BLCD 2020 Worldwide Workshop
It was a worldwide workshop. The Internet made it possible for hundreds of people from every continent to gather in the virtual Black Liberation and Community Development (BLCD) Village for an awesome experience.
Weeks after the fact, I still feel a rush of ubuntu [a bond] from thinking about our time in the Village and the insights, the love, and the inner resolve that I drew from it.
I loved the loud and effusive “Africanness” of our greetings. It took a long time for everybody to introduce themselves, but I loved looking at every single unique beautiful black/brown/tan face while they talked. I loved the interpretation into numerous languages and how so many of us were in our native attire. I twale [praise] the organising teams, the tireless tech teams, and the myriad other people who worked in front of and behind the scenes to make BLCD and world history! I loved the randomness of the breakout sessions and the long time assigned for support groups.
The sense and possibility of African-heritage people all over the world uniting in mutual respect for one another’s identities, peculiarities, struggles, and dreams were giddying. Can you imagine what we could be if we stopped despising and denigrating ourselves? Can you imagine the monumental economic restructuring with us redefining beauty and success in this world? Ha! We are formidable, and with the chains in our minds broken, we will be invincible! Yes! to Black liberation! Yes! to BLCD 2024!
Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
(Present Time 201, October 2020)