Making the Case for Math Proficiency as Kujichagulia:
Self-Determination by the Numbers
Copyright © 2024 / Harold Shujaa Baker / All rights reserved
“Kujichagulia / Self-Determination – To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.”
Cheyney University mathematics professor, Akil Parker, is on a mission to change the world – one proficient math student at a time. His life work is based on a fundamental belief that “Math proficiency is a tool of liberation and self-determination,” and he is deeply committed to the task of “liberating” as many students as possible – and their parents.
Professor Akil Parker operates the YouTube Channel – All This Math – where he has posted over 800 video tutorials on every math concept from basic arithmetic through calculus. If someone has a need to be tutored on a concept not yet covered in this vast mathematics library, they only need to make their request known and a video tutorial will soon appear.
Akil’s love for teaching math is matched by his love for Black people and a deep appreciation for our history and primary contributions to the forward flow of human progress. He is fully aligned with the teachings of the Honorable Marcus Garvey who taught us that “People have done what people can do.” With this and his deep appreciation for African history, he is absolutely convinced that Black people can accomplish anything we commit to accomplishing – including fully restoring and building upon our historical math proficiency.
Beyond addressing our world leading history of math proficiency, Prof. Parker also explains how math deficiency contributes to many negative outcomes outside of the classroom. He explains how math proficiency teaches critical thinking and problem-solving skills that people with deficient math skills don’t possess, and it often shows when poor decisions are made that too often lead to lives permanently changed in prison or lives that end far too soon. Given the opportunity, Prof. Parker will convincingly explain how math deficiency contributes directly to increased numbers being trapped in the prison industrial complex.
Professor Akil further explains how math deficiency is a conditioned generational curse for Black people, causing far too many of us to accept that math is simply “too hard,” or “not for us,” when our ancestors were the first to develop and apply mathematics for practical use.
To be sure, if enslavers didn’t want our ancestors to learn to read, then they surely didn’t want them to be proficient at speaking the language of math or with performing accurate calculations based on it. After all, it is so much easier to cheat people who don’t understand basic math, and some modern corporations see it the same way…
But we have no shortage of math proficiency in our history. The Black people of ancient Kemet (Egypt) were math geniuses whose calculations contributed mightily to all that was accomplished by the greatest civilization of antiquity. It is inconceivable that no one understands how ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) people designed and built amazingly precise temples and pyramids that still stand thousands of years after construction.
The truth is, their methods are well known. But to fully acknowledge the depth of Black people’s understanding and command of mathematics and advanced STEM knowledge would require far more credit be given to our ancient ancestors than the racism infused modern world wants to accept.
Professor Parker actively combats this conditioned generational curse by not only targeting school age children at every level with his math tutoring efforts, but also their parents. He understands how parents who struggle with math inadvertently or actively transfer math anxiety to their children. To challenge and improve on this, he actively encourages parents to also engage with his math tutorials to increase their math proficiency as the way possible to motivate their children. To help in this effort, in particular, Akil completely demystifies the notion of “new math,” explaining how it directly relates to the “old math” and effectively explaining its benefits.
So, if you or someone you know needs to develop their math skills as part of a necessary plan toward full self-determination and achieving their highest and fullest potential, introduce them to Professor Akil Parker and his YouTube Channel – All This Math – and he will take it from there…
