By Antonia Williams-Gary

Once upon a time we were bought and sold in the slave markets where prices for our bodies were set according to our physical attributes like age, gender, production value, African tribal origin, and more.

Can your life be differently commodified? Can the amount of your time, talent, or accumulated treasure be given a tangible value in today’s marketplace?

What yardstick should be used to determine how much Black lives really matter?

Martin Luther King Jr, said, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve”. If so, then each of us has the capacity to increase our value/wealth beyond our imagination, reducing impoverishment to just a matter of the spirit; not of our “street” value.

So, what have you done to demonstrate and measure your greatness? Your value?

How, and to whom do you serve?

Do you teach, preach, participate in politics, pimp the system, or simply resist by standing
down?

I have a daily practice of perusing Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media, and I am impressed with all the greatness I see and read about.

Of course, I also post in hopes of getting a few likes, some supportive comments, or other affirmations from an approving public.

My posts are not always a demonstration of my greatness, but sometimes just expressions of my vanity; all of us seek validation. It’s a human trait.

My latest social media obsession has been watching endless reels showcasing the festivals in Nigeria that celebrate culture, fashion, and allegiance to the various Obas (kings) from a particular region.

The display of regalia, gold jewelry and other outward signs of status and wealth is splendid- defying any notions I might still hold about African nations as poor.

My western way of thinking had me questioning the rituals and wealth on display in Africa and other parts of the world, but I had to disabuse myself of any negative thoughts when I reflected on the costumes and rituals we have inaugurated in this country; the colors and
protocols associated with Greek organizations, The Links, Inc., the Masons, the Pimp Balls, to mention a few.

They are all dedicated to demonstrating how doing well, doing good, while looking good, is a time-honored universal practice.

When I take a deeper dive into the existence of such ceremonies, I realize that across time and distance, humans continue to organize themselves around ideas, ideals, and outward expressions of recognizing and achieving greatness.

Sometimes those human initiatives have been centered in religious practice.

Oftentimes, a system of power and control has evolved; I am reminded that matriarchy predates patriarchy in many places, and I like to fantasize about how the world would operate if women were in charge.

Each day, it is all too common to experience the political strife which is occurring around the globe; new alliances are forming, and our common enemies have been redefined.

We cannot avoid the need to continually examine where we-Blacks- fit into the overall scheme of things. It is an ever-present, never-ending, and anxiety-ridden proposition.

Being Black is an existential challenge.

Black folk, at least in the USA, have been revalued: in some arenas our votes have become precious, our participation in the marketplace of ideas, culture, the arts, spiritual development, is being courted, and it has been proclaimed that Black Lives Matter!

Elsewhere, I’m keeping an eye on the inspired leadership of Pan Africanist Col.

Ibrahim

Traore in Burkina Faso to unite West Africa, and the concurrent Black against Black
economic struggles in South Africa.

These movements, their success or failure, are a harbinger of what can happen across the African continent, spill into the West’s (USA)
response, and echo throughout our Black community.

Interestingly, the shift that is taking place in the bidding wars between China, the West and within African nations for natural
resources is fascinating to watch unfold.

Do you feel it? Are you actively participating? Have you assigned a new, recalculated value
onto your own life?

Or are you still waiting on the sidelines for history to include you in a footnote?

While MLK said we can all be great because we can all serve, he didn’t leave us much
instruction.

I say start now where you live: your neighborhood association, volunteering in a local election, donation of time and money to your political party, mentoring youth, etc.

Study history: American, African, World.

Toniwg1@gmail.com