Character is something tat has been valued throughout the ages, but the first culture to stress the importance of character was the Egyptians. The Egyptians notion of good character, and that the principles of Ma'at, their rules to live by, evolved into the ten commandments.
Character, according to the Egyptians, is the most important thing that a person has, without character a man is nothing. According to Egyptian culture even if you are the richest man earth but if you have bad character. This notion comes from the story of Iwa, where a women denies a god because of his character and his attitude, showing that to Egyptians nothing is more important then character and that their gods are not exempt from this. The reason that this struck me so hard was that they are instilling the importance of character into their society. not only did they first use this idea of character they spread it from Egypt to other parts of Africa, and to the rest of the world. yet they didnt spread it forcefully, they were the dew drop that spread virtue and culture to the rest of the world. They showed us a better way to live, a way that helped your fellow man.
It was also wonderful to be shown my connection to this great civilization. It inspired me, it made me want to do more, it made me more confident in my abilities to know that I have the potential and character of an Egyptian inside of me.
Dr. Segun Gbadegesin brought up a great topic that earned my FULL attention. Character and Self Actualization. My favorite part was when he said and I do not quote, when you have wealth without character you have nothing at all. Good character means more then just a trait or feature it makes you who you are and it empowers you. Those with good character find themselves to be blessed. He went back to Egypt and told us the story of IWA. I wish we could take the piece of Ancient Egyptain and how they practiced truth and justice to maintain balance and order. The fact that they could maintain good character shows that Africans were not uncivilized beasts as the Europeans played them to be. A man of good character has wealth and I plan to be a woman of good character and posses the wealth of knowledge. I would like to hold immortality in my community just like Alaine Locke, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and the many others that Howard has name each of these beautiful buildings after.
ReplyDeleteCharderah Patterson