Waumini Waikumbuka Hotuba Niliyotoa Lands Lutheran Church

Niliwahi kuandika katika blogu hii kuhusu hotuba niliyotoa tarehe 11 Aprili, 2015, katika mkutano wa waumini wa Sinodi ya Minnesota ya Kusini Mashariki ya Kanisa la ki-Luteri la Marekani. Nimeona ripoti fupi ya hotuba katika jarida la kanisa la First Lutheran la mjini Red Wing, Minnesota, The Spire (July/August 2015) uk. 4. Ninaiweka hapa kwa kumbukumbu yangu.

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CANNON RIVER CONFERENCE REPORT

In April some representatives from First Lutheran, United Lutheran, and St. Paul’s Lutheran attended the women’s Cannon River Conference in Zumbrota. There was a very thorough explanation of the history of the beginnings of the Lutheran church in this area of the country, so there was less time for the main speaker, Joseph Mbele, a St. Olaf professor.

Besides teaching, Professor Mbele works with groups in the area to mediate cultural conflicts. He asked us to look at the positive and the potential in all people; do not rush to judgment. What is natural in one culture may not be correct in another, and what is an issue in one culture might not be an issue in another. 

For example, in Faribault the storekeepers were upset because the Somali men stood in front of the stores or nearby and talked. The storekeepers felt this was loitering and bad for business. In Africa this was the custom to talk together outside stores and it was considered impolite to make a quick purchase and leave. Americans are very concerned about being on time. In Africa it is considered rude to rush by people and not talk to them, and in small villages many are related. On the way to a meeting an African might stop and talk to a number of people, and probably will arrive late to a meeting.

Other examples: In Brooklyn Park other residents were complaining about loud music. In Africa everyone in the small town is invited to a wedding and no invitations are sent out. Child raising views are quite different too; Africans take the phrase, “It takes a village” quite literally. Everyone is supposed to help watch the kids while Americans believe they should only watch their own children and don’t want any help from other people. 

Professor Mbele wrote a book about some of these differences, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, which we purchased for the church library.

The next meeting of the Cannon River Conference will be held in April 2016 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Red Wing with United and First assisting.

Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Thorson, FLCW President

Nimerejea Salama Kutoka Leech Lake Tribal College

Nilirejea jana jioni kutoka Leech Lake Tribal College, kwenye mkutano kuhusu "Narratives of Identity." Nilikuwa mmoja wa wanajopo wanne waliotoa mada, na mada yangu ilikuwa "Being African in America."

Niliongelea uzoefu wangu katika miaka mingi ya kuishi na kufundisha hapa Marekani, nikielezea kazi kubwa isiyoisha ya kujitambulisha kama mu-Afrika, ambaye ni tofauti na mu-Amerika Mweusi. Nilielezea jinsi suala hilo linavyosabisha mikanganyiko na kutoelewana baina ya wa-Marekani Weusi na wa-Afrika tuishio Marekani.

Nilisema wazi kuwa namna wanavyojiita na kujitambulisha wa-Marekani Weusi ni tofauti na namna tunavyojiita na kujitambulisha sisi wa-Afrika. Nilimnukuu Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wa Nigeria ambaye katika mahojiano na katika riwaya yake maarufu ya Americanah, ameelezea vizuri suala hilo.

Nilimnukuu pia mwandishi Jamaica Kincaid wa Antigua, pande za Caribbean, ambaye pamoja na kuwa ni mweusi pia, hakuwahi kujiita kama wanavyojiita  wa-Marekani Weusi. Hayo mawazo yake niliyasoma katika mahojiano yaliyochapishwa mwaka 1991 katika jarida la Mississippi Review.

Nilisisitiza umuhimu wa kuheshimu haki ya kila jamii kujiita au kujitambulisha kwa majina wanayoyataka au yanayowaridhisha wenyewe. Watu wengine sherti wafuate njia hiyo badala ya kuwapachika watu majina ya utambulisho kama walivyofanya wakoloni.

Nilienda mbali zaidi na kuelezea suala la haki ya kila jamii kujieleza wenyewe, sio kuzimishwa kama walivyotuzimisha wakoloni, na wao wakawa wanaandika juu yetu.

