Category Archives: Enlightenment
One Adam and Eve or Many Others
Struggle or Mission
I sat down recently after my last post and thought to myself. Man, why are we as African/Black American folk always referring to our situation as a struggle? I mean if most of life is connected to perception and we label our endeavor for equality as a struggle or some plight, haven’t we set ourselves up to fail? Does this not create a negative feedback loop that will set in motion the wheels of discontent when ever and where ever we are confronted with adversity? Does it not set the tone for us? I believe that it does……
What if folks were to approach this as a mission to be achieved with a different set of lenses would we not shift the toggle switch of perception in our brains towards a fighting mod? Is it possible that there would be a greater motivation to get it done no matter what….We know how much a simple word can dramatically impact a person’s psyche and make the difference between positive and negative (to do or not to do)…So, doesn’t the word struggle suggests a continuous fight with something that is becoming strenuous and burdensome?
We often talk about how the struggle continues and it is never-ending. I believe this in and of itself weighs a person down tremendously and gives one cause to become not interested in the task that lies ahead. Whereas the word mission or goal creates a desire to achieve and complete the task at hand. It denotes a more worthy cause for fight..
I know some may say that it is simple semantics and just a play on words, but isn’t everything we listen to and read just a play on words? It’s just the manner or context in which it is presented and understood that elicits a desired response..A mission appears to add the connotation of something admirable while struggle applies to an effort to hard and arduous and leads to a great exertion of energy. I guess it all depends on ones perception, struggle or mission and how they approach it…. Just some food for thought..
To say that something is a struggle allows us to approach it with a great deal of reluctance and effort? Procrastination..
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To say something is my mission or goal attaches a greater sense of urgency to it.. Motivation for success..
Either way it sets the tone of mentality and applies to almost anything we attempt to do in life…
A Struggle or Mission
Written by; Alton T. DeVeaux Jr. (Africafifth)
Same Ocean, Different Pools of Water
Let’s Be Truthful;
We are all born in the same ocean of humanity but swimming in different pools of water.. There are those who aspire to achieve great things and those who are content with mediocrity. All of us have different dreams and aspirations, different goals, wants , needs and different perceptions of how we view the world as well as each other. We are immersed in an ocean of differences and variables that play an active role in what transpires in our lives. There are those of us who are born in a life raft, those who manage to swim to another body of water and some who need a hand getting there…Unfortunately a large majority of us are just threading water while those who aren’t able to do either one, just simply give up and look for someone to help keep them afloat or just end up drowning.
Henceforth a fundamental disparity exists among most folks of the Black Diaspora and the rest of humanity for that matter. Everybody is not able to swim out of the ocean and some are only able to go so far. Everyone does not make it to the safe pools and some will just sink to the bottom. Another way to look at this is to view life is like a ladder,; you have the bottom rung, the top rung and the rungs in between. Now, the question is which rung can you climb to and which rung are you willing to settle on? If you fail to put forth the effort, how in the world can you expect to move? You gotta climb baby, you gotta climb. Everybody is not making it to the top man, it just ain’t happening. . Some will get a little frustrated and need a hand and some will just plain give up.. That’s just about it in a nutshell. It just doesn’t get much simpler than that folks. It ain’t rocket science man!
Listen up; Folks want to have it good but don’t want to do what it takes to have it good. Good don’t come free and once you get it you got to do what it takes to keep it…All they have is just a lot of lip service..That’s it!!
I get folks approaching me from time to time and talking about Man, you sure got it good. Well hell yeah, but it sure wasn’t always like this. That’s for damn sure.. They’re only seeing the finished product but what they didn’t see was how hard I had to work my ass off to get here. All people see are the trimmings of modest success and never factor in what it entails to get there. Now we got some will attempt to hinder your progress but you gotta keep swimming. They’ll try to grab a hold onto you but you just gotta kick their asses away….I wrote about saboteurs in another piece and these are the folks that want to stop you from making something of yourself. A lot of folks don’t want you to make it because it is a constant reminder of their lack of progress. ….THE HATERS!!!
But the person that really does the most damage is the person who never challenges themselves or the status quo. This person has a self defeatist mentality and attitude and has brain shackled themselves. Yeah that’s right, we can most often times be our own worst enemy!!! All I got to say is what folks had always told me when I was crying that same old bs. Either s–t or get off the pot..
It’s an ocean baby so you either sink or you swim!! Hell yeah it’s rough, it’s hard man, but it is what it is but it doesn’t mean that it always has to remain so..Man you gotta look inside and find that warrior, that fighting spirit that is within you if you want something meaningful out of life. You gotta get on with the mission man..My auntie Liz said to me once (boy, there ain’t no pie in the sky and you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth). Duhh…Well I had no idea what the heck she was talking about at the time ( wish I did) because it sure would have alleviated a lot of pain, disappointments and bad decisions. But hey, I eventually got it and knew that I had to swim those waters or climb that ladder. I believe that I am a much better person for the experience..We live and we learn…Hopefully we get it a lot earlier. Same Ocean, Different Pools of Water…
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So which pool of water will you swim in or how high on the ladder will you climb???
One last thought: If you are in the darkness would you not build a fire or light a light so that you can see? Same principle in life. Why wander around in the darkness when you can light up your way with education and knowledge… Light up the darkness my brother and sisters. Light it up!!
