Sankofa

WARNING! The content in this entry may be “Too Black” to be considered…This topic is nothing to take lightly. I want to “do it Justice”, so to speak, for all of the people I have personally known and all of the people who paved the way so that I could live as Freely as I can. On this topic of Black Business/Black Creators, I am thankful to know of someone on the most personal Level. It is my Mom. One of my earliest memories of being “Black” was being told as a 6 year old by my summer camp leader’s daughter that her Mom “doesn’t like Black people”. When I told my Mom, she immediately chose to REMOVE me from that day camp. This single choice is one of MANY ways that my Mom has EXEMPLIFIED a standard of “Black”-ness for me and for our Local Community as a whole. Though she isn’t always the “Leader” or person in charge, she has always willingly played a role in the progress of Black Community and communities of color. Through involvement in activism, education, and community service, my Mom has been a part of A Widely Unknown Renaissance of African Traditions and Historically Black Communities in Denver, Colorado for the Last 20 plus years —pulling me alongside her. Her involvement in our Local Community is not limited to the Black community, but includes participation in the Local Native American Communities and Organizations, Asian American Communities, Chicano Communities, African Communities, and Arts Community, with passion for All Cultures. It is not widely known that Colorado has Historic Neighborhoods designated to all of these groups of people as a result of tragedies such as The Sand Creek Massacre inflicted upon the Cheyenne and Arapaho people indigenous to this land —whose descendants in addition to other indigenous people in this community RADICALLY FOUGHT in the streets and in the court rooms like Warriors to change “Columbus Day” into “Indigenous People’s Day”—, the forced internment of Japanese people into local concentration camps during World War 2 with survivors like Marge Taniwaki who preach PEACE AND LOVE in the face of hatred, and the rich History of Chicanos and the Chicano Movement involving Colorado Native Corky Gonzales who fought for economic justice for Mexican Americans. Exposure to the knowledge and awareness of all of these movements would not have been possible for me without the curation of my Mom. Her ability to honor the importance of every Culture is unparalleled, and it is demonstrated in her way of teaching various ethnic and socio- economic demographics as a public school teacher/artist/ and entrepreneur while embodying diversity and inclusion in the most progressive way. Her ability to empathize with the oppression and discrimination of others comes from a deep and thorough “innerstanding” of our own experience as Black People and the systems that enforce and reinforce Oppression onto us. There are MANY MANY MANY LEGENDS here in Colorado—Dead and Alive—who have played a MASSIVE ROLE in preserving the Historic Neighborhoods and advocating for the rights of those communities, and they are not names that you hear on the television. Rather, their Legacy is almost forgotten. Their stories are almost erased by GENTRIFICATION and can only survive by the remembrance of what has happened here. Of all of the Historic Neighborhoods, FIVE POINTS—DENVER—, has been one of the Most Progressive Neighborhoods in America when it comes to “Black Business” and Black Community as a whole. Not only was it “Black” in its cuisine, and music, and education… but it was also AFRICAN in its way of celebrating our roots and culture that was stripped from us. By honoring community members who have passed such as Bibi Opalanga, Baba Ishange, Baba Chuck, Baba Joda, and Dr. Vincent Harding, we remember their community gatherings that UNIFIED Black People (and White People and All people of color) through Art, Storytelling, Music, and African Drum and Dance. These people are only a few of the people who have passed on having devoted their lives to SOCIAL JUSTICE and also to developing a higher standard of Life for those who are discriminated against. Many people are still alive, too, who have founded organizations like Shadow Theatre -a Black Lead Theatre Company-, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance -a Black Lead World Renowned Dance School and Company that provides rigorous dance training in techniques from all around the world-, Veterans of Hope Project -an organization that celebrates CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AND FORMS OF ACTIVISM TOWARDS ESTABLISHING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR ALL PEOPLE Founded by Dr. Vincent Harding who was a colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, The Institute of Global Scholarship (IGS) -a Black Lead Elementary school devoted to teaching And empowering Black Youth to excell to the fullest extent of success-, Five Point Jazz Festival, Juneteenth Festival -celebrating the Historic day that enslaved Black people discovered that they’d been legally freed-, Black Arts Festival -an annual Festival that brings together Hundreds of Musicians, performance groups, vendors of African and African American Art and artifacts celebrating the Black Aesthetic and bringing together Thousands of people from all over the World, the Pan African Film Festival, The National Brotherhood of Skiers -a Black Ski organization that debunks the stereotypes that Black people can’t ski-, and the list REALLY DOES GO ON AND ON! My Mom has had heavy involvement in event planning and resource provisions for many of these organizations and has inspired me to have active positions