Black culture is in you and me. It’s about understanding your history, that has influenced who you are and where you came from. It’s about having pride and understanding that you should love yourself and stand up for what you believe in. Our rights are human rights, as we are indeed humans!! The knowledge of Black culture is powerful and can change one’s life and bring about awareness, a sense of belonging as well as inspire motivation through history.
Too often people are lost, they don’t know who they are because they lack knowledge to fathom that, like every other life on earth, Black lives are just as important. They subject themselves to adapting in crazy ways, like changing their skin color and don’t think of themselves as persons capable of physically and historically attaining the status that they would want in life. Fathoming Black culture can eradicate and uproot all those scenes of insecurity and timidness. People become unashamed of who they are and will not subject themselves to less than their dreams in life. Thus, not degrading themselves and building self-esteem is just one of the powerful things about Black culture.
Black culture is family. Family is defined as a group of people united. This does not have to be a group of people united by blood living under the same roof. It’s about knowing people who will accept you, understand you and respect you for who you are. Knowing your ancestors, their history and understanding your lineage gives you a sense of belonging and worth, which is no doubt, an awesome feeling. Having a sense of belonging is crucial to an individual’s happiness, mental and physical health. A lack of belonging can result in the development of stress, depression, illness and a decreased wellbeing. Black culture can provide you with that warmth of belonging and self-worth. It shows us how valuable our ancestors thought we were, why they stood up to end the injustices that they saw in making our lives better. They have fought and they have sacrificed; this should not be in vain.
The history of Black culture is no doubt motivational and inspirational. I’ve seen on numerous occasions where primary school students were allowed to learn about their history and Black culture and present them to the public. Trust me, it is never short of amusement, as the children become excited, willing and eager to take part and act as their favorite Black history hero. If these children of ages 5 to 12 are able to understand and appreciate the history, who are we, the adults, to be lost and ignorant on this matter? Inspiration and motivation are factors that push individuals to take action and give their best. Throughout our history, we have seen numerous occasions where people like Martin Luther King boldly stepped forward and stood up for what they believed in. Influencing us to not build imaginary chains that will prohibit us from attaining our dreams, but to go forward and accomplish them. Black culture is strong, it’s powerful, it’s a sense of belonging, its motivational and inspirational. It’s a part of you, and it’s a part of me; Black Culture! My culture! Your culture! Our culture!
