Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery: Liberation from Mental Slavery

Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery: Liberation from Mental Slavery

The author of this article, Dr. Na’im Akbar, begins by explaining human nature and tries to communicate what makes human beings a special species and concludes that self-consciousness is the one characteristic that sets us apart from all other forms of animal life on this planet. The fact that we have a feeling of who we are and as a group of people; we do not feel that we have limitations. Moreover, because of this self-knowledge, we are able to make progress. However, the author makes it clear that we do have at least one major limitation that can keep us from making progress and that rests in out ignorance. She states that we are ignorant in who we are and what we can do. We do not have to remain ignorant; if we gain consciousness, our true human capacity is open to us. Just as we have the potential to be an amazing species, we also have the potential to be an amazingly cruel and despicable species. The author notes that we are the only life form who can engage in collective and individual self-murder with no acceptable motive. Dr. Akbar goes on to explain that human beings have always worked to create circumstances to maximize their consciousness. People knew that by working the other way and minimizing other human beings’ consciousness, this would be the basis for oppression. The article notes that human slavery is a gradual process in which the mind of a people is brought under control and the people become imprisoned by the loss of the consciousness of themselves.

Next, Dr. Na’im Akbar answers the question, “How did the slave-makers accomplish this deadly feat?” He does this by giving us details about how African tried to keep their stories and gave information about how they tried to continue rituals. The Africans wanted to continue their ways of life even after they were brought to a strange land where they knew nothing about the customs or traditions. Nevertheless, those same people who tried to bring their people hope were brutally killed or mutilated so the stories could not be told. The challenge for those who would chose to b healers of Black life is said to be the removal of the psychological chains that hold our people down and keep us for achieving our amazing feats. As individuals, we have a few great accomplishments. However, as a people, we can only progress but so much until these chains is removed. The article communicates that it has always bee and will always be up to us to free ourselves from these chains. We cannot depend on white people to help us. Yes, they did help us free our selves physically. However, Dr. Akbar stressed throughout the entire article how important it is for Black people to understand that our mental liberation is up to us. Not every white person is going to want to help us through it and the article lets us know that the elimination of racism is not necessary to liberate the African mind.

In order for us to liberate the African mind, we must maximize our own consciousness. To do this we must know more about our great ideas, and victories. We also need to know our defeats and know how we overcame them and how we moved forward. We need to know about our history, and not just what