Relationship status: Complicated
Y’ALL. Over the past year, I have engaged in conversations and debates concerning the state of our nation. The horror stories of friendships lost and families divided over virus and vaccine conspiracies, civil unrest and political divides is absurd. We are struggling to grasp the wheel of confusion concerning leadership from our government and what we do next to survive.
And to be frank, our title as a nation is up for question. I mean, how united are we really? Now that it has become politically correct to discuss white supremacy and the centuries of conspiracies, plots and all out wars against innocent civilians domestic and international, how is it that questioning the current legitimacy of our leadership, and real agenda of our government remains taboo?
I can’t help but hear my father’s voice saying to me as a curious child, “You don’t believe fat meat is greasy, do you?” If the fluctuations in fundamental law and political control from state to state don’t cause you to pause and ponder, then throw in accessibility to clean food and water, transportation, education and housing, and like me, you may soon realize that fat meat is most definitely greasy.
It is my observation that we have been set up since day one to become consumerist and sheep, rendering us incapable to trust and decide what is right for ourselves and families. I mean, praise Allah we have a customized and carefully curated arsenal of cultural celebrations and constitutional laws permanently set in place to keep us on the right path if by chance we become distracted by more pressing and personal issues. And if that doesn’t do the trick then perhaps another white-washed Ken Burns documentary to remind us of the brave men and women who so selflessly pioneered the West will get our gears grinding and back on track.
But I digress, because this moment isn’t about psychoanalyzing our “founding fathers” and their blatant transgressions against humanity. It is more importantly about psychoanalyzing how we as members of society visualize our way forward. How we stop filing the assaults on our psyche into the ‘it is what it is’ folder while discarding each other for the sake of not upsetting the ‘traditions’ we’ve been fooled into believing keep us united. I know for some it’s a tough pill to swallow; the idea of our government gaslighting us to hurry up and wait while they ceremoniously fail to deliver on their promises to ensure the liberties we all deserve. Then systematically dividing us into superficial categories devaluing our humanity but, swallow it nonetheless so we can quit procrastinating and get past the need to bicker over our individual experiences and beliefs.
And while I hate being the bearer of bad news, I have to say that the overwhelming and electrifying pulse of 2020 was not the effects of successful campaigns to remove evil from our halls of government, but in fact, it was the direct result of our collective 3rd eye awakening to the well-overdue tower moment we so desperately needed.
We found ourselves angry, sad, and bewildered as we witnessed and participated in the calling out of our most fundamental institutions for their 400-plus years of political malfeasance. We protested, exposed and canceled the evils of corporate power and police brutality and then we found each other. Alone together we were man, woman, child, black, white and brown suffering in the shared pain of our deep ancestral wounds inflicted by the double-edged sword of colonization.
It is no surprise that some continue to perpetuate the habits of our oppressors, but the real privilege lies in those of us connected through our understanding that our first priority is to discard that which no longer serves our collective narrative. We understand the racial and gender divisions, declare them unacceptable and denounce them with pride and conviction. Those of us who refuse to remain distracted by the petty social differences which prevent us from living our best lives, and rejoice in our individuality while celebrating our diversity with reckless abandon.
We acknowledge the children as our most vulnerable citizens and protect them and their futures at all cost, no longer in denial about the spiritual battle between good and evil and prepare ourselves and our homes to protect our communities for what is yet to come. And while I am not declaring our entire government of waging war against the very citizens who elect and employ them, I am implying that there are many clues hidden in plain sight that suggest our institutions remain hell-bent on keeping us in this embarrassingly codependent relationship that leaves us in a never-ending toxic cycle of fear and compliance.
The real privilege lies in those of us connected through our understanding that our first priority is to discard that which no longer serves our collective narrative.