"YOU PEOPLE"

Why must we perpetually and generationally assure the comfort of white folks at our expense and wear it like a badge of Honor?

I was at the public library, I saw students there on their laptops I am sure doing school work.

I found that insulting, humiliating, disrespecting and disgusting.

In 2022, our inner city children’s unable to go into the next room and use what they make sure their teachers children can use in their rooms.

Why is our LEGISLATED hurt applauded?

Why is our LEGISLATED pain celebrated?

Why is LEGISLATED harm cheered?

Why must we continuously wear them all like a badge of honor and on the megaphone we hear encore?

To sit on a curb doing research, is a badge of honor.

To go to a parking lot to do outdated and meaningless homework, is a badge of honor.

To visit a loved one to get participatory points so that you can join in on group assignments, is a badge of honor.

We have to prove that when we face our LEGISLATED maltreatment, we wear it like a badge of honor.

We have to prove that when we face our LEGISLATED immorality, we wear it like a badge of honor.

We have to prove that when we face our LEGISLATED unprotection, we wear it like a badge of honor.

I recall 45 saying that residents from a SHITH0LE country (ALTHOUGH HE MEANT CONTINENT) wasn’t welcomed here.

Yet, we went there to their countries and stole people, stripped them of their natural resources and have been stealing BLACK brilliance, resilience, intellectual property, invention, creativity, influence, style and magic ever since.

America gave these teachers access to our future and the were allowed to kill their spirits, dreams, goals, and intelligence and made sure their love of learning, reading, writing and being inquisitive was stolen.

Malcolm X warned us that, “Only A Fool Would Allow The Enemy To Teach Their Children.” I SEE THE RESULT OF HIS WORDS. It is sad that out of all we Black people have done here, we still aren’t seen as assets and great contributors although we are.

Yet, BLACK teachers are used to low salaries.

Heck we are paid lower than our White colleagues.

Low salaries in education has been our norm since we were “allowed” to go into the profession. We go into education for a very different reason and that is for revolutionary purposes.

For us, it used to be ministry, calling and a desire to better our people and money used to not be the top priority.

When we moved closer to the colonizers and began to listen to them, think like them, emulate them and adopt their selfish mentality, it is then we left our doing it for the culture like we always had and produced scholars. I can’t believe we worked this hard to be illiterate, mundane, immoral, inconsiderate and mediocre after building this thankless and ungrateful country.

How about compensating us, knowing that we show up and overproduce while being evicted, hungry, transients and pushed into poverty?

Until Black teachers are treated as, given resources as the professionals we are, the shortage will continue.

Black teachers matter, our mental health matter, our salaries matter, our dignity matters, our lives matter.

We are Black before we are teachers so we totally get our Black babies.

I got a chance to not only be a Black teacher but I got a chance to see Black teachers do what we do and that is be magical and mosty.

Black teachers clearly get that going into education is more than a paycheck; it is intentionally REVOLUTIONARY.

BLACK teachers, I thank you because prior to being a professional in education, you were a BLACK citizen, student, and parent in this same intentional, willful, known and legislatively racist, immoral, dehumanizing place and you still showed up and out for our babies and their families with great: character, dignity, respect, morality, honor and professionalism.

They choose to be tone death because they can and it is sad that it’s at the expense of our future but this is our moment to make our demands known, voices heard and commands clear.

We’re not afraid of Black students, we birth Black babies.

We are not afraid to build solid relationships with all stakeholders.

My issue is the toxic, racist, disrespectful work environment where the school to prison pipeline is the goal and we are to made out to be wardens.

When the paradigm shift of educators came into our inner cities; the moral, esteem and desire of learning left and we were there to save our children’s sprits, souls and minds from the enemy seriously.

When the paradigm shift of educators came into our inner cities; the moral, esteem and desire of learning left and we were there to save our children’s sprits, souls and minds from the enemy seriously.

How does “high quality” educators who more than likely were handpicked and GIVEN access, opportunities, degrees, certifications and licensure to come into our inner cities to leave us all with what we see and hear today?

After the college scandal, we know they weren’t highly qualified to do absolutely nothing but rob, steal and strip.

Who said our children can’t read, write or do math?

Our Black children are just as brilliant, resilient and educated as anyone else.

It is utterly sad that they are FORCING their way into this technological era and doing it solo.

It is growing at a rapid pace and our children are teaching themselves.

Our inner city children are given technology violations of which push the school to prison narrative when they do the same things as those of the “affluent” persuasion who attend schools where there is no question if they will have access and opportunities to be in this global world.

Can we honestly address this issue?

I recall that the CEO of Nestle (Peter Brabeck-Letmathe) said that water was not a HUMAN RIGHT.

