Renaming Africa - Asar Imhotep

Renaming Africa by Asar Imhotep (Mujilu Mukatapa)

MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research

luntu/lumtu/muntu

June 3, 2010 (revised June 6, 2010) One of the key principles of Kwanzaa is Kujichagulia (self determination): “to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves” (Karenga 2008:50). The holocaust of enslavement has rendered catastrophic disharmonies to the African personality. The European slave owners prescribed destiny on the enslaved Africans by forcing them to adopt cultural norms that were alien and hostile to their nature (the English language, Christian religion, dysfunctional family structures, substandard educational institutions, individualistic value systems, etc.). As a result of these forced cultural adoptions, the African essentially lost his/her ability to, and historic rite of, self determination (Kujichagulia).

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Renaming Africa by Mujilu Mukatapa (Asar Imhotep)

One important custom we lost, as a result of this holocaust, was the practice of naming ourselves and why. I won’t, in this essay, explore this aspect of the discussion too deeply. I have addressed this subject thoroughly in my publication The Bakala of North America – The Living Suns of Vitality: In Search of a Meaningful Name for African-Americans. However, I will note that for African people a name was not simply a label. A name, in essence, is a living power that activates and sends vibrations in the universe when called by a living being. It activates to complete a task when called upon by the human voice. A name is a North Star for the soul: it is a guide that leads a person, or a nation, towards its destiny. In other words, a name is a goal to be achieved; thus the saying, “living up to one’s name.” One’s name is one’s aspiration. When you let another people name you, then you allow those other people—who do not understand you or knows your history or mission in life—to determine your aspirations. As Raphael Powell is quoted saying, “Free people name themselves. Slaves and dogs are named by their masters (1937).” This brings us to the crux of this discourse. Not only were the Africans who arrived in the United States (and across the Diaspora) renamed foreign aspirations and descriptive nomenclatures, the very continent now called Africa was named by this same process of European ideological hegemony. I have already presented for review a possible name for African-Americans in my book The Bakala of North America. What I want to do now is extend this bold act of self-determination to the very continent from which we derived and suggest a name that speaks to the spirit of the people: its history, purpose, vision and gifts.

Statement of the Problem The freedom rights struggles of the 50’s to early 70’s ushered in a spirit of selfdetermination, and a greater demand for human rights and human dignity. During this period many people began asserting their historical identity, rooted in the heritage on the continent of Africa by adopting various African cultural motifs and names to reorient their way of being to that which existed prior to the enslavement holocaust. The aim of the movement was to detach oneself, as much as possible, from the ideological shackles forced upon Blacks in the Americas by European people. As a result of this, we created things such as Black Studies, Kwanzaa, Afrocentricity, and Black Psychology, for example, to counter the psychological onslaught of Europeans who sought to dehumanize and diminish African people in the history books, in the scientific literature and in the media. Part of this struggle was to reconstruct what many believe to be an African consciousness. The aim is to escape all forms of European conceptualizations of self and to rid ourselves of names and concepts “given” to us by Europeans. In this effort we overlooked a very fundamental flaw in our analysis. To assume that there is anything called an “African”

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consciousness first assumes that there is an indigenous concept and/or location called Africa. This is very important to reconcile and is not simply a matter of semantics. My years of study in regards to culture—what it is and how is it developed—have demonstrated for me that identity is the product of an identification process. This is a process in which the individual or group comes to perceive himself or itself as possessing a unique personality or character; of being a person or group in his or its own right; as being able to answer to his own satisfaction the questions: Who am I? Who are we? What am I? What kind of people are we? What do I do with my life? What do we do with our existence (Wilson 1998:309)? It is because of these revelations that I stated in The Bakala of North America (2009:137), in regards to the 9 Laws of Culture, that the first law of culture is, Culture is Conscious of Itself. Culture and identity exist in the minds of people. When the Yoruba left the shores of what is now Nigeria, they had never heard of Africa, let alone them being African. When the Baluba left the shores of the Kongo and Cameroon, they too never heard of Africa or knew themselves to be an African. This can be said of all “Africans” who left the shores of the continent. With that said, if they had no idea they were African, they could not have had an African consciousness to identify with. They did not perceive themselves as having a unique personality or set of characteristics that were identifiably “African.” They had a consciousness that was rooted in their particular ethnicity, not as a continental people. As Dr. Amos Wilson notes in Blueprint for Black Power (1998:309): Group identity exists when each member of a group, or a significant majority of them, perceives his or her membership in the group and his or her sharing of its defining characteristics, its defining values, attitudes and behavioral tendencies as the most important or the primary defining characteristics of himself or herself as an individual.

