(Black) Symbols of Recognition

Gye Nyame.

"Except God."

"Supremacy of God."

Supremacy.

If you ever have a chance to go to Ghana, you will see this Adinkra Symbol pretty much on anything and everything.

A lot of Black folk in the Americas, might be familiar with the Sankofa symbol, which I personally use as a symbol to how I live my personal, professional, and academic lives (yes, plural, they are distinct).

There are many different interpretations, but for me Sankofa represents me using the past to inform/guide my present and future (what I defined as 'diachronic realites').

I learned about it the first time I was in Ghana in April 2019. Since then it's been at the forefront of my holistic (mind - body - soul) well-being.

But Gye Nyame never really hit me the same way.

As I've already written, I was never in a space that 'God' was something (someone?) that factored in my day-to-day moves.

That was until we went to the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi.

It was here that I really got to learn the significance of the symbols and the Asante Kingdom.

It was here that I truly got to see, understand, and feel, pre-colonial (and Afro-centric) Black Power and Strength:

Blackness that wasn't inhibited by enslavement, colonization, or the negative codification of race and racism.

I fundamentally believe that Adinka Symbol teachings should be at the core of any and all curricula for Black kids in the Atlantic.

And no, I don't think it should go through the Ministry of Education - that will only pacify its power to fit white supremacist discourses.

It was here that I understood (and interpreted) Gye Nyame. An interpretation, I believe, should be one of the first things to be taught to all Black kids - and adults - in the Americas:

Unlike what we've been taught in schools, media, and throughout generations of white supremacist narratives, no human being/race is above us.