An Umoja Gift
For Umoja Faculty Leaders,
What if wisdom wasn't something you held onto — but something you passed on? Umoja's gifting practice calls students to become teachers, sharing what they've learned with their families, peers, and communities.
Umoja's gifting practice states that, "Umoja students become teachers and pass wisdom as they gift their learning to their family, community, peers in the program, and at Umoja events." Umoja students share what they learn from courses, books, teachers, and events with their communities.
In April, the Umoja Community Education Foundation hosted its Northern Regional Symposium at California State University, Sacramento. Over two hundred students attended the event with campus coordinators and counselors. Umoja elders, staff, the university president, Sacramento's mayor, administrators, and students served as teachers and jegnas.
Students received information about navigating college options, witnessed a drumline, and refined tools to increase chances for academic and cultural success. As part of the event, the students and I collaborated on a poem reflecting our identities, our statuses with Umoja, and our experiences on the Sac State campus. In honor of our African diasporic ancestors and in alignment with Umoja's gifting practice, I share this draft of the poem with you.
Umoja's Practice: Gifting
"Umoja students become teachers and pass wisdom as they gift their learning to their family, community, peers in the program, and at Umoja events." It's one of our eighteen practices that guides how students show up — not just as learners, but as contributors to the village.
Through a survey conducted at the Symposium, Umoja's scholars, coordinators, and counselors gifted their words to this collaborative poem. In the spirit of Ubuntu — I am because we are — here is the draft of Ubuntu Umoja:
Ubuntu Umoja
Uplift Ye Mighty Nation.
Remember the journey, not the destination.
Emancipation Proclamation,
Came and went. Yet some of us remain enslaved.
We stand for you, with freedom engraved in our souls.
Tapping the Spirit of Ancestors,
We open stores and businesses to foster
Belonging, Yearning, Desiring
For a bright present, future
Don't forget your past, Sankofa.
Community is a blessing.
Connection through familiarity
Believe in yourself.
The discipline we endure shapes the future we secure.
Black success, yes, that's us.
With intention and deliberateness, we experience connectedness.
Ubuntu
Optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic?
Race Matters, we Matter
Togetherness, Umoja, Unity
Peace in Solidarity
Change Starts with Us, Black Success lives in and thrives through us.
Umoja is recognizing and pursuing the empowerment of Black people across the diaspora.
Spending for generations.
My brother and sister are my wings, softly, can't deny,
Beauty is in the eye or eyes of the beholders.
No Matter how tough life gets, life will always bloom.
We finish what we begin, Nah I-mean?
Love, Growth, By Any Means Necessary.
Through a survey, Umoja's scholars, coordinators, and counselors gifted the words to the Ubuntu Umoja poem. The final piece will appear in an upcoming issue of Umoja's flagship journal, The Drumbeat. In the meantime, I would like to recognize the students who provided consent to use their names and perspectives as coauthors of the group poem.
To support Umoja's Scholars, please consider contributing a monetary gift to our campaign as part of Sacramento's Big Day of Giving.
Enroll in Umoja's Global Institute to explore African-centered education and expand your understanding of Umoja's educational philosophies. Attend the UGI webinar to take the next step.
Follow and connect with us via LinkedIn and Instagram. The Foundation is launching the Umoja Global Institute, a professional learning resource designed to enhance teaching and learning across our network.
In solidarity with your success,
Dr. V
Author
Reggie Shaw
