Back to the Future By Paul Hill, Jr What we need in the world today is not knowledge of these things so much as experience of these things. -Unknown Through the black community, one of the most compelling issues is the socialization process of young people. There is a growing feeling of alienation and despondency being exhibited by youth and adults alike. Back To The Future addresses the issue, of Western socialization and offers an African Life Paradigm for Life Cycles Development. Rites of Passage, the vessel for lot, cycles development, is discussed as a process for the shaping of centered and grounded African American adults. Adults are not born but made. The shaping of the adult we become begins early in life. The desires of our nurturer-are subtly communicated to us in the ways we are held, what we are fed, how and when we are consoled, why we are sung to or smiled at. That molding continues over the years as we are told what stories are worth our attention and what adventures are worth our energies. We are taught what to value and what to ignore. Eventually, we are ready to be admitted to the rights and responsibilities of full cultural membership. Only then do we become adults. In some cultures, the final entrance into adulthood is marked, as it has been from time immemorial, by the comingof-age ceremony. Like other major life change ceremonies which accompany birth, marriage, and death, the coming-of-age ceremony locates the individual at a new point within the surrounding community and indeed, within the universe as a whole. It is a critical moment of expansion, the entrance into a world of larger responsibilities, larger privileges, larger secrets, larger institutions, larger understandings. It amounts to a second birth; entry not into physical life, but into the higher life of culture and of the spirit. Accordingly, it encourages the society to display itself fully, giving immediacy to its myths and traditions and physical expression to its animating beliefs. The post-industrial world, by contrast, holds ceremony suspect, viewing it as a kind of primitive witchery that deludes us into accepting beliefs that would not otherwise be found in the world of the intellect. Further discrediting the validity of ceremony and ritual are the repeated explosions that have fragmented nearly all of the comfortable assumptions which are, of necessity, part of any act of ritual acknowledgment. Ceremony lives by continuity, not change; and so, the coming-of-age ceremony (rites of passage), in its pure form, has disappeared from all but the most traditional and isolated societies. This is, indeed, lamentable, especially if one believes that the foundering of contemporary youth-their extended identity crises and frantic searching for personal identity in the fires, of intense experience-is a symptom of the loss of a discernible threshold over which one passes into accepted adulthood. The gateway is gone, leaving the younger generation to thrash through the underbrush on their own in the hope of finding reasonable passage (Jones, 1984). What are the traditional elements.-of coming-of-age? Common to all methods of achieving adulthood is separation from family asone takes leave of the smaller immediate world of experience in favor of an expanded realm of cultural images and mythological promise. In some traditional tribal societies, this separation was (and sometimes still is) both sudden and traumatic. When the time for initiation arrived, the men -of the tribe swept in from the bush and kidnapped the young from their mothers. in a gentler way, the same function is served by mentorship. The young person becomes attached to an unrelated member of the older generation in order to learn a craft, a cultural role, a more capacious set of values. Among traditional peoples, the transition often takes the form of a journey or quest. Frequently adolescents are literally thrust out into the world in a solitary wilderness retreat or a similar exposure to the vastness of nature. Their physical removal from the close circle of family is then joined to a search for cosmic belonging. It is a time to experience the hidden dimension of things and to listen for the silent voicesthat might help guide one's way in the world. EFFECTS OF ENSLAVEMENT ON RITUAL AND CEREMONY One of the most devastating effects of the European slave system was that it caused much cultural confusion for the displaced African. New systems of thinking, acting and working were foisted upon the African as he entered the Caribbean and the Americas. Consequently, ritualistic and ceremonial practices which previously had great meaning for the African were suppressed or became so diffused by alien Western practices that their effectiveness on the lives of African people was diminished. Our African forbears, through ritual and ceremony, always knew who they were, where they were from, the place that they had in their society, and a sense of their own destiny. Life was laid out in stages. Each of these stages carried with it a special meaning for the individual. Life was like a mountain with a number of plateaus, which gave the person a new view of the world and a new meaning arid responsibility for his or her life. On the other hand, the life of the displaced Afrikan within the western hemisphere has been almost devoid of the necessary kind of staging. Consequently most of our youth, by the time they [reach] early adulthood, feel that that much of the meaning has gone out of their lives. In view of the fact that most Black people grow up with a feeling of limited options in life, very early they begin to lose their youthful enthusiasm and optimism. (Sims, 1976, p. 1) An increasing number of African Americans strongly feel that 'the reinstitution of staging within the growth process will give our children the springboard they sorely need as they prepare to take their rightful places within the community and the world. In African societies, ceremonies symbolize a bond between temporal processes and archetypal patterns. They give form and meaning to human