Asa G. Hilliard (Nana Baffour) once said: "I sure hope they (white Americas) don't come to love Black people the way they "love" the Native Americans. He was speaking of the empty love found in the adoration of Native American things from sweat lodges to turquoise beads.
That's what I thought of when I first heard about Araminta Harriet Tubman's latest honor of being selected to grace the US $20.00 bill.
More than many others, Dr. Hilliard knew the power of story and of memory - especially group memory. As educators and parents, we too know the power of story.
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This Araminta Harriet Tubman Warrior-Healer-Builder presentation re-teaches us how to tell our stories from the "inside-out" not by lecturing, but by actually demonstrating it with a needed and poignant story of Harriet Tubman - a story designed to help us control her narrative!
To Asa's point, the only way that they can present to us one of our greatest warriors is that - in their minds - she poses no threat to excite the warrior in us.
Dr. Hilliard taught it as one of his Dynamics of Domination and called it "controlling group memory." Psychologist, Dr. Robert L. William's asserts that "racial scripts" have been implanted early in our socialization / miseducation. |
Even if the image of Harriet Tubman is in plain view, both distorted memories and injected "scripts" prevent us from accessing the power of Araminta's image to inspire us to even attempt to do today what she did yesterday. But that's the purpose of telling stories and honoring people from the past - to inspire and direct our actions today and in the future.
So to be successful this presentation has had to meet an additional challenge - to correct distorted memories and to neutralize the negative racist scripts running in our heads, so that her image will do for us what she did for so many of our people - free us.Note: We especially focus on the "injected scripts" in the Florida presentation for the 7th Annual Black Psychology Conference's Tribute to Dr. Robert Williams. |
Correcting distorted memories takes more than telling the "true" story because previously distorted memories shape perception and values of how the true information is viewed, held or discarded. When identity is molded around the distorted memory the true history challenges the distorted identity and is often rejected.
This is a challenge that parents and educators face.The Araminta Warrior-Healer-Builder story has been designed to meet this challenge.
To see our attempt, attend the Oct. 31st free session at the new Auburn Ave. Research Library or at the 7th Annual African Psychology Conference @ FAMU Nov. 3rd-5th.
How successful will we be? Only time will tell.
My guess is that more than a few parents, teachers and other within your circles of influence would appreciate this Warrior-Healer-Builder infused story.
Note: To craft this story to achieve the desired ends we've had to rely on tools like The River of Touches.This will be presented more fully at a Tallahassee, FL community gathering and at the Friday session of the 7th Annual African Psychology Conference.
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Bonus: Sister's in the house!
In 11 days, four students from the Araminta Warrior-Healer-Builder Certification class will take the stage and allow Araminta Harriet Tubman to come back forward in only the way sisters can! Mark your calendars. Friday, Nov. 11th 8pm @ Kilombo Academic and Cultural Institute. 1789 Columbia Dr. Decatur, GA 30032
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Thank you for your continued support!
For more info on AYA, go to our website or call. 404.532.9958
Don't know why all this fuss about Araminta? Check out this short video.
Wekesa & Afiya Madzimoyo
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