Muntu....!

The day my Father told me “we are moving back to Africa” was one of the happiest most exciting days I can remember. I could not wait to make new friends who had the same color as me. As a child, of course, I did not realize how much I needed a sister who looked like me. I had my best friend then and she was lovely, but deep inside I yearned to also have a black friend. I fantasized about us watching movies together, having sleepovers, braiding each other’s hair, growing up together and being friends for life. All until the day I arrived in Namibia, at the DHPS, and had to introduce myself to my new classmates. I looked around and came to realize I was the only black child in the room. After that day I learned that I was the ‘good’ black kid because my German was fluent and my father was White. There I was, 10 years old and in an African City, going to a School that had three German classrooms and one English - the English being the only one with a majority of Black kids, and I was ‘lucky’ enough to be in the German one. Then and there I lost my Identity; my fantasy had been shoved into a box and put away. I only reopened that box when I moved to Berlin in 2014. I yearned for a Black sister once again. ! - It took me a year to connect with a sistahh! I found the group Soul Sisters on Facebook just by browsing, after being disappointed by so many other black community groups online. First, I did not want to get my hopes up and used it as a platform to find people to shoot and work with. But then I went to one of the meetings and realized how much this group and these women were what I needed. I had the pleasure to get close and connect with some of the many women from the Soul Sisters Group this weekend at the Black Arts’ Retreat. Many thanks to Christine, Cece and Sheeka for putting so much into this weekend ! "The Black Arts Retreat was founded in 2013 by Kelly Thomas (USA) with the mission of creating a space for creativity, dreaming & community healing for people of color. The aim of the Black Arts Retreat is to unite lovers of culture, creativity and the African Diaspora! Through meditation, creative workshops and movement activities, The Black Arts Retreat will focus on the mental, spiritual, and physical well-being of black women." No words can explain how great this experience was and I sincerely wish it had lasted for a few more days. I learned a lot I did not know before about myself and others, and about life. Since that weekend I strive to learn a little more about my Identity each day.