events. Typically, this is accomplished through a threefold ritual pattern consisting of rites of separation, transition, and reincorporation. The specific object of rites of passage is to create fixed and meaningful transformations in the life cycle (birth, puberty, marriage, death), in the ecological and temporal cycle (planting, harvest, seasonal change, new year), and in the accession of individuals to high office. The important phase in these rites is the middle or liminal phase of transition (Turner, 1969). In this phase, people are metaphysically and sociologically remade into new beings with social roles. Newborn infants are made into human persons, children are made into adults, men and women are made into husbands and wives, deceased persons are made into revered ancestors, princes are made into kings. Seasonal transitions are also marked and celebrated in this way; thus, the old year is made into the new, and the season of drought is made into the season of rain. This remaking of men and of time involves the symbolic destruction of the old and the creation of the new. it is a duel process of death and rebirth involving symbols of reversal, disguise, nakedness, death, humiliation, the earth, intoxication, and infantilism. These symbols of ritual liminality have both nega tive and positive connotations for they represent the paradoxical situation of the womb/tomb, the betwixt and between period when people and time are both abolished and renewed. At this critical period, people are neither children nor adults, male nor female, human nor animal. They are momentary anomalies, stripped of their former being, ready to become something new. Similarly, the time between the seasons and the time between the years belongs neither to the old nor to the new, but to bothAt is a time out of time, when the usual order of things is reversed and thrown into primordial chaos, ready to be reestablished and renewed in a new order of temporality (Ray, 1973). The most elaborate rites of.passage usually involve the initiation of the young into adulthood. Through these rituals and tests a society not only socializes its young by outwardly moving them into new roles of social responsibility, it also transforms them inwardly by molding their moral and mental disposition towards the world. African societies generally regard this internal transformation as the primary purpose of initiation rituals. An historical review of coming of age or rites of passage in African society reflects age sets and age-grouping. Whole societies were graded by age and the prestige which accompanied a status in age-grouping was done in such a way that even small children were aware of it. Among the Bambara of Mali, the initiation of boys into manhood takes several years and involves six distinct stages, each of which has its own initiation group. From beginning to end, the goal of this series of passages is the complete social and metaphysical transformation of boys from children to adults and ultimately, from mortality to immortality (Zahan, 1960). The Diola, who live in the Casamance region in southwest Senegal, celebrate manhood passage rites known -as Bakut, only at fifteen to thirty year intervals. After Bakut is announced by an elder playing a sacred drum and male relativesshave the head of each initiate, villagers and guests form a circle around the initiates and dancing begins. Later, in a sacred grove several hundred yards from the village, they are circumcised. After the ritual and the circumcision, the initiates spend the next two months learning the responsibilities of adulthood (Forde, et al., 1966). The Ngoni of Malawi in Central Africa have a definite image of what it means to be a proper Ngoni. The Ngoni have a strong sense of their cultural identity. They continually differentiate themselves from non-Ngoni groups around them. To a large extent, this distinctiveness has historical roots. Originally, the Ngoni people were part of the Zulu Empire in Southern Africa. In the early part of the nineteenth century, they split away from the Zulu empire and migrated as a unified group to their present homeland in Malawi. This migration required a march over twelve hundred miles through hostile territory. When they arrived in what is now their present homeland, the Ngoni established their dominance over the local population through warfare. As a consequence, they see themselves as superior to and separate from their neighbors. Ngoni child-rearing practices seem to be a direct result of their desire to maintain a Ngoni identity. At the age of six or seven, boys are removed from the comforting care of women. The harsh and masculine life of The Boy's Dormitory becomes their training ground. To the Ngoni, this is an important institution in the education of young boys. The hut known as The Boy's Dormitory and the whole system of living which it represented was a traditional feature of Ngoni village life. It was the place where boys slept and lived together, and where they learned to define themselves and to obey authority. Once a boy went to sleep in a dormitory, he never left it until he married unless he was.seriously ill. Ngoni regarded dormitory life as a important coordinating factor in their young people's development. The first purpose was to remove boys from the influence of women. Ngoni men were outspoken in condemning the effects of all women's influence on boys. Ngoni perceive The Boy's Dormitory as an institution that "Ngon-izes" the boys and counteracts influences from non-Ngoni sources (Read, 1968). Ngoni see a close relationship between the education and rearing of children and the development of a proper adult Ngoni. In 1879, a Ngoni chief refused to allow Christian missionaries to establish mission schools in his kingdom. He said: If we give you our children to teach, your words will steal their hearts, they will grow up cowards, and refuse to fight for this when we are old; and knowing more than we do, they will despise us. (Read, 1968, p. 2) Aspects of Ngoni child-rearing and personality can be understood within the military, political, and