Thanksgiving

When did you first discover the Diaspora?

When did you first discover that there are ‘Blacks’ outside of the United States, and they have no connection to the United States?

How old were you when you discovered that there is food throughout the ‘New World’ that has origins in Africa? 

I ask all of these questions because are all different experiences and you (we) have all had all of these experiences at different times.  A good friend of mine commented that they first learned about the world outside and the Diaspora in first grade at Catholic School.  And another friend of mine first learned about the Diaspora because one of their parents is from Haiti.  Again, I ask all of this because I am always in awe of people’s different experiences; and we each have our own experiences. 

I recently started working with Birthright AFRICA, and just knowing that there are people out there who are actively trying to “plant the seeds of Diaspora.”   And once seeds are planted, who knows how they will sprout. 

I know from my own journey that you are exposed to different things at different times in your life.  I remember I was like in 5^th Grade maybe that I first learned about Paul Cuffe.  And thinking about that I was like, who knows about ‘Back to Africa’ in 5^th Grade?  (I did apparently)

And then one reads ‘African Samurai’ and learns that there weren’t just Africans in Japan in the 1580s, but there were Africans in Singapore in the 8^th Century and apparently Ibn Battuta visited Singapore on his way to China in the 14^th Century.  (By the way how old were you when you first learned about Ibn Battuta?)

As a Catholic I am still amazed by the impact that Africans and Afro-descendants in the Americans have had on the Church.  I laugh when I think that Saints Felicia and Perpetua; who Catholics always pray to, are actually African from the 3^rd Century.   So here we have two African Women, who are now Saints, but you never hear about their Africanness unless you are a student of Catholic Theology or you go to a Black Catholic Church.  This is not even to discuss learning about Charles Lwanga, Martin de Porres, Josehine Bakhita and so many others.

So I say all of this to ask you to think about those parents, teachers, and others that exposed you to the Diaspora and a positive idea of Africa and ‘Blackness.’