Origin

Anyone who knows me well knows I always emphasize the foundation, the beginning per se, of all things.  This time is no different. In order to carefully dissect and have a substantiated opinion on any matter one must do their research.  A lot of hearts and minds are confused, heavy and burdened by the Martin/Zimmerman tragedy. I’ve read numerous Facebook posts and tweets, along with listening to many conversations but I’ve also noticed all who’ve said nothing.  Silence is oftentimes loud, it’s also quite scary.  People who conceal their thoughts are very dangerous. Everyone has a belief system and in America, it is muddled more than any other country in the world. For many of us Black Americans, we are emotionally attached to the Martin/Zimmerman tragedy. We know what it feels like to be looked at cautiously in public places, especially places of business. We know what it feels like to work in an environment where you are coyly referred to by your co-workers as their “Black” friend. We know how it feels to be feared, ignored and deemed ignorant because of the pigment of our hue.

Being Black in America carries a label, a preconceived notion of what and who you are. And that label carries and resonates across the races, especially for Black men. For those of you who beg to differ, I urge you to inspect the origin of Blacks in America. The history that we and most of our children have been taught tells us that the first Africans came to Jamestown, VA in 1619 as slaves. European settlers in North America deemed Africans as cheaper and more plentiful labor source than indentured servants who were Europeans as well. Two words stand out for me, CHEAP LABOR. The reason Africans were brought to America was for cheap labor. Keep that in mind. It takes centuries for the ideology of a nation to evolve. Who you are is defined by what you do and how people treat you is based on what they see, remember that. What do you believe a Black American male represents? How do you view them as a whole? If you are a Black male, how do you define yourself? What esteems you? These are tough questions that are often answered untruthfully no matter who you ask. Marcus Garvey once wrote that a “people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” You cannot and should not let anyone or any machine DEFINE WHO YOU ARE.

George Zimmerman represents just about every non-Black American. I may ruffle some feathers but this isn’t really about the law and what burden of proof was or wasn’t reinforced, those six jurors identified more with George Zimmerman than they identified with Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin or Trayvon Martin. Let’s be clear, George Zimmerman was afraid. And fear is a powerful drug, it enslaves the human mind. Fear fueled his very actions that night. And like most non-Black Americans, they are afraid of Black people, period. When you couple fear and a society where the media constantly portrays and illustrates Black people negatively, you will create a psyche where Black lives are deemed disposable and sacrificial. I promise you if you ask most non-Black Americans to hypothetically imagine that they are alone, walking in their neighborhood and happen to see a Black man walking near or in the same space as them, they will feel fear well up inside of them and become defensive. I don’t care if it is admitted or not, I believe that to be true. Bertrand Russell once wrote that, “fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” And that brings me to my final point.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” James 1:5.  God commands us to “fear not” 365 times in the Holy Bible. The Bible warns us of fear more than any other emotion. Fear is not of God, period. Whenever it surfaces, we MUST know that it is a device of the devil. In order to overcome and triumph over fear, we must seek wisdom and no man can give us wisdom, we have to petition God for that. Many of us don’t know how to deal with this tragedy, and I urge all Americans to seek God and seek His counsel when it comes to His people. One of my earliest memories is of my mother praying over my brother and me as we slept. I remember her murmurs and her tears. As I got older, I asked her about it and she says that she prayed over us while we were in her womb, babies and now as adults and that she will continue to until her last breath.  I urge all parents to pray over their children, pray that God’s will be evident in every stage of their lives, even if it is short. Remember, God is not the author of fear, confusion or strife and if you are feeling any of that, seek His face and rebuke the devil and he will flee. For those of you who are hurting, remember Romans 12:19, “do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: it is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord.”

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Ready, Set, Go!

The beginning of anything is the single most important step of any process. If your beginning isn’t stable, chances are, things aren’t going to be stable. Envision any structural building, they all must have a strong, solid foundation before walls or ceilings can be erected. Now envision the ground that the foundation is laid upon, it’s sturdy, not shaky. Ask a builder would he/she build a house on a beach, in a swamp, or on an incline? Now I want you to look at a tree or any plant that bears a fruit, if the roots (which aren’t visible most times) aren’t planted on fertile ground under the appropriate conditions, it will die and bring forth no life.