economic contexts of Ngoni life as it developed in Central Africa. At the present time, Ngoni emphasis on education and achievement and their sense of leadership and responsibility provide advantages in accommodating to a changing world. For Ngoni boys, socialization into adult roles is a gradual and informal process beginning in childhood. The practice of ceremonial initiation such as among the Xhosa of southern Africa continues, although the prospect of loss of earnings can shorten the isolation period. However, fear of breaking the laws of the ancestors, or of being ridiculed by his fellows for being a "boy" not qualified to marry, prompts many a young city dweller with country connections to return home for the ritual. After a review of African culture, one finds definite rituals through which males must pass in order to be recognized as men. " The rituals or rites, are designed to determine the readiness of male adolescents to assume the duties and responsibilities of adult men. These activities pre pare young people in matters of sexual life, marriage, procreation, and family and community responsibilities and fulfill a great educational purpose. The occasion often marks the beginning of the acquisition of knowledge which is not otherwise accessible to those who have I not been initiated. It is a period of awakening to many things, a period of dawn for the young. They learn to endure hardships; they learn to live with one another; they learn to obey; they learn secrets and mysteries of man-woman relationships; and in some areas, especially in West Africa, they join secret societies, each of which has its own secrets, activities and languages. Though specific activities and tasks of these rituals vary from African nation to nation and even among different groups within nations, and may possess rural and urban distinctions, the evaluative criteria for readiness are usually very explicit. Pre-ritual preparation is an integral element in the success or failure of the young aspirant. And it is the family's role, more particularly the father's role, in concert with other male cohorts, to ensure that pre-ritual preparation is sufficient for the young male to achieve successful passage. That part of our rich African inheritance characterized by traditions of personal mastery and locus of control through the ritualization of social relationships has been lost. But in assessing our present predicament, it is only natural that we examine our African origins to determine what it is that we lost that should have been saved. Obviously, many worthy elements of our heritage have been left behind or stripped away or simply allowed to wither. Within African society prior to the advent of the European, the concept of unity, mutual obligation, moral order and social character of individuals was formed within the family circle and then within the whole tribal organization through a course of initiation ceremonies. The process begins at the time of birth and ends with death. The child has to pass various stages of age-grouping with a system of education defined for every status in life. The parents take the responsibility of educating their children until they reach the stage of tribal education. The education of very small children is entirely in the hands of the mother. It is carried on through the medium of lullabies. In these, the whole history and tradition of the family and clan are embodied and, by hearing these lullabies daily, it is easy for the children to assimilate this early teaching without any strain. This was one of the methods by which the history of the people was passed on from generation to generation. At the time when the child began to learn how to speak, care was taken by the mother to teach the child the correct manner of speech and to acquaint him with all important names in the family, past and present. These were given in songs to amuse the child, who was left free to listen to the songs. When the child grew beyond babyhood, the father took charge of the boy's education, while the mother took the whole responsibility of the girl's education and part of the boy's education. Changes are rapidly taking place in Africa and initiation rites have been greatly affected by modern changes. This is partly because children are more likely to attend formal schools and partially because missionaries and some governments have attacked or discouraged the practices. Also, massive migration from rural to urban areas has created significant changes in life styles. Yet, where initiation rites were part of the traditional cycle of individual life, the practices still finger, often with some modifications or in a simplified form. The nearest modern equivalent to ancient initiation rites is formal and institutionalized education. Both processes are compulsory. Both try to bend the unruly energies of youth to constructive social purposes. Both attempt to teach obedience, discipline, and the basics of proper behavior. Both express and communicate the central values of the sponsoring culture. Both reveal previously hidden knowledge. Both are challenging and exhausting. Both eventually result in new ways of seeing the world. Both certify the youth for participation in the larger society. The differences between the old and new are as follows: The old rites were religious; the new rites are usually secular. The old rites ran by sun and seasonal time (outdoor and active); the new rites operate by clock and calendar (usually sedentary and pursued behind closed doors). The old rites centered on concrete experiences; the new rites rely heavily on words, and abstractions. The old rites provided physical risks and danger; the new rites substitute organized sports, which combine moderate challenge and minimal risk. The old rites were dramatic, intense, forceful, and fast; the new rites are slow, strung out, and often vague about ultimate destination. The old rites engendered awe; the new rites commonly produce detachment and boredom. The old rites typically gave a sense of vital participation in the historical