By Melanated Glow
Where does our desire to control come from? When we want to control how another person behaves, thinks, feels, or acts, where does that desire originate from? The desire to control is at the core of the European Asili. The asili is a term created by Dr. Marimba Ani when writing her thesis expressed in her book named “Yurugu,” an Afrikan-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior. Dr. Ani’s work dives into the root of this white supremist system that we are living in. The asili is defined as the “logos of a culture, within which its various aspects cohere. It is the developmental germ/seed of a culture. It is the cultural essence, the ideological core, the matrix of a cultural entity which must be identified in order to make sense of the collective creations of its members.”1 Essentially from the asili, or the seed, comes the thought and spirit of the participating individuals of the culture that fuels the essence of everything of the community.
We are such a tribal people that as children we seek out our position or role in the community while observing everyone else in their respective roles. Children naturally want to help. Additionally, children observe the workings of the system they are born into. This is why it is important to educate our children on the story of our people and what is going on around us from an afrocentric perspective. An Afrikan Centered perspective is the only perspective that will advance the culture instead of working against ourselves. The issue with the European Asili is that it works against the Black person. When our children observe this system, they see themselves at an automatic disadvantage. That is the way this system is designed. In order for our children to see themselves with their true potential is to give them a mindset that allows for them to see beyond the restrictions set in place due to an opposing ruling culture.
In order for us to positively contribute to society, we have to have our fundamental needs met. In order for us to be free, we have to have control over ourselves and what is allowed to happen to us. One of the main issues with Yurugu, or those supporting the European Asili, is that they are missing a key element to their existence. They are missing that intuition, that sixth sense, that unseen connection that is always at play. Since they are unable to understand, innerstand, or overstand that “knowing,” and they can’t predict its impact, this critical component was removed from their analysis and the design of the system. Actually, this thought process attacks any ideology, culture, medicine, or teaching that uses any parts of that spiritual element. There is a sort of mind in control of the heart situation going on with the European Asili while with an Afrikan Asili the mind and heart are one. Everything is one, whole, and working in unison when it comes to the asili of the African culture.
It is important to know what thought process is fueling your ideology because it is somewhat of an automatic thing. Your thoughts, decisions, and actions come from the subconscious mind that is developed from birth. The things we say and teach our children tend to support the system that we believe in. As a result, we power this system. Our desire for material things, including money, helps to continue this system. For the European Asili to exist today, it needs to abstract and quantify everything for use and consequently materialize the world. “The ultimate achievement of the capitalist system was the completion of a process that began when the abstraction of money came into use to replace objects of value. Value itself in capitalism becomes defined in terms of the accumulation of money.”2 The exchange and barter system that we used to share goods and services has become modified in a way that the medium we currently use has no value although we subscribe value to it. It is void of its spirit. This is the common theme of the Yurugu, European Asili, materialistic possessions, and anything not naturally whole.
When we think, when we speak, and when we act, we should be mindful of the impact of our thoughts, words, and actions. Who or what do they encourage? What is the message being sent and who is essentially benefitting from what we are doing. When we gain control of our minds, we gain control of our bodies, and we can then determine our future with a level of certainty.
1 Ani, Marimba. Yurugu. 1994. xxv
2 Ani, Marimba. Yurugu. 1994. p. 384
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