If there was no Africa or an African, could there have been an “African” set of values in which to identify with? Did the “Africans” know what their defining characteristics were which were shared on the whole continent? Did Africans even have a concept for the word continent? Were the people even aware a continent existed? Can you find in any African languages a word for continent before colonialism? Africans didn’t divide landmasses and name them like Europeans did. So there was no need to name the continent since the whole earth was their orientation. Dr. Wilson further notes that: Group identity is evident when each member of a group organizes and directs his or her behavior in ways intended to maximally or primarily benefit his or her group, one or more of its other members, as well as him or herself. (ibid)

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Was there an African governmental body that spanned the whole continent? Did they create laws (oral or written) to regulate the behavior of the people across the continent? Was there an African educational curriculum that instructed them on how to be “African?” If there was no educational system in place, or a political body to shape the patterns of relating to each other, how could there have been an African consciousness to re-construct? This is important when we truly understand what culture is. As Wilson notes (1998:59): This coalescence of subcultural social units is usually organized and motivated by a mutually recognized leadership or governing establishment. This establishment usually fulfills its responsibilities through the creation, issuance and enforcement of policies. At this level of organization a culture may be defined as a political organization which exercises political power in its defense, economic and social interests as a whole, and in the interest of its subcultural group and individual members. (emphasis mine)

If there was no continental political body, then there could be no such thing as an African consciousness or value set because the people (or their representatives) never got together to organize these values and to create policies, rituals and social patterns to reinforce these values on a continental scale. Deep similarities and common cultural substratums between nations do not equal a single identity. When one compares the cultural nuances that are similar on the continent of Africa, and compare them to the unifying cultural nuances among the Native Americans, you will find –more or less—an exact match. Do Native American cultural similarities with African cultural similarities make them African? Obviously there is more to having an identity than having similarities between peoples. The concept of an African consciousness is an invention of African-Americans: a reality not realized on the continent. That is a goal that is slowly in the works, but by no means has been achieved as of yet. Dr. Chiekh Anta Diop in Black Africa: An Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federated State, was working to achieve and called for a continental wide cultural development project and the utilization of a single language so that Africa would have a social yoke to bind the countries in a lasting federation of successful states. This is why he fought so hard anthropologically and linguistically to demonstrate the similarities in African cultural thought and practices. This struggle was paramount so “Africans” could BEGIN to see each other as the same and to use those similarities to finally construct a continental African culture, language and consciousness. This would be an unnecessary task if these things already existed. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand fully the context in which we use the term African. What I’m trying to point out is that Eurocentricity is so engrained in our psyche that even when we thought we escaped its clutches, the vestiges of its existence still haunts our consciousness. In the Matrix movie, Neo was “freed” from the matrix (the social construct created by the machines). In part II, Matrix Reloaded, Neo comes to discover that Zion (the

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human refugee city) and the prophecy are indeed constructs of the Matrix as well. So while Neo thought he was free, he came to discover that he was not free and that even his conceptualizations of freedom were constructed by the very system from which he thought he was free. This is how I view the concept of Africa, being Africans and the notion that there is an African consciousness (as a result of a shared political system) that characterizes the people. Most who disagree with me are like Morpheus in the Matrix when he discovered that the prophecy was a lie. Something he fought so hard for and defended with his life was a mere illusion and he couldn’t accept it. That illusion is Africa. And in order for us to truly liberate our consciousness, we must do what Neo did in Matrix Revolutions: go to the Source. Our source is the precolonial conceptions of being (diKala) our ancestors crystallized and embedded in our languages. I only use the term African throughout this essay, 1) because it is what the common person understands and knows currently, and 2) there is no agreed upon alternative in which to use for our discourses. Because of the latter, I seek to provide such an alternative with the hopes that it resonates with the spirit of the reader, on the continent and in the Diaspora, to the point where they will internalize it and use it as if it were their own.

Further Problematics In our efforts to separate ourselves from the dehumanizing, non-meaningful terminologies used to describe us as a people, we ended up adopting a term that also is a product of European ideological hegemony to define ourselves. I deal with the origins of the name Africa and its many possible origins in The Bakala of North America book. I recommend you review that text. I will state that the most probable origins lie with the Romans who defeated Hannibal in North Africa. When Publius Cornelius Scipio the Elder defeated Hannibal, the Romans named the newly acquired territory (from Libya, Tunisia to Algeria) after the people who were last defeated in the area: the Aourigha in Tunisia. The /ou/ sound is pronounced as a /v/. So you can say Avrigha. It was this that was Latinized into Africa (Afriqayya by the Arabs) and later applied to the whole continent. The Aourigha were a Taureg people which were an Azger Berber collection of tribes who later were forced to migrate southward due to increased Arab penetration. So there is evidence that this was not the name of a people, but a confederation of small tribes who may have been merchants. We have to consider as well that the Romans didn’t adopt the name in honor of the people, but probably in mockery of the people. The Roman transposition of Aourigha (Africa) was worn in the spirit of Africa as a conquered foe; an oppressed people. It is the ultimate

