http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/

Greetings readers both loyal and sporadic,

At the behest of a couple of commentors...I will leave this blog here and not delete it.

HOWEVER....from today , March 3, 2009 forward you will find any further informatin on Raising Children In Orisha at
http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/

Raising Revolutinaries....this is a social network, which means you will be able to join, create friendships with like minded parents AND read my blogs , participate in forums and watch videos that uplift and support the raising of revolutionary children of Afrikan descent!

Please visit the network and join!
Hope to see you there!

love, light and ecstasy!
O

Deleting This Blog

Greetings All,
I will be deleting this blog shortly. Please find all Raising Children in Orisha blogs at my social network http://raisingrevolutionaries.ning.com/ Raising Revolutionaries: Where Afrikan Centered Parents Meet.
O

Registering with the Board Of Education for Home Schooling

Greetings Queen, I saw that you homeschool and wanted to ask your personal opinion about registering a child with The Board of Education, for the purpose of homeschooling. I've homeschooled my 15 year old for seven years, using my own curriculum and never registered with The Board. He's now in high school and I'm now homeschooling my six year old daughter. This is my second year educating her! I never registered my son because I didn't feel the need to. I ask for nothing from the school board and I have a strong opinion about these state mandatory tests. I never had a problem with not registering with the board, but it seems that now, the board has a problem with me not registering. I'm always on my A game with my children and their education. I have a GREAT curriculum, I keep proper files and data of all work and activities. So with all this said, I've been asking all my homeschooling families their opinion about the situation. To register or not, is the question.

Thanks for your time Queen, PEACE

Sticky, sticky, sticky...the question of registering or not! Hmmmm...I guess it comes down to how much of a Quilombo your school is. I educate and rear my children in a Quilombo spirit...allow me to explain...

Harriet Tubman-Quilombo queen in the US

When our Afrikan Ancestors were brought to this hemisphere as captives they resisted captivity in any and every way possible. The highest form of resistance was to flee from captivity and to create their own societies on this land. These societies were created by merging with the Native Americans of these lands against their common oppressor. In the language of the people of the Kongo of West Afrika the young men's warrior society is called a Quilombo...this name was also used to describe the societies that our Afrikan and Native American Ancestors banded together to create as a stronghold of resistance and opposition to oppression , colonialism and imperialism. The most famous Quilombo by far is Palmares of Brazil which was founded by Dahomean queen AgoTime and ruled by the charismatic Ganga Zumba

and later by his nephew Zumbi

This is a revolutionary film about Palmares, known as Quilombo and above it is a movie about Ganga Zumba known by his name

I look upon the education of my children as a Quilombo, meaning it is a method of resistance. It is revolutionary. Its existence alone is a thorn in the side of the status quo. With that in mind, I deal with the authorities, also known as The Oppressor, the Slave Master, or Babylon, only when I absolutely have to. Otherwise, I render unto Caesar that which is his and I keep unto myself that which belongs to me...my children. The more you allow the System into your life and into your school the more control they will wish to have. I registered my children ONCE in the 18 years that I have homeschooled. I had planned to do it at least two other times but it wasn't high on my list of priorities so I never got around to it. As far as standardized testing is concerned my eldest took the SAT and ACT when she decided to go off to college, did well and has been accepted at Fisk. She has taken NO OTHER standardized test in her life. I, much like yourself, find them to be unnecessary, biased, and a tool of the oppressor.

Nanny, leader of Jamaica's Quilombo

Mothering is a revolutionary act when done properly. Schooling is part of mothering. We do not have to bow or kowtow to any procedure that is not in the best interest of our children. I do not vaccinate, or circumcise or feed my children according to the four food groups because my research has shown these things to be detrimental to their highest good. I did not register them with the School Board or any other organization because none of them had my children's best interests at heart...they are day care facilities at best, and trainers of worker bees to build pyramids for the patriarchal white supremacist power structure at worst. I used the examples that I am placing in this blog as photos, as my examples of how to live life and how to raise my children... Our Ancestral Leaders of resistance against oppression from all over the world! I call them all Quimlombo leaders!

Kofi, Guyana's Quilombo warrior

We have to be as fierce, as strong and as determined as these Ancestors in our home schooling! Our children do not want watered down information or sugar coated affiliations with The Beast! They want the Truth and they want it from those whose duty it is to give it to them, US, their parents!

