June in Retrospect
Everything about Cameroon is the same as I remember and yet everything is different. Being back home for the first time since 2016 felt like a reunion with a dear old friend. New chapters of her story, with twists and unexpected turns, have been written on her face and body but the fundamental plot remains the same. The essence of who she is has not changed.
Is this a good or bad thing?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that I was simultaneously encouraged and alarmed by some of what I experienced.
I was encouraged by the fact that despite it all, there are still many who hold on to the idea that the bonds of love and care that hold families, friends and communities together are worth intentional, careful and loving treatment. Perhaps because my father was a person who poured his life into serving others, the outpouring of love and support my family received was humbling. We grieved but we also connected with friends and relatives from what felt like across time and space.
I was alarmed by the fact that despite it all, there are many who continue to hold on to ideas and practices based on fear, duplicity, manipulation, exploitation and coercion. Ideas and practices which are completely devoid of compassion and refuse others basic human dignity. Ideas and practices which have failed us in the past, and will continue to fail us until we acknowledge their fundamental inability to address the problems that plague us in the present and await us in the future. Ideas and practices which will always show themselves for what they are no matter what cultural, religious or political accoutrements we bedeck them in.
This is why I feel truly grateful for and passionate about the MA’s mission to promote respectful exploration and communication, share accurate information, and have open discussions which seek to call in rather than call out, connect rather than exclude, and celebrate the wonderful complexity of Black/African people and the humanity of which we are all a part.
I appreciate your presence and support on this journey.
Helen