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insult. It is if as to say, “By adopting this name and transposing it, we are going to be a constant reminder that we defeated you.” It’s almost like what Chong Li did to Ray Jackson after he brutally defeated him in the movie Bloodsport (1988).1 Ray Jackson wore this head bandana in all of his fights. When he fought Chong Li and lost, Chong Li took his bandana and wore it on his leg as a reminder to Frank Duke (the lead character) of what he did to his friend (Ray Jackson) and what he’s going to do to him if they meet in the ring (see full scene HERE). This seems to be the same spirit in which the name Africa was adopted by the Roman general and his family, and how the name became associated with the continental territories of Rome. The name Africanus is an agnomen name. In ancient Rome, a name for a male citizen consisted of three parts (tria nomina): praenomen (given name), nomen (or nomen gentile or simply gentilicium, being the name of the gens or clan) and cognomen (name of a family line within the gens). Sometimes a second or third cognomen, called agnomen, was added. The agnomen represented a certain characteristic or accomplishment by the beholder of the name. So Africanus (with the –anus suffix) represented an accomplishment: the defeat of the Avourigha confederacy of merchants. The naming of the continent to Africa by the Romans was done with no regards to its meaning or its history. There was no meeting or dialogue concerning this matter with the people in the areas now called Africa. One can say that since the Europeans considered the Aourigha a defeated people, and to them all of the continent consisted of defeated peoples, the name was appropriate for the whole land mass since it was, by then, a defeated territory. Therefore, the name is “illegal” and because the meaning of the name is still unknown, it can in no ways represent the aspirations, the vision or spirit of the people: which is the “African” way. As Karenga notes (2008:75), “For identity is the key to purpose and ultimate direction. In other words, a people’s self-definition is a framework for establishing a people’s purpose and the direction by which it must pursue that purpose, given its socio-historical circumstances.” If we adopt a name with no meaning, then we align ourselves with a spirit which serves no purpose and moves in no direction. We become a ship adrift in a hostile sea. Many African-Centered scholars advocate the abandoning of Eurocentric concepts for African ones. There are tons of books which express these sentiments, but for the sake of time 1

If you get to know me, you’ll come to find out I watch a lot of movies!

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and space, I will just give one example. Dr. Wade Nobles, a noted and respected psychologist, mentioned the following words in a lecture titled To Be African (located HERE): Power is the ability to define reality and to have other people respond to it as if it were their own. Our dilemma, our problem is that we allow other people, to define the meaning of who we are. And once we accepted their definition, we gave them power. .... And the MOST important reality to define, is the meaning of one's human beingness. That's nobody's conversation but ours. .... I believe that it is the struggle for the authorship on what it means to be African as human beings that is the moral imperative of the Black psychologist. We've got to recognize that we have a historical mission. And our historical mission is to help through analysis, to help with our interpretation of the spirit, our people to understand what it means to be a human being. .... The mental liberation of African people is dependent on our ability to assist in the reconceptualization and the reconstruction of the African reality. We even have to think about how we even talk about Africa. How we even conceive of this notion of being an African. It's not just wearing African clothes. African clothes are good to wear…. You put African clothes on a dog, that doesn't make the dog an African. So we have to begin to understand that it is the mental liberation of our people that is necessary. We can't have mental liberation if we don’t engage in the reconceptualization and reconstruction of an African reality INDEPENDENT of White conceptualizations.

One has to ask the question, “If we are to create a reality independent of White conceptualizations, how can we totally divorce ourselves from them if we are still using their terminology to define ourselves?” One can argue, “Well it’s a transposition of an African word. Can’t we still use it?” If the word is devoid of spirit and context, and without meaning and direction, it is not in keeping with “African” tradition, and frankly, isn’t good enough for me and my people. No sound minded person adopts a name for which they don’t have a meaning and it doesn’t inform them of whom they are or their purpose on earth. Dr. Wade Nobles in his lecture above stated that the most important reality to define is that of our human beingness. Let’s see what an African on the continent, one who is steeped and initiated in his own traditions, has to say on this matter as an example. Jordan Ngubane in his seminal work Conflict of Minds (1979:60) notes that for the African, and the Zulu in particular:

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To be human is to be able to say what and who you are and to be able to say why you are here and where you are going; it is to be able to define yourself. Ancient Zulu philosophers taught that the person was unique in that he defined himself; in that he knew the worth of the value that he was.

Ngubane would be in agreement with Dr. Nobles. It is time that we put this ideology into practice and begin to see the world through our own lenses and operate this reality from a position of power. As Sandra Van Dyk reminds us (Conyers 2003:183): Power is often expressed in language before it is expressed in politics. When new language and ways of expression gain currency, power relationships can ultimately change; hence the ongoing turmoil over political correctness of language and discourse in contemporary society.

