Power to Black People, Means Power to THE People

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?

Rayshard Brooks told us in one interview how we can start to change the system

A man’s life was taken by the police this month in Atlanta.  We watched again as the video played out his death.  We witnessed the inhumane treatment of this human life.  Everyone around the world is asking, what can we do?  What if we knew first hand how a victim of police killing felt?  What if we heard it in their own words?

Watch as Rayshard Brooks tells the nation how we can start to change a broken system.  Watch as he defines what rehabilitation looks like.  I, personally, am so grateful we have such words for this very moment in our nation’s history.

 

 

Living on the “White” side of things

No, I did not say living on the “right” side or that white had any other influence in my soul than the color of skin I was given.   Colors mean something because we have allowed them to separate us.   Groups, placed by the few powerful, to separate all of us from our greatest strength, ALL OF US.

My daughter inspired me to write this because she has been affected by this “group” she is associated with.  She is a half white, half Colombian little person just beginning to understand the barriers society has placed on us.

She came to me the other day and said, “Mommy, the worst thing anyone ever said to me was, white girl white girl white girl.”  She said it wasn’t because of what they said but how they said it.  The girls taunting her were young black girls in our neighborhood.

We lived in a neighborhood where she was the only white girl.  She and I believe in rich culture.  Money didn’t define us,  our relationships did.  We were poor, but making it through.  Like everyone else in the neighborhood.  We understood what it felt like to go with bread and eggs in our refrigerator because her father was not providing financial support.  We understood what it felt like to have to do laundry and walk a mile to get to the laundry mat just to save money on washing clothes.  But in the eyes of our peers, we were White.   My daughter looked up to those girls.  They were a part of her home.

I grew up, up north, in Rhode Island where everyone was blended and the beauty of mixing cultures was ever so prevalent.  My best friends were triplets mixed with Native American, Black, and White.  I moved to the south at 16 years old to live with my mother as my father had gone to federal prison.  I moved to a southern town, dated in its appearance to the time before the south had lost.  Every culture was there, yet separate.  Every cafeteria table was a different “group”.  I wasn’t raised to see the differences.  I was taught to embrace the similarities.

At that time, 16 years old, I was also poor and my mother was sick.  I didn’t want to live there, I didn’t want to go to that school.  I didn’t want to be “grouped” with others because of what they believed I represent.  I let music decide what I would do next.

I was very much into Hip Hop as I was a beat away from NYC where it was flourishing.  When I got to the south, I began to hear the sound of Trap Music and Caribbean vibes and fell in love.

From that moment on, I would stand in the culture and break the stereotype.  I would teach my daughter to learn people from the inside out.  Celebrate the beautiful differences and though many will only see you as the color of your skin, remember that we are more alike.  Not understanding each other is one thing, leading with blind prejudice is another.  Whether you are black, white, asian, or any other race, we shouldn’t judge each other by the one thing in life that we didn’t choose; the color of our skin.