unfolding of the culture as a whole; the new rites are, often only creating holding areas where youths are held in isolation from the larger cultural reality rather than allowed to experience it. The old rites resulted in an immediate and unmistakable status change; the new rites provide no such direct deliverance into adult roles and status. The old rites were over at a determined place and at a determined time, witnessed by the community as a whole; the new rites can go on indefinitely and be severed (dropping out and being pushed out), perhaps never resulting in general -community recognition. The old rites were in the hands of caring and concerned adults who had the interests of the youths at heart. The new rites are frequently monitored by uncaring employees whose purpose for being involved is related to their own financial condition (a shift in locus of control from the family to the state). Given that schools do not satisfactorily fulfill the cognitive, physical, psychological/emotional, affective and cultural requirements of true rites of passage, it is necessary for families and communities to provide ceremonies to clarify and dramatize their children's passage to adulthood. In order to develop a male who can be expected to function as a provider, mate, and protector, it is necessary to develop and institutionalize processes for successful transition from boyhood to manhood. It is not necessary to imitate common forms of African educational systems and socialization, but they car) be used as a guide for designing alternative systems of education. The ten basic principles of African education found continent-wide for educating and socializing their children are as follows: Separate child from the community and routines of daily life. Separation had deep spiritual meaning -- prevent distractions. Observing nature; African school built on observing nature. Cycles of growth and development based on universal principle of life-maximurn exposure to nature, so nature can become the teacher. Peership, age mates, a social process based on age. Education in Africa is a social process as opposed to the Western educational emphasis on individualism. African education is a social process conducted in groups. Observations of children showed that they learn in groups. All children are expected to master all requirements from beginning to end as a heterogeneous group. Rejection of childhood; remember Paul?, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." A point of departure based on a ceremonial shift, so everybody knows it's time to quit playing and be serious. Listening to the elders; in African education, the most significant part is conducted by The Elders. Wisdom is more than knowledge. Elders play a major role in education and socialization of children in traditional African society. Purification rituals; African education is full of rituals. Symbolic purifications for feeling different, such as baptism-uniforms or robes are worn. Use of special language; new vocabulary, set of sounds and symbols. Use of special names. Use of names that are symbolic of types of characteristics. symbols or names that have special meaning and follow-up. Thus, one of the most important things that has been removed from the few effective artificial replacements (in contrast to technological development) is the ritualization of social relationships (Forcle, et. al, 1966). Customs, traditions, and rituals and ceremony, for instance, although sometimes punitive and in need of change or repair., are nevertheless, as veins and arteries to the body or the wiring of a radio or an electrical plant. Without the connectors, there will be a breakdown in the continuity of flow, a shortage will occur somewhere in the system. Many of us have neglected and even shunned these processes-at our peril. At the very time when functioning males are too often missing from households, when too many children do not have a daily model in their homes, indeed, sometimes do not know exactly what their fathers do for a living, or in fact, may not know their fathers at all; when many fathers are not available to their children except, at best on a fractionalized basis, the benefits of custom, ceremony, faith and ritual acculturation have been discarded and held in contempt for us as a people (Hare & Hare, 1985). Social scientists with a wide range of ideological and ethnic perspectives have concurred that: There is no evidence that people living in a secular urbanized world have less need of ritualized expression for their transitions from one status to another. (Kimbali, 1960, p. xvii) The removal of African American males from the list of endangered species in this country and the future of African Americans depends on the development and institutionalization of a manhood development process. The institutionalization of such a process is not a matter of choice, but has become imperative for our survival as a people. At no point have black people failed in the struggle to be a people until the last twenty to thirty years. We are now witnessing a threat to the existence of a -group of people who are becoming more of a population. We have, as a group, lost the principle of collective survival. We have begun to knuckle under and lose independent self-determination. We are drifting from the status of being a people to that of being a population and the existing socialization process has resulted in a gradual erosion of those things that defined us as a people. We do not commit ourselves to each other as a people anymore, but rather we function as isolated individuals with little sense of group Identity. We as a population, have been educated away from ourselves. This has contributed to the loss of a sense of wholeness and a drift from being a people to being a population. This lack of wholeness has created vulnerability and this vulnerability is apparent in African American youth. Homicide, suicide, and substance abuse statisti4i speak for themselves. In America, regardless of their socioeconomic conditions, African American youth are in trouble. A child