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None of us —even if you were called a Know-It-All—know it all. That's why lifelong learning is essential to being and growing. Still, you may know more about one topic over another. Your breadth of knowledge is not my focus in this article, but how you know what you know.
Why is this important? Well, what you know impacts your beliefs, stories, and behaviors. Your knowledge can help or hinder you by what you actually know and don't know as well as your perception of knowledge.
Oftentimes we value people based on their outward appearance, race, perceived ability, sex, gender to determine believability. We believe and relate to others who perceive the same or are similar to us. This can help us reach an agreement and achieve goals, or it can lead to our downfall, like when we reuse to listen to and consider divergent perceptions, thoughts, and interpretations.
When we get rid of our diverse facets of knowing/perceiving, we can lose value and brilliance, similar to cutting off facets of a diamond. When we refuse "others" ways of knowing and consider them uncivilized or barbaric, we not only marginalize populations, but we devalue ourselves collectively and individually while praising western canon as if they are the only ones worthy of high value and knowing.
We ignore or dismiss and even erase "other" ways of knowing. Unfortunately, we hamper our ability to hypothesize, develop critical thinking, build credibility, and be more persuasive when we do this. We also limit our ability to live life optimally.
As we celebrate Black History this month, let's consider other ways of knowing through the ears of Black birth workers, doulas, midwives, and hands of Black healers. Through the ears of birth workers, doulas, midwives, perhaps we can learn to listen actively and provide better care to Black women and decrease the alarming rate of Black Maternal Mortality and Morbidity. Through the hands of healers and inventors like George Washington Carver, perhaps we can change our climate, prevent waste, and get a feel for the land that needs crop rotation to heal and rest from the overuse of cotton crops.
Many Black birth workers, healers, inventors, authors, and scholars throughout the African Diaspora have added to various bodies of knowledge. We can learn from them to increase our health and wellness. So, let's consider gaining knowledge from "others" whether they look like or seem like us or not. We can gain and learn so much knowledge from each of us. Our knowledge can serve as a lesson or a leaping board.
#BlackHistory #Knowledge #Inclusivity #Wellness #LauraDHarver
Laura D. Harver is the founder and CEO of Harver Edge, LLC, a credentialed Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and the creator of the Journey to Love Expereince™. She covers topics centered around organizational culture and wellness, inclusivity, leadership, self-care, and legacy development. Uncover more about Laura by visiting https://harveredge.com and https://journeytoloveexperience.com.
