Power to Black People, Means Power to THE People

Posted on by serenitisparkles

A statement with so many layers. A bold statement, misunderstood by ignorance. What exactly do I mean? Power to Black People? Does this mean Black people deserve more power?

A simple answer is, yes.

The same people that have made it their duty to oppress Black people, have made it their duty to oppress the people.

But ALL people are not oppressed?

When 99% of the people are within the lower bracket of our country’s economy as we know it and only a few hold the power to control government with their money, aren’t they? Aren’t most people living under the umbrella of Big Pharma, For-Profit Education Companies, the Banking system, and Corrupt Government?

The continued oppression of Black people is symbolic for what most people living in this country suffer from. Black oppression is the worst of the worst.

When this country turns the tables on how Black people are treated, won’t that set the bar for how all people should be treated. We need the tide to turn. We need the tide to turn in a big way if this country has hope to survive and thrive. Fighting for our Black brothers and sisters isn’t just about fighting for them. It’s about fighting for all of us.

Power can only sustain its power if they divide us. The media, painting pictures of us as if most Americans don’t want the same thing. Why do we continue to believe them? Why do we allow them to act as if they aren’t the ones benefiting from the oppression? Do you not understand that only 6 Corporations own 90% of the media that is fed to us? Do you not think they, the rich and powerful, have an agenda?

But have you talked to your neighbor recently? Have you spoken with your friend of another race? Your co-worker?

We can’t be so blind to the fact that they want all of us to believe that we don’t want the system fixed for ALL of us.

In order for that to begin, we need to see the power, the rights, and the respect put back into our Black countrymen and woman. We are ALL citizens of this beautiful country. We are members of an exclusive place called the United States of America. Don’t you think it’s time for the system that was built by the people (ALL PEOPLE) and for the people, do what it has promised? There are 324 Million people living under the thumb of the 1%. Shouldn’t it be the majority that rules?

Juneteenth, Hidden in Plain Sight

Posted on by serenitisparkles

I’m sure we can all agree that somewhere in our history books there was a mention of June 19, 1865.  I’m sure for most it was like the many other stories of oppression, hidden in plain sight.

How do you teach something yet still hide it?  How do stories of the lives of our Black brothers and sisters be told but not be of equal celebration?  How can June 13th not be a government holiday? How could we have not seen that this was a vital day to becoming America we know it to be?

Without this moment in time, many of the greatest moments in history by the hands of our Black brothers and sisters wouldn’t have existed.  Without this moment, some of the most beautiful children would have never been born.  Without this day in our country’s history, we would not have been impacted by some of the greatest influencer’s in our society.

So why has Juneteenth been hidden in plain site?  A day that memorializes June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger read orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free.  Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed them almost two-and-a-half years earlier, and the American Civil War had ended with the defeat of the Confederate States in April, Texas was the most “remote” of the slave states, with a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.

Why are not more of these moments in history celebrated like every other American Holiday when we, the masses, defeated evil.  We are witnessing a moment like no other before us, not because we are standing together, but because THEY are finally listening.

To my White Constituents…

Posted on by serenitisparkles

As a grown white woman, I would like to speak to all of my fellow members of our race.  I would like to directly address you.  I am particularly speaking of the liberal mothers that won’t move down the street because there are too many black students at the other school.  To the white college student who didn’t feel comfortable walking into “that” bar because it looked too “ghetto”.  To the white grandparents who spoke of affirmative action like it was an easy ride.  To the white customer who would rather the white associate help them.  To the white people who look down upon other races as if they have something to prove.

I am here to tell you that “they” DON’T have anything to prove.  It is your turn to prove your worth to this community.

No, I’m not speaking to myself because I am not apart of YOU.  I have never wanted to be a part of that so my friends have always been every race and treated as family.  But I DON’T need to prove that to anyone because “my people” know me.  The kids know me.  The parents know me.  This movement represents the pain of many of my family members so I am taking this personally.

My entire life has consisted of me being bullied by YOU.  You now want to be an ally because it is convenient.  Because it is a part of pop culture.  But I have always been.  I’ve been there every day.  I have held their hands, made the best memories, supported them, and always lifted them to the kings and queens they are.  But YOU.  You need to take a long hard look at the fact that YOU just appeared on the scene.  All of sudden, you say it out loud.

All of sudden, you march through the streets, taking selfies using the #BLM.

I still see YOU for what you are until you prove that you want these people to have what YOU have.

I’m here to call you out.  I have always been on the side of right by my brothers and sisters of color.  I have always stood next to them no matter what would happen to me for doing so.  I’ve lived through your racist remarks and police harassment.  So I’m calling you out because this is a movement close to my heart.

This is a movement I have been living for my entire life.  This movement is going to ensure that we recognize and celebrate my brothers and sisters of color.  This movement is for them.