who scores 1000 on the S.A.T. or graduates from Harvard will not necessarily be successful or safe. Education, income, and status has not provided an insulation from this unraveling of the wholeness phenomenon. The education and killing of Phillips Exeter Academy honor graduate (1985), Edmund Perry, evidences the fragility of adolescence and the role of education in the American myth of mobility (Anson, 1988). Something else must be said about success. William Brock, Volkswagon executive, committed suicide. Leanita McClain, editorial board member of The Chicago Tribune, committed suicide. Fred "Doc" Holliday, Cleveland School superintendent, committed suicide. With all the outward trappings of success, these talented-educated, and much admired Black people obviously lacked wholeness, fulfillment, and attachment in their lives. Their suicides reflect our vulnerability as a population. As a population, we lack the completeness, insulation, commitment, and unity necessary for peoplehood. We have more churches, mosques, Ph.D's, millionaires, M.B.A.'s, homeowners, high school graduates, elected officials, teachers, lawyers, and physicians, than at any time in ' our history in the Americas. But, as a population. we are mentally and spiritually in the worst shape since, our forced presence in new Europe (North America). The streets and institutions of mis-education have destroyed a generation of Black youth. Author Jawanza Kunjufu during the 1980s wrote a series of books evidencing a conspiracy to destroy black boys. The effects of the conspiracy have been echoed in the ever-increasing question, "Where are the black men?" However, if you destroy males as boys, then you don't have to worry about them developing into men (Kunjufu, 1982, 1986, 1987). Kunjufu attributes this human waste to what he calls "male seasoning," which is a process of indoctrinating one against oneself, i.e., the denial of internal development for external reward. It is a conspiracy designed to create skeletons, with neither feelings nor compassion for their children, women or brothers. He writes: In spite of the disproportionate ratio of men to women, there are actually more (1.03) Black boys born to every (1.0) Black girt. But upon reaching their eighteenth birthday, women outnumber "available" men almost two to one.(Kuniufu, 1982, p. 14). The state of the African American male is indicative of our condition as a population. Within each black American, there exists a dilemma that has hindered his/her ability to collectively mobilize and develop the programs and institutions necessary to protect and develop African American boys. This dilemma, or confusion is related to the central issue of what it means to be African American and raising children in the African American tradition. Such a dilemma is especially obvious among the educated segments of our population. The challenge of living and being among white people without becoming white has been difficult for many of us. Many educated African Americans and their children suffer from an identity crisis and the realities of the 1980s are creating an increase of "born again blacks." At a time when social class for ethnic groups could be enhanced, many African Americans have discarded their ethnicity and become Afro-Saxons. This assimilation has resulted in a sense of false consciousness, rising/ unfulfilled expectations, and an unwarranted sense. of security. Robert Havighurst sets forth a model to show the relative strength of social class and ethnicity among ethnic groups in the United States of America. He says that: Social ethnicity outweigh slass in the upper-middle class of European Jewish-Americans and of Japanese and Chinese Americans, while social class outweighs ethnicity in the upper-middle class Blacks, south and east European ethnics, and Americans of Spanish origins (Havighurst, 1976, p. 62). Havighurst suggests that middle-class values enhance rather than compete with the values of European whites, Jews, Chinese, Japanese. But, in his analysis, black and Spanish ethnicity do not seem to correlate well with an upper-middle class lifestyle. Therefore, ethnicity has less influence on the behavior of middle-class blacks and Americans of Spanish origin. On the other hand, the influence of ethnicity is stronger than social class influences among the lower classes of those groups (Hale, 1982). We have been educated away from ourselves. Highly educated blacks tend to hold in disdain those who advocate education and/or socialization prescriptions for other blacks that in some respect differs from that provided whites. Blacks who have been inconvenienced and/or denied opportunity for development are naturally afraid of anything that sounds like discrimination. They are anxious to have anything and everything that European-Americans have, even if it is harmful. The possibility of an original agenda for blacks is discounted one hundred percent, thereby maintaining the illusion of the "American Dream." The antiquated education system which exists and perpetuates the "American Dream" illusion does not work. We, as Africans born in America, must disregard and replace the "American Dream" illusion with a new paradigm. Rites of Passage is reclaimed and offered as what is necessary to move Africans born in America forward to the past. Rites of Passage as a reclaimed way of thinking and doing must be African-centered, incorporate a minimum moral value system and utilize ritual and ceremony. African-centered or Afrocentricity means, literally, placing African ideals at the center of any analysis that involves African culture and behavior (Asante, 1987, p. 6) Afrocentricity is also the employment of the centric thought or conceptual universe of the African as articulated in the traditional African world view which is a product of African history, culture, and philosophy (Baldwin, 1991). Pragmatically, African-centered Rites of Passage is the process which gives a people patterns for interpreting reality and a general design for living. This process incorporates surface, primary and secondary