Who Are We? Defining ourselves telling our own story

I had the pleasure of spending two days in Oakland with super smart and passionate people. One of our tasks in the small group I worked with was to answer this question from an organizational standpoint: Who are we? Now, my first thought was that this is a highly intellectual and philosophical question. Who are we? Who am I? Why are we here? The longest un-answered question ever right? So what a great opportunity and honor to be able to answer this question for purposes of our work. We had over 200 responses from others and our task was to synthesize in order to present to the leadership team and peers. We began to discuss the commonalities and listed them out on chart paper; however, it soon became clear that the responses begged to be organized into a series of values (i.e., empathy, trust, flexibility, etc.) rather than some other set. Since we didn't want to loose the flavor of the philosophical nature of the question, the presentation begged that we simulate a Slam Poetry format to use rhymes and flow as a way to share. I'm currently reading a book by yoga teacher Baron Baptiste entitled "Being of Power" and he suggests that "we don't actually 'figure out' who we are," and suggests that such is "a quest for finite answers." He suggests that the way we come to understanding who we are is by giving up what we are NOT. Maybe this is too deeply esoteric but is there something that might apply to our work in communities serving mostly people of color in the U.S.? Might we peel back the layers like an onion to reveal our true selves (which doesn't always have to be a return to Africa?). So asking ourselves this question must not be something we answer but a poem that we continue to write and draft over time.