I’m calling you out, My White Constituents, to recognize your failures to the Black community.  To recognize the blind eye you turned and silence you maintained.  I’m pleading with you that you realize that until you continue to stand with our Black brothers and sisters, you will be asked to prove yourself.  The Black community knows which white people stood for this cause all their life.  If you are going to stand up, don’t plan on sitting back down on this one.  You are either a part of the solution or the problem.  Remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the Silence of our Friends”.

What Can White People Do?

Posted on by serenitisparkles

What Can White People Do?

I keep hearing the same question as if it seems so difficult to come to the answer.  What Can White People Do?  What can WE do?  What Can I do?

We’ve known the answer all of our lives.  We have lived the answer with every breath we take.

Did you grow up in a world with the comfort of stable food and shelter?  Were you able to walk in any door and know you would be treated with dignity and respect?  When stopped by the police, did they just take your ID and send you on your way?  Did you see many cop cars patrolling your neighborhood?  Did the police seem like they were always there to care for you and protect you?

If your life was like this, then I am speaking to you.  Your great-grandfathers sins do not rest on you, they live in you.  You get to live in a world that is fair and equal.  You get to feel as if the law is on your side.  But your brothers and sisters of color, they, do not.  They suffer from unlawful arrests and sentencing, harassment, and brutality all at the hands of power.

It is not that ALL police are bad and ALL lives don’t matter.  It is that there are lives of our fellow citizens that have been roughed up and taken by a system that is built to sustain it’s power.  White Power.

If you are like me, you don’t believe in White Power or what it represents.  But unfortunately for you, you are the beneficiary of such power.  And it is because of that that you were handed a responsibility.  A responsibility greater than any you have ever had and will ever have.  Use your voices, your money, your hands, your words and speak to that power.  Make sure they listen.  Call your representatives, gather in peaceful protests.  Be the change you want to see in the world.

This is dedicated to all my Black brothers and sisters.  The ones who treated me like family.  The ones who are still by my side to this day.  This is our fight.

Let Us Pray

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Does it matter who we pray to, as long as we humble ourselves to the understanding that this is bigger than us and we are all connected?  I would strongly argue, No.  Prayer has become a term with a religious connotation.  But prayer, in its rawest form, is HOPE.  When we pray, we give thanks for the life we live and HOPE for a better tomorrow.  Prayer can be powerful.

Hands held, eyes closed, love in our hearts, hope in our soul.  Let Us Pray.  Let us pray for the people of the world.  Let us pray that they have another day.  Let Us Pray for the heavy heart that we all carry watching the disparities around the world.  Let Us Pray.  Let Us Pray for the evil that consumes so many.  Let Us Pray that it is ousted by good.  Let Us Pray that we realize our voice can make a difference.

Let Us Pray.  Let Us Pray that all children are warm with full bellies and happy thoughts.  Let Us Pray that we are given the time and capacity to see the good vs the evil.  Let Us Pray for the Black Men who walk with targets on their backs.  Let Us Pray that this stigma is lifted to form a better tomorrow.  Let Us Pray.

Let Us Pray for the Mother’s caring for their children alone.  Pray that they keep going because the future depends on them.

Let Us Pray for a country wounded by its founders.  Let Us Pray that, tomorrow we will be better, love more, and accept everyone as they are.  To pray for one is to pray for all, and to pray for all is our greatest gift and our guiding light.  Amen.

My White Privilege and Why I Can’t Be Silent

Posted on by serenitisparkles

I was born in the middle class.  My grandmother an immigrant.  My appearance, blonde hair and blue eyes.  My skin color, white.  At a very young age, I learned a very valuable lesson.

For the rest of my life, I would be White and the people I held closest, Black.  I lived on a small island in New England, the epicenter of suburbia.  We knew the police in the neighborhood and would always feel comfortable approaching them for a sticker.

As a young child, my mother would take me from my neighborhood, to a neighborhood deemed, “the projects”, to be babysat by her best friend, a black women who I would come to know as my aunt.  Her daughter, my cousin, would be with me for life as a part of my family.  Her mother, my Nana, may she RIP.

I didn’t realize what our difference in skin color really meant in this world.  To me, at that time, I knew these were my people, my family.

Let’s move along to when I became a teenager.  I was very attracted to the athletes in the “city” school.  I dated a few.   They were young and handsome and Black.   I can remember, my best friend’s mother at the time, yelling about me dating one of them and that they were “Black as Sin”.  In that moment, EVERYTHING would start to become clearer.  Those words cut my soul.  They changed me.  Not to become like her mother, but to always push back against what THAT was.

