What does it mean to be African? What does it mean to carry the responsibility of the torch passed to our generation by those that came before? It’s a strange sense of vertigo looking up and down. My generation stands on the shoulders of giants and yet we are just beginning to climb the ladder of professional success. For some, like me, we are only starting our formal education right now, meaning that I am so much more conscious of the knowledge that is being put into my brain housing group. Fortunately, I can counteract the overabundance of educational spam with my own investigation into whatever subject matter I want to. I’m Haitian. I’m American. But most importantly, I am African. This is the crucial truth in the restructuring of my reality that comes with the influx on so much information.

What does this mean in my everyday life? It means I go forth with a significant weight on my shoulders. I have a duty to remember and pass it on to the next generation while enriching the message as it passes through me. Those who came before have laid the bedrock foundation. We must, each one of us, fit our rock into the perfect niche to build the House of Man. The ruins of passed civilizations only inspire me, for they betray a profound source of ingenuity. Humanity’s potential has no limit. My part is to tap my potential, be true to my identity, and become more than I am. It is through this that I can contribute to the reconciliation and healing of Man, for there is much injury.

My new found identity as an African has clarified my vision. It has illuminated my path and pushed back the fog. However, I must not forget that I am a product of two groups of people; Europe and Africa. It is a difficult thing to remind oneself when there is so much anger radiating from festering wounds. The Maafa reminds me every day, especially when I look in the mirror, that life will always be difficult for me. My experiences have made me bitter, almost falling into an endless cycle of rage, hate, and darkness. Yet, I have the opportunity to have people in my life to remind me that if I am to cause any form of change, I must not allow myself to be lost to the madness.

I finally know who I am and where I come from. I know the face of my ancestors, and I’ll be damned if I’m the one to smother the flame of their legacy that burns so fiercely. The conflagration that lit up the psyche of the universe when the first man looked up at the night sky in wonder at the stars.