That’s my first point. Secondly, there are some truths and there are some major offensive falsehoods which should make anyone committed to social or restorative justice uncomfortable at the least and extremely offended at the most. I will start with the truths that resonated with me keeping in mind the documentary is almost 3.5 hours long, and leans heavily on linguistic and historical research of cultures and languages from hundreds and thousands of years ago. I am not a historian or linguist, but I can emphatically attest to the documentary’s mission to demonstrate Africa’s integral role in Judaism. In fact, of the three major world religions, all of them are rooted in one way or another in Africa. To deny that is simply denying the truth. And that truth has made many groups of people uncomfortable. To suggest Africa as the birthplace of religion, culture, technology, intellect, wealth, and commerce is antithetical to historical and canonical European and American ideology. We have all been deceived on different levels in thinking that all prosperity, intellect, innovation, advancement originated outside of Africa. That just isn’t true. I cannot dispute or take offense with the producers/writers for wanting to stress the fact that in their view and based on their research, Africans are the original Jews. I’ve watched several documentaries on the 12 Lost tribes of Israel and they have come to similar conclusions regarding migration patterns to India and parts of Africa as well as references from religious texts.
Yet, there is no way I could even watch the first five minutes of the documentary and not notice the racist ideology that has caused outrage among the Jewish community. Henry Ford is a known, documented, hater of all things Jewish. He was even praised by Hitler who openly said he was inspired by Ford’s newsletter that disparaged Jews both nationally and internationally around the early 1900’s. In fact, Ford’s newsletter and writings are still easily accessible on White Nationalist/Supremacist websites. You can learn more about Ford’s exploits by clicking on the link and I only include this link because I know there will be people who will have trouble believing that the multi-billionaire car designer and entrepreneur was an actual racist and extremely antisemitic.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford-antisemitism/
Later on in the documentary the producer/directors also quote Samuel Merton, a researchers and physician who disputed that God created all races of men out of one human. Merton even went so far to say God purposely created races separately based on skull size with skull size denoting the superiority of each race. Of course according to Merton, the White race was most superior and the African race was less superior which led to a whole discipline of scientific racism to justify slavery and inhumane treatment of people of African descent. The producers of the documentary quote Merton and his skull assessment as evidence that Africans are the real Jews. That’s offensive to me personally because unknowingly the documentary affirms Merton’s inaccurate research. Did they mean to do this? I don’t think so. I am not sure how many people even paused when Samuel Merton’s name crossed the screen but because of my studies I was well aware of who he was.
Do I think Kyrie understood this? Absolutely not. Kyrie truly seems to be on a path of self enlightenment and education and when you do that you make mistakes during your journey. All of us who desire truth will find ourselves on a winding, curvy, path full of wrong turns and dead-ends. You just have to keep going. It is part of the beauty of the journey. Should he face consequences for tweeting about the documentary? Yes, I think so. It is extremely offensive in certain places. I don’t have time to mention the reference in the documentary to King Leopold who killed over 10 million Africans in his colonial quest to tame the Congo. I don’t know why the producers felt that Henry Ford, Hitler, Merton, and King Leopold of Belgium should be included as appropriate references to support their argument that Africans and enslaved Africans shipped and sold to America are the real Jews. I don’t consider these racist, White men to be accurate reference points. And if a prominent, White NBA athlete tweeted a documentary that contained truths as well as racist, White Supremacist talking points about Black people, I would want him to be held accountable. I would want him to reach out to groups that could educate him on how his tweet and the documentary could be harmful to my community. But accountability is not the same thing as crucifixion.
Yes, Kyrie tweeted about a documentary with several racially offensive moments and at first he refused to apologize. Therefore, I take no issue with any group of people who take offense to those parts of the documentary as well as other parts that I don’t have time to mention. I take no issue with the NBA suspending him. I do take issue with the NBA and any other groups that attempt to castigate, dehumanize, and try to vengefully strip Kyrie of his morality and purpose.
Ironically, yesterday, my 8-year old son brought some books home from his school library and one of the books is about a young Henry Ford. How ironic. In 2022, my 8-year old son gets to select a book about a known, well-documented, racist who inspired Hitler. Books about Ford still line library shelves.
