poetry &
Proverbs

African Proverbs & Quotes
Source: Heru Djet – Abibitumi.com
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“A computer without a memory is dysfunctional, even though it has available a sophisticated program. The program simply would have nothing to process. A people without a memory or with a false memory is a disabled people. They have nothing to process or more likely they have “garbage” to process. For too long African Americans have been deprived of a true history. This means functioning without a vital asset that any people requires. The rescue and reconstruction of Kemetic history is but one small part of what should be a grand design for the rescue and reconstruction of the full picture. The culturally disarmed cannot stand as peers in a culturally armed world!”
-Asa G. Hilliard III, The Meaning Of KMT (Ancient Egyptian) History for Contemporary African American Experience“Wode nnabraba tu kwan a wudu; na mmom wonsan w’akyi bio.
“If you travel with fraud, you may reach your destination, but (you) will be unable to retrace your steps.”
-Akan proverbExplanation: One may profit from unrighteousness, but such success may prove fleeting.Ọgbọ́n ní ńpẹ́ kó tó ran ẹni; wèrè kì í gbèé ran èèyàn; wèrè Ìbàdàn ló ran ará Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́.“Only wisdom takes a long time to rub off on others; imbecility does not take long to affect others; it is the imbecility plaguing Ibadan people that rubbed off on the people of Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́.”
-Yorùbá proverbExplanation: As we associate with others, over time, their bad habits can affect us.“Mfomso kyerÉ› nnipa nyansa, É›no nti nea ose É”nyɛɛ mfomso da no, ahwere ade.“Mistakes teach us wisdom, and the person who has not made mistakes has indeed lost something (an opportunity to learn).
-Akan proverb”

Afrikan Proverbs:

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‍For those who will appreciate this:

“Whoever does not inform his children of his
grandparents has destroyed his child, marred his
descendants, and injured his offspring the day he dies.
Whoever does not make use of his ancestry has
muddled his reason. Whoever is unconcerned with his
lineage has lost his mind. Whoever neglects his
origins, his stupidity has become critical. Whoever is
unaware of his ancestry his incompetence has become
immense. Whoever is ignorant of his roots his
intellect has vanished. Whoever does not know his place of origin
his honor has collapsed.”15th Century Timbuktu PoemSome of our ancestors were quite capable of seeing 500 years into the future
Caribbean Proverbs:

“Don’t tek ah six for ah nine”Don’t mistake a six that is actually a nine //Try not to misjudge the true intentions of a person.~Bajan (Barbados) Proverb~


“Fiyah deh ah muss tail ‘im tink ah cool breeze”A fire is at the mouse’s tail but he thinks it is a cool breeze //Danger lurks but we unsuspectingly miss the signs until it is right upon us.~Proverb from Jamaica!”

Source: Makiya Shani Tamiya – Abibitumi.com“

‍To enslave men, successfully and safely, it is necessary to have their minds occupied with thoughts an aspirations short of the liberty of which they are deprived. A certain degree of attainable good must be kept before them. These holidays serve the purpose of keeping the minds of the slaves occupied with prospective pleasure, within the limits of slavery.
The young man can go wooing; the married man can visit his wife; the father and mother can see their children…..the young people can meet, and enjoy each other’s society…Before the holidays, these are the pleasures in prospect; after the holidays, they become pleasures of memory, and they serve to keep out thoughts and wishes of a more dangerous character.”
-Frederick Douglass in his autobiography “My Bondage and My freedom”.It is from this book that I saw how the plantation was the blueprint for the modern corporate/general work environment.”““Yuh kyah plant corn an’ reap bananaâ€
You cannot plant corn and reap banana //
What you put out in the universe is what you will get in return.
~Jamaican proverb~This is similar to what goes around comes around. So, if you always treat people badly, do not expect good fortune or kindness in return.“Figa moja, haliinjiki chungu”
One stone will not support a cooking-pot //
You need to cooperate with others to survive and also to contribute to social development. ““”When trouble tek yu pickney shut fit yu”
When you are in trouble, a child’s shirt will fit you
When one is in trouble, any help offered is appreciated regardless of how small or embarrassing it may be.
~Proverb from St. Vincent & the Grenadines~”Proverb as a Guide to life: Kiswahili Edition
“Fadhili ya nyuki ni moto”
The gratitude which bees receive for their diligent work of collecting nectar is the smoke that men use to expel them and get at their honey
You must reckon with ingratitude from those whom you once helped.“

Source: Heru Djet – Abibitumi.com

“One’s history and culture is “5. A basis for creativity. Many African Americans are rightfully suspicious of romantic calls for a return to the past. Clearly, what is needed is reality and not romanticism in the contemporary world. Moreover, no return to the past is even possible for anyone. Yet one’s own past can and must be used in the present as building material for the future. Real romanticism appears when misguided African American people try to build their futures out of the alien heritage of others, as if it were their own. The use of one’s past is not a rejection of technological creativities. It may help to put technology into perspective and to shape it. To know one’s past is not to live in the past or to be stymied in the present. The past contains the seeds for the future.”“”3. A source of resistance to alien domination. Cabral was astute in his recognition of the role of indigenous culture in the practice of freedom. He saw that only by the organized, systematic, and effective repression of a people’s culture could a foreign or alien power dominate a native or culturally distinct population. It is for this reason that colonizers and oppressors all over the world have always declared war on ethnic culture. Conquerors are fully aware of the power of history and culture.
‘History teaches us that in certain circumstances, it is very easy for the foreigner to impose his domination on a people, but it also teaches us that, whatever may be the material aspects of this domination, it can be maintained only by the permanent organized repression of the cultural life of the people concerned. Implantation of foreign domination can be assured definitively only by physical liquidation of a significant part of the dominated population … In fact, to take up arms to dominate a people is above all, to take up arms to destroy, or at least neutralize, to paralyze, its cultural life. For with a strong and indigenous cultural life, foreign domination cannot be sure of it[s] perpetuation.’
-Asa G. Hilliard III, The Meaning Of KMT (Ancient Egyptian) History for Contemporary African American Experience“”2. A foundation for group unity and identity. The destruction of group unity and identity is a precondition for the enslavement of a people. The absence of group unity and identity reduces the power of the group and individuals within it. Group cohesion is a prerequisite to effective action. Group cohesion is rooted in shared culture.”
-Asa G. Hilliard III, The Meaning Of KMT (Ancient Egyptian) History for Contemporary African American Experience”

“The bag was full of nothing but hot air
Open the bag and evidence just disappear
Every party willing to fight corruption
But only when they are in opposition
Voters please ignore the “manifesta”
Just a list of the lies that they telling yaForget about Ali Baba and his forty thieves
Focus on Mia and her dozens of MPs
Outstretch hands waiting on the IMF
Whilst they spend the “four seasons” planning theft
Out comes the scholars with nice sounding descriptions
But to the unlettered it smells of sheer corruptionYear after year they play the same game
And we still here deciding who is to blame
Some getting excited about a picture of a banana
Saying all Mia lacking is a pirate’s bandana
Some talking of a lost decade
And complaining about some throwing shade
Two sides conspiring in hypocrisy
And the contents of the red bag still a mystery”
Theo – Barbados Underground. August 20, 2021

"The weaker peoples must die. At present the Negroes are the weakest people and if we do not get power and strength now we shall be doomed to extermination."

-Marcus Garvey