Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast the balance and defend the discourse from the hip hop WEV studios here on Civic Cipher once again, I'm your host, Ramsy's Jah.
He is Ramsy's Jaw.
I am q Ward. You are tuned into Civic Cipher and we want you to keep on riding with us because we still got some more show for you. For this next half of the show, we're going to spend a good amount of time discussing the go back to Africa narrative or call from people who feel I'm gonna be as kind as I can feel like black people complain too much about our station in this country. Those same people who compare black people in this country to black people in Africa. This is a thing that happens,
and so we're going to speak to it. Unfortunately, I had a gentleman engage with me online, and I think the resulting conversation is worth you listening to. So that and so much more for you to stick around for uh and I asked that you do once again. But first, before we get let's discuss ba Ba becoming a better ally Baba and Today's Baba sponsored by Friends of the movement. You can sign up for the free voter Willert from fotmglobal dot com support black businesses and allied businesses as
well as make an impact with your spending. Again, that's fotmglobal dot com. All right. So came across a meme and I checked it out and it turned out to be true. We're really exciting, okay. The meme says self made millionaire Harris Rosen adopted a Florida neighborhood called TAngelo Park, cut the crime rate in half and increase the high school graduation rate from twenty five percent to one hundred percent by giving everyone free daycare and all high school
graduates scholarships. So a millionaire gave money to a black neighborhood and black neighborhood did well.
Well.
Turns out this guy actually exists and he really does this, Okay. So I checked out his website. It's Rosengives Back dot com. And I'll read this briefly through the This is just one paragraph. It's a much longer read again, but this is the part that I feel really kind of sells this. Through the Harris Rosen Foundation. Mister saved at local YMC Aquatic Center so children have a place to learn to
swim to help prevent accidental drownings. The foundation also honors mister Rosan's heritage by assisting the Jack and Lee Rosen Jewish Community Center to better serve children and families of all religions in the Southwest Orlando community. Within this site, you will learn about the individuals and organizations to whom mister Rosen has provided support, disaster relief, and the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. Again, that's Rosen gives Back dot com.
And if you're able to check out that website, what you're going to see is an old white man who just looks like money, I'm being honest, and he's surrounded by black He has little black boys and girls right almost is like if he's found his own version of heaven. He's so happy to give back to these folks. And I thought that this was worth the mention because he definitely is an ally, and I think by exampling that behavior, you too can become a better ally. And you don't
necessarily need money. It's just the spirit that goes along the way. Honey helps However, absolutely say that him. All right, so I'm going to tell you a bit about this guy bless you ramses from for our listeners. I know this story already that you guys are about to hear. Here we go, land Buckle in bless you bro. So his name is Max Power and then some number. I didn't put the number here, but Max Power. Man. I told you I was going to talk about you on
the radio, So here we go. Man, I do sincerely appreciate the time that you put into this conversation, even though I know you were trying to make a point that I will I'll never see things from your way. I do appreciate it because people like you show me that there are people like you, and for better or worse, you illuminate a blind spot. And my hope is that you and I are going to be able to be brothers one day and sit down at the table with a lot more in common in terms of how we
see the world and different. And fortunately I have the stage and I'm able to share our story and so I'll do this.
So what we did was we put up a video that says, basically it was like it was discussing, you know, white privilege and giving examples of white privilege.
