Saturday, August 7, 2010

Black Diamonds and Pearls

So far my favorite part of the trip has been the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. This museum houses some of the treasures of the Egyptian civilization and culture. We were in this museum for hours, and the collection was so massive we didn’t have time to see everything. I wish that we were allowed to take pictures in the museum, because the statues, paintings, jewelry, mummies, and anything you could think of were there in its entire splendor.

I entitled this blog “Black Diamonds and Pearls” because the whole time in the museum the Nas song “If I Ruled the World” was playing on repeat in my head. In “If I Ruled the World” Nas says “opening their eyes to the lies that history has told foul.” I wish that every African American could come to Cairo to see that the Kings and Queens were Black people, and not “Caucazoid North Africans.” It would give them a greater knowledge of their history and where we actually came from. The title of the song is also significant because there is a time where our people actually ruled the world. People came to Egypt to learn from the great scribes, and took the Egyptians style of building. Egyptian kings and queens, in my opinion, black diamonds and pearls, ruled for thousands of years, and under their leadership created monumental buildings and unstoppable empires.

As we ventured through the museum, Gavette and I found ourselves having different discussions. There were many statues of Kings and Queens, husbands and wives together. This lead to us compare the family structure of today verses the family structure in Ancient Egypt. We discussed how the single parent family rate of African Americans is so high now and how back then, the family dynamic was much different. Although the single parent family rate is high, there are still traditions that remain the same. We were talking about how the family structure in Ancient Egypt is matrilineal, and how our families are too. There were numerous other similarities as well. I find myself flabbergasted at times when I think of how long these traditions and cultures have stood the test of time. As we continued throughout the museum, I ended up standing in front of a statue they believed to be Nefertiti. As I stood in front of the statue, I called my friend over so that she could see how tremendously similar our body shapes were. It had me amazed, and this lead to a discussion about the “Power of the Sway.” The “Power of the Sway” is how we as women present ourselves. It’s our demeanor, our scent, our essence and beauty. It is what attracts men to us. We as women are powerful, and I think that from time to time we forget that. Being in the museum reminded me that. We alone have the ability to birth nations, and are protectors, nurtures, and extremely strong. The perfect example of this is Isis. She was told that her husband was murdered by his brother, and she gathered up her sister to help her find the pieces. For centuries, black women have done what they needed to do for the ones they love, and have always been there to protect them.

As our tour of the museum ended, I was on the bus and reflected on the Libation we had before we entered into the museum. As we poured water for the people in the past, present, and future generations, I looked around at the people from the 7 different schools, together as one, brothers and sisters, black diamonds and pearls.

1 comment:

James Robinson said...

I'm mad you used "the power of the Sway" on blog... Lol