This past Friday, April 9th I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Marimba Ani (born Dona Richards) in the Ruth Sheffey Auditorium.
Marimba Ani has completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago and holds MA and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School University. She also taught African studies at Hunter College.
I can be honest, going into this event I did not expect much since I was not aware of who Marimba Ani was. I was expecting to be in and out of the lecture for my extra credit assignment. Walking into the lecture hall, I was immediately surprised. I thought the crowd would just be college students and some professors. I got there a little late and there were barely any seats avalible. There were people who have traveled from various states (Philadelphia, Florida, ect.), many dressed in traditional african clothing and pan africanism apparel. There were many different ages in attendance as well, some people brought their children. They traveled from so far away to come hear Marimba speak.
Marimba released an expanded version of her book, “Let the Circle Be Unbroken: The Implications of African Spirituality in the Diaspora”. I was not familiar with her book but most people in attendance had a copy. At the end of the lecture they also had a book signing and they had extra copies but I was not able to grab one. They discussed many concepts and people who I was not familiar with, in spite of this I still tried to stay engaged and actively listen. As Marimba was talking, there was a natural call and response from the audience. There was a portion of the lecture that encouraged people to come up and ask questions. Two people stood out to me, firstly a woman who traveled all the way from Florida. She talked about the horrible changes their governor is making, getting rid of African studies, critical race theory, greek organizations, ect. I was aware of some of the horrendous bills their Governor has signed like the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act (“Don’t say Gay” Bill) which prohibits any discussion of sexual orientation/identity. I am confused on how one person can hold this much power, and try to erase African American history right in front of our face. I remember Marimba saying something along the lines of power being the only universal language. We must organize and gain power in numbers to fight to preserve our culture and history. The next person that stood out to me was a lady from Philadelphia. She was sitting in front of me at the lecture and she got emotional many times throughout the discussion. She got up to ask Marimba what to do when your spirit is broken and tired from continuously trying to do work for the community. She mentioned that she was a mother of four boys and married to an activist. There were a lot of people that Marimba referred to in the crowd but a lady who I presume grew up around Marimba responded to the lady. The theme was organization! Surround yourself with likeminded people (activists) and build a community.
I recorded the lecture as well as took some notes on things I heard for the first time or found interesting:
-Marimba referred to Garvey (Marcus Garvey-Pan Africanism leader) many times, she would say “We need to think big, Garvey thought big! Or “just like Garvey would have done”
-She started her own newspaper called the African Sovereigntist Nation, it only comes out once a year
-French speaking former colonies, had to pay France for no longer being a colony in addition to also giving them goods (not sovereignty)
-French president admitted that France would be broke if not for the money from those former colonies (this was a topic discussed in the 2022 issue of the newspaper )
-As African people there's power in our connectedness
-there was a man who asked why African people were brought to America, I think he was hinting towards a higher power/answer but Marimba pointed out that slaves were taken everywhere not just America (a topic we continue to learn about in class)
-"You can't be sovereign in somebody else's sovereign place"
-African spirituality
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