The Netherworld Of Kemet Kismet S Ray Of Hope

A. R. Bey resides in Pennsylvania. She has earned her BA in Communications from Wesleyan College and her MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College. A multifaceted artist, she is also a professional songwriter and an associate member of the Recording Academy. Her additional creative works include a poetry chapbook and four feature-length screenplays.

A. R. Bey resides in Pennsylvania. She has earned her BA in Communications from Wesleyan College and her MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College. A multifaceted artist, she is also a professional songwriter and an associate member of the Recording Academy. Her additional creative works include a poetry chapbook and four feature-length screenplays.

On the morning of the first day of seventh grade, twelve-year-old Ezra Wallace dreams of a distant wasteland. Later that evening, he learns that his parents are separating. However, when his history class visits the local museum to observe a popular King Tut exhibit, he is intrigued by a small golden elephant that once belonged to the late boy king. When he discovers that the glass containing the artifact has been mysteriously left ajar, he is tempted to steal it. Shortly thereafter, his decision leads him on an unforgettable journey through the Netherworld of Kemet (Amenti), a magical dimension filled with wonder and splendor. There he encounters several famous pharaohs, queens, and many Kemetic deities as they continue their eternal existence. Yet he soon realizes that Amenti is not the paradise that it should be.

‘KUMBA AFRICA’, is a compilation of African Short Stories written as fiction by Sampson Ejike Odum, nostalgically taking our memory back several thousands of years ago in Africa, reminding us about our past heritage. It digs deep into the traditional life style of the Africans of old, their beliefs, their leadership, their courage, their culture, their wars, their defeat and their victories long before the emergence of the white man on the soil of Africa. As a talented writer of rich resource and superior creativity, armed with in-depth knowledge of different cultures and traditions in Africa, the Author throws light on the rich cultural heritage of the people of Africa when civilization was yet unknown to the people. The book reminds the readers that the Africans of old kept their pride and still enjoyed their own lives. They celebrated victories when wars were won, enjoyed their New yam festivals and villages engaged themselves in seasonal wrestling contest etc; Early morning during harmattan season, they gathered firewood and made fire inside their small huts to hit up their bodies from the chilling cold of the harmattan. That was the Africa of old we will always remember. In Africa today, the story have changed. The people now enjoy civilized cultures made possible by the influence of the white man through his scientific and technological process. Yet there are some uncivilized places in Africa whose people haven’t tested or felt the impact of civilization. These people still maintain their ancient traditions and culture. In everything, we believe that days when people paraded barefooted in Africa to the swarmp to tap palm wine and fetch firewood from there farms are almost fading away. The huts are now gradually been replaced with houses built of blocks and beautiful roofs. Thanks to modern civilization. Donkeys and camels are no longer used for carrying heavy loads for merchants. They are now been replaced by heavy trucks and lorries. African traditional methods of healing are now been substituted by hospitals. In all these, I will always love and remember Africa, the home of my birth and must respect her cultures and traditions as an AFRICAN AUTHOR.

Plato wrote in the Timaeus of time as the moving image of eternity. In Ethel Rackin's THE FOREVER NOTES each of these terms finds resonance: the fleeting objects of the world are moving, and persons moved; her lyric syntax builds pictures that dissolve into song and then turn back to image again; the eternal endures in its endless transformations. "Leaves are for changing" she observes-an insight just as true of the leaves of her book. —SUSAN STEWART

Of the books authored by Martin R. Delany (1812-1885), The Origin of Races and Color is perhaps the most obscure. Out-of-print until now, it has been available to the public only through select libraries. At the time of its publication in 1879, this valuable resource presented a bold challenge to racist views of African inferiority. Delany wrote in opposition to a developing oppressive intellectualism that used Darwin's thesis, "the survival of the fittest," to support its demented theories of Black inferiority. Skillfully blending biblical history, archaeology and anthropology, Delany offered evidence to the "serious inquirer" suggesting the first humans were African, and that these Africans were ". . . builders of the pyramids, sculptors of the sphinxes, and original god-kings. . . ." With such radical assertions, Delany advanced a model of ancient history that contradicted the very foundation of intellectual racism. He believed knowledge of one's past was essential, and that it could provide Black people with the regenerative force necessary to inspire their self-improvement. Were he alive today, Delany would certainly feel at home with the present generation of Africancentrists, especially since he developed and articulated so many of their arguments more than a century ago.