Umoja-Unity- I AM- YO SOY
To strive for and maintain unity in the family,
community, nation and race
When I reflected on the meaning of today’s
principle, my first thought was as a people, as human beings, we did not
practice this too well in 2012. Yet, we did have some impacting Umoja moments.
What made them stand out? What can we take from these
moments and carry them into 2013? I want to begin with the good. Good makes me
smile and fills up my cup. The world today has bombarded us with a lot of bad.
As it relates to the Encuentro Diaspora Afro family,
we gained a sense of clarity in defining who we are and what we are doing. With
the guidance of one of our Advisors, we placed one word in our Mission/Vision statement
that made a significant shift, “misinformation”. We are addressing the
misinformation that has been written about us and by doing so we create,
UMOJA-UNITY in our community.
We saw this happen in other spaces without extra
effort because we met at a common place, a place of pain and need to speak the
truth and make the deeper connection. That came when we facilitated two
Wellness Forums. One of the forums, a Youth Forum, came soon after the
shootings of four young women which brought to the surface the violence in the community.
The others came during our book events, the TAK Ladies Radio Show, the release
of the “Antologia de Poesia Colonense” and our most recent event with Francia
Marquez.
Only the Encuentro Diaspora Afro staff saw when UMOJA
presented itself on our Facebook posting. In choosing themes like celebrating
Women’s History Month, Music Month, Hispanic Heritage Month from an Afro
descendent perspective and Black History Month, we saw our page receive over
1,000 visits.
Yet as wonderful as all these moments where, they
are two moments this year that I came to believe that UMOJA-UNITY does exist
and that it is easy to see and attain when moving from a place of LOVE. That is
why I feel that as simple as it may seem, I AM- YO SOY became the unifying
words of 2012.
I think both stories can be seen as personal and
professional yet they landed on so many people.
One of the special UMOJA-UNITY moments came after a
terrible accident of a dear childhood friend. Marc Owens and I have been
friends since the fourth grade. Marc was always the classmate who made the
effort to keep us all in touch with each other, to make sure we got together
when we could. Even while in Afghanistan, he would send me emails asking me how
I was doing. He did this across race and class and all you would say is, only
Marc.
Marc suffered a terrible accident. On that same week
I had heard from him as he wanted to know how the radio show was going. When I
heard of Marc’s parachuting accident my heart felt heavy. Not him I said, He
loved life and did everything he could to make you love life with him. Marc survived
the accident and then came UMOJA-UNITY that made so many stand and say, I AM
CHS- I AM MARC OWENS.
All our classmates, folks that went to our high
school, even folks that went to our competing high schools poured out their
well wishes for Marc. It was amazing to see. He brought out a sense of
community, he is one of us, as we all awaited news about his recovery. We had
another classmate take the lead, Hunter Tiblier. Hunter would update us and
would share pictures. All these acts although simple brought us together from
Hawaii, California, Florida, Panama, you name it. If you knew Marc, if you went
to Cristobal High School, if you were a Zonian, Marc was on your mind. This one
man brought a group of people spread all over the world together as we all
cheered him on and were reminded how much we love each other.
While in DC at the State of the Black World
Conference, while I was experiencing that Soulful Love, I took the time to
visit Marc. I was excited and emotional but I knew this was right not only for
me but for our immediate circle who wanted to know how he was doing. I did and
my friend greeted me as he always did with appreciation and love. I took the
time to call other friends so he could hear their voices. Once again I was
reminded that our connection to each other runs deep.
So as I reflect on UMOJA-UNITY I give thanks to my dear
friend, Marc Owens, for making so many of us pause and focus on him the way he
did on us and for teaching us the meaning of UNITY that carries no borders.
Thanks Marc!
My other very special UMOJA-UNITY moment came with
the words, YO SOY which in English is I AM. After a painful reporting by Juan
Williams of my home town of Colon, I came together with my friend, Mauro Martinez
to write a Statement in Response to this report. Mauro and I have been sharing
our love for Colon and hope for our people for months prior to this letter. We
moved with the same passion and determination to help our people and to speak
the truth, no matter the consequences. My admiration for Mauro, this fellow Colonense
runs deep because we acknowledged the good and the bad but we were not willing
to have someone who has no context, no history of our people to do it for us.
Familia, this letter landed before many Panamanians
and many Colonenses all over the world. We received emails from people who just
wanted to say, thank you, to us. Mauro is home in Colon so he would get stopped
in the streets by folks saying, thank you. YO SOY COLON brought us together. It
brought a community that has been beaten down and ignored for years together in
a way that was so profound and moving and yes, filled with love.
Mauro and I decided to keep up this momentum and
founded, Proyecto Yo Soy Colon. We have collective members who helped shape the
mission, vision and purpose. One of the most important things about the project
is that we are here to Uplift our Legacy. Our message that our people need to
see each other in a new light is a leading force. This is not just about
changing the external of our dear Colon, it is about the mindset and taking the
time to look deeper into what needs to be done to make the shift that we so
desperately need.
The words Yo Soy Colon had an impact while we faced
the sale of land in Colon that was against the law. Colonenses took to the
streets and all over we heard people saying, Yo Soy Colon, Y Tu. It came up
again during the flooding’s that destroyed many homes. We then found comfort in
those words.
One of my most treasured gifts of 2012 is my
friendship/ collaboration with Mauro. It speaks to my love for my community in
a way that words could not even explain. In 2013, we hope to continue sharing
and uplifting our people. May UMOJA-UNITY continue to be our guiding force.
Now here it goes, it is about reflection and in
reflecting one of the areas where I felt we lacked UMOJA-UNITY was amongst
Black women. Our lack of UNITY was painful my sisters. The way we came after
Gabby Douglas about her hair after this amazing young woman won an Olympic Gold
was just wrong. It was distracting and gave others reason to look at us and
shake their heads. We keep singing like India Arie, I am not my hair, but we
are. My hair was a political and personal decision, we need to name it then
move beyond it.
I am still thinking about my Queens. How can we be
so upset about Gabby’s hair and not be furious at the way we are represented on
most of these reality shows. We should be outraged that although it is not me
or you on the screen, someone, somewhere, thinks that is how we all behave. In
2013 we need to figure this out.
As people of African descent we need to move past
language or borders. A question pops up for me, has the plan to keep us against
each other as said in the Willie Lynch letter really worked? We spend a lot of
time beating each other up my people. Let us move into 2013 knowing that pain
was everywhere and we can use that common pain to build UMOJA-UNITY.
There was also lack of human unity. A loss is a loss
yet racism was screaming when it wasn’t a loss of someone who didn’t look like
you.
UMOJA-UNITY is 2013 has to come from within. We have
to do our internal work to make peace with our biases, racism, etc. If and when
we do, then your eyes will be open and you will feel the pain of the young
Black boy or girl, or of that teacher.
If the hope and love is there, then UMOJA-UNITY will
arrive without the extra effort. Can we do it? Yes, we can. I believe in you.
For 2013 can we name when those non UMOJA moments come up and work to make the
shift in the moment?
Familia, I ask that you hold close those special
moments I shared with you and allow them to define your movement.
We all carry Ache, a special internal fire, a gift,
as I like to see it. It is how we decide to use it that will bring us closer
together. On this day of Kwanzaa, allow UMOJA-UNITY to guide you and extend
your hand to every brother and sister, each human being that stands before you.
Let love be a guiding force.
In light,
Yvette
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