Choose Your Lane Authentically & Collectively
I think the "Me too" dynamic within the United States is intense and very damaging to individual and collective growth as African or Black people. I'm not referring to the movement that confronts sexual abuse and rape culture. I'm referring to the unfortunate tendency of people to choose careers, life paths, and "lanes" that are perceived to provide status, credibility, material wealth or attention.
We all learn from and even emulate others throughout our life journey, so my point might seem odd. Bear with me. There are plenty of "lanes" in life. By lanes I mean career paths or opportunities to contribute to society. Capitalism promotes a rigid and materialistic hierarchy of careers and contributions. Some are deemed "important" and valuable while others are not, based on which have more status. Some of these lanes include, doctor, attorney, social media influencer, author, business owner, etc.
I am not the bossy, authoritarian type. People have the right to pursue the career or lane of their choice. The capitalist framework however and its false assignment of value, convinces us not only to seek status, but to be selfish in doing so. We therefore make choices to do things for attention, validation, or to compete with others, even when such choices don't fit our skill set, personality traits, or authentic selves. Far too many of us choose lanes that are destined to cause anxiety, failure, non-fulfillment, and wasted resources for ourselves.
When making life path decisions, we often fail to consult with the village members who know, value and understand us. Our lives and what we choose to do with them, are not the only considerations. We exist within social structures that support, educate and defend us and to which we have obligations as well. These teams (families, organizations, communities) survive and thrive based on the investments and decisions we make as individuals. Capitalist regimes like the United States condition us to be individualistic and self absorbed- tendencies reflected in common expressions like "I'm doing me." While we must assert our individuality at times, I argue that career path decisions affect our families, organizations and communities, and as such, are not individual decisions but ideally collective choices. Any time you benefit from your team, but fail to consider/consult with them regarding decisions that will impact them, we are creating a team-wide problem. I think about how I got into education and community organizing. These were indeed individual choices, or so it seems. But at each step of my life, relatives, close friends, community elders and teachers gave input. This dynamic - my own choices, experiences and ideas in combination with observations and insights from my village, helped me choose my career and life path. This is not to say that "I've got it all figured out." But I do have a clear understanding of who I am, what my skills/gifts are, and situations in which I thrive or I'm drained.
We have children (and adults)whose temperament, skills and sensibilities suit them for careers/lanes that would sustain and fulfill them and their communities. But they disregard or don't even consider these options because of mis-truths they've been taught to believe by society and their own people. Potentially millions of us go our entire lives in positions, careers, and life paths that do not energize us, utilize our assets, or set us or our community up to succeed, regardless of the renumeration we receive.
At this stage in our existence Nationalism and Pan Africanism must adapt to embrace and inform realities outside of the traditional rhetoric. If we are building a nation, we will need a team of citizens with a diverse set of skills, interest and knowledge. We need healers, educators, government officials, law enforcement, sanitation, scientists & doctors, artists and musicians, military, economists, and the list goes on. An important way to cultivate this thinking and practice is to begin seriously identifying the careers and life paths needed for our nation. Doing this might also help to eliminate wasted time and resources, incompetence, mental health issues (anxiety, depression) in our village. Careers and life paths are not one-size-fits-all. Failing to properly negotiate this area contributes financial insecurity, mental/physical health challenges, family disrepair and community impotence. Our village must develop the capacity to help our people answer the following questions 1. Who am I
2. What are my skills and gifts?
3. What tasks, career or lane utilizes my personality type, preferences, skills and gifts?
4. What tasks, career or lane will materially sustain me, fulfill me and empower my family and community?
5. How can prepare myself to pursue a certain career or lane, and are there alternative paths?
6. What challenges and benefits will I likely encounter in said career or life path?
Everyone has talents and sensibilities that lend themselves toward success and fulfillment in certain area. But people must be properly placed. And these important career decisions are both individual and collective. We must begin seeing ourselves and thinking and functioning as productive, purpose-driven and healthy teams . Lastly, we must create ways to help our youth and elders discover and manifest lives uniquely suited to themselves, rather than people who choose roles based simply on perceived status
