Kuumba-yah and Polish Yo Hood

Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it

Tomorrow is the first day of 2023. You probably already have more than a few things on your to-do list, but can I add one more thang? What’s something you can do to make one of your communities more beautiful and beneficial? It can be your work community, your family, your neighborhood, etc.

Start by imagining what a more beautiful/beneficial community looks like. What does it feel like? The people who are enjoying it, what kinds of things are they grateful for? 

Now what’s a small role you can play to help make that a reality? Is it sharing your time? Your money? Your talent? Your connections? 

1. Identify a community you’re already a part of (family, church, school, neighborhood, work, social club, etc.)
2. Imagine how it can be better.
3. Decide a small way you can help it become better.
4. Put a date on it.
5. Actually do it.

For ideas, I painted women’s nails at the nursing home one time and paid for the logo and rewrote the website content of a nonprofit. A muralist I know painted the back drops for his child’s school play. Another painter made custom signs for women protesting in DC. One of my elders planted flowers next to their city’s welcome sign. A Facebook friend suggested to her job that they start celebrating Kwanzaa. They agreed and gave her a small budget which she uses to bring in foods and other goods/services from local Black-owned businesses. 

Get creative.