in these community spaces throughout my Life. Most notably, we also played a role in The Denver Kwanzaa committee by helping to organize the week of celebration of the 7 Day Holiday by creating the itinerary for all of the various events and commemorations of honor that take place all around the Downtown Denver Area. The remnants of these Black Historic efforts dating as far back as 1910 and include a RICH HISTORY of Black Scientists, Doctors, Teachers, Musicians, Artists, and Architects -whose buildings in Sakura Square and elsewhere still stand- are being demolished or cannot afford to remain standing and functioning as a resource to the Black community here that is STILL STRUGGLING with academic equality, combating food deserts, and acquiring community resources and safe spaces. These things happen to all of the communities of Color where a facility is no longer available for use due to rent stipulations, or lack of funds, etc…. for example CHAC (Chicano Humanities and Arts Council) losing their original Location that they’d occupied for years because of the pressing temptation of Gentrification and the Colonial Dollars that come with it. The Moral of this story, mostly, is that I want to pay homage to the Role that My Mom has played in my own Life and the way that I view Activism as a means towards establishing Social Justice for All, what it means to advocate for Black People, and how it is important to teach and acknowledge the truth of the History our people. What I admire MOST of all of the aforementioned people is their RELENTLESS SUPPORT OF “BLACK”NESS (/Culture) in the form of affirming our aesthetics, or standard of beauty, our worth, our intelligence, and our excellence, WITHOUT SUBSCRIBING TO THE INDOCTRINATIONS OF SLAVERY(/Colonialism). This refusal and rejection of deeply engrained ideologies forced upon us is Radical in the sense that it has cost lives. It has been the demise of many Great Black Leaders, it’s ability to empower our communities has sparked racist hatred that burned the Tulsa Historically “Black Business” district to the ground, and assassinated Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, and contemporary advocates of equality like Marielle Franco. On a National Scale, we have witnessed senseless murder after senseless murder of Black People and the constant battle with establishing equal worth here in America. I write this today because I Believe that all of the progress made in our Local Community has the power and ability to SAVE LIVES, BOOST OUR CONFIDENCE AND MORALE AS A PEOPLE, EDUCATE OUR YOUTH, EMPOWER, and LIBERATE our people who are still facing oppression and combatting the reality that we could be innocent humans MURDERED in the streets without any consequences for the murderers. The names of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, George Floyd, Breona Taylor, and our Aurora Colorado Angel Elijah McClain, ARE INDICATIVE OF THIS HARSH REALITY WE FACE TODAY. So here’s a little History.

There’s always this dilemma, as a Black person, between saying what needs to be said for the sake of the progress our people, versus appeasing/appealing to the mainstream paradigm that has only historically oppressed us. A paradigm that once justified the bondage and commerce of our Ancestors in the most large-scale trade of Human People in the world. This dilemma between advocating our truth, or appeasing the mainstream (western colonial Eurocentric) status quo was illustrated VERY VIVIDLY by the backlash that Colin Kaepernick received when he decided to Kneel in protest and Honor of the Black Lives that were being taken by police brutality. This choice to make a statement for the sake of our people cost him a career. This is the choice we have to make everyday in every way but I admire those who bravely speak the truth and stand for what is right because it is their courage that saves lives and shifts the paradigm of hatred set before us into a new paradigm of JUSTICE AND PEACE AND AND EQUALITY FOR US AND FOR ALL. For these reasons, I will choose to move forward with this challenge entry in honesty and advocacy for the REALITY of what it means to be “Black in Business”. We’ll call this “The Nappy Version” and I will maybe take the time to CODE SWITCH the same sentiments into something that is PALPABLE to the non-black reader in the form of another entry some other time. But for now, “Nappy” is a word used to describe our hair for the way that it twists and coils and so I will use our HAIR as an exemplary metaphor to explain the ways that Black people are forced to “straighten” our truth out into something that White America is comfortable with digesting. I PROMISE, this is worth a GOOD READ. You see, just the same way that Black Women are taught to present ourselves in a certain way in the workplace by conforming our own aesthetic from curly hair into straightened —and, thus, more white world appropriate— hair, our very words, thoughts, ways of worship and commerce are still suppressed by the pervasive and prevailing hatred of Blackness/Africanity that stems from slavery. I promise that everything I say will be true, and true to aspects of the Black Experience. In this document, I will aim to explain EXACTLY all of the angles from which I have come to understand what it means to be “Black”, and the importance of our role in business and in culture. I intend to be very candid in this entry which, unfortunately, can be very controversial. So controversial that MANY MANY MANY lives have been lost in the efforts towards repairing the tragic beginnings of Black Experience that pervades in our Contemporary Black Suffering.

