You know this death lark is a funny old game.
The more I drill down into it… the more I see the beauty of it. Of course, I can’t expect everyone to identify with my perspective here. I have been encased within a series of catalytic death transitions since I was a child; and it has taken me a long and painful time to get to the point at which I stand.
I stand to speak of my experiences as what some might call a ‘Black’ woman in a country that is admittedly hostile to ‘Black’ people. I stand as the voice my ancestors were denied and I stand strong as a voice for death.
Why would I put a voice to death, you might ask… Because it is misunderstood, to our detriment. We fear death! We dare not speak of it. We hide from it, knowing that each day that we are living… we are also that one step closer to dying.
Wow, that’s a strong statement. True though. One day we will all be dead. And it’s okay.
As a 40 something ‘Black’ woman, I have the unique ability to see death through my lived experience, my culture, my class and of course the dominant perspective of my white peers. How is that so?
Because everything, and I mean a b s o l u t e l y every single piece of acknowledged information provided on dying, death and grief in the West is aimed primarily at white people. I get it, it’s the dominant discourse for so many reasons…
One being the fact that, ‘Black’ people were prevented from reading and writing during their period of enslavement. Hence the fallacy that we can’t read and are somewhat slower to grasp intellect… May my words prove that theory wrong.
There is a common notion that underneath it all ‘Black’ people are no different from everyone one else so there is no need to recognise them as such…
I beg to differ. I hail from an ancient tapestry over 320,000 years rich in tradition, ritual, rites and wisdom that far surpass modern time and technology. May my words blow any ignorance out of the water.
Long has it been believed that ‘Black’ people don’t feel any pain… Hmm, it seems I have found the perfect platform on which I will vocalise the levels of pain that ‘we’ have been subjected to and experience on a daily basis as a result of being ‘African’ in origin… whilst dwelling in forign lands that fail to acknowledge our difference in ways that enable equal standing.
GOLLY… that’s a hard one because an equal standing can not be given, it can only be made by those wishing to stand. I choose therefore to stand in my knowledge of death and all of its associated components; that I might enlighten my readers from a sociological perspective about the need for planning and awareness in preparedness for the inevitable.
I stand in my unique ability to transform your grief experience into a positive opportunity from which you can enhance your life on levels you never imagined possible.
You! Yes… You. You are dying? What are you gonna do about it?
Contact me if you are ready to use your grief for your empowerment. I will show you the necessity of your emotions and together we will create a successful path to your enhanced awareness of life.