The Conscious Community, also known as the Black Conscious Community and the African Conscious Community, is a loose affiliation of allied groups composed of individuals from the African diaspora and from Africa. Pan-Africanism, Afrocentrism, Afrofuturism, Black Nationalism, and Black Liberation Religion/Spirituality are foundational sources for the ideologies found among individuals in the Black Conscious Community.
History
Following the time when minister Louis Farrakhan started to lead the Nation of Islam in 1981, amid the crack epidemic impacting the Black American community and the act of police brutality against Rodney King in 1991, the teachings of Afrocentricity and the Nation of Islam influenced the development of Black Conscious/Political Hip Hop (e.g., Brand Nubian, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, X Clan) and ushered in a resurgence of Black radicalism and African-centered consciousness. The Nation of Domination, thematically styled after the Nation of Islam by the World Wrestling Federation, developed as a result of the national predominance of Black radicalism amid the 1990s. The virtually-oriented Conscious Community is a legacy of this resurgence.
In 2018, Nike created RBG-colored, Black History Month Air Force One athletic shoes, which was likely inspired by the popularity of Pan-African colors (red, black, and green) among businesses and individuals in the Black Conscious Community.
Philosophy
Consciousness
In order to comprehend double consciousness, how Black people conceptualize and experience blackness must first be comprehended. In The Souls of Black Folk, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois highlighted the concepts of consciousness or woke-ness in relation to the concept of double consciousness (a "two-ness" of competing thoughts, ideals, efforts, and psyches – competition between one's "Negro"-ness and one's "American"-ness) in African Americans. The internalized competition of African American double-consciousness reflected the broader reality of an internal effort made by African Americans to establish a potent personal sense of self and self-respect amid an anti-African American environment created by European Americans. Within the Black American community, being "conscious" or "woke" is having a conscious awareness of the public problems in the community and having an intricate understanding of how the various dimensions (e.g., cultural, ethical, historical, philosophical, socioeconomic) of those public problems are interconnected; self-guided study, along with sharing the knowledge acquired through that study with others, are also considered aspects of being "conscious" or "woke."
Values and views
The Conscious Community, which includes African American social media influencers and activists, is a major development in the history of Black consciousness, Black radicalism, and technology. As part of the cultural tradition of Black radicalism, individuals in the Black Conscious Community use various social media platforms (e.g., BlogTalkRadio, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube) for the purpose of aiding Black and African peoples in their collective effort to resist and eventually overcome racist oppression and a perceived global system of white supremacy, to achieve liberation and self-determination of Black people throughout the world, to radically shift the paradigm and reality in which Black and African peoples currently live, and to replace present, predominant Black ideologies and organizations with Afrocentric and Black nationalist ideologies and courses of action.
Pan-Africanism, Afrocentrism, Afrofuturism, Black Nationalism, and Black Liberation Religion/Spirituality (e.g., Afrikan Village, Black Hebrew Israelites, Candomblé, Ifá, Kemetic Science, Metaphysics, Mysticism, Moorish Science Temple of America, Occultism, Nation of Gods and Earths, Nation of Islam, Nuwaubian Nation, Palo, Rastafari, Temple of New African Thought, Santería, Shrine of the Black Madonna, Vodun, and to a limited extent, atheism and agnosticism), which are primary elements in the Black radical tradition, are foundational sources for the ideologies found among individuals in the Black Conscious Community. African-centered scholars and race critics who have been intellectual influences for individuals in the Conscious Community include the following: Amos Wilson, Chancellor Williams, Cheikh Anta Diop, Frances Cress Welsing, George G.M. James, Ivan Van Sertima, James Smalls, John Henrik Clarke, Joy DeGruy, Leonard Jeffries, Maulana Karenga, Mfundishi Jhutyms, Yosef Ben-Jochannan, and Reggie Mabry as well as Dick Gregory, Neely Fuller Jr., and Steve Cokely. Due to Western education being viewed as innately anti-Black, and informed by these foundational sources, individuals in the Conscious Community have sought to create their own educational platforms and organizations. Kwanzaa is also a popular African-centered holiday of seven principles celebrated and practiced in the daily lives of individuals in the Conscious Community.