On the other hand, there’s no evidence of Kyrie ever posting or saying anything racist about any group of people. He apologized. He repeatedly says he is about love and desires to learn from all religions. Tweeting about “From Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” wasn’t his best move, but he shouldn’t be exiled, cancelled, or broken for it. Rather let us all move on to the deeper questions of why White men like Henry Ford get to extend their legacy generationally, despite their atrocities and a young, Black man like Kyrie posts one tweet and everything he’s worked for is in jeopardy? If we focus on answering those questions first, perhaps we can truly start healing.
Danielle Koonce 
Danielle this was so enlightening. I find that people who are looking for truth sometimes accept things that they have not fully researched, all because it sounds good and the tone that author uses to put out the info is pleasing. Once we find true peace with ourselves, most things will fall in place and we know how to separate our thoughts and truths from things that are false. I always enjoy your knowledge, keep it coming!!!
Very well said!!! I totally agree
Thanks very well written. I appreciate the v points made in this article.
Thanks for this Danielle!
Nice post, Danielle! Though I agree with your statement that Kyrie is making mistakes while on his enlightenment journey, I have to gracefully disagree about your take on the movie, Hebrew to Negroes, falsehoods. Before there can be any restorative justice there has to be recompense of all inhumane crimes enacted on a group of people; and before recompense, or restitution, can take place, truth must be revealed; and this truth must be grounded on biblical facts.
One focal point that’s catching media attention, and building momentum, is the, “is Kyrie antisemitic?”, narrative. There’s an old statement that says those who are in power define meaning to a word. This means that the one who is in control dictates how history is told. To counteract this manipulation, we have to study the etymology of words. We have to get down to the root of why certain things are defined how they’re defined, and if the definition is true to it’s core. One of the stances Kyrie took, regarding the media, was his stance on being antisemitic. Kyrie said he can’t be antisemitic when he knows where he came from. Now, why did this statement go over the heads of the media, and the majority of the population? I believe because we assumed we knew what the word ‘semitic’ meant; but did we really know, or have we become intellectually lazy and assumed positive intent of those who are in power?
To be Semetic means to be a descendant of Noah’s 2nd son, Shem! Noah had 3 sons, Japheth, Shem, and Ham. If you were of Japheth you are Japhetic; if you were of Shem you are Shemitic (Hellenistic Greek historians removed the ‘h’); and if Ham, then Hamitic. The reason Kyrie, and many others like him, is able to say with confidence that he is unable to be antisemitic, is primarily due to the scientific breakthrough of DNA testing. For centuries, the people that’s in question, have convinced the world of who they are but their DNA states otherwise; there genetic marker shows that they are from the line of Ashkenaz, which is from the line of Japheth (Gen 10:2-3). This is what Ronald Dalton, Jr’s movie dedicates its time highlighting- biblical truth mixed with a little scientific proof!
I would love to touch on other aspects of your blog, because I do believe its integral to recapturing the identity theft which caused this identity crisis in the black community, but for word character sake, and for the sake of time, I will keep it short lol. My mother use to tell me as a child, when I got caught doing something wrong, “is this the first time you did this or is it the first time you got caught?” As a people, I do believe that due to all the lies and whitewashing that has taking place throughout our history, we can not take anything, nor anyone, at face value anymore. Just look at God’s rainbow! The rainbow use to be a Noahic covenant symbol to the whole world that Father will never flood the earth again; now, looking at it through today’s lenses, what does that same rainbow represent?! The world teaches the masses that ignorance is bliss but the Bible teaches believers that ignorance is a curse, and not just an individual curse but a generational one, at that (Hosea 4:6).
PS- Regarding the statements of Henry Ford and Adolph Hitler, when we uncover who’s who in history, we will discover why these men said the things they said about the Negro and Ashkenazi Jewry.
Thank you for all that you do!
Sampson
@sharpeningiron101
Thanks for sharing my brother. You speak on too many things for me to address and look forward to addressing them in the future in person. ❤️
Always well though out and spot on. Now: Kyrie irritates me…HOWEVER, I don’t believe in casting people aside and when they want to be better we leave them with no hope. He doesn’t have to gravel or beg but if he’s seen the error or where it’s faulty then let them come around in their journey.
R
Wordrickmelvin@gmail.com