NYANSAPO

NYANSAPO

"wisdom knot"

symbol of wisdom, ingenuity, intelligence and patience

An especially revered symbol of the Akan, this symbol conveys the idea that "a wise person has the capacity to choose the best meeans to attain a goal. Being wise implies broad knowledge, learning and experience, and the ability to apply such faculties to practical ends." *

*www.welltempered.net - Adinkra Symbols

It seems like I can never make plans for my life. Everytime I plan an event, a weekend, or anything, things never turn out quite right. Hardly ever is it a turn for the worst, but you can believe that it is normally a turn for the interesting. This weekend has been unusually informative for me. It seems that the recurring theme was "wisdom." As a student of Africana, there are sets of ancestors that I trust in knowledge and in practice. It is hurtful in many ways when you find a way in which you feel your ancestor has failed. One of my sisters and I have been enveloped in an ongoing dialogue questioning our position as women in (and of) the discipline.

The question is: How come our male intellectual counterparts continue to seek and find emotional, sexual, and ultimate (defined by marriage) kindred friendships with females that are not African?

For Example:

Frantz Fanon, author of Wrethed of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks, who took a critical look at race, class, social constructs and other facets of exploitation and colonization. His books were not mere theoretical surface level hobknob but writings that are still influential on conscious and revolutionary political thought.

For example here is Franz Fanon:

Here is about his wife: By the time he published his first book, "Peau Noire, Masques Blancs," he had abandoned the philosophy of Negritude for what he described as a so-called "non-racist humanism" as if loving yourself and your culture is racist. In the same year as the publication of his first book, he married a white, French woman, Marie-Josephe ("Josie") Duble in October 1952, suggesting continuing, unresolved ambivalence and conflict regarding his own blackness. Fanon's relationship with a difficult and rejecting mother is also implicated here. (raceandhistory.com - Frantz Fanon)

This little tid bit of information blew the hell out of my sister and of course others I am sure....

Does anyone have a theory explaining this phenomenon?

if this is the case, the further I find myself in the discipline the further away I can imagine myself creating a life with a partner that is my counterpart in intellectualism?

that is hurtful, and frankly I refuse to accept any notion that that is the inevitable truth for me and all of my sisters

that doesn't make sense

the whole premise of my participation in the discipline is the discovery that i am not a mammie, i am not asexual or "over"sexualized, and i am deserving of companionship, deserving of a male counterpart....

deserving of love.

Where are they? Where are these brothers that are rooted in the discipline and wanted women likewise? Speak up. Speak out. We are here to listen!

How does this relate to wisdom.....

think AA: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference...

Also, it is quite apparent that I am at that age where is wisdom is not only sought but delievered at this age. It is our turn to deliver wisdom to our young proteges, our mentors and mentees.

Last week, I had the opportnity to listen to a reading by the lovely Sonia Sanchez, and she said the following: "Let me wear the day well so when it reaches you, you will enjoy it." (a haiku) I live my life in hopes that their futures will be better than mine. An amazing poem, indeed. We have crossed the threshold into that area seeking wisdom and delivering it at the same time.

I wish this entry was better organized, but its late and a lot is on my mind.

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