Gye-Nyame Journey Media

  Kuumba Can Free Us!......Maybe Great Kuumba: It is the start of another day, and I want to greet you and thank you for checking out this blog and hopefully you have joined the email list or maybe even considered becoming a supporter. We have made it to our Kuumba post and eventual show. We are in the week of Ujamaa and it flew through. I can't say it was easy, but it was fast. In changing up my schedule I have thrown myself totally off, right now I am at my adventure, and have on the wrong day shirt. I guess it will take a few more weeks before I am totally in sync with my style. Every day I am trying to create content of value for you to get and use. The most surprising thing for me is that I am not a Kuumba baby, because I spend a lot of time at her altar. Each and every day is a creative event for me so believe me when I say I am no stranger to Ms. Kuumba. Now Let's get to the discussion. “Ujamaa is about more than just living in a community. It is truly about working toge

  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

Ujamaa of Rites Of Passage part 1 Week Of Ujamaa Great Ujamaa: We have made it to a double principle day. We are on Ujamaa day during the Ujamaa week, so let’s dive deep into the idea of cooperative economics. Yesterday we ended our discussion peeking into the collective resource of Rites of Passage (ROP). Believe it or not this is a crucial resource for any Culture, and since we here at GNJ we are trying to plug as many of our folks as possible back into our ancient culture. “ROP binds warriors together and allows them to grow” The culture of a people is important, because it plugs the people into their past, solidifies them in the present, and propels them toward their future. Now the culture that spawns from and with a group strives to help its peop

We are on Ujima  today which we know to mean collective work and responsibility. Collective is one of the keys to this principle tying the idea of resource; we can say that the collective is the focus for today. Tribe building is a skill in putting people & the resources they bring together. Of course before we get into bringing different people together, we first have to take the inward journey of putting the parts of ourselves together. We have to recognize the resources we put on the table. Let’s once again take a look at the 5 parts of ourselves that make up the whole that we are, and be able to maximize their power so that we can pull the best out of our external tribe. Yep, we have an internal tribe that we will have to work with composed of our: Intuition - This is the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. This part of ourselves plugs us into a larger reality, and gives us access to information without having to go through the

  Unifying Your Resources Great week of Ujamaa on this great day of Umoja: Man I am excited to jump into this week but I have a challenge that I personally have to overcome. For those that know me personally I have been struggling with a tobacco habit for years. Last week I fell off the wagon, and have been puffing like a dragon. Now I will have to reconquer this issue again. I will use the next 7 day cycle to begin the process of eliminating this habit. This is what the #NguzoSabaChallenge is for, it gives us a process that we can continuously work on ourselves and our goals. So I have a challenge in front of me, especially since my 21 day personal #NguzoSabaChallenge fast will begin on May 23, 2021. Now that is enough about me now let's get to today's rant. Well, we are in the week of Ujamaa, and now is the time where we get to where the rubber hits the road. For those that are not familiar with Gye-Nyame's system we work with the Nguzo Saba to change our lives, from what

  Great Ujamaa in this week of Ujima: These are two beautiful principles especially when they come together like today. we are forced to look at them and then take a hard look at ourselves, and think about whether we are exercising them. Ujima (which is the week that we are in) speaks to us about collective work and responsibility, but also in our system it represents the powerful and necessary principle of respect. Without respect nothing moves. Respect is like oil; it allows different parts to run smoothly together, and it reduces friction. Today's Principle is Ujamaa which talks to us about cooperation and resources, but it also represents the principle of gratitude, and reciprocity in our tribe. When we take the time and put these two principles together we get an unbeatable combination. A combination sorely needed in our communities. "Ujima reminds us of collective work and responsibility; but also respect, without it nothing moves." Today, I want to take a look at t