I want you to know that I have shed millions of tears on this very subject matter and my tears are only a fraction of what all Black people alive have collectively shed, which is still only a fraction of what millions of people who came before us have shed on this very subject matter historically. All of this is still a fraction how many tears have been shed AS A RESULT of of the systemic oppression known as “Black”-ness and the “Business” of being black.

I first want to address The Platform VOCAL by saying that I “feel some type of way” about the fact that the grand prize of this contest is 5,000 dollars. Black people often say “feel some type of way”, colloquially, to describe disappointment in a situation. This version of this document will probably be more controversial than another but I just want to adequately explain an aspect of “Black” perspective. This perspective, to a mainstream American, seems like “The Devil’s Advocate” but I’m going to aim to portray a dynamic of the Black experience that is CRUCIAL in accomplishing social justice for Black People. So firstly, on the topic of the 5,000 dollar grand prize, I will say again that I “feel some type of way” because of this topic in relation to the other competitions that Vocal has been hosting concurrently alongside this one. With the “Little Black Book” fiction story worth $20,000 and the “If this, then that” review and recommendation challenge worth $10,000, I want to explain what that FEELS like, to me— a Black Person. Different than the Black Book Challenge or the TV recommendation Challenge, submitting this “Black in Business” Challenge is loaded with 500 years of EXTREME SUFFERING. Different than the other challenges, this one is not fiction or based on trivial entertainment… millions of people have DIED in regards to this topic. People STILL DIE in regards to this topic. So, for example, to complete the “Black Book” challenge, there was a maximum requirement of 2,000 words for 20,000 dollars and the “If this, then that” requires a max of 5,000 for 10,000… but for this challenge, the maximum requirement is 6,000 words about “Blackness” in relation to Business. I guess the point of delineating all of this is to say that it FEELS like the amount of money allocated to each challenge is indicative of what the content of the challenge entries are worth, and all I’m saying is that it doesn’t “FEEL GOOD” to be under the impression that my entry about “Black” Business —rooted in the centuries of tragedy endured by “Black” people, my Own ancestors included— is worth less than the other, less dire, topics. This is especially because, when you ask for a “Black “ perspective, you are asking for us as the writers and submitters to recount and unearth VERY DEEPLY ROOTED AND ENGRAINED TRAUMA AND DISCRIMINATION THAT WE ARE STILL ACTIVELY COMBATTING AND SURVIVING THROUGH. It’s not as simple as any other challenge because it is asking of us to therapize ourselves, to make sense of and dissect our thoughts and feelings about living in a social climate as descendants of Human beings who were once stolen from Africa and sold to people for Generations- of Entire Lifetimes- of of Forced Indentured Servitude. Entire paradigms of science are based on justifying the degradation and oppression of African people by defining our great great great great grandparents as sub-human. “Black” people are the descendants of Human Beings who suffered for the sake of the founding of America and, while it is often mentioned that Black people were responsible for “building” America —and many of the landmarks including the White House itself—, it is very rarely understood that THE TRADE AND TORTURE OF BLACK BODIES IS THE ONLY REASON THAT “BUSINESS” AND ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EVEN EXISTS.