That has bothered me ever since.

On the BLACK SIDE of town, we always have LEGISLATED issues with our: levees, sewage. and wastewater. Yeah, they are always counted upon to cause the residents much hurt, harm, danger.

Is it a form of mass genocide or premature demise? I mean, after all we are zoned into areas that is inescapable?

He who gets Nestle from using slave labor.

He who makes billions off of slave labor.

He who is immoral, dehumanizing and unjust way of making billions.

He had the audacity to say that Water is NOT a Human Right.

Let’s look at Hurricane Katrina, the Black side is the side negatively effected.

Let’s look at water in our inner city schools; they are always filled with dangerous lead levels.

Let’s look at any water issue, storms or malpractices it is ALWAYS on the BLACK side of town, still.

I guess his words of the “idea” that water is a HUMAN RIGHT is extreme has some validity to it.

These things, are all:

MAN lead

MAN orchestrated

MAN allowed

MAN permissioned

MAN wielded

and we WOMEN NEED TO execute the words and demand of the late Coretta Scott King, “Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.”

You would think we live in a 3rd world country the way we BLACK CITIZENS of the most thankless, ungrateful, immoral, unjust and dehumanizing country that would collapse if we ALL STOOD up for our dignity, respect, full citizenry, rights and reparations.

Water is needed to cook, take medication, stop dehydration, for the infants, and elders.

How convenient in this time where Jackson University is drawing BLACK brilliance and top athletes.

These are the same vicious people who LEGISLTED laws the LEGALIZED LYNCHING our ancestors just for looking at, or talking to a white person, for walking on the same side of the street, for demanding respect, for being homeless, for being too loud or “violating their noise ordinances,” for looking suspicious and for wanting to participate in voting.

WOULD THEY GO TO THIS EXTREME DURING A CONTENTIOUS ELECTION CYCLE WHERE RACE IS TOP ON OUR MINDS?

WOULD THEY GO TO THIS EXTREME UNDERSTANDING THAT BLACKS ARE FLOODING THESE HBCU’S?

WOULD THEY GO TO THIS EXTREME UNDERSTNGING THAT BLACKS ARE REJECTING THEIR WHITE UNIVERSITIES FOR THE WEALTH THAT IS ATTACHED TO THEM?

WOULD THEY GO TO THIS EXTREME UNDERSTANDING UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE HBCU’S OUR CHILDREN WILL LEARN NOT ONLY THE TRUTH OF THIS COUNTRY BUT THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF THEIR ANCESTORS STARTING WITH THE BUILDING OF THOSE RACIST INSTITUTIONS?

STOP complaining

STOP whining

STOP bringing shame to this game, it is disgusting what you are doing

STOP thinking the world revolves around you

STOP being weak minded

STOP being fragile

STOP framing yourself as though you have been failed

STOP portraying yourself like a victim

STOP acting like you were unsafe, unaware, unprotected and ignored

STOP being a KAREN in the making…….

This generation or new crop of athletes are so damn sensitive fragile, lazy,  weak, INCOMPETENT and entitled.

Everything today is supposed to be handed them.

They don’t want to work for nothing and by their account, feelings and emotions everything is abusive, immoral, dehumanizing, a violation and they are being mistreated.

We are creating a bunch of weak minded athletes.

Yes, if you didn’t perform at high standard or our coach expectation, they had tactics in place that we may have felt were: demeaning, disfavorable, immoral and unjust.

We were children.

We knew we couldn’t know more than our Rabonni.

We knew they wouldn’t kill us.

We knew they wanted to win.

We knew we had to work hard.

We knew there were fundamentals we had to perfect.

Your gripe is exactly what it is like being Black in America in 2022.

This is exactly the maltreatment and malpractice your ancestors did and your people still do to ours to get excellent, admirable, magnificent, exemplary, superb, distinguished, coveted, exceptional, perfection, elite, stellar work, performance and intellectual property.

We were and still is perpetually, generationally and consistently punished, rejected, denied, omitted and excluded for “not” being good enough, for “not” being worthy, for “not” producing high quality quickly and for “not” meeting approval.

Yet, we can’t sue.

Yet, we can’t feel discriminated against.

Yet, we can cry foul.

Yet, we can’t cry abusive practices.

Yet, we can’t say we are being misused.

This issue you are highlighting is not bullying.

This is not domineering.

This is not controlling.

This is not anything you have painted it or the coaching style.

This is exactly how Black people have always been pushed to greatness.

This is exactly how Black people have been pushed to excellence.

This is exactly how Black people have been pushed to be mentally strong.

This is exactly how Black people built this country.

