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There´s a Secret in the Village uses the metaphorical imagery of alchemy to explore what the alchemist would consider a prima materia, a substance of little or no value, yet a substance also considered of immense value if allotted the appropriate attention. In the United States, African American urban adolescent males would mirror the prima materia, for America has, by most accounts, "thrown" this population away. This subculture of adolescents feel themselves of a color "blacker than black." This color carries with it a charged shadow image of negativity, causing a color complex which leads many to an inferiority complex. Added to this lack of ego formation are youth living in an urban environment not conducive to exposure or learning. Their environment results in a victimization mentality leading to a cultural mindset reminiscent of the prisoners in Plato´s "Allegory of the Cave." This book offers an interpretive perspective from mythology, developmental psychology, and sociology. It informs us that through the primary use of Akan principals, Jungian psychology, and the telling, discussion, and analysis of myth, our urban youth can become, "The Hero Within Their Own Stories."

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Kwame is founder and executive director of Alchemy, Inc., a non-profit organization in Akron, Ohio. Kwame holds a Ph.D. and MA in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in California and has been formally initiated into the Akan System of Life Cycle Development (African-based rites of passage).

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