LLW Lite: Mother Wit
A few words about an eroding form of wisdom
“Wit is an old indigenous voice of power that is sharp, clear, and perceptive of life.” – Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Mother Wit is the knowledge of the soul. It is not book-learning but instead the intelligence garnered from the school of Life. The glory of mother wit is how the context and meaning shifts and changes color at a whim and innately, we discern the hour of the moment and apply the accurate interpretation without fail. Mother Wit is the key ingredient to making decisions when the data ain’t spinning and none of the videos on Youtube suffices. When does it stir up inside you?
To some, mother wit sounds like broken English and ignorance, however, to deem mother wit in this way is simply a misinterpretation. They ain’t got good sense if they think everything about life is in some book and better yet, the message is missed by those expecting the delivery of it with a pretty bow tied on it. We use $100 college words now and articulate with precision as we have mastered the language and its varied expressions. But mother wit tests the conventions of standard English. With double negatives, the habitual Be, and idioms that are culturally-specific, mother wit speaks the untold truths. These truths are coded and closed to those outside of our communal spaces.
There has been a lot of unnecessary Blacksplaining to the masses. Yet, we need our cultural grammar to ‘seh sumn’ to each other, which is the real order of the day. Let us gather once again and fuse our collective mother wits so we can find a way to tow the line outchea for this day and time. We’ll be crazy as a road lizard if we continue to deny the divine wisdom of our Ancestors and Elders who have taken the complexities of life and simplified them into anecdotes that soothe the heart and mind. You see, they knew ‘bought sense was better than any’ because they paid for it. They owned it and as an inheritance, we can rightfully hold it in our hands to heal ourselves.
Chandra Kamaria is a writer, educator, public scholar and entrepreneur. To support her work, consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Literary Lightworker. You may also contribute by clicking this link: BuyMeACoffee
Reading this stirred something deep.
Mother Wit isn’t broken language it’s unbroken wisdom.
It’s the way our people carried knowing when the world tried to shut our mouths and steal our books.
Thank you for naming it with such care.
Thank you for reminding us that not everything sacred needs to be polished to be powerful.
Some truths come rough and ready, and they save us every single day.
Ms. Maine
Girl, Why|Girl, Yes
Preach. I still remember my mother saying things like “experience bought is better than taught.” Translation: When you go do something an elder warned you not to do and it backfires, then you learn the real lesson. You bought it.