The Importance Of Knowing Your History: Part 6

“When we get into social amnesia- into forgetting our history- we also forget or misinterpret the history and motives of others as well as our own motives. The way to know other people is to know one’s self. The way to learn of our own creation, how we came to be what we are, is […]

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The Importance Of Knowing Your History: Part 5

“As Russell Jacoby says in his book, ‘Social Amnesia’: “Exactly because the past is forgotten, it rues unchallenged. To be transcended it first must be remembered. Social amnesia is society’s repression of remembrance.’ Simply because we choose to forget a traumatic event, simply because we choose not to learn of a traumatic history and a […]

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The Importance Of Knowing Your History: Part 4

“Historiography may function as propaganda- propaganda being an effort to persuade people to a point of view on an issue. History can be used to intimidate. European achievements are inflated and the next thing we know, we are asking ourselves ‘How can we fight this great people?’ We’ve been frightened! They talk about the great […]

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The Importance Of Knowing Your History: Part 3

“If we don’t know our history, or if we’ve made our history unconscious and therefore placed it out of awareness, that unconscious history becomes a source of unconscious motivation, then why we behave the way we do becomes a puzzle. We’re confused by our own behavior. If we want to know why we behave the […]

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The Importance Of Knowing Your History: Part 2

“We have an issue here that I call the projection and image of history. History has been down-played in this society. History has a poor reputation; often it is looked upon by too many people as essentially a set of dates and events. People ask: ‘Why should I study these events; what does it have […]

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The Importance Of Knowing Your History: Part 1

“The study of history cannot be a mere celebration of those who struggled on our behalf. We must be instructed by history and should transform history into concrete reality, into planning and development, into the construction of power and the ability to ensure our survival as a people. If not, Black History Month becomes an […]

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