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Conservatism, Reaction, and the Elder's Responsibility: A Message to My Age Grade

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Conservatism, Reaction, and the Elder's Responsibility: A Message to My Age Grade Great Day, Fam. This one right here? It’s not for everyone. If you’re not at or approaching Eldership—defined in our tribe as about 55 years old and up—you might not feel all of this. But if you’re curious, or if you’re one of those younger souls already walking with wisdom, you’re welcome to keep reading. This message is for the Elders. For those of us who should know better. And yes—I’m including myself. Let’s Start With the Mirror I’ve got to confess something. I’ve been guilty. Guilty of being reactionary. Guilty of falling into the trap of conservatism. Guilty of romanticizing the past. Guilty of looking at our young people and calling them “soft”—as if we were born warriors, as if we didn’t have to become who we are through fire, failure, and guidance. Many of us Elders are stuck in a loop. We remember only the highlights of our youth—the toughest times we survived, the boldest moments ...
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Respect vs. Fear: The Vision That Strengthens Our Collective Work

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  Respect vs. Fear: The Vision That Strengthens Our Collective Work In many conversations—whether with elders, peers, or the youth—I hear the same demand: “I want respect.” But when I listen closely, I notice something troubling. Many are not truly asking for respect—they are asking for fear . They want obedience, submission, and silence in their presence. They want others to comply without question. They believe that being feared means being honored. But fear is not respect. And confusing the two does more harm than good, especially within our families and communities. Fear Is a Weak Foundation Fear may get temporary results, but it does not create true loyalty, trust, or love. A person who fears you may do what you say today , but they will resent you tomorrow . Children who fear their parents may obey in the moment but will eventually rebel or distance themselves. Community members who fear leadership will disengage when they feel safe enough to do so. Fear silences voices. It ...
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Under the Stars: Transforming Our Tomorrow with Camping Fundraisers and Soul Growth

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  Under the Stars: Transforming Our Tomorrow with Camping Fundraisers and Soul Growth Camping and growing Peace, Family. Brother ha2tim here, weaving a vision for us—a vision where the great outdoors becomes our classroom, our sanctuary, and our source of strength. As we navigate the concrete jungles of our daily lives, there’s a yearning in our hearts for connection, for peace, and for a space where we can truly grow. Imagine, if you will, a series of camping trips planned with intention and purpose, not just as escapes but as powerful tools for fundraising and personal evolution. This is about tapping into the ancestral wisdom of nature to fuel our journey from merely surviving to thriving, from individual to collective empowerment. Let’s dive into how future camping trips can be the fertile ground for nurturing our community's roots and branches. The Road Ahead: Our map is drawn with trails leading us through Ohio’s scenic parks to the uncharted terrains of the Midwest. Each de...
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Economic Unity: Embracing Ujamaa for Collective Prosperity

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  Greetings, Gye-Nyame Tribe and extended family! Today, we come together to celebrate the powerful principle of Ujamaa, as we embrace the spirit of economic unity. Ujamaa, the fourth principle in our Gye-Nyame Journey Self Mastery System, is a guiding light that illuminates the path towards collective economics and community building. Understanding Ujamaa - Cooperative Economics for Collective Prosperity Ujamaa, a Swahili term meaning cooperative economics, emphasizes the importance of economic unity within our tribe. It calls us to come together, pool our resources, and support one another in building sustainable and prosperous communities. Ujamaa teaches us that our economic success is intricately linked to the well-being of our tribe, and that by uplifting each other, we can create a foundation of shared prosperity. Beyond Financial Transactions - Fostering Economic Interdependence In the Gye-Nyame Journey, we apply the principles of Ujamaa by fostering economic interdependence...
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Breaking Umoja Down To Its Very Last Compound

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Great Umoja: We are in the week of kujichagulia and now we have to figure out how to see these powerful, life changing principles through the lense of Kujichagulia. To get things started let's look at what the principle Kujichagulia is: Kujichagulia speaks of us defining ourselves, naming ourselves, creating for ourselves and speaking for ourselves. This principle is about creating reality. Using the power of words to shape the world we exist in. Now to apply that concept to the other principles will be a joy. Today we are on the principle of unity, and kujichagulia demands that we take the time to define what this principle is. "We need to break it down to it's very last compound." Let's be clear we can't do anything until we have a clear definition of what this principle is. Unity is being or existing together as one; undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting; harmonious cooperation; agreement; unification; uniformity; consistency; ...
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Nia- The Illusion of Disunity

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So today I want to focus on these trouble makers who keep us divided. Let's call them the illusionists because they are magicians of sorts. They are skilled at getting us to believe that we are separate and not united. They are masters at getting us to see and even create the differences between us and others. They know that if we see ourselves as different from each other then we will not come together as one. Now there are different types of illusionists, but for now I want to focus on the ones that come from within. These are the illusionists that in most cases we can recognize once we know what to look for. These people have a need to have drama in their lives and in our lives, so they try to create it when there is none. They do this by manipulating information and distorting reality, sometimes they do this to intentionally hurt someone or a group of people, but most of the time they do it because they don't know any other way to live. See these illusionists have been taug...
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Umoja in Motion (Sample)

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Ujima is nothing but our Umoja in motion. What I mean is that everything that the definition of Umoja calls for is used in motion and in action through the principle of Ujima. The first part of this principle calls for us to build and maintain our community together and to make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together. We have an obligation to each other if we are going to be successful in life, because no one person has all the answers, no one person knows how to solve all the problems. The second part of this principle calls for us to remember our past, so we don't repeat it. We should know that there were others before us who had a lot of good ideas about how to solve different kinds of problems. We can learn from their mistakes, too — so that we don't have to repeat them. That's what history means. Now we need to gather the lessons recognize what we have and move into the future boldly. We can no longer be held back by the ill...
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