Expressing the Principle of Kujichagulia

The second day of Kwanzaa, Kujichagulia,  is about Self Determination. To quote the Nguzo Saba: “To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.”

Self Reflection

How many of us have taken the time to reflect on who we are? To discover self, one must remove all distractions. One must remove the TV, radio, cell phone, friends, family and sit quietly. Be with one’s own self. That, for many of us is a scary, but essential building block necessary to successfully build a family, community and nation.  You remove all distractions to hear what might be an essential truth. Doing this can be unnerving, but also liberating.

Who Am I?

In  5th grade, a young lady who sat one seat ahead of me and I were the only African Americans in the class. Our teacher asked all of us to tell the class where our family was from. As student after student spoke about family from Ireland, Italy, Germany, Poland and other places, I was panicked. I realized at that moment that I didn’t know. All I knew was that my family was from Georgia, Alabama, Maryland and New York. I didn’t know any place else outside of the country. I was aware enough to know that black people may have come from Africa, but I was afraid to discuss this. Why? Because any reference to Africa in my textbook referred to it as  “The Dark Continent”. This reference was not made to make anyone feel good. “Dark” to those who named it, was supposed to be a bad thing.

Moreover, we were referred to as “Negro” back then. So where could I say I was from? Negroland? There was no such thing. To this day I don’t remember how I responded when the teacher got to me. Being a smart child, I may have deflected the conversation to take the teacher off topic. This was the device I would use back then to save myself. But, in all honesty, I don’t remember.

That class, that event stuck with me for all of my childhood and into my adult life. I dare say it was the driving force to me attempting to discover who I was and where my family was from.

THIS is why Kujichagulia is important. The only thing I knew about myself in those days, was the terms used to describe me. Some of them still exists today. “Inner City Youth”, “Urban Youth” , “Nigger”, “Nigga”, “Colored” all were terms used to describe me and those who look like me. None of these reflected who I was. In fact, what it took me years to discover is that none of these terms were attached to a land mass. When a person has family from Italy who immigrated here, they refer to themselves as “Italian American”.  Immigrants from Ireland can refer to themselves as ” Irish American”. What all these immigrants had in common is that they were connected to a land mass. Unfortunately, the stigma promoted by many people made being African such a bad thing that it never dawned upon most of us that we were African American. For some, being called African was enough of an insult to cause a fist fight. Naturally we would not know how to describe ourselves if we went by what others have called us.

Self Determination Brings Peace

It was after my first trip to Africa that I was able to sit down, reflect and find my voice. I stopped accepting the definitions others placed upon me and other African Americans. I CHOSE to be “African American” and when I had my children, I made sure they were aware that so were they. More importantly, I made sure they read about and were immersed in African and African American culture. Today my children can stand with anyone in the world and cite the accomplishments of our people on world history. This ability puts everyone on equal footing in conversations, negotiations and interactions. By making sure they know their heritage, my children and THEIR children don’t have to be angry about their condition. They can make giant strides to put themselves in the best position possible. They are not angry because their souls are at peace. When they have problems that overwhelm them, they know they can go to The Ancestors for help and consult. This is a part of our legacy.

All of this comes from Kujichagulia, Self Determination. As you go through your day today, take the time to reflect on this. Are you referring to yourself as what you ARE, or what OTHERS have called you? Have you talked to your child today about who they are? HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR CHILD TODAY? Answers to these questions will bring you peace in the coming days.

AMED, AMEN, AMEN-RA