Yes, the cat is out of the bag. I am traveling to Ghana this year. Many have asked how they can help and I will save that for my closing statement. People have asked why Ghana and not other parts of Africa. Well, there are too many reasons to name but I’ll give a few.
- Ghana is personal to me. I have made connections on Clubhouse with people I can’t wait to meet. And if all goes well I will be speaking at one of their cybersecurity training centers.
- I’ve always wanted to visit the continent of my heritage and faith!
- A story from Linal Harris compelled me to take this journey and bring back what I learn to our young people. While I understand that one trip to one country on this massive continent is small, I’m excited for what’s to come. I have emptied myself to get rid of any and all expectations. I simply want to “be” and “experience”.
I am also in need of a journey. I took a career hit this year that has caused me to look deeper into my purposeful work. Since Dr. Nicholas Pearce wrote The Purpose Path, A Guide to Pursuing Your Authentic Life’s Work, I have been sleepless in Seattle. OK, actually, Chicago. It is an amazing read and everything he shared one can experience on the job I find myself thinking of daily. In some regard, I get to live my dream of working for and with young people every day. Educational spaces are for the called. Yet, when dealing with the day-to-day mechanics as a Black man, it has been a frustrating road. In speaking with other Black men, they no longer believe in DEI(B) in any aspect of an organization that doesn’t fully practice its written policy. We do not want hand outs, we simply want opportunity. In some regard, I share their sentiment. However, I’ve learned that it’s never about any organization, it’s about the individual, and that individual is me. Restlessness means purpose is calling and sometimes you need to get away, relax on a beach, go to counseling, get a life coach, or in my case, all these and leaving the country.
Part of this trip package included an African-Ancestry DNA test. My results have identified me with the Mende people of Sierra Leone. (Think La Amistad). I am going to dig into the identity of the people from which I came, my ancestors. I’m looking forward to being named by the village Elders. While my spiritual identity is in Yeshua. My birth identity is not the Ida B. Wells housing projects. It’s not the foster care system in which I was raised; it is Africa. I am often lonely inside. That isn’t due to my amazing wife or my incredible daughter. It isn’t due to the men in my life whom I love dearly, it’s because deep down my identity has been shaped by life events or cultural stereotypes without a historical heritage. Our education system taught up about a few authors, a couple of historical figures in Malcolm X, Dr. King, and slavery. This is not a missionary trip so if you get anything from me asking for donations to any church, IT’S NOT ME. As a matter of fact, I don’t send any emails soliciting for money. (Yes, it’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, had to throw that in. #BeCyberSafe).
Ghana is my first identity trip of Africa. I look forward to being intimate with Africa. I can’t wait to feel, touch, taste, smell, see, hear, and experience my first voyage home.
How You Can Help
No, I did not do a Gofundme. I am fortunate when my business was flourishing to make enough money to pay for this trip in full. However, there are some who still want to contribute and here are a few ways.