Back to Africa

In 2018, I visited Ghana, Africa.  Arriving in Ghana, I felt at home like it was an extension of the Caribbean or the most festive Black gathering I had ever seen.  The people, food, and climate felt familiar.  Landing on the continent was like finally coming home after a long trip.  There was a settled peace like the kind found under a shady tree in the afternoon.  I was blessed to climb a prayer mountain with my church family.  The climb was difficult but rewarding.  Historians found that Jamaicans originated from the west coast of Africa in the region of Ghana and nearby countries.  The similarities in the food we eat, the language and cultural expressions certainly confirm the connection.  As a child in Brooklyn, kids would call each other harsh names like African booty scratcher or Jamaican booty scratcher.  To think that Black children thought so low of their own roots makes me cringe.  

As humans, we are oceans and mountains apart, yet so close and connected.  I encourage my children to travel, especially while they pursue their higher education.  Traveling helps humans to make connections and fill in missing pieces to the puzzle of their existence. I also take my children on as many trips as I can.  I enjoy traveling and always appreciate the airline GPS maps that track the plane's travel across oceans.  On my 21 hour travel to Tokyo, it tickled me to see how long the headrest screen showed only blue tones to signify that the plane was traveling across the ocean.
Traveling commemorates the amazing reality of my place in the world's geography.  To be disconnected from one's roots and still have the ability to grow is a miracle.  People of the African diaspora are proof of God's miracle-working power. Despite our struggles, we are miracle seeds that continue to grow.  People live out their entire lives without trying to make deeper connections about the past.  Mainly because the past seems hidden or unreachable.  I myself think about Jamaica, Africa, and the oceans between that my ancestors may have traveled.  To not think about it or talk about it is to erase half of myself.

On August 17, 2019, the world will commemorate the 132nd Birthday of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Jamaican national hero who immigrated from the shores of St. Anns Bay to the USA.  Garvey was impactful in helping American Blacks to move towards achieving civil rights.  He encouraged Blacks to journey back to Africa (Liberia) and re-establish themselves on the continent.  Marcus Garvey encouraged Blacks to find their roots and he spoke out on the poverty and discrimination that plagued Blacks of the diaspora.  Finding our roots is important to maintaining a sense of self and a source of strength.  Seeing our commonalities conquers self-hate and also allows us to celebrate our differences in joy, not resentment.   Now more than ever discovering our roots are important for healthcare and self-care.  Oceans and mountains are apart of what we are, dirt and water.  Time and season have created oceans and mountains.  Time and season have made us who we are too.