Reparations from the Inside Out: In Memory of Ancestor Dr. Conrad W. Worrill, Part 3
By Mama Edie McLoud Armstrong
Presented by Omni-University
Artists for Reparations: Repair from the Inside Out
Nearly 20 years ago, I started a collective called Artists for Reparations. It became clear to me that no matter what we received from governments, corporations, etc. by way of reparations, the benefits could be limited and short-lived. If the relationships and trust bonds we once shared grow increasingly weak, we will not have the community infrastructure required to ensure the equitable distribution or sustainability to manage and serve the needs of our people. I discussed this matter with Baba Conrad. He agreed with my premise, affirming that we do need to have repair taking place within and among us as well. I invited him to come and present at our first meeting. He was thrilled; so were we. As always, he was inspiring; but he also said that he too was inspired. The collective has included storytellers, musicians, photographers, dancers, publishers and poets. The main focus of Artists for Reparations had been to create awareness and support for the push towards reparations and to suggest ways that audiences can functionally contribute to the effort. It was also to create presentations that inspire audiences to see their own natural beauty and strength and to heal what has been broken. Although we no longer meet on a regular basis, several of us have continued to support each other over the years. More direct collaboration is now resuming.
As we continue the movement towards reparations from federal and/or local governments, I urge all to do what we can to address the generational wounds that we carry from a trauma-induced history. I am grateful to Ancestors like Baba Conrad Worrill, of Sister Mashariki, of Callie Guy House and Rep. John Conyers, Jr. for their valiant efforts in this struggle. I trust that they are proud of all that has been done to move the Reparations Movement forward. I am also confident that whenever we pour libation and call out our ancestors’ names, just the act of doing so will give us access to their guidance, strength, continued determination and love. May that strength and love continue to flow through us and out into the world.
So, What Can I Do to Help?
1. Become familiar with what has already been done and what is being done now. Join an organization, such as N’COBRA and/or start a small collective among family members, professional colleagues or friends. Here are a few examples:
Ø https://www.NCOBRA.org National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
Ø MamaEdie4@gmail.com Artists for Reparations. Explore how the arts can heighten awareness; teach little known history; broaden perspectives; encourage a sense of strong but respectful and compassionate community; and inspire audiences to action.
Ø https://youtu.be/WteOiflCnH0 Queen Mother Mashariki Jywanza & Baba Conrad Worrill Speak on Reparations Victories and Continued International Efforts
2. Develop intergenerational relationships with youth and explain the importance of this effort. Be inspired by the works of some of our young artists. (Please see the powerful Spoken Word creation by young brother Malcolm London below.)
3. Join or create a sisterhood, a brotherhood or a Black Family Support Group (the latter being the name of an actual group created years ago among the families of one of our oldest African-Centered Education program, New Concept Development Center/Institute of Positive Education). One sisterhood example is the Council of Sisterhoods, largely inspired by Sister Kadi Sisay of Chicago. The Council was co-facilitated by a collective of various sisterhoods, mostly in the Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Cincinnati areas. They began primarily as personal friends, teachers and parents of children in our African-Centered schools. For many years from the late ‘70’s – early ‘80’s, we met monthly and also annually, with the annual gatherings at hotels in remote areas surrounded by nature. Workshops included mental, physical and spiritual wellness; financial literacy; social and political empowerment; relationships; exploring goals, visions and aspirations; healthy communication styles; and dancing, just having fun and enjoying each other’s company. This collective no longer meets on a monthly basis, as many of us are now elders. But support for each other’s challenges and joys of daily life continues with occasional gatherings to bring us together in-person under the name of “Sistabration.” (ContactMamaEdie4@gmail.com.)
4. Help to revive and strengthen Rites of Passage Programs, ensuring that there is actual training taking place vs. simply organizing a celebration in African attire. Help our children to understand that they are an essential part of history right now, as well as our future. Encourage older community members to consider the next steps in their own continuing education and development by participating in Elder Rites of Passage and/or supporting your local Council of Elders. Support the efforts to decolonize the minds of our people, to know true freedom, to embrace the right to manifest one’s greatest destiny. Below are a few examples:
Ø The Rites of Passage Movement: A Resurgence of African-Centered Practices for Socializing African American Youth. Nsenga Warfield-Coppock. The Journal of Negro Education. Vol. 61, No. 4 (Autumn 1992) pp. 471-482.