This is what we put up on our social media. We put up clips of the show, we put up clips of things that come in the news, and so forth. One such clip. He responds to this clip by saying, I will give you two choices, and you can only choose one. Number one, your ancestors stayed in Africa and were never brought to the US by Jewish ships. You are now living in modern day Africa with mud huts,
no running water. Slavery still exists in Africa today and working either for a Chinese mining firm like Kred seven or doing god knows what. You cannot leave Africa now. Or option two, your ancestors were brought to the US by Jewish owned slave ships. Nothing changes, Everything was the same to this day. You have everything you have now you are in the US. Think carefully what choice you want. And then he puts a smiley face. Right, So what he's trying to do, I know, I know, I know,
you just going to get this off. So what he's trying to do is suggests that we have it better in the United States then we would have had it in Africa. Right, And for people that don't know any better and people that cannot see beyond their own biases and prejudices, and they don't recognize that. They're ignorant to a lot in the way of studies that would show them just how rich a place Africa historically has been, even before places like Greece and Rome, which I'll talk
about here. All it sounds like a bunch of black people in huts living like cavemen, right, and so they think that that's what would have happened, right. So this is why we have to have this conversation. So allow me to respond. So this is my response to him. I says, this only tells me that you don't know the rich and diverse history of Africa. And furthermore, you
think that everyone in Africa is miserable. There are people who live in places I'm confident you never heard of that researchers have found to be happier than both of us. None of them has an iPhone or a Netflix account as decorated as my passport is. I hope to one day visit some of those places. Also check out doctor
Anthony Browner. He can serve as a great starting point for the African civilizations that taught and influenced the early cultures in Greece, Rome, etc. And that includes their architecture, no mud huts. I thought that was a sufficient response. Again, at the time, I didn't realize it would turn into what it has turned into. But in short order, he responded back, you still have not answered the question. Oh okay, Max Powell, I have not answered the question. All right,
here we go. This is my response to that the question is invalid. Had my ancestors stayed in Africa and there was never a Transatlantic slave trade and thus no European colonization of African countries, then Africa would be the
wealthiest continent on Earth by a considerable margin. Again with the brilliant mathematical minds from Ethiopia, kush Ghana, Sonique, I think that's how I pronounce the name of the tribe there, etc. Your supposition of me living in a mud hut doesn't reflect an accurate represation representation of what Africa would be today with all of its diamonds and gold and precious metals,
minerals and resources in its coffers. Truthfully, your question doesn't represent historical Africa all that well either, only a smaller, more exotic facet of the pre colonial African landscape. I e the tribal communities that made for interesting stories back in Europe, A similar thing happened in this country. Indeed, the Natives in this land didn't all live in small tribes and tepees. There were full, rich, complex societies across
North and South America. They have been excavated and studied in detail, effectively debunking the stereotypical pre fourteen ninety two Native American lifestyle. It's this eurocentric viewpoint that you have. I didn't want to use the word white supremacists, but that's what it is. And I didn't want to scare them off because people they tend to shut down when you tell them the truth. So Eurocentric kind of worked here. But for those that would hold my feet to the fire,
I intended to put white supremacists. I just knew that i'd lose them. And you know, if you have a chance to educate someone or learn, then you take advantage. Right anyway, it's this eurocentric where did I go? Right? Here we go viewpoint that you have that causes lots of harm to those of us looking to build bridges. True told, these people and others have historically helped out white people time and again, and they were often repaid
with disease, theft, lies, enslavement, rape, or outright slaughter. There are lots of people who think Africans have always just been people with bones in their noses, but that's only part of the tapestry of historical Africa. I won't hold it against you, since this is probably the first you're hearing of it, but I implore you to travel and do a bit of digging as well. It's a great way to shield, sorry, to shed the notion that one
group is superior to another. Again, that's me trying to interject, like, hey, dog, you might think that you're white. You might have some white supremacist views that you're not confronting. So I put you know, it's a great way to shed the notion that one group is superior to another. They're just different. To answer theiggest predictor, this is my answer, Okay, to answer, the biggest predictor of happiness is the amount of close friendships, not mud houses or iPhones. I'd rather live where I
have friends. Thanks for this, it was fun. Please keep listening, watching and supporting. It helps us grow our radio show. Talk to you soon, and I put a heart Okay, After that, he puts, so you think that if Europeans never given Africa the written language, it would be wakanda? Got it? Lol? So I am going to assume that you would not give up your life here and that your answer is number two. So I responded, written language comes from northern Africa and what is now the Middle East,
not Europe. That is a very easy thing to google. If you don't already know that Samerians ancient Samerians anyone, not Europe. You can assume what makes you feel best. The question was flawed, But I'd be happy wherever I have friends happy. Okay, all right, so he says again, So again you will not answer you people have it made in the US and would still be selling each other to tribes. Go watch Empire of Dust. Okay, so I will spare you the rest of our exchange. You know,
back and forth. But you know me trying to communicate to this gentleman that his question is invalid. It's it's akin to me asking you, hey, Q, do you want purple or last Tuesday?
