Our Past, Our Present, Our Future
I find it vital for the future of all the Africans of the world, the Africans of the continent, the Africans who were abducted during slavery, to understand their past properly. Marcus Garvey said: "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots". It so is fundamental for a nation to know its past. It is even more fundamental for that nation to understand what that past is. I believe a better understanding of their past will open new perspectives for the children of Africa.
The vision of the past that stands behind us while the future is ahead of us needs some revision. The past, the ancestors, the forebears, the ascendants, the genealogy come before us the living of today. The past is that which comes first. The past is that which precedes. The past is that which is forward; the sun that shines in our face. The past therefore is to the fore!
On the other hand, the future, the descendants, the offspring are born from us the living of today. The future is that which comes after. The future is that which is succeeds. The future is that which is backward; the sun that will shine behind us. The future therefore is at the back!
The past is like a parent who can lead and show the way just because he/she was there before. The future is like a little child that we hold by the hand on the way because he's born after us. The parent comes first, the parent therefore is before. The child follows after, so the child is behind.
Being ahead of us, the past guides us, enlightens us, teaches us, tells us who we are and what paths we have to tread on. We must acknowledge our past as being the first resource to seek for in our process and progress. This reflex must become a discipline: to question the Elders, to attend the school of the Ancestors. That is where we must dig, search, look. There lie the foundations. The information we need in order to face the challenges of the present we already can find in those done paved the way. The lessons, the teachings, the knowledge come from those who stand at the beginning, those who stand to the front, those who are ahead. The past of the Africans is the school that must provide them the knowledge to successfully deal with the 21st century.
For the African people, to go back to their roots will actually be a jump to their future. The source is the beginning, the starting point. The new beginning for the African people must start off with a return to their roots. Find back the past in order to give birth to the future. This is a dynamic step.
