Sakile Oxum
Jul 10, 2017 · 15 min read
How “Follow Me” is the Motto Nigga Yolo

The Letter To The MacArthur Foundation: The “Follow Me” Future

Hi Doug,

So I have been doing research on this foundation for a long time. My Cousin Corey Harris actually was granted by this organization for his musical capabilities and his passion for fortifying West Africa and learning African Music and, of course, guitar. I am an Afro-Indigenous, American Indigenous, and European 23 year old girl who identifies and phenotypically expresses myself as Black.

I have actually effectively studied Latin, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and look forward to studying Arabic and Dari more thoroughly in the fall so that I can communicate more effectively with the people of this Earth who are being wrongfully accused and targeted in this Country and in the Western World. I have great faith in humanity as it pertains to Islam… something that I write about in my book “MayFlowers”, a 103 page unedited “stream of consciousness” that I wrote during the month of May 2017… just a few weeks ago. It is a testament to my own struggle and also the great struggle of my Ancestors titled “MayFlower” after the name of the ships that brought hopes of the New World along with the opportunity to found a massive slave trade and genocide to the land that we live on today. All of the trauma, rape, and abuse that I have endured in my very own life has given me the opportunity to be reflective about the extreme oppression and violence that my ancestors endured. I, however (being the positive and loving person that I strive in every moment of my life to be), have ALSO chosen the title “MayFlowers” after the saying “April Showers Brings MayFlowers” because after a month of crying on my bedroom floor and photographing every positive thing that kept me grounded in my own life (as can be seen of my Instagram) -things that anchored me to my own existence that I thought, in every moment, of relinquishing- I decided that I could squeeze something positive and hopeful out of myself, like Beyoncés Lemonade. I have a very immense capacity to love and it comes from always wanting to make sure that no child ever endures what I have endured. I have, actually, endured MANY more hardships than the ones that I indicate in “Mayflowers” (still fewer hardships than many) and would challenge you to read that book before you make any kind of decision on whether I am worthy enough to bring my ideas into this world. Ultimately, that is what this funding has the power to do.

I expect that you probably get thousands of applications daily, but I am the one that will change the world. I will change the world because I have a fundamental innerstanding of everything. I have this innerstanding because I learned from my childhood, every valuable lesson… I learned how to listen and how to ask the right questions. Questions that would help me gain a larger perspective of any problem at hand. By doing this, I actually retain a lot of information simply because, even if I don’t fully GET what the teacher is saying, I ask about what confuses me and the answer might confuse me too but I save it in my mind and process it ‘till later…. which ensures that the answer and my true innerstanding will actually click within my mind and in my heart in such a way that I GET IT FOREVER… THAT!…Is LEARNING. All of that being said, I am an Indigenous Child and being raised Indigenous is very different than anything else, especially many people on your panel of grantees, because Indigenous People have many answers for how to solve all of the problems of the world very easily. Environmental Sustainability and Cultural Coexistence especially though. Because of my rigorous educational training as a child with a Mother who teaches elementary education…I am very diligent in my personal studies. My Mother always pushed the limits on what a child can learn and so I have always been tremendously ahead of my grade level in everything that I do. She also instilled in me the importance of ALL Indigenous Practices of the world through dance and through song and I have become passionate about teaching these things to people because of the importance that it has played in my life and the compassion that it has formed within me for humanity and for people who struggle to see hope in life. We actually have a wonderful power to help many people find a sense of belonging, community, and self worth by teaching everyone -and sharing with everyone- the importance of loving, appreciating, and valuing our own cultural practices and the cultural practices of others. It is the opposite of assimilation where we focus on sharing everything we know that brings REAL PEOPLE the FEELING OF WORTH. That is what we have to do…. Especially when my people are being shot in the streets by government sanctioned officials… especially when there are few efforts to maintain and fund projects on Native Reservations that help to rebuild land and resources that were pillaged away from them… and especially when there is so much beauty in this world through music, art, lecture, ancient wisdom, and technology that has the power to REALLY CHANGE the way that every human being FEELS on a daily basis. A shift in this feeling we have when we wake up can change the way we interact with people on a daily basis. Instead of driving your car into innocent bystanders as a means to “deal” with your anger… you might be inspired to grab a cup of coffee- especially if there are musicians inside and good news and good people who you know and love in your community-, or learn about a new culture, participate in a community based sports club, join a cooking class, share your poetry at a open mic night, etc.

