The Falsification of African Consciousness€¦ · IMO, Dr. Amos Wilson was the greatest...
Transcript of The Falsification of African Consciousness€¦ · IMO, Dr. Amos Wilson was the greatest...
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The Falsification of African Consciousness Dr. Amos Wilson
Know Thyself Study Group www.kemetrise.org
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Who Was This Man?
IMO, Dr. Amos Wilson was the greatest psychologist of all time
Born in 1941, Hattiesburg, Mississippi Died in 1995, New York City
Educated at Morehouse College and Fordham University (Ph.D. in Psychology)
Social Worker, Probation Officer, Trainer, Counselor, and Professor at CUNY
Applied Fields: Developmental Psychology, Child Psychology
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What Were His Goals?
To contribute to our knowledge of self by studying two aspects of our psychology: (1) our levels of consciousness and (2) the connection between our psychological development and our progress as a people
To provide information on our psychological history
To analyze the ways in which we can re-structure our psychology in order to change our political, social, and economic circumstances
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Our Consciousness An Introduction
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What Is Consciousness?
Consciousness is a type of power
We use consciousness to solve problems through our will
Our level of consciousness determines our behaviors
Consciousness is affected by social interactions
African consciousness has been tremendously affected by our relationship with white people
Contains 3 elements
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Three Elements of Consciousness:
1. Contents 2. Instrumentalities 3. Directional Organization
Contents: Beliefs, Opinions, Knowledge, Perceived Knowledge, Self-Perceptions, Worldview, Conditioned Responses
Instrumentalities: The way we use the contents of our mind
Directional Organization: How we show our consciousness through the goals we pursue, the values we hold, and the reasons behind our thoughts
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How Has White Supremacy Falsified Our Consciousness?:
1. By giving us false contents: a false history, false knowledge, false fantasies
2. By impairing our ability to think: We have become confused about what knowledge is, who it belongs to, and how it should be used
3. By Falsifying our Values: Causing us to value the wrong things, desire the wrong things, pursue the wrong things—things that are contrary to our well-being and our interests as a people
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The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness The Book
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What Is The Purpose of The Book?
1. The book was written to satisfy many requests to make the information in his lectures available in print format
2. The book draws on 2 lectures: (1) European Historiography and Oppression Exposed and (2) European Political Dogmatism
2. In both of these lectures, Dr. Wilson talks about how history has shaped our psychological make-up, has caused us to be in a perpetual state of amnesia about who we are and what we should be doing
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How Is the Book Organized?
The book is organized into 3 parts:
Part 1: European Historiography and Oppression Exposed
This part of the book discusses the relationship between history and psychology. Specifically, he focuses on the aspect of oppression that has lead to cultural amnesia, a loss of power, and economic inequality
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How Is the Book Organized?
The book is organized into 3 parts:
Part 2: Eurocentric Political Dogmatism
This part of the book discusses how our mental health has been affected by our political circumstances. He ties in important concepts such as individualism, sanity versus insanity, repression, and self-transformation
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How Is the Book Organized?
The book is organized into 3 parts:
Part 3: The Political Psychology of Black Consciousness
This part of the book discusses how we have been taught to “normalize” ideas that are not ours but also how white psychology ideas have mis-labeled us as deviant and abnormal. This is all part of the plan to falsify our consciousness
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What Should We Get From This Book?
For the most part, this will depend on what you’re bringing to it. But, we should at least be able to understand these things:
How the system of white supremacy has affected and continues to affect our minds
The process that was used to create a psychological nightmare for African people. We should see some parallels to Na’im Akbar’s concept of “alien identity”.
What factors we must consider as we re-structure our minds, our thinking, and our values so that we can improve our condition.
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A Final Note:
This is not necessarily a book geared toward solutions. For that, you’ll have to take a look at some of his other works (mainly Blueprint For Black Power). Instead, this book offers an explanation and analysis of psychological condition so that we can better understand where we are at this point.