Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility in the Resurgence of Self-centeredness

Habari gani? (What’s the news?)

Today is the third day of Kwanzaa.

I just read that there will be no indictment of the officers involved in the November 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was playing with a toy gun in Cudell Park in Cleveland, Ohio.

What is collective work and responsibility in the ME ME ME Generation? Well, if you are really concerned only for yourself, then you must understand that your neighbors problems are yours as well. You must understand that their well being is yours as well. You must understand the safety of their children means the safety of your own.

If you are only thinking of your own happiness, and matters that only concern you directly, realize that you live on Earth and are not a planet in your own solar system. Your sister’s woes are yours as well.

We have lost children without justice. We witnessed their abuse and deaths and watched them replay on every video medium available to us. We have seen that the fear, bias, and hate against Black people has been justified by law and deemed acceptable practice by the greater society to bend protocol to apprehend, subdue, and punish Black bodies.

Why do Black folks have to say “BLACK LIVES MATTER”? Because we have seen that all lives still aren’t valued equally within the law.

Tamir was our child. Tamir was your child. Tamir could have been you.

How will you enact change in the New Year?

Reflect on this and consider how you can advocate for your family and community in the New Year. Don’t forget to write it down! The pen brings many things to light and to life!