a reminder for me --- us

I am in a time of transition and reflection. I share this as testament to this moment in the journey. Use as needed. Thank you. 

I call upon my ancestors, those in blood, those in spirit, and those in ideology.... Fathers of our Fathers, Mothers of our Mothers to bear total and complete witness to where we are, what we are doing, and where we trying to go. I call upon those who have led by example: Queen Hatshepsut who let Kemet peacefully for great time, Yaa Asantewaa who ardently and unapologetically fought for her people, Marcus Garvey who led us, the branches of a global tree, back to our roots, Brother Malcolm X who said it plain, Brother Huey who created a template for us.... who stood in the glory of Black power... These ancestors, lovers of our African spirit inspire us toward reclaiming our African minds, regenerating our African SCHOLAR, WARRIOR spirits, liberating our homeland, and reclaiming our greatness as a people. We pour for them... We pour this libation to bring into our midst their venerable African spirit, radiating their great wisdom, courage, dedication, and unyielding commitment to victory by any means necessary. It is in the honor of our Creator, our Ancestors, our Children, our Children’s Children, and our Children’s Children Children. that we pour this libation. For the Creator, and the various manifestation of the Creative spirit; who we can graciously thank for each person in this room, each family history, each story, each experience lived and considered... who has consciously determined the necessity for us to wake up each day and take breath.. We Pour... For our esteemed ancestors, who laid the foundation for human civilization, and who provided the wisdom by which we live and the models by which our lives are guided; Our ancestors from Kemet, Songhay, Mali, Timbuktu, Nubia, Kush, the Dogon people of which without them we would not be able to direct ourselves toward a universal time and space, the Bantu-Kongo people who have modeled our mode of self governance and self correctness, and ultimately... the first people who walked this earth, who ate the first food, told the first stories, hugged the first hugs, LOVE THE FIRST LOVES, and birthed into us the future of African resilience We Pour... For our esteem ancestors who have suffered the atrocities and horrors of our MAAFA (The African Holocaust), and yet demonstrated the victorious power of the African spirit against adversity, by maintaining their dignity no matter the cost. These men, women, and children who fought mightily from their imprisonment, those who never saw the light of day as a living spirit once entering those boats, those who upon immediate refusal of the horror jumped into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, those whose bodies laid at the bottom of the boat screaming for their families, their people, their god... We Pour... And for those ancestors who survived and made it possible for us to be here today to continue on their valiant struggle for African liberation and vindication. Those ancestors who refused to be anything less than a man, anything less than a woman. Those ancestors that toiled the fields of stolen land in Georgia, Alabama, Virgina, Florida, Mississippi, Maryland, and the Carolinas....Those who cautiously worked by day and planned at night to overthrow the tyrrany of the oppressor, the Nat Turners, the Denmark Veseys, the Black Seminoles, Fracois Dominique Toussaint L'Ouvertures, the Harriet Tubmans, the David Walkers, and the Gabriel Prossers and to all those whose names we do not know because of our history being violently stripped from our psyches and buried deep under the lies and myths which have built this country We Pour... And finally, for our Children and their children and future generations of Africans to come, that they too in their time will vindicate our race from all adversaries and continue to imprint upon the world the great genius of african humanity; It is for their futures that we work so diligently in the immediate, that we strive to combat our issues educationally, culturally, economically, and politically. It is for their futures that we NO, WE MUST CONTINUE TO FIGHT. It is for thier brown beautiful faces that we understand what love is. We pour. We as a collective now take the time to call out loud the names of our ancestors. whomever it is that has transitioned that is responsible for bringing us here, in full awareness and existence, to this maroon space today: It is with their love, their support, their nurturing spirit that we are able to continue day by day to re-Africanize ourselves in thought, word, and deed. Their resiliency fuels the fire with in and ignites a power within us so great that out of pure fear of its ability we accept attempts to squelch it. I humbly ask them, to renew us again. Renew us in love, a love of of self so deep and nourishing that it becomes contagious across the board. A love so complete that it requires us to go beyond individual understanding and fully accept I AM MY BROTHER and I AM MY SISTER and not their keeper. A love so strong that its unadulterated presence speaks truth to power without shame. A love so definite that it supports, it disciplines, it cautions, it encourages, it engulfs, it submerges, it breathes... it lives. Renew us in love, the most powerful revolutionary act. We Pour... and finally.... we pour not a libation but an affirmation for those whose mouths still form to speak words of wisdom, whose minds still remember the spirit of maat, the nia or purpose of our lives, whose growth still continues to be inspired and enlightened by those around us.... we speak out the names of the living... the african warrior scholar spirits... whose call we heed, whose mission we live out, and whose love we cherish... we pour for us.... for this space that we have created, for the unity in mind, spirit, and purpose that share, for the journey we are about embark upon... for the work that we have no choice but to commit ourselves to... all of the creator’s divine creation say...

ASE.