The objective here is to shift power relations. In order for this change to take place, the community must think and operate on its own terms: to be able to look within one’s self for inspiration to translate into experience; using one’s own genius. We must be conscious of the meanings we associate with ourselves. As Dr. Molefi Asante asserts, “Consciousness is the first sign of vigor and power (1988:99).” I vouch that we adopt the framework espoused by Dr. Maulana Karenga and that is to use Africa as a resource and not simply as a reference. Using Africa as a resource means that one mines the data as it pertains to its languages, practices, philosophies and customs, with the express intent on using the best of these traditions to incorporate them into your reality; not just because they are “African,” but because they are African (as part of one’s heritage) and they work. To use Africa as a reference simply means that one references what’s on the continent, what has happened on the continent and who’s on the continent, but doesn’t feel that Africa has any social material worth examining, adopting and incorporating in our lives today. In other words, one only acknowledges what’s on the continent, but doesn’t feel there is anything of social value worth implementing and practicing or utilizing to discover new more satisfying dimensions for being human. An example is in the very name African-American. The African in the African-American ethonym is simply a reference for where the Black people in America came from: the continent of Africa. The name implies and carries no meaning other than a reference to a location of historical significance for Blacks in the U.S. In The Bakala of North America I, for example, searched many African languages to find a term that had rich philosophical meaning that accurately represented the African-American personality, gifts, history and vision: Bakala. Here I felt that the languages of African people, and the philosophy and meanings behind the terms, were excellent sources to build an identity with. Africa is not only rich in natural resources, but is philosophically rich as well. It is by this method that I will again suggest a new name for the

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continent itself, for the people to evaluate, which derives from the hearts and minds of our ancestors who left their ideological fossils in the languages across Africa.

The New Name There is a spirit of change sweeping the continent of Africa that actually started when African states began winning their independence. Africans are no longer satisfied with referencing who they are by European conceptualizations “given” to them by their oppressors. This has even extended to national landmarks. There is a Facebook group that has been recently created in 2010 to garner support for the renaming of African landmarks back to their indigenous names. The group is called Renaming African Landmarks. As an example, they note that what is now Victoria Falls (bordering Zimbabwe and Zambia), named after Queen Victoria of England, is actually called by the natives Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders) and is pushing its indigenous usage. The Europeans came into West Africa and named a territory the Gold Coast. After independence, the natives renamed the territory after an ancient kingdom that was actually further west of them in Mali, and called it Ghana. The French named a strip right above Ghana as Upper Volta. But in 1984 the ruler Thomas Sankara named it Burkina Faso (land of integrity, country of honesty, country of honorable people, land of the incorruptables). There are many examples of this all across Africa in regards to the names of states, cities and countries. When the British entered East Africa, they named the territory East Africa Protectorate and/or British East Africa. In 1920 it was renamed Kenya. Kenya derives from the Kamba language and their pronunciation of Mt. Kenya’s traditional name, Kirinyaga and Kinyaa. The mountain, from afar, appeared black on one side and white on its snow-capped glaciers. It thus was named kii nyaa “the place of the male ostrich.” This is in opposition to the female ostrich which is grey in color. This spirit has not stopped with landmarks and countries, but to the continent itself. Poet laureate of Nigeria, Wole Soyinka, noted the foreigness of the name Africa and demanded that it be dropped. In its place he suggested Abibirim and Abibiman from the Akan languages. They mean “black land, black state or black nation.” My problem with the latter name is it lacks meaning and purpose. It either physically describes the soil of Africa or it describes the perceived color of the people (which is not uniform on the continent). If it is indeed the latter, then this is a reactionary name and still puts White Europeans at the center of our being. We are only “black” in comparison to them who are “white.” I don’t want to be defined based upon my negative experience with another

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people. That says nothing about my aspirations and doesn’t give me a goal to achieve; no purpose to fulfill. If we notice the name chosen for Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) and its meaning, it provides a standard to live up to; a goal to achieve: integrity, honesty, to have an incorruptible character. Their social system is designed for them to live up to their name. It gives the people a cultural standard for which to measure authenticity; in which to evaluate and relate to one another. Burkina Faso informs us of what is essential for good human relations: good character. This is at the heart of nearly all African philosophies and is most noted under the Yoruba system of Ifa in Nigeria as Iwa Pele (good/gentle character). If I had more space I could list the dominant trend in Africa in regards to what they name themselves and their countries. But I will just give one more example to drive the point home. It is believed that the word Ethiopia is a Greek word meaning “burnt face” which described the blackness of the people. This is incorrect and a misrepresentation of the concept. The more likely etymology of this term is indigenous to Africa and can be explained by the Bantu languages in general and the ciLuba in particular. The root of Ethiopia is the word pia or pya, which in many Bantu languages signifies “new/newness,” or “to be ripe/ripeness.” Ethiopia is commonly pronounced as CYPYA or CIPYE (also ciPyaciPya) which has the following meanings:

(1) "Newness, Novelty, New Earth" (2) "What is ripe, mature, grown, land of maturity (spiritual and human development), (3) "What is well cooked, baked, done, burnt, stewed, baked, parched," and (4) "Three Rope son/child, Land of the Trinity," which was for the Greeks – god’s Earth, the Kingdom of God?2

