Learning about peace from Afrocentric traditions

Thank you AfroHealer. I really enjoyed watching that.
It reminded me about the importance of narrative, story and words. Words create the world and not the other way around.
Interestingly enough it caused me to have a flashback. In highschool I was in a alternative english clash that spent a goodly amount of time reading literature from other culture and places Included was "Things Fall Apart" which he mentioned. I remember now my teacher at the time saying that to really gain a true understanding of people and culture that literature, narrative and things like poetry are vastly more important then just reading facts and figures. Story matters.
I think I only had a vague understanding back then as to what she was talking about. Get it now and its good for me to have a reminder.

As he continued on I couldn't help but think about here and now...and the 'stories' and 'narratives' that are mainstream and where they are transfered on a widespread basis. Of course that made me think of TV. Lots of stories there.

Then it made me think about what some of the most popular shows on TV are these days and I couldn't help but think of all of the crime shows that are so popular. Law and Order, CSI etc etc.
Then of course there is the news and the filter it puts on the stories of day to day life.

What do those narratives say in reference to the idea of peace? Law, order, justice...getting the bad guy. Good vs bad.

Not sure if this actually says anything about your question about where is the talk of peace? The love. It's just some thoughts.

Perhaps though it has something to do with the mainstream narrative that surrounds us daily is devoid of any real talk of what exactly peace means in real terms. It's been simplified to a place where its all about law and order.

Both of your videos brought me to think about the philosophy and narrative of the Haudensaunee Great Law of Peace...or Great Way of Peace. Something that I've recently developed some familiarity with.
It's not afrocentric so I hope you don't mind me posting this but I thinks it speaks to some of the things your're getting at around looking at peace and relations between people from a different viewpoint, not euro-centric. Would love to know what you think.

[url=http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1170]The Warriors the Turned to Peace[/url]

Oh and if you have any recommendations on literature that would be great.

Thanks! Oodles of things to peruse and read now. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]
Think I might reread Things Fall Apart as well. Something tells me I'll get way more out of it now.

I also wanted to comment about Abani's talk about learning about his own country and issue through the stories from 'outside.'
I actually learned this as a valuable teaching tool in a youth group I worked with for a while. In one case I brought in the film "Rabbit Proof Fence" a story about Australia's version of residential schools. The kids loved it a it really spoke to them and afterwards we had a serious but lively discussion based on talking about 'them and they'...the outside. Of course they were appalled and horrified, and it wasn't fair etc etc. It was actually quite emotional for some of them. There's a certain safety in that I think.
Then all I had to say was..."So...I think you all know that Canada has a history of Residential Schools as well..." Could actually hear the brains clicking as they made the connection.
Most of these kids, knew a bit about them, it happened, it was wrong, heard some of the stories but I'm not sure if they really had connected with it on a level more then just history.

So yeah I agree with him story can be a really powerful way to gain insight.

He's quite an excellent poet.

Too bad Nigeria has some of the harshest antigay laws in the world, but it's good to see that some folks like Abani are open minded.

Transforming anger into nonviolent power

Anger is reasonable and justified in the face of abuse and exploitation. What matters is what we do with it

Members of “Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace.” Credit: Clair MacDougall: http://crossingtheatlantic.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

As Leymah Gbowee stood in front of a crowd of women at her church in Monrovia, praying for an end to the civil war that was raging in Liberia, she had no idea of the consequences that were about to unfold.

A specialist in healing from trauma, Gbowee and her allies had spent months visiting mosques, markets and churches in order to mobilize a nascent peace movement. By the late summer of 2002, she had become recognized as the leader of Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, which held daily non-violent demonstrations and sit-ins in defiance of orders from Charles Taylor, the Liberian President at the time.

Eighteen months later, in August 2003, the war was brought to an end. Gbowee’s efforts, along with those of newly-elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, were recognized by the award of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. I heard Gbowee speak at an interfaith conference in North Carolina in 2012, where she emphasized that the main challenge she had faced was not apathy. Liberians were already angry.

The real issue was how to keep well-intentioned people from exacerbating an already-cruel situation with more violence. Why? Because the more violence there is, the more abuses there will be against women and other people.  Anger is reasonable and justified in the face of abuse and exploitation, but what really matters is what we do with it. According to Gbowee, anger is neutral. We can choose to use it as a fuel for violence or nonviolence. Liberian women chose the latter, and transformed a civil war into a lasting peace.....

http://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/stephanie-van-hook/transform...