Tuesday July 14, 2009: Days Swiftly Pass

After the POTUS visit things have really calmed down all across the board. Everyone is a bit more relaxed. People have moved back into business as usual.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak to a group of Ghanaian women who are planning to attend a convention in Las Vegas called COSMOPROF. A convention that brings together men and women from across the globe who do cosmetics, hair dressing, packaging etc. These women are going to find out new things on the market that they may be able to use in their stores. Their eagerness to visit the United States only eclipses their love for what they do each day. The opportunity for many of them to travel to the United States comes far and few in between. They plan to cherish each moment of their time.

Being in Ghana has taught me a few things about being black in the world and even more so about being black in America. In much of our pushing and shoving to the top we begin to overindulge in Afrocentricity. Allow me to explain. We are so concerned with presenting this idea of what it means to be black that we forget about the fight. We indulge in Afrocentricity so much that we miss out on opportunities to serve, fight oppression, poverty and provide opportunity to the countless who do not have it. We forget and become selfishly consumed in our own attempts at being black. It all boils down to us wanting to remain connected to the fist. We pump the fist of unity in the air and at the end of the day all we have done is reposition the air particles. We have done little in advancing the ideals that surround real unity. We allow our own egos to grow larger than the movement itself.

Being here I have come to realize, in some small way, that Africans do not care about this idea of black superiority. They care more about being self sufficient, educating their children and hoping for a better tomorrow. Their kind disposition warrants such a thing. While in the US, sure our struggles are different, yet we still do not educate our children, provide for our sick and poor nor do we control how America sees us. We are slaves to our own existence. We remain couched in outdated notions of Afrocentricity, wants and desires, and hope in people. Lets move on to a bigger and better tomorrow, how can you do something today that will enhance tomorrow? Literally.

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind....its time for real change folks. Lets not let the "Yes we can" remain a slogan but lets move that into a mentality.

be loved.