levels. Patterns for interpreting reality compromise the deep structure of culture and are generated through world view (comprehensive ideas regarding order), ideology (how reality is seen by people), ethos (guiding principles that dictate human behavior), cosmology (the structure and origin of the universe), ontology (the nature of existence of beingness), axiology (the clef ining/governing nature of relations); a general design for living is a product of surface level patterns for interpreting reality. This is expressed in customs, values, ideas, language and symbols which are often erroneously mistaken as centeredness in total. When one actually employs the deep structure (African world view) concepts one is located Afrocentrically. Those well-intended African people who behave in the best interests of Africans without the conceptual base are oriented but not located Afrocentrically. The deep structure concepts of Afrocentricity are as follows (Azibo, 1992): World view: The universe is active and alive and the laws of nature reveal its inherent order as well as the creators of divine laws. Ideology: There is a oneness of all things; life is primary and must reflect a divine nature. Group maintenance, collectiveness and sharing are essential. Ethos: Life is primary as is the oneness of all things. All things are one with and in harmony with nature. Cosmology: The universe originated from the Creator and reflects the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things. Ontology: The Creator provides a spiritual force or essence in all things; therefore, value is inherent in being. Axiology: There is rhythmic/harmonious interchange of connections (syntheses) and antagonisms (contradictions). Rites of Passage beyond Afrocentricity are predicated on a minimum moral values system and rituals through ceremony. Minimum moral values or principles are important because without them, practice would be incorrect and possibilities would be limited. Principles are categories of commitment and priorities which define human possibilities and a value system. Such a value system is the Nguzo Saba or Seven Principles. The Nguzo Saba is based on Dr. Maulana Karenga's Kawaida Theory which maintains, "that if the key crisis in Black life is the cultural crisis, i.e., a crisis in views and values, then social organization or rather reorganization must start with a new value system- (Karenga, 1980. p. 17). The Nguzo Saba or Seven Principles is the moral minimum value system African Americans need in order to rescue and reconstruct our history, humanity, and daily lives in our own image and interests. The Seven Principles are "Unity," "SelfDetermination," "Collective Work and Responsibility," "Cooperative Economics," "Purpose," "Creativity," and "Faith." Rituals through ceremony are important to internalize experiences. To become a rite or ritual, an activity need only be serious, established or prescribed by a legitimate authority, and formally performed at a designated time with appropriate symbolism, A ritual is the enactment of a myth. By participating in a ritual, you are participating in a myth. Myths are stories of search through the ages for truth, for meaning, for significance. We all need to tell our story and understand our story. What happens when a society no longer embraces a powerful mythology? To find out what it means to have a society without any ritual, read your local and national newspapers. The news is full of destructive and violent acts by young people. We as adults, have provided them no rituals by which they become members of the community. What is the future of the Rites of Passage as a paradigm for developing whole and centered Africans born in America? The term Rites of Passage has found a home in the minds of growing numbers of Americans. It is used more and more freely by members of diverse ethnic, cultural, political, sectarian and nonsectarian groups. Educators and legislators alike speak freely of their eagerness to employ/utilize "rites" as a significant part of their new "pilot cures" for existing social problems. Increasingly, social groups, clubs, small organizations and "social dogooders" feel the imperative to start Rites of Passage programs. The contagion of rites is so pervasive that most, at best, have only minimal concern with the magnitude of their ignorance of its philosophical and theoretical base or the glaring incongruence in their daily attitudes and behaviors vis-a-vis its principles and objectives. Rites of Passage is defined by Elder Anthony Mensah as 'those structures, rituals and ceremonies by which age-set members of a group successfully come to know who they are and what they are about-the purpose and meaning of their existence, as they proceed from one clearly defined state of existence to the state ' or passage in their lives" (Hill, 1992, p. 62). Historically, Rites of Passage did not exist by any such name or label. This was because the African beliefs and behavioral practices were interwoven into the vary fabric of life in the community. It was not until Arnold Van Gennep's 1908 publication of Les Rites de Passage did the phrase have its birth. Van Gennep, unlike his contemporaries, felt that anthropological investigations would do well to examine the rituals and ceremonies of various African peoples, not for the purpose of tribal identification, but rather to determine whether they possessed any inherent value for their practitioners. During his years of study, Van Gennep was able to ascertain the existence of numerous principles, beliefs and practices which constituted the African paradigm for living. These were delineated in his 1908 publication and should serve as a basis for any serious discussion of Rites of Passage. Van Gennep's studies revealed the African conceptualization of life as a journey through a series of identifiable phases with predictable challenges or "crises" along the way. Each crisis was necessarily accompanied by specified rituals and ceremonies which facilitated the individual's movement (passage) along life's path. As defined by