Keeping What Matters Sacred

Benachin is a dish that is very special and sacred to me. Not only is it my favorite but each time I smell and eat it I am brought back to my parents house and I remember who I am and where I’m from every time. I believe that holding on to your traditions is very important. If we don’t hold on to them and get lost in just school and work we can forget ourselves. I say this because so much of what we do can have more meaning if we continue on the good ways of those who came before. There are many things I learned from my parent’s that I wish I could implement in my own life but the only things I do implement are few. 

Life would be so bland without traditions being kept and passed on. Keeping your language, your clothing, your food, your music, your celebrations going on is a really valuable thing. I keep thinking to myself about how I’ve just been living day to day with no real goals or anything going on. It brings an empty feeling inside of me. But to carry on the traditional ways of my parent’s in my own family and pass on to my children is an amazing thing. I love to wear my dresses from back home on special occasions, speaking Soninke to my children, using certain incense, and eating our traditional dishes. These things remind me of who I am. Without it feels like we are just existing in this world doing things randomly on impulse. Whatever comes to mind at the time.  

Another thing that’s really important to me in life is kinship. Family is super important because it keeps everyone together. Helping and checking up on one another. It seems in this modern world everyone is so busy with their own lives. Although we should be very connected due to the various access of communication, it’s actually the opposite. People don’t seem to even call much anymore. Even to send a quick Salam rarely ever happens. I once wanted to do something kind of old fashioned with my family which was for us to dress up, go to a photo studio and mail some photos out to my family. Along with those photos I had sent a heartfelt letter. This felt so much more special to me than to just snap a few photos on my cell phone and send it through a message just for it to be lost and forgotten about. 

The African diaspora needs to keep what is sacred in order to be successful. So many people are just living their life in despair because they’ve lost purpose. Even if you didn’t grow up having learned traditional values it’s never too late to. Unity is the goal of our people and the only way to have that is by keeping what is sacred.