I’m gay for the Delphic Maxims. 

ACCEPTANCE &

SURRENDER.

Accept that everyone leaves.

I will leave, you will leave. No one knows or has control over anyone’s departure date. Feel blessed that you have today. Live freely and humbled that you have been gifted the greatest most valuable intangible thing ever… TIME.

Every second counts. Every second you will never get back again.

To love thyself is to accept that I will leave, you will leave, he will leave, she will leave, they will leave and to accept this knowledge is the ultimate surrender.

Cherish the time you have with yourself and with others and you will live life with no regrets. Truly value those that give you time and themselves.

I dare you to enter a relationship with yourself and others and do the following:

1. NO Expectations

2. NO Demands

3. NO Pressure

4. NO Criticism

5. NO Judgement

6. NO Should’s or Shouldn’t’s

7. NO Compromising yourself

8. 100% Commitment to each other

9. 100% Dedication to the adventure

10. Always create fun

11. Always have couple time.

12. Accept & Allow.

Accept who you are.

Accept that you will leave.

Accept who they are.

Accept that they will leave.

Allow yourself to hear.

Allow yourself to listen.

Allow yourself to have patience.

Allow yourself to believe.

Allow yourself to have hope.

Allow yourself to have faith.

Allow yourself to be conscious.

Allow yourself to be grateful.

Allow yourself to be humble.

Allow yourself to do the work.

Allow yourself to feel.

Allow yourself to heal.

Allow yourself to accept.

Allow yourself to surrender.

Allow yourself to know.

To know thyself

Is to heal thyself

To heal thyself

Is to Love thyself.

Love never fails.

Love Heals. Period.

Accept Love.

Surrender to Love.

I surrender.

I believe.

I have hope.

I have faith.

I forgive.

I am healing.

I choose me.

I will leave.

I am love.

I love myself.

I know thyself.

I choose myself.

I let go.

I am humble.

I surrender.

I am sorry.

I forgive myself.

I thank myself.

I love myself.

I left my mark.

I love you.

I love you too.

I bow to two. Myself & God.

I accept.

I surrender.

Inspired by antiquity - You can view all of the t-shirts designed by our team on our new website: http://archaeostore.com

Selph: host of the dream//To know them, is to know thyself beyond yourself//find the usurped ruler at the end of dreams.

(this is my custom design for selph, please do not use it without permission!!)

DO NOT EDIT OR REPOST!!

Better looks at his individual peices below the cut!! Im very pleased with his design at last :)

Recently found I am Nigerian

I’ve been inactive for a while, dealing with more important…more time consuming things. I’m currently on pace for a downtown apartment this March, potentially being hired on at my job within the next 2 weeks (I’ve been very busy), and working on some other stuff.

And yes, a nigga laptop screen is still cracked to this day. I just haven’t really made the time to fix it. With my apartment situation soon, I plan to finally get that fixed then and also buy an iMac. I have over 50 drafts right now and plenty more source material sitting around elsewhere (also thank you for 4,600 followers in less than a year of activity, appreciate yall). I’m also going to be starting a Patreon to help push this forward. I’ll have details on that within the next few months, so stay tuned.

Now, in regards to the title: I am Nigerian. Which region and ethnic group we come from, I don’t know this accurate of information yet. I have ancestry within the Senagambian region, Ghana and the Gold Coast. I’ve known a lot about/done a lot of research into genealogy, African archaeogenetics, ethnography, historiography, etc. over the years, and within most of what it happens to be related to, Nigeria has always been a main focus; Igbo, Hausa, Biafra, Sokoto (Usman dan Fodio/Nana Asma'u–two of my biggest interests), Fulani, and Tuareg berber-related things specificially. Among other things. So this came as no surprise to me. My friends I discuss this type of stuff with always joked that I was Nigerian, for w.e reason. I made it my educated guess several years ago, and I also correctly predicted my Y-DNA haplogroup as well maybe 4 years ago; it’s part of a huuuuuge archaeogenetics project I’ve helped a good friend on for years.