You guys can't see me. So what am I supposed to do with that? It's long, it's a non question.
Yeah you do you want purple or last Tuesday. It doesn't make sense. It's not like a real thing. And again, for a person that assumes that living in Africa and had their and know Transatlantic slave trade, that people in Africa would be miserable, I think that it There is no better way to example a white supremacist Eurocentric arrogance than in a question like that, because again it assumes, oh, we're God's gift to the planet. Your iPhone makes you happy?
No iPhone stress everybody out. Fam Again, there's tribes in the bottom of the Himalayan What is that Mount Everest the happiest human beings on earth scientifically studied. They don't have a Wi Fi signal for one hundred miles in any direction. They don't need it, right, And if the goal is to be happy, to spend time with loved one and so forth and so on, technology and whatever else, that this course sort of again, this Eurocentric vantage point.
It doesn't necessarily mean that people are going to be happy. Will their lives be more convenient, sure, But the only reason lives need to be more convenient is because lives get more stressful with more complex societies. Was more in the way of capitalistic forces, et cetera. Right, So there's good and bad. Yes, And again for folks that feel like, well, our way of life the only way of life they know, by the way, our way of life is superior. These
are not people this guy. I'm confident this guy never spent twenty years on a beach and had something to compare his life in the USA against. He never you know, he didn't live enough lives. None of us are able to do that. So that's the only reason why I'm saying this to be able to say our way of life is superior. Right, But the insulting nature of the communication, like oh, you guys would be still living in mud huts with bones in your nose is if we didn't
come and rescue you from the continent of Africa. And you know, again those people that talk about slavery, like, oh, you guys sold yourselves in slavery. Your people sold you in slavery. And you know, he mentioned that slavery was practiced in African It absolutely was. These are not things
that we've ever refuted on this show. But we have talked about how chattel slavery in this country was very different many times, and the types of slavery that you'll find in African countries and in many parts of the world. Doesn't mean that if you have a child, that your child is a slave too, and you've created a slave race. All of the black people that you see exist to serve you. And if you are born black, your whole life is based around servitude. That's not a real thing
anywhere else. I mean, sure, and probably small isolated pockets of gross individuals, but not a whole country and the birth of a country based off of that sin. Right, But there are people who want to rewrite history. There are people who want to whitewatches, or there are people who sincerely feel like what it is that they are
saying makes sense. And specifically, again in this example, in order to rewind time where black people never left Africa in the first place, you're rewinding again a lot of colonialism, right, and the colonization of Africa. Africa is a very different place. He wanted me to watch this movie, and I sent him a response to that too. I'll spare the details
of it. You don't need to watch the movie, But long and short of it is that the same thing that happened to the native Americans in this country is the same thing that's happened to a lot of the African countries, where there are these European colonists who lie, violate treaties, contracts, deals, agreements, whatever, and then they stomp out revolutions and Africa is littered with them. And then you get people like him who get to point a finger and say, look at what badest shape Africa's in.
Aren't you glad we rescued you from that. No, you did that to Africa and you did this to us, and you are the bad guy in a lot more people's story than you realize, and we are trying to build a bridge for you to come back because we are still your brothers. One of the things that I say on the show, and then I would love to get your thoughts ahead and jump in. One of the things I say on the show, I'm sorry. It's just had a lot to say obviously.
No, I don't apologize. I am not eager to jump in. I'm not going to be pleasant. Yeah, well, you know that's that. It comes with the territory. But one of the things, again that we have talked about time and again on the show is that you know, for.
