A Meaningful Challenge
When I first came to The Earth Center, I was at a place in my life where the reality of the world around me was slowly being exposed for what it truly was. I was in my junior year of college and the lies I had been taught throughout my education, up until that point in my life, were being replaced with "new truths". I started to focus on learning about different cultures through what was available to me in school. Though the information I was getting was eye opening, it still left me feeling empty and emotional. Out of all the things I was being taught there wasn't anything I felt I could connect to on a deeper level. Learning about the struggles, failures and triumphs of others led me to the questions: What about me? What about what is going on right here with my people? How do I learn about my culture? These were questions I had no answers for, so again, through what I had access to, I started to refine my search. From learning about the history of the Caribbean and it's music, to Black culture in the states through the expression of the arts, I thought my journey had begun; but as it is said, there is no such thing as a coincidence, and not much longer than a few months later, I met Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig.
I met Master Naba in a casual setting. I was with a sister of mine at a lounge in Chicago on a night when they held drum circles. Recognising him first as "the man from the Firefly" as he participated in the drumming, I had no idea who he was or who he would become to me.
At the time, I was also apprenticing with a dance company that's primary focus is West African Dance. My sister and I became regulars at this lounge. We were happy to pay the small cover charge for the chance to practise what we had learned that night to live music, whether or not everyone was in sync with the rhythm. Between drumming, there was a chance to break for water, fresh air and converse with the regulars. Many of these breaks were spent talking with Master Naba. I gained a lot of insight into the direction my life was going.
Soon I began to sit in on the M'TAM classes held at The Earth Center. What I heard in the lectures that he gave was unlike anything I had heard before. The topics discussed in the first few classes, ranged from the uselessness of intentions and the fragility of the human perspective to the relationships between men and women and what it really means to say that we are equals. Master Naba also spoke of reincarnation and the journey that is taken once one begins to transcend to the afterlife. And though these topics are not new to the world, never had I heard them from the perspective of one whose focus was preserving the traditional culture of Merita (Africa). I had never related them to the oppression that all peoples have been going through for hundreds of years.
It did not take long to notice that every moment spent with Master Naba was an opportunity to learn from him, whether it was in a class room or casual setting. Observing his interactions with those who knew him only as a man from Burkina Faso who liked to come out and drum on Wednesday nights, I witnessed true humility. Even when asked to give his perspective or advice to someone venting about their life, it would always be simplistic. Saying so much in just a few words, but because his words were few, most wouldn't catch on to the lesson to be learnt and continued venting about their lives.
When I became a student of M'TAM, I realised that the journey I thought I had begun prior to my M'TAM exposure, had been just an accumulation of more information. Up until this point in my life, I had not yet learnt anything I could apply to my everyday life or to my own growth. I wanted to learn more but I had no goal in mind, so even the process of gaining the information, no matter whose history or how interesting, was all in vain and served no purpose. The questions I had asked before seemed worthless. What about me? It is so often that we expect to be saved from our situations, left there just waiting When no one comes, or to have the answers handed to us on a silver platter with an instructional manual included. I knew that whatever I was exposed to by the Maakheru would still mean nothing if I did not actually apply it to my life and take the uphill path towards quality.
On this uphill journey, my weaknesses have been exposed and I have been challenged by having to face them. It has been the first time in my life that I have truly been held accountable for my actions. Not because there is someone waiting around the corner to punish me, but because, for my own development and to become a person of true quality, facing them head on is what I must do. I am the one who writes my history and though I have brothers and sisters who have the same values as I do and can help me through my struggles, the day begins and ends with me.
In some respects, I have learnt this the hard way. My emotions have been exposed when having to face ridicule by my family or in times I've been pushed away by those whom I called friends. Along the way, it has become clear that in order to achieve any goal I have in life, I cannot be consumed with what others will think of me. "If you cannot even handle words from me and those who care about you, what will happen when those who don't care about you bring you a challenge? You will break. In here we are toughening your skin, so that you are not like that egg which breaks under pressure," the Maakheru would say to us having observed our fragility after exposing our weaknesses and challenging us to progress. The only thing I can do is live my life in accordance with the 77 Commandments and let my actions speak for who I am, not the opinions of others.
I have learnt so much from our Master, and will continue to learn more and more until it is my time to journey to the Imentet. What I am most blessed with is the opportunity to continue to share the knowledge of the Ancestors, not only to those who come to The Earth Center, but to apply it to my family. It has become the foundation of my family and will be for generations to come. For this I am forever grateful.