"E ku odun, eku odun tuntun"

May We All Embrace Peace, Joy and Love in This New Year, Beloveds!

“E ku odun, eku odun tuntun” is how we greet each other in the Yoruba language for the New Year. I was struck that in English, we say, “Happy” New Year. Supposedly, we want the next year to be happy for others. I think of “happy” as a fleeting yet wonderful emotion. And I think of things or experiences making me “happy.” Joy on the other hand is not external based. It is a deep abiding aspect of one’s life. I began to question if I want to say, “Happy New Year. I turned to Yoruba, wondering what thought went into the greeting for the new year.

Translated, the heading means, “I greet you for the celebration, I greet you for the brand new year.” That “I greet you” is embedded in everything that we do. It is such a magnificent concept that means, “I acknowledge you as a person, and I acknowledge your humanity. I see you. I appreciate your presence, and I observe that you are putting effort into your task and I must commend you on that!” It is an affirmation of the activity you are involved in.

That “E ku,” meaning, “I greet you,” is for everything. If you are sitting down, cooking, walking, preparing for an event, even resting, etc.

I was struck at how our language focuses on the person and not the happenings around the person. Whatever you are doing, your humanity is acknowledged and celebrated. And, this greeting is often followed with a prayer of blessings that will include all the happenings around you.

Yeah, so here is my New Year greeting to you:

For this new year, I acknowledge you as a person, and I acknowledge your humanity. I see you. I appreciate your presence, and I observe that you are putting effort into this task called your life, and I commend you on that! In addition, I pray that you experience abiding peace, deep joy and comforting love in this New Year! Indeed, you are Beloved!

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What Am I Up To?

Today, I am starting a series of posts on TikTok, (maybe Instagram and Facebook? And is LinkedIn even a possibility? Duh! I don't know what I am doing techie wise. Ha!!🙄 But that is beside the point!) 

Now you know what I will be working on the rest of the day. LOL

I will post a video every day for 30 days on "How To Avoid Being An Accidental Racist." They will be under 3 minutes and will address a few devious, yet obvious, nooks and crannies about racism and will help listeners take actionable steps towards being anti racist!

It is perfect for people:

• Who have what they think are "stupid" (and actually, are not) questions about racism;

• Who are scared to talk about racism because they do not have mastery of the basics;

• Who are misinformed about race and racism;

• Who are well intentioned white people who feel they are making blunders trying to be anti-racist;

• Who are Black people that are exhausted about racism or may not even know that racism is what is exhausting them;

• For brown folks who (oops, I left this out in the email) really do not understand anti-Black racism;

• Who want to take actionable steps to be antiracist;

• Who are white, Black, in between, purple, brown, basically every human regardless of skin color; and

• Who are American, Asian, African, Australian and from anywhere on planet earth. Martians are not invited. Trolls are not invited.

I expect this series to be filled with compassion and even some humor along the way.

If you want a particular question answered, please send it to me and I will see about including it.

Why I Am Doing This:

• Folks are beginning to put anti-racism on the back burner again and that is a huge mistake. It is going to blow up again given our political polarization and the resurgence of neo-Nazi groups throughout the country.

• On Tiktok, Black women blew up a trend, #BlackWomanFollowTrain so they could get followers and become influencers. It became a virtual safe space for Black women and well intentioned white folks tried to step in and be part of it and others hated it. I responded to this with a couple of videos because it is the perfect example of everyday unintentional racism. That got me fired up!!!! Now, we are doing 30 days.

• Upon reflection, I realized that last year, my primary energy was focused on the best job on the planet - my work at Compassionate Atlanta! And it needed to be. We were at an inflection point in our growth and I am so proud of all we are doing.  This year, I envision enjoying my most important multiple priorities. It does not have to be just one thing. In addition to my amazing (part-time) job, I will focus on my writing and consulting work in dismantling racism.

• Racism is a public health crisis. I want to do my part.

Where You Fit In:

Will you seek me out on social media, watch the videos, comment, and share? And give me feedback?

Also, these first couple of weeks of the year (since you are clearly not overwhelmed! Ha!) I will send out a few emails about my work that you can bookmark and share with folks that you know may benefit. I also invite your feedback.

I am one of those people that has zero skills in promoting myself. I will promote the heck out of you if I believe in you, but I am old school. I feel that my work should speak for it self and that the work and referrals will come in if I am consistent. I do some marketing and I really do not have blocks to it anymore but I want more high quality work and less of the capitalistic instinct.

Confession of a middle aged woman with ADHD: Consistency can be an issue for me but of course, no one has noticed!😎

I want my anti-racism work to grow this year, and I invite you, dear reader, to consider how you can support me in doing that. Spread the word. Hold me accountable. Send me love and tell folks what is working for you with my work.

Thank you for being here. Let me know what made you come “alive,” in this post.