Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.
I studied Kwanzaa growing up because I went to an all black (and one mulatto *wink*) Catholic school in the hood of Detroit with enough black teachers (and a black Jesus!) to learn a thing or two about African roots.
I used to know all the days of Kwanzaa. The one that I remembered with no effort at all is the seventh day: Imani, which means Faith.
Lately I have wondered if I wanted to bring children into this world. This world scares me. I ask myself if I feel I am strong enough to grow a human being from acorn to mighty oak in a world where gravity is law and everything falls.
I have confidence issues and am the ultimate worrier with worst case scenario kernels popping in my brain at will. Not to mention my other issues with my personal growth. You ever look at your life and feel like you are moving in reverse more often than not?
I always told myself I wanted to get it all together before I have kids. Can anybody really become that prepared for children? Probably not. I don't know. I won't know until I do it. Only experience can teach these kinds of things.
So I decided today that I will have children. I decided that I will name my first child (more likely first girl) after the seventh day of Kwanzaa. Faith is a necessity for having children and accomplishing most anything in life. So if I am given the blessing of a child, I will let her be my faith. In addition, Imani is the same day as New Years, which I recently realized is my favorite holiday. I love new beginnings more than anything. I love forgiving yourself for your shortcomings and trying one year harder to be more. This new year, it's all about doing more in 2013. Just Do More.
Thus, this year I will commit to having a child in the future and I will complete my mixtape. I will let faith guide me. It's gonna be a good year y'all. I'll see you there.
~Rem
#DoMoreIn2013
