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JAB"S Cal. State Fullerton Black History Lecture |
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"The Tree Concept for Assessing Black History" was my topic for the African American History Month lecture given on 2/9/06 at California State University, Fullerton. The objective was to show that an apple tree image is useful in systematically evaluating Black history. To understand and properly apply this concept will make you permanently a bit more intelligent as it evolves in your mind.
The process involves prioritizing â€" i.e. putting pertinent information on various levels of the tree in order of importance. Then you can extract practical principles off each level. Since the tree, prioritization, and principles will be discussed separately, only brief comments will be made here. An apple tree's components include its parts (seed, roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and apples); its matrix (i.e. soil); and its sap (Substance containing the spirit of God and other nutrition for health).
Afrocentric principles are a piece of natural law and therefore about truth and reality. What one looks for in assessing Black history is: (1) the nature of the contribution; (2) what is most important (e.g. who has the best fruit--that supplies the greatest number of people--and over the longest period of time); (3) its cause and effects; and (4) the principle (e.g. always focus on the seed or the roots). The "nature" is either about worth (i.e. spiritual things like love) and/or about value (e.g. money and property). The "cause" may be a "big bang" (e.g. by Dr. King, Jr.) or cumulative smaller contributions (e.g. those by Harriet Tubman). The "effects" may be constructive and/or destructive.
Quiz: How would you prioritize the parts of the tree? Is the seed, the apple, or some other part the most important? The answer depends upon your purpose. In prioritizing your philosophy of life, the "evolving" seed is the most important. Really, really knowing the seed gives you a good idea of what is in every other part of the tree and without having to study those parts. However, if you are starving, the apple is more important because it has immediate nutritional value. If you have other purposes or needs, some other part of the tree may be most important. Based on the "evolving" seed model for assessing Black history, here are more questions (see answers below). The point is to decide where you would place the following examples on the tree.
First, because everyone else flunked out, my Dad-- Joseph A. Bailey Sr.-- was the only graduate of Atlanta University (Georgia) when it opened in 1931. What part of the tree does this represent?
Second, my Dad wrote an unpublished manuscript â€""From Africa to Black Power"â€"which stimulated me to start writing Black history. In other words, he passed the baton to me so I could continue running his race. Properly place this on the tree.
Third, Mother Angeline and my step-dad Samuel Smithâ€"were known throughout the east coast for helping struggling Black people (e.g. orchestrating shelters to families, for which the main center was named after them; being the power behind erecting a Black YMCA; giving scholarships, etc.). Hence, A & T University (Greensboro, N. C.) named a building after them. What is their tree position?
Fourth, the most brilliant Harriet Tubman led 300 slaves to freedom on 19 trips and threatened to kill any slave who insisted on stopping to rest while escaping. The principle you can apply to your life is that if you are trying to escape from where you are, then there is no time to stop and rest. Where does this principle fit on the tree?
Fifth, the Black Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus (?5500 BC) laid the foundation for all of today's major philosophies and religions around the worldâ€"and much of the foundation of science. Where would you put this on the tree?
Sixth, my writings on Black history are designed to help increase Black pride by giving Black people back their history as well as to provide information to help free enslaved Black minds, and to help change struggling Blacks' self-defeating belief systems. Rank this. ANSWERS: (1) leaf; (2) matrix; (3)branch; (4) branch/matrix; (5)seed/matrix; and (6) seed/root/trunk.
website: jablifeskills.com
Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
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