Knowledge of Self: Kareem Stewart on Black Consciousness & African Identity

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]prior to look into this how, Akrim?

[00:00:02]Well, like most children [music] and stuff, I really didn't pay any attention to it. When you walk through the church, Jesus was white, Mary was white, heck, every picture on the wall was white.

[00:00:12][music] But, then one day I just took a step back and looked and thought about why is this? [music] Why do we have these images? Where are we? We didn't We are not just slaves. We are more than ex-slaves. We're from Africa. We have a very rich heritage. We were the first [music] architects. We built pyramids.

[00:00:30]We were the first astrologers.

[00:00:32]>> [music] >> So, I just take a I just took a step back and said, "Heck, we're not this.

[00:00:36]We're more than gang members. We're more than killers, basketball players, MUSICIANS, [cheering] ENTERTAINERS."

[00:00:47]>> [applause] >> AND I THINK IT'S THE IT'S THE time It's the time. It was time [music] 25 years ago when Martin Luther King was assassinated, when Malcolm X was assassinated. [music] I want somebody else to step up to the front plate. It's not We just shouldn't sit here and just say, "Oh, [music] well, heck, they let us go to a bathroom." It's time for us to change this.

[00:01:08]And we'll be back in just a moment.