Nkosi Sikelel' Afrika (God Bless Africa)

Africa has her mysteries, and even a wise man cannot understand them. But a wise man respects them.
- Miriam Makeba

I believe we all have one thing that stirs our hearts. Good or bad, every person has an activity, a hobby, maybe a location that gets them excited just by the mere mention of it. That thing for me is Africa. To say my thing is "Africa" is pretty broad, especially since I think the majority of people have major misconceptions about Africa. For many people Africa is just one big place, a homogeneous mass of land half a world away. The majority of the U.S. population doesn't delineate between Northern Africa and Sub-Saharan. Ask the average person to name 5 countries in Africa and most would be hard-pressed. I don't say all of this to sound critical. It would be impossible for me to tell you where Sierra Leone is on a map or which countries boarder Ghana (believe you me I've tried on that Internet test....it's shameful). I have come to observe that a lot of Westerners glom people from Africa in one big group and when we do this we might as well be saying people from Fort Worth are exactly like people from Dallas. I mean PULEEEZE. We know 30 miles doesn't seem that far, but it's more the state of mind than the geography. For some reason we don't apply this philosophy to people who come from completely different countries with totally unrelated languages, traditions and customs. But I have always been drawn to the continent as a whole. I don't know what exactly began the interest for me, but I do know when it solidified. In 7th grade I had a social studies teacher who came to the United States from Cape Town, South Africa to escape the oppression of Aparthied. At the ripe age of 12 I couldn't comprehend when he told me how beautiful his homeland was and how he would never be able to see it again. Why wouldn't he just hop on a plane and visit his family there? I couldn't imagine how he had to leave behind EVERYTHING because the color of his skin made him a target. I was so affected by his story I started to study about South Africa. By this time I had already created deep seeded feelings about racism. I was raised by two people who had zero tolerance for discrimination in any form. I was a child in a world where segregation was not too far in the past, and the scars were still very fresh. At a young age my sense of justice was very strong and my desire to protect the underdog was reinforced on a regular basis by my parents. I was encouraged by my teacher to watch the movie "Cry Freedom". There are very few stories that have changed the course of my life as this one did. The film is based on the story of Steve Biko, a freedom fighter in South Africa who was martyred for his stand against Aparthied. In the movie he speaks of a man named "Mandela" who is imprisoned for his beliefs. As I got older Aparthied became more of a global issue. Our country imposed economic sanctions on South Africa and called for Mandela to be freed. I began to read Mandela's writings in college and was amazed at his vision and compassion. I watched every minute the day the South Africa president announced to the world that he was to release Mandela and saw that great man walk free in the streets for the first time in 27 years. I'd already decided to pursue a career in law. I loved how the great leaders in history used the law, rather than violence, to gain equality. In 1998 I was given the opportunity to travel with Howard University to Cape Town where we spent a semester studying abroad. It was as if everything in my life before was leading up to this opportunity. I'll have to write separately about that experience, but what it did was deepen my sense of adoration for the great continent of Africa and it's people. So, given the chance to return (even if it is further North than where my deepest passion lies) I couldn't sleep thinking about what i needed to do to go. And so....my journey back begins!