Basically, my father’s Y-DNA came back, as I was confident, haplogroup E-V38, subclade being E1b1a. E-V38 in ancient times is thought to have spread originated, in what I’d assume is paleolithic times, in East Africa, but later got to West Africa specifically from the Middle East/Levant. I haven’t gotten to my research projects regarding the anthropological landscape of the ancient Middle East, but now I will! This haplogroup is found primarily amongst Nigerians (Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba, etc.), Tuareg Berbers of Niger and Libya specifically, Senegalese, and Ghanaians (Asante, etc.) among others albeit in smaller quantities. Also, from what I read recently from a study of Moorish remains in Northwest Africa, it was also present amongst the Moors of antiquity as well. E-V38 is also the haplogroup of Pharaoh Ramesses III, subclade also being E1b1a, iirc.

My mother on the other hand is an odd discovery! From her mtDNA I inhereted the maternal haplogroup L0a1a, which is common in Southeast Africa among people/regions such as Ethiopians and in southern Yemen (my guess is admixture with Ethiopians during the period throughout the kingdoms of D'mt and Saba/Sheba, and the Axumite empire), Mozambique, etc., but also present in small numbers throughtout Northwest/West among the likes of Tuaregs and something like 1 to 5% of Guineans. Oddly enough I grew up with a lot of Eritrean people (one of those “two families collide into one” type of deal that goes back generations; also by marriage). Grew up going to coffee ceremonies at elders’ homes and eating injera and mesir, lol. Still do once or twice a week to this day. Haplogroup L also happens to be the oldest mitochondrial lineage in human history, iirc, being the offshoot of Mitochondrial Eve in southern Africa. That and Nelson Mandela’s haplogroup.

Lastly, I want to be cultured more on where I come from. If anyone could assist me, this would be AMAZING! Fr family somebody get me hip.

Nigeria specifically my knowledge of Nigerian history and culture extends to topics/specific subjects like: food ofc, the region’s archaeology, indigenous architecure, a lot about Igbo people/culture, Ile-Ife (but not much more than that about Yoruba), Fula people, Shehu Usman dan Fodio+Nana Asma'u and the Sokoto Caliphate, Hausa people, Asante/Ashanti people/empire (Ik a but on the Gold Coast century long conflict with the British), some northern politics relating to Shaykh Ibrahim Zakzakay/etc., the civil war and Biafra, Songhai Empire (Askia, Sonni Ali, etc.), ik a lot of Tuareg berbers in the north, the Benin empire (bronzes, Walls of Benin, etc.), Kanem-Bornu, etc.

Idk much about recent history, culture, society or any of that. Nothing political much either (aside from Shaykh Zakzakay’s situation, memes from Nigerian films, and Big Man Tyrone on youtube).

There’s been plenty of talk in the past few weeks about Kanye West’s statements, from his interview with Charlamagne, to his Twitter antics regarding Donald Trump, and most notably his interview/rant on TMZ, where he said: “400 years of slavery sounds like a choice.”

I’m going to weigh in on this and show how simple this statement is to dissect and understand from a black perspective.

Simply put, I agree, slavery is a choice. Why exactly?

Because Joseph Cinque and the Amistad Rebellion, where Mende captives revolted against their ship’s crew and won their freedom in New York.

Because Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.

Because Toussaint L'Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the Haitian Revolution.

The Malê revolt of Brazil, led by Hausa Muslim slaves and freedmen during the last 10 days of Ramadan, inspired by their Islamic faith.

Because Nat Turner’s insurrection.

Because Frederick Douglass.

Because Igbo Landing, where 75 enslaved Igbos staged a mutiny near Dunbar Creek, Georgia and drowned their captors, along with themselves.

Because Queen Nanny, her brother Captain Cudjoe, and the Jamaican Maroons who led two organized wars against the British.

Because François Mackandal, the Haitian Maroon leader and Voudou priest who gave slaves poison from plants to silently kill off their captors.

Because the Tempati Rebellion of Surinamese Maroons.

Because the Kru people of Liberia.

Because the Demerara Rebellion, which saw the mobilization of 10,000 enslaved rebels.

Because Madison Washington (a now twice-emancipated slave) and the Creole Case mutiny, revolting against the crew and forcing the overseer to sail them to the Bahamas; inspired by word of the Hermosa mutiny one year before.

Because the Stono Rebellion.

