“For the oppressed to be really free, he must go beyond revolt, by another path he must begin other ways, conceive of himself and reconstruct himself independently of the MASTER.” -A. Memmi (1969)

Maji means water in the Swahili language, Defining myself as something simple as water has a huge significant meaning to me. There’s a particular body of water located on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia that I speak of. Because in 1619, it’s well-documented that it is the very location in America that the English settlers first brought the Indigenous African people, who were kidnapped from their homeland, to live a life of enslavement. I could only imagine the whole scenario of being taken off that boat after a long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in which they endured bouts of starvation, sleeplessness, and total confusion to what was happening. To add to insult, they watched their own people suffer through the most inhumane conditions. With chains and shackles placed on their hands and feet, they are forced to sit next to the black bodies of the ones who died along the way. As the smell of death penetrated their mental, this causes them to do whatever it took to not suffer the same fate. After arriving at the destination, they are thrown into the water only to find themselves drawing to swim praying to reach solid ground. Once they finally reach land, they are stripped of their identity, their culture and independence. 

The BLOOD that have been left in the water of those who didn’t make it is who Maji represents. That same BLOOD runs through my veins and have gave me LIFE for the last 35 years. I know it’s real because I see myself one day once FREE of placing my feet in that WATER and being able to give thanks to the ones who made it possible for me to be here. Returning back into society though as MAJI will be one of the greatest challenges I will ever faced in my entire life.

If you ever met me face-to-face, you wouldn’t expect that I wrote essays sophisticated enough to be published in a newsletter. I would even reward you if you could pick me out from a group of incarcerated individuals who you thought might be into freelance writing. Better yet, once you knew  my story, would you be surprised of the changes I made while incarcerated?

As we grow for the better or to become new, there’s always people from our past who will never think that we are capable of making that change. I would like to take y’all back to a recent visit (via skype) I had with my child’s mother. Even though she moved to another state and is committed to another relationship, she always nice enough to let me check in on her from time to time. This day though when we connected, I presented a question to determine her perception of me. I asked her, “What’s your expectations of me?” As usual she explained that she expected that I would be either in jail or in the grave because she felt I led a dangerous life when I was out on the streets. It wasn’t the way she answered the question but the facial expression she made that indicated that I would never be forgiven for all that I put her through. Anyone whoever dealt with incarceration knows that look in people’s eyes when they gave up on you. At that moment, I knew she didn’t believe in me anymore. After our visit, I actually smiled because I knew that she didn’t know all that I accomplished while incarcerated. 

Renewal is a process that makes one take inventory of where you are in life and being able to hit the RESET button. Purging yourself of all the past mistakes and the feelings that comes with it can be the most freeing experience that one can partake in. Being able to bury your old habits, old relationships, and just old ways of doing anything in order to become a NEW you is a journey one needs to take heed to if you ever want more in this world. It took me some time to come around because I was too hyped on what other people thought of me. Trying to impress others actually hindered me from going after what was more important in life. That would be having a relationship with the creator (GOD) who gave me the ability and opportunity to manifest greatness. Once I realized that I inherited the same power as my ancestors, I understood that it’s about taking what they left us and making it beneficial for the advancement of my people for years to come.

But this is the kicker of this whole essay, my own family members doesn’t know thatI been involved with MINDS. I haven’t even told them that I changed my name to MAJI. I placed it at the end of my letters (signing off as BABA MAJI), but they never question who BABA MAJI is. So you can only tell the tree by the fruit it bears. Meaning people can only see the impact of what you done to fully pay attention to what you got going on. I rather have them realized what’s going on from those on the outside than explaining what’s happening from my perspective. It is sad that it has to be this way but it only shows where we are as a people when it comes to the expectations of those fighting for the lives from behind prison walls. 

It’s all about wanting CHANGE at the end of the day. How much are you willing to get rid of who you were to actually become who GOD intended for you to be is the question. Dialing into that greatness takes a great deal of ridding yourself all that holds you back from advancing in life. I wish to one day introduce the world to the NEW me. The lessons I learned over the years might be motivation for the next to change his or her ways so they would never go through what most of us incarcerated have actually been through. Until then I’ll remain patient and will try to stay focused on what matters most: FREEDOM.