As we hum the tune of great hip-hop and R&B songs like Erykah Badu’s “On & On,” we might miss the masterful hidden messages of the lyrics. She says, “If we were made in his image then call us by our names/ most intellects do not believe in God but they fear us just the same… I was born underwater with three dollars and six dimes. Yeah, you might laugh ‘cause you did not do your math.”

 Scholars and Pan-Africanists agree that Africans were the earth’s first people, with the first philosophies, sciences, arts, and spiritual concepts. Our ancient African ancestors believed in a well-rounded life, unity with the Creator, and oneness with one another. Maat, an Egyptian philosophy and way of life, is a concept of spiritual being some African scholars argue is the foundation of all religions.