In Ciluba, the letters *, T/Č, č, c are read Ti, Ci, Či, and Tshi. The letter D is read as Dye/Dje. To say the ciKam (Egyptian) word Mntw (winning, to beat out, dominating) in ciLuba, you would say: Tmwn/Čmwn or Cmwn as Timun /Čimun, Cimun. The final -t suffix is actually prefixed in ciLuba. So mn-tw is Ti-mun. In other words the ci- and ti- or tshi- affixes are interchangeable and one and the same. These affixes can mean different things given the word, but they are often associated with land or ethnicity. This is common throughout Niger-Congo. In West Africa Dia/Dya/Ja is common and is associated with clan names: Diala, Jola, Dia Dynasty, Gbon-Dia, Gya-man, Gyamase, etc. In ciKam ta- refers to land or ethnicity. In Mbochi-Bantu ta, to, tse, se, and si are the same word. In the Mande languages ta and ka have the same function.

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See Mubabinge Bilolo, Théologie de la « Terre Très Sainte » Cikam ou BuKam.

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So we have the following variations: CIPYA, CIPIA, CIPYACIPYA (reduplication), TSHIOPIA from which the Greeks added a leading vowel ECYOPIE or ATSHIOPIA. They could not pronounce the /s/ in TSHI so they simply said THI in ATHIOPIA. Or used the other variation of TSHI-/CI- and that is TI-, so we get A-TI-O-PYA/PIA (Atiopia). In the Amarigna language in Ethiopia, Ethiopia is pronounced ጣቢያ TABIYA (p > b). Tabiya is a regional variation of Cipya/Tipya. The ciLuba ciPya/tiPya ultimately deals with cultivated land which is clear in its meanings of “new earth” and “ground ripe for maturity” as a metaphor. We find this word in the buKulu-ciKam (ancient Egyptian) written language (Madu-a-Ndele/Madw-a-Mfidi/Mdw Ntr) in reference to land. Athiopia/Itiopia

Atb = land, region

Itb = territory, estate, land

and Idb = land which the waters of the Nile can reach (t > d)

Atb/itb = a town in the Thebaid3 Because PYA/PIA can mean "burnt," historians have misinterpreted it in Greek to mean "burnt face" and then tried to apply it to the Africans because they are Black (burnt face).This is incorrect. There is no color connotation, nor any phoneme referring to one’s face. The most common word for burnt in Greek is KAUMA which is a match for KM in ciKam which means 3

See Budge A Hieroglyphic Dictionary pg 966a. The Thebaid or Thebais (Greek: Θηβαΐδα, Thēbaïda or Θηβαΐς, Thēbaïs) is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. It acquired its name from its proximity to the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes.

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“black” and other African languages where the k-m root means “black, burnt, or burning coal.” 4 If we pay attention to the fourth entry above (atb/itb = a town in the Thebaid), it has an ideogram of a censor pot with a burning flame rising above it.5 This would lend support for a parched or burnt interpretation of Itiopia as the sign is of burning incense. When you start studying the names of ancient African lands, you will come to discover that this sense of newness, ripeness, of cultivating, harvesting, sharing good in the world and being a place ripe for human and spiritual development, is what is meant by many of the names.6 Included in this analysis is our beloved KM-T7 (ciKam, TshiKam, tiKam, buKame). A cognate for the place-name km-t is Gomdji8 "land which grows warm and is healthy cultivated" – Oromo/Galla (Ethiopia). The words ciKam (km-t) and ciPya have the same connotation: a land ripe, prepared, warm, well cooked, and ready for human and spiritual development.

Okay for real this time We should understand by now that when Africans named themselves or named their land, it was not random. The names served a purpose and had meaning. These names were aspirations to be achieved (goals to obtain) or people to be honored. In that spirit I propose one of the ancient names of ciKam (Egypt) as the new name for Africa: t3 mry. Ta-Mry is translated by modern Egyptologists to mean “the beloved land” (ta=land, mry=love). We will see, by examining other African languages, that this is not the full meaning of the term. Observe below:

Table 1: mr (love) in other Black African languages9 Ancient Egyptian Coptic: Acoli (Nilotic) Lwo, Luo (Nilotic) Nuer (Nilotic) Mangbetu (north-east Zaire) Wolof

:mr, “to love” to desire”; mrw.t “love” mere, meri, melli, me, mei, maie, mi maaro, “to love”, maar, “love” mer “to agree, to be in accord with”, “kindness” mar, “friend” o-mu, omu “to love”; mu “friend” mar, “to love madly”

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See Asar Imhotep, The Bakala of North America: The Living Suns of Vitality (2009:56-59). MOCHA-Versity Press. Houston, TX. 5 Sometimes you will see this sign with an incense pellet on each side of the flame or smoke. See Budge 966a. 6 See Viban Ngo. (2009). The Origin of African Place Names: An introduction to toponymys in cartography and politics in Africa. Baico Publishing. Ontario, Canada. 7 See my revision to the article Could the Kongo be the new KMT? – forthcoming. 8 k > g, t > dji (dye, dje in ciLuba) 9 Theophile Obenga. (1992:122). Ancient Egypt & Black Africa: A Student’s Handbook for the Study of Ancient Egypt in Philosophy, Linguistics & Gender Relations. Karnak House. London.

