The Black Letter

There’s a million and one ways to start an open letter and since this is my first one, I’m going to choose the most abstract but direct way of doing it. My heroes are every black person male and female that came before me and paved the way. No need to go down the rabbit hole and explain how black people are still not treated as equals to this day even though we have a personal hand in every piece of history itself right? Because everyone knows about how Emmett Till was chased abused beaten and lynched right? Everyone knows about how black woman have a higher chance of being taken or raped compared to every other race right? Good I’m glad I don’t need to explain the suffering that they went through then.

I’m glad I can live in this world writing on my computer, in my apartment not having to fear that someone would break in and kill me because they can or arrest me because I looked at a caucasian woman the wrong way (at all). I’m glad that my father and mother fought and scrapped their whole lives so I could have a decent one even though it should’ve been unnecessary. What I’m not ecstatic about is the state of our people since our leaders were taken away. Every other race has banded together except black people. Instead, we’ve broken each other down so much that other cultures have started to emulate our negativity. For example, this Olympics was hosted in China there is a hidden video that has been blocked by the YouTube algorithm because it shows Asians being openly racist towards every man and woman that was black. Not person of color, but black and since the world has submerged itself in madness no one has brought the video to attention at all. There was no disciplinary action for these bigots either; they like their government believe black people are beneath them, and we should just use our gifts to service everyone but ourselves.

Limitless potential and like I said before we make the world go round literally! Everyone I see on the streets regardless of color wants to be black it’s sick. From the way they imitate our speech, to the fact they think most of us sell drugs and have no fathers which, I would like to add is their fault and they are still refusing to change. Why are Hispanics running around calling themselves niggas in the streets? Why are people that have no business with durags on wearing them and why do they think it makes them tough? A durag is a protective garment for our heads it’s not a symbol of being hard.

This is not to say the last 5-10 years haven’t been wasted by the black community in its entirety. Fortunately, in the last decade black people have started to put their foot on the worlds throat and take back what’s ours, real freedom, but these past two years we’ve been slipping back to our old ways. We can’t still be killing ourselves over petty money and small ridiculous squabbles about who’s on whose side of the tracks. It’s possibly the dumbest thing we do that the government invented for us. A way to decrease the population, keep black people in jail and on drugs all in one… a gang. It’s a place they belong, it makes them feel better about the crumbling world they live in, and now they have the power to get it in blood for their deceased brother, but that’s not the real enemy!

Generations of single mothers raising multiple children why? Well, they were killing each other and started a killing cycle that will seemingly never end but… who started that? Why do black people get sentences that are five to ten times as long with no possibility of bail or parole? If you don’t get what I’m saying at this point you just won’t. We are our own worst enemy. Whether they agree or not we could put a stop to everything ourselves look at us! We survived, we survived it all. Getting captured, the journey, slavery, civil rights, gang violence, government drug drops, the killing of our beloved leaders, black fishing, job discrimination, broken homes and I bet even if you’re not black you can name a bunch more can’t you? Through four hundred years plus we have developed the will and resilience to take whatever this world has to offer and give it back tenfold.

The only rule is we must stop taking what people give us. We’ve seen it enough time to know they don’t care about us so how could they possibly have our best interest. Our interest lies with one another, my wellbeing is only as good as my brothers and sisters. When one achieves, we all achieve and everything else can go through the window. Our guidance comes from those who came before us yes, but we cannot use them for strength anymore. We have our own experiences for that now and for us to draw something courageous out of ourselves it’ll take everyone working in unison.

Were past the point of electing a leader to speak for us all. We are all leaders in our own right, we are all strong and have our own opinion, we are also all still oppressed, we have all faced things in our lives that weren’t fair, we were all told it doesn’t matter because were black and we all had to move on. I’m sick of being forced to move on because the color of my skin because “things will never be the same for us” well that’s not what I’m telling my kids. They’ll know about the pain and gentrification this country put us through, they will know about the eternal struggle we face globally, they will know that people will always be afraid of their power; they’ll also know how much our community loves them and is praying for their success, they’ll know that in any situation they can take control because they have the power to do so and they’ll know people with power aren’t to be feared they’re to be respected.

My brothers and sisters born in 2001 or prior it’s our time and those proceeding 01 your time is on its way don’t worry. Stop looking for a leader and become the one you already are. We have the tools there’s no part of our game that’s incomplete, we are the future. Let’s change it as we see fit.