Good morning, well for me at least, good afternoon or evening for you depending on where you are or when you are reading this.
I woke up today with a song in my head by Tupac, Changes. It was released after he died, so he never got to see the accolades and how much it meant. I was debating on if I should post the Lyrics here, but I would rather you listen to it, whether you’ve heard it a million times or not once, go give it a listen or at least read the lyrics then come back.
Unfortunately the song is still quite relevant today, after 26 years. We are still facing the same issues as a community, but especially in the black community: an unchecked and corrupt police system, poverty, fighting within the community, drugs on the rise, and education on the low. There’s even a line about war both in the streets and in the Middle East, these shouldn’t still be issues. The majority should get to rewrite the histories of the minorities, or eradicate them completely. There is so much we see and don’t see here in the states, but also so much we don’t know until later, when it does matter anymore.
The world needs to change, rather humans need to change desperately otherwise we won’t have much of a world. We created so much turmoil in the world, so much damage, suffering, to the point where it may not be reversible. We constantly fight for land, and destroy resources to build farms and cities without giving back. You can’t ravage the land and not expect nature to remind you who’s really in charge. We excel at innovation yet we can’t figure ways to live with the land, the animals, and each other? We’ve learned to create vertical farms, harness the energy from the elements, we could live a more green lifestyle even with the industries we have built. People need jobs, so slave labor, child labor, should exist. If there is a job there will always be someone willing to do it if people are paid properly.
The ultra rich. The 1%. Those that control the world from the shadows. Do you think they could survive and amass wealth if it weren’t for the lower tier folks? The top needs to start doing their part, or maybe they aren’t needed at all. Times are different and the ways we do things should be too. Communities should look after it’s people, because we know those in power won’t Those small time innovators need to stop giving big corporations the rights to their inventions, fuck shark tank, I know it’s not profitable but we need to build our communities, not fill the pockets of people that could lose a million dollars and not notice.
Black people, my people, our ancestors knew how to keep shit quiet from the masters. We had people during those times that were healers, and knew how to fight off illness, and survive with bushcraft and Hoodoo. We had to take care of our own, so we did, why has that changed? Why do colors and styles dictate our enemy?
And guess what? You can substitute “black people” for any BIPOC group. We have to take care of our communities, educate our kids, and if the local government sucks and is banning books, there may need to be new organizations to get those books you need. Remember what we learned from prohibition in the 20’s? If let’s say a shitty state decides to ban book on CRT, race history, Gender equality, or other literature meant to open the mind and progress us as a people, but people in that state want their kids to know these things, maybe someone in a more progressive state can send a few books to them, or create a book exchange. Look, people have done it for drugs and booze for years, why not knowledge.
It’s Black history month, so you know those corporations are going to try to capitalize and make a buck off our struggles, our stories, and our voices. If they are going to mass produce our culture, let’s make it mean something. Let it be a way to bring people together to see the real enemy. I know we aren’t perfect, and neither are all of our leaders, but we can take what is relevant, and good and dispose of the bullshit, in other words, “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is essentially your own.” Wise words from martial artist Bruce Lee, that I have taken to heart in my spiritual practices, and in my approach to knowledge, and it is how I want to amplify my voice.
The spirit/memory of Tupac opened this and will close it:
We gotta make a change
It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes
Let’s change the way we eat
Let’s change the way we live
And let’s change the way we treat each other
You see, the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us to do
What we gotta do, to survive
-Tupac Amaru Shakur aka 2pac/Makaveli
Spread love, spread kindness, be the change you want to see. Do no harm, but take no shit!
Black lives still matter, Genocide is a crime, let your voices be heard.
Later days
-Owl
The World Through My Eyes 