Introducing IAATP

EditorOctober 1, 2023

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The Institute for African American Thought and Philosophy (IAATP), was founded in 2011 as Legba Publishers by O.S. Ekunkonye a respected elder and independent philosopher in the oldest community of African American traditional priests. This community grew out of the Black American Yoruba movement of the 1960’s. While better known groups such as SCLC, SNCC and the Black Panther Party focused upon civil rights and revolutionary activism, Black American Yorubaism focused primarily on reacquiring traditional African culture as a vehicle for Black American liberation. The contributions of this movement included reintroducing Black America to traditional African attire, religion and language during the civil rights era.

Legba Publishers changed its name to the Institute for African American Thought and Philosphy in 2012 and over the ensuing years, diligently progressed in the difficult work of decoding the Black Experience in America as a distinct historical reality and developing effective solutions for the complex array of past and present challenges confronting Black Americans. The deeper we got into this work the more we realized that we had to take things in a totally new direction, in keeping with our mission of:

Contributing to the building of a better world through the medium of independent thought and philosophy.

Fast-forward to 2023, IAATP now takes its place in a long line of current and past Black activists and thinkers. Without their collective labors, we couldn’t have done the work that we’re presenting today. At IAATP, we not only believe in the intrinsic value of independent thought and philosophy but we also believe in making philosophy more relevant and accessible to a wider audience.

Let us take a moment to clarify what we do here at IAATP as opposed to what Black professional or academic philosophers do. These men and women are charged with the education of the nation’s youth as faculty members of colleges and universities. They must prove their skills in the history and dogma of Western philosophy to hold their positions. These individuals have also made notable contributions to what is termed Africana or Black Existential philosophy which can be described as the academic view of the struggles of the general African Diaspora.

However, among the work we do here at IAATP is philosophy in its most ancient and natural sense because philosophical systems traditionally arise from independent philosophers within specific ethnic groups. This is readily seen in the rise of Greek, Hindu and Chinese philosophy, for example; likewise, the work presented by IAATP is that of our founder O.S. Ekunkonye, an independent philosopher within the Black American community itself. His initial work, The Great Correction: Rethinking our View of the World and Mankind (2015) also known as TGC, comes in two volumes and introduces Correctionism: a timeless, universal philosophy rooted in the African American Experience, which represents a truly African American philosophical system. At IAATP, we’re not concerned with the history or dogma of Western philosophy although we are familiar with these topics in a general sense.

As an authentic African-American philosophy, Correctionism is Truth-centered rather than Africa-centered, so it teaches that the Truth is vital for the proper conduct of human life and the source of all that’s good. It also teaches that the Black Experience in America is best seen as the epitome of the human experience over the last several thousand years and counting. Therefore in this philosophical system, the Black Experience in the U.S. becomes a vehicle for acquiring a better understanding of the human experience. Furthermore, Correctionism, teaches The Great Correction: placing the Truth back in its rightful position over and above all human systems of belief, regardless of the source.

This is vital because the proliferation of massive human mistakes and crimes, over roughly the last two thousand years, up to and including the present, have made a huge mess of things here on earth yet people still call this civilization. This is naturally very confusing and misleading because what people have long thought of as rising civilization during the aforementioned period is, in reality, a chronicle of Massive Human Error (MHE) instead. Never has mankind been as wrong or as misguided as it is today. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance in Correctionism for man to not only realize when he’s wrong but to also correct himself before it’s too late.

IAATP also offers Post-Negro Studies as a new field of study focusing on Ajise (Ah-jee-sheh) or the Culture of Redemption and Renewal (CORAR) as a more effective Black American culture for the 21st century and beyond. Among other things, Ajise teaches the knowledge and skills required to overcome Negroism (Thinking and acting like Negroes) and move forward in history as a people. The following works of O.S. Ekunkonye are central to IAATP’s Post-Negro Studies Program:

The Alchemy of Black Liberation and the Post Negro Worldview, also known as TABL (Table), introduces the concept of Ajise (Ah-jee-sheh) or Post-Negroism which offers an entirely different way of viewing the Black Experience in America. Ajise is a Yoruba word that means, “One who awakens and achieves.” It is also the name of a more effective Black American culture for the 21st century and beyond. TABL is also the pre-requisite for The Second Emancipation Program (TSEP).

The Second Emancipation and the Path of the True Descendant, is the second work on  the list above; this book is offered as an instruction manual for those engaged in IAATP’s Second Emancipation Program, which for the first time in Black American history makes overcoming Negroism (thinking and acting like Negroes—the most problematic legacy of U.S. slavery and racism) a viable option. This program assists those Black Americans who’re tired of the same old, same old and willing and able to exchange centuries of erroneous beliefs and behavior for an entirely new direction. Since The Great Correction (TGC) is the foundation of Post-Negroism, TSEP is essentially about realizing our major mistakes as a people, so we won’t keep blindly repeating them, and overcoming the affliction of Negroism (thinking and acting like Negroes) one individual at a time. TGC then becomes a key reference for participants in our Second Emancipation Program.

The Second Emancipation and the Path of the True Descendant is synonymous with The Second Emancipation Program as its instruction manual, so both are referred to as TSEP. When combined, the three works listed above (TGC, TABL and TSEP) form IAATP’s African American Wisdom Library.

The African American Wisdom Library (AAWL) is the focus of Post-Negro Studies; these works offer new insights and solutions to the problems long faced by Black Americans that won’t be found anywhere else. These solutions aren’t for every Black American but specifically for those Black Americans who have what it takes to overcome Negroism in actual practice. In other words, these works aren’t merely for intellectual exercise but should be seen for what they truly are: a blueprint for much needed transformation on the individual level because any desired group change must first take place within the individual. This identifies the African American Wisdom Library (AAWL) as serious works for serious individuals. Black liberation is a way of life and not a movement!

The team at IAATP remains dedicated to another important task: to address the glaring lack of understanding of the Black Experience in America among Black Americans themselves. In certain respects our sojourn here in the U.S. has been a great mystery to many of us, which can only be truly understood via new ways of seeing ourselves as individuals and as a people.