Yaya DaCosta Instagram – One thing that has always troubled me as a Black person in America is a feeling of displacement.
When discussions of our history— February’s performative pageantry included— center the post-colonial lense, highlighting stories of the “stolen peoples”, or the “trail of tears” ethnic cleansed peoples, etc., it’s important that we tap into our DNA codes and other resources available to us, both ancient and modern, to actively support one another in the reclaiming of our wholeness and our belongingness on the planet.
If we can remember how to listen… to the stories of our elders, to songs, to signs, to dreams… perhaps we can begin to answer some of the questions we’ve been asking of one another and of ourselves.
And now technology (while ill-equipped to provide full answers) can also offer us clues and confirmations.
I searched for records from Brazil, records from the United States, and records from the Caribbean. Cousins sent pictures of immigration papers discovered in basements to the family chat.
I asked family members to take ancestry tracing tests and, while some of the mainstream ones were vague when departing from Eurocentric results, we enjoyed seeing results from @africanancetry , which traced patrilineal and matrilineal bloodlines down to specific ethnic groups.
*Shoutout to Mommy, Baba, Cousin Robin, and Uncle Sonny for indulging me! 🙏🏾
I learned a lot, and realized that much of it, on an intuitive level, I already knew.
Most of the adornments used in the images to come, I already owned— some since High School— not just because they were pretty, but because they resonated with my soul, because I had worn similar things in other lifetimes, or because my ancestors nudged me in the direction of a talisman that would keep me protected and connected to them, to our history, and to the flavors of all the places from which I come.
While I was raised to celebrate my herstory/history every day of every year, I want to honor this month of celebration… this month of conscious healing… this month of CREATION of the future we are collectively manifesting, by offering this outward expression of my inner exploration, to the world.
(continued in the comments…) | Posted on 26/Feb/2024 06:07:57