“We can think of Maat metaphorically as the womb which gives birth to the order; the matrix of human society. We can use it as a symbolic statement of Afrika in its purest form, not as she is now, but as the principle of our/her becoming. Maat is the well from which we drink. It our wholeness; the Source of Afrikan being. Maat is the foundation which imparts meaning to reality and to life. Maat is ‘The Way’ as Ayi Kwei Armah has used that term. Maat as The way embodies the design for good thinking; the patterns for righteous behavior. Most importantly, in this paradigm, Maat is the context for Afrikan health and well being. Maat is birth and it is life. It is for us the natural state of being. It envelops all time and space. It is systems of thought, being and value, all in One. Maat is the prototype for Afrikan civilization: Mother Afrika. Relationships within Maat are organic and flowing. Maat is harmony and wholeness. As a state of being it is connectedness. The womb of Maat establishes the rhythm of Afrikan cultural science which manifests as civilization.”

-Marimba Ani, To be Afrikan: Toward the Healing, Rebirth and Reconstruction of Afrikan Civilization: The Maat/Maafa/Sankofa Paradigm