S is For Single Garment of Destiny – Ujima - Happy Kwanzaa!

“We are tied in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality” (Dr Martin Luther King Jr)

It is not a bad thing to have an emotional response to others when you see the things that they are going through. Sometimes you might feel a sense of urgency to pray for others because of what the media shows. That’s the right thing to do because we are all one body of people on this one earth. Right?

Not everyone’s life feels like a sweet joyride. Some people are unable to commit themselves to a grind and straggle behind because they are physically incapable of it. Some people live crying in agony on a daily basis because there is no hope to build on or to be maintained and instead, they sit and suffer every day. Some people die for a meal a day while others have the opportunity to eat six small meals a day. Some people sleep in a warm bed every night while others sleep in cardboard boxes. Some people have the ability to walk to wherever they want to go while others cannot because they are in wheel chairs. Some people cannot dedicate themselves to reading because they were not taught to read nor did they have educational opportunities available to them.

Some folks carry on traditions that are different than the ones we live. Some go to church every day. Others may go only on Christmas and Easter or not at all. Some folks celebrate their birthdays with laudatory festivals. Others fast to celebrate their new year.

We all are the same because we all are different. We all have baggage, songs and dances. We all lived romances and have taken chances from the moment we started on our life journeys.  

We all make memories that resonate through the years. We all feel things in our hearts in different ways. We all have a diversity of ideas and are packed with emotions and we all perspire beads of sweat making an effort to be the best version of ourselves.

Even though we are different, we can still praise each other’s effort. Some make an effort to feed their five kids. Some make an effort to survive the mean streets that they live on. Some make an effort to simply have a voice in society. Some make an effort to overcome the ravages of cancer. But we all as a people make efforts to fight the battles of life and to overcome our own obstacles, regardless of what they are.

It is important to consider others and to not generalize or make assumptions. Don’t topple someone else’s confidence just because they live in a different bed of roses than you. Don’t make judgments because someone’s educational background was different than yours. And don’t tumble in the waves of measuring someone else’s work, monetary or life situation on yours. Sometimes it is good to strike up the conversation with hopes of building a new perspective, so we can root out bigotry, confront discrimination, fight for inclusivity, and stop the unsavory stereotypes of people who are different from us. Please check out my original song and video entitled, “People United.” Lyrics by me, Stephanie Jeannot. Music by Paul Garrod. Video edited and produced by Stephanie Jeannot.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKL0kS92s10&t=59s

At the end of the day, we should hold high esteem for each other because we are all people alike. Let us no longer look at people based on their age, class, color, gender, sexual orientation but as human beings as we challenge old ideologies and instead make provocative moves towards accepting responsibility for the progress of humanity. In my opinion it seems more pleasing to the ear to hear stories of shared humanity than struggling and fighting each other over the same nonsense because at the end of the day, we are all equal. We are the change that is needed in this world and we have the power to be in a position of influence to get everyone to see the world from a broader perspective.

After all, Ujima is all about building and maintaining the world together and to make our Brother's and sister's problems, our problems and to solve them together. Happy Kwanzaa!

From Umoja to Imani, may all the blessings of Kwanzaa be yours.