Before I go down the road of the title I want to reflect on what we discussed yesterday and bring it in line with today's idea. We focused on defining responsibilty. We stated that "taking responsibilty gives you power", but now brother ha2tim wants to to take it one step farther. When we take responsibility it puts us in the seat toward ownership, or it should. Ownership of a thing gives you control. There are many things in life that we cannot control; but, there is something that all men have some level of control over, and that is their own physical body - your mind and spirit too. See, I can't make the sun shine, but I can put on my shades. I can't make it rain, but I can get an umbrella or simply stay indoors. "Taking responsibility gives you power" When you think about your life, your career and all the things that are apart of your world, who owns them? Who do you give ownership to? If you think about your job, who owns it? Is it your company, o

Revolutions are not simply about tearing down the old and building up a new. They are about creating an environment to sustain change in a manner that has never been done before. In order for us to do that we must have an understanding of our resources and how to invest them into the things that will make change possible. In order for us to be successful in our revolution, we have to understand how we can create communities that support the development of future leaders. I know it sounds like a stretch but as you continue to read you will begin to see that it is necessary if we want change. The reason why this is so important is because our children are our future and if we do not teach them properly then we will get the same results over and over again. This is why Umoja & Ujamaa have been connected from the beginning of time - they are symbiotic with each other. If you want the freedom of Umoja then you have to have Ujamaa or else it will wither away like a flower without water.

Reciprocity is the act of returning something to someone who has given you something. In Gye Nyame culture, reciprocity is an integral part of daily life. To  understand why, one must first understand that the Ujamaa concept does not exist in isolation; it is at the very heart of our belief system and culture. Ujamaa requires reciprocity from everyone throughout the community which includes both giving and receiving within it. No other element or quality can be found in our system without it being regarded as lacking in some way if there was no reciprocity involved with it. The individual members of our community are taught that when they receive something, they must return the favor so that they are experiencing a balance of giving and receiving throughout their lives. This balance then allows us to experience an overall sense of harmony throughout our group which is necessary for us to function together in peace and tranquility since our group members recognize that they will be depe

Have you ever felt an overwhelming desire to do good for your people and community, but felt like you didn't have the resources or know-how to make a difference? If so, you're not alone. We've been conditioned to believe that our impact is limited to the amount of money we spend or the number of hours we volunteer. But what if there was a way to reach more people and make a bigger impact without spending a dime? Ujamaa is about learning how to share resources and cooperate so that we can build up our communities and move to the next phase of nation building. But it appears that many of us overlook the goldmine that is sitting right under our own feet. We think that our wealth sits outside of us in houses, cars, clothes, shoes or other material possessions, when in fact the only thing we truly possess are the five parts of our being. We are in the world today struggling to survive when we have not yet unleashed the full potential of our Kuumba. We have unleashed it for other

  You Don't Owe Anyone $#!+ For Free. This might sound harsh, but it's not—it's inspiring. It's liberating. It means that you don't have to do things just because they want you to. You don't have to conform. You don't have to give in or give up your dreams and goals. Everyone is trying to get you to give up something of value to them, whether it's your time, your money, or even just your attention. But you don't owe anyone any of that. You can choose to do what you want, when you want, and how you want. You can choose to be selfish and self-centered if you want. It's all a matter of choice. The world is made of people who choose to make choices that benefit themselves in both a good as well as a bad way. And because everyone has a different set of values and things they're looking for in this world, the best way for us to create wealth is to make sure we have something valuable to offer and then make sure others have access to it. That requir

"How can we overcome failure if not through action?" Today we are called to look at the power within the cycle of reciprocity. The power to overcome failure, the power to lead yourself and those around you, and the power to build strong communities that break the shackles of poverty. The cycle of reciprocity is built on a fundamental truth: Sow what you want to reap. What this means is if you want to reap something in your life, you must sow it first. As Marcus Garvey would say: "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." So first we must understand where we come from and what our history has been in order to change our future. It is our goal today to learn more about the roots of reciprocity so that we can continue to sow seeds of success for ourselves and others. In order for us to create a healthy environment for our children, there must be an understanding that we have all sown some good and some bad i