“They closed 56 schools in our neighborhoods, which is a serious situation- but it is also a challenge, which community leaders and families should seize to teach our children,” said Minister Abel Muhammad from Chicago. My heart was already lifted by the spirits present at the 2nd annual townhall, Say It Loud, I’m Black and Proud and When I Say Black I mean Red and Brown sponsored by the Oscar Grant Foundation and Merrit College, but once the voices of so many deep and conscious voices like Abel Muhammad, Jasiri X and Cephus Johnson, aka Uncle Bobby began to speak it deepened the medicine for all of us present.
“We have all of this in us- all the strength our ancestors gave us,” We just need to recognize it,” said Lakota Harden, Native poet, orator and media producer (Minnecoujou/Yankton Lakota and HoChunk). After a beautiful offering of Afrikan libations and ritmo by Sidney Coulten Lakota continued to launch this beautiful day by making space for an inter-tribal prayer both from her Native Turtle Island tradition and from the Azteca Mexihca Danza group Calpulli Coatlicue (of which my son and I are part of) all of which brought our multi-cultures, spirits and ancestors into the room respectfully and in a good way to make this day a spiritual circle of change.
As the melanin challenged daughter of a Afrikan-Taino mama who struggled with so much racism and poverty on her life journey, I was blessed to bring her and other ancestors into the room with prayer with my Danza group, but I stayed the rest of the day because knew I had brought my 9 year olf son to the right circle of young peoples and elders where factory schools were questioned, where dominant, colonizers practices were resisted and where voices of our mamaz and daddys and communities were respected for the knowledge they hold from our many Red, Black and Brown communities.
“I am reminded of Elijah Muhammad who said we grow to accept our own’ most of the time we are divided from one another,” said Minister Keith Muhammad who launched a multi-generational, power-packed panel that lived and breathed real change, facilitated by hip hop activist Jasiri X and included Castlemont High School counselor Abbas, Palestinian Merritt College Student Lubna Morrar, community activist Tim Killings and acrobat/community skolar Jesus El to name a few. Each one bringing hard lessons on how to connect us all as youth and adults, elders and ancestors, Black, Red and Brown.
“BDS- Boycott, Divest and Sanction, the problem is we are so under the capitalist rule that we have lost our own community,” Lubna Morrar, bringing us to the roots of our separate-ness, “we have to Boycott, Divest and Sanction to break free from all this domination.
“I won’t stop until there is justice for my son,,” Jerralyn Blueford, mama of Alan Blueford Jr, murdered by Oakland Police in addition to Wanda Johnson, mother of BART police murder victim Oscar Grant and Cyndi Mitchell, sister of Mario Romero, murdered by Vallejo Police department , all brought their warrior mamas spirits into the room as one of many voices questioning police violence, community violence and the violence of capitalism destroying our Black and Brown young peoples.
“We are not that different, colonialism has separated us,” said Jose Rivera Xicano community historian and Richmond organizer as part of the Q&A section.
“We need practical steps for us to become as one, we need to start loving each other,” concluded Abel Muhammad All of the words spoken this day were deep, bringing consciousness, knowledge and healing for our collective, decolonizing souls bringing us to the understanding beyond what we are taught in corporate wite-supermacist media and institutions, that we are all one, and as one we must heal our Red, Black and Brown bodies and souls so we can raise our Red, Black and Brown children in a good way.
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