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The m-r biliteral root meaning “love” may be cognate with the French aimer and Spanish amor “love.” As we can see the m-r root in the African languages can also mean “kindness, friend, to agree, and to be in accord with.” The version of the name t3-mry that I will use, however, will actually come from the ciLuba language. T3-Mry is pronounced in ciLuba Dya-Malelela; Cyamalela or Dya-Malela; DyaMalanda. Dya-Malelela; Cyamalela means “Land of Righteousness, Justice, Truth.” DyaMalela; Dya-Malanda means "Land of Love, Friendship and Fraternity." The ciLuba language provides us with several advantages. The first is that these renderings encapsulate in one idiom all of the other meanings for the m-r root across Africa. Secondly, the ciLuba language (really a family of languages; Mbochi, Kikongo, Kiswahili, IziZulu, etc.), as demonstrated by linguists such as Dr. Mubabinge Bilolo, is closely aligned, if not a modern branch of the ancient ciKam; which is more in alignment with the Coptic. We can observe briefly the Coptic dialectical rendering of melli (m-l-l) and the ciLuba malela (m-l-l). Because the ciLuba is closely aligned with the bukulu ciKam (ancient Egyptian) language in modern form, because the Luba family of languages is related to the grander Niger-Kordofanian language family, and because the m-r (love) lexeme can be found in almost every African language family (Niger-Kordofanian, Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic10), this rendering truly encapsulates a Pan-African spirit and shouldn’t be met with much resistance for those who may feel we are pinning one language group over another. As linguists such as Pfouma, Lam, Diop, Obenga, Bilolo and Anselin have demonstrated in their respective works, the current mainstream classification of African languages doesn’t accurately convey the deep relationship between African languages and their historical communities. Theophile Obenga asserts that the mere concept of an Afro-Asiatic language is a hoax (Obenga 1992). Linguists like Modupe Oduyoye—in his many works comparing Yoruba, Egyptian and Semitic languages—totally destroy the notion that these languages belong to separate language families.11 Thus the reader must understand that although we are choosing a rendering from one language group (ciLuba) this group belongs to a family of languages that are related across the continent for which we can find local variations of the term (m-r, “love”).

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I will have to investigate further to see if this term is within the Khoisan languages. If we take the lead of Martin Bernal in Black Athena Vol. III: The Linguistic Evidence, then we can lump the Khoisan languages with Afro-Asiatic as these languages are believed to be at the origin of this group. This is behind the movement to rename AfroAsiatic to Afri-san. 11 See Modupe Oduyoye (1996). Words and Meaning in Yoruba Religion: Linguistic Connections in Yoruba, Ancient Egyptian and Semitic. Karnak House Publishing. London.

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I feel this name works best in the spirit of how many of the African nations already define themselves. Additionally, this name is found all over Africa and has its roots in the oldest civilization on earth, which is also found in Africa. This name also fits the criteria of being a spiritual/social north star for the people on the continent; guiding us towards our global destiny. It forces the inhabitants to live up to its name: to create a social environment, a society built on the principles of righteousness, justice and truth [Cyamalela]. We know there are many societies on the continent which need this orientation as we speak. For the well studied reader, you will notice that cyamalela has the same meanings as the ancient ciKam (Egyptian) word Ma’at (truth, justice, reciprocity, balance, harmony, righteousness, order, law, etc.). This is observed because, in essence, they are the same word. In ciLuba Ma’at is Cyama/Cama or Meyi-malelela.12 You can also say Meeyi (= Ma’at). There are major talks on the continent to move toward a United Federated states of Africa. If this were to happen it needs to be bounded by a culture of love, friendship and fraternity [Malela]. These are the traditional foundations in which “African” sages built their ancient societies and if “Africa” were to unite under a super confederacy in modern times, it must unite under these principles. It is these principles that we will gauge whether someone is truly “African” (Malela) or not. Malela will be the character bar by which its citizens are judged. To make the pronunciation easier, I would simply utilize Dya-Malela or Cya-Malela and combine the other meanings with the other pronunciations under Malela. Remember that Dya/Cya is referring to the land (and/or ethnicity), but the root is Malela. By adding different noun class prefixes/determinatives, we arrive at different applications of the same term. So we observe the following:    

Mu-Malela = a person, singular Ba-Malela = the people on the continent, collective, plural Di-Malela = the Malela culture Ki-Malela = the Malela philosophy and language (if we adopt a singular language and consciousness)13

There may be a better way to address the singular form. We might be able to utilize the u- prefix and say uMalela or luMalela. Malela with no prefix may be good enough all by itself. I will have to consult with a native speaker of the Luba languages.

