Last weekend, 72 young Catholics participated in the annual Kujenga Youth Leadership Retreat. Sponsored by the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns, the retreat offered them an opportunity “to build” (kujenga in Swahili) their leadership skills and spirituality.
This year marked the 25th Kujenga retreat in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“When I first came in, I was broken,” said Courtney Starks, a program chaperone who became a Kujengan in 2006, when he was a sophomore in high school.
“I was having a difficult thing going on in my life but, with the support of the elders who were here for me, I became a better person.”
Now, he looks forward to helping young people who want “to come be one with God and the people in the community.”
Kujenga was founded in the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1977. Father Martin Carter, S.A., who directed the Brooklyn Diocese’s Office of Black Ministry in the late 1980s, introduced Kujenga here in 1989.
Father Carter described Kujenga as a leadership-training program to emphasize young people’s positive identity and gifts.
“The youngsters I’ve talked to have been ecstatic to participate,” he said. “They have gone on to college; they are raising families; they are living out their professions.”
Retired Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq said Kujenga continues to address the concerns, traditions and tests of the black Catholic population in the diocese.
“We notice that young people are left out, so it is an special effort to reach out to young black Catholics,” he said. “The program passes on key principles of Catholicism – the importance of faith, the importance of hope, the importance of love.”
Kujenga has evolved over the years, growing from a daylong event to a weekend conference; starting a chaperone-in-training program (CIT) for alumni; and adding three families or groups to better cater to their needs. The three core groups are: Ankh (ages 14 to 15); Sankofa (ages 15 to 16); and Dove (high school juniors and seniors, ages 17 to 18).
“We made sure that we have programs and talks that interest them and help them to grow,” said Georgeann Campbell, a parishioner of St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the Moor, Jamaica, who has been a coordinator of Kujenga since its beginnings. “It’s so powerful for me to see how this program stays so close to the Word. … I’m proud that this program has lasted for 25 years and I hope they would continue for other 25.”
This year, the retreat’s theme, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5), returned to the program’s roots.
“Without Jesus Christ there would not be a retreat. Without Jesus Christ we would not be where we are,” said Father Dwayne Davis, parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands, and longtime Kujenga coordinator.
Over the weekend, the vine theme figured prominently in prayer, workshops and activities that included a talent show, a Holy Hour, surprise appearances by past presenters and rapper Jadakiss, and interactive information about Kujenga.
“One of the things that we talked about was Black Lives Matter,” Father Davis said referring to a movement that affirms the lives and contributions of African-American people in society. “And if black lives matter, then we have to first realize that amongst ourselves and within ourselves. So that we are supporting our brothers and sisters.”
The weekend ended with the annual rite of passage, a graduation ceremony in which the oldest youth participants make the transition into adulthood, followed by an anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. Bishop Sansaricq and Father Alonzo Cox, coordinator of the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns, were concelebrants. At the end of the Mass, Bishop DiMarzio shared his joy to see present and future leaders.
“Today we share with faith – and some people do so politically, but we know that it means something much deeper – that black lives matter,” Bishop DiMarzio said as the congregation broke into applause. “Your lives matter to us and to the people of this diocese because you form this wonderful magnitude of leadership that will bring the Church into the future.”
In his homily, Father Davis reminded the youth to allow Jesus to use them and to “celebrate the awesomeness of our God.”
“Pray that each and every one of us would be courageous enough to remain on the vine,” he said.
Father Davis, a Kujenga graduate, thanked those who steered him in the right path and “prayed him” through seminary.
“It makes me think of the African saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ Indeed I am so grateful to be a part of this village.”
Nicole Noel, who graduated from Kujenga on Sunday, called it “a life-changing experience.”
“It puts you in a mindset of getting ready for the future,” she said.
She added that she would use Kujenga’s lessons as a student at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa., this fall.
