By Charo R. Walker
BlackFood.org News Reporter
IN APRIL 2009 when Jamaican poet Mutabaruka visited The Bahamas he urged the community to “challenge the “illusions” that black people based their lives on and the things that we teach our children.” A little over a year later, his charge is still ringing like the sound of beating drums on Boxing Day.
The African woman, man and child everywhere finds her/himself under attack; under the foot of capitalism; imperialism. Yes, in the age of Obama the African family is being exploited and terrorized each and every day. And on this “rock” – in The Bahamas – the terror is hot, raw and heavy. All of us can feel it, even taste it. But our frustrations have not moved us to the point of sustained mass action; at least, not yet.
A stumbling block for many of us in this “Christian nation” is the western, pacifist version of Christianity that is practiced which tells us to pray – not act – in the face of gross human rights violations. The Bahamas’ dominant belief system also fails to connect, on a basic level, with the people who practice it. At the center of Bahamian Christianity is the worship of a white, blue-eyed god which makes it all the more difficult for us to challenge the foreign influences in our country that are the root of our misery.
While African spirituality alone will not free us from our oppression, it is clear, given the significance that the belief in God holds in our society, that our failure to fully embrace African belief systems disallows us from truly seeing ourselves reflected in God; disallows us from ever feeling powerful enough to radically change our circumstance. Reverend Cleaveland W. Eneas III of the Qubtic Church of the Black Messiah: Journey Home Group International knows this to be true. In a recent interview with BlackFood.org he stated: “The Qubtic Church Of The Black Messiah … aims to restore true-faith, true religious identity and reality, based on confirmed facts, back to humanity, and especially the Nubian Melaninite Family (Blacks, Latinos, Caribbeans, African-Americans) so that we as humanity can again respect who we are and were created to be by the The Most High Heavenly Father and all of his angelic hosts.”
Rev. Eneas III, who has been ordained since December of 2009, has studied with the Qubtic Church for over seven years and his studies continue even today. Last month he opened the doors of The Bahamas Branch of the Qubtic Church of the Black Messiah on Meadow Street with little fanfare but with a clear desire to work to win the hearts and minds of Bahamians who may know little of our important place in history. “The Qubtic Church of The Black Messiah [which was established in 2003 as an organization focused on reconnecting Africans of the Diaspora with Ancient Africa] is a Qubtic Church, which simply means “central” church, in so far as the ancient African Church or “Kanesa” provided all other churches with the central theme for their doctrines, along with the fact the original church came out of Africa, which is central to all cultures and civilizations,” said the Reverend. “The precept of the Most Heavenly Father, The Blessed Mother, The Willing Son and The Holy Soul comes out of Ancient Africa and was grabbed by the many invaders into our lands that then began to try to find themselves in our doctrine and ultimately our culture. In being unsuccessful at finding themselves in original Tamarean (Ancient African) Precepts, they began to plagiarize what they found and take our culture, masking it with their limited understanding and pale images.”
Rev. Eneas III sits on a council of pastors or Reverends that come together to decide what is best for the Qubtic Church which has six branches to date (Nassau, Bahamas; Tampa, Fl; Trinidad; London; Gambia; and Liberia). All of the branches are tied in to original scriptures, precepts, rites and rituals which guide all of them in their respective parts of the world. Along with the spiritual teachings, self-pride, self-empowerment and personal development are also taught. The Church in all of its various locations combined has constructed and continues to construct farmlands, houses, schools, urgent care centers, radio stations, churches, youth-sports leagues and strip malls.
Over the years, Rev. Eneas III and his 30+ congregation met in various locations – on parks, in houses or wherever was convenient for them – all the while, they worked steadily toward the opening of their Church home. Sunday Services are held from 9 am – 11am and Fellowships are held on Thursday and Saturday at 6pm.♦bf