It is
quite clear that African people in America continue to be miseducated.
This problem is discussed in a variety of ways in conversations
everyday in our communities throughout America. From time to time
we should consult the wisdom of those who have addressed this problem
whom we may have forgotten. One such person who addressed this problem
is the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
To address the problem
of miseducation among African people in America, Garvey presented
his formula for learning in his courses on African Philosophy in
the 1930s. I think it is only appropriate to review Mr. Garvey’s
formula for learning as we continue to build the Reparations Movement
and seek specific guideposts to our development as a people.
These lessons and guideposts
in learning can be found in Message
to the People: The Course of African Philosophy (The New Marcus
Garvey Library ; No. 7)
, edited by Dr. Tony Martin.
Lesson 1:
One must never stop reading. Read everything that you can read,
that is of standard knowledge. Don’t waste time reading trashy literature.
The idea is that personal experience is not enough for a human to
get all the useful knowledge of life, because the individual life
it too short, so we must feed on the experience of others.
Lesson 2:
Read history incessantly until you master it. This means your own
national history, the history of the world, social history, industrial
history, and the history of the different sciences; but primarily,
the history of man. If you do not know what went on before you came
here and what is happening at the time you live, but away from you,
you will not know the world and will be ignorant of the world and
mankind.
Lesson 3:
To be able to read intelligently, you must first be able to master
the language of your country. To do this, you must be well acquainted
with its grammar and the science of it. People judge you by your
writing and your speech. If you write badly and incorrectly they
become prejudiced towards your intelligence, and if you speak badly
and incorrectly, those who hear you become disgusted and will not
pay much attention to you, but in their hearts laugh after you.
Lesson 4:
A leader who is to teach men and present any fact of truth to man
must first be taught in his subject.
Lesson 5:
Never write or speak on a subject you know nothing about, for there
is always somebody who knows that particular subject to laugh at
you or to ask you embarrassing questions that may make others laugh
at you.
Lesson 6:
You should read four hours a day. The best time to read is in the
evening after you have retired from your work and after you have
rested and before sleeping hours, but do so before morning, so that
during your sleeping hours what you read may become subconscious,
that is to say, planted in your memory.
Lesson 7:
Never keep the constant company of anybody who doesn’t know as much
as you or (is) as educated as you, and from whom you cannot learn
something from or reciprocate your learning.
Lesson 8:
Continue always in the application of the things you desire educationally,
culturally, or otherwise, and never give up until you reach your
objective.
Lesson 9:
Try never to repeat yourself in any one discourse in saying the
same thing over and over again except when you are making new points,
because repetition is tiresome and it annoys those who hear the
repetition.
Lesson 10:
Knowledge is power. When you know a thing and can hold your ground
on that thing and win over your opponents on that thing, those who
hear you learn to have confidence in you and will trust your ability.
Lesson 11:
In reading books written by white authors, of whatever kind, be
aware of the fact that they are not written for your particular
benefit of your race. They always write from their own point of
view and only in the interest of their own race.
Garvey had many other
lessons of learning, in his formula that journalistic constraints
will not allow me to elaborate at this time. However, I encourage
you to read Marcus Garvey, Message to the People, The
Course of African Philosophy, and as we celebrate begin to internalize
and incorporate these “Lessons In Learning.”
BlackCommentator.com Columnist, Conrad W. Worrill, PhD, is the National
Chairman of the National Black United Front (NBUF). Click here
to contact Dr. Worrill. |