Dr. Bravada Garrett Akinsanya, founder and CEO of the African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI), and co-host of Conversations with Al McFarlane\u2019s \u2018Healing Circle\u2019 always reminds guests, viewers, and listeners before the show theme is introduced how we have arrived in the moment of convening and connecting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On last Friday\u2019s program, she opened with, \u201cWe must acknowledge that we reside on the stolen land of our Lakota brothers and sisters. African ancestry joins in soul and heart spiritual connections with our indigenous brethren as an opportunity for a true day of reckoning is upon us. It is ancient tradition that work be discussed, and action decided upon in a circle with the center being a place of power where everyone has a voice. The Talking Stick, symbolizing community and trust, originated from five Native American tribes. It is passed around a group as multiple people speak in turn. Full attention is given to the person who is speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing in tradition, the Creator is praised in multiple ways. \u201cWe honor those who are on their way to the Creator. We honor our ancestors because they are closest to God. We honor our elders because they are closest to the ancestors. We honor each other because we are more spirit than we are containers.\u201d Recognizing the sacred nature of the upcoming Holy Week weekend at the time, Dr. B., as she is affectionately called, pours the libation of water representing how we are all connected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Yoruba tradition, we pay homage to those who have paved the way for us by calling out the names of those who worked, prayed, and dreamed our way into existence. We stand here, the embodiment of centuries of hopes and dreams. We say Ashe (a-shay), meaning \u2018thank you\u2019 when we say their names. Just think, when people couldn\u2019t breathe free air, we have here today among us in this circle thought leaders, teachers, writers, and healers, all speaking our truth. That\u2019s the power of being here at this moment – A Supreme Divine being. Miracles. Redemption. Recovery. Peace. Love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Oliver Williams, Executive Director for the Institute of Domestic Abuse in the African American Community, and a Professor of Social Work at the University of Minnesota marvels at the work of his friend, Dr. Elizabeth Horn in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Horn works with nine different faiths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn traveling to Cape town, Johannesburg, and Durbin, I was able to interact with faith leaders from different faiths in each of these cities and to see the work they are doing. Some even have domestic abuse and child neglect ministries. A close friend of the late Bishop Desmond Tutu, Horn has connections with the Anglican, two different sects of Islam, Hindu, traditional African spirituality, Judaism, and Christian faith-based organizations. All are committed to improving the outcomes in their communities, especially disrupting the issues of violence,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPersonally, I wonder if there is a call out there, somewhere, for people to examine how religion has changed and how youth are no longer accepting the hypocrisy in it all. But also, how there are good people of all hues and backgrounds who believe and are doing the work to reach out to those who need helping hands and connecting spirits,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minneapolis City Council recently passed an ordinance allowing Mosques to play the traditional call to prayer severely times a day over loudspeakers, in the same way Christian church bells inform the aural soundscape of neighborhoods on a daily basis. Imam Makram El-Amin announced earlier in the week on Conversations with Al McFarlane, that Masjid An-Nur, which he serves as Imam, will soon grace the community with the daily calls to prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iman Makram, who said his parents legally changed their names to the Arabic \u201cEl-Amin\u201d family name when he and his siblings were children, explained that on a daily basis at home, his parents taught the children that the true meaning and purpose of Islam is the pursuit of freedom, justice, and equality. I<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Ghanaian writer, Ayi Kwei Armah, in his book, \u2018The Way of Companions\u2019, he describes \u201cthe fundamental difference between faith-based world views and those that are knowledge-based, and opened to change \u2018since the basic elements of such views are human knowledge and intelligence, those components that are changing all the time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA knowledge-based world does not simply recognize change as part of reality. It welcomes change. It is the way travelers on the ancient pre-dynastic African path of knowledge – the way of Maat – became adaptable, reliant on experimentation and testing, and committed only to accuracy, balance and justice. For those who accept this ideology, they are free to shift their purpose in life from arresting change to finding out what changes are most reasonable and desirable and how best to achieve them. Adherence is free to admit previous error when the new facts invalidate old perceptions. Faith-based practices are generally hostile to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. B, reflecting on the once every three decades confluence of celebrations of the three branches of the Abrahamic faith traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, said faith traditions illuminate a sense of community. She challenges us to turn up the volume on the good parts of our spirits with \u2018healing hands and connecting spirits,\u2019 as her grandmother used to always say, with plain ole\u2019 lovin\u2019 and random acts of kindness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Bravada Garrett Akinsanya, founder and CEO of the African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI), and co-host of Conversations with Al McFarlane\u2019s \u2018Healing Circle\u2019 always reminds guests, viewers, and listeners before the show theme is introduced how we have arrived in the moment of convening and connecting. On last Friday\u2019s program, she opened with, \u201cWe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[1921,233,103],"class_list":["post-2936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-top-story","tag-aacwi","tag-africa","tag-african-american","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2937,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936\/revisions\/2937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}