On October 18, 2013 the Central Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections upheld the censorship of the book “10 Lessons: An Introduction to Black History” by Mba Mbulu and refused to give me the book because they alleged it contained “racially inflammatory material and/or writings that advocate violence against the government or any of its facilities.”
Ironically, the main pages and chapter identified in the book that contained the prohibited material outlined Cheikh Anta Diop’s “Two Cradle Theory” that Chairman Omali Yeshitela elaborated on as the historical basis of the African nation state in his Political Report to the Sixth Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party.
The “Two Cradle Theory” discusses how the different environmental factors in Europe and African contributed to an aggressive culture in Europe and a communal and tranquil (though not passive) culture in Africa and how these cultures shaped each continent’s institutions and society.
I can understand that it must be disturbing to the Department of Correction’s Central Office to learn how institutions in Europe—and by extension, the United States—function on an ideological posture rooted in white supremacy, for in the United States the philosophical foundation of the modern prison system owes its origins to the philosophical foundation of plantation slavery.
The much-celebrated 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution merely eliminated one class of slavery (chattel) while legitimizing another class of slavery (penal):
“Section 1: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
It is for this very reason that a book about real black history would be censored by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and as reported in a recent issue of The Burning Spear, the Alabama Department of Corrections would eliminate a black history class that Brother Richard Mafundi Lake taught to fellow prisoners at the Donaldson Honor Unit.
Information or programs that teach African empowerment are a direct threat to institutions that function from a white supremacist posture.
What is insulting to me and which should be insulting to all Africans is that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections would dare call a historical analysis of our history, based on the “Two Cradle Theory,” racially inflammatory.
There is nothing racially inflammatory about African history, and rather than censoring books about black history, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections should censor every book about American history. If anything, it is American history that is racially inflammatory with its historical treatment of Africans, Native Americans and all people of color who entered this country/empire.
The very process of assimilation or the American ‘Melting Pot’ theory that is discussed and celebrated in American History books cannot be considered anything other than inflammatory to Africans and all people of color.
The process of American assimilation of racial and ethic minorities into the dominant white culture society was nothing less than a racial massacre, and the great ‘Melting Pot’ was a cultural genocide!
All one has to do is ask themselves the following question, have Africans ever used an ideology to dehumanize white people, enslave them, strip them of their culture, murder them in the most barbarous fashion and then refuse to offer any substantive compensation for the atrocities committed on them?
Has the “Two Cradle Theory” been responsible for any of these crimes? Absolutely not. On the other hand, all of these crimes and atrocities and more have been committed and advocated under good old-fashioned “Americanism.”
We need to start uprooting these predatory American institutions that have a grip on our minds and communities, starting first by censoring “American” values from our minds and institutions.
The more our communities started thinking and behaving as Americans, the worse they became and the more distant we’ve grown from one another.
Our African ancestors survived and endured centuries of slavery, not by acting and thinking like Americans, but by retaining the vestiges of African communalism and familial values while fashioning our own culture of resistance and innovation in the Americas.
We must return to this formula.
We will then cease being just communities and instead become “African communities.” Then we can start uprooting the institutions and mentality that make it possible for a book about black history to be censored on the grounds it contains racially inflammatory material.
Let us heed the word of Marcus Garvey: To see your enemy and know him is part of the complete education of a man/ woman.”
Write to Comrade Robert Saleem Holbrook at Robert Saleem Holbrook #BL-5140, SCI-Coal Township, 1 Kelley Drive,. Coal Township, PA 17866
