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Kilombo Reconstruction: Building Sovereign African Villages in 21st Century America
w/
Uhuru Hotep
Kilomobo is an Ovimbundu word meaning an "encampment of warriors"
brought to Brazil from Angola in the 1600s by enslaved Africans. In
colonial Brazil, "kilombo" was the term used to identify a community
of well-armed, self-emancipated Africans, commonly called Maroons, who
would fight until death to retain their sovereignty. According to historian
Peter Bergman (1969), between 1660 and 1864 U.S. based Maroons established
50 kilombos all located in the Southern colonies and states.
Using information gleaned from print and electronic sources as well
as special guest consultants, Kilombo Reconstruction hopes
to spark a national discussion of sovereignty and its restoration among
people of African ascent. In its fullest expression, sovereignty is
characterized by absolute control of a specified land area and absolute
control of the political, economic and cultural institutions operating
in that land area. Sovereignty for 21st century U.S. based Africans,
however, begins with developing the will and the skill to break out
of "conceptual incarceration" and "comfortable captivity" to become
what political scientist Jacob Carruthers (1999) calls an "intellectual
maroon."
Like their Maroon predecessors, intellectual maroons strive to exercise
sovereignty over their lives by first moving to control the six areas
essential for human survival: food, clothing, shelter, education, medication
and self-defense. Once we take control of our basic survival needs,
only then will we have a measure of independence from the larger American
society. But first, we must initiate a carefully focused, nation-wide,
African centered, interactive discussion of sovereignty and its potential
for restoration in Black communities. Kilombo Reconstruction
is a catalyst for this discussion.
Kilombo's host, Dr. Uhuru Hotep, is an authority on Black leadership
development and Black student achievement. As a consultant to the Kwame
Ture Leadership Institute, and with the aid of grants from the Alkebulan
Foundation, Dr. Hotep developed the Johari Sita: The Six Jewels
of African Centered Leadership, which is the nation's first and
only African centered leadership-followership training program.
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Hotep, who serves on the editorial board
of the Journal of Pan African Studies, has lectured on African
American affairs on college campuses in Japan, Jamaica, Haiti, Canada,
Virgin Islands, and the United Kingdom. His publish works, which include
poetry, plays, essays and scholarly research, have appeared in numerous
publications both print and electronic. Most recently, the Harvard
Journal of African American Public Policy, the Journal of Pan
African Studies and Thug Life Army have featured his work.
He's also the co-editor of the best-selling book 72 Concepts to
Liberate the African Mind. Dr. Hotep can be reached at hotep@duq.edu
or 412.396.5171.
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