ASCAC's Next Study Group Meeting Will Be On The Streets late July

Newark, NJ – In response to a high demand from Black people to get involved in an intense study of African history and culture, ASCAC (the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations) is working to establish a study group chapter in Newark, NJ. The two community leaders directing ASCAC's efforts re-establish its presence in the city of Newark are veteran history teacher Bashir Muhammad Akinyele and journalist Doshon Farad. ASCAC will be hosting a public study group meeting on Saturday, July 31, 2021, at 2:00 pm at the corner of Broad Street and Branford Place in Newark, NJ.

But when the winter is over, the organizers will move the ASCAC's study group meeting inside a building. However, the coordinators of the organization will continue to provide Zoom meetings for all of their online members and followers.

ASCAC started on Thursday, August 27, 2020, with a preliminary study group meeting that took place on Avon Avenue and 12th Street in Newark, NJ. That study group meeting was extremely successful. From that initial meeting, the ASCAC organizers drew the interests of people joining ASCAC's Newark study group chapter in the city.

The organization’s study group will be focused on the scientific and scholarly research documents that argue Afrika is the mother of civilizations and religions (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, and Al-Islam). Our first lesson unit will focus on the Importance of developing an African centered worldview for Black liberation. We will be discussing and analyzing Dr. Molefe Kete Asante's Afrocentricity, Dr. Maulana Karenga's Kawaida: And Questions of Life and Struggle, Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop's African Origins of Civilization: Myth or Reality, Dr. Rkhty Amen's A Life Centered Life Living Maat, and Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad's speech called the Meeting of the Masters (Khalid's Last Speech) to help Black people establish an Afrikan centered consciousness. The methodology of presenting scholarly material and arguments on history will be centered on epistemology. In the 1980s, and early 1990s, there was an ASCAC study group chapter in the city. In time, ASCAC ceased to exist in Newark. Now in the millennium, the call for ASCAC's resurgence is again echoing in the streets.

The Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC) is an independent study group organization founded in 1984 by Drs. John Henrik Clark, Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Maulana Karenga, and Rhkty Amen (https://ascac.org/). ASCAC's national President is Dr. Mario Beatty. He is an Associate Professor of Afro-American Studies at Howard University in Washington D. C. ASCAC is devoted to the rescue, reconstruction, and restoration of African history and culture. But most importantly, ASCAC helps Black people develop an African centered worldview to make Black Lives Matter. But ASCAC is not just seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake. ASCAC wants to help Afrikan people connect knowledge to Black liberation.

Dr. John Henrick Clarke, the late and great Africana studies historian, Pan-African nationalist, community activist, and co-founder of ASCAC committed his adult life and scholarship to working to rebuild the Black mind. An African mind that was almost destroyed by White supremacy and the systematic racism. In his book, Notes for An African World Revolution: Africans At the Crossroads, he said, "we need an internal cultural revolution, and it's going to have to start inside of our minds." Akinyele and Farad says, "we will use the wisdom and resources of ASCAC as a vehicle to help liberate our minds from the grips of European and Arab domination in Black America and in the Afrikan world community.

Bashir Muhammad Akinyele, a history and Africana Studies teacher, and the coordinator for ASCAC's study group chapter in the city, says, "our study group is a great opportunity for all people to learn about Afrika being the birthplace of humanity, the progenitor of civilization, and the root of the world's major religions (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, and Al-Islam). On the world stage of human progress, civilizations began in the Nile Valley, and there were many major civilizations in that area of Afrika. However, ancient Egypt reflected humanity's march toward creating the world's first highly advanced civilization in times of antiquity. It played a central role in the development of mathematics, philosophy, medicine, science, government, architecture, a written language, art, monotheism, education, ethics, morals, and religion. Many cultures and nations borrowed from the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient Egyptians, who called their nation Kemet, to push their civilization forward towards the foundations of modern society. The word Kemet means the land of the Blacks. Akinyele added, "unfortunately, white supremacy has made ancient Egypt a European or Arab civilization. When in fact, Egypt began as a Black civilization. This is because racists cannot accept the genius of Egypt coming from Black people. They had to put a non-Afrikan face on Egypt to justify its greatness being white or Arab. Some white supremacist scholars even went further to deny Egypt's role in the foundation of western and modern civilization. Therefore, we as anti-racist educators and activists must work to create curriculums and history departments that include Egypt as the cornerstone of ancient and modern-day history. And must also tell the truth about the original Egyptian being Black." Akinyele teaches at Weequahic High School.

The murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Blackman killed by the Minneapolis, Minnesota police department on May 25, 2020, has angered but inspired masses of Black people in America to fight for social justice. Mass rallies have taken place under the banner of Black Lives Matter to demand America and the world to respect and value Black humanity. The struggle to make the world recognize Black people as human beings has been in existence for centuries. That fight has not ended. Unfortunately, the struggle against White supremacy and systematic racism continues for Black people.

But the killing of George Floyd has also sparked something else in African people. Akinyele and Farad, says, "it has opened the door for some of our people seeking to develop an Afrikan centered consciousness, particularly Black youth."

Therefore, according to Akinyele and Farad, "we decided to step up to accommodate our people's interests in blackness. Although we started working on ASCAC over a year ago, the continued struggle for racial justice in America has forced us to quickly establish an ASCAC study group chapter now to help give our people an African centered historical, political and cultural education in the Newark area for Black liberation."

They also added, "since the co-operation and repression of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement by the power structure in America, and in the world, the Black Freedom Struggle has been left in chaos. We have witnessed the ongoing disunity and disorientation of the African / African American community.
We have lost our way with learning the lessons in history from our African ancestors to help us have a clear analysis on Black Freedom Struggles. And because of this situation, many of us lost our commitment to the struggle for Black liberation.

But the murder of George Floyd is forcing us to learn from our African ancestors the many lessons on the necessity for social justice, Black empowerment, and human rights. And apply these lessons to Black political power."

For more information about the ASCAC Study Group Chapter in Newark, NJ, contact (908) 956-3523 or (347) 898-5556.

https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/necessity-ascac-newark-nj-area