As we approach the New Year, we are presented with an opportunity, and a desire to change some of the circumstances that continue to dominate our lives. This is the time of year when we placate our desire for change. However, I submit to you, that change for the sake of change, is for the most part, not change at all. It is doing the same things a different way and, expecting a different result. You see, real change, for it to be substantial, must consist of a change of the heart.
Change by its very nature, insinuates that there must be a correction in how an individual, or a people approach their particular circumstances. Without a “heartfelt” correction, there can be no sustainability. We are destined to revert back the same situation we realized we needed to change in the first place.
That’s why, in my opinion, the gains made by earlier generations of black activist have not been sustained by us here, in the present. We talked the talk of true change, but most of us don’t feel it in our heart. True change requires sacrifice and we as a people were/are unwilling to sacrifice what we believe we have now or the potential to obtain later.
As an example: some of us say we want to lose weight, but we are unwilling to make the sacrifice of exercising and eating correctly. We look for a quick fix, taking this pill or trying that fad diet, and although initially they may provide results, those results are momentary, and sometime they are even detrimental to our overall health. But, if we feel that need to change in our heart, we understand that in order to lose that weight we must make a heartfelt change and be willing to sacrifice some of the foods we love and even undergo the “pain” of exercising if we want that change to last.
Most people have a subconscious desire to change. This, I believe is because human beings as an intellectual entity are driven to evolve, to constantly improve the current version of themselves and become better.
The military's slogan “Be All You Can Be” taps into this basic desire to improve one's current circumstances.
The latest CEO of the corporation called America(you may know him as President), used the slogan “WE Need CHANGE” as an effective mantra, which effectively appealed to people of various racial and ethnic persuasions. So we know that the desire for change is universal. We know that people have a inherent need to change and improve their circumstances. All it takes is the courage and discipline to bring about the change desired.
The burning question is, how can we bring about a lasting change that will effectively contribute to our evolution as a people now, and for future generations?
The path to change is often a paradox. Solutions to the issues that affect black people often appear to be simple but, their implementation oftentimes proves to be next to impossible. This is because the pseudo-change is imposed externally and is not, an internal change of consciousness thought, put into action.
I will admit that I personally don’t have all the solutions but, I do know this... that no amount of money in of itself, or government imposed program will provide solutions that will last. They will, at best have the same momentary effect as those pills and fad diets that we spoke about earlier. The only solution that will sustain true change in our community, will be the one that we embrace in our HEARTS!
In other words, we have to believe in that change, in our very soul!
WE must take control of our own destiny. WE must accept the responsibility of our actions and in some cases, our inaction if we truly want to bring changes that last. If we are satisfied with where we are now, our circumstances, as a people will never progress!
I do have a proposal of how we can bring about lasting change. How we can bring about the effective evolution of us, as a people, now and for future generations, and it won’t cost anyone one thin dime but, it will require sacrifice.
"When the web of a spider joins together, it can trap a lion"
Ethiopian Proverb
There once was a time when we knew who we were. There was once a time when we understood the nature of who we were, instead of us now imitating a culture foreign to our nature, built on greed, self aggrandizement, individualism and worshipping at the alter of materialism.
We were once the greatest people on this planet, but we lost our way. Dare to dream of what we could become, if we just understood who we were and who we can become again. Educate yourself, continue to read Our Story before His-Story, gain knowledge of our true selves, not to immerse ourselves in the past but, to provide a foundation from which we can stand upon, and see the beauty, on the horizