Waba

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While I was being consumed by an over whelming and depressing feeling about some of the events that are unfolding in a time and moment that is also transcendental in our lives as Garinagu in Guatemala and beyond boundaries. As a people we are dealing with some of the most difficult times and point in our history here in my hometown of Labuga. I have been living in Labuga for the past twelve years; it’s been like climbing a mountain, and as we get closer to the top, I can feel the pressure and its beginning to tear us apart.

In this case, sometimes I feel like I am being pulled in different directions on our way to the top.  Speaking of directions, I have been a person for the most part of my life without a sense of direction.  Like most Garínagu, I use to rather take the mainstream and go with the flow.

Having said all that, I would like for you to keep me in your company a few minutes more. While I was in Barranco not long ago at the home of Dr. Joe, I began to understand that the word WABA in the Garífuna language extends far beyond a material or physical structure. In my understanding the Word WABA, is a concept that embraces the family nucleolus, where the seeing and the unseen comes together.

The first time I saw a cave was in Gangadiwali on the 19th December 2008. I was there to select a parcel of land to make real a wish that I had since I heard Roy Cayetano spoke in 2005 about his farm and the joy of farming.  At first I thought it was just a big hole in the ground, but farther observation indicated that it was cave.  To make a long story short, I was so afraid of the cave that I did not approach it until the 14th March 2013.

Case and point, today is Sunday, 24th 2013 it is now 1:28 and just had one of the most mystical moments of my life that came on a page from a book that I am now reading for the second time. It was page twelve of this book that brought us back to my recent article which I wrote two months ago, Who Will Set the Standards?

WABA in this case, is a concept of having a “Center”. It is about taking a good look at the inside which is also a concept of home, being at peace with who and what we are.

Au- Le

Lúbara Huya   

Who Will Set Standards?

Today will be Obama’s first day of his second term.  According to the news, he had sworn on two bibles -- one of which Martin Luther King Jr. used during the Civil Rights movement. On the other hand I have been writing about dreaming with my eyes open. You see!   Tomorrow will be twelve years since I was deported from the states for the second time, and I do have a criminal record in the United States. Therefore I should be very careful about the question that I am provoking.

After my near death experience with dengue almost twelve years ago, I was trying to hang on to my life because for the most part friends and family members thought I would never make it from the point I was at. It was then that I asked my God and my Ancestors to give me another chance. I am aware that many of our friends and loved ones would have liked another chance at life. Just not long ago I lost one of my best friends, Merge Lino, from Dangriga.  We had known each other for at least thirty years.

Who will set the "standards?" caught my antennas this morning, because recently I have been looking at the man in the mirror and reading about the lives of Black leaders of the past and present, for example, the life of Martin Luther King Jr., in this case, with the life of Obama.

Allow me to get to the point; my question is “who will set the standards in the Garífuna communities for the next generation?”

To be continued...

Au-le

Lúbara Huya  

Intention

Wed- 1/2/13- Speaking of being more attentive as far as the project in Gangadiwali is concerned, I would like to share with you the “best of intentions” for the year 2013. To begin with, I hope that you and your family members are in the company of good health.

The word “intention” came to mind this morning, because I am aware of the power an “intention” can carry.  Say for example “bad intention” verses “good intention”. I am aware that if you feed or cultivate any of the above “intentions” eventually you will reap what you sow.

I have been speaking about seeds lately; allow me to play with the words “intention and seed” for a while. But before I continue, may I ask you this question, which one comes first, the intention or the seed?

Speaking of questions, here is something I would like to share with you before I continue, “Since October 4th 2012, I have written a total of eight articles about how I see things through the eyes of a Garífuna.

This one is about coming to terms with the person in the mirror, because I have been looking forward to this day. I wanted to have the freedom to say, that today is also my Garifuna B’akTun.

Those of us that were born in the sixties and before are the result of an era that brought with it a lot of questions. A question is like when you are hungry or thirsty. Answers are like food and water”.

Allow me to take you back to the “best of my intentions” these are the seeds I have been talking about all along. I became a farmer at Gangadiwali four years ago. However this is a journey that began in Quehueche, not far from Gangadiwali in 1968, I was approaching eight, the year Martin Luther King was assassinated. I have done this before, and I asked once again for Martin Luther King’s permission to borrow a few of his words to say this “Now I’m just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period to “see” what is unfolding. And I’m happy that He’s allowed me to be in Gangadiwali.

I will continue to cultivate my best intentions through ways like this, and want to thank you for being the soil.

Happy New Year.

Lúbara Huya

Open Eyes

Part-IV

I am so glad that I got to open my eyes just in time for the thirteenth B’akTun, today is the 21^st December 2012, and it is an historic event for us. I would like to share with you my views from the perspectives of a Garifuna who is looking for answers.

I am aware that questions requires answers, therefore what I am hoping to do here is to create a relationship with you. If I am looking for answers, I would like to look with an open mind and open eyes. Since October 4^th 2012 I have written a total of eight articles about how I see things through the eyes of a Garifuna.

This one is about coming to terms with the person in the mirror, because I have been looking forward to this day. I wanted to have the freedom to say, that today is also my Garifuna B’akTun.

Those of us that were born in the sixties and before are the result of an era that brought with it a lot of questions. A question is like when you are hungry or thirsty. Answers are like food and water.

Au- le

Lúbara Huya

Open Eyes

Part III

It is the second time the word “seed” has caught my attention early in the morning, it is a day after the assembly of the Black Association of Central America (CABO). I would like to share with you my point of view, but before I continue I would like for you to know, that I am new at this, my eyes came open not long ago, and through an instrument like this, I hope to share with you some of my views through the eyes of a Garífuna.

I would like to get back o the word 'seed' and hope to stick to the point of view. I would like to use a term that I hope would not offend anyone; a good friend told me about the concept of “public masturbation” while we were participating in the event that took place on the 8th December 2012 in Labuga, Guatemala.

Public masturbation in my opinion can be a double edge sword; therefore our Garífuna “representatives” should be aware of that. Speaking of masturbation, another version is happening on cyber space, within the cyber space community, should we be the first to call it “cyber space masturbation”?

Now let’s get back to the seeds that “come” with the masturbation. I have seen our representatives twice masturbating, the first was on the first week of December 2005, and the second time was the 8th December 2012, in Labuga.

In 2005 when the seeds were set, I do believe that the soil was not ready, and if we don’t take radical changes the results will be the same ten years from now.

Au- le

Lúbara Huya

Open Eyes

Part II

Today is Saturday, December 8, 2012. I am getting ready for the day and while I was replaying some of the events from yesterday at the eighteenth assembly of CABO [Central American Black Organization] in Labuga, Guatemala, something caught my attention that I would like to share with you on this particular journey we call life.

In my previous article I mention the concept of the “eye of the mind”, the “I” of the mind, is about the person in the mirror. You see, destiny combine with fate has made Labuga the crib of a culture that I am falling in love with. I am falling in love with who I am today in relation to a time in the past. I think we are on the verge to see the person we are today, in relationship to the future.

Let’s take for example the present, in this case I am talking about today, we hope to cover subjects regarding where would we like to see our communities ten years now. The “I” of my mind is showing me something special this morning. 

When I heard my big brother Roy Cayetano spoke about his farm for the first time at a workshop in Labuga September 21^st 2005, something was conceived.  I remember the first time he brought some seeds for us from Dangriga.

The word “seed” caught my attention this morning; however I would like to conjugate with words like “seeds of development”.  A farmer understands the value of a seed. If you take care of the seed, in the future it will return full fold.

Au le

Lúbara Huya               

Open Eyes

Part I

I am in a position to open my eyes.

However, it should be known in advance that it has taken me more than half a century before they became open.  The eye I am speaking about is the eye of my mind.  The eye of my mind is about how I see myself dealing with my Spirituality as a Garífuna.  Before I continue, I would like to reach an agreement with you; in this case I am sharing something personal. It is my personal journey on my way through this energy we call life.

I am back from Guatemala City, today is December 4th 2012 and it feels nice to be home. I have been calling Labuga, (Livingston) my home for the past decade. I call Labuga my home because it is a part of my identity as a Garífuna living in Guatemala.

I am a part of the group of Garífuna representatives from the different organizations who were in Guatemala City for a seminar regarding the official reports of the United Nations in relation to the plans of action regarding Durban. For the most part   I am not a fan of the word “leader”. The word “representative”, in my opinion fills the void.  I would rather use the term “Garífuna representative” than “Garífuna leader”. In this case each and every one of us can be a “representative” of the Garífuna Nation.    

I have developed a habit over the years to replay historic events like yesterday over and over in my mind.  It allows me to look profoundly into the situation form the eyes of my mind.  In one of my recent articles I spoke about the sermon that Father Larry Nicasio gave in Dangriga, Belize on the 19th November 2012 about the “blind man” who wanted to see.

I am in a position to open my eyes, what I am about to see; will be observed with an open mind.

To be continued…

Lubara Húya   

Open Mind

Part IV

I was in Dangriga, Belize on November 19th 2012, when Father Larry Nicasio gave his sermon in the Garífuna language.  The sermon was about a blind man who wanted to see.  Before I continue I would like to take you on a journey that brought us to this point. I would like for you join me on this wonderful odyssey. It has been forty years since I went to that church [Sacred Heart] where I heard Father Nicasio spoke about the blind man who wanted to see. The theme: Wawansera mémeba lau lubafu Bungiu hama Áhari (We keep going forward with the power of God and the Ancestors). 

There was standing room only in the church for the ones who were late; in this case I am speaking about someone who was also blind. Somehow I lost track about how many people were in the audience, instead, I was searching for people that I had met at least once in my life. Father Nicasio and I grew up a few houses away from “Front Street” – that’s what it was called in those days in Dangriga. I can put my hands in the fire that Father Nicasio did not speak the Garífuna he is now speaking. In those days, we had to hide the Garífuna language behind educational politics.  If my memory is correct, it has been forty years since I have not been to that church, and when I heard him speaking in Garífuna about the blind man who wanted to see, I realize he was talking to me and about me.  I have a strong feeling that tells me that I was not the only one he was talking to. The words that I heard came with a message. A message with substance and essence, this is a messenger that many of us I have met at least once. Father Larry Nicasio, spoke about his visit to New York and Los Angeles, how I wish that he spoke about the same message.      

I have written three articles about an open mind, the fourth has brought me to the point of open eyes, and I feel this to be a blessing for us as the Garífuna Nation. I hope the message is about opening our eyes and mind to our reality as a Garífuna Nation. I would like to share a paragraph I wrote just before I took the trip to Dangriga:

“Just across the corner, are two historic events in the Garífuna communities of Belize and Guatemala, in this case Belize will celebrate the 19th November, which is a national holiday in Belize to honor the Garífuna People, and the week after, the 26th November will be Garífuna Day in Guatemala.  We all know about the pivotal role our language plays in both celebrations as far as the songs and music is concern, not to mention the dancing.  However, it is equally important to ask ourselves, how about our history and education?”

Speaking of the message, “The Blind Man”, captures my attention, to the point. I am a Blind Garífuna Man who is searching for light, a light that can show us the way towards a better tomorrow.

Au-le

Lúbara Huya

Open Mind

Part III

While I was reading the autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson[1], I came across a paragraph that caught my attention this morning on the 12^th November 2012. It goes like this:

“When the history books are written in the future, somebody will have to say: ‘There lived a race of people, a black people, "fleecy locks and black complexion,"' a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. And thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and civilization.”  (p. 61)

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gave this speech almost fifty seven years ago, Barack Obama was not yet born. In those days there were Garínagu who could not ride in front of the bus because of their “fleecy locks and black complexion”. I have spoken to Garífunas from Honduras, Belize and Guatemala who voted for Obama’s reelection.

I also have stressed before the important links between the historic events that are unfolding in front of our eyes. I think that many of us would agree that we might never get the opportunity again to see another “fleecy locks and black complexion” in the White House. Be that as it may, I would like to be a part of a  message,  like this, I would like to be a part of a movement that will inject a new meaning into the veins of history through the eyes of Garífuna.

When the history books are written in the future, they might say that there were some brothers and sisters with fleecy locks and black complexion that did what they could in favor of the preservation and revitalization of the Garífuna language, A People who had the moral courage to stand up for their language.    

Just across the corner, are two historic events in the Garífuna communities of Belize and Guatemala, in this case Belize will celebrate the 19^th November, which is a national holiday in Belize to honor the  Garífuna people, and the week after, the 26^th November will be Garífuna Day in Guatemala.  We all know about the pivotal role our language plays in both celebrations as far as the songs and music is concern, not to mention the dancing.  However, it is equally important to ask ourselves, how about our history and education?  

Au-le

Lúbara Huya 

---

[1] King, Martin L, and Clayborne Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Intellectual Properties Management in association with Warner Books, 1998. Print.

Open Mind

 Part II

I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be in Trujillo, Honduras on the 23rd - 25th of October, 2012 for a workshop. In this case, what I hope to do here is to share this experience with you, but before I continue I would like for you to know that this is a continuation of “Open Mind” which I wrote twenty two days ago.

I have read some very interesting feedback from the readers.  I would like for you to know that it is an honor for me; it has allowed me to check myself. I became aware of so many interesting experiences from the different points of view of Garífunas like you and I.  In this case, I am talking about a journey, “Struggle or Movement” that has brought us this far.

On a personal note, I would like to share with you the issue I am struggling with, “An Issue” that holds my conscience hostage, be that as it may, I am afraid that I am not the only one.

I have come to the point of asking myself this question “Would I sacrifice my child for the future of the Garífuna Language?”

I am asking this because I had the opportunity to meet with three of five children in a Garífuna village in Honduras, who are exchange students from Nicaragua. We were in Trujillo from the 23rd October through the 25th 2012 for a workshop related with territorial rights for land in Central America for the Garífuna Nation. I decided to go because I am a firm believer of this philosophy; a “Nation” should defend their land and their language.

 To make this real in my life, first I should try at least to walk in the shoes of the parents of these five Garífuna children who are making history right before our eyes. The biblical story of Abraham and his son became real in the life of the brother and sisters from Nicaragua.

The children of these brave and courageous Garífuna parents who are being “sacrificed” for the sake of the Garífuna Language is worthy of my respect and profound gratification. Garifuna Brothers and Sisters from Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua should be acknowledged with the same honor and respect.

During the workshop in Trujillo, I came to the bottom line; I had to ask the person in the mirror this question. “Would I sacrifice my child for the future of the Garífuna Language?”

This much I will say: to be continued.

Au-le

Lúbara Huya.