The Rivers of Racism

The rivers of racism run long, wide and deep. Last week is a manifestation into physical what is etched deeply into mans psyche. We want to help, to share our voice, to make a difference, but why? Because fortunately a crime, an injustice was caught on tape and in the physical realm a man lost his life for nothing, killed by another man for his deep hatred for another because of the colour of his skin. What we witnessed is the suffocation of a black man in physical form but why is this hurt, this outrage being expressed now? Was the week before, six months before, a year before any different? This is what happened to be caught on camera. One does not have to be in the United State for too long or search to far to witness and feel the depths of racism that runs deep within the American psyche. 

Every day black women and men die but its not just about a knee on a man till he breathes his last breath, it is the knee on mans spirit every single day. Every single day the spirit of black women, men and children is crushed, it's strangled, suffocated. Correction. There is an attempt to crush the spirit of black women, men and children. An important distinction. Where are our cries for the infinite attempts to murder their spirit? In a few weeks, a few months, a year, most of us will return to our primary focus. What will we order on Uber eats, what will we watch on Netflix, talking sports and intoxicating our mind with food, drugs and drinks, with religion and rituals that in the end change fucking nothing. We consume whatever we can to make us feel good and comfortable. To truly be a part of a cause, of a movement, is to engage and begin difficult dialogue to enter the depths of darkness of another and of the darkness that lives within ourselves every single day. It is not forever, but it is needed now, in this moment and the many moments to come until we get to the other side. 

The collective human mind is ill and all the protests and movement shed light but they alone will not result in lasting change. It is consistent engagement with those who are seemingly different from you. It is active engagement with humans who did not grow up the same way as you did. If you are homophobic, engage with the LGBTQ community. If you are sexist, speak to the women in your life and be open and honest about how you see and feel about women. If you are racist against black people, explore your own limits and engage within their community. Learn by asking questions and listening. Why? Because it moves you beyond the physical and into a deeper exploration of the minds of others and your own mind. We begin to challenge our own beliefs, our own upbringing and start moving past our deeply ingrained limits of the mind and learn about others who our parents, cultures, religions and societies encouraged and programmed us to stay away from for an infinite amount of inappropriate reasons. 

We will learn that all of our struggles, all of our joys are the same. We all in the end are striving for the same thing and that is a deeper connection with others, a deeper connection with the individual and collective heart, spirit and mind, to move beyond the colour of the skin, to belong and experience equality. When we have the courage to go deeper within the darkness of humanity, to live in it, then only can we understand. Black women and men whose spirit has been suffocated for hundreds of years, they won’t so easily let others in. Its like your friend or family member who is struggling, perhaps in the darkness of depression, perhaps they have experienced violence and suppression growing up, its hard to help them, they won’t easily let you in because they feel betrayed and heavy and don’t trust others, it’s experiencing a feeling of deep betrayal that is not easily healed and so we need to see what is the best way to show up for all those in this world who are struggling. What we can’t do is nothing and we also can’t fill ourselves with shame and guilt because that doesn’t translate into the evolution of humanity that we need today. We are repeating over and over and over the same fucking shit and pumping oil down the same rusty old pipelines and wondering why clean water is not coming out the other side.

What is the root? It is no longer changing what is going down the pipeline, it is changing the pipes themselves. We have an opportunity to reset our lives, those of us who are living in comfort, have an opportunity and it begins with engagement. Think about your daily conversations, think about how many times someone will say, I don’t want to talk about it because its too heavy of a topic, lets talk about something lighter. Something fucking lighter?! You want lightness when the world is being engulfed in darkness? To be light is to swim in the darkness, purify it with spirit and then come out the other side. It is not easy to reprogram the mind, but we need to start. Now. The more you ignore the darkness of humanity, the less chance we will ever experience the light of humanity to its fullest. 

Today, despite all of our technological advances, medical advances, despite all of our education and access to endless information, humans are still in the same if not a worse state of existence. People are still starving in the world, people are dying from diseases despite the availability of medication, women are still being trafficked, abused and having to fight for equal rights, wars are still happening all over the world, millions are living in refugee camps because of the wars fuelled by the west thanks to the weapons we provide, the earth is literally burning and being destroyed at its root and black people are experiencing racism from all fucking directions, not just white people. Yet, we so easily point our finger away from us and say, THEY are raping women, THEY are causing the wars, THEY are ruining the planet, THEY are racist, its always THEY and not us. THEY killed George Floyd. 

No. WE killed George Floyd.