Who am i?
At some point or another, many of us may have asked ourselves the question- “Who am I?” Three simple words, one big concept.
The question of identity, which seems to be a right of passage common today, is actually an indication of a bigger crisis that has been gnawing at the foundation of humanity.
To ask “Who am I?” is to have lost a connection to the question- “Where am I coming from?”- meaning the concept of having roots, or having a history. In the Kemetic teachings it’s understood that anything that exists has a history and is going through a process of constant transformation. That applies to us as people too. We have a rich history in all those who have come before us. The blood in our veins is like a river that never stops running.
Growing up as an immigrant in America and coming to the U.S. at a young age, I experienced my own crisis of identity at several points in my life. The education I was receiving in the home was often completely opposite to the education I received outside and in school. The pressure to “fit in” and distance myself from my cultural identity was overwhelming. No matter how hard I tried to fit certain labels and create my identity, the void I had inside never fully dissipated. The instabilities grew. I eventually needed guidance from institutions outside of the colonial structures, like initiation, to guide me back to myself and regain the cultural stability that had been forged by my ancestors.
If the ability to know and harmonize with our history is compromised, then not only does the confusion of “Who am I?” come into the picture, but those who ensured that we lost access to our heritage can now be the ones to influence the answers we so desperately seek . Colonization, through force and through education, has ensured that most of us and our families have lost any connection to our Ancestral culture and to Nature, oftentimes from many generations back. Therefore, nowadays, the question of identity has become a political and ideological battlefield that leaves people lost and running circles, remaining in the same place.
KebTah’s founder, Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenbig, spoke on how the “What is me?” question is a very new question in the history of humanity. Indigenous cultures have always understood the importance of natural education in the stability of the human being. The Dogon people, for example, have preserved spiritual technologies that enable them to interrogate the Earth and Nature. When a baby is born there are divinations performed, to know how to prepare the child spiritually, energetically, and physically to be harmonized with their individual destiny, their spirit, and their heritage. The understanding of identity being your ID as an ENTITY in Nature changes the scope of the question- from something that is individualistic to something that provides clarity on how we fit into the rest of the Existence and work in harmony with the whole.
Indigenous initiation or education is built to fortify the human being. But how much longer are we going to try defining ourselves within a system that was built to destroy us and keep us divided? Maybe it’s time to try something different.
To do the work to reconnect to our true Ancestral history takes courage in order to detach from the parts of ourselves we’ve adopted as our identity in lieu of what we really carry with us and what is standing behind us. The revolution begins within ourselves. No one said revolution would be easy, but what we stand to gain is priceless.
To find out more about the revolution and reconnecting with your own roots and identity through indigenous wisdoms, contact us at nj@theearthcenter.org to find out more about books, initiation classes, events, and more.