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,
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 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 Emeritus of the National Black United
Front (NBUF).
Click here
to contact Dr. Worrill.
