Warning: This post contains sweeping generalizations about groups of people. The author fully realizes that these are generalizations and appreciates the reader making allowances.
On Friday, I went to a luncheon at work where the speaker was a wonderful woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She had fled the Congo, ended up in Uganda, where she reunited with her husband (who had been imprisoned) and other family members, and she and her family eventually made their way to the US.
I confess, I missed a lot of the details of the story, for several reasons. 1) I was very tired, so even though I heard them, I now can't remember them. 2) She was speaking Swahili. Of course, there was an interpreter, so it's not like I had no clue what she was saying. But I think I kept getting distracted by the Swahili--I was so interested in what it sounded like that I think I forgot to listen to the English. 3) I was too busy observing everything and getting lost in my own thoughts.
See, not only did we have the guest speaker, but there was a choir of women, maybe a dozen or so, who sang several songs in Swahili. Plus, the speakers family, and a few young children of the choir members. So, what was there to observe and ponder, you ask? Well, let me tell you.
1) The speaker was really beautiful. And her family was beautiful. Recently, I've read some articles about 'colorism' and there's always issues with skin color in society. And I just kept watching them trying to fathom why it is that those are things. And why people think that it makes such a difference. I watched a little boy sit on his dad's lap, and saw exactly the same humanity that I see when my nieces and nephews do the same thing. I saw moms trying to hush their kids. And maybe it was the setting, because it was a sort of religious event as well, but I just saw a sister at the podium.
2) Like I said, I was caught up in the language. I did a little bit of linguistics in college and find language really interesting. And I really really wanted to learn Swahili. (And Irish. And Russian. And Arabic. And German. And Portuguese. And just about every other language on the planet. But not Klingon). It has this very jaunty, very upbeat and rhythmic sound that lends itself to swaying and moving. The choir was up there singing and swaying, and I admit, I joined in. Which for me is saying something, because I never do that sort of thing in public usually. And no one else was, but what can I say? Anyway, it made me think that English is probably a very stuffy language to the rest of the world.
3) Another side note to the singing: these women SANG! I sing in my church choir, and the director is constantly trying to get us to sing out. He would have loved these women, because they were confident and joyful and they sang with their hearts. I think I am too prim and proper and afraid of being heard when I sing because I don't know if I sing well or not. These women sang great, but even if they didn't, I think they still would have belted it out. Because the point was to sing and be happy, not to be acceptable.
4) There was so much color! White people are so boring when it comes to color. Especially in the winter. Ugh. (It's probably due to our pigment impairment. Bright colors might make us look like death). But this crowd was bright and cheerful. Also, I was slightly jealous that their culture has headwear, because that has to be awesome for hiding a bad hair day. Anyway these Africans know how to live boldly.
5) The whole time, I felt a great sense of unity. Here are these women, strangers to me, natives of another continent, but I felt like they were my sisters and my friends. It made me very happy. (And less tired!)
6) These women were also happy women. The speaker went through some awful things, but over and over said how much God loves us. She radiated happiness. (No wonder she was so beautiful!)
So, now you can see why I missed some of the details. There was a lot going on. But even though I didn't hear all the words, I think I probably got the message.