Written by: Alton T. DeVeaux Jr (Africafifth)
Shout out to all my Akan and Temne folks in Africa…
Duped
I find myself often times immersed in moments of introspective contemplation.. Where would I be in this life had it not been for the pioneers who from different walks of life (ethnic groups) helped to blaze the trail for freedom with much pain and immense sacrifice. So much has been given with so little recognition, appreciation or reciprocity for their efforts and accomplishments.
Humanity has benefited and made progress but still we are snared by a tsunami of greed, hypocrisy and a universally rigged system which binds us mentally, economically, socially and educationally. We are unable to realize how we have been manipulated into hating and fighting each other when our primary focus should be directed at those who created the color line and racism to begin with.
You see, white America doesn’t speak about nor teach her history of white slavery in colonial America prior to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The only slavery that we are familiar with are the African slaves. We haven’t been educated about the Irish slaves who were displaced from their lands, murdered by the British and sent to the sugar cane fields or other plantations throughout the West Indies. They speak not of the British underclass of men, women, children, vagrants, prostitutes, convicts who over populated their country and gallows.. Poverty, hunger, discontent, disease, unemployment, prostitution, murder, corruption and all manner of despicable and illicit behavior was rampant throughout their country. These unfortunate souls became too much of a burden for the English crown and therefore, became a prime target of exploitation by the elite and merchants.
In The Mist of Rejection and Turmoil
The pain of rejection is often times unbearable as is the emotional turmoil that accompanies it. We become enveloped and overwhelmed. Clouded thoughts and consumed in a melancholy spirit. Consequentially the rejection gives us cause to search for a passageway to escapism. We look inward and question ourselves, ( why am I not accepted or what is wrong with me)? We begin to internalize it all thus creating a degree of self-doubt and emotional baggage…..Pathway to self-destruction!!!
Eyes seek solace of heart and recognition of self in the eyes of another which eludes them. Compassion and empathy ? No, they dare not to waste them when they are in desperate need of such themselves. Oh, but yeh walks the way of the fooled among their deceptors…The harshness of rejection leaves one to ponder deeply in search of identity and relevance. A shattered spirit, a questionable existence paired with an abundance of doubt leads to an unstable mind. Have we become the trees rooted in the soil of confusion spread about in the mist of rejection and turmoil?
How do we define ourselves? How do we discover ourselves? How do we grow and flourish? How do we convert an otherwise meaningless existence into one of relevance? How do we make our presence on this earth matter? What we seek no man can bequeath us. Yet we measure our acceptance or rejection from one as the barometer of our very well being…Nonsense!!!
We have been short-changed and we have been sold short by others and ourselves. We have always been labeled as the underclass and appear to have accepted this as the standard-bearer. The higher levels of expectations seem to have either eluded us or have become too much of a challenge, so we are inclined to settle for less. Again I say, Nonsense!!!!
We can not forego the process of rejection and turmoil for they are unavoidable variables that accompany us through life. They inextricably co-exist but we need not become entangled in their snare. Society has rejected us and has for the most part written us off. Have we also done the same? Have we become much too complacent and distracted by the images of false deities? I have one question for you.
How is one group of people able to completely dominate another?
Simple folks, (Mind Control). Through the process of rejection, distraction, turmoil and it’s components. Ignorance by lack of education and knowledge. Reject your skin color, your features, your behavior, your aspirations and your dreams, reject your entire existence to the point of irrelevance until you have begun to reject yourself and others who look like you. You begin to either retaliate by adopting a full non compliance attitude of rejecting their authority and everything they represent or you begin to emulate them while they in turn rip off everything that is representative of you. Our music, our dance, our swag, our vernacular, our hand shakes and our fist bumps, our greetings, our gestures, our skin color and just about our entire vibe..Everything that they so call despise and that which comes from us they have adopted as theirs and we are too distracted and busy warring with each other to notice..
So, in the mist (not midst)of rejection and turmoil we have become lost and unable to see our way clear…We need not allow ourselves to be validated or defined by some individual or group who we just may be better than. But how is one to know when that which we seek has yet to reveal itself to us? Could it be that we are looking in all the wrong places?
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Muhammad Ali once said that most people are looking for a miracle or for some great thing to change their lives. He also said that the gifts are within us. That is where our greatness is and that is where our miracle lies. How could a young African boy during a time of grave peril for Africans in America have the conviction and unshakable courage to stand up to a force most would surrender to? Could it be that it was because he knew who he was and he was also well aware of the greatness that was within him and that no man on earth was going to define him.? He was ostracized and loath by many for standing up for what he believed in and he sacrificed greatly. But he never once silenced his voice nor allowed his spirit and will to be broken. He epitomizes the greatness of self-love, the greatness of self-respect, the greatness of self-awareness and the greatness of self-determination. Ali absorbed all the rejection and he blossomed into greatness..
Ali quote: If you can see it, if you can believe it then you can achieve it…
We were all created by greatness so why not emulate that which has created us?
Don’t live out your life being a what if…..
Enlightenment is indeed a destructive process. It is a tearing away of all belief and all fiction. It is a breaking down of all preformed ideas, concepts and paradigms, a breaking away of everything you believed to be real or to be true. It is a bringing to light, the stark reality of the world in which we live. It is seeing things as they truly are and not being afraid to call it for what it is. It is stripping your world and mind bare of everything you thought you were, everything you thought you knew and it is in realizing what you are, and what you have, and what you are really and truly doing with your tiny breath of time here in this reality… what everyone is doing… Max Igan