As Black Nationalism is grounded in the notion of Black people resisting (e.g., not conforming, not assimilating, not integrating) a perceived global system and culture of white supremacy and developing their own institutions (e.g., cultural, defense, educational, economic, political, religious, social), individuals in the Conscious Community encourage the creation of such institutions (e.g., African-centered schools, African-inspired holistic health centers, independent Black media) in the Black community. As Pan-Africanism is grounded in the notion of African pride and unity for the purpose of enhancing the overall living circumstances of all Black and African peoples, individuals in the Conscious Community encourage and support Pan-Africanism. Continental Africans who are strong proponents of Afrocentrism and Black Nationalism, such as Julius Malema, are viewed favorably, whereas those who are not are viewed critically by individuals in the Conscious Community. As with Marcus Garvey's Pan-Africanist goals, the intent is for continental Africans and the African diaspora to take ownership of and manage the natural resources of continental Africa and the global affairs of African peoples as well as to unify (e.g., economically, politically, socially) so as to be able to effectively address the oppression of Black peoples throughout the world. Among some individuals in the Conscious Community, there is a common belief that phenomena of the world do not operate in the way humans believe them to; consequently, Afrofuturism is used to philosophize about the deeper meaning of reality and life, to decrypt physical and metaphysical events, and, along with ideas from physics (e.g., quantum, theoretical), used to decrypt and predict events and phenomenon (e.g., astrology, dreams, melanin, natural disasters, numerology, solar eclipses, Super Bowl winners).
A common view held among the individuals in the Conscious Community is that continental Africans and the African diaspora, as well as other humans, are socially conditioned or coerced by a perceived global system of white supremacy to maintain a stupored state of mind rather than liberate their minds and themselves from their oppressive realities. Another common view held among individuals in the Conscious Community is that the effects of long-term oppression (e.g., enslavement, Jim Crow, colonialism, practicing Christianity, being a patron of businesses not owned by conscious Black people, serving in the military, being educated in Western schools/universities, being treated in Western hospitals and by Western doctors, voting in elections), under a perceived global system of white supremacy, is viewed as being purposed to serve and further the collective interests of Europeans and is viewed as having set Black people into a psychological state of unconsciousness, deep sleep, and/or fear; consequently, individuals in the Conscious Community have sought to create, own, and operate their own society as well as re-adopt traditional African religions. Individuals in the Conscious Community seek to, and encourage continental Africans and the African diaspora to, recreate a form of classical African civilization in the modern era, which is independent of Western civilization as well as rooted in Afrocentrism and Black nationalism. At-large, individuals in the Conscious Community do not advocate for the oppression of white people, and their ultimate goal is not Black supremacy.
Individuals in the Conscious Community tend to be generally conservative (socially, politically, economically) – a type of conservatism grounded in Black nationalism and traditional African values, liberal when it comes to freethinking, generally indifferent toward and distrusting of predominant politics (e.g., Democratic Party, Republican Party) and predominant political systems, and generally trusting of their Black forerunners who were rooted in the Black radical tradition (e.g., Elijah Muhammad, Marcus Garvey, Noble Drew Ali). Despite the mistrust of predominant politics, reparations for Black suffering (e.g., enslavement, Jim Crow) remains a common objective. Individuals in the Conscious Community tend to be conservative on matters relating to feminism and homosexuality; the general view on gender roles is that Black men should protect Black women and children; the general view on homosexuality is that it is not natural, not moral, not productive, anti-African, and against the complementary concept of the Black family unit (Black man, Black woman, and Black child). There is a view held among some individuals in the Conscious Community that there is a concerted effort by the US government and mass media to promote homosexuality, specifically hyper-feminine homosexuality, in the Black American community and in countries with predominantly Black populations; this perceived attempt by the US government and mass media to effeminize Black men, along with the view that same-sex relationships contribute to the population decline, have resulted in it being characterized as and equated with "buck-breaking." In particular, Mwalimu Baruti is of the view that when some people of African descent, who are oppressed by European society and cultural imperialism like other people of African descent, seek to come back to their African cultural orientation as they enter into the Conscious Community, intentionally or unintentionally, they bring along with them misoriented philosophies and behaviors, including "sexual misorientation", from European culture and society. Additionally, Baruti is of the view that, as a service to European interests, some people of African descent enter into the Conscious Community to intentionally promote "sexual misorientation" within it.