You said: [" Yes, I was aware of the negative impact that came from the settlements in Liberia and Sierra Leone (good illustrations of ones dominated by 'white' values). I used the examples I did to show another side of the story, one that has never been as publicised as the exploits of americo-liberians etc. Like you said, the negative outcomes were used as a cautionary example. However, we must not neglect the positive outcomes. Repatriated Africans played a huge part in the beginning of the struggles that led to the dispersal of direct colonialism. They also played a huge part in the retrieval of our memory as one people. They were the first to use the tools that had been used to confound and turn them to working in our favour. Things are not as good as they could be but whatever little they did has ensured that things are not as bad they could have been either. "]

* Brotha Eja I want to know what those early Diasporian African settlers have accomplished because frankly I think they, for the most part, were simply black missionaries who understood the native population in Africa as heathen and savages. They were thoroughly westernized who never believed natives in Liberia and Sierra Leone as equals. The bottom line is in the late 1800s & early 1900 the Panafricanism/Repatriation movement failed us. This is ugly history! So we got to work on our healing there, here, and everywhere!

You said: [" The methods of the first and second stages of African resistance worked for a while but they were flawed and those flaws led to mass enslavement, colonialism and the neo-colonialism we are living through today. Africans are proud of their warrior tradition but, we also need to confront the stubburn refusal we have when it comes to recognising who the real enemy is.

I hold up Haiti (and by implications all revolts that were not based around the individual ethnicity of the African participants) because it is a prophecy of the new stage of resistance and victory. This was one place in time where Africans united (regardless of variance in culture) and defeated the enemy.

The prophecy spoken by these great liberators to ALL Africans was this : "When we unite, we will comprehensively defeat our enemies. If we stay focused on the nature of what we defeated on the battlefield, if we do not get distracted by petty quarrels amongst ourselves, if we NEVER leave room for the vampire to step back into our affairs, the victory we won will never be compromised." "]

* Yes, indeed! And the problem between us is our relationship with white folk. The camp, you and I, belong refuse to give white folk a free pass and do not believe the problems in our communities were created solely by us. The other camp care what white folk think about them and really feel it’s a necessity to cow tow to their whims. However, I won't be a fool to not see how important we African peoples, no matter where we are, need to see ourselves as ONE PEOPLE! That’s why there are many white people closely on all black message boards, whether African owned or whites', who are looking for the slightest opportunity to create divisions among us. Just look at this message board...brainwashing~!

You said: [" I honour all ancestors but we have to examine all facets of the past and pick out the most suitable templates for use in constructing something new. 100% BLACK African, relevant to the times we live in and flexible enough to permit growth in the future. "]

* I feel you brother Eja, but I also think the structures and orders of the revolutionary struggles are consistent with the world we live in. Was it new or not? Many historians feel that a good bit of the present is being associated with the past. The methods of the first and second stages of African resistance marked, after all, major resistance to the Aryan and Mohammedanism Empires. There is simply no way historically, sociologically, and philosophically to escape these experiences. Any good introductory history text on African revolutionary struggles will make the point that these early movements were as well sharp agents of change. I don't know if this make any sense, but this is my point.

I certainly love your discourse and detate, you are a good teacher brother Eja. Thank you for what you say.

Peace!

B.K