I have been very fortunate to be raised in an organization called “The Veterans of Hope Project” an organization founded by my Uncle Dr. Vincent Harding who wrote some of Martin Luther King’s Speeches. That’s right, so PEACE and its attainability is something that I believe in and HOPE to see achieved before I die. That is why I am alive, after all. The hope that the future would be better is what keeps me alive in every moment that I have chosen never to harm myself or remove myself from this life… it is with the hope that I will be embraced by great peace in this world. I believe in this peace because I feel it in my life. If You Followed me on Facebook, you would see in my photographs that every minute of my life I am seeking experiences that reassure me of my purpose in this life. You see, my name is Sakile (sah-KEE-lay). It is a Zulu name that means “We Have Built” and it is genius to be named this name because it is an entire philosophical concept. It is transcontinental and eternal and it is the idea that everything that I am is because something has built me to be it. This means, that I am a product of my Ancestors, of every Elder who has given me advice on how to live through life in the midst of a war of adversity, every child who helps me see everything in a new way, every student’s opinion in my class, everything… always trying to find the BALANCE. The balance is… how do we take ALL OF THAT information -all of the worldly information- and make it into a MODEL for how to BE with each other. That’s really what being a human being IS…. BEING WITH EACH OTHER. Something that we fail to do frequently.

Being from Aurora, Colorado… minutes away from the infamous Aurora Movie Theatre Shooting and also growing up in the State of “Columbine” I am very aware of the great damage people can do to one another when they feel like they do not belong. I lost a friend, Tyler Star, to suicide… who was a sweet young man who also worked in the Veterans of Hope Project with me as a teen. I remember him constantly speaking to Dr. Harding about how to engage with his bullies in a peaceful way while still effectively telling them to stop. They pushed him in a lake once. He never acted back and, instead, took his own life. The social rejection became unbearable… And I can relate… especially after having composed a masterful song called “Oxum Con Chango” one week at he beginning of June that is named for the deities of Love and Power in the Yoruba Tradition of Nigeria. I play all of the instruments and use the Afro-Cuban rhythms I LOVE in order to capture the importance and “brightside” of the great atrocities we have endured as a collective people. Because of the severe racial context of life in this world we have been forced to look at ourselves through a lense that glorifies a standard of beauty that is not applicable to myself, nor my hair texture, nor the depth of my skintone… the broadness of my African Features, but it is also a standard of beauty that does not value Intellectualism, Creative Idiosyncrasy, or any of the other “stuff” that makes each person absolutely unique and important as an Individual. None of that is valued by current popular culture, quite intentionally, because it confines us and teaches us to believe in a Unilateral World View. A World View that, when propagandized, is detrimental to the Collective Human Consciousness and it’s Progression through Acceptance, Diversity, Inclusion, and LOVE. It is very difficult to feel happy about existing when you do not fit into this Widely Projected Unilateral World View. I learn from Celia Cruz that there is always something to be happy about in life. That is what studying Salsa Music has taught me but it is also a theme in ALL World Dance. My focus is primarily in Salsa and Afro-Cuban dance and music right now because of it’s roots in Yoruba/Ifa of Nigeria. I am passionate about learning everything that I can about the culture of Nigeria and the way that it manifests along the Afro-Atlantic Slave Diaspora. It is an interest that was instilled in me by my Mother, through her ethnomusicological way of being. Always keeping in mind the dance of the people and the songs that people FELT THE NEED TO BRING INTO EXISTENCE. Not only did these songs survive “The Middle Passage” (a term used to describe the journey between Africa and the Americas crammed and packaged inside of ships like sardines), but they survived years of violent oppression that Mandated that NO African song or dance be preserved. My people are resilient. Humans are resilient. I learn this through Cuba, yes, but I have also learned it through studying Brazilian Samba and Capoeira, Hula and Haka of the Pacific Islands, Obon Dance of Japan, Ballet of France, Italy and Russia, and also singing SO MUCH MUSIC. From learning Hebrew Songs, to German Songs, and singing songs of HOPE and LOVE in all of these languages, I have infused my body with the NECESSITY to bring MORE LOVE INTO THIS WORLD.

