Rebirth Within Ourselves

Desmond is a part-time student at Wright College.

He plans on entering a medical program within the City College of Chicago after completing required science classes.

He enjoys African American and Haitian genealogy and playing a game of spades.

Congratulations to Desmond for winning first place in this years Black History Month essay contest.

Growing up I never questioned if I was proud to be African American. If anything I might be overzealous at times. I believe if you know your identity and you’re proud of your culture you can begin to make positive change in times of oppression. I agree with activist Bell Hooks' statement, “That we can respond to oppression proactively and our community will then have the power.” I think as a community we have to identify ourselves individually, accept our ancestor’s positive struggles, and begin to be proud of our culture. I think if Black communities in America take these three steps I have listed, we can move psychologically and spiritually in the right direction as a nation and possibly globally.

My parents are both African American with southern roots; however, their family migrated from the West Indies in the 18th century. Knowing the history of the slave rebellions in the Americas made me proud to be Black. In Haiti, there was a president named Francois Duvalier. Many people viewed him as a fascist dictator and during his presidency many mulatto and European families were driven out of Haiti because of their social class. He believed if you are proud to be African, you can go far. At this time, in the Americas, people of African descent were viewed as poverty stricken and uneducated. I do believe that if we believe we come from a savage culture and not from a structural society we can quickly believe the negative stereotypes. I think accepting our African heritage is a good way to approach ourselves first positively for a step to justice not only as a community but within ourselves.

I also believe the African American community can move forward with positive justice collectively to accept our positive struggles and contributions to this country. It has been many times when I have heard my classmates or co-workers refer to ourselves as not American, or less American than white Americans in this country. If we recognize our great inventions let it be Jazz, Blues, and southern cuisine, we can progressively grow as a community. If our communities knew how much in our homes and classrooms and work places were invented by African Americans we would feel more included into the American culture. If 92.3 or WGCI played Blues or Jazz sessions, this could empower our community to recognize our culture is far from dead but yet diverse.

We should quit referring to our culture as a reflection of slavery. Other non-African ethnic groups in America that had experienced a social and cultural plight rarely refer to their forefather’s legacy as a reflection of brutal history. As our African ancestors were fighting for social justice, simultaneously European immigrants of Irish , Sicilian and Jewish descent were receiving and experiencing just as many pejorative remarks and racial epithets. We shouldn’t refer and remember our cuisine as scraps from the chicken and hog shack but to remember that most of the cooks for Europeans during colonialism were African women. Our communities have to quit referring to our languages as uneducated and not an official language superior to European languages. Our Kreyol, Gullah, and Patois languages should be classified as Classical just as the Greek and Latin language are. When we begin to value our culture, our community then changes, which is a step to freedom.

I agree with Hooks that our communities should react with positive approaches to seek justice and peace. Our community has to celebrate our culture and not wait to be celebrated. We have to recognize that our actions affect the Muslim Congolese man in Paris, or the Kenyan student experiencing prejudice on campus. We came from such great history, our society expects us to keep this torch lit. The beauty of our history is that Blacks in this country don’t have to look far back to see positive change. Most of our parents remember finally being allowed to be bussed with white students and our grandparents helped protest to delete segregation. If we begin to identify ourselves and recognize our grandparents and ancestors contributions, we can make these changes. May seem like big changes, but yet they can be done slowly.

Photo by Toma Talpa