"Expanding Black Joy" Juneteenth, 2023 Livermore, CA
And Before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave,
And go home to my Lord and be saved.
We are here celebrating JUNETEENTH—The theme is EXPANDING BLACK JOY.
We Expand Black Joy by acknowledging our ROOTS. Malcolm X once said,
You can't hate the roots of the tree without ending up hating the tree.
You can't hate your origin without ending up hating yourself.
You can't hate the land, your motherland, the place you come from, and we can't hate Africa without hating ourselves.
WE CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH BECAUSE WE ARE STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF OUR ANCESTORS who fought for us to be here this very day.
We acknowledge their FORTITUDE and DETERMINATION.
They have INSTILLED IN US through many generations a Village Consciousness of UNSPEAKABLE JOY.
WE ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR COLLECTIVE SPIRITUALITY—which embodies our African Primal religions, our reverence for our ancestors, our belief in the spiritual realms, aspirations, giftedness, and chosenness.
WE ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR RESILIENCE—our ability to bounce back from every disappointment, delay, and disaster. We are resilient, which involves a transformation that matures us and makes us better, wiser, more productive, and more courageous.
WE ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR COLLECTIVE MEMORY— try as they might to delete us from history books, classes, and instruction; Try as they might to put us back to sleep, crying in self-pity; We have woken up, we have dried our eyes, and We will never forget our history with its trials and triumphs. We know Life is No Crystal Stair. We’ve experienced a dream deferred, Yet We still Rise!
WE ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR COMMUNALISM— our VILLAGE CONSCIOUSNESS and understanding and practice of COMMUNITY, which is our awareness and interdependence of each other. Communalism is when we live and act out of love and duty to our family, community, and society.
WE ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR EXPRESSIVENESS. This includes our creative and imaginative ways of communicating through the oral tradition, word of mouth, Poetry, Prose, Rap, Hip Hop, Spirituals, Gospels, Blues, Soul, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Country, and so on. We connect to our African rhythms and beats that call out to our souls through dances of all styles.
WE STAND ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR INDIVIDUALITY, UNIQUENESS, & VITALITY—this encompasses our Personal Style and Uniqueness and the cultivation and development of our distinctive personality and essence. It is creating our own brand with style, approaching life as adventure and exploration. We have Vitality because we express a sense of aliveness, animation, and openness in approaching life and its challenges. We see the bright side; we see defeats as lessons, setbacks and stepping stones, and mistakes as motivation to get it right.
We see the Rising Sun instead of the Midnight hour. We keep our heads to the sky.
Finally, WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF OUR ANCESTORS WITH OUR REALNESS. We face life HEAD ON without pretense, phoniness, selling out, or hypocrisy.
WE KEEP IT REAL!
On this Glorious day, LET US CONTINUE EXPANDING THE JOY By Being
100% AUTHENTIC
100% ORIGINAL
100% GENUINE
AND BEFORE, I'D BE A SLAVE!
Speech for the UMOJA Community of Longfellow Middle School
December 21, 2023, 5:30 p.m.
From my generation, I acknowledge our Courageous Parents and Elders, Dedicated Teachers, and Superior Staff who made my Educational Experiences Holistic, Rigorous, Innovative, Inclusive, and Socially Relevant. Our legacy is that we fought a good fight and gave the world hell speaking truth to power, not for our own sake, but for the sake of future generations.
Part 1 History
It was April 4, 1968, it was about 5:00 p.m. I was doing my homework. My Aunt Jackie called crying. She said they killed him! What? They killed him, let me speak to your mother
My mother got on the phone and the next thing I heard was my mother crying saying No, No!
At that very moment there was a television news bulletin. It was Walter Conkrite the dean of television news reporting the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That night,
Feeling the collective pain of our non-violent drum major for justice having been killed violently, there were:
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Riots all over America
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Garfield-mini riot, student-led assembly, petition, school board, changed name hired principal & ombudsman.
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BHS fight for Black Studies Department
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SFSU protest/walkout for Africana Studies Department.
We were fulfilling our PURPOSE.
Part 2 NIA the fifth Principle of Kwanzaa is PURPOSE
Our collective aim is to develop and build our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Nia is based on the premise that to restore African American people to their former greatness, we must have a commitment to collective vocation building, and the developing and defending of our national community, its culture, and history. Inherent in the principle of Nia is tracing civilization's origins to Africa.
Malcolm X once said,
You can't hate the roots of the tree without ending up hating the tree.
You can't hate your origin without ending up hating yourself.
You can't hate the land, your motherland, the place you come from, and we can't hate Africa without hating ourselves.
Part 3 PURPOSE
Pride in oneself, family, community, people, heritage, and roots.
Unity is to be on one accord. Is to be Together, One Mind, One Heart, One Destiny, One Aim.
Responsibility is to know your duty and obligation; we make no excuses; we overcome obstacles and setbacks. We are responsible for the well-being of ourselves and one another. We are Responsible to keep fighting and advancing for future generations.
Powerful— We are to exercise our Inner Power, Economic Power, Social Power, Staying Power, and Collective Power that is our Black Power with Fortitude, Focus, Stability, Stamina, and unwavering Determination.
Opportunity—We are to take Advantage of every opportunity that comes our way. Scholarships, Grants, careers, open doors, and vocational training. We are to be inquisitive, curious, and strategic. We are to Exercise our Chosenness, our Specialness and Uniqueness.
Spirituality— We are to learn our Ancestral African Religious history. We are to practice our African spirituality, that calls us to go beyond the American European organized religion and connect to our African Diasporic Religions such as Santeria and Lucumi in Cuba, Candomble in Brazil, Vodou in Haiti, Rastafari and Obeah in Jamaica.
Expressiveness—We are the Originators, we have the Creativity, Imagination, and Style. We have SOUL, Swagger, Cool, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Blues, Country, Gospel, Poetry, Slang, Ebonics,
I challenge you to look inside yourself, to set personal and collective goals that benefit our community. Rise and even if you falter, stumble, or fall, get back up, spread your wings, and keep ascending; keep rising until you reach the mountaintop of your dreams, ambitions, and goals.
Marcus Garvey said, “Let the Sky and God be your Limit and Eternity your Measurement.” Dr. Perry says, “DON’T FORGET TO GIVE BACK!”
ASHE & AMEN
I will now call on Salita Mitchell, Chris Oakes, and Kamar O’Guinn to join me on stage.
I Pass the Relay Baton Symbolic of our PEOPLE, CULTURE, and STRUGGLE, CALLING ON YOU TO CARRY ON THE WORK. WE CHALLENGE YOU TO INSTILL IN FUTURE GENERATIONS THE IMPORTANCE OF SANKOFA AND OUR DIASPORIC CONVERGENCE, UNITING OUR PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Continue to Be
100% AUTHENTIC, 100% ORIGINAL, 100% GENUINE, 100% TRUE
Ashe, Ashe, and Amen!