Speech for the UMOJA Community of Longfellow Middle School

December 21, 2023, 5:30 p.m.

 

On behalf of my generation, I acknowledge our Courageous Parents and Elders, Dedicated Teachers, and Superior Staff who made my Educational Experiences Holistic, Rigorous, Innovative, Inclusive, and Socially Relevant. Our legacy is that we fought a good fight and gave the world hell, speaking truth to power, not for our own sake, but for the sake of future generations.

 

Part 1 History

 

It was April 4, 1968, it was about 5:00 p.m. I was doing my homework. My Aunt Jackie called, crying. She said they killed him! What?  They killed him; let me speak to your mother

My mother got on the phone, and the next thing I heard was my mother crying, saying No, No!

At that very moment, there was a television news bulletin. It was Walter Conkrite, the dean of television news reporting the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That night,

Feeling the collective pain of our non-violent drum major for justice having been killed violently, there were:

• Riots all over American cities.

• Garfield-mini riot, student-led assembly, petition, school board, changed name, hired principal & ombudsman.

• BHS Fight for Black Studies Department

• SFSU protest/walkout for Africana Studies Department.

We were fulfilling our PURPOSE.

 

Part 2 NIA, the fifth Principle of Kwanzaa, is PURPOSE

 

Our collective aim is to develop and build our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness. We are committed to the collective job and career creation, the developing and defending of our national community, culture, and history, and tracing our African origins.

 

Malcolm X once said,

 

You can't hate the roots of the tree without ending up hating the tree.

You can't hate your origin without ending up hating yourself.

You can't hate the land, your motherland, the place you come from, and we can't hate Africa without hating ourselves.

 

Part 3 PURPOSE

 

Pride in oneself, family, community, people, heritage, and roots.

 

Unity is to be on one accord. Is to be Together, One Mind, One Heart, One Destiny, One Aim.

Responsibility is to know your duty and obligation; we make no excuses; we overcome obstacles and setbacks. We are responsible for the well-being of ourselves and one another.

 

Powerful— We are to exercise our Inner Power, Economic Power, Social Power, Staying Power, and Collective Power that is our Black Power with Fortitude, Focus, Stability, Stamina, and unwavering Determination will always bring success.\ and Sustainability.

 

Opportunity—We are to take Advantage of every opportunity that comes our way. Scholarships, Grants, careers, open doors, open windows and vocational training. We are inquisitive, curious, and strategic. We Exercise our Chosenness, our Specialness and Uniqueness. We have been taught to never settle for the crumbs off the table but to demand deservedly a seat at the table. We aspire to not to work for McDonalds’s but to own a McDonald’s.

 

Spirituality—  We are to learn our Ancestral African Religious history. We are to practice our African spirituality, which calls us to go beyond the American Eurocentric organized religion and connect to our African Diasporic Religions such as Santeria and Lucumi in Cuba, Candomble in Brazil, Vodou in Haiti, Rastafari and Obeah in Jamaica.

 

Expressiveness—We are the Originators; we have the Creativity, Imagination, and Style. We have SOUL, Swagger, Cool, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Blues, Country, Gospel, Poetry, Slang, Ebonics, and the list goes on.

 

I challenge you to look inside yourself to set personal and collective goals that benefit our community. Rise, and even if you falter, stumble, or fall, get back up, spread your wings, and keep ascending; keep rising until you reach the mountaintop of your dreams, ambitions, and goals.

Marcus Garvey said, “Let the Sky and God be your Limit and Eternity your Measurement.” Dr. Perry says, “Don’t FORGET TO GIVE BACK!”

 

ASHE & AMEN

 

Part 4

 

I will now call on Salita Mitchell, Chris Oakes, and Kamar O’Guinn to join me on stage.

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF OUR ANCESTORS who fought for us to be here this very day. We acknowledge their FORTITUDE and DETERMINATION.

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR COLLECTIVE SPIRITUALITY.

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR RESILIENCE—our ability to bounce back from every disappointment, delay, and disaster.

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR COLLECTIVE MEMORY— try as they might to delete us from history books, classes, and instruction; Try as they might to put us back to sleep, crying in self-pity; We have woken up, we have dried our eyes, and We will never forget our history with its trials and triumphs. We know Life is No Crystal Stair. We’ve experienced a dream deferred, Yet We still Rise!

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR COMMUNALISM— our VILLAGE CONSCIOUSNESS and understanding and practice of COMMUNITY.

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR EXPRESSIVENESS.

 

YOU ARE STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS WITH OUR INDIVIDUALITY, UNIQUENESS, & VITALITY.

 

Finally, YOU STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF OUR ANCESTORS WITH OUR REALNESS. We face life HEAD ON without pretense, phoniness, selling out, or hypocrisy.

 

 

 

I Pass the Relay Baton Symbolic of our PEOPLE, CULTURE, and STRUGGLE, CALLING ON YOU TO CARRY ON THE WORK. TO INSTILL IN FUTURE GENERATIONS THE IMPORTANCE OF SANKOFA AND OUR DIASPORIC CONVERGENCE UNITING OUR PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD for a Bright and Brilliant future.

 

Continue to Be

100% AUTHENTIC, 100% ORIGINAL, 100% GENUINE, 100% TRUE

 

Ashe, Ashe, and Amen!