There I was, unbagging my food delivery, getting giddy that I have a new carton of moose tracks with brownie bits ice cream AND a couple of those little pies in a box, pecan to be exact, feeling like a seven year old - who just got a carton of ice cream and two little pies in a box. And, as my mind works, I think of my ability to access those and other more substantial food resources and how that ease, that privilege, that human right is not a universally accessed dynamic. I think and feel, also, into the experience of people in the DR Congo, Sudan, Palestine, Haiti, Venezuela, Detroit Michigan, Camden New Jersey. I can quickly point to areas of great suffering, pain and trauma and also with nearly equal facility can reference peoples and organizations and communities and groups that are surviving, resisting, fighting and thriving against deep and abiding odds that would push them toward imminent failure.
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| Portrait of Ukumbwa Sauti from photo by Nancy Capaccio, digitally rendered by Carrie |
I haven't worked at and intend more of my work for social justice, healing and liberation because I have direct impact on the people and lands (those elements go together...always) of the Congo or Minneapolis Minnesota, Port au Prince, Oakland California or Occupied Azania/South Africa. I may or may not know people in all of those places and liberation struggles that are historical there and/or in present manifestation. I do this work because I know these struggles are all connected.
"Strengthening justice anywhere strengthens justice everywhere"
I do this work because I feel for myself, my desire for justice and liberation and hear and feel that in the lives of people and lands everywhere. As Water Clan in the Dagara spiritual tradition, I sense and see large and systemic scales of energy and power, of struggle, of resistance, of the long walk toward liberation, the long walk home. I also see, feel and experience directly the people and struggles closest to me, the imbalances and oppressions that live in my communities and beloved social circles.
For those of us that inhabit identities that are targeted by oppressive forces, systems, narratives and social structures, I want us to be able to connect more deeply with ourselves, our pasts, our brave presences, our best and brightest, most badass futures defined by continuing and renewed agency as individuals in community of culture, history and the loving fight for our best, unedited, fully flowered selves. I want us to know that we have powerful pasts and can see with new clarity into healing presence and healed and flowering futures.
For those of us that inhabit identities that are privileged and empowered by the oppressive powers of ableism, patriarchy, racism or economic class, I want us to be able to be clear in how we participate and contribute to the harms these oppressions mete out upon their targeted populations, how inaction and silence is violence and how indifference brings pain, how "peace and love" and unity intended is deferred as wishes and words are not wisdom until we can illuminate and reconcile systemic, cultural and interpersonal harm and trauma in material and embodied ways so that love can actually be a lived reality for all.
I do this because, if the people want pecan pie...or fufu or rice and beans or thiebou djienne, that they can have it because we've figured out the systems and ways of thinking that have blocked the people's Ancestral knowing and genius, ancient and new and functional foodways, women's historical penchant for egalitarianism, leadership and communal provision and the informed support for children growing up in cultural contexts that make sense for their safety, education and thriving.
I do this because I need healing, love, full flowering, freedom and liberation as an African man on Turtle Island, living, struggling within a racist and patriarchal capitalist settler colony. I do this because I want the same for those around me. And, yes....beyond, in all the ways we as humans live and work and struggle and fight and love and dream, no matter where we are. I want us all to understand, know, sense, feel, critique and beautifully advance into the projections of our best personal and communal selves, safe, strong and connected to the lands, waters, air, animal family and each other in the best ways possible.
I would love to have conversations with people, with groups, communities that also feel that within all of the hardships and beauty of human life on Earth right now, that there is hard work, good work, necessary work to do to live in a world based on truth, love, justice, consent respected and respect for life beyond our own. I would love to talk about how my work as a consultant, educator, facilitator, guide and counsel can help people move forward to what we know is possible, to help us all find ways to make it more visible to the heart, validated upon the Earth.
Please take some time to look at my Linktree site, http://linktr.ee/UkumbwaSautiConsultantEducator or navigate around this blog site. Please reach out by email - ukumbwa @ gmail.com - if you would like to book a time to inquire more about what I might be able to do for you and to let me know what your needs and visions are.
