If you have been in the Conscious Movement for some time, then you know that there is alot of junk science and philosophy out there. Cats come out of the woodwork with their personal opinions and philosophies, jump on a blog or media outlet, and attempt to pass their opinions off as the word of the Almighty. This is a plague in the Conscious Movement because if one person comes on the scene with “the truth” and another person comes on the scene with a different “truth”, whose to say which is right and which one needs to go? A new member of the Movement would find themselves conflicted and disillusioned, and right back out of the Movement just as fast as they got in.
To solve this problem, the Conscious Movement’s principles and philosophies have to be based on commonly accepted and verifiable truth and proof. This can be found through both debate, research, and evidence.
Debate
The purpose of debates are to educate and to gain education. The educator is the person who has conducted primary research and can offer the most relevant facts. Opinions are not facts. At the end of the debate, a summary of points of agreement should be reviewed, as well as lessons learned and issues that require further
If you find yourself in a debate, be comfortable with the idea that you might be wrong. You might be trying to stand on the losing argument. No one is all right, all the time. Accept your loss, gain education from it, and add the other persons position to your own knowledge database. I notice alot of cats have problems with this, especially on outlets like Blog Talk Radio. I sit back and listen to a host spitting some garbage statistics or his interpretation of so called facts and then shuts out any callers that dont agree 100 percent with their outlook. This close-minded approach is the exact opposite of consciousness, and contributes to our collective ignorance.
Personally, I am a fan of rigorous and intense debate. I believe intellectual warfare is one of the best means of refining ideas and philosophies. BUT DEBATE IS NOT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
- Attacking the arguer, not the argument (“You are just an ignorant race-traitor!”)
- Assuming an answer with a question (“So what you are saying is you hate white people, right?”)
- Misunderstanding and/or misrepresenting statistics (“99% of all black people know this is true”)
- Confusing cause and effect (“Slavery led to our present day conditions”)
If you catch someone trying to pull ay one of these, you can be sure that they are not interested in presenting the facts and they cant be trusted! Remember, this close-minded approach is the exact opposite of consciousness, and contributes to our collective ignorance.
Research
Research is finding out what you don’t already know. No one knows everything, but everybody knows something. There are 4 basic kinds of research that people in thismovement need to be familiar with:
- Primary Research -looking for information that nobody else has found by going out and collecting the information on your own. Examples include conducting surveys and interviews, and making observations
- Secondary Research – finding out what others have discovered and trying to reconcile conflicting viewpoints or conclusions, find new relationships between normally non-related research, and arrive at your own conclusion based on others’ work. If you hear Tariq Nasheed say one thing on the subject of melanin, and you hear Brother Kaba Kamene (Dr. Booker T. Coleman) say something else, you conduct some secondary research to find out what is the most accurate
- Directed Research – is done with a specific purpose in mind. The purpose could be to make a point, write a paper or speech, or simply know more about a specific thing. It is directed since it deals with something specific
- Non Directed Research- is doing research out of curiosity. You pick up a book and get into it just to satisfy your curiosity. It is non directed because you dont have a particular goal in mind, you are just grazing.
Before you go starting a blog, trying to teach a lecture, or running our mouth on Blog Talk Radio, you would be wise to conduct some research. Every great leader started out as a great researcher:
- Malcolm X read the entire dictionary ( Non Directed Research) before digging into books on African History, religion, political philosophies, and evolution (Secondary and Directed Research). He engaged in debates with other inmates, reconciled some of his own views with theirs, and later in life he travelled to Mecca to gain insight into Islam and create new philosophies concerning religion and sociology (Primary Research)
- Chairman Mao Zedong, although he was never college educated, spent hours and hours digging into Chinese classical books on the relationship of government and citizen (Directed Research), became the editor of a number of politically oriented newspapers (Secondary Research), and after debates and conflict with opposing ideological parties, he created a Chinese version of Communism (a result of Primary Research)
- The Black Panther Party was founded based on the ideas of Chairman Mao, Malcolm X, and Robert F. Williams (a result of Secondary and Directed Research conducted by Huey and Bobby Seale)
Don’t accept anything at face value in this movement. Demand proof. And if you want to be a teacher of the people, like my man NY OIL says, SHOW AND PROVE!
Evidence
The statements that a so-called leader in the movement make must be supported by evidence. If someone cant provide evidence for a statement, then that statement has to be put on hold or dismissed until proof can be found. For instance, if I say something like “Melanin makes the black man superior to all the other races”, now I have to prove it. I have to clarify what I mean by “superior” (physically? mentally?) and then I have to offer some proof (Evidence exists in support of a highly cross-linked heteropolymer bound covalently to matrix scaffolding melanoproteins. It has been proposed that the ability of melanin to act as an antioxidant is directly proportional to its degree of polymerization or molecular weight. – Journal of Medical Microbiology). When I talk about proof, I mean the results of experiments using the scientific method, fossil evidence and archaeological finds. Here are some of the statements that I have heard online:
- Dinosaurs and Men lived together in South America
- South Americans were taught and influenced by Africans
- Weed interacts negatively with melanin
- The religion of Islam has always existed, it was simply revealed by Muhammad
- Its healthier to eat Vegan
- Herbs are better for you than commercial pharmaceuticals
On one hand, these statements might actually be true. On the other hand, they could be made up by someone trying to sell you something or run game on you. How do you know the difference? By not accepting anything at face value and offering proof.
| PROOF IS | PROOF IS NOT |
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physical objects that support an idea (example: dinosaurs existed, here are the bones) observations and measurements (example: this movement is effective, 1000 people are joining every month) research journals that outline any or all of the above
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a book thats written without any supporting and INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIABLE research a quote from a person who has not offered any supporting and INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIABLE research Statistics that come from unreliable or unidentified sources
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Dont accept anything at face value in this movement. Demand proof. And if you want to be a teacher of the people, like my man NY OIL says, SHOW AND PROVE!
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