My Ancestors, My Power
Today a Scotsman, an Indigenous Cree woman, an African Nova Scotian, and an Egyptian spoke about love. We came together online and did it in front of a wonderfully unexpectedly high number of people. In the context of celebrating Black History Month in Nova Scotia, we shared our personal experiences about the inspiration and challenges of our ancestors, how the past resonates today, and how to be a good ancestor for those to come. Through our stories, we spoke of love for the self that is indiscriminate from love for the ancestors, love for real connections, and for the power of authentic responsibility towards one another’s “future” history. And boy was it tough. But it was also courageous, heartbreaking, joyful, and liberating. Revolutionary even. Yes, love can do that. Wait, that’s not everything. The magic was in the reception, folks. The flood of gratitude, acknowledgments, returned love, support, and declaration of NEED for more open dialogues like ours was unbelievable. Hence, t