Next stop, I move to an old southern neighborhood in the sticks of Florida.  My high school was heavily divided in groups of color and culture.  But I loved black culture.  Hip Hop was in its Golden Era, and I was absorbed growing up, 3 hours away from its center.  So I chose my friends, and even more importantly, I chose my extra curricular activity.  I decided to join what I thought was the best way to spend my remaining high school years, The Step Team.  P.U.S.H. (People United Serving Humanity).  That is who WE were.  I was one of two white girls on the team out of roughly 30.  Then one day, during a parade, a teammate was feeling nauseas and asked a local restaurant to use the bathroom.  She came out in tears telling us they wouldn’t let her and that their restaurant was for customers only.  She was Black, I was White.  I knew what needed to be done.  So I did it.  I went in with my White Skin and asked to use the bathroom, which, they permitted.  I went outside, grabbed my teammates hand and took her to the bathroom that was so conveniently available.  I was disgusted and NEVER would step foot in that restaurant again.

Let’s fast forward to a night out, with my Black girlfriends at 21 years young.  We went to an afterparty for a big HBCU rivalry game, which ended in a small fight between 2 men, to thereafter being escorted out of the building with the crowds of attendees by the SWAT team geared up for war.  I can still remember thinking how excessive their force was for something as minor as a bar fight.  I remember not being able to walk because of my stiletto heels and having officers tell me to move faster.  We hadn’t done ANYTHING but follow the directions.

Now lets move onto another moment.  A moment I was driving with an ex at night.  He was Black, I was White.  I remember seeing the cop lights behind me, thinking, why?  I had been driving the speed limit, my car was almost new.  Why?  When they pulled me over, I did ask why.  They told me that there was a rental that was reported stolen and that my car had out of state plates.  “Yes officer, I just moved from Florida”.  Then, they did something that again, would change me.  They went to my passenger, a young black man, and proceeded to ask for his ID.  When they took our ID’s back to the car, I looked at him and said, “this isn’t right, why would he need your ID” .  He told me, just relax and that these things happen to people that look like, him.  It infuriated me to feel the injustice in that moment.

Now, to the moment, that allowed me to see inside of what being profiled by the police felt like.  I was living in Las Vegas, promoting night clubs, walking on the strip all day to give out passes to partygoers.  One day, and many times after this, I was out talking to different groups of people about the clubs, when a cop tells me to go next to his car.  He then proceeded to ask me what I was doing out here.  I told him.  He said are you sure, your not out here prostituting.  I was speechless.  I was nauseated by what he was accusing me of.  He asked for my ID, but I didn’t have it.  He then told me I need to tell him the truth or I’ll be arrested.  But I was.  He had me standing on the side of Las Vegas Boulevard for almost an hour treating me like a prostitute who was going to be arrested, stripping me of any  freedom I thought I had.  In that moment, I felt less than human.  I felt scared.   This moment would repeat many times after that.  As long as I chose to stand on the strip and promote, the police chose to profile and harass me.

Being on the strip allowed me to see the true colors of bias the police would have against different groups of people.  Let me tell you, that in my two years and hundreds of days, walking the strip, young black men were the most targeted.  If you were a black man, in anything less than a suit, in a group of 2 or more, you would be interrogated.  Like clock work, I would watch the atrocity and know what that felt like, at least a fraction of it.  Like a snapshot in time, I saw what those minutes of interrogation would feel like.  I watched as young black men were stripped of their rights just for being Black.

THESE are just a few of the instances that helped me realize my fight is for this to STOP.  I will use my White Privilege to always stand on the right side of Justice.  These are my family members, my friends, and people I look up to that deal with the unfair treatment on a DAILY BASIS.  I’m SO FORTUNATE that I have seen what THIS was from the moment my world was disrupted by RACISM.  It is HATE, and it doesn’t belong in the United States of America.  Period.

 

 

Stand Together with George Floyd and ask WHY?

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Why is a powerful word if you think about it.  Why can answer so many questions.  Why can tell your life’s story.  Today, we have citizens of America outraged and distraught.  We ask why?

George Floyd is just an example of how power becomes the greatest sin of all.  For centuries, African American citizens of the United States have been oppressed.  For lifetimes, these citizens have been underpaid, underfunded, disrespected, disproportionately imprisoned, disenfranchised, and killed all because they were born with more melanin than another.

We ask why?

Long ago a system was set in place by the most powerful men in this country and manipulated into making it forever law.   Every administration has blood on their hands.  All power is to blame.

We ask why?

Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.  Power has been around as long as humans have been around.  Power has oppressed the masses.  It is simple, POWER, did not want all men to be created equal. 

In order for a system to change, power has to shift.  The movement of power is to move with great speed and force.  That force must be non-violent yet strong at the same time.

We must move as a family beside George Floyd.  We must move as a nation that is horrified with what we saw with our very own eyes.

They ask why?

Because, if George Floyd was my brother, I would never want this to happen to one more human being.  I would have wanted my brother to have the same opportunity as everyone else.  I would have wanted my brother to bask in the American dream.  I would have wanted my brother to watch his children grow and have moments of love and life in his future.  No one should have been able to take that away from him.