In every aspect of their day, they were aware of this oneness; aware as they fed the animals, as they washed their clothes, as they tilled the land, as they prepared their food, and as they hunted for more; they were aware as they danced, as they sang, as they loved, and as they prayed, they were perpetually aware of their oneness with the Universe and all things.

Divine Order was never an external idea, they didn’t have to read about it, research it, and it didn’t have to be taught-because it was apart of them. Everywhere they turned, looked, felt, or breathed- even their own reflection was an expression of this very oneness.

Yet, the Divine Order of things was disrupted and disconnected when pale face, white men invaded their land with a “bible in one hand and a gun in the other” demanding their identity, their language, their freedom, their family, and ultimately their life in exchange for a monstrous ride of dehumanization and free labor.

The universe is providing us now with an opportunity to heal the disconnection; the disconnection that exists between continents, between cultures, between all life (plants, animals, humans etc), between man and woman, and between the self.

I believe the healing process first begins with understanding our ancestors’ story. In various ways our people have embodied suffering without understanding truly why, without understanding the implications of the past, and without understanding that we came from an advanced people who knew that all life, the earth, and the universe were all one. This could have been viewed as a radical idea, to the likes of Pythagoras and Anaximander who believed the earth to be flat and Columbus who believed that lands and people could be conquered and owned.

We need to understand the depth of the trauma that took place to a people who were so deeply connected to their land, the animals, their communities, their families, and the to the spirits of their ancestors. We must tell their story, both for them and for us.

Let us heal the disconnection.

Our ancestors were taken captive, stripped of their language, stolen from their land and people, and forced into a brutal system of oppression, violence, and dehumanization. The brutality of this system we can only visualize, read about, view pictures of, and listen to stories but never have we experienced this type of suffering. Many historians and scholars have named this structured system of pain the Maafa, a Swahilli word for disaster, a term that refers to the 500 years of suffering Africans and Africans in the Diaspora experienced through slavery, colonialism, oppression, and dehumanization.

It was within this system that enslaved Africans were brutally beaten into Christianity and made to take European names and customs. Europeans sought to completely brainwash their African captives in hopes of annihilating their entire culture, in order to make them more pliable and obedient to their foolish and cruel demands. Enslaved Africans were restricted from speaking in their native tongue and prohibited from practicing their cultural religions; Europeans went so far as to separate entire families to deter revolts and rebellions.

After severe trauma many enslaved Africans eventually grew to believe, the only way to ensure their life and the life of their loved ones was to abandon their traditional beliefs of oneness, community, and Divine order. The 42 principles of Maat, the laws of the Dogon, and the rituals of the Orishas were replaced with the individualistic, disconnected, and chaotic ways of the pale face, white man.

Now, we can see that much was disrupted and lost in the suffering of our people.

But it is when we can first understand, the trauma and suffering that Africans went through in the past, before we can then recognize its presence today in our communities. Trauma appears in numerous ways: drugs abuse, infant mortality, HIV, violence, and even worse self-hate.

There is no doubt that a disconnection still remains among Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora. It is imperative for those who are aware, to dedicate themselves to opening eyes and minds, through sharing the holistic story of our ancestors.

The Dogons of Mali would say that we are all operating from one universal mind. Thus, if one of us can see the light, then the rest can be lead out of the dark.

Our oneness with all things will always be a fact, but our awareness to this fact is up to us.

As this fact becomes clear and as we continue sharing our ancestors’ stories, then brothers and sisters alike will no longer proclaim: “we never learned”-

We can move forward, once we understand the full and complete story of who we are, our oneness and our struggle. Only then can we see the truth about ourselves and our communities. Then we will understand the necessity of praying before we eat, recycling a plastic bottle, giving thanks for our blessings, seeking the guidance of our ancestors, and loving our neighbors as we wish to love ourselves.

It is only then that we will begin to heal the disconnection. It will be then, that we will become aware of the oneness our ancestors wished to teach us all along.