Tracing Mexico’s Ancient Roots to the Heartland of Mother Africa
More colmuns by Mother Tynnetta Muhammad
“And surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle: We give you to drink of what is in their bellies–from betwixt the faeces and the blood–pure milk, agreeable to the drinkers. And of the fruits of the palms and the grapes, you obtain from them intoxicants and goodly provision. There is surely a sign in this for a people who ponder.” —Holy Qur’an, Surah 16, verses 66-67
My travels to Mexico preceded my first journey to Africa and the Far East (Asia). My first travels to Mexico began in 1965. Ten years later my first journey to Africa began in Egypt in 1975. Since my early childhood, I always felt a strong connection to Egypt and Africa along the banks of the Nile. I found myself often communicating with the great monuments (temples and pyramids), often speaking directly to the great Sphinx inquiring about the great mystery of life. Conscientiously, I knew very little about Mexico at that time, its vast culture and mysteries to explore except through vicarious experiences in which I found myself traveling through underground caverns and tunnels. I also expressed these adventurous themes through my paintings which reflected the mural type images of some of Mexico’s greatly revered painters and muralists.
In my youth, I never fully anticipated that there would be a cultural link between Mexico and Africa and that one day I would travel to both Mexico and Africa with extended journeys to Asia and the Himalayas into Al-Tai, Mongolia, Russia and Siberia. I have begun this article with a reflection on some of my past to share with our readers so that we may come to realize that nothing ever happens by chance and that nothing in our lives occurs as a coincidence. Each one of us is prepared from birth to see in advance aspects of our future destiny. I am so fortunate and thankful to Almighty God Allah for what I have experienced in my lifetime and pray that I will continue to serve the purpose of this ‘Great Work’ and journey to be united with the one God, Almighty Allah, traveling in search of knowledge to fulfill our destiny.
As we open the pages on yet another upcoming event with the opportunity to explore and trace Mexico’s ancient roots to the heartland of Mother Africa, Exodus is proud to present MXODUS Tours on the theme of the African Diaspora in Mexico. This tour will be conducted by our eminent educator and scholar, Professor Toni-Mokjaetji Humber, who has tirelessly pioneered her investigation throughout the years on this subject under the tutelage of Asa Hilliard, Ivan Van Sertima and Runoko Rashidi and others in bringing awareness to our many people in America and abroad. With the intensity of her research, she skillfully focuses on the importance of our Black cultural links to Mexico via the trade root from Mother Africa, both in contemporary and ancient times.
As we follow this year’s tour schedule beginning on August 14 and ending on August 23rd, we begin in the capitol of Mexico City, arriving on the 14th of August to meet one another in fellowship and begin our journey by being transported to the capitol Veracruz, Jalapa. Once there, we will be hosted by Professor Sagrario Cruz from the University of Veracruz and visit the museum of Jalapa, which boasts some of the most rare glances into Mexico’s past cultures beginning with the Olmec and including Totonac overlapping into Toltec and Aztec influences on cultural development.
We will experience the environment of one of Mexico’s oldest sugar plantations and haciendas and dine from the cuisine of an African Mexico-style meal also prepared by hosts Professor Sagrario Cruz and members of her family who also traced some of their heritage to roots in the Caribbean, to the island state of Cuba. From Jalapa, we will journey to Cordoba, Veracruz, where for three days, 16th—19th, we will participate in the annual Yanga Festival and meet members of our families of African and Mexican origin. Professor Humber has made a special study of this region and has adopted family members there. The Yanga Festival is an enriching experience where you will meet face to face with your own people who stretch out as far West to the Pacific Coast of Costa Chica located between the states of Guerro and Oaxaca, reaching further south into the states of Tabasco and Chiapas where our tour ends on the 23rd of August. This will be an unforgettable lifetime experience where the entire family with rewarding educational and cultural benefits.
In the state of Chiapas tour participants will have an opportunity to invest in land, real estate and commerce. This area has produced for us our state grown organic coffee, which is now being distributed in the U.S.A. Come and join our MXODUS family seeking to fulfill the promise of Allah to us all of luxury, money, good homes and friendships in all walk of life!
For further information on this year’s MXODUS Tour, go to our website: www.mxodus.com.
“And thy Lord revealed to the bee: Makes hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they build, Then eat of all the fruits and walk in the ways of thy Lord submissively. There comes forth from their bellies a beverage of many hues, in which there is healing for men. Therein is surely a sign for a people who reflect.” —Holy Qur’an, Surah 16, verses 68-69
To be continued.
