Osun Festival, Oyotunji Village, Sheldon SC; Part I of IV

Kings Day 2012: North American Africans Transcend White Supremacy

According to one health professional, neural placidity only occurs when we change our environment, only then can our brain cells free themselves of toxic elements and we can then set out on the road to recovery from any addiction. The new environment frees us, especially a natural setting wherein we are able to regain our mental equilibrium by being in harmony with all things, especially living things such as air, water, trees, land, animals, birds, bees, etc.

Some of us who escape from a toxic environment are almost immediately able to jump out of the box of the urban setting and adjust to a more natural setting because our DNA knows our origin and thus the amnesia forced upon us by the hostile environment is arrested and we soon recall that somewhere deep down in our consciousness we have been yearning for a return to a sacred space.

Throughout our wretched history in the Americas, at various times we escaped the hostile and oppressive environment to enjoy the Maroon tradition wherein we established independent communities, especially when we saw the ever pressing need to escape the slave system. The aim was true independence and sovereignty, not second class citizenship.

In BBC interviews, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and James Meredith both lamented the continuation of white supremacy in America. Toni Morrison said only time and generations will deliver us. We wonder how much more time and how many generations will suffice? Fifty years after desegregating the University of Mississippi, James Meredith said he and his people were still at war with America.  Both said the election of Barack Obama made little difference.

And so the Maroon tradition informs us of an alternative model to escape white supremacy. These communities have existed since the first kidnapped Africans arrived in the Americas. They existed in
Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, Mexico and the United States. In the United States, the most recent example is the Oyotunji African Village located in Sheldon, South Carolina.

It may be hyperbole to say these Yorubas from Harlem escaped to Oyotunji African Village, but we know they departed Harlem forty years ago to seek a sacred space to restore their African identity to the fullness. Imagine if their model had been followed by others claiming the desire for independence and sovereignty. Yes, what if the millions of North American African who are alienated from this society would establish themselves on land wherein they can freely develop their African consciousness, political, economic, social and cultural institutions. Wouldn't that be beautiful?

It was beautiful observing the King's Day at Oyotunji African Village, honoring the founder, HRH Oba Ofuntola Oseijeman Adefunmi I. We remember him on the streets of Harlem strolling with his entourage attired in the most colorful African robes and outfits. Almost singlehandedly, Oseijeman brought African cultural restoration to North American Africans.

And his dream did not die with him but lives on at the African Village through his son HRM Oba Adejuyigbe Egundjobi Alladahonu Oyewole Adefunmi II. We observed the Royal Ancestors Parade or the Egungun Alade, a fantastic ritual drama detailing the return of the ancestors. It is an awesome myth-ritual that has been enacted for a thousand years in Yorubaland. To see that North American Africans have discarded their slave religion and returned to the faith of their fathers and mothers is a humbling experience. To hear the ritual said almost entirely in the Yoruba language is a testament that we can, will and shall overcome our psycholinguistic crisis as a result of being forced to speak the English language.

As I observed the complexity of this ritual drama, I was horrified at the thought that Europeans believed themselves superior to Africans. Their religious rituals cannot approach the complexity I saw today. I saw man and woman become one with the animals they sacrificed, whispering to them, making love to them, honoring them before the slaughter.

And as the blood dripped from the chicken and goats, I thought to myself, well, at least they are not sacrificing human beings as many North American Africans are doing in the hood throughout these United States of America. Do brothers in the hood whisper kind words to the victims of their ritual murders, do they honor them before they slaughter them? Perhaps we should teach the brothers Yoruba rituals of sacrifice, for sure, it is far better to slaughter a chicken and goat than a human being.

I agree with my friend Hurriyah Asar who sells animals and fowl for sacrifice to the African Village but is against animal sacrifice. She loves animals and is deciding whether she will continue selling them for sacrifice. When we are truly in tune with nature, we see no need to kill anything. We simply want to live in peace with all living things. On her land not far from the African Village, she raises a variety of fowl and we observe them living in peace, ducks, turkeys, chickens, doves, pigeons, guineas, dogs, cats. If animals can do this, why can't man?
--Dr. M
10/6/12
Gullahland SC