Hi Everyone, I am delighted to have read the article below. Wouldn't you agree that the comments below seem to be similar to what I have been advocating? I am humbled that someone much more educated than I am is saying what I have been saying along Please read on... Regards Foday
"BlackNews.com" <pr@blacknews.com> wrote: Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 16:19:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: "BlackNews.com" <pr@blacknews.com>
To: abcee101@sbcglobal.net
Subject: PR: Oprah Seduced By Myth of DNA Testing?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2007 CONTACT:Orchester (Hip-hop Grandpa) Benjamin 303-343-8210 hiphopgrandpa@ afrosacredstar.com OPRAH WINFREY SEDUCED BY THE MYTH OF DNA TESTING FOR HISTORICAL IDENTITY? -- Because of Black's
tremendous soul-felt hunger for answers to questions about Black history, Oprah, along with thousands of Blacks are seduced by the myth that all African Americans can learn more about themselves, their family history, and origins through DNA testing. The myth is that DNA testing can satisfy this soul-felt hunger. So says historian Orchester (Hip-hop Grandpa) Benjamin. -- By Orchester Benjamin, "Hip Hop Grandpa" 
Bookcover | 
Author - Orchester (Hip-hop Grandpa) Benjamin | Denver, CO - "DNA is
not satisfying Black people's hunger for knowledge of Black history for the same reasons Alex Haley's "Roots" and John Hope Franklin's "From slavery to freedom" did not satisfy our hunger. People consist of a body and a soul, Black History has to do with the soul of a people, and Souls do not have a DNA foot print; souls are spiritual by nature, and DNA's nature rests in the realm of the physical body. For example, if a person says he has a Christian soul, what is Christianity but a collection of beliefs he lives by; so we have to define soul as a belief system passed down through families and communities. And the history of that soul is the history of the people that have that body of beliefs; do belief systems have DNA? No! But do belief systems make you who you are, an African American? Yes! Blacks need a history of our soul to teach us our historical identity, which means the question becomes, what is the soul of African Americans? For this reason, even
though they teach Black people different valuable elements of history, I have problems with academic historians, Black studies teachers, and especially Black preachers, because they don't realize that it is time to take Black history to another level. For instance, not one of them gives West African traditional beliefs any role in the foundation of their ideas of Black's soul or history. Yet, we are the West African people that they are talking about in our history; what's up with that? "Black people in general, and Black teachers in particular, are blind to the value of the soul of our true Ancient Ancestors. Not only were our Ancient African Ancestors beliefs our savior in slavery times, but also is a force impacting our lives everyday; why not, do they see shame in our game. For example, it was ancient West African ideas about religion that our Ancestors used to see the value in, and make the decision to become converted to Christianity; think about that for a
minute. And here is something else to think about. As it is conceived at home and in schools, our Black youth are not being taught a historical perspective in which to see what they are made of and what they are capable of; DNA testing can not teach them that. Those kinds of questions can only be answered by a comprehensive Black historical perspective that defines Black history and gives it a purpose; with the possibility of connecting the thousands of years of experiences our history covers, this is where our historians fall short. But I don't think that one Historian should criticize other Historians, Black studies teachers, or Preachers, without offering an alternative point of view to their approach to Black history and our origin, especially the DNA type thinking mentioned above. In looking for that alternative, I found that without knowing the soul-stream created by the belief systems that were guiding us in historical times, I could not
conceptualize a foundation for Black history; it is the soul-stream that tells our story. In the course of researching those belief systems, I found that Black history has a physical and spiritual logical time-line that goes directly to our origins. So when I became a writer/historian, I used those time lines to create our much needed comprehensive Black historical perspective platform. And on that platform, I created a historical model based on the idea that history is really spiritual experiences; my experiences and my Ancestor's experiences, and that our beliefs define those experiences. My idea of a revolutionary definition of history came from an in-depth study of these two forms of spiritual experiences. In this way, the platform becomes a stage on which all of these experiences of our history can perform. On one side of the stage, is the drama of my autobiography taking place in street life, and on the other side, Black history is unfolding to the beat
of historical times in Africa and America. And the story line is about the relationship between the two performances, which produces soul food to satisfy the hunger for knowledge of our history; therefore relieving us of that burden, and freeing up that energy. And watching the performances of our experiences on stage, I could see that not only did Black history's personality (our historical self) begin to reveal itself, but also, I could see us in the soul stream of our history as it flows through time, including slavery, as a creative experience of creating ourselves. Which means, defining African Americans as a spiritually creative people: I call this approach a true African centered worldview of African American history/Hip- hop History. Using this approach, I understood that I could not get an idea of what our people were thinking and doing in our history, unless I knew their true roots and the stream our souls created, which led us to where we are today.
This produces a story that tells us who we are, where we came from, and where we are going; which is the only thing that will satisfy our soul-felt hunger for Black history. Not only did a comprehensive Black historical perspective foundation produce a history that is useful, but also made it a beautiful work of art. Using this as a foundation, I wrote a book that makes DNA unnecessary for historical identity. To read an example of what a comprehensive Black historical perspective looks like and how it is put together, read two excerpts from my book that addresses the alternative to the DNA myth, by visiting www.SoulViewWorld.com. Which I think will ask and answer the questions of our origin that Historians haven't asked yet, and DNA will not be able to answer when they do. Orchester (Hip-hop Grandpa)
Benjamin Author of Grandpa! Tell Us a Story: Drinking From Ancient WellsISBN: 0-9773421-0- 7
Format: Soft cover 5.5+8.5/two volume set totaling over 1000 pages
Retail price: $49.95 per set
Publisher: SoulViewWorld LLC/Publishing
PO Box 110685
Aurora, CO 80042 -END- This information has been distributed through BlackPR.com - an extensive press
release distribution service to all the African-American newspapers, magazines, radio and
TV stations; and BlackNews.com - an online portal for African-American news & issues. |
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