Written by U.S Immigration News Thursday, 18 July 2013 23:09
The late Steve Jobs said the following about death: “Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it.” Perhaps this is the reason why we should focus our concerns not so much in trying to avoid death but instead we should concentrate our efforts on learning all that we can in and from life. Learning from life and all that it brings with it may actually prepare us to live life with a deeper understanding of our purpose and its fulfillment.
This month, my husband and I were faced with the difficult task of saying good-bye to a loved one. In his early eighties, at the time of his passing, one could argue that my father-in-law Aubrey Richards had lived a full life. A self-made man, the death of his mother during his childhood and of his father during adolescence forced him to single-handedly pave a way for himself in this world. With very little formal education he worked hard and became an entrepreneur. His lack of formal education was not a deterrent for self-education. The diligent study of the Bible and the reading of every book and newspaper he could put his hands on became his tools for education. In his role as father, he made sure that his seven children not only went to school but insisted that they aspire to achieve the highest academic levels that they could.
While I may have described my father-in-law I am sure that many of you can relate. You have met and know men and women in your own families who share this caliber of character and perseverance. It is unfortunate that often, it is not until their deaths that we begin to understand the legacy of their contributions and the depth of their wisdom. Even more regrettable is that often we do not take the time to learn from them or to teach the younger generations to sit at their feet to acquire from their knowledge.
As a people, this lack of generational continuity has become the sustained suicide of our cultural knowledge. We have become so obsessed with living life for the moment that we have become entangled with the banalities of short-term gratification. Our children have followed our example and as a result very few of them have an appreciation for wisdom, age or life itself. In too many of our families and communities, there are no practiced or theoretical spiritual, cultural or social legacies being passed down from one generation to another. As a result, the faith, the wisdom, the knowledge and often the strength of character of our elders dies with them.
Today, our children and youth are missing out on the knowledge and confidence that a healthy generational legacy provides. They lack a sense of self and sense of purpose simply because their identity has not been anchored in the cultural knowledge of their own family legacy.
So, how can we break this cycle of self-inflicted death to cultural knowledge?
Our elders are the depositories of our cultural knowledge. As such, the time they spend with us in life is a legacy that we should cherish and secure its passing on to the next generation.
Copyright © 2013 by Norka Blackman-Richards, an educator, and empowerment speaker on women, education, diversity and generational issues, is the Chief Editor of Empowerment 4 Real Women and the Founder of 4 Real Women International, Inc. Norka is also an Assistant Director and the Academic Program Manager for the Percy Ellis Sutton SEEK Program at Queens College of CUNY.