This is exactly what distinguishes Black people from you and your kind.

This new found weakness, inferiority, frail, powerless, hesitant, unsteady, inconsistent and uncertain crop of athletes is proof that if this pass, you are opening the flood gates for more of this and this isn’t how AMERICA was built, stands and flourishes because “those” called essential workers are the low wage earners, poverty stricken by legislation and for this reason, you can’t learn Critical Race Theory.

Yes, when it comes to winning, our coaches are allowed to do and say what they will to get you to elevate your game, AS LONG AS IT WAS BENEFITTING YOU, THAT WAS OUR COACH’S ONLY GOAL.

Bye girl.

Yesterday, I encouraged my sister, my friend to TAKE HER TIME.

I was meaning it as a verb.

TIME, TAKE IT but do it with a clear mind.

TIME, TAKE IT but not in a dark place.

TIME, TAKE IT but not feeling alone.

TIME, TAKE IT but not discombobulated.

TIME, TAKE IT but come up and out whole.

TIME, TAKE IT but set your entire temperature on this journey.

TIME, TAKE IT and never second guess your intuition.

TIME, TAKE IT and embody your maternal instincts.

TIME, TAKE IT and energize yourself.

Understand, YOU and ONLY YOU can permission yourself to live your BEST life and BE your BEST self. YOU are not a robot.

YOU are one beautiful, bold, brilliant and bountiful woman that I elevate highly.

YOU are greater than you allow yourself to be.

Even those people she call her children, she must decide if she will allow them to hang on to her umbilical chord and silently kill her or she will snip them loose and allow them to be the grown, resilient, brilliant, giving and caring people she raised.

As long as she do, show up, give, and silently fell whatever she feels; the more they will.

If she leaves, they will go on living without her just as they always do.

I wish her love, peace, joy, happiness, love, and a self esteem so high she is unrecognizable to herself.

Keep on BEcoming.

Everything she has mastered as the end in mind before she begins……

It takes TIME to be an artists and she produces some of the greatest art work that is proof she puts her all in it. An artist job is the

“You can’t help it. An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” Nina Simone

In this season time

In this moment and time

In this time of solitude

In this time of honoring her sacred space

In this time of isolation

In this time of reflection

I hope she will use it to elevate mental illness…….

It is in this time and season that she can BE full of herself

It is in this time and seasons she can do what she does best, SAVE FOLKS from drowning

It is in this time and season she is the anchor for someone

It is in this time and season she is the rock for someone

It is in this time and season she is the sunshine for someone

It is in this time and season that her healing, clarity and direction is looking exactly where she is honestly and taking it and building life off of it

I cringe when I see words such as: elite, scholarly, experts, mastery, prestigious, exclusive, prominence, opulence, upper echelon, greatest, top notch, and best.

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively omit us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively reject us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively deny us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively overlook us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively delete us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively disregard us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively eliminate us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively ignore us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively prohibit us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively withhold from us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively exclude us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively block us?

How is any of this true when America intentionally, willfully, knowingly, purposefully, intentionally and legislatively ban us?

HOW CAN THIS BE WHEN WE AREN’T EVEN IN THE EQUATION, SELECTION, LINE UP, ON THE ROSTER O NOTHNING!

Allow me to start with two quotes from our ancestors, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. — Martin Luther King, Jr

“When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”—-Dr. Maya Angelou

Looking at the video of the scholar athlete from Duke University’s volleyball team by the name of Rachel Richardson, I noticed her “family” her “teammates” her “friends” said absolutely nothing in her defense and on her behalf. Now, that isn’t shocking really.

Whites will stay whiting.

We have always been considerate.

We have always been respectable.

We have always been moral.

We have always been professionals.

We have always been compassionate.

We have always shown empathy.

We have always been honest.

We have always been just.

They on the other hand; they didn’t speak up or stand up for their teammate because they didn’t feel obligated to support.

They didn’t see a need to protect her.

They only needed her to assist them in winning but forget her emotional, psychological and spiritual well being.

The racist slurs called this young lady wasn’t felt by them.

They have no sense of empathy because they have always had CONstitutional RIGHTS TO BE:

immoral

unjust

liars

murderers

negligent

abusive

improper

dishonorable

maltreating

malpracticed

terrors

inhumane

unethical

fake

unprofessional

unfair

racist

all because of their deep seated inferior complex and lifestyle when it comes to Black people.

“I’VE NEVER MET HIM, AND I DON’T WANT TO MEET HIM.” EARL WOODS IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.