It is my duty and I know this because it is also what I am named for. The name “Oxúm” (Oh-SHOON) is a name that comes from the deity Oshun, or Oxúm who is the deity of LOVE in the Yoruba Tradition of Ifa. It is she that manifests as the River (see “River” by Ibeyi) to bring water to all of land and all of Earth’s Creatures. It is a mystical story so, whether you believe it or not, it is what keeps me striving to make everyone around me feel so so so so deeply loved. Even in all of this passion, I am imperfect and still struggle to communicate my love with the people around me. My reluctance to trust coupled with a bit of odd and appropriately placed introversion makes it difficult for me to express JUST HOW MUCH I LOVE EVERYONE. I have projects to prove it. That’s what I’ve done… I have done SO MUCH research on how to bridge gaps that divide us by culture and socio-economy in the last 5 years of my schooling. I have exercised my independence to study and participate in classes so long as they are teaching me something relevant to my goal of achieving a greater diversity standard (something MacArthur effectively does). Because of My Age and the Age of Social Media, I have been assessing the ways that aesthetics effect how people interact with each other. Growing up as a Black Woman in America, I have been victim to a handful of very very very vivid racially charged aggressions. Some of which have been blatant, hateful, and intentional racism, and others that have been equally hurtful and offensive and emerged out of a normative ignorance. The fact of the matter is, popular culture does not associate Blackness with Intelligence. The “key” there is popular culture and I will also argue that many many disconnections between multiple racial groups and the capacity they have to learn is why the ignorance in this country sustains.

In my lifetime, I would like to listen to music from EVERYWHERE on the Radio. This is why growing up in Denver, Colorado in the Five Points Historically Black District has been so important. Listening to KUVO Jazz Station and being a part of the networking while my Mom and another Uncle worked there gave me a DEEP DEEP DEEP appreciation for the power that music can have in bringing people together. Growing Up studying Dance under my Aunt Cleo Parker Robinson and other World Renowned Dancers like Baba Chuck Davis (A Person Largely responsible for the Existence of a Field of African Dance Study in the United States, May He Rest In Peace), Rosangela Silvestre (An International Dance Choreographer who has created entire Dance curriculums that teach the dance manifestations of the Yoruba and Angola Traditions in Brazilian Candomblé Song and Dance) and Tio Ezequiel Torres (a Afro-Cuban Batá and Overall Drum Eficionado who has brought entire troupes of dancers to share the stories of the Orisha -the Yoruba deities represented in the Natural World- placing a new value on culture and stories that have been forgotten). AGAIN. I will stress the importance of all the aforementioned because THAT is the reason that I am looking to found A Festival Called FREEDOM as my first project. It is because I really believe that everyone needs the opportunity to sing and dance and praise our existence in a loving way. This is how my Ancestors survived the brutality of the American Dream… and, in fact, is how my European Ancestors who came to Ellis Island ALSO found solace in the circumstance. We, right now, are in a time of growth and mourning. IT IS TIME TO SHARE. It is time to let everyone know that we are not alone and I am the person who is going to do that. I will do this for my community in the biggest way possible and will CREATE A MODEL for other community leaders to build deeper connections that will strengthen our bond with ALL people around us.

I have consistently had an average of 100 dollars in my bank account over the last 6 months and have done more community work than ever in my life prior… spending my own money to accomplish my goals. I have hosted healthy cooking classes, dance workshops, drum workshops, open mic nights, art installation exhibits, coffee shop shows, community benefit meetings, and home concerts. I have effectively catered many of these things using my hundred dollars and with the support of my group of passionate artists, colleagues, and family members who I refer to as The Universoul Project. These photos are available for viewing on my website, on my Instagram, and on My Facebook (especially), where you will see that my very own life is replete with A LITERAL MULTITUDE of ethnicities, ethnocultural activities, and a variety of social fields (ranging from health food and cuisine, to extreme sporting through outdoor mountain activities such as SandBoarding the Great Sand Dunes and Back Packing the Beautiful Rocky Mountain of Colorado, Volunteering with Peace Jam, etc etc etc… I have done it all in these 23 years and have so much more to do!!!). I have worked so hard in other organizations and see that my ideas and ambitions are undervalued. I believe this is due, in part, to a type of cognitive dissonance people experience when I speak simply, concisely and intelligently, and also due to false pragmatism- where haters assert that because my idea is lofty and aims to accomplish large scale REAL CHANGE… it is unrealistic and, therefore, not practical. The truth is, all of everything I aim to do IS VERY practical. For example… I intend to create A Festival Called FREEDOM where Two Weeks of August 2018 are designated for Indigenous Ceremonial Education, Elder and Youth Engagement, Collective Art Creation, Lecture Series, Community Sport Tournaments, Food Truck Haven, Open Mic Poetry-Hip Hop and Singer Songwriter Share Space, Large Scale Performance, and MultiCultural Immersion. As a Musician of Song and Drum, an Indigenous Meditative Beader, A Dancer, a Leader in My Community, a Philosophy Major at the University of Colorado at Denver, a Big Sister to Everyone, and a Friend, I am obligated to repay the love that I have been given. The LOVE that has “built” me into the person who I am today. A person who feels worthy of life amongst loved ones who do not yet. I AM OBLIGATED BY NAME (“Nomen est Omen”- Latin phrase) Sakile Oxúm to BE THE LOVE I wish to see in this World.