Now I want you to take a close look at how you live and think about some paramount or significant triumphs and failures in your life that you've experienced, do you notice a trend? I’ve noticed that for a lot of us, we tend to overlook the basics when it comes to starting a task, something new, or developing some sort of a game plan when it comes to living. Just as the old adage says, all good things must come to an end; so must there be a beginning. In fact, the very first words of the Bible are “in the beginning …” God begins his living word with “In the beginning” that speaks volumes to me. If you want to be successful, if you want to understand the nature of things, go back to the BEGINNING. It’s funny how we can expect things to work themselves out or work in our favor when the beginning was rooted in quicksand. It puzzles me how people can talk about a situation or claim to be praying about a situation and don’t want to tell you the truth about how it all began. We seem to avoid the uncomfortable truth of most situations. People tend to accuse me of being cynical and insensitive at times when I introduce the truth into the equation when we talk about beginnings. I’ve seen single mothers struggle with their children but don’t want to acknowledge the fact that they choose to bring into the world a bastard child. I’ve seen wives struggle with their marriages but don’t want to acknowledge the fact that they got involved with their husbands when they were attached to another woman when they begin their relationship. I’ve seen people struggle with their jobs but fail to realize that they schemed and caused others to lose their jobs in order to get to the position that they are at now. I’ve seen people struggle financially and can’t seem to get out of debt but won’t acknowledge the fact that as soon they seem to get a little bit of money they choose to invest it frivolously on things that lose value as soon as you purchase them.

But on the other hand, I sit and smile when I hear people talk about the triumphs they are experiencing when they decided to step out on “faith” when embarking in something new.  When you begin things faithfully and in good graces, you tend to reap good rewards. It really isn’t that hard, the only thing it requires you to do is to think and be conscious of your actions. Plant yourself on fertile ground then sow a seed, give it water, give it some sun and watch it root strongly.  Take the time to BUILD your foundation the right way, take the time to invest wisely instead of trying to make do with the spoils of bad decisions. Folks waste too much time trying to right wrongs, you can NOT do that! Acknowledge your wrongs and start over. Think about it, you can cook spoiled food but it won’t taste good and it more than likely will make you very sick.  

Get your START right; here’s to new beginnings.

The Devil and Truth

Growing up, after I’d watched a scary movie, I would find it very hard to fall asleep. It was as if every squeak, creek of the floor or even the blow of the wind, was the sound of the devil coming to get me and take me to hell. I swore he was in my closet.  I’d scream and yell for my daddy to come “save me”. He would come, as always, and he would say, “there’s no devil in that closet lil darling”.  And I would cry and say that I heard the sounds and on TV, he was hiding in the closet just waiting for the opportune time to come and take me. I’d picture the devil with red skin, big fangs, two horns and long sharp fingernails. When I told my dad this, he laughed. He said, “the devil isn’t scary-looking, nor is he ugly. Actually, the devil will always be the best looking thang in the room”! I never understood that until I got older.

When you think of all the things, people and places that betrayed you, I am sure all of them were very attractive, or shall I say, appealing to the senses (because attraction varies from person to person). We fall prey to the things that are physically appealing to us, even when we know deep down it is destructive. As I live and learn, I find that the Truth has been the most frightening thing. The Truth can be downright disruptive! And what we fail to recognize is that the Truth was there all along, but because it’s not glamorous, boisterous or flashy, we tend to overlook it when we are enjoying ourselves. We tend to blame the Truth because in a sense, the Truth is God’s Messenger and we all know the old adage of “don’t shoot the messenger”! I’ve always grouped the Spirit and Truth together because whenever the Spirit is present so is the Truth.  And because we are all spiritual beings, the Truth is there all along. But why do we choose to ignore it or get angry when Truth makes an announcement?

I will tell you why, the Truth is convicting. When the Truth speaks, all the wrong thoughts, actions or intentions are called on the carpet and we, as human beings, hate being wrong, let alone called out on our foolishness. That’s where the anger comes into play. We want to throw a rock and hide our hands and not be held accountable when something breaks and that is how the devil operates. The devil will always give you a million explanations or justifications for doing something wrong. The devil will fund your endeavors, hell, he will even find you fans to cheer you on in your foolishness! But when the chips fall, the devil has moved on but the Truth will stare you directly in the eyes without moving a muscle. And when you are wallowing in the mess you created, the Truth is standing over you with a mirror.  

The message I ultimately wanted to convey is, appearances are very misleading. What may look good isn’t really good. Seek that which stirs & calls your Spirit and not things that touch and arouse your senses. And be wary of the beautiful ones aka the devil … for they always break the mirror …

And I Can't Tell You Why ...