With that being said, I just want to emphasize the GRAVITY of what this prompt on Black Business is asking of all of the participants. We are expected to divulge our stances on what it means to participate in “Business” as a “Black” person. For many of us, it historically means to be the innovators and inventors of household products, agricultural equipment, and other technologies, while receiving no credit or patent royalties for items like the Cotton Gin which made processing large amounts of cotton easier (“the touch the feel the fabric of our Life”), inventing peanut butter, inventions that helped form the early American railways, etc. All of these contributions to American society forged an infrastructure that Black descendants receive no respect or credit for. Instead, the message is perpetuated that we are Lazy and inferior learners, that our lives are disposable, and that our contributions as “Black” People to the institution of Business is a nuance when —in actuality— our involvement as Black People in Business is ESSENTIAL. It has always been. BLACK PEOPLE WERE THE MEANS TO AN END as it pertains to the founding of America and so when we write about this topic, it comes from a place of having been used. It comes from a place of having been degraded and abused to the point of dehumanization. It comes from being descended of Human beings who were once revered for building civilizations upon mathematics, astronomy, ecology, and ancient philosophies whose history has been very diligently, deliberately, incessantly, systematically ERASED for the purpose of maintaining a Racial Hierarchy that prioritizes the needs of some at the expense of others. The establishment of this Racial Hierarchy sustained for centuries by way of science and literature published and propagandized by the White Slave Traders, Owners, and Society as a whole of that time with the intention to ensure that Slavery would be a Lucrative Investment for years and years to come (Google “Willy Lynch Letters”—an example of an article promoted during the slavery days to teach Masters and Whites how to establish and maintain a power dynamic over the enslaved people by ways of physical and psychological torture—if you don’t believe me). Each step of the way, Black people have fought against this oppression in as many ways as we could despite being trafficked, sold apart from our families, beaten, abstracted from our language and religion and cultural traditions, hosed down in the streets, mauled by dogs, forbidden to read or vote, lynched, burned, etcetera, etcetera. Also, by the way, these violent methods of enforcement of European superiority were utilized GLOBALLY to monopolize resources, advantage trade, capitalize off of inexpensive and exploitive labor, secure privilege worldwide, and is the only reason that all of The people of the Native America and the Caribbean/Central and Southern Americas speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc. It is the only reason that some people in the Philippines have Spanish names, people in India speak English, People indigenous to Australia, New Zealand and the Melanesian and Pacific Islands speak English. THE INDUSTRY OF EUROPEAN COLONIALISM WAS A VERY DELIBERATE AND IMPACTFUL PARADIGM THAT HAS INFLICTED SUSTAINING PREJUDICE UPON ALL LANDS AND PEOPLE SUBJECTED TO

But , since the topic is “Black in Business” let’s define “Black” —for the purposes of today— as people who are descended of the African Atlantic Slave Trade since these are the people who, ultimately coined the term “Black” during the 1950s and 1960s “Black Pride” movement (though Black has come to mean many things to many people). So………., Did you know that “Black” people, as a result of the Slave Trade, occupy places as far north as Canada, all the way through America, Mexico, the Caribbean (such as Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, etc.), Central America and South America (in places like Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, Guyana, Brazil, etc). This widespread distribution of African Descendants as a result of the Slave Trade is called the “DIASPORA”, and the cultures of African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Angola, Senegal, Mail, South Africa, etc, LIVE ON in the foods, dance, and music of the people who were taken and forced to discard everything. The descendants of these places who endured the slave trade MIRACULOUSLY maintained a lot of cultural practices and rhythms despite the efforts of Slave Traders and Owners to remove the language and religions of our people. Even though there are places where these cultural practices thrive, EVERY descendant of the Slave Trade is abstracted from our Heritage in some way or another. Additionally, some methods of oppression functioned better in certain societies and is the reason that some Descendants of Africa seek to bleach our skin, or worship in a way that was once foreign and oppressive to our way of life, or straighten our hair to conform to Euro Standard of beauty that taught us that our hair was Ugly and that our skin was ugly… that our facial features and body type is ugly, etc. etc. These ideologies are still taught and enforced to this day and one example of this is Nayara Justine of Brazil who won the Globaleza pageant competition as a “dark skinned” woman. Her complexion was the target of hatred and the pageant received complaints that she “looked like a monkey” and was “too dark” and “ugly” to represent Brazil. Not only was this hatred inflicted upon her….. but the pageant COWARDLY chose to revoke her title and chose a different woman to represent Brazil who had light skin and no semblance of African features. This is an example of the erasure of our existence in these countries. So much so that people are ignorant to the FACT that THERE ARE ENTIRE POPULATIONS OF BLACK PEOPLE WHO SPEAK SPANISH… THERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE WHO SPEAK PORTUGUESE… BRAZIL HAS MORE BLACK PEOPLE THAN AMERICA DOES. All of these random facts should be more widely known for the sake of our People. I mentioned Marielle Franco earlier who was also a Brazilian