Editor’s Take
BY NJEMILE Z. ALI
All About Me
Autumn this year has been all about me. KIZA is being released during the last few weeks of the season, because I spent the first weeks dancing, praying, honoring and decisioning a new me into manifestation. Njemile now rises from a place of independence, no longer relying on old pains, assumptions and limitations to define my identity and my path.
Growing into my Eternal Self requires a multitude of decisions. One day back in the summer, I decided not to go into the kitchen after a group dinner to take up my traditional post of cleanup woman. At the time, my intention was to change my trajectory. It worked. A couple months later, I found myself nearly 300 miles from the next group dinner.
That’s the thing about trajectories—one degree at the start becomes a whole lot more as the movement propagates. That’s why small steps are so valuable, so long as they are pointed in a valuable direction. Undesired trajectories follow the same rules. It’s hard out here.
My ongoing Independence celebration has a wonderful soundtrack. On any given day, music can be heard wafting from my pockets and pocketbook. I make full use of my premium YouTube subscription. I invite you to sample one of my playlists. It’s almost exclusively from Mali, West Africa. For four years now, I have been immersed in the deeply soulful sounds coming out of the musical defiance of what feels like my ancient homeland.
Sona Jobarteh (who was on the cover of the first issue of KIZA) and Angelique Kidjo, are from The Gambia and Benin, respectively. There’s also my best jamming pal, Fatoumata Diawara, and Rokia Traore, both from Mali. Click the image or the button to explore.
Like me, KIZA’s writers are taking a deep dive into their own selves. I am reminded of another decision I made some months ago—I wanted to have more work from writers who identify with some version of the male experience.. Happily, in this issue we hear from three men.
Love I Am explores the question, “Who Am I,” bringing us along on a powerful retrospective of self-definition.
Khalid Ali, along with his wife, Charde, fill the cover of this season’s edition of KIZA with the first known photograph of a Higher Self. The photographer of spirit is his sister, Tannur. Khalid writes a short, stylishly understated note to accompany the pic.
Jeanine DeHoney, author of This Sunday My Daddy Came to Church, brings insights into her early and unassailable identification as a writer, setting goals, trusting and letting go.
Robert Paul, Jr., a celebrated illustrator, emerging author and the artist who brings his vibrant paintbrush to This Sunday My Daddy Came to Church, shares his thoughts on art and life in a wide-ranging interview.
Additionally, regulars Zakiyyah Chef Ali, Eryka Parker, Khadija Pounsel and Shaundale Rénā bring us their reliably insightful takes on self-care, continuous growth and new reads.
Enjoy!