Siwezi kuelezea hapa yote niliyosema. Nawazia kuendelea kutafakari suala hilo na kujisomea zaidi, na kuwasoma upya watu kama Frantz Fanon, Aime Cesaire, na Ngugi wa Thiong'o, ili hatimaye niandike makala kamili.

Hiyo jana, wakati nilipokuwa najitambulisha mkutanoni, nilisema kuwa nimeleta vitabu vyangu viwili kama zawadi kwa maktaba ya chuo cha Leech Lake Tribal College. Vitabu hivyo ni Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences na Matengo Folktales. Vitabu hivi vilipokelewa kwa furaha na shukrani tele.

Nina hakika kuwa mkutano ule umesisimua watu. Jana hiyo hiyo, katika ukurasa wa Facebook wa Leech Lake Tribal College iliandikwa taarifa hii:

We had some great speakers on campus today for the Narratives of Identity presentations. One of the many memorable remarks from today's visit was by Joseph Mbele, St Olaf College- “I am not a person of color. I am Tanzanian which is a concept of colonization. Only when I came to America was I referred to as black. Naming yourself, knowing yourself, is a right…Construction of identities are not fixed and it’s our right to identify ourselves.”

(Picha ya juu kabisa na ya katikati ni kutoka Leech Lake Tribal College)

Nimewasili Bemidji, Minnesota

Alasiri hii, nimewasili mjini Bemidji, nikiwa njiani na wenzangu watatu, ambao tumesafiri pamoja kutoka Minneapolis. Tutalala hapa, na kesho asubuhi tunakwenda Leech Lake Tribal College kwenye mkutano  kuhusu "Narratives of Identity." Mimi ni mmoja wa watoa mada wanne. Mada yangu itakuwa "Being African in America."

Tulipokuwa tunakuja, tulisimama kidogo katika mji uitwao Akeley, ili kuona sanamu ya Paul Bunyan, mhusika maarufu katika masimulizi ya jadi ya sehemu hii ya Minnesota, ambaye anajulikana sana pia Marekani na ulimwenguni. Sanamu hii inamwonyesha akiwa ameshika shoka lake. Ili kujionea jinsi sanamu hii ilivyo kubwa, ifananishe na sisi watatu ambao tumesimama hapo Mbele yake.


Tulipoingia Bemidji, tulikwenda moja kwa moja kwenye sanamu nyingine ya Paul Bunyan, ambayo inamwonyesha akiwa na fahali wake wa buluu ambaye ni sehemu muhimu ya masimulizi kuhusu mhusika huyu. Sanamu hiyo, sawa na ile ya Akeley, ni kubwa sana.

Kwa mujibu ya masimulizi, Paul Bunyan alikuwa jitu kubwa la ajabu, nadhani kumzidi hata Liongo Fumo, shujaa katika masimulizi ya jadi ya wa-Swahili, wa-Pokomo, na wengine katika mwambao wa Kenya.

Bemidji ni mahali ambapo niliwahi kufika miaka mitatu hivi iliyopita, lakini tangu muda mrefu kabla ya hapo nimetamani kuja kwa shughuli za utafiti wangu juu ya mwandishi Ernest Hemingway.

Mary Welsh, mke wa nne na wa mwisho wa Ernest Hemingway alizaliwa na kukulia eneo hili la Bemidji, kabla hajaenda kusoma katika Chuo Kikuu cha Northwestern, karibu na Chicago. Katika safari zake Kenya, Tanganyika, na Uganda, mwaka 1953-54, Hemingway alitanguzana na mke wake huyu.

Panapo majaliwa, nitakuja Bemidji kufanya utafiti huo. Kwa leo nimefurahi kuziona hizi sanamu, na kujionea jinsi Paul Bunyan alivyo maarufu eneo hili. Jina lake liko kila mahali. Nimeona mtaa wenye jina hilo, biashara mbali mbali, hata kampuni ya mawasiliano ya intanenti.

Hata katika hoteli tunamolala usiku huu, Hampton Inn, nimeona picha kubwa ya Paul Bunyan katika ukuta wa mgahawa. Kwangu mimi kama mtafiti wa masimulizi na mambo mingine ya jadi ("folklore"), nimeguswa sana na kupata hamasa ya kufanya utafiti juu ya Paul Bunyan.