woman who was an Activist and advocated for Educational opportunities for Black Youth in Brazil. She was murdered for her Activism and refusal to subscribe to the oppression. This is indicative of how our pursuit of Freedom and equality, through access to opportunity and resources is a controversial objective. Even organizations like The Black Panther Party sought to establish safety and equality for Black People while also Collecting books and educational resources and also developing breakfast programs and food provision programs that helped fight poverty and hunger in our communities. Poverty that als sustains as a result of slavery and our being excluded from opportuniti s for centuries. The black Panther movement is inspirational in such a way that it inspired a GLOBAL BLACK PANTHER movement, which is another largely unknown fact. Places like Australia, Israel, Hawaii, and India embraced the ideologies of the Black Panther movement as a way of LIBERATION from the oppressive colonial forces that were taking advantage of the “Black” people of those places. The term “Black” became nuanced to apply to those treated with extreme prejudice and discrimination across the whole world for example, the movie “Black Panther Woman” a documentary about the Black Panther Movement in Australia founded by the Indigenous people combatting the paradigm of ethnic terrorism that aimed to eradicate the indigenous people by way of stealing children and force breeding them into white society known as the “Stolen Generations” (see the film Rabbit Proof Fence). The CONSTANT FIGHT that Black People have faced with Colonialism is THE ONLY REASON there are basic human rights established on this Earth. THE ONLY REASON there was ever a concept of establishing “Equality” with Europeans. Black activism helped shape advocacy for every culture to have ANY kinds of rights in America and in the World. Our constant persistence to acquire an equal social standing set the precedent for Chicano Movements, Women’s rights movements, immigrant rights, Asian Americans ability to found affirmative action, etc. Not only through activism did we prevail…. but our contributions to Global music and the progression of Arts culture is another way that we have FOREVER IMPACTED the world. Obviously pioneering Jazz and Hip Hop as Hallmark Genres attributed to Black people, but Our role in Rock and Roll and country music is completely underrated. Our constant cultural innovations have inspired appropriation since the beginning of our time, and is the reason for which “copyright infringement” is even a concept which is because of how eager mainstream America was to copy our aesthetic without giving us due credit. Even still, Black people have been “giving dap/dapping up” each other for decades before mainstream America took the same action and called it a “fist bump”. You can’t watch television without a commercial that features Hip Hop beats or Grafitti aesthetic, or Lingo that derives from Black ways of communicating. All of this to reinforce the fact that Blackness is essential to Business.

Okay, so what’s the point of everything I’ve said?!...... How does all of this information pertain to my concept of “Black Business”? How does my Mom’s stance of Truth and Justice inform my own trajectory as a Black Woman? How does Black Activism (Blacktivism) impact Social Justice? I think the moral of this entry is to document the importance of standing by the needs of our community no matter what types of opportunities can be stripped from us. Similar to Colin Kaepernick, the Legends I mentioned before (Black and Non-Black) exhibit such a Bravery that stands in the face of adversity and violence. THIS IS THE BRAVERY WE NEED. This is the Bravery that makes everyone feel as though they belong in school, in a workplace, in the field of business, or in the arts. This bravery and honesty and refusal to conform to oppressive systems in place inspires me to found projects based on restoring what has been taken from us as Black people. Re-establishing our connection with Agriculture as a means to provide food for our communities. Re-establishing our connection to the traditional rhythms of the diaspora that are being lost and oppressed still to this day. I have been inspired by My Mom’s every day Colin Kaepernick energy to REFUSE to participate in anything that promotes the degradation of our people. All of this in the hopes of preventing another loss of life as a result of the ignorance of our worth. Watching my Mom co-found projects like “the Sankofa Arts Collective” is an example of how to build business and commerce in our Local Black Communities. The word “Sankofa” is a Word from the Twi Language in Ghana that means “to retrieve” or to “go back and fetch it” and it is the concept that symbolizes that you must know where you came from in order to know where you are headed. This has been an essential philosophy carried through my childhood by My Mom to emphasize the importance of knowing exactly what our Ancestors endured as a way of determining our path and trajectory in our current lives. The pain of the past can only be healed when its remnants are celebrated with thankfulness in the future. Because of My Mom and the other people who continue to pave the way for Culture and Inclusion of Lost traditions, we are able to remember the Beauty of our resistance. The beauty of our refusal to forget our songs, our rhythms, our ways of worship, and stand in our truth is what has fueled the success of “Black Business”, Black Creativity, Black Music, Black Art, Black Community, and will continue to inspire the world. I am thankful to my Mom for teaching to me Believe in that and to empathize with and believe in the Beauty and strength of other cultures that face discrimination, too. There is a NEED for ALL cultures to occupy a proverbial “seat at the table” when it comes to Business and Creativity, and so I hope to see more challenges on Vocal based on Prompts pertaining Native American Communities, Asian American Communities, Muslim Communities, etc., and more advocacy for the importance of EVERYONE learning about everyone’s Heritage.