Van Gennep, Rites of Passage became "...those rituals and ceremonies which accompany a life crisis" (Van Gennep, 1960, p. 3). The African paradigm for living incorporated those fundamental beliefstprinciples that guided the individual, communal and spiritual behaviors of the African people. These, based upon Van Gennep's research, may be summarized in part as follows: AFRICAN LIFE PARADIGM (RITES OF PASSAGE) BELIEFS/PRINCIPLES Humankind and nature are one. Both humankind and nature experience cyclical, periodic and inevitable change. in nature, these changes are called celestial; in humankind, they are called "life crisisi" Both humankind and nature function by the law of .regeneration" which states that the energy in all systems is eventually spent and must be renewed at intervals. in nature this process, symbolized as a death and rebirth sequence, is monitored by the universe. in hu.; mankind, it is monitored by the Rites of Passage. 'Life crises," by definition, are disruptive to both the individual and to the community. The Rites of Passage, which assist and cushion the individual's passage, consist of three essential phases: Separation (pre-liminal) Transition (liminal) Reincorporation (post liminal) This African life Paradigm reflects a recognition and appreciation of the principles which govern the interdependence of humankind with all other life and, ultimately, the Creator. In this context rituals and ceremonies were not mere programs or social pastimes to be observed after school or work or on weekends, but rather vital strands in the web of life for the African ancestors. Community elders whose family and community life reflected stability and responsibility orchestrated the Rites of Passage process. The total community assumed responsibility and was involved in the process. Rites of Passage was the framework by which the individual was guided through the psychosocial transformations necessary to the successful navigation of life's cyclical, periodic. and inevitable changes. Moreover, it assured the community of a continuous flow of mature, competent persons who possessed the social consciousness to further its need in the context of universal harmony. The major challenge to utilizing an African life paradigm (Rites of Passage) in contemporary America is presupposing the existence of a healthy (centered and whole) community of adult males and females. Western society's moral and ethical fabric, by all accounts, has eroded to the point that the words health and community are mutually exclusive terms. Genuine and authentic communities of people of African descent do not exist in the United States. This void precludes successful Rites of Passage. Rites of Passage cannot be promulgated within the prevailing environment of Western society. Community elders of the past have been replaced by a black meritocracy whose family and community life is out of balance and unhealthy. The flow of mature, competent persons who possess the social consciousness to function as a community of adults has been broken. A problem related to implementing an acculturation and transformation process (Rites of Passage) for African American youth is the lack of communities and initiated/sanctioned adults available to provide leadership and service. Where are the adults? DuBois's talented tenth have abandoned their mission to seek safety in the quest for inclusion in the white world and to become part of the "Black Meritocracy"; whereas, the "militants" of the past have grown up and are burying their heads in the ancient Egyptian or Saudi Arabian sands. A critical mass and community of men and women is needed to take a step "forward to the past" and provide that much-needed servant leadership as adults and elders. However, such a step is predicated upon a cadre of adults undergoing a process of self-discovery and training. The real voyage of discovery consists not in exploration but in seeing with new eyes. Such a journey begins with the following questions: Who am I? What values, history, traditions and cultural precepts do I recognize, respect, and continue? Am I really who I am? To what extent do I have, understand, internalize, employ, and reflect the cultural authenticity of my people? Am I all I ought to be? To what extent do I possess and self-consciously apply the enduring and permanent cultural standards and meanings which measure the "being" and "becoming" of black people in terms of our cultural substance and concrete conditions? The ageless questions are based on the dicta, "Man and Woman-Know Oneself," and "All Knowledge Begins With Self Knowledge." The failure to ask and answer the aforementioned questions has resulted in an endless adolescence and midlife crisis for many adults. The fear of aging and the trauma of midlife has retarded the development of a community of men and women who can assume their responsibilities as adults and elders. What exists that offers hope for the development of genuine and authentic communities of adults and institutions for the proper acculturation of African American youth? Kwanzaa as a spiritual kinship system has provided the stimulus and foundation for the development of genuine and authentic communities. The precursor for the Rites of Passage movement has been Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa exists as the evolving response for the development of authentic communities that will assume the responsibilities of nurturing youth through a Rites of Passage process. The natural state of Rites of Passage in a traditional sense was incorporated within the community socialization process it takes a village to raise a child. The stability and effectiveness of the process was maintained by the foundation of a belief system-Akan (Ghana) and Yoruba (Dahomey). Kwanzaa is the nearest equivalent African Americans have to their continental ancestors. Another serious challenge aside from the development of genuine and authentic communities has to do with the initial stage of rites-separation. The "American Dream" paradigm or way of thinking and doing is the antithesis