THEODORE P. FORD, ETC.
THEODORE P. FORD, ETC.
Theodore P. Ford's "God Wills the Negro" (Chicago: Geographical Institute Press, 1939) is, from what I can tell, a pretty typical mid-period Afrocentric work. But it, like Volney's Ruins, exhibits a certain split personality between the scientific and spritual modes of thought. The first part of the book is devoted to a more-or-less anthropoligical approach to the history of Black Americans, deducing that they are the descendents of the Ancient Egyptians forced from their homeland by succesive invasions starting in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C.E.. They moved south and then west due to various pressures, influenced the development of various Saharan and sub-Saharan cultures and were captured and sold into slavery by the indeginous populations of West Africa. (I am reminded here of Sun Ra's response in Lagos, Nigeria to the greeting "welcome home". He answered, "This isn't my home. Your people sold my people into slavery| (Szwed)). In the first part, this story is told using various historical and anthroplogical techniques. Though Ford leaves himself open to a lot of questions and doubts, his conclusions are at least plausable. In the second part this same story is retold as divine revelation from Zipporah, the maid of Midea, through John the Divine "of the River Country,... preach(er) after the manner of the Do-Rights". I am unfamiliar with the meaning of these figures. As in Volney's Ruins, the story of the first part is retold as a vision, using a little more colorful detail, but essentially saying the same thing. A moral element is added. The Egyptians were driven out of their home and forced to suffer their trials because of the iniquities of certain Pharoahs. Their trials are meant to humble them to a point where they can then resume their rightful place as the benificent rulers of mankind. I am reminded here of the Sun Ra poem, printed in Black Fire and in other places (I can't remember the title) which basically describes the sufferings of slavery as a test for the Black race (Black Americans) and a prepartion for future powers. The book concludes with some transcriptions of spirituals, ostensibly as evidence for an argument layed out in the first section that images in spirituals are found more in Egyptian culture than in West African or European Christian cultures. But why transcriptions, when the words are what are being discussed? I don't know. There remains the question, mentioned by Szwed, as to whether Theodore P. Ford was actually W. Fard Muhammad, the person who instructed Elijah Muhammad and laid the foundation of the Nation of Islam. Ford mentions being a "Hoo-doo priest", as a means to gain access to the spiritual hearts of Black people. He is otherwise mute on his background. Information on Fard Muhammad is scarce. I consulted a booklet by Hakim Shabazz "Essays on the Life and Teachings of Master W. Fard Muhammad" (Hampton, VA: United Brothers and Unted Sisters Communications Systems, 1990). This was helpful, but didn't allow me to make any connection between Ford and Fard Muhammad. So basically, I don't know. It seems possible that these were the same people, but it is equally or more likely not the case. An interesting connection is made in Shabazz's book between the theology of the NOI, as begun by Fard Muhammad, and the theosophy of P. D. Ouspensky. Sun Ra had Ouspensky's "Tertium Organum" in his library, and I've started reading this book. So far (50pp.) it's a pretty careful, even scientific meditation on the possible characteristics of four-dimensional space, and its fifth dimension, eternity. Someone mentioned earlier today that the music of Jac and Sun Ra still exists in etertity. This is not just a sentimental statement. Sun Ra, and many others, would see a profound, if somewhat incomprehensible, scientific truth to it. There is much more of interest in this book, but that can wait until its own report. Sorry to go on so long. The connections seem to appear as if by magic. But I guess this always happens in any extended reading project. But I'm finding it very fulfilling to sort of retrace the steps of Sun Ra in this way and I hope at least a few of you are getting something from these field reports. James