A Poet for Action: Leonard Tshitenge

“For me, that passion started in Congo, with my poetry; I always knew I’d do something with literature…. I’m a poet, that’s who I am. From performing in different crowds, I started to realise my responsibility to educate about Congo, modern-day Africa. It’s a mess; there are so many stereotypes out there, so much misunderstanding. But I started to realise, wow, it’s not even people’s fault. Look at our education system in America; what do they learn about Africa?”

In the past year, he realised that he would need to start monetising some of his talents to transform them from a personal gift to something that he could work on each day, while supporting his family and community. “You can use your work to create social impact, but with a financial return. I was just not connecting the dots before that you can use your passion to make money, to have the best of both worlds and make a win-win situation.” Turning to social entrepreneurship, Leonard launched Consciously Exposed, providing trainings, presentations and consulting services in community building, advocacy, inclusion in businesses and corporate social responsibility – working extensively with African diaspora communities.

But engaging African and African diaspora communities isn’t always easy, Leonard says. “We are our own worst enemies sometimes. Why don’t we trust each other more? Why don’t African communities do a better job at showing support and love to one another?” Colonialism has a lot to do with this mindset, Leonard says, and a white supremacy culture’s systematic oppression that is still prevalent today, creating systems that are not designed to see Black people succeed. “But the solutions today have to start with us,” he says.

We need to invest in each other, we need to build economic capital. We need to have each other’s back and show more love to one another.

Leonard recognizes that in many African communities, it’s traditionally the adults and elders who are the leaders and have the authority. But with Africa’s exploding youth population, and all the extraordinary talents and gifts that the new generation possesses, Leonard thinks it’s important to find a way to give young people visibility and a voice, while recognizing that “it’s definitely not easy to compromise on tradition.” Many of those young people – African and African diaspora alike – want to know learn more about their roots, something that the elder generations can teach them.

Asked about what we wish he’d known upon first leaving Africa to move to America at 16 years of age, Leonard stops to think. “Man it was a different time…,” he says. “The biggest piece of advice I would give to myself, and to young people today, is to know that you’re an African – and to be proud of that.”