It puzzles me how people can move about day to day without a clear direction or understanding of their lives. The society we live in would rather we all become a band of walking zombies so that our actions can be easily influenced by those who know better. When you can influence and control a person’s thoughts; the battle is already won. I have conducted my own independent study of discovering the answer of “why” people do what they do, say what they say or believe what they believe. And although I wasn’t surprised that most people don’t really have a good explanation, I was very shocked at the anger I received once I continued to ask the simple question of why. People seem to get upset when they are asked to validate their claims. I find that most people are really upset with themselves when they “hear” the answer they give. I asked a close friend why she was a Baptist and not Methodist, Catholic, Agnostic or followed Judaism, and the best answer she could give was, “my mama & grandma raised me in a Baptist Church, so that is why”. And I asked her using that exact theory she provided, if a person grows up and smokes crack because their mother and grandmother did, is that okay? She immediately got offensive and said we are talking about God not craziness! I had to calm her down and tell her that I was only testing the theory and the reasoning. If she could base her religious beliefs on that of her ancestors and what she was taught, why couldn’t a crack addict do the same? That is something that makes me go hmmm….start asking yourself why you follow the paths you do people.

The past few weeks during the NBA playoffs, I have read tweets, Facebook statuses and overheard many conversations about who is going to take it all and who is going to be the MVP, etc. I overheard one guy say that he wants Lebron to get a ring, as if he knows Lebron or that Lebron needs a ring to continue living. So I asked him why he wanted to see that? And he said, “because Bron Bron is my dude! He needs to make Cleveland fans mad!” So I asked him what his son would be doing this Summer when school gets out? He said, “I don’t know, his mama handles all that.” So I said, well what would you like to see him do? Have you asked him? He begins to get agitated and told me to “go on somewhere with all that”. I told him that I wasn’t questioning his fatherhood or involvement (of lack thereof) in his son’s life, I just wanted to know why he would want to see a grown man, one he doesn’t know personally accomplish a short term goal, but can’t tell me what he wants to see his son be involved in this summer. He remained very defensive and said that he provides his son with everything he needs and that he knows his dad loves him and that I needed to “stay in my lane”. So I said, well if that’s the case, it’s Erik Spoelstra’s job to guide the Heat to a championship and that he needs to stay in his lane and just be a fan of the sport. He didn’t like that last comment I made, so I moved right along.

It fascinates me that people will much rather follow the masses when it comes to their own thought process. People do so many things based on what others have done and what others may think without thinking for themselves. We need to sit and critically think about why we do the things we do….OFTEN! Are you a creature of habit? If so, why? Do you like surprises? If not, why? I never intend to make people angry when I seek to help them reach a higher level of consciousness, I am just passionate about people KNOWING themselves and having their independent thought process as undiluted as possible.

Changing Your Landscape

For the past few years, I've suffered more than my fair share of job losses. Being your classic overachiever and highly functioning professional, you can imagine what that did to my pysche. My self-imposed state of being was being tested. The first job loss was loud, yet deafening. My mental state was in complete mayhem, it was if my thoughts became tornadic. All of them were dark, fast and destructive. I didn't understand WHY this was happening and honestly, I didn't want to KNOW why, I just wanted everything back to normal, back to the "predictable". I wanted my "predictable" paycheck back, I wanted my "predictable" day to day schedule back, I wanted my "predictable" day offs back, basically, I wanted my familar way of living back. But something in my spirit turned on after the third job loss in three years (the old folk always did say that it comes in "threes"). Finally, two additional job losses later, I finally "hit me". A life full of familarity and predictability is like living a slow death. You will not grow in a controlled environment, you will either get worse or stay in the exact same state. When you alter/change a controlled variable, the test subject will almost always undergo some kind of change. And in life, simply taking a break from something whether it be a job, a physical location or from a person; it will never be enough to evoke change. You know that what you left is still in tact and waiting for you. But what do you do when what is left isn't waiting for you anymore? You are forced to find a new place to go or you can CREATE a new environment for yourself. Don't ever start believing that you don't have a choice as to what you want out of life. You will always be in control of where you end up. But you have to accept the fact that you can not and will not be able to do it by yourself. God will provide you with the roadmap, some gas, a vehicle, and some people along the way to get you to a better landscape or He will either place many roadblocks in your path to get you going in the right direction.



It is crucial that you become familiar with your inner voice because it tells you when you need to change your direction. If you ignore it, God will intervene and trust me, when He intervenes, he PRUNES!! And pruning hurts but it is so very necessary if you want to harvest fruit. The back to back job losses were my pruning experience. I KNEW that my life had become so mundane and stifling. The truth is, I wanted a change; I needed a change, I was too afraid to allow myself to imagine or even move into living differently because I didn’t know what the landscape would look like once I moved. I wondered, will I like it? Will it be fun? Would I have more money? Would my friends and family be there? I was finding every excuse in the world to keep from paying attention to the inner discomfort I was feeling. Instead, I filled my time up with noisy distractions to hopefully drown out the quiet voice that was telling me to “do something else”. I can tell you fear is one hellavu drug! God gave me opportunity after opportunity to get on the right track, but I kept seeking the familiar and the ritualistic day to day routine because it was comfortable. Let me tell you, comfortable don’t win no awards! You will not triumph in comfortable; you will not accomplish what you are destined for in comfort. When you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, CHANGE YOUR LANDSCAPE!   



