Black life (6)
Black life (6)

Black life (6)



 

I traveled across lands and several bodies of water to make it here. The moment I stepped out of the plane and took my very first step on the grounds of Eritrea I knew I was home.

 


 

Sometimes it’s frustrating when you try to communicate with people and it feels impossible to connect with them. You try so hard to find a place where you both can see clear. You try so hard to comprehend with one another but you lose each other in the process. Sometimes you need to give it time. You give it a lot of time and the connection awakens slowly. Slowly magnetic energy moves through you. You connect. You connect and you realize how brilliant and how lovely the connection is. You realize a connection like this can only be defined as sacred.

 


Today I met a part of myself that I haven’t met before. I met a part of myself that I only heard of. I met a part of myself that I only dreamed about. I met a part of myself that helped me understand who I am. Helped me understand my roots. I met a part of myself that filled me with joy and love.


 


 

She smiled and she said, “I can see the day that you get married”. I looked at her with a blank expression. I was quite uncomfortable with the topic of marriage. She continued and she said “ when your mother was a little girl at the time of the war a soldier came to our house and your mother washed his clothes for him because they were so filthy. The soldier was so grateful that he told your mother “I could see the day that you get married’ and your mother stayed silent. The soldier told her “child you should say ‘Amen’ to that because that is a blessing not only for you but also for me”
I looked at my grandmother and I replayed her words over in my head. I tried to comprehend what she meant that seeing my marriage was not only for me but also for her. I looked at my grandmother and thought of the soldier that my mother encountered when she was young and those same words he spoke. I thought about the words and connected the soldier and my grandmother to them… Then I understood.

 


I remember a line from the book “ Anthem” that went something like “ it is my eyes which see and the sight of my eyes gives beauty to the earth”. That line spoke to me because it felt so true. It is true. We all see differently. Something that may be beautiful to me may not hold as much beauty to another. A smile can catch one person’s eyes while a bird in the sky can catch another’s. Each person’s perspective is unique. We all view things different from one another. There are even some that don’t view the world with their eyes. They use other senses to look at the world. With their nose, they breathe in the life of the earth through their nostrils. With their tongue, they taste the reality of the universe. With their hands, they feel the heart of the earth and with their ears, they listen to what they choose.



 

 

 

(These are journal excerpts I wrote during my first trip to Eritrea in 2008. It was my first time traveling outside of the United States and it was the first time I met most of my family members. The trip was a life-changing experience that gave me a new perspective on how everyone is more alike than different. It humbled me and gave me a great sense of peace and connection to humanity.)

 

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