Ø Black Women for Wellness Rites of Passage After-School Program (www.bwwla.org)
Ø The Brotherhood-Sister Sol (www.brotherhood-sistersol.org) This intensive 4-6 year program is provided in 3 components: Stage 1 – Brotherhood/Sisterhood Building; Stage 2 – Critical Thinking, Knowledge of Self, Global Awareness; Stage 3 – Rites of Passage – intensive process of self-reflection, community and global analysis, culminating in an Oath of Dedication, a personal statement of beliefs, goals and commitments.
Ø Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (www.lbsbaltimore.com) A Call to Action: How Rites of Passage Can Combat Attacks on the Minds of Black Boys.
5. Read books that can help to re-shape our thinking and approaches to educating and raising our children. There are many but here are a few:
Ø The books Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys; Developing Positive Self-Images and Discipline in Black Children; Black Students – Middle Class Teachers; Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education; Raising Black Boys; and To Be Popular or Smart? These are all by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu and are easily available in libraries and online.
Ø Beating Black Kids by Asadah Kirkland. (www.BeatingBlackKids.com). Sister Asadah is also the Founder of the Soulful Chicago Book Fair, hosted annually on Chicago’s South Side with occasional satellite activities throughout the city. This lively and robust event showcases the literary artistry of Black writers, youth authors, musicians, storytellers and workshop presenters providing guidance to the publishing industry. (www.SoulfulChicagoBookFair.com)
6. Become acquainted with the untold stories of enslaved men, women and children who traveled hundreds of miles, mostly on foot, through your own local area on their way to pursue freedom in Canada. Take the guided tours on the Underground Railroads across the country for more of a sense of the bravery, intelligence, determination, ingenuity and the shoulders that we stand upon. In recent years, the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project, now designated as a National Historic Site, provides such experiences. Running partly through the community of Altgeld Gardens on Chicago’s far southeast side, this tour is one such example.
(www.illinoisundergroundrailroad.info) With storytelling, songs and historical references to roads, bridges and structures that many have been seen or traveled for years, never knowing of their significance, especially to Black people.
7. Many Black people have embraced the responsibility of acquiring reparations ourselves, determined to remain in control of this movement. Being open to the support of trusted allies, however, can help us to reach into resources and opportunities that we may not be so easily privy to. There are likely more people than many of us realize, even outside of the culture, who also recognize that reparations are owed. Many have provided their financial and other support as well. We have always had allies, just not nearly enough. But history has taught us that we need to be careful who we trust.
Below is the link for a site managed by 2 members of an online cross-cultural collective that I have participated with for nearly 3 years. We represent various states across the country. Reparations4Slavery
(www.Reparations4Slavery.com), started by a White woman, was initially a site to encourage White people to explore their ancestries and to consider their responsibility in the movement for reparations. As stated on the homepage of the website: “Slavery didn’t end. It merely evolved.” This site expanded with the collaboration of a young Black woman with the site’s White developer. Together Lotte and Bri have provided a rich resource for ancestral research for all. It includes conversations and plans for actionable reparations and other related articles and activities.
8. View videos that reveal what people are doing to contribute to the Reparations Movement.
America ReFramed | The Cost of Inheritance | Season 12 | Episode 1 | PBS This PBS video includes a few of the members of the collective that I referred to in #7 above. Lotte and Bri of Reparations4Slavery are also featured, as well as an African American man who one of our white members researched and found. He is a descendant of enslaved workers on her family’s plantation. They, along with his family and Black community members, now collaborate to promote the mission of encouraging and making reparations. One of their collaborative conversations is also recorded.
9. Seek out an African-Centered Education program or social center, whether you have children or grandchildren or not. (www.bsics.org) Engage the children in conversation, inspiring their critical thinking skills. Tell them YOUR stories and how they connect with theirs, their past and their future. Give them hope. Let them know that they are loved, even if you don’t know them, and that you CHOOSE to spend time with them.
10. Study the similar struggles of other indigenous people, their research and how it relates to our own situation. Consider how we might learn from each other’s tactics and support each other’s efforts.
