I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW

I found this quote on LinkedIn last week, and it sparked my interest. I had a similar feeling after reading Elizabeth Leiba’s “I’m not yelling. There is an appreciation for the new perspective each author offers on a popular idea and way of thinking. The quote and the book helped me see how scarcity hides in our thinking. The scarcity mindset is rooted in the information we ingest, and it convinces us that we are the problem until a wise individual presents us with a different point of view.

A scarcity mindset will make me think I’m historically underserved and underrepresented, and the language will go unchallenged for years. This quote awakened me to the fact that my history is not the problem; the dominant culture’s ability to see my history is. Conversations such as these always bring me back to misnomers; intellectually, I understand why the term ‘historically underserved and underrepresented’ would make sense, and I accepted it, even used it. With this new offering, I’m led to believe differently.

I was born in Haiti, and “my history is one of ancestors who survived so I could thrive. My history didn’t start with ‘Western civilization’.” 

My history is rich in art, music, and pride. 

My history is full of creativity and resilience!

My history is one of fed-up enslaved people taking back their lives in 1791.

My history comprises ancestors who led the first Black Revolution.

My history is one of oppression and embargos because we dared to dream up a reality that opposed that of our colonizers.

Credit: Ted Maris-Wolf, 2009

Even though we are labeled the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, I invite you to take in our rich history and culture and reflect on all the ways we were punished for daring to claim our rights as human beings and challenging our imposed property status.