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As the sage Audre Lorde always emphasizes, our silence will not protect us. In this reflective essay I chose to give voice to some of my silent thoughts. When I applied to this Fellowship, I was intentional and knew I wanted to come to Atlanta and learn from the incredible staff team, speakers and the entire city of Atlanta. My thought coming into this program is to remain open and learn how the Fellows, and Atlanta, will guide me in the framing of my own Afro European identity and positionality in the liberation movement. The city of Atlanta did not disappoint me in its abundant complexity, juxtaposition and narratives.
As the sage Audre Lorde always emphasizes, our silence will not protect us.
My view of civic engagement involves knowing what the agenda of each electoral candidate is in a writing manifesto format, calling them out when they fail to deliver and advocating and lobbying to push them to place the appropriate items on that list in the first place.
The thing that baffles me is, in all of this draconian effort, who is actually teaching people of their political obligation outside of just voting? Voting does get a part of the job done, but who are you voting for? Why are you voting for them? What is their agenda? How are they actually planning to serve you as a citizen?
Dr Carol Anderson spoke to us on the numerous ways the Black vote is being suppressed by the state to keep Black people in their place. Nse Ufot from the New Georgia project shared about all the strategic works her organization is doing to get more people to the poll in the upcoming elections. The thing that baffles me is, in all of this draconian effort, who is actually teaching people of their political obligation outside of just voting? Voting does get a part of the job done, but who are you voting for? Why are you voting for them? What is their agenda? How are they actually planning to serve you as a citizen? Those are some of the questions I felt were not answered and I wish I could get an answer to from America.I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the current Mayor of London, the city in which I currently reside and the candidates of the November election in Georgia. Where is their eloquently written manifesto or agenda?
I support getting people out to vote, however there is a need to ignite the activation of civic duty and active citizenship in the residents of Atlanta (and the USA) at large, in order to regain ownership of their democratic rights on a cultural level as we fight for reforming the obstacles of the states on voter rights.
There is yet much work to be done for the improvement and liberation of Black/Brown people in the city and in the south at large.
The city’s motto says ‘The city too busy to hate’ but in my experience I think it is a city too busy to care about anything or anyone. In the abundance and plentiful of resources and wealth, we saw people lacking, people who have nothing to call their’s. On a Sunday morning run, I was able to witness a sick person being pushed out of a hospital and being left on the street to fend for themselves. The session with Mr. Marshall Rancifer and Warren Smith really highlights that feeling between hopelessness, and anger on the issue of homelessness in the midst of plenty. What I kept asking myself is why are we not focusing on the structures that cause all this injustice?
The city of Atlanta has been on the leadership of many black mayors who have done incredible work and contributed to its growth and that is an incredible achievement.; For example, during the tenure of Maynard Holbrook Jackson and Andrew Young and many others after them. We should remember that despite all those, there is yet much work to be done for the improvement and liberation of Black/Brown people in the city and in the south at large.
Inspired by Dr. Roselyn Pope, I feel the urge to create work in various forms that will elevate the people that look like me. Dr. Pope is an example of how we can use the fire of our youth and the strength of our knowledge to inspire actions, movements and freedom simply by fully being and expressing our grievances. As the author of “An Appeal for Human Rights” while she was the president of the student government at Spelman College during the 1960 Atlanta Student Movement, I see her as a source to drive on when the movement for liberation looks dark. We were blessed to have her with us on most of our stay and she generously share her incredible wealth of knowledge that sparked in me a fire that will not quench for years to come.
When Dr. Pope shared her experience of acceptance in Europe in the 1950s, I was baffled because I wondered if she had interactions with Europeans of African descent at that time, and if so, whether her view of Europe back then would have been the same.
I struggle with the heavenly portrayal of Europe as a racial paradise in the 1950s, or even now, by most of the African Americans I interacted with in this Fellowship. My experience of Europe is not of a post racial society but of a society that denies the existence of race as a concept and one who loves to write off its contribution in the global imperialism that enslaved, pillaged and looted all people of African descent across the board.
Europe in the 1950’s was not to be compared with the segregated south of the USA; however, it was also not a racial paradise for Black people.
