AKI ASINIA LUKATA CHIKUYU:
I thought it was such a beautiful thing the way Afrikans converged on Jena , Louisiana to support the Jena Six. What a show of Black Power! What a show of Unity! What a show of Nia (Purpose)! Add that to the support that Afrikans are currently demonstrating in the pursuit of justice for The Scott Sisters, Jamie & Gladys Scott of Mississippi and the gravitation of Afrikans towards observing Kwanzaa as an Afrikan Holiday lifts my spirits immensely.
However, too much of the manifestation of Black Power is reactionary and too short lived. Sooner or later, preferably sooner, Afrikans are going to realize that being Proactive is so much more effective and sustaining for using our collective power (Kujichagulia & Ujima) to improve the quality of life in our community. Soon!, we will come to recognize that Black Power is good for Black People and being Proactive is the source for getting and sustaining that power.
For us to grow collectively, Afrikans need to begin to see things the way they need to be rather than the way they are. Yes, we are 2nd class citizens in america and that status is a direct result of our history here. But our history did not start here in america. Yes, we should react to the oppression and injustice of white supremacy that challenges our humanity. But at the same time, we must begin to move toward striving as a people, rather than simply surviving in america . That determination to achieve must be for the collective good (Ujima) rather than the selfish gratification we currently seek as americans.
James Weldon Johnson once said, “We’re a special people. We’re the best and the brightest our ancestors ever produced”. That is a powerful affirmation given the great past deeds of Afrikan People and places an awesome burden of responsibility on us. The responsibility requires us to understand the power of Umoja (Unity) for Afrikan People and to truly have Imani (Faith) in the righteous of our struggle for self-respect, which will gather for us the respect of others.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power.” And the true measure of a people’s compelling power is its ability to be self-reliant. What makes it so nettlesome for us as Afrikans in america to amass that type of power is our love of servitude that is conditioned in us through the training we receive in american schools and colleges. It become so vexing to go against the grain of being trained up in the way that america wants us to be that we concede to america’s perceived power over us.
Our foremost challenge in our struggle/movement is understanding what Dr. King meant when his said, “a man who won’t die for something is not fit to live”, in context with what Kwame Nkrumah meant when he said, “It is better to be free to govern, or misgovern, yourself than to be governed by anybody else.” Kujichagulia (Self-Determination ) dedicates that we be willing to fully understand Black Nationalism and Black Power and be totally committed to bring them into full fruition for the benefit of Black People collectively, which is the Afrikan-centered approach to living the Nguzo Saba.
Kwanzaa Yenu Iwe Na Heri!
(May Your Kwanzaa Be Happy)
and
May you know the Makadara (God-Power) of Imani (Faith) all year long.
from
Aki Asinia Lukata Chikuyu,
comm.drum@gmail.com
Jackson, Mississippi
https://theblacklist.net/
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