————————–

I have learned a lot about myself in these past almost 2 years I have been living here in Bamako. Although it is easy to type or perhaps even to say, it is no small thing for African American like myself to make such a bold claim and internalize its weight in the face all that may be trying to tell me the opposite.

Last year, after hearing Lorna Goodison, Kwame Dawes and Brenda Marie Osbey speak at Furious Flower 2014, things become a lot clearer for me, in listening to what they had to say.

I was particularly struck by Kwame Dawes’  presentation, in which he spoke about his “absence of angst”, “absence of divideness” , “absence of struggle and identity crisis” , with regard to who he is and where he comes from.

Hearing how clearly and resolutely he spoke really affirmed a lot of what I have been feeling and trying to articulate lately.

Later that same day I got a chance to sit down with Kwame Dawes to be filmed for the Furious Flower Archive, it was really an honor and privilege to talk with him. I hope some portion of that will find the light of day. After our conversation while walking back for another session, I started ruminating on the following quote by Kwame Nkrumah:

“I am not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me.” -Kwame Nkrumah

This quote nailed it for me. I know some will find this problematic, or that perhaps that the Pan-African spirit that is undergirds what Nkrumah said is archaic and does not fit today’s reality, but I disagree. I think today more than ever we have access to so much more information about who we have been and who we are and that information used correctly can be empowering and perhaps build the kind of bridges necessary for Africa and America.

I have never felt more “African”, than I do today, despite being a “American” from the United States, by blood on the soil & by passport, despite difference, despite being called “white” sometimes (in a non-pejorative way…I think),despite only speaking one language fluently (our American dialect , not English), despite boarders, tribes & ethnicities, despite those who will not claim me, nor allow me to claim myself…I steal a/way, despite those who will claim a spot in my place, despite the magnetic black hole of the middle passage, where clocks run backwards, & the ark of bones left in that wake where time stands still…

I am clear. I am African

The post A Pan-African 40th Birthday Meditation… first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.

This is the long road from to and from Kpalime.  On our way back to Lome we got a flat on this long and pulled over on the side of the road.

While we were waiting for Mohammed, on the right above,  to go  get more air in the spare tire….Bruno, the guy seated in the middle above, decided to take a look around. He sees a path off the road into the woods so he ducks be the brush and finds….

this guy Eric, weaving baskets for sale at the market. Bruno calls us all over to come and look, plus it was much cooler under the shade around Eric’s house.

When I walked in and got a look at what Eric was doing I almost cried. The basket he was making was exactly the same basket that my Gullah/Low Country South Carolinian elders and ancestors make. He smiled with pride and told me that perhaps some of my ancestors are from Togo, I smiled and said back to him “Peut Etre” (Perhaps).

Eric was such a quiet, humble soul…I was honored to meet him and tried to explain to him how much of a blessing it was to run into him on the side of the road that. Seeing him do the same thing the same way my elders and ancestors do and have done was such a confirmation for me.

Some people need or want DNA to tell them where they are from, and while I find that interesting and enticing, I think I would much rather follow the culture and find kinship that way.

If we had not gotten a flat tire, i would have never met Eric. Although it was hot and inconvenient, it was a blessing, one I will never forget and a got a chance to me a potential long lost cousin.

The post a half note on Serendipity first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.

Ok maybe one explanation….

The above pic is Damigou, Melanie’s sister in Togo from her time in the PeaceCorps 10 years ago. This is how Damigou looks all of the time, not cooking but smiling…always smiling. She is a young woman with a lot of love in her heart and shows in everything she does including cooking which she did for us our entire visit to Lome.

The post Scenes from Togo #003 first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.

I am not totally happy with the result, but is was phone to play…I will keep trying in different contexts to see how it alters my experience.

From left to right, the 1st and 3rd are pictures in the courtyard of the hotel we stayed in in downtown Lome. In the 1st image if you look carefully you can see my feet. The 2nd pic is of this awesome tree  I saw that had grown like an arc over the basin of the Kpalime waterfall. The 4th pic are of the waterfall in Kpalime, if you llook closely you can see Melanie down there at the bottom. During rainy season the waterfall would be much more impressive.

The post Scenes from Togo #002 first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.

This was a cool totem at one of the artisinal markets in Kpalime. Although the had some really nice items we found that things were a bit pricey when compared to similar items in Lome.

This area is very close to the border with Ghana, thus the people in this area are part of the same ethnic group, Ewe. The Ewe, span both Togo and Ghana.  In the month of November, the inhabitants of this area has a festival called Kpalikpakpaza , the first festival was held in 1997.  “The festival is meant to remind the Kpalime people of the valour of their ancestors during wars in the ancient days.” 

I am going to do some more research about this festival, because I have long been searching for a festival (or celebration) to replace Kwanzaa, which I have never quite been a fan of or quite understood why African Americans with genetic and cultural lineage to West Africa would accept a festival whose lingua franca is Swahili (East African) and whose founder has such a problematic past. Anyway, that is a discussion for another time…

Stay tuned…

The post Scenes from Togo #001 first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.

You can also visit “With a Poet’s Eye”, my Instagram for some other views of our trip to Lomé and in general to keep up with what we are up to. http://www.instagram.com/fjoiner

The post Scenes from Togo #000 first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.