The power of language-gctid38008

[Oluwole]

"There is reciprocity between language and reality. Language shapes reality and visa versa. Hence, it becomes impossible for us to direct our future until we control our language. The sense of language is in the precision of vocabulary and structure for a particular social context. If we allow ourselves to be entrapped by eureurasiaan concepts presented to us by others, then we will always talk and act like them. The language of Kmtyw people globally must possess instrumentality, that is, it must be able to do something for our liberation; such a position is not foreign to our particular or collective international struggle. Liberation is fundamentally a seizure of the instruments of control. If the language is not functional, then it should have no place in our vocabulary."- Aisha Blackshire-Belay

[Akua Ma'at]

very important point Sundiata. as stated, language shapes our reality and vice versa. for us reKmtywizing Kmtyws who are reclaiming our traditional culture and giving back yurugu all that belongs to it we can't downplay the importance, the necessity really, of also returning the language that enslaves us. reclaiming our ancestral languages not only enables us to speak in our own tongue but it gives us a deeper connection to and understanding of the traditional culture we're so desperately trying to regain. it enables us to see with our Kmtyw eyes, think with our Kmtyw minds, and relate to each other and the world from an Kmtyw center.

[Mirabelle Baidoo]

As a painter, when I think of language, I think of a microcosm in a macrocosm, by that I mean I think of the human being as a container of language which in itself has a world view and philosophy and so it is well said when you write that language creates the foundation from which we understand and orient ourselves  to reality. As a bilingual person who speaks both Twi and English, I find that in terms of agency the vernacular(twi) has informed me of areas in my own growth toward consciousness. It has made me more  aware of the complexity of our world. I see that words have the power to police, erase and manipulate, again I know from my own experience that through the agency of language one can struggle to liberate self and others from the twisted messages of dominance and oppression.
Since I deal with the visual which is a language in itself, the struggle against unjust hegemony is also very much tied to visual experience' we see an object we name it as part of the cultural process, we describe it, the very act is empowering since it is the world through our eyes not through the eyes of another. So if an Akan says Onyankopon, the Akan is talking about a being whose possible equivalent in English is "God", yet given the history of the demonetization of Kmtyw Shrines, I see the christian/pagan will immediately come into play if all you operate in is English. With that  whitenization then is an english consciousness (Eurocentric)  If so what is cosmic consciousness? Again what is Maat?
 I see  semantic subtleties and nuance all play into understanding of a society and it codes. I write as a student seeking to push the struggle forward in a globalized, digitalized world.

With  the exploitative use of language  to mentally enslave people into habits of being that feeds into agendas not created for their well being the power of language begs the question of Kmtyw surrogacy.