Welcome to Black History Month 2012:
AFRIKAN HISTORY SEMINARS IN JOHANNESBURG AND TSHWANE; “History of the Ba-Ntu”
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… Johannesburg: 11th February, 11am
Tshwane: 18th February , 11am
Speakers:
General Thembelani Xundu (ex-APLA)
Mkhulu ? Aunkh Khem S-Maã (Amen-Ra Institute)
Baba Buntu (Ebukhosini Solutions
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Ebukhosini Solutions and Amen Ra Institute in collaboration with other community organizations invite you to celebrate Black History Month 2011 with an Afrikan History Seminar: “History of the Ba-Ntu”.
Many South Afrikans are asking themselves; “who are we and where do we come from?”. As a country grappling with issues around Afrikan nationhood, concepts of democracy and a far from neutral historiography, the question of identity becomes both pressingly relevant and highly controversial. The history of Ba-Ntu speaking peoples have been told in many versions, but has it been fully examined from an Afrikan perspective?
This year’s Afrikan History Seminar will look at the origins, achievements and hidden facts of the Ba-Ntu. In a critical and bold inquiry, new and mind provoking aspects of this complex history will be looked at by practitioners of Pan-Afrikan knowledge.
The same seminar will be presented twice, in Johannesburg and Tshwane:
EGOLI/JOHANNESBURG SEMINAR
Date: Saturday 11th February
Time: 11am
Venue: Yeoville Recreation Centre (upstairs)
Address: Crnr Raleigh & Fortesque Streets, Yeoville
Speakers: General Thembelani Xundu (ex-APLA), Mkhulu ? Aunkh Khem S-Maã (Amen-Ra Institute), Baba Buntu (Ebukhosini Solutions
TSHWANE/PRETORIA SEMINAR
Date: Saturday 18th February
Time: 11am
Venue: Theosophical Society
Address: DTI, crnr Nelson Mandela Dr / Esselen
Speakers: General Thembelani Xundu (ex-APLA), Mkhulu ? Aunkh Khem S-Maã (Amen-Ra Institute), Baba Buntu (Ebukhosini Solutions
Program: In addition to presentation, the seminars will provide time for questions and discussion. Poetic/musical performances. Books and crafts stalls on display. Refreshments/food will be on sale.
Admission: Free
Information: For more information, call Pitsi Ragophala on 074 690 4012 or send an email to info@ebukhosinisolutions.co.za
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About the speakers:
GENERAL TEMBELANI TANDEKILE XUNDU works as Director of Planning at SANDF’s Defence Headquarters. Having worked as part of the High Command of Operations Directorate in Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA), he has later studied Management Development and Public Administration.
MKHULU ? AUNKH KHEM S-MAÃ is Director of the National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Office at the Department of Science and Technology. He is also a scientist, teacher, researcher and practitioner of Kemetic and Ba-Ntu cosmology, spirituality and healing practices. He is a Kemetic Neter Hennu (Spiritual Priest) of the Ausar Auset Society and is the Founder of Amen-Ra Institute in Tshwane.
BABA BUNTU is a community activist, writer, speaker and researcher in Afrikan-Centered Education. He has worked with Afrikan leadership, education and empowerment for more than 20 years. He is the Executive Director of Ebukhosini Solutions and Founder of SHABAKA – Men of Afrika.
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BACKGROUND OF AFRIKAN HISTORY MONTH
To illuminate our real Afrikan History, to clarify our Afrikan Present, to brilliantly project our Afrikan Future – Mama Kefa Nephthys
AFRIKAN HISTORY MONTH is largely celebrated by Pan-Afrikan organizations and entities around the world. Ebukhosini Solutions has – in partnership with many other stakeholders – hosted seminars, conferences, film screenings and events to highlight important aspects of Afrikan history over the last 10 years.
Afrikan History Month is inspired by Black History Month, founded by Afrikan American historian, Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950). This annual celebration of Black history was envisioned to both highlight greatness in Black history and to have an educational purpose. Initially launched as a week-long celebration in 1926, it gained widespread support and was established as a full month’s celebration in 1960.
Woodson, perhaps more than any other person, helped Afrikan American history develop into a widely recognized and respected academic discipline. One of the reasons Woodson chose the month of February was to signify the birth-month of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a highly respected leader of the anti-slavery movement.
In South Afrika, February is a month to remember the legacies of some of our own heroes who were taken away from us too soon. Two of them include Onkgopotse Abram Tiro (1947-1974), the founder of South African Students Organization and Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (1924-1978). We also evoke the memory of the distinguished Senegalese scholar Cheikh Anta Diop (1923-1986), without whom our knowledge of Afrika would have been substantially poorer. When we proclaim our pride in Blackness and Afrikan-ness today, we owe an immense debt to these sons of the soil. We also give immense gratitude to all Afrikan women who have advanced Afrikan struggles and victories. They have all left a legacy that we must continue towards the complete liberation of Afrikan people all over the world.
Afrikan History Month is an opportunity to share, study and learn about aspects of an incredibly rich history which, sadly, has being ignored, devalued and washed away. A saying tells us “Before there was history, there was Black history”. It is up to the custodians of the Afrikan continent and nations to remember, celebrate and preserve the history of Afrika’s great civilizations, heroes and achievements. Our goal must indeed be, in the words of Mama Kefa Nephthys “…to illuminate our real African History, to clarify our African Present, to brilliantly project our African Future.”
With time, every single month must be an Afrikan History Month. Until Azania….
Afrikan History Seminar 2012,