Europe in the 1950’s was not to be compared with the segregated south of the USA; however, it was also not a racial paradise for Black people. I reflect on the writings and work of many African Americans who escaped to Europe from the south, such as James Baldwin and Dr. Pope, and on our visit to the Legacy Museum and the Peace and Justice memorial. Moreover, the liberation movement was interconnected and happening at the same time for people in the African continent, as stated in the diaries of Chinua Achebe, one of James Baldwin’s literary friend and comrades during the fight for independence, as well asthe Nigeria-Biafra Civil war. I could see all the parallels and the common trends in those times and now. This brought me to the issue of history and archiving as a tool for liberation.
In his workshop Dr. David Hooker spoke on the power of archiving and history outside of what is available in academia. I reflect on the work that I do and my research in trying to get all the oral history that I can collect, as he emphasizes on us looking for justice by searching through the non-archival documents, the heresies and the hidden clues as knowledge is the interpretation of power. It is deeply powerful to hear him speak of his work across the globe on restorative justice and discuss- ing what justice look like today for people who look like me as we moved through the energetically weighed down city of Montgomery.I learned to create new narratives, and to document those narratives so I can leave behind a historic legacy for those coming after us as the ancestors did for us.
This is significant for most Afro Europeans in human rights work, as we do not see ourselves in the society we are in and we require those visuals of role models in order to shift the cultural narrative around us and the history of our communities in Europe.
The photographer session with Joshua Rashaad reminded me of the power of storytelling and who gets to tell our stories. He shared archival work of Sojourner Truth, a powerful and yet very well determined figure, who wanted to make sure her stories were told, and she was not about to leave it to fate, so she immortalized herself. This is significant for most Afro Europeans in human rights work, as we do not see ourselves in the society we are in and we require those visuals of role models in order to shift the cultural narrative around us and the history of our communities in Europe. As a Greek person of Nigerian descent, this experience will be powerful to share with others within my community. Power determines truth and I hope to use the arts as I continue my social justice work in centering the experiences of Afro Greeks and Afro Europeans in this global community.
The Fellowship has affirmed the importance of curatorial work in history and the liberation movement. The moments and emotions I experienced going through the exhibition at the Center for Civil and Human Rights left me wondering, “where are the women in the movement? Why was Bayard Rustin not celebrated as the strategic mind behind the movement? Who selected what is important to show in the exhibit and the impact in the language used to speak of Coretta Scott King, Josephine Baker, Dorothy Heights and many other unsung heroes of the movements?” I asked myself what the trends are in all the movements I have witnessed, read of and told about by those who were before and all I could see was the common erasure of people whose identity were not deemed “appropriate” for the cause or the time. Visiting the collection of Jerry Thomas Arts, reminded me of the strength, resilience and intentionality of my people. The collection on Yoruba arts reminded me of ancestral history that we all share, for me as a Yoruba West African Woman and my African American brethren. This inspires and encourages me to create space for those stories to told, for people to tell their own stories, if they can, and for me to remain mindful to never become the voice that essentialize other’s stories for my gain.
The work of the Vibe Theater gave me tremendous joy after experiencing micro aggression, and trauma from the past and present. Watching beautiful young Black girls creating their own stories and narratives was more than just healing, it was also a call to action, a call to shelter and nurture these beautiful Black babies who have witnessed trauma but chose healing through art, dance, theater and just being their authentic unapologetic selves.
The John Lewis Fellowship experience has equipped me with all the layers of stories, faces, strength, softness and community that I require to create space for those stories that are yet to be told, to make good trouble, to challenge policies, to create new policies and redistribute my resources as we build a more just, equitable and sometimes compromising political, economic and social reality for all.
Conclusion
In academia and the arts, stories are important, as they define cultures, attitudes and policies. We cannot heal or find justice collectively without acknowledgement of all the different and intersectional stories of our global community. To create a world of equity and humanity, we need to create equity in storytelling, in archiving, in academia and across the board in our daily routine.
The John Lewis Fellowship experience has equipped me with all the layers of stories, faces, strength, softness and community that I require to create space for those stories that are yet to be told, to make good trouble, to challenge policies, to create new policies and redistribute my resources as we build a more just, equitable and sometimes compromising political, economic and social reality for all.
I have come, I have learned, and I am ready to be used as the vessel of change in the communities that are shifting through in this lifetime and the ones to come.
This is not only liberation for Black and Brown people, but liberation for all humanity from the shackles of violence. For this liberation, we all need coalition of people who see the humanity in themselves and are ready to see it in others.
Poem
You took my home,
You took my land,
You took my people,
You even tried to take my tongue,
The Orishas have spoken,
Ṣàngó is my father,
You will not take my soul. Àse̩ ̩ Olodumare.