People that really feel like, you know, we we like. Christianity is a gift people that feel and Christianity, by the way, also was in Africa before the United States of America even existed. It was not a gift to African people. And again this all happened before there were cars, so everybody walked everywhere and exchanged ideas on the continent
of Africa. For people that feel like Africa was doomed without realizing their place and their ancestors' role in the equation, it's very narrow minded and short sighted, and it fails to account for an alternate version of reality where Africa and indeed Africans could have continued to thrive. Mansa musas from Africa. The most complex society the world has ever known, historical, ancient, historical society the world has ever known is in Africa. Proper. Show me where Egypt is on a map, and I'll
show you Africa. Okay, Black people walk there, they're painted on the hieroglyphs. People they were called Nubians because that was the land right and in Sub Saharan Africa too, and a lot of there's a lot of architecture that exists there that's even older than the Pyramids, as I mentioned in Sudan and Ethiopia, brilliant masterpiece, these great works of art that exist even right now. You can go and visit them. But for some people it's mud huts. Right,
So with that level of brilliance. And again, these people from Greece, these people from from Rome and different places in Italy went to Africa to learn, and then they took this information back and passed it off as their own. A lot of the origin stories of Christianity indeed comes from African stories. Again, for folks that are interested, check out Tony Browner. He will give you all of the game, or you can read any one of his books. And there are all these sites, all of his sources. It's
all there. These aren't conspiracy theorists. I'm not given his conspiracy theories. These are facts. And yet and still I push for us to be brothers. Black people are the oldest people, the first people. That makes us the big brothers. And we know that sometimes our little brothers act crazy, but they're still a little brothers and we still love them. All right, That was what I wanted to say. Go ahead, shure you people.
I spent most of this segment angry reading the language of someone who I could be standing across the room from at the mall, the grocery store, the library, and who I'm not certain but almost certain I greet with a smile, ahead, nod, a hello, and at this date, still early enough in the year, a happy new year. And that's how you are she because I don't know that Max Power is a man or a woman. So I would look at me and think he or his people would still be living in mud huts if it
wasn't for us. And the disdain that comes with that way of thinking, because that's not a singular thought, that's that's part of an entire Still, you know, I make a lot of fuss about the lack of quote unquote progress, this utopia that everybody thinks we have a chance to reach one day that I'm convinced that we don't. I'm sorry to say that we get there plainly, but I'm we just we're almost polarized in that regard, and and things like this kind of prove it, right. The gift
of what we gave you written language. What are you talking about? You're talking to me in English? I'm not certain, but I'm sure if our research that I learned, English might be the youngest of the languages and written language, like you said. And you know, the northern Africa and the Persian Gulf, the Middle East existed before Christ.
And by the way, while we're here, before they cut that Suez Canal there that was all part of the same land, masks and people walked around, so yes, there were black people there too.
The ram just said that he thinks that there was some forge of brotherhood in this single conversation with the person that would refer to us as you people.
Well, we might be a little closer. Sure, we might be a little closer. And you know what closer is better than further, right, So, man, Max Power, I appreciate the engagement because I don't consider that a waste. We'll get there, as I mentioned in my comment, we'll get there one day, and I do hope to see you there. But we'll leave it right there. So that's going to do it for us. On this episode of CIVI excipher thank you for listening. Once again, I'm your host, Ramsy's jaw.
He is Ramsy's jaw with his boundless grace. I am q Ward.
You know not angry, but you know, hurt by this idea that there are brothers and sisters in this world that see us, perpetually us beneath them, simply because of the amount of melon in our skin. No matter how much more decent I would be than someone who would wish you harm, the whiteness of that person's skin would give them more grace from you than me. And that is a really, really unfair and really cruel reality to have to live.
Before I go, let's once again shout out, uh, what's his name? Chandler Hughes. There he is, six year old, brilliant genius. Until next week, y'all. Peace,