Wk. 5, Book 5: Black History Month Box Book, Part I

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My wise, old grandfather once said, "If they were teaching the truth in schools, we wouldn't need a Black History Month." True that, but until the history books are totally changed, it is up to parents, grandparents, guardians, conscious teachers, et al. to teach truth to the youth--and each other. 

For us Native, African, Latino, Asian, and European descendant citizens, this means we must go back to the genesis of this experiment called America and not only retell those stories we know so well, but do the work of uncovering stories and truths we have not wanted to face/know/explore for fear of the pain they hold. The Sankofa wisdom teaching tells us, however, that we MUST go back and reclaim our past so that we can consciously go forward. We must find the emotional courage to step into the fire of all that trauma and heal individually and collectively. Or, we will be destined to live "the fire next time" again and again.


This week's book provides a vehicle for us to reclaim bits and pieces of our homeland, the Middle Passage experience, and the inception of the transatlantic slave trade aka the African holocaust. It is the first in a series titled Black History Month Box Books.
The Part I box book is 4.25" x 3.90" x 4" and is made of poster board, paper, fabric, original photos, and an illustrated Raven from Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson. 

I found an old prayer card from the OT book of Ecclesiastes 3:1. As hard as it may be to accept, perhaps there is a divine purpose to the season of enslavement our ancestors endured.



I remember standing at the threshold of a door of no return in a slave dungeon in Ghana and realizing our ancestors had not a clue of what they were coming to. Some of them had no concept of an ocean and certainly no concept of slavery as was practiced throughout the Caribbean and the antebellum south. There I stood, returned home after centuries of displacement, descendant of an ancestor who survived the Middle Passage, whose name I do not know but whose blood runs through my veins. That's a lot to reclaim--and forgive.

This is why I chose to place Raven atop the box, on its lid, because she is a messenger from the Spirit world; she brings healing energy, the "medicine of magic," and takes our prayers up on high. According to Jamie Sams and David Carson, ". . . realize that you will fear Raven only if you need to learn about your inner fears . . .". Her medicine is so necessary now for the healing of America. It is the key to the door of a room where all must come together, speak truth, cry, rage, accept our parts in the story, and gain the integrity required to move us all forward.

So what else do we need to reclaim? I put some prayer cards into this box as a reminder of how essential prayer was to the ancestors and how central prayer is to our healing process. I will continue to add those reclaimed pieces of our his/herstory to this box, for, like our individual and collective healing, this is a work in progress. I'd love to hear what you think/feel we need to add to his box.