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The Maroon
IP’AGE 6
April nggy/
Afrikan Rites of Passage in America
by gregory 1. johnson, jr.
The Council of Elders of the Ndugu and Nzinga Rites of Passage organizations.
photo by vin
t the tree behind Clark
Atlanta University's
Haven-Warren Hall,
students, graduates,
and faculty from all
over the Atlanta Uni
versity Center gather
around a youthful man
clad in a baseball cap and a colorful
dashiki. He is Clark Atlanta University's
Associate Professor of English and Af
rican-American Studies, Daniel Black.
Also known as "Baba," a Nigerian term
of endearment loosely translated as "fa
ther" or "mentor," Black has earnedthe
title as the head of the Ndugu and
Nzinga rites of passage programs.
Dr. Black was inspired to begin
Ndugu by his graduate research in
Temple University's African-American
Studies program. He began Nzinga for
women one year later. In most African
communitites, rites of passage were
mandatory, he discovered. He deter
mined a similar process was needed to
teach young African-Americans the im
portance of comminuty over individu
alism. Five years later, students from all
over and even outside of the AUC have
participated in Ndugu and Nzinga.
Dr. Black asserts that many students
base their sense of self and identity on
"individual achievement in Western so
ciety." In Ndugu and Nzinga, initiates
join "Baba" and a council of elders on a
one-year journey where they are taught
to base their identity upon the collective.
Ndugu and Nzinga members learn for
giveness, humility, nurturing, wisdom,
and spirituality through East and West
African-based rituals rumored to in
clude fasting from speech, a simulation
of the enslaved African's passage over
the Atlantic, being given symbolic
names, and for men, a sacrificial shav
ing of one's locks.
In Ndugu and Nzinga, Dr. Black
teaches these principles in an effort to
transcend perceived differences of gen
der, religion, region and ideology
among African-Americans. He asserts,
"I think racial oppression tends to make
these differences appear very small. Ul
timately, what people see as differences
only exist and get power because of the
context of where we are."
Regarding perceived differences, sex
ism is not tolerated in the rites of pas
sage. Ndugu brothers such as Azikiwe
and Seitu Nzuriwatu were instrumen
tal in founding the organization Black
Men for the Eradication of Sexism. Dr.
Black says, "most of the brothers who
come to Ndugu tend to be those who
have struggled with sexism- we don't
have to deal with it as much as we did
when we first began the journey." Dr.
Black recognizes what African-Ameri
can women offer to the spiritual growth
of African-American communities,
namely, "a history of perseverance, a
commitment to family which women as
a whole have sustained," he says, add
ing, "which, I think, we as men have
struggled with."
Although his rites of passage promote
self-analysis and self-development on a
societal level, it requires earnest desire.
Dr. Black points out, "It doesn't make
sense to give that energy to someone
who doesn't want it. My God! Give it to
someone who does!" However, to stu
dents looking to make a positive change
within themselves, "Baba" is reassuring.
"All you gotta do is want it," he says.
Even if you don't know how to start, I'm
with you."