Because Harriet Jacobs, who escaped from slavery by hiding in her grandmother’s attic for 7 years until she could afford to reach the North.

Because the Zanj Rebellion in Southern Iraq.

Because Henry “Box” Brown who mailed himself to freedom by hiding in a box-crate.

Because Carlota’s Cuban insurrection.

Because Robert Smalls, who stole a Confederate ship and sailed to the North.

Because Sojourner Truth, who escaped to freedom with her infant daughter.

Because the Little George ship revolt, which saw 96 captured Guineans kill the crew and sail back to Africa.

Because Malik Ambar, an Ethiopian sold into Indian slavery as a child who amassed an army and became a regional leader.

Because Mr. and Mrs. William and Ellen Craft, of which the wife posed as a white man and the husband as her servant to safely reach the North hiding in plain sight.

Because the Akwamu slave revolt of St. John.

Because Cuffy and the Berbice slave revolt.

Because the 1811 German Coast Uprising.

Because Samuel Sharpe and the Baptist War “Great Jamaican Slave Revolt, which saw the mobilization of 60,000 enslaved rebels.

Need I say more? Trust me, I can go on and on and on about this, giving examples anywhere from the the United States to the Carribean to Africa, India, or the Middle East.

The point behind “400 years of slavery sounds like a choice” is simple: if you have a choice to escape the plantation, you have a choice to stay and work the fields; if you have a choice to revolt and kill your oppressors, you have a choice to remain subordinate and take their orders; if you have a choice to free your people, you have a choice to leave them behind and let them suffer; if you have a choice to jump ship or take the wheel, you have a choice to remain a passenger.

The act of being enslaved or captured is almost never a choice–unless of course the attempt is met with resistence, and if it fails, then it fails. The choice in 400 years of slavery is allowing yourself and your people to remain in those conditions. Fear is not an excuse either, fear is a choice. Our ancestors and distant relatives knew this, and they fought with their lives for freedom. They were brave, couragous, resourceful and above all resiliant, and it’s almost an insult to not recognize this.

Kanye definitely should have been much better at explaining himself, but nonetheless his own screw-up isn’t an excuse to act out irrationally. Close enough, he freestyled shortly before the TMZ rant, saying: “Hopped off the Amistad and made ’[I’m] A God’ … I say what they say when the mic is off … teach white dominance? Question your common sense, see yall been washed in tradition that I'ma rinse, hopped off the Amistad and made ’[I’m] A God’ …”. I also like the line in Ye vs. The People (feat. T.I.): “A lot of people agree with me but they too scared to speak up”.

Yall have to remember one key thing about Kanye West; amongst all the interracial relationship controversy, Trump support, etc., Kanye was raised by a Black Panther for a father and a black community leader for a mother (R.I.P.) on the south side of Chicago. He doesn’t exist in the same thought bubble as today’s heavily liberal, majority-Democratic black population, and yall have to realize for once that not everyone is in your echo chamber screaming at the walls with you; people have different opinions, and the world that exists beyond your ideological safe space should be enough on its own to understand that we can’t deal with everyone in absolutes by something as shallow as political beliefs. Any talk about how Kanye let us down or how Kanye is a traitor, this and that, is nonsense and ultimately your own fault for thinking he had any obligation to meet your own expectations. And on top of that, everybody don’t gotta agree with you, fam.

The way a lot of you so-called “woke” or conscious black people reacted to Kanye’s statement lowkey reminds me of the Catcher Freeman skit from the Boondocks: “Man, fuck that white nigga, that’s yo massa, ion know that nigga! … You prolly don’t even wanna leave, all on massa nuts.” Like foreal, I have a strong feeling some of yall would actually enjoy slavery.

Lastly, considering the current climate of black culture, it’s also funny to me how a lot of these people complaining are the same people who recently applauded Killmonger’s character in Black Panther; the militant, black revolutionary anti-hero who infamously said before his death: “Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from the ships, because they knew that death was better than bondage.” Sounds to me like your buddy Killmonger wouldn’t hesitate to fight back and/or die in the process of seeking out his freedom. But let Kanye say it a bit different and the world catches on fire.

But I digress… Yall go do a lot more reading and do a lot less talking for a while. And stop alienating your own people.