of the "African Life" paradigm. The "American Dream" patterns for interpretinj reality include: World View: Order is imposed by the stronger force. The stronger force gains the advantage by ordering the universe as it wishes. Ideology: Survival of the fittest promotes a drive for mastery and control of nature and the accumulation of possessions (Nobles, 1986). Ethos: Control and mastery of all life. Cosmology: Humans exist apart and separate from nature in an independent and separate collection of entities which comprise the universe. Ontology: Worth is measured by utility, therefore, materialism is paramount. Axiology: There is a conflict of opposing forces representing a continual struggle whereby one must prevail over the other. From the "American Dream" paradigm the self is that which distinguishes and separates the individual from everyone else. This situation contrasts with the African world view in which "self" has a broader frame of reference; namely the collective representation of one's identity. For example, the Akan people of West Africa perceive the self as represented by seven concentric circles. The smallest, innermost, and least important represents the individual. Moving outward we find the family, clan, tribe, nation, people, and ultimately, the world. Youth, children and the mentally impaired are expected to have a small self, but with maturity and responsibility the self is expected to expand. The first four levels of self are called Mogya, meaning blood ties, while the outer three are called Kra (soul or spirit). One is not conside0d a whole person until one knows where one's blood is coming from and Where one's soul is going (Semaj, 1985). The Eurocentric world view of self has resulted in an alien or diffused extended identity (Esi) which interferes with separation. The two levels of extended self-identity, an alien and diffused are summarized from Semaj (1980): Alien (Esi) These children show anti-Black preference and evaluation and identification with an alien culture. Adults "consistently demonstrate a Eurocentric worldview, are concerned with individual needs over collective good, denigrate or deny Afrikanity ... and may even be willing to work against the collective survival of their own (people] (p. 29). Diffused (Esi) Here children attempt to balance the Black and alien values and culture by identifying with both sides. Adults further intensify this balancing act; for example, "They believe Black is Beautiful but know that white is powerful. They are aware that changes are necessary but have strong doubts that changes are possible (p. 30-31). Asante (1980) proposes five levels of awareness for separation leading to Afrocentricity (and out of diffusion): Skin Recognition: The person recognizes that his/her skin and heritage are Black, but that is the extent of the reality. Environmental Recognition: "The person sees the environment as indicating his or her Blackness through discrimination and abuse" (p. 30). Personality Awareness: The person expresses positive affects towards Black cultural artifacts. However, a person may talk Black, act Black, dance Black, and eat Black, although he/she does not think Black. Interest Concern: At this level the "person accepts the first three levels and so demonstrates interest and concern in the problems of Blacks and tries to deal intellectually with the issues of Afrikan people. However, it lacks Afrocentricity in the sense that it does not consume the life and spirit of the person" (p. 38). Afrocentricity: At this, the highest level, the person becomes totally changed to ' a conscious involvement in the struggle for his or her own mind liberation and becomes aware of the collective unconscious will. Now the person is consumed. "Once you have Afrocentricity, no one needs to tell you that you have it or ask you if you have it" (p. 38). It is consciously revealed in everything you do, say, think or feel. These levels therefore represent a series or concentric -circles leading out of diffusion and into collectivity or community. However, existing efforts of separation through Afrocentric Rites of Passage have not progressed beyond Level Four. In the move towards Afrocentricity the majority of people are consumed by Level Three or functioning at Level Four. Their general design for living is a product of their surface level patterns for interpreting reality. This is expressed in customs, values, ideas, beliefs, symbols, language and is erroneously mistaken as Afrocentricity in total. Doing such reduces Afrocentricity to nothing more than fetishizing culture. The internalization and practice of Afrocentricity as a way of life through daily thinking and doing is a separational challenge within our Western and urban environment. The idolatry of Europeanized and Arabized religions and Roberts' Rules (Western organizational structure), add other dimensions to the challenge of separation. Separation from a dysfunctional way of thinking and doing and the existence of a functioning and stable community is crucial to beginning transition and acquiring what is necessary for self-discovery, affirmation, and rebirth. The vessel for the journey of self-discovery and rebirth is Rites of Passage; Afrocentricity is the ocean that carries the vessel to its destination-the ultimate destination of Rites of Passage through the currents of Afrocentricity is expansion of consciousness and preparation for functioning as a whole person serving (reciprocity) others during the journey of life. The shaping of adults as understood by the ancestors was the step from seed to birth and all of the phases leading to the end of life are viewed as a continuous expansion, a centrifugation in which the physical body, the mind, and the consciousness are continually opening and widening. We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. (Lawlor 1991, p. 9) References Anson. R (1988) Best intentions New York. Vintage. Asante, MA (1980) Afrocentricity: The theory of social change Buffalo, NY: Amulefi Asante. M X. (1987). 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