2. Unity of the Black Mind

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Toward the Unity of North American Africans: 2. Unity of the Black Mind




Toward Unity of North American Africans

2. Unity of the Black Mind

Unifyingthe North American African Mind from the ravages, trauma and grief ofthe addiction to white supremacy is an awesome task, but it is apriority of the highest order. There can be no communal unity until theindividual is processed into a New African by subjecting himself/herselfto a course of detoxification and recovery. Such a course is outlinedin my book How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, a PanAfrican 12 /Step Model for a Mental Health Peer Group. The peer groupmodel is obviously communal, although each individual submitshimself/herself to the process and must work out their own issues withhonesty and truth, transcending denial and other excuses of the monkeymind.

The North American African not only suffer post-traumaticslave syndrome, but the trauma the present war against the NorthAmerican African people that is ongoing as we speak. Although we cannottranscend the slave trauma, the present trauma is of immediate concern,for we have a population of people, coast to coast, who suffer a lowintensity war but war none the less. Because of war in the hood, ourchildren cannot envision a future for themselves except what kind offuneral they want. Not only do we suffer black on black homicide, buthomicide under the color of law from racist police who furthertraumatize our community because they usually receive a slap on thewrist for killing us under the color of law. After the light sentencegiven to the police officer who killed Oscar Grant, Jr. while he lay onhis stomach, members of the community said they were sick in thestomach, suggesting a communal psychosomatic response to the sentencing.Some persons said they were so upset they wanted to burn down America,other said they no longer wanted to be an American, that they hatedeverything about America.
Such is the trauma that is persistent and perennial, leaving one hopeless and horrified.

Themission of the Pan African Mental Health Peer Group to Recover from theAddiction to White Supremacy is to provide a free speech zone and asacred space to process our trauma and unresolved grief. Dr. Nathan Harehas been our senior adviser and facilitator. Actually the peer group torecover from white supremacy was his idea which we took to the nextlevel by establishing sessions coast to coast. No mental health expertneed be present, similar to the Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. We cangather in homes, churches, street corners, barber shops, beauty shops,Laundromats , bars, poor halls. One need only follow the meeting formatas outlined in the manual. The peer group concept allows democraticexpression with no one person dominating the meeting.

We mustunderstand that there are not enough certified mental health workers toheal the black mind. Therefore, we must heal ourselves. Most mentalhealth professionals have been certified by Eurocentric institutions,thus their qualifications are suspect at best when attempting to healthe minds suffering from the trauma of European racist oppression. Eventhe black psychologists are suspect and now recognize theircertification from white supremacy institutions invalidates them ashealers. The mental health workers are now seeking certification inAfrican holistic institutions because they see the black mind cannot behealed with European psychotherapy.
After all, it was the philosophicfoundation of European psychology that caused the destruction of theNorth American African mind. Was not the breaking in or behaviormodification of the African into the Negro an aspect of Europeanpsychology, colonial and neo-colonial psychology that persists to thepresent? Is European psychology prepared to heal the North AmericanAfrican mind from the stunted man/woman to the warrior who willaggressively go about the liberation of their people? Or is suchpsychology designed to create the weak, efete, passive personality thatis not a threat to the oppressive society?

Thus, we must heal ourselves for the doctors are out to lunch and will not return by dinner time!
We have experimented with the peer group model to the extent we know it works if you work it.
Aswe proceed through the steps, actually 13, not 12, for we have adjustedthe traditional 12 Step Model for the North American Africansensibility.

We absolutely reject the primary thesis that theaddict is an addict for life. This is total nonsense that we shall beaddicted to white supremacy for life, no, only so long as we believe inthe white supremacy world of make believe. Once we detox and recover byworking the 13 Steps, we have seen the New African emerge from the peergroup, a personality released from the trauma and unresolved grief ofthe addiction to white supremacy.

--Marvin X, aka Dr. M, authorHow to Recovery from the Addiction to White Supremacy, Black Bird Press,Berkeley, 2007, foreword by Dr. Nathan Hare, afterword by Ptah AllahEl.
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