This series is proof that mistakes can lead to wonderful endings; what started off as a quick summary introducing a series of questions surrounding the topic “rebuilding the Black Family”, quickly evolved into a twice to thrice weekly, one to two page article series written to further digest, discuss and unfold if not unravel my thoughts on various topics within Dr. Oba T’Shaka’s archival catalogue. While the series is still evolving structurally, a few certainties should be assumed before you read each article. [1] Each article will be most likely be over 900 words, though I am currently challenging myself to write articles over 1,000 words to keep the length of each blog post around the five minute reading mark. This is not to say some won’t be longer or shorter, some most definitely will be; this is the floor I am aiming for though. [2] Each article will discuss a topic extracted from a specific lecture or interview from Dr. T’Shaka. This is possibly the most noticeable feature in the series – one that was but also wasn’t originally the central force behind its publication. As stated earlier I began the series accidently to explain questions I wanted to pose to the readers about the monumental task of “Rebuilding the Black Family”; while Dr. T’Shaka has spoken about this topic at length in his most recent lectures, I had written the second in the series before I started constructing the first article not centered around this theme and still I wouldn’t totally abandon my first premise for this series until I had begun work on the third non-family related series when I would finally realize the potential in this series. If you started reading the series early in its publishing then you’d notice I didn’t start off listing what lectures/ interviews inspired the article, only to start including them as the series evolved. As time moves on this year, possibly even into early next year, I plan to include specific clips from those interviews and lectures, helping to further highlight what topic(s) inside the lecture inspired the writing.

For those who have yet to visit the Dr. Oba T’Shaka Show offshoot youtube channel Twinlineal Perspectives, when you do you’ll notice aside from the main topic for each of his lectures, there are a multitude of subtopics, stories from his experiences in the movement, analysis and wsdom driven observations that can only be truly appreciated upon listen to each lecture or interview two, three or four times. I have undertaken this task on many of his lectures and interviews, clipping segments for publication specifically on this channel and soon, on the Dr. Oba T’Shaka show youtube channel itself and his other platforms. I have not published any new clips to the offshoot channel for almost three years (by the time you’re reading this it may in fact be three years) but that will be rectified before this years end. But this is just a side note to the broader purpose of this “Memo”.

The last certainty you’d notice [3] is the series is neither predictable nor is it sequential. By predictable I mean you’ll never quite know the topic being discussed before the article appears on the blog, this is not intentional as of my writing this. Like Dr. T’Shaka I will construct this series moved by Jazz’s thought process, including its emphasis on inspiration; you’ll notice, even in this memos recounting of how the series came about, inspiration led me through its evolution and it will continue to lead me through its development. As time passes, you’ll notice just how brilliant this thinking process can be, especially as I incorporate more present day references to bolster his insights with practical examples.

Shortly, no later than May 1^st, 2025; I will publish a complete and evolving listing for this series on this site. You’ll find it on the home page menu. Like the archival listing, you’ll see each article ever written for the series with weekly, bi-weekly or monthly updates to ensure it is always current (most likely I’ll update it weekly). Listing will include the date of publication, what Dr. Oba T’Shaka Show inspired the article, two entry numbers (the first for the article itself, the second is the specific entry number listed on the top of the article), the topic’s name and the title’s name. There will be a hyperlink in the first entry’s number. I am still working through how best to link each topical article with its group but that will be something I address in the future also. Presently my thinking is I will group each previously published article with its most recent addition, listing the preceding articles after the most current. Obviously the flaw in in this plan is the reader won’t be able to skip ahead to the next part in the topical subseries but I think that’ll be overcome by my adding the a complete and evolving listing for the series itself to the home page menu. Again I am still deciding how best to include these previous articles.

In conclusion, I would love to get your feedback for this series and specifically this “Memo”. After deciding to make this series, not just in its original incarnation, but in its current form; an ongoing part in this blogs growth, I realized the initial purpose for the first article – to explain a question I wanted to ask the broader community; was the beating heart behind the entire series. Not specifically the question, but the inquisitiveness in the question. I have recently been reading a book titled Four Arguments Against Television which has helped me see just how passive “screen time” is to our thinking mind. We barely analysis what we consume from these screens, even when what we consume is meant to be taken in, mentally chewed up, swallowed and digested. This series will hopefully break you from this practice.

I hope you will engage with it, which is why I ask the questions in it and at its end, that I do. I also hope you share it, like it and subscribe to the blog.