.Per Sister Dr. Marimba Ani, “the term "Maafa" is a Kiswahili word for "disaster" that we are now using to reclaim our right to tell our own story. Maafa refers to the enslavement of our people and to the sustained attempt to dehumanize us.
Because the Maafa has disconnected us from our cultural origins, we have remained vulnerable in a social order that does not reflect our cultural identity.” (1)
Per Brother Kaba Kamene, Maafa means “terroristic” disaster. (2)
Africans have survived the longest and most numerous [Maafa] holocaust in history. Several tens of millions of Africans have been killed. Millions are imprisoned. Hundreds of millions suffer from abuses, discriminations and other life-diminishing effects.
We must stop contributing to this. Each person also causes a Maafa within self due to adding to imbalance by neglecting knowledge of self. Due to the cause and effect relationship between thoughts and actions, imbalance and lack of knowledge of self ultimately shows up in behaviors that are detrimental to Africans.
(1) Ani, Marima, Dr., “To Be Afrikan”, http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30/084.html, Accessed 5/25/15.
(2) Dr. Kaba Hiawatha Kamene - American-Afrikan Paradigm: ''The Maafa'' (The Afrikan Holocaust)
