Instructor: Mba Mbulu
Class #1
Read pages iii and Lesson #1. The Outline to Lesson #1 appears below. Be able to expound on the following issues:
(1) Scholarship
(2) Capitalization of the terms Black People
(3) Central Motivating Forces of people
(4) Development of different groups of People
(5) The following paragraphs appear on page 4 of Lesson #1.
"History is also knowledge of self; knowledge of yourself and the people you are part of (racially, ethnically and nationally speaking). This type of knowledge is important because people in different parts of the world develop different morals and values (concepts of right and wrong) because they are challenged by different threats or obstacles to their survival. You have to understand what forces were operating that prompted your ancestors' actions and development because that is important to helping you understand yourself and what you should be about.
"Understanding the different groups you come into contact with is a key to being able to act intelligently. You have to know what forces shaped other people in order to determine their capacity for acting in a certain way (humanely or inhumanely, for example). Because people/groups develop differently, their values are likely to be different and their assessment of what actions are appropriate for a particular situation is likely to be different. In order to properly prepare yourself to deal with other people and defend yourself against other people, you must know what to expect from them. Understanding their development is a key that will enable you to anticipate their actions and reactions and enable you to keep their effect on you to a minimum."
Is this paragraph of particular importance to Black People in the United States?
Questions? Email aset@asetbooks.com and list your course title as the subject.
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LESSON 1 OUTLINE (From Ten Lessons: An Introduction to Black History)
Copyright 1980, 1996,1998, 1999, 2020 ASET, M. Mbulu All rights to everything on this web site are reserved.
I. History Defined.
A. The Story of the Past.
B. Man (People) in Motion.
C. Knowledge of Self (Yourself; The People You are Part of or Belong to).
1. Knowledge of self involves knowing your enemies also.
D. Proof of What Man (People) Will Do Under Certain Circumstances or in a Given Situation.
II. Purpose of History.
A. To Provide Proof of a Person's Worth or a Race's Worth; therefore, To Instill Pride.
B. To Discover What A People's Strengths Were in the Past, What Their Weaknesses were; How Each Aided and Hindered Their Development. This Enables People to Understand What Areas They Must Concentrate on NOW in Order to Progress or Succeed in an Endeavor/Aim/Goal.
C. To Provide People With Alternative Approaches (Choices) to Solving or Eliminating Problems (So They Can Progress/Move Forward).
D. To Psychologically and Socially Prepare People for Acceptance of an Alternative/Different Set of Values by which They can Conduct Their Lives; and to Prepare People to Defend Those Values.
III. Approaches To History.
A. Event or Personality-Oriented Approach.
1. Individuals and Specific Events are Viewed as Keys to Human Experiences and/or Development
a. does not encompass the whole people-wise
b. does not encompass the whole time-wise.
B. Concept-Oriented Approach.
1. Forces and Processes are Viewed as Keys to Human Experiences and/or Developments.
a. encompasses the whole people-wise.
b. encompasses the whole time-wise.
c. concentrates on and makes people aware of the importance of processes and trends.
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IV. Understanding History.
(People Do Things Because They Are Motivated By Something.)
A. Human Nature Must be Understood (Human Nature will be defined as the conditioning that becomes part of a person and causes him or her to act in a certain way.).
1. As Influenced by a People's Environment and Material Needs.
(This section can be used to describe why different groups of people develop dissimilar modes of practicing or expressing the same basic institution; e.g., marriage, lineage, burials, etc.).
- how people are affected by climatic conditions (as related to social development)
- how people satisfy their drive to survive (as related to economic development)
- how people satisfy their drive to be recognized by others (as related to their psychological development. Recognition is Affirmation or Confirmation of one's assumptions of value by others.)
2. As Projected in the Form of:
- Prejudice(s) (a preference or a dislike)
- Ethnocentrism (considering your group's prejudices to be inherently or naturally superior to other groups' prejudices)
- Racial Centrism (considering your race's prejudices to be inherently or naturally more valid than other races' prejudices)
-Racism (using your institutions to satisfy and validate your group's prejudices and stifle other races and their attempts to validate their prejudices)
- Their Interplay.
B. The Nature of Social Relationships (Definitely Valid Within the Realms of Private Property and Politics).
1. The Small Group
- organizes around a stated objective (and is therefore politically inclined)
- has a well-informed (knowledgeable) membership or constituency
- has a relatively quick adjustment rate or capacity
2. The Large Group (the Masses)
- reacts to plots of small group (therefore, the masses are not politically inclined)
- doesn't really understand (the intricacies or details and implications of) what is happening
- has a slow adjustment rate or capacity
- individuals in this group are not sure of the motives or intentions of others in their lot.
V. Central Motivating Force of a People (What People Base Their Social Make-up On; What Everything Else Revolves Around)
A. Religion/Ethics
(Concern for humanity the central factor)
B. Economics
(Survival/ security the central factor)
a. Individually
- what a person does in order to get what is needed to survive
- what a person does in order to get what is needed to live comfortably and securely
b. Socially
- what a group does (or a People do) in order to obtain or produce wealth (Wealth is the resources people need in order to build and maintain a Community or Nation, resources like Land, Materials, Ores, Food, etc.)
- how that group (or people) decides to divide that wealth among its members.
C. Power
(Dominating and controlling others is the central factor)
-Power is the ability to control others.
These factors are important to understanding History because they cause an individual and group psyche to develop. In effect, a man-made tendency or force is injected into each person in a given group that dictates how that person is likely to act/react in a given situation (and how that group is likely to act/react as well). And, acting, or doing (being in motion), is what History is all about.
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Addendum:
I. European/White Economics and Development (European/White Economics is characterized by a conspiracy of the small group against the large group).
A. Climatic Conditions
1. Made whites anti-social and anti-human.
2. Imbedded an unusual recognition drive in them (white people).
B. Search For Material Needs (Living Necessities)
1. At Home
a. made them hoard/stockpile necessities
-affected them psychologically
b. largely determined the nature of their social structure and their social relationships.
2. Away From Home
a. caused them to search for land, resources and riches
- route to Asia/India (stumbled across America)
- exploration into Africa
- exploration into and settlement of America
C. Search For Cheap Labor (Small Group versus Large Group)
1. below subsistence (bare minimum) wages
2. indentured servants
3. slaves
- whites
- Indians
- Africans/Black People
D. Drive for Riches/Profits/Luxuries
1. An Outgrowth of Hoarding
- feeling of insecurity a motivating factor
2. Desire for Recognition
E. Economic Concentration as a Tool for Control (Small Group versus Large Group).
1. Power (the ability to control others) and complete domination the driving forces.
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