Changing your landscape means accepting that you will be walking into unchartered territory. EVERYTHING will be new. If it’s too scary for you to think about critically but you don’t want God to start pruning; I suggest that you start making small changes. Start building your confidence by implementing small but yet strengthening activities. Start by changing your drive home, start my saying positive affirmations out loud every morning, take a bath one day instead of a shower, walk up and give a stranger $20 one day out of the blue, hell, go buy different color apparel than you’re used to! Just do some things DIFFERENTLY and I promise, you will start to SEEING a change in your life. Get used to change, embrace it, practice it and your LANDSCAPE will start to change to reflect the your seasons of life and there will be beauty and joy in it all.



Happy Travels!

Windows of opportunity

I’ve been absent from the blogging scene for a minute now so I thought it was only fitting that I come back with something profound. For the last month, I’ve been contemplating a lot, reviewing many aspects of my life whether it be the past, present or future. In a sense, I was attempting to gain some focus and direction on where the next 30 years will take me. As I recounted several instances in my past, I kept coming to different windows. When I say windows, I mean brief/short periods of time where I was able to see something great or rewarding. In its literal sense, a window is an opening; it changes the entire landscape of any room whether it is big or small, short or long. Oftentimes windows allow light to shine in or outward. There is something about a window that instinctively makes us all want to look in or out of it. I am convinced that ”something” is opportunity. Over our lifetimes, we will be blessed to come upon a window; if we are lucky we may come across tons of windows as we continue to live and grow. Today we live in a society where everything comes at us fast and in a hurry. We are taught to map out our goals and set forth strategies in order to achieve them. But what most textbooks or self help books fail to tell us is that life cannot be mapped. God interjects our day to day lives with windows, and we make the choice to look out or in those windows to see what or where it is that He wants us to go. If you stop and think about people, places or things that could have had a life changing effect, I am sure you are also able to recognize that window where you had to make a decision to do something, but you failed to. Unfortunately I am sad to admit that a lot of those windows I have been permitted to come across have been passed because I was too focused on a path and goals I had set rather than looking at what He wanted me to see. Opportunity rarely knocks twice, so when you see window, stop and look. When you look, look good! Then pray for what vision it is that God wants you to see while you look. If we did this every time someone or something new crosses our paths, we would probably be much more productive and happy people.

The Jena 6

I’ve been hesitantly following the Jena 6 case for a few months now because I feared it would stir an array of extreme emotions within my own psyche. This particular case made me sit and think about my childhood school days (for I was educated in a small Alabama town) and how I would react if this would have happened in 1995 at my school. There was an obvious racial divide throughout my all my schools ranging from kindergarten to me being a senior. It’s as if we are still in the mindset of separate but equal mindset when it comes to race. But in case of the Jena High School, the racial mix is about 85/15, with the predominate being white students. The infamous noose hanging from the “prep” tree is what apparently incited the violence which led to the gang beating of one particular white student who did not end up seriously injured, but yet attempted murder charges were filed against all but one of the black teens arrested for the assault. Now back when I was in Jr. High School, we almost had a race war. There were black and white students fighting everyday at the bus drop off and pick up behind the school almost everyday. It began to escalate quickly with students bringing brass knuckles and even guns to school. Because I’ve always been a hothead when it came to racial discrimination, my father sat me and my brother down and flat out told us that if we were involved in any fighting or got found with any possession of guns or weapons that our ass would be grass when he found out. And I personally would much rather be called a punk at school for not participating than dealing with my daddy if I did! I told that story because, I feel strongly that parental guidance could have prevented this entire situation. It is sad that no one took these boys to the side and told them the truth about violence and how to handle racial tensions. I am also upset with the school system for not holding a school wide counseling session on racial tension and diffusing it, I would like to know the school guidance counselor stance on this situation and see what he/she had to say, because they have failed their students and their community. I am disgusted as I see JJ and AS out in front leading what they call a 21st century civil rights movement, this is such propaganda!! I also see where the parents are petitioning the public for money to help in their legal costs. Now if JJ and AS are as powerful as they say they are, why haven’t they asked some of their very prominent lawyer friends to come and try the cases pro bono? Oh my bad that would be too much like right… I just don’t believe that these two are concerned about “racial equality”. I will say this in closing, violence is never a solution to any situation, especially with teens, but the charge of attempted murder was too harsh regardless of race. I pray that the harsh lesson is learned by all parties involved, and that is that more times that not, life is not fair.