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See Mubabinge Bilolo (2010:27). Other variations are shalama, jalama, mu-Shalamu, jalamu, njaaliminu, salasala, diSalama, and diSala. 13 My vote is for kiSwahili

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Ideographic Confirmations The vast majority of African languages (kiMalela) are agglutinative in nature. This means that words consist of smaller words “glued” together to create a larger word. Each word, in essence, is a small sentence. This character is evident in many of the ancient ciKam words. As a result of this discovery in the bukulu ciKam, in the book The Bakala of North America I decided to test the meaning(s) of Bakala by spelling the name using the Madu-a-Ndele (Mdw Ntr) writing script and read the term ideographically to see if each component of the written form adds up to greater meanings we associate with the modern form. Each glyph represents a concept14 in of itself and when you read these symbols in sequence, you discover a richer meaning for the term under examination. Sometimes you can “discover” new meanings not apparent in its verbal form. With that said, I wanted to see if this same method could be applied to the term t3mry/Dya Malela and if the ideographic meaning relates to the general meaning in the ciLuba language. Also I want to see if there are some underlying concepts that only reading the term ideographically could bring out that would allow for deeper and richer reflections for the term. The following table demonstrates how this process works:

Table 2: CyaMalela/DyaMalela

t3-mry (dya malela) = land of truth, righteousness, love, friendship, fraternity and justice.

land

hoe/plow

open mouth

flowering reed

ta

m-r

r/l

y/i

Cultivate, to farm, collective work & responsibility, collective economics

To expand, to broaden, to reach new capacities

Denotes: a place

To grow, mature (a reed at full bloom)

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palm-branch bordered on expanded human hill establishment No sound value Niw.t (determinative) (determinative) Time, seasons Community, (the palm state, nation, branch was used village to denote years in Egypt)

An idea, thus the term “ideo-graphic.” It is a graphic that not only represents a sound value, but represents a whole idea/concept.

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To read this ideographically, we could say that Dya Malela is “A place cultivated (ripe, prepared) so one can expand (financially, intellectually, etc.), grow and mature (physically, spiritually, etc.) in his season within the context of (a strong, loving) community. This is more in alignment with the meaning of CiPya (Ethiopia) mentioned above (ground ripe for maturity). The graphics provide us with another lesson not apparent in its general meaning. Since the word mry/malela means love, the plow (m-r) symbol also informs us of what it takes to develop and maintain it (love). The plow glyph is associated with farming which is a ritual act used to exploit the fertility of the earth. It is an endeavor that takes patience, hard work, gentle care, knowledge, coordination and team work to accomplish. These are the same characteristics needed to maintain healthy relationships, families and community. Love, like farming, is a collective effort. The fruits of your labor are equal to how much work we put in and how efficiently the group coordinates the endeavor. Malela informs us that it (love) is hard work. Farming, hoeing and planting, is not something you do for vacation. There is much sweat, digging and reaching involved. Dya Malela informs us that love is the RESULT (the fruit) of culture (cultivation, farming). The quality of love (fruit) produced is also dependent on the quality of the soil (one’s heritage, relationship with history, ancestors, community, etc.), the quality of the seeds (the knowledge of the world, culture and each other), the temperature (the social environment), the season of the endeavor and the diligence of the planter to see it through. In all African cultures (if I can be so bold as to say that), the sun is seen as a symbolic representation of the oneness, the power and the importance of God/spirit. Without this core (spirit/God), there is no energy to fuel the process: no farming, cultivation, malela can take place. Spirit is the agent that activates all of these processes; just like how sun light activates the cycles in nature that produce and maintain life on earth. These are the ideas the ancients left for us “hidden” in the madu-a-ndele script for us to reflect on, meditate and put into practice within our own communities. These are the principles, hidden in Malela, which must be championed if we are ever to realize a true identity and a working, powerful, unified African culture, people and state.

Conclusion So for those of you reading this that may be thinking this is an issue of “semantics,” please understand what it is we are accomplishing here. We are engaging in the highest form of Kujichagulia par excellence. We are asserting our humanity and defining our worth. We are

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defining ourselves on our own terms and not that which is created by Europeans. We are prescribing our own destiny and asserting our own values; encapsulating these concepts in the name we choose to be our spiritual north star (Malela). Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a society built on truth, righteousness and justice (ma’at, meeyi, cyamalela)? Can you feel yourself in a society where part of the education system is geared toward making lasting friendships? What would it feel like to enter into a country where the society was organized in such a way that the political system was designed to bring about a principled and harmonious togetherness within community,… a place free of want, toil and domination,… a place ripe and well-cooked (prepared) for human and spiritual development? What would it feel like to embody these principles in the name we call ourselves? What would it be like to be the walking personification of these ideals (a mu-/luMalela)? You have to imagine the possibilities and work toward your ideals. If we adopt Malela as the name for the people and Dya/Cya-Malela as the name for the land, we now have our very own north star to guide us, orient us towards these high aspirations. This is a name truly grounded in our ancestral traditions. When the name Africa (with a yet to be determined meaning) is weighted against Dya Malela, they do not compare. The first step in realizing our power is in the act of rightfully and accurately defining ourselves in a manner that speaks to our collective history, gifts, vision and purpose. As has been shown (Imhotep 2009, Ngubane 1979, Karenga 2008), to be “African” is to be able to define yourself on your own terms and to live a life of meaning, purpose and spirit. This is the first step in realizing the task of creating a United Federated States of Africa. Here are some organizations and actual state run entities in favor of a united federation of states on the continent of what is currently called Africa; for which I propose, from this day forward, we call Dya Malela. Africa 2030: http://www.africa2030.org/ http://www.fixingafrica.com/index.php United States of Africa: http://unitedstatesafrica.tripod.com/ Pan-African Parliament http://www.pan-africanparliament.org/

