Education & Cultural Preservation

Black Sustainability, Inc.’s Education and Cultural Preservation Industry House is a network of practitioners who work both independently and collaboratively to innovate the world of the preservation of cultural wisdom and education. We are able to reflect on a historical time where cultural wisdom taught respect for the natural cycle of a balanced human relationship with the Earth. This industry house holds potential for increased centralization of cultural preservation and community education. In a time faced with socioeconomic barriers, environmental injustice, and racial bigotry that all impact the Afrikan diaspora, cultural wisdom is crucial for the protection and healing of the Black community.

A key aspect of sustainability is ensuring success for posterity. Education and guidance of the future generations, as well as our peers, is essential for the preservation of cultural values within the Afrikan diaspora. There’s an interconnected range of ways to preserve our resources for future generations. The resources preserved through sustainability are not limited to the usual focus areas of food, water, and other material necessities.

The climate issue is actually a cultural issue that must be addressed by reclaiming and applying indigenous wisdom to challenges in modernity. By informing present and future generations of the cultural significance of an Afrikan-centered worldview and culture which includes indigenous foods, seeds/plants, rituals, language, spirituality and cultural practices, colonization of the Afrikan mind will cease. Preserving and maintaining ancestral knowledge is an indispensable aspect of sustainability. Indigenous Afrikan practices prioritize Ma’at or Kinenga, the balance, harmony, truth, righteousness and justice within and without the person and the surrounding environment.

Within this summary, strategies for modern application of time tested wisdom are explored. The Akan proverb, "Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyiri," roughly translates into, “It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind. Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve" and also refers to the Bono Adinkra symbol represented either with a stylized heart shape or by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth a wise sentiment that is to be valued in many Industry Houses, but especially education and cultural preservation. As we seek the solutions for the present, application of this proverb to utilize past experience to guide the planning of the future.

Industry House Summaries