During the weekend of May 31st through June 2nd of this year, I was among 8 indigenous storytellers featured at the “Sacred Stories Storytelling Festival” near Albany, NY. This event was hosted by the Center for Sacred Studies, based in California. Other storytellers represented Haiti, Ecuador, the Lakota, the Shawnee-Lenape, the Haudenosaunee people of Upstate New York, the Sami people of Sweden, and Ifa Priestess Yeye Luisah Teish, representing the traditional spirituality of West Africa. Among others, Yeye Teish is also the author of Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals. (www.YeyeLuisahTeish.com) (She recommended me as a featured teller for this event.)
Brother Steven Newcomb (Shawnee-Lenape) in his presentation told the little known story of the papal bulls. These were decrees by the Catholic Church that basically stated in the time of Columbus that all lands and people “discovered” by Christian Europeans should be dominated by any means necessary. Mr. Newcomb authored a book, Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. It provides a unique and well-researched challenge to U.S. federal Indian law and policy. These writings provide valuable information regarding the roots of slavery, domination in the Americas and continuing global conquests.
“The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code”
The conversations among us while in New York provided connective fibers as we discussed the generational and global impact of these papal decrees and the legalized atrocities inflicted upon all of our people. More than anything, however, it affirmed among us the need to continue to take action to dismantle the systems and shift the mindset that has kept us disempowered for much too long.
10. Dig deep into whatever grounds you to the Divinity in you and others. Be open to adventuring beyond your conditioned barriers. There’s nothing to fear.
11. Consider programs geared towards healing, such as Healing Centered Engagement. Several other teaching artists and I are participating now in this training program to explore ways of teaching youth from a healing or strengths-based approach vs. a therapeutic approach that focuses primarily on alleviating symptoms or focusing on “what’s wrong with our children?” It gives specific attention to the likely roots of the trauma that has given rise to many our children’s responses to life. While many educators have used similar or related approaches, the support of this research-based program has been greatly appreciated. It was created by Associate Professor of Education and African American Studies, Dr. Shawn Ginwright. Focus is directed to explore CARMA: delving deeply into the role of Culture, Agency, Relationships, Meaning and Aspirations. The website states:
“Our HCE framework puts racism and inequity at the forefront. HCE is a non-clinical, strengths-based approach that advances a holistic view of healing and re-centers culture and identity as a central feature in personal well-being for young people, their families and those who work with them.”
12. Bring back the lullaby and bedtime stories. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a professional sounding voice. There is nothing like the familiar tones of the voices of someone we know who loves us. Allow the young people in your life to feel the comfort, peace and security of your home during storytelling that teaches them what they need to know. Share stories that can soothe and reassure them and prepare them for life. Make up stories about experiences they have had in their own lives, using their names in the stories. Help them to see the heroism in some brave act that they performed or a kindness that they demonstrated. Tell stories that highlight what they have to be grateful for and to be proud of. Let them know that their efforts are appreciated.
13. Fill your home with sights, colors and sounds that reflect the personal and cultural identities and pleasures of those who live there. Encourage conversations that can be fun and that can also have meaning. Allow your children (with discretion, of course) to sometimes participate in “grown folks’ conversation.” It teaches them what is important to you and they see from your example how you handle expressing ideas of importance to you and how you handle differences in opinion. Teach your children how to take turns in conversations; how to graciously win a game and how to lose; and how to resolve conflicts in respectful ways. Teach your children to respect the power there is in words. Teach them also the power there is in silence. Allow your home to be quiet at night so that your family can not only sleep but can truly rest.
Enjoy storytelling performances, concerts and festivals. Explore Ase: The Chicago Association of Black Storytellers. This organization will host a powerful 25th anniversary storytelling concert on Sunday, October 20, 2024 from 2 to 4 PM at the Columbus Park Refectory. 5701 West Jackson Blvd
Also visit the site for the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc., the mother organization of Ase. (www.NABSInc.org)
As we carry on the work of Dr. Conrad Worrill, of Callie Guy House and so many countless others, as we prepare to receive the reparations that are actually beginning to come, let us prepare ourselves by healing, by repairing our wounds from the inside out, so that the resources and opportunities will be equitably distributed and sustainable for generations to come. Let us also be guided by the charge of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey:
“Up, you mighty race! You can accomplish what you will.”
Mama Edie McLoud Armstrong, MHS/SLP
Recommended Reading:
1921) Marcus Garvey “Address to the Second UNIA Convention” https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1921-marcus-garvey-address-second-unia-convention/
Recommended Listening:
“Redemption Song” Bob Marley and the Wailers.
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