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The Weight of False Loyalty: Stripping Down Ujima

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The Weight of False Loyalty: Stripping Down Ujima We’ve been sold a lie wrapped in cultural pride, and it is breaking our backs. For generations, the Black experience in America has glorified obligatory suffering. We’ve been conditioned to wear the titles of "Strong Black Man" and "Strong Black Woman" like badges of honor, when in reality, they are often just heavy yokes of trauma. We take on the "Black Tax," assuming the debts, the drama, and the dysfunction of everyone in our bloodline and our zip code. We mistake trauma-bonding for true tribal building, and it keeps us completely anchored in the lower frequencies of being Mad, Sad, and Scared. Today, we are vibrating on the frequency of Ujima —Collective Work and Responsibility. Bathed in the cool, deep hues of royal and light blue, Ujima is often misunderstood. Folks hear "collective" and immediately start gathering everyone else’s problems, saying "yes" until their own spirit is bo...

Collective Kujichagulia

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  Great Kujichagulia to all my Kuji born out their: "Umoja in motion (collective work and responsibility)" We are looking at Kujichagulia today through the marvelous principle of Ujima. For those new to the journey, and to remind the old heads Ujima means collective work and responsibility. We teach within Gye-Nyame that Ujima is Umoja in motion. Today let's look at the power of a collective, which is a group that pulls together to accomplish a goal. Now let's imagine that they collectively focus on defining their world, or bringing it close to home,redefining their world. What type of changes could this collective bring about? "Gye-Nyame Journey has already put this into motion , by redefining the day" Kujichagulia as we saw last week is strong on defining the world, and since we are in the week of Ujima I believe that it is appropriate for me to call on our collective to start to redefine the world that we are in. Using our collective thought power to resh...

Defining Defining

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Great Kujichagulia; We are in a Kuji week and today is Kujichagulia day. I guess this means we need to take a deep look at defining. We have to take time and break down so that we can know exactly what we are doing when we exercise the power of Kujichagulia. When we define something we are stating or setting forth the meaning of a thing. We are also saying how something will be referred to or perceived in some context. We also determine what is important about an object and what is incidental, contingent, or unintended about it (1). Defining can be both difficult and easy depending on the situation you find yourself in. We are defining who we are and what we stand for. The dictionary definition of Kujichagulia would be: self determination. Most people believe that this is associated with the right to make decisions concerning one's own person or affairs. Some think of it as self-rule. There is no doubt that there is much debate on the real meaning of Kujichagulia (self-determinatio...

The Key To Unity Is Defining What It Is

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Growing up, I remember hearing people talk about the importance of unity. Now, as an adult, I hear it more than ever before. But the thing is, I know that unity isn't achieved by talking about how important it is; it's achieved by actually being clear on what it looks like and then going out and creating it. What does unity look like to you? Have you taken the time to think about it? Does your tribe or collective have a clear mission statement that has been agreed upon by everyone? Or are you blindly following some vague idea of what “unity” should be? I'm not saying that we shouldn't have our own individual opinions and beliefs. What I am saying is that if we are trying to create change in our communities and in this world, we need to be clear on what those beliefs are so that we can actually work together toward a common goal. And if you've ever seen a group of people talking about how important having a single unified vision is, only to turn around and do somethi...