To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
This December, we practiced Ujima in such a way that the details surrounding my father-in-law’s death were seamless. While we cried together, sat around a fire, and remembered his greatness with every stoke and flame, we also got everything done. Sage revised an earlier bio that became Dad’s obituary. Michael handled the details with the funeral home including the purchase of a stunning Air Force-themed urn and the reserve of a columbarium space at the Georgia National Cemetery. I created the outline for the memorial service program. Angel’s sister Celeste offered scripture and songs and her husband Ed played the piano throughout. Kofi designed the program and got it printed. He also provided Zoom attendees with the program and shared a slide of photos of Dad’s life. John and I identified the pictures. Issa catered the meal. Yakini paid for the additional caterer for a few non-vegan dishes. Kanika and Omari handled the food set-up, serving, and clean-up. My Quaker community provided the meeting house for the memorial service and all the support around that including Zoom access, support of the service, and clean-up. Cousin General Terrence arranged the military honors ceremony. This allowed Dad’s wife Angel to be still and be available for family and friends who called to console her. Issa posted about Dad online which pushed me to share his heartfelt post with my own social media community (I’ve never shared my losses of loved ones online before now.)
In case you doubted it, Ujima is a real thing and we embodied it at a time we were all in shock, vulnerable and in pain. And yet the power of us got us through one of the hardest weeks of our collective lives and will continue to support us through the grieving process and life without our patriarch. The next patriarch is now in training. Dad’s legacy will make that transition seamless as well.
#ujima #kwanzaa #nguzosaba365