Bussa, Barbados' Quilombo fighter

Stand firm Mama, you are your children's example of how to view and deal with the outside world! You are their role model and their guide...your actions today will be your children's actions tomorrow...act wisely and as our Irquois Ancestors said consider the effect of all of your actions for the next seven generations, because that is how powerful, how influential, how elemental and quinessential you are in the lives of your children, their children, their children's children and on and on...you are pivotal...act with that in mind!

High Risk Pregnancies

Peace sister,

My indigenous name is Aziza. I have been asking all over the place on myspace if anyone knew anything about natural childbirth, water birth, having your child at home vs. a hospital. I am 22 years old staying in Michigan with my parents for the time being while my King finishes our sanctuary in each of our rooms in our house back in Nashville, NC. I am having twins, this is my first pregnancy and I want this to be so sacred and spiritual as I can have BUT because I had to get checked up for the gender the doctors told me I am "high risk" Mainly because I am having twins and I am a petite person. I have had a lot of people come at me telling me all the negative things about pregnancy more so then the beautiful things. I have kept my body in the best condition, I eat all natural foods, foods that have melanin and nutrients. I don't eat any fast foods. It would mean so much to me if I could have not just a midwife with me during this event but a spiritual midwife. I was told over and over again that no midwife would deliver twins. I honestly believe because I have the right state of mind, I eat well, take care of myself, and chant my mantras that everything will be wonderful. Is there anything you know about twins? Would you be so kind as so guide me into a direction or feed me the knowledge on child birth? I am open to anything! =) I appreciate anything that you have to offer sister.

Be blessed!

I too have been considered "high risk" since my first pregnancy...my blood pressure has a tendency to rise during pregnancy and during two of my five pregnancies I have also had protein in my urine resulting a diagnosis referred to as toxemia...someone telling you that you and your body's natural ability to conceive and bear children is High Risk makes you feel out of control and as if you cannot trust your body to do what it was made to do...I have been there, I know how that feels and my advice to you is to pause, be still, listen to the voices of your children growing inside you and understand that you create the reality in which you live

Consider carefully and deeply ALL possibilities, consider each and everything that can occur while giving birth and make peace with every possible method and every possible way that your children may come into the world...because the result that you want is healthy babies and as a mother you cannot always be attached to how you receive that result

Once you have made peace with caeseran, and epidural and doctor assisted and midwife assisted and any other methods of birth that come to your mind, you will relieve yourself of the fear of that kind of birth happening to you...once the fear is released begin to meditate and visualize the birth that you want, what you need, who will be there, the sights, the sounds and the smells that would be the most helpful for you in the birthing arena...see them, smell them and hear them daily...hold them in your mind and speak of them with folx you know will uplift and support you

And then...

Remain open...the truth of the matter of birth is that each child will have the birthing experience she or he needs in order to fulfill his or her own unique destiny

And you as Mama are fully equipped to handle any and all of these possibities...your body, your mind and your spirit are capable of birthing these babies...they chose you to be born to because you are the PERFECT vessel for their growth and birth and raising do NOT EVER allow any medical test or negative comment to make you forget that

That being said...YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH! Continue to eat right, recite your mantras and search for a midwife who delivers twins...I would suggest calling The Farm in Summertown TN where most lay midwives in the US are trained and asking them for referrals...I KNOW they deliver twins and have trained other midwives to do the same

You can and WILL have the birth experience you desire and need and that your babies desire and need...YOU CAN DO IT SIS! DO NOT FEAR!

What If The Other Parent is Opposed to Home Schooling

A concerned mommy-to-be asks...

"I am looking to home school my child. He is not born yet, but I want to get as much info as I can. My husband is totally against it. He says my son is going to public school just like I did. Do you know of any information that I could give him that may change his mind"

When I first decided to home school my children, my then husband was totally against it as well...his reason? He said I didn't have the patience required to do it...*blink*...I told him I was going to do it anyway, and I resigned from my job and did it. About 2 months into the process he was bragging to all of his co-workers and friends about how much our children were learning and now 18 years and one college bound graduate later he still is not as pro-home school as I am BUT he remains a doting daddy...

