Who are you, really?

By Ben Brako (koBENa BRAKO)

A call to return, restore, and rise.

There is a question — a sacred, unsettling question — that every Black soul must eventually face: Who are you, really?
This question is personal, but it is also shaped by a world that has spent centuries trying to erase Blackness, redefine beauty, and distort our sense of worth.

Who have you become?
And what have you lost along the way?

It is painful to witness how many of our brothers and sisters feel pressured to hide behind filters, false images, or skin?altering products — reshaping themselves to fit standards never meant for us. Not because they lack pride, but because the world often rewards assimilation and punishes authenticity.

Even when we change ourselves to survive, the deeper truth remains: we are enough — and we can come home.

Every act of self-erasure whispers a lie:
“I am not enough. I am less than. I am unworthy.”
But that lie dissolves the moment we remember who we truly are.

You were never meant to imitate — you were born to CREATE.
You were never meant to beg — you were born to REIGN.
Not in domination, but in dignity.
Not over others, but over your own purpose, your craft, your community.
Start with one daily act of cultural confidence — one creation, one affirmation, one refusal to shrink.

Because we are royalty — not in the mythic sense, not in superiority, but in inheritance.
We descend from civilizations of brilliance, from cultures rich in wisdom, from traditions that honored the sacredness of life.

Our ancestors understood something the modern world has forgotten:
that we are one with each other, and one with nature.

If the river is polluted, the people are polluted.
If the community is harmed, the self is harmed.
This is Ubuntu — the truth that our lives are woven together.

But today, many of us walk as strangers to ourselves, exiled from our own beauty, copying a world that cannot feel our spirit.
And yet, the call to return has never stopped.

The Creator calls us back.
Back to our roots.
Back to our truth.
Back to the wealth of wisdom, joy, creativity, and connection that is our inheritance.

You are not a mistake.
You are not an afterthought.
You are a divine idea — crafted with intention, woven with light.

So drop the mask.
No condemnation — just a return.
Return home to yourself.
To your people.
To your ancestors.
To your God?given royalty.

It is time to wake up.
It is time to rise.
It is time to fulfill your purpose.

You were made for more.
You were made to lead.
You were made to heal — the earth, your community, and yourself.

Now go — be who you truly are.

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