Wazee: Rochester Circle of Elders

Wazee is a Swahili word for highly respected Elders. It carries the sense of Elders who are recognized for wisdom, experience, memory, guidance, and responsibility.

The Wazee Umoja Challenge:As we come into being as the Wazee: Rochester Circle of Elders, we recognize that Elders hold a vital role in the Village, but they do not operate alone, nor does any single element carry the whole. Elders help hold memory, meaning, continuity, coherence, and long-view responsibility across generations. They help orient the Village to its values, its Ancestors, its obligations, and its becoming. Yet a healthy Village also requires leaders who mobilize vision into action, stewards who sustain the practical and relational needs of Village life, deep kinship and families that carry belonging into daily practice, and youth, organizers, healers, teachers, and community members who bring life, creativity, and renewal. In this spirit, we call all segments of the Village and the broader community into right relationship, recognizing that all of us together carry long-standing ancestral obligations to future generations. Together, In the spirit and practice of Umoja and the Nguzo Saba, may we meet that call and fulfill our collective destiny.

Our MissionThe Wazee: Rochester Circle of Elders mission is rooted in the African values of the Nguzo Saba, our culture and spirituality, we gather as Elders to provide stewardship and protection of our families, organizations, and villages across generations.

Our Orientation and ValuesThe Wazee orientation is relational, generational, and life-affirming. We seek to be and become in relationship with one another, the Earth and Spirit.The Nguzo Saba express our values. These seven principles are practical, relational, ethical, and spiritual. Together, they name how the Village chooses to live:- Umoja — Unity
- Kujichagulia — Self-determination
- Ujima — Collective work and responsibility
- Ujamaa — Cooperative economics
- Nia — Purpose
- Kuumba — Creativity
- Imani — FaithIn this way, Eldership becomes Africa‑rooted in presence, responsibility, discernment, and care for the whole. We maintain a long-term focus and avoid urgency.

Our Intentions
· To enrich ourselves and the community in identity, culture and orientation through grounding, listening, support, and trust
· To practice the relational values of the Nguzo Saba
· To be welcoming and bring together all corners of the African community, being and seeing one another in right relationship
· In stewardship & service hold, guide, sustain, and develop together as a Village and Community.

Our Actions:
Stewardship and service for the Village over time
(Actions we commit to and or support).- Kwanzaa
- Juneteenth
- Meditations,
- Mentoring,
- Naming ceremonies,
- Marriages,
- Libations,
- Rites of Passage,
- Transitions,
- Education,
- Genealogy,
- Elder Support and Self Care,
- Creative Arts & Cultural Activities,
- Council & Advise,
- Mediation,
- Connect and gather together regularly in person and online.

Our History:
Elders have long been part of the Greater Rochester community, contributing to our collective well‑being. Although Elders participated informally in Juneteenth celebrations for many years, the relationship became clearer and was formally recognized on Saturday, June 19, 2021, when Elders poured libation, honored the Ancestors, and opened the celebration.Beginning in 2022, Community Elders have been publicly named by the Elders Subcommittee in recognition of their individual and collective contributions to Greater Rochester. To date, 27 Elders have been recognized, with 6 having transitioned to become Ancestors over the last five years.
The Wazee has emerged from a recognized need to reclaim Eldership as a village‑rooted practice and to restore Elders to their rightful place within the community.Elders have always been a part of the Greater Rochester community, contributing to our betterment and well-being. While Elders have been an informal partner of the annual Juneteenth celebrations, this relationship clarified over time, and was formalized on Saturday, June 19, 2021, when Elders poured libation, recognized the Ancestors and pronounced the start of the celebration activities.Beginning in 2022, Community Elders have been announced by the Elders Subcommittee of the Juneteenth Committee, recognizing their individual and collective contributions to the Greater Rochester Community. To date, 27 Elders have been recognized, and 6 of those have transitioned to become Ancestors during the last 5 years. The Wazee has formed out of an identified need for Eldership that reclaims the concept and understanding of the village, and their rightful place within it.

How to be recognized as a part of the Wazee: Rochester Circle of Elders:
- First, be recognized by a family, organization, or other community‑rooted formation.
- Introduce yourself through the lineage of your people and the places your Ancestors come from.
- Share your life, relationships, and why you feel called and ready to join the Wazee: Rochester Circle of Elders.
- Speak to your alignment with the Wazee definition of an Elder.Once recognized, Elders engage in a process of peer and self‑assessment to discern where we are on the Eldership journey, where we aspire to be, and how we will continue to grow in service to the Village, ourselves, and those to whom we are accountable in relationship.

Types of EldersFamily Elder:
Recognized by Family, lineage, kin; Upholds memory, values, care, repair, belonging
Addresses the core question, what must our family remember, repair, and pass on?Spiritual Elder:
Recognized by spiritual community; Upholds Spirit, sacred practice, values, care, moral formation; Addresses the core question, are we living what we claim to believe?Organizational Elder:
Recognized by organization, institution, association, or movement. Upholds purpose, values, trust, history, integrity. Addresses the core question, are we still aligned with our purpose?Community Elder:
Recognized by neighborhood or broader community. Upholds trust, shared values, healing, public memory, collective responsibility. Addresses the core question, what does the community need in order to heal and continue?Village Elder:
Recognized by the living relational field of the Village. Upholds cohesion, coherence, continuity, right relationship, maturity, Spirit, Ancestors, unborn generations. Addresses the core question, what is the Village becoming across generations?

Depth of Elder CallingRespected Older Adult:
One recognized for age, experience, and presence in a family or local setting. They emphasize respect, listening, inclusion.Recognized Family Elder:
One trusted to help guide family memory, values, care, conflict, and continuity within a family, lineage, kinship group. They emphasize family and kinship history, repair, intergenerational responsibility.Functional Elder:
One who serves as a trusted guide in a spiritual community, organization, or community institution or community. The emphasize clarity, ethical responsibility, service, stewardship.Community Elder:
One recognized across groups for wisdom, steadiness, values, and public trust. The emphasize broader community engagement, history, bridge building, restorative practice.Village Elder:
One who helps orient the Village across generations. They emphasize Village relational field African worldview, relational formation, values, Rites of Passage, Spirit, Ancestors, governance, continuity.Deep Elder:
One who carries profound long view discernment and helps hold the people across historical, ancestral, spiritual, and future time; Their scope is broad, including village and Pan African networks, cross generational and global engagement. They emphasize deep study, spiritual discipline, humility, restraint, ancestral accountability, lived recognition.