Could African Justice Heal What Western Justice Broke? From Ma’at to Faso Bu-Kaoré

T. Hasani
Jul 3
3 min read

Before We Were Taught Western Justice

As Foundational Black Americans, many of us grew up learning about courts, prisons, judges, and punishment as though they were the only ways to administer justice.

Yet these systems are not the only models that have existed.

Long before colonialism, African civilizations developed sophisticated systems of governance rooted in family, elders, mediation, accountability, and restoration.

For the Bissa people, elders and traditional leaders were not simply authority figures. They were guardians of history, culture, and social harmony.

Ancient Kemet expressed similar principles through Ma'at, truth, balance, justice, reciprocity, and harmony.

As descendants reconnecting with our Bissa ancestry, perhaps one of the most important questions we can ask is this:

What did our ancestors know about justice that we have forgotten?

The principles of Ma'at emphasized truth, balance, justice, and harmony as the foundation of society.

Has the Western Justice System Served Black America?

As Foundational Black Americans, we cannot discuss justice without acknowledging our own lived experience.

Black Americans make up a minority of the U.S. population, yet we have long been incarcerated at disproportionately high rates compared with other groups. Those disparities have affected families, neighborhoods, educational opportunities, and economic mobility across generations.

Another historical reality is found in the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. While it abolished slavery, it also contains an exception allowing involuntary servitude "as a punishment for crime."

That exception has been the subject of significant historical and legal debate, particularly regarding its impact on Black Americans through the criminal justice system.

These realities invite an important question:

Should we also study the justice traditions our ancestors developed before colonialism?

Two different philosophies of justice: one centered on restoration and mediation, the other centered primarily on formal legal institutions and punishment.

Faso Bu-Kaoré and the Return of Indigenous Leadership

Today, Burkina Faso is renewing discussion around the place of customary leadership in national life through Faso Bu-Kaoré and broader recognition of traditional authorities.

Rather than viewing indigenous leadership as something left in the past, these conversations recognize that chiefs, elders, and customary institutions continue to play meaningful roles within many communities.

For the Bissa people, this is familiar.

Leadership has always involved more than authority.

It has involved listening.

Mediation.

Community trust.

Responsibility.

Wisdom passed from one generation to another.

Traditional leadership remains an important source of cultural continuity and community guidance.

What Can the Bissa Teach the Diaspora?

For many of us in America, reconnecting with Africa begins through DNA testing.

But it should not end there.

Learning our ancestry should also inspire us to study the institutions, values, and traditions that shaped our people.

The Bissa remind us that justice is not only about punishment.

It is also about restoring relationships.

Protecting families.

Preserving community.

Respecting elders.

Building consensus.

Passing wisdom forward.

Those principles remain relevant today.

Knowledge is preserved when elders teach the next generation.

The Bridge Between Africa and the Diaspora

Brother Siphiwe Baleka recently wrote:

"An Afrodescendant anywhere is a citizen everywhere on the African continent, with an inherent legal stake in all African soil."

Whether one interprets that statement legally, culturally, or philosophically, it challenges us to think beyond ancestry alone.

Reconnection carries responsibility.

As descendants of Africa, we should preserve our history, strengthen our institutions, support development, and contribute to the future of our ancestral homeland.

Conclusion

Perhaps the future is not about choosing between African traditions and modern institutions.

Perhaps it is about asking what wisdom our ancestors preserved that still has value today.

From Ma'at to the traditions of the Bissa, and through contemporary conversations surrounding Faso Bu-Kaoré, Africa reminds us that justice can be rooted in truth, balance, mediation, accountability, and community.

As Foundational Black Americans reconnecting with our Bissa ancestry, we should not only remember our past.

We should study it.

Preserve it.

And ask how its wisdom might help us build stronger families, stronger institutions, and stronger nations for generations to come.