I will continue to pursue ALL of My Dreams for my people (people of LOVE… people in this world who believe that we can SHARE this place and its resources) vehemently and adamantly advocating for resources that help every person find self worth. The importance of learning someone else’s language so that you may communicate with them better. The importance of preserving Indigenous practices like Haka, Hula, Sundance, and Bembé that aim to connect the human body with Nature and all of its creatures. I will always work to ENHANCE THE VALUE of ALL cultural practices, thereby enhancing the value of the people and the land that they inhabit. I intend to do this through Social Media in a WorldWide Way by exposing people to MANY different shades of people doing millions of different professions, arts, and practices so that each person can find where they belong. So that every person may know that they belong. I will do this with 10 Dollars and I will do it with 50,000 dollars (no amount of money will ever limit my intention)… to ensure that ALL Children feel like they have somewhere in life to be. So that no one feels like the next rational step is to take their own life. So that everyone can feel loved by SOMEBODY. This is what that Festival is about… and this is what that News Organization will be about. Spreading LOVE into every corner of the World. Heightening our Tolerance, Practicing Acceptance, Achieving Coexistence. Though my ideas have not yet been manifested on the scale that I would like, I practice everyday to BE THE CHANGE. When the News projects that Muslim people are all terrorists I developed a relationship with a Five Year Old Child named Armaan and his family who feed me everyday and with whom I play. His mother recently had a baby that was born 2 pounds and is currently living inside of an incubator. She was very grateful when I offered to be a part of their lives because it took a burden off of her. Is she a terrorist? Definitely not… Is she a mother…? Yes. Like my mother. Like any person, really. OR…When there is a strategic demasculinization of Asian men in our Popular Culture, I am the person who joined Dragon Boat Team and began to Race Alongside the most Intelligent, Caring, Strongest Men I know. I am on this Planet in this life TO DEBILITATE the lies of oppressive propaganda. If you took the time to read my book… you would know that I have THE DEEPEST APPRECIATION for EVERYTHING that MacArthur stands for and am working diligently in my everyday life with hardly any money to bring SO MUCH LOVE into the lives of every person around me and with every person in mind and heart. I have devoted every minute of my life to building more connections, learning more about our worldly cultures, and doing the research necessary to create programs that ENHANCE OUR COLLECTIVE HUMAN EXPERIENCE!

Yes, I am 23. Yes, I am ambitious. Yes, I am a Millennial who struggles with interacting with society. But I am THE ONLY PERSON who can do what I have set out to do. I am the only person who can change the Aesthetic of Intelligence. I am THE ONLY person who can create programs for children that encompass and embody PRIDE in BEing EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE. And I am the only person who can teach this world how to LOVE the way that I am planning to. For these reasons, I would ask that the Entire MacArthur Foundation reconsider. What may have been thought as a frivolous request to “Follow Me” was actually my Millenial way of saying that you should do your research on who I am and recognize who I am going to be for this World, For, its Children and for the Loving Progress of Humanity. I ask that you look, read, and listen to ALL of the resources that I provide you with before rejecting my application.

Thank you for your time and I hope you reconsider, (links provided below)

Sakile Ealote Iona Oxúm Ibu Adesa Lowman

P.S. I would LOVE to work along with the Branch of MacArthur In Nigeria through a group I have founded called Children of the Diaspora. A group eager to make connections between ALL of the places affected and responsible for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as we are the descendants of those people and places. Nigeria is of special importance to me because of my Yoruba upbringing and passion for the manifestations of its cultural, religious, and musical practice.

*SEE sakileoxum.com for links to everything*

Sakile Oxum

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