Yurugu
Dr. Marimba Ani - DVD - $20.00

Yurugu

An African-Centered Critique of
European Cultural Thought and Behavior

"This study of Europe is an intentionally aggressive polemic. It is an assault upon the European paradigm; a repudiation of its essence. It is initiated with the intention of contributing to the process of demystification necessary for those of us who would liberate ourselves from European intellectual imperialism.

"Europe's political domination of Africa and much of the "non-European" world has been accompanied by a relentless cultural and psychological rape and by devastating economic exploitation. But what has compelled me to write this book is the conviction that beneath this deadly onslaught lies a stultifying intellectual mystification that prevents Europe's political victims from thinking in a manner that would lead to authentic self-determination.

"Intellectual decolonization is a prerequisite for the creation of successful political challenges to the present situation. Europe's imperialistic success can be accredited not so much to superior military might, as to the weapon of culture: The former ensures more immediate control but requires continual physical force for the maintenance of power, while the later succeeds in long-lasting dominance that enlists the cooperation of its victims (i.e., pacification of the will).

"The secret Europeans discovered early in their history is that culture carries rules for thinking, and that if you could impose your culture on your victims you could limit the creativity of their vision, destroying their ability to act with will and intent and in their own interest. The truth is that we are all "intellectuals," all potential visionaries.

"This book discusses the evolution of that process of imposition as well as the characteristics of cultural beings who find it necessary to impose their will on others. It is not a simple process to explain, since the tools we need in order to dissect it have been taken from us through colonial miseducation. It is necessary to begin, therefore, with a painful weaning from the very epistemological assumptions that strangle us. The weaning takes patience and commitment, but the liberation of our minds is well worth the struggle."

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part I - Thought And Iconography
Ch. 1 - Utamawazo: The Cultural Structuring of Thought
Ch. 2 - Religion and Ideology
Ch. 3 - Aesthetic: The Power of Symbols

Part II - Image And National Consciousness
Ch. 4 - Self-Image
Ch. 5 - Image of Others

Part III - Behavior And Ethics
Ch. 6 - Rhetoric and Behavior
Ch. 7 - Intracultural Behavior
Ch. 8 - Behavior Towards Others

Part IV - Ideology
Ch. 9 - Progress as Ideology
Ch. 10 - Universalism: The Syntax of Cultural Imperialism