The truth of the matter is...we fear and are unsure of those things we do not understand and have not experienced. Most of us went to school as children and do not see another alternative. I would suggest sitting down with your husband and asking him if he honestly recalls his time at school being mostly positive or mostly negative? For most of us, school memories contain a great deal of fear, negativity, bullying, fighting and ridiculing by teachers and fellow students alike. If he recalls the negativity he experienced in school, tell him that you all have the opportunity to fill your son's life with mostly positive experiences in regards to his education by home schooling him...

Suscribe to Mothering magazine which supports home schooling and may be able to offer him differnt perspectives on it via its articles...research home schooling yourself so that you can give hm examples of people who home school and how their children are learning growing and succeeding...one high profile couple that comes to mind is Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and their children...find out what the source of his opposition is and speak with him about it...sometimes we have a fear of our children being "different" because we feel that it was the fact that we were "different" that caused us to be picked on and bullied during school...if that is the case with your husband discuss it with him in depth and explain that picking on other children comes from socialization being left to children as opposed to being led by adults...it has nothing to do with being "different"...we are all different in some wonderful way






And...perhaps most importantly and MOST POWERFUL...explain to him what your end result is...when I received paternal opposition for deciding to practice extended breastfeeding with my son, I was hurt and confused and did not know how to explain my decision to those who did not support breastfeeding. I prayed and asked my Ancestors to help me explain why this part of mothering was so crucial and after meditating to some Afrikan drums I was able to speak My Truth on the topic...I said " I will raise a Prince for you if you let me, my methods are unorthodox and what I do will not look like what other people are doing with their children, because I am seeking a different result. I promise you that if you trust me on this, you will be blessed with a son that you will always be proud of...who will be successful in anything that he puts his hand to...but you have to trust me and support me..."



I was honest about what my the end result is that I am looking for and the oppostion could NOT stand in the face of that....let your husband know why you want to home school, let him know what the end result is you are working towards and let him know that you will not sacrifice your child for any doctrine but will ALWAYS do what is best for him...but that you are willing to make sacrifices to give him the BEST each and every day...open up the dialogue on the topic with Truth and Honesty so that yall can discuss it and it does not become a matter of you against him but a matter of we both want what is best for our child

Home Schooling High School Transcripts and Other Status Quo Traps

"Peace sister,how r u doing?

I'm interested in building with u about homeschooling as well as other natural and traditional life styles. I am a single mom of three, and I am currently homeschooling my eldest child right now. he'll be seven this year and i plan on sending him to public school this year because I really don't have any family around in NC and the homeschooling school that he is enrolled in can be exspensive. I really don't want to send my son to public school so I'm planning on moving closer to family to get some help and I have also been researching cheaper methods of homeschooling and how to obtain transcripts so my children can go to college if they choose to. If you have any info on cheaper methods of homeschooling and obtaining transcripts for homeschoolers who are not enrolled in a curriculum that offers transcripts I would love to chat about it.

Peace sis! "

Above is a picture of my 18 year old...when she was four I paid lots and lots of money to send her to the local black private school...she could already read a little bit by the time I sent her to school and could write a few things as well...however once her teacher began to send home words lists for her to learn my daughter told me she could not read...I was shocked and hurt and dismayed...she then said but look what I learned in school today and began to recite the Hail Mary...!!??!!??

It was at that moment that I decided to home school and I never looked back...she "graduated" from Irunmole Aimoye Lewa Academy May 24, 2008...she is our first graduate and by the time we had her graduation celebration, she had been accepted at the Illustrious Fisk University...I wrote her transcripts

She is also the author of Life Without Art is Unbearable, the creatrix behind Empress Creations handmade jewelry , an Afrikan dance instructor and the leading co-educator in our home school/unschool...she is my success story...allow her to be your proof that it CAN BE DONE! and DONE WELL! I never home schooled under an umbrella. The method that I used was to ask for the exit requirements for each grade from my local school district and make sure that my children met those requirements. I would then visit the local Parent Teacher Store and Half.com and find books that would assist us and the rest was information that I felt was relevant to living life properly and life itself.