“I DON’T THINK MUCH OF THE WAY HE’S HANDLING HIS DAUGHTERS,” WOODS SAID. “HE HASN’T ALLOWED THEM TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL..” AND: “ALL OU HAVE TO DO IS LISTEN TO THEM. YOU CAN HER THE GIRLISH ATTITUDE AND THE GIRLISH CONDUCT. . . . THE GIRLS ARE NOT ON THE ROAD TO MATURITY. THEY’RE IN A TIME WARP.  FEEL SORRY FOR THEM.”

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SO FULL OF SELF HATE?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SUPERIOR IN HIS OWN MIND?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SO ARROGANT?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T HIGH CLASS?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SUCH AN EGOIST?

WHTA IF HE WASN’T SO FULL OF VANITY?

WHAT IF HE SAW HIS BROTHER WORTH ELEVATING?

WHAT IF HE SAW HIS BROTHER WORTH POURING INTO?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T ENTITLED?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SELF RITEOUS?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SO DISDAINFUL TOWARDS HIS BROTHER?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T OFFENSIVE SOUNDING?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SO INSOLENT?

WHAT IF HE WASN’T SO ARROGANT TOWARDS HIS BROTHER?

WHAT IF HE SAW HIS BROTHER WORTH EPOSING?

WHAT IF HE SAW HIS BROTHER WORK EMPOWERING?

WHAT IF?

I GUESS THE DIVIDE AND CONQUER WORKED……

IT REALLY DIDN’T.

THIS IS PROOF THAT ONE DOES NOT NEED:

A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

HEALTHY LIVING ENVIRONMENTS

PRIVATE LESSONS

ELITE CLUBS

PERSONAL TRAINERS

ALL OTHER THINGS THAT POOR PEOPLE HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO AFFORD WILE SIMULTANEOUSLY BEING TOP, PRODUCING EXCELLENCE AND GREATNESS OF WHICH IS THE REASON OUR CHILDREN ARE PREFERRRED, COVETED, DESIRED, CHOSEN AND EQUIPPED BECAUSE THEY BRING THEIR A GAME, ILLUMINATION, AND DOMINANCE IN WHATEVER SPORT THEY SET OUT TO DO.

HE WAS A TOUGH, HARD, AUTHORITARIAN, NO NONESENSE, CONFIDENT, BOLD, AND DETERMINED FATHER FIRST AND COACH NEXT.

THEY ROSE TO THE OCASSION.

HE WAS EQUIPPING HIS DAUGHTERS TO NOT ONLY FACE BUT CHAMPION 4 “STRIKES” AGAINST THEM BEFORE THEY EVEN BEGAN THEIR PROFESSIONAL CAREER:

VISION THIS DAY HERE, TO OWN THIS WHITE MALE DOMINATED SPORT

ACCEPT THEMSELVES AS WORTHY WOMEN IN THIS SPORT

OWN AND BE PROUD OF BEING AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN THIS SPORT

EMBRACE THEIR DARK HUE IN THIS SPORT

AND THEY DID IT ALL 

THE ENEMEY WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS: instruct, destruct, construct, obstruct, structure

Shut up! Quit running your mouth! Hursh It Up! Silence Now! Be Quiet!

Here writing about my friend who embodies the word AUDACITY.

She hates that I applaud her.

She hates that I loudly cheer her on.

She hates that I elevate her.

She hates that I affirm her.

She hates that I support her.

She hates that I offer.

She hates that I am high spirited when it comes to her.

She hates that I make sure she is appreciated.

She hates that I use the megaphone for her accolades

She do something and did something I know she didn’t have to but wanted to.

She do something and did something I know she felt obligated to do.

Yet, she isn’t the only one in my circle.

Yet, she isn’t the only one who do or did it.

I recall her asking me if I felt or treated or said that to all and I didn’t and don’t.

MY ISSUE WITH HER was that closeness we got and in my spirit, I picked up on her womanhood and how she suppressed, rejected, attempted to compress her journey and I pulled it out and THAT drew me closer, deeper and intentionally to her.

It was her struggles

It was her journey

It was her history that illuminated just how much of a badass woman she was and how much alike we women are.

She raised beautiful, generous, kind, and compassionate children.

I got a chance to sit on the sidelines of her journey and witness her literally juggle generations and she did it so effortlessly and flawlessly.

They ALL (the seasoned, the seed, and the fruit) NEVER got less of her.

She gave them all of her individually.

Yes, I am writing about the AUDACITY of this woman and her will to strive, strive, be resilient, be determined, and be seen, heard and felt.

She has that no excuse to give up demeanor.

She has a circle of women who are powerful, willing, able and for sure standing with her during this time.

ALL I NEED HER TO DO IS REMEMBER THIS ONE WORD, AUDCACITY.