There is an African proverb that asks, “How do you eat the head of an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time.” The creation of a federated Africa, because of the mere size and diversity of the continent, seems to some a daunting task: one which seems impossible. Because of the sheer size of the project, what has to be done is to build the confidence of the people in their ability to bring change. If you can demonstrate to them that they have the

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power to change things, starting with something as simple as renaming the continent of Africa, then they build the confidence and hope to do greater tasks. If “Africans” can’t do something as simple as rename the continent, something based on our own cultures and languages—a task that costs no money—then what greater could we expect from us? Especially since they have already demonstrated we have done this on smaller scales (Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, D. Rep. of Congo, Tshwane (formerly Pretoria, South Africa), etc). These victories have to be documented and taught to the people so it forever rests in their minds, ready for reactivation when needed. Renaming Africa orients the people to trusting in their own conceptualizations of reality: their own inner-genius. It provides them with a sense of power which pushes them to draw on their own creativity and will to solve problems. It provides a framework that establishes purpose and direction. It reminds us of our dual citizenship: as children of the earth and children of the stars. Once that confidence is restored, the Bamalela will take the next step in creating the unifying culture which will solidify and maintain the Unified States of Africa. Dya Malela reaffirms the communitarian vision and values of Bamelela cultures and contributes to its restoration. I offer this suggestion in the spirit of love, friendship and fraternity for evaluation by the continental and the Diaspora community. May this name and your heart have a rich dialogue. Dya Malela, I send you. Go! Talk about yourself to others and be a spark in the bush [kele-keleku futa]

Ancestrally (your sun of the soil),

Asar Imhotep http://www.asarimhotep.com http://www.mochasuite.com

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Selected Bibliography Allyn, Legesse. (2009). Amarigna & Tigrigna Qal Hieroglyphs for Beginners. AncientGebts.org Press. Los Angeles, CA. Asante, Molefi. (1988). Afrocentricity. Africa World Press. Trenton, NJ. Bilolo, Mubabinge, and Kalamba, Nsapo. Eds (2009). Renaissance of the Negro-African Theology: Essays in Honor of Professor. Bimwenyi-Kweshi. Academy of African Thought. Munich, Freising, Kinshasa _______(2010). Invisibilité et Immanence du Créateur Imn (Amon-Amun-Amen-Iman-Zimin): Exemple de la Vitalité de l‟Ancien Égyptien ou CiKam dans le Cyena Ntu. Academy of African Thought. Munich, Freising, Kinshasa _______(date unknown). Théologie de la « Terre Très Sainte » Cikam ou BuKam. Conyers Jr., James L. ed. (2003). Afrocentricity and the Academy: Essays on Theory and Practice. McFarland Publishing. Jefferson, NC. Imhotep, Asar. (2008). Esodus: Internal Reflections and Conversations with the Sun. MOCHA-Versity Press. Houston, TX ______ (2009). The Bakala of North America: The Living Suns of Vitality. MOCHA-Versity Press. Houston, TX Karenga, Maulana. (2008). Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, & Culture. Sankore Press. Los Angeles, CA. Ngubane, Jordon. (1979). Conflict of Minds: Changing Power Dispositions in South Africa. Books in Focus, Inc. South Africa. Obenga, Theophile. (2004). African Philosophy: The Pharaonic Period 2780-330 BC. Per Ankh Publishing. Senegal. _______ (1992:122). Ancient Egypt & Black Africa: A Student’s Handbook for the Study of Ancient Egypt in Philosophy, Linguistics & Gender Relations. Karnak House. London Wilson, Amos. (1998). Blueprint for Black Power: A Moral, Political and Economic Imperative for the Twenty-First Century. African World Infosystems. New York, NY. Websites Ideas of Africa – Origin of the Name Africa. Retrieved June 1, 2010. http://science.jrank.org/pages/8198/Africa-Idea-Origins-Name-Africa.html Kiundu Waweru. (02/06/2010). How Kenya was given its name. Retrived June 1, 2010 http://standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000010726&cid=159&

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Sheng children from Kenya (kii nyaa): to remind us who this is all for ^^^.

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