Upon Their Shoulders
Written by U.S Immigration News Saturday, 06 December 2014 15:34
On November 14, I received the sad news that my maternal grandmother had passed way. She died 4 days before her eighty-seventh birthday. There is an African proverb that says, “The death of an elderly (wo)man is like burning a library.” When our elders die they take with them the history of our lineage. Sad to say this is oftentimes a history that has not been passed down from one generation to the next. In many instances we have failed to take the time to learn about our identity by listening to their stories. Our elders often do not share or stop sharing their stories because we are not interested. We are too busy chasing after new things in our lives. What we have failed to realize is that the stories of our elders make up the fiber of who we are. Their struggles and...