Posts

Showing posts with the label family

Featured Post

The Lone Wolf Lie: Why Your Private Bag Will Rot Before It Saves You

Image
The Lone Wolf Lie: Why Your Private Bag Will Rot Before It Saves You Drop the hustle-porn mythology. The predatory culture that sold you the "self-made" fantasy lied to you. It convinced you that hoarding paper in a gated enclave makes you bulletproof. It taught you to brag about your solo grind while your community’s economic foundation bleeds dry. Wake up: A solitary granary in a starving village isn’t an asset. It’s a target. Pull up a chair. Take a slow, measured breath down into that power center two inches below the navel. Let the tension out of your shoulders. We are stepping square into the sovereign green current of Ujamaa—Cooperative Economics. Our ancestors left a warning encoded in the Zulu and Xhosa proverb: Indlela ibuzwa kwabaphambili —“The path is asked of those who have walked it before.” And who walked it before us? The brave warriors of Guinea-Bissau under Amílcar Cabral, who taught us that true sovereignty requires returning to the source and stripping off...

Question 2: What Does a Warrior Do?

Image
Peace, Tribe! We’ve made it to the second day of exploring the Gye-Nyame Questions , and today we’re diving into Question 2: What does a warrior do? Before we jump into that, let me give you some history about how these questions came to be because understanding their roots is essential to fully grasping their meaning. The History Behind the First Seven Questions The first seven questions—like “What is a warrior?” and “What does a warrior do?”—came about during an important chapter in my journey. At the time, one of my elders, Mama Malika, hired me to assist her with a project at the Africentric High School. She loved what I was already doing in the community, but she wanted to create something similar that wasn’t directly connected to other initiatives like the Underground Railroad (UGRR). Why the separation? There was concern that if the school’s funders became aware of our other grassroots projects, it could jeopardize their funding. So, I developed the first seven questions specif...

Purpose & Ujima

Image
  Purpose & Ujima Great Ujima: First I want to apologize for the total mess up with the “Daily Toast”. I already shared that the sound was messed up for this week, but I found out that I posted it at 6:45am rather than 5:45am. Now I have to go back and listen to my commercial to check what time I stated was show time. I go through phases where I totally forget show times, and a bunch of other stuff, just ride the wave for this week and we will be back to normal next week. It’s crazy to think that I had a big accident during the week of purpose, but all things work together to bring balance. Enough of that!  Let's get to our discussion. Well we have made it to the magnificent principle of Ujima, and we are in the week of Nia, so let’s pull these super beings together and see what they can do. “Ujima is a principle most people don’t know about because it’s a collective action that involves building community, but not in the way you think. Find out about it here!” We know tha...

Remember Your Family (sample)

Image
Today is called Kujichagulia (32222-6). This is the day when we celebrate our self-determination and family. As a member of the tribe, I'm always thinking about how I can best improve my life so that I can build something that is lasting. If my internal supports are collapsing, then what's the point? And to me, family is a huge part of that support. It's important to have both people and community in your life that you can rely on when you're facing hard times or need advice for how to move forward. I want to encourage all of you to take some time this weekend to not only connect with your family, but also reflect on some of the things they've taught you over the years: What are their values? How do they express them? What lessons have they learned that they want to pass down to you? This knowledge will be helpful whether or not your family is still around by your side. Sometimes there are people in our lives who we love and respect, but for one reason or another, w...