Learning from Marimba Ani

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my first-ever lecture or open discussion that had nothing to do with school, The speaker of the night was Marimba Ani. Before this, I had no idea who she was or what would be discussed, however, I left with a new interest in Pan-Africanism. Marimba Ani is an African Studies scholar who graduated from the University of Chicago. The audience and interviewer referred to her as Mama and I thought that was interesting and showed the respect everyone in the room had for her.

Mama Ani talked about many different topics in her short time with us but the thing that stuck with me the most was when Mama said, "You cannot be sovereign in someone else's sovereign place." This quote really opened my eyes and made me think why we try so hard to reconstruct ourselves in a place that was not our home to begin with. Right now, many black people, including myself, are focusing on trying to reconstruct and reform the things that are against in America, however I never thought as to why we are trying to be powerful and take over in a place that has never been hours. This experience with Mama Ani made me challenge my beliefs in such a short time and I can't wait to start looking into her books and studies.