Kwame Speaks: In, But Not Of: The Futility of Our Quest to Exist Independent of Each Other

Who are we really? Are we a collective African people? Our inevitable unity betrayed by our skin, painted in beautiful earthy hues by the sun rays of our motherland?

It seems that the group consensus stands in opposition to this idea. We have all come out from among "them," in order to peer through our more individual, subdivided lenses through which everything we behold is colored. Our people are now "those people." Those ghetto, bourgeoisie, ignorant, "other than me" Negroes. At Howard, the stratification of groups often becomes too much to bear. I often wonder, what happened to the "we" that we once claimed to have ties with?

Our intrinsic desire to examine others so we can concretely define our individual selves is a direct consequence of human nature. We naturally engage in meaning-making concerning the world around us.

However, the extreme pursuit of this process which causes a suffocating emphasis on the failures and shortcomings of others, swiftly becomes a detrimental practice. Frances E. W. Harper writes, "...one of the great lessons...is how to treat each other better. We fail...in fully comprehending our relations to society, and the reflex influence of that ignorance on its purity and progress."

We have been given the tools to practice community building, but we have created walls instead of pathways. What of connectedness? Family? Bison Pride?

The historical threads, which connect African descendants; threads that run deeper and longer than our brief sojourn on this planet, may become an inescapable net to be mourned. Our ties will be made of historical obligation and duty, or an unfortunate accident of nomenclature, rather than the genuine desire to be a part of each other. It is in this fashion that our "we" disintegrates. "We" simply are not.

Whether we choose to stand and bear the weight of our reality or reject and flee from it, we have a responsibility to each other. We belong to the people within and outside of the gilded gates of Howard University, and therefore must raise our collective voice within and outside of its walls to complete the symphony of freedom.

I come to you today as a concerned observer and a regretful participant. The faults, flaws, habits and inconsistencies of our brothers and sisters, have become more important than the brothers and sisters themselves. All African people should strive towards a time when we can acknowledge differences without bickering, condescension and name calling, and promote community as opposed to distance.

Harper continues, "We need men and women whose hearts are the homes of a high and lofty enthusiasm, and a noble devotion to the cause...who are ready and willing to lay time, talent and money on the altar of universal freedom."

At the end of the day, the setting sun illuminates us all again as the children of our ancestors, who charged us with the task of continuing on. Together. And perhaps, on that perfect day, it will finally, finally dawn on us that we are each others keepers. If we can change our perspectives of our individual selves and each other, opposing images may become reflections.

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Ansharaye Hines
(Published 2-9-11)