Uzazi Celebrating your birthday in an African-centered way. By Richard M. Cooper How did you learn to celebrate your birthday? If you are like many of us baby boomers who were reared under the realm of the dominant culture, your birthday brought forth learned expectations of receiving gifts, getting costly birthday cards devoid of positive Black images, eating calorie-laden ice cream and cake, and having a party thrown in your honor by a family member. The older you got, the more elaborate your celebratory expectations became. Having reached another birthday milestone recently, forty-one years of age, I thought that it would be appropriate to have African people reconsider the ways that we all have been socialized to celebrate this special day of our birth. In Swahili birth is called Uzazi. From an African-centered perspective, birthdays are first and foremost spiritual days, and thus they provide the opportunity for people to give thanks to the Creator for allowing them another year of life. If you have good health and your basic needs are being met, you are indeed truly blessed. Hopefully when you were born, you were named for a principle that your parents hoped you would someday embody. This often happens in an African ritual referred to as a "naming ceremony." ___________________________________ From an African-centered perspective, birthdays are first and foremost spiritual days, and thus they provide the opportunity for people to give thanks to the Creator for allowing them another year of life. ___________________________________ Secondly, on your birthday you should give thanks to your mother for carrying you in that special place that is closest to perfection here on earth, her womb. My mother relishes telling the story, and I relish hearing it, about how she carried me for many months in her belly. Her narrative is filled with her weight gain, food cravings and other symptoms that typify her struggles, joys, and love for me. Needless to say, I also enjoy hearing about my actual birth at 5:00 a.m. on a warm summer's day. Her recollection of the details of my birth, including what she calls an "easy labor," still amazes me. My mother explains that the labor was easy as compared to that which she experienced while giving birth to my older sister. Most of the time on my birthday, I make a point of calling my mother and thanking her for having me and rearing me to become the person I am today. I have yet to find a greeting card that thanks mothers for having and rearing their children. And personally, I question why I should wait for the dominant culture's notion of celebrating my mother only on Mother's Day. Thirdly on your birthday, give thanks to your father who assisted in creating you out of the love shared between a man and a woman. If both of your parents are still living and are still happily married, then that's another blessing. My biological father died when I was a small child, but I give many thanks to the stepfather who helped raise me and my siblings as well. Black people have long known that "It takes a village to raise a child," so you should also give thanks to your extended family and your fictive (non-biological) kin. In addition, you should acknowledge the deeds of any elders or persons who are deceased who have helped to raise you. In African cultures they too may have the titles "Baba and Mama," Father and Mother. I would suggest a "pouring of libation ceremony" to accomplish this feat. ___________________________________ Black people have long known that "It takes a village to raise a child." ___________________________________ Finally, you should use your birthday as a time to re-evaluate your goals, which I will call "reviewing your life plan." Goals are the overall outcomes that a person is striving to achieve and are attained by completing smaller measurable objectives. Modifications to your life plan will often occur throughout the year. I am troubled by the mainstream's idea of making symbolic "New Year's resolutions" in January while toasting with champagne. Regardless of how you decide to celebrate your birthday, I hope that it becomes a time of both spiritual and self reflection. You can always learn to rethink the ways that you have been taught to experience your birthday in this self-centered Eurocentric society. Your birthday is a great time to begin to "free your African mind." Amani. (Peace.) This essay first appeared on www.onepeoples.com. Richard M. Cooper is a motivational speaker, a member of the Association of Black Cultural Centers, and is on the faculty of Widener University, located in Chester, Pennsylvania. He can be reached via e-mail at richard.cooper@widener.edu This website: Copyright © 2005 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Urban Mozaik Magazine are not necessarily those of Urban Mozaik Magazine and the publisher cannot be held responsible for them. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.