"When the Armageddon's dark and dread
A lot of weak hearted weep and moan
Only the strong will continue
Do you have it in you?
Come, we've got a journey to come
And when the battle get sour and dread
A lot of weak hearted wither and moan
Only the strong will continue
I know you have it in you"
So a really good friend has introduced me to an album that I normally wouldn't be interested in: Distant Relatives by Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley. Surprisingly, I'm truly enjoying this album! I have been listening to it for the past 3 days. Now this CD didn't lead to this blog but the words to a lot of these songs speak to me.
I have recently been saddened but a lot of things happening in the black community lately. I LOVE my people and that I come from a community of rich and painful roots. There is so much to learn and knowledge to gain that I doubt I will be able to absorb it all. But I have been plagued with the idea that the black community is idly waiting for a prescribed martyr to "save the day." I came up with the term "prescribed martrydom" to describe a common problem I see all too much. There has always been an African American tied to a great moment in history. Not that there is something wrong with that because there should an organizer a person the masses can turn to for a specific direction but I think that people forget about their role in things. The Civil Rights movement was effective not because Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was so eloquent or Malcolm X was so passionate but because the Black community was unified. They fought together as a collective. And once the world took away these two men the movement fizzled. Which to me shouldn't have happened. My belief is that people during that time put all their faith in two people. But what they failed to realize is that the movement was inevitably effective because of THEM. The unification of the black community is what caused changed. And now these two men have been crucified for certain infidelities that have come up. Not excusing or justifying anything negative these men may or may not have done but they are humans. Humans being the key word. I think that we get so caught up on someone "saving us" that we forget about what real picture is. Which is sad because we have the power to change the world.
But before we can change the world we have to heal our community. And that means being together, unified, "on the same page."
Come, we've got a journey to go.
I figure that we as a people are so willing to put our faith in one person is because we don't want the burden of doing things ourselves. We have become selfish in a sense. It has become every man for themselves. We have recently had small rallying movements (Jenna 6 and Hurricane Katrina) but they don't last long. We have the opportunity to be unified and truly be a community. But we're too good to accept help, and unwilling to help ourselves. Yes, we have obstacles, I'm not going to deny those but we also have to be able to not rest on the shoulders of one "man" or turn the other cheek when someone is in need.
Do you have it in you?
A lot of weak hearted weep and moan
Only the strong will continue
Do you have it in you?
Come, we've got a journey to come
And when the battle get sour and dread
A lot of weak hearted wither and moan
Only the strong will continue
I know you have it in you"
So a really good friend has introduced me to an album that I normally wouldn't be interested in: Distant Relatives by Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley. Surprisingly, I'm truly enjoying this album! I have been listening to it for the past 3 days. Now this CD didn't lead to this blog but the words to a lot of these songs speak to me.
I have recently been saddened but a lot of things happening in the black community lately. I LOVE my people and that I come from a community of rich and painful roots. There is so much to learn and knowledge to gain that I doubt I will be able to absorb it all. But I have been plagued with the idea that the black community is idly waiting for a prescribed martyr to "save the day." I came up with the term "prescribed martrydom" to describe a common problem I see all too much. There has always been an African American tied to a great moment in history. Not that there is something wrong with that because there should an organizer a person the masses can turn to for a specific direction but I think that people forget about their role in things. The Civil Rights movement was effective not because Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was so eloquent or Malcolm X was so passionate but because the Black community was unified. They fought together as a collective. And once the world took away these two men the movement fizzled. Which to me shouldn't have happened. My belief is that people during that time put all their faith in two people. But what they failed to realize is that the movement was inevitably effective because of THEM. The unification of the black community is what caused changed. And now these two men have been crucified for certain infidelities that have come up. Not excusing or justifying anything negative these men may or may not have done but they are humans. Humans being the key word. I think that we get so caught up on someone "saving us" that we forget about what real picture is. Which is sad because we have the power to change the world.
But before we can change the world we have to heal our community. And that means being together, unified, "on the same page."
Come, we've got a journey to go.
I figure that we as a people are so willing to put our faith in one person is because we don't want the burden of doing things ourselves. We have become selfish in a sense. It has become every man for themselves. We have recently had small rallying movements (Jenna 6 and Hurricane Katrina) but they don't last long. We have the opportunity to be unified and truly be a community. But we're too good to accept help, and unwilling to help ourselves. Yes, we have obstacles, I'm not going to deny those but we also have to be able to not rest on the shoulders of one "man" or turn the other cheek when someone is in need.
Do you have it in you?
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