On Saturday, Feb. 5, two young Asafo (warrior scholars) stepped before an ample audience at the Black Star Educational Institute in Atlanta, Ga. and eloquently recited Amy Jacques Garvey’s 1920 anthem “This Flag of Mine.” The pair sought to set the mood for what would prove to be a candid and inspiring community lecture delivered by Baba Hannibal Afrik (Harold E. Charles, M. Ed.), a 76 year-old master teacher and beloved elder whose progressive ideologies have helped forward the Afrikan-centered missions of organizations such as N’COBRA and the Republic of New Afrika.
In his speech titled “The Role of Political Ideology in Teaching,” the former Chicago Defender columnist 
asked community members, leaders, and teachers a fundamental question set before many blacks assimilated into American culture: “To be an Afrikan, or not to be?”
Afrik unloaded this heavy question by embarking on a fiery and historically-informed examination of the effects of non-Afrikan-centered education in predominately black schools in America. Proclaiming that “the greatest deterrent to black development is the black teacher,” he said that it does double harm to a black student when a teacher who is black – whom he claims black children innately trust more than non-blacks – imposes a white supremacist educational framework and philosophy onto the minds of black students.
“If you’re not fighting to eliminate white supremacy, you’re aiding and abetting it … The only way you can convince me of how Afrikan-centered you are is by your deeds; words are wonderful, but deeds are divine,” said the retired high school teacher, who served the Chicago Public School System for 30 years and co-founded the Shule YA Watoto School.
Afrik revealed that being a teacher taught him early that “if
you love, respect, and trust students, they will try to do what you ask … and if they do choose to just try, I know that they will be successful.”
Residing in Hermanville, Mississippi, Afrik currently leads the Community Youth Achievers, Inc., which he organized in 2004 as a five-acre sustainable community where youth learn survival skills; however, he intends to relocate to Atlanta. –Brother Bolemba
For more information, contact Community Youth Achievers, Inc. at [email protected]. The Black Star Educational Institute can reached www.theblackstar.org.
