#2 What I Carry With Me

Interview by Morinobu Yoshida

JP/EN

©Kate Dalton

──Bashiyr, you always greet and talk to people you meet on the street. What does acknowledging other people mean to you?

I was raised in a community that shows acknowledgment and appreciation for each other. Acknowledgment is not just seeing a person. You see through the person. When I see you, I see your existence. It means, it’s good to see you, feel you, just be in your presence. Sometimes people don’t see those other people, but they wanna be seen and appreciated. So I always say this, “I see you. I see you. If no one sees you, I see you. I acknowledge you and appreciate you.” It’s also like giving thanks to the trees, water, elements—all of these.

──Not only humans.

Not only humans. It’s like, life itself. Even when a bird comes to sing to me, I say, “I see you bird and I hear you, thank you for the voice. Thank you for being there and allowing me to hear your voice.” Right? In many African and other indigenous spiritualities, a message is in all forms. It’s in the water, it’s in the air, it’s in the way people act, even in the way things move. They are like our teachers. They are our spirit guides, the watchers. So I acknowledge people to show appreciation for those messages.

── Now, I want to ask you about the medicine bags that you always carry with you. What do they represent, and what do you have inside these bags?

The first medicine bag was given to me by my sister. She went to a North American indigenous event with my other sister and my dad, and this lady in the community gave it to her. The lady told her about the four colors in the medicine wheel that is stitched onto the bag. She said, you have black, red, yellow, white. This breaks down four races on the planet. Black is Black people; Africans. And from black came red and yellow. The red could be indigenous people, and the yellow could be Asian people. And lastly [what] came from the black was white; Europeans. She talked about how all the races could get back into nature with respect and appreciation.

After I have this bag, I go around many communities, and people tell me many stories of the four races, of how they must get back to this unity to help the planet.

──So, people who see it share their knowledge with you.

Yes, yes. So, when I walk with this medicine bag, I walk proudly, coz I’m representing my ancestors. Not only my ancestors, but also all communities and people on this planet, and also the planet itself.

In my bag, I carry a few stones given to me by indigenous people and my friends. I also carry this ankh. Ankh is the first symbol of connections and quadity.^* The top of the ankh means the womb, representing mother or goddesses. The bottom means the phallus—father or gods. The two sides represent daughter and son. It represents balance, respect for each other. Also, I carry a lot of tea bag fortunes. I love this one: “In the beginning is you, in the middle is you, and in the end is you.” So many of these fortunes help me keep my mind grounded. Also I got a jade stone and a fire stone here.

──Can I see the other medicine bag? This is an African print, right?

Yes, it is. This is an African medicine bag. This was given to me by a lady from the Harriet Tubman Community Organization. Harriet Tubman is a freedom fighter, not only for African people, but also for anybody who was willing to fight oppressors under white supremacy. She was there to help—lead people—through the underground railroad. [While pulling out a business card from the bag] And the lady who gave me this pouch, her name was Ekua Andria Walcott. She’s the one who helped me with many of my struggles, and she also helped a lot of people from all parts of the world, especially North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, South America. She brought together our sisters and brothers from all parts of the continent to unionize. I give thanks to her, for helping me on my own passages and journeys. I walk with this sage, cedar, and different other stones as well.

──So, what you carry in your medicine bags are things given to you, not something you gained yourself.

Yes, many of these things were given to me by indigenous people from all parts of the world at the powwows that I went to. It’s like a circle of sharing. We leave something behind, and we take something. And the same thing, vice versa. They leave something, and they take something.

I walk around with all of these, giving thanks to the ancestors. Not only to them, also to myself too. Coz I’m doing the work. We do the work, right?

──Can you tell me more about that?

Actions that we do are not only for us, [but] for those within ourselves as well. Many of our ancestors couldn’t fulfill a mission or journey—we’re here to also help them fulfill their path. We’re here for them to free from any bondage or spiritual bondage that they put in themselves. You know, many ancestors are still here on the planet, stuck to things. It’s like they’re weeping. And we’re here to free our ancestors in our vessels. So, many of the steps that they couldn’t take, we’re taking their steps. Stuff they couldn’t say, we’re saying.

──Thank you, Bashiyr.

* Quadity stands for the union of mother, father, daughter, and son, used in comparison with “trinity”.

About the Author

Bashiyr Abdullah Muhammad Douglas (a.k.a Snefer Sena Hotep) is an entrepreneur, community worker, frontline worker, spiritual advisor, medicine man, and The Friend You Haven’t Met Yet. He is the owner of Bashiyr Cultural Health Products Corp., an innovative health store that brings international health and nutrition products to the Greater Toronto Area. He always carries his passion to help people by encouraging them to take care of their bodies. His name means “Good News” and “Well-Made Man”. Later he also earned the name Snefer Sena Hotep, which means “He of Beauty is a Beautiful Brother of Peace”. His dream is to be a hero who heals and encourages not only himself but also others as well, universally and spiritually.

About I SEE YOU

Rooted in Toronto’s BIPOC communities, I SEE YOU is an art project to collectively explore the meaning and importance of acknowledgment through creative writing and portraits. Read the project statement here.

(Copyedited by Ashendri Picon)