Do not allow an irrational fear of not having High School Transcripts force you to place your most prized possession in the hands of ignorant strangers...a high school transcript is nothing but a list of classes your child has completed and the grades made in each class...it is easily typed up on Microsoft Word...*shrug*...it does not have to come from some official thus and so to be acceptable...many children all over the country are attending private schools that have never been accredited and their parents do not have worries about them attending college...because there is no need to worry

Remember that you are equipped to give your child EVERYTHING that he needs to fulfill his destiny...that is why he chose to be born to you...he viewed you living your life from the Spirit Realm and said yes that is what I need to set my destiny in order...*smile*..mothering is sacred, holy and the single most important action in the universe...whether or not we succeed is solely based upon who we choose to mother us

I found that the cheapest method of homeschooling was to buy used textbooks that cover the subject matters we needed to cover...I used the Home Edcuation Curriculum which is a rudimentary guide for each grade that runs about $60 or $70 tops and can usually be found on Half.com used for less than that

I am also creating an Afrikan Centered Gynocentric Home School/Unschool Curriculum that will be available in August of 2008 for $150...it will share methods and activites and books I have used in our home school/unschool for the past 18 years

In the meantime Sis...allow me to suggest to you Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff , The Story of B by Daniel Quinn, The Unprocessed Child: Living Without Schooling by Valerie Fitzenreiter and the collective writings of educator John Holt which are too numerous to mention. These writings will help you to remember that you are equipped to teach your children, fully equipped. They will boost your confidence and inspire you.

Just as your body expanded to carry these children within it and your breasts filled with milk for them and you reconfigured your life and your home and your hopes and dreams once they were born...your mind and your self will expand to school them...it is the way of the Wombniverse in which we live...trust it and trust yourself and trust your children

The Global Orisha Community

"Hi.

I see that you invite people to ask questions, so I am taking advantage. I wanted to know if you are practicing the same Orisha as in Hispanic Afro-Caribbean culture?Thanks alot for your time.

Peace,

Mariam "

"Orunmila says there should be a gathering together like trees do to form a forest

Ifa says we should gather together and not walk alone"

Holy Odu Oyeku Meji

The above odu provides the explanation as to why human beings form societies. Societies were called egbe by our Yoruba Ancestors. Egbe, in the West has come to mean a gathering of believers, a group of individuals who worship the Orisha. Those of us who have returned to the ancient way of our Ancestors have a responsibility to participate in what I call the Global Egbe, those all over the world who worship the Orisha.

NOW you would think, that because of the perceived smallness of our numbers and the pervasive nature of Christianity within the modern world that we would be more than happy to align ourselves with all others who know and revere the Orisha and their Ancestors...

HOWEVER

The tyrannical force of colonialism continues to keep us from uniting.

Let me pause here to give creidt where it is due and pay homage to Ancestors...during the time of the Maafa (enslavement of our Ancestors) and after our Hispanic bredren and sistren kept much of the song and dance and ritual of the tradition alive...it remains a integral part of their culture today. We must respect and honor this reality. Without the tenacity of those of our Ancestors who were enslave by the Spaniards we would not have much of the music and the oral history of the tradition that we have today.

And that being the case, it is important to note, and I quote here from Ona Agbani

"from the West Coast of Afrika, to the shores of the Americas and the islands of the Caribbean we were all polluted by the Western mentality that attempted to turn us into chattel. There is NO form of Ifa that remains untainted by the stain of the Maafa...we must see the differences in our ways of practising the tradition as ecological necessities due to the circumstances our Ancestors found themselves in. Did the Yoruba captive see himself as more or less Yoruba if he were taken to Cuba instead of Haiti? History suggests not. Were you more Yoruba than me because your colonizer forced you to speak Portuguese while mine beat English into my tongue? Our shared culture says no. Then we cannot continue to argue that Santeria is better than Lukumi or Voodoo more sacred than Shango Baptiste. We cannot say that one is not truly initiated unless his or her spiritual leaders come from Nigeria or Cuba or Brazil. This is essentially an argument over WHO HAD THE BEST OPPRESSOR! When we compartmentalize the tradition in this way we are saying " MY SLAVE MASTER WAS BETTER THAN YOURS!" If we look at this huge controversy from the perspective of our Ancestors, those who are responsible for creating the Western forms of practising the tradition, it is clear that they did not see slavery in one place as being better or worse than slavery in another place! Our Ancestors created these forms of the tradition to achieve the goal of NO SLAVERY AT ALL! In which THEY SUCCEEDED! All praises to their couragous spirits!"

Adupe, Sistah Mariam for recognizing the global egbe!