I feel you both are trying to make some good points but from different angles.

karibkween said:
"I doubt Ayinde questions the qualifications of MLK or Malcolm, both of whom were light skinned. In fact Ras Tyehimba is light skinned, am I to assume that Ayinde has doubts about his leadership value to this forum."

* With all due respect to both MLK and Malcolm X, I would not have chosen either of them to lead a Black Movement. As I have explained before, I am interested in the attitude of service where people continually seek to uplift and promote those who the system systematically, negatively impacts the most. This allows the people who are most sensitive to the worst of the system to be continually moved to the frontline to keep the depth of the issues in focus. This allows them the most exposure and the means to first derive any material benefits from the struggle. It allows them to be the living symbols of the movement as the movement is mostly about them. This also allows for self determination on behalf of 'victims'. Those who have suffered the most should be advising and setting the pace for redress. The key here is how we support and promote them. Support and promotion has to be in the area of assisting them to realize their legitimate desires and to become enlightened. They would then be able to fearlessly speak for themselves and to use their experiences as the fulcrum for addressing social issues.

Ras Tyehimba is Ras Tyehimba's individual leader, an administrator on the website, and has experience in consciousness the way we experience it. Those involved here are ultimately accountable to a dark-skinned Black Woman who heads this company. Leadership for us is not only about administering this website, but it is in the structure of the company with well informed dark-skinned Black women at the helm. It is also in the company's structure that allows for others who are similarly sensitive to grow and rise to leadership positions.

Here we understand earthly leadership to be a temporary position for safeguarding and developing the goals of the company/movement. Earthly leadership is to be passed on to others who have the depth of experience and character to advance the movement. Of course, I am of the view that any dark-skinned Black African self-realized person is suitably qualified to lead a Black Movement, better yet if the person is a dark-skinned Black African woman with kinky hair, and best of all if that woman is also big in size (to also keep size discrimination in focus).

Gman said:
"I think leaders who are too invested in the idea of their being "leaders" and others "followers" always end up misleading even if they have good intentions to begin with. They would not be willing to listen to correction from their "followers" because in their mind they are the "leaders" and they know best. That's why although I agree with many aspects of Marxism, especially the basic critique of capitalism which I think is accurate, I have a problem with the "vanguard party" idea. This just results in another soon-to-be ruling class of bureaucrats, who more often than not are drawn from the more privileged sectors of society and cannot really relate to all the issues they are supposedly trying to "save" the masses from. Which I think is what Ayinde, Yan, Tyehimba et al are getting at when they question whether whites or light skin Blacks could ever be qualified to lead the masses of dark-skin Blacks when they have not shared their experiences."

* This is a fair synopsis of what I have been explaining on this board for quite some time.

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Re: Malcolm X/ El Hajj Malik El Shabazz
Posted By: Ayinde
Date: Monday, 28 March 2005
http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/cgi-bin/forum/archive1/config.pl?read=53705