enamored with the neigh of a horse. When I first heard this one I could do nothing but laugh because I had been caught in situations like this.  The swan and kite in the story fell in love not necessarily the sound of the neigh, but they may have fell in love with the sense of pride in which the horse did it. I believe that they confused the two. They really wanted the pride that the horse put behind the neigh, and not the neigh. Many of us get caught in this trap. We confuse the exterior with the internal and think that we want what the other person has. We begin to imitate, but we don’t get the same response that the original received. It is hard for us to understand that “it is not the close that makes the man, it is the man that makes the close”....
Post a Comment
Read more

A True Sucker Move

Image
  A True Sucker Move This is a tale of enslavement, and as sad as it is I have to make sure that my readers get the point. Please realize that this horse was a slave long before he took the man as his partner. The horse fell prey to the Unbalanced passions that we often talk about in Gye-nyame long before the bit was placed in his mouth. He led himself toward destruction and sacrificed everything because he was not seeing clearly. The most unfortunate thing about this whole story is that I witness this behavior on a daily basis. We have people willing to slow dance with destruction rather than take a moment to really think about the ramifications of their actions. I have seen people destroy and attempt to destroy organizations that serve the community for something as petty as the horse’s grievance in this tale. Just like the horse, these people don’t realize until it is too late that they have sold their souls. Man it is like watching a car crash in slow motion. You know the resul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Know Your $#!+

Image
  Know Yo $#!+ This is a key lesson that I hope that you get. If you have been reading these posts then you are someone that wants to make improvements to your current life. This means that you need to work on becoming a master of something. Preferably something that you can offer to your community that they need. But before you put up your shingle please make sure you know what you are doing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being an apprentice to someone that can guide you on the path to becoming a master. Because what we have out here now is all of of sudden everybody knows everything. You have all experienced it. People who last week working at the electric company and that you have known for years, have all of the sudden become a financial guru. I know yall know what I’m talking about and I am throwing shade. But as one of the Ancestors said ‘ When you throw a rock into a pack of dogs the one that got hit is the one that yelps”, if you are yelping excuse my rock. These i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Loyalty, Loyaty, Loyalty

Image
  Loyalty, Loyalty, Loyalty This story touched my heart because loyalty is one of the pillars in Gye-Nyame Journey. This seems to be a dying thing  in these modern days and times. Sometimes I feel that everyone is for sale. But this story gives me hope. I know that it is about a little dog but to know that even back in the days of Aesop they had some of the same issues gives me hope.  For those of us seeking freedom and justice, loyalty can go a long way, and it is a practice we need. As the documents flowed out about all the leaders that were assassinated and imprisoned during our freedom struggle. We come to find out that every last one of them had traitors in their midst. It is kind of scary when you look at what people actually received for betraying our people. You would think that they would receive the world but just like judas they received a bag of minor currency. Loyalty is a valuable trait and if you can find the right person or tribe to practice it with you wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sometimes Your Enemy Looks Like You

Image
  Sometimes The Enemy Looks Like You This folktale spits a hard truth into our face, that many will find hard to head but my friend please get it. Do not allow the look of someone or the feelings of familiarity fall upon you in all situations. Just because someone looks like you and have all the right lingo does not make them your ally. History is riddled with the bodies of those that were betrayed by familiarity, and this story throws this up big time. The dogs in this story were sweet-talked to a sour death at the hands of their new partners. Many of us up to this day are being “got” by the same trap. We listen and hear all the words, we don’t pay attention to the body language, hell we don’t even look at the history. We just believe that everything is going to work out. But as old and hopeful as I am in my life I have learned that if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. We are living in a dangerous time where many wolves are able to broadcast their messages over the intern...
Post a Comment
Read more

You Can't Be Fooled If You Know Who You Are!

Image
  You can’t Be Fooled If You Know Who You Are Here we are with another story about the ass. I told you that the ass provided much material for Aesop, and has produced many nuggets of wisdom for us. The ass in this story demonstrated I believe a lesson that we all need to get. Now remember I am looking at this folktale through my lens, my view is not the only view as you will here in the attached video or podcast. This is a story that touches on the maxim that states “Know Thyself”.  In this story unlike the last time we met with the ass, this ass knows who he is and his lot in life. He appears to have harmonized himself with it. Rather than wasting time and energy to run with the old shepherd, this ass appears to have made a choice that lined up with who he is. The lesson for all of us is to take time to learn about us. Know who we are, where we are, and then make decisions from that point. I know many people will disagree with me on this point, because they will say that the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are You Feeding Your Heart Or Your Stomach

Image
  Are You feeding Your Heart Or Your Stomach The folktale we will look at here is important because it focuses on one of the unbalanced passions (this is what we call them in Gye-Nyame training) that has destroyed more lives and broken more homes than any other vice. We are talking about greed. Striving to get more than you deserve and in many cases more than you could use. Greed is a deadly vice that will keep you hungry in the midst of a cornucopia. I have personally felt the sting and seen its actions in my life. Greed will constantly whisper “more” to you and if you have not been taught to recognize it,  it will lead you to ruin. We can see greeds effect all around us, and we can hear it in the speeches of politicians, and business persons. The constant move toward growth, and expansion is nothing but one of the disguises for greed. In Gye-Nyame we describe this as an unbalanced passion. Because at times there are moments for greed, but we must be fortified in our other pr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Know Your Enemies

Image
  Know Your Enemies In war it is very important to have scouts. These are soldiers or warriors that go ahead of the normal troops, to get an idea of what the enemy has waiting for their army. The scouts job is to gather information about the enemy and bring it back to their leaders so that they could more effectively deal with future battles. Do you have scouts in the world. I promise after this folktale you will be trying to get some. We are looking at the folktale (fable) called “The Bowman & the Lion” and the lesson that I learned pretty much sticks with the moral of this story “be on guard against men that can strike from a distance”. This is very important in all aspects of our lives. Many of us are being hit by the arrows of enemies that we didn’t even know we had. These arrows have been set on autopilot, and are triggered by us trying to get in spaces that were not designed for us. We can see these arrows flying in business, certain fields of work, in real estate, in law...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Unnoticed Wealth Within (lessons from an ass)

Image
  The Unnoticed wealth Within (Lessons from an Ass) The ass is a beast of burden that Aesop frequently uses to teach lessons. This one strikes me as important, and I believe my  take on this story may have not been the original lesson, but I am sure that it will help many of those that take the time to read. In my tribe one of the first things that we strive to do is to get people to start learning not only their peoples history, but we push them to learn about their family history. Our goal in doing this is to help them develop a pride for what their personal family's history adds to the total mosaic of African and world history. Many of us, I believe, feel that our family has not added to the timeline of world events. We believe that our personal family's history should be shunned and put to the side because it is not important. That is the farthest we can get from the truth. Our family’s history is what made us, and if we would take the time to look at some of the great thi...
Post a Comment
Read more

To Thine OwnSelf Be True

Image
  To Thine OwnSelf Be True I actually did not pick this fable as my first choice, but it just happened to be the first one that I relistened to when I was putting my playlist together. It popped up and I gave the discussion a listen and it blew my wig back. Please understand when I do my shows I rarely go back and listen to them. Most of the time I press the button and go, and after the show I move to the next one. You see, I was taught content was king, and for almost 8 years I would create a show a day. In fact on some days I would do as many as 3 shows a day. In 2022 I decided to change how I did content because doing all this creating and not making headway in social media began to wear on me. Don’t get me wrong I had built up a group of supporters who understood what I was doing, and supported me every step of the way, but I was nowhere near where I had hoped to be. When I started this journey I had planned for this to be my retirement gig, and that through GNJMedia I would be...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Old Walk In The Woods During A New World Order

Image
  An Old Walk In The Woods During A New World Order Introduction I love going to the woods. For me, it's not just a way to get some exercise and enjoy nature—it's also a form of therapy that helps me clear my mind and relax. Going for a walk or hike in the woods delivers all kinds of benefits: better health, better mood, improved sleep—the list goes on and on. I know that going for a walk in the woods can do more than improve my overall health; it's also good for my mental health. Who knew that walking in the woods could be so therapeutic? Going to the woods can be a peaceful and a relaxing pastime. Going to the woods can be a peaceful and relaxing pastime. It’s an excellent way to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, get some exercise, experience nature and enjoy peace and quiet. For older people in particular, walking in the woods is a great form of exercise because it requires very little effort. You don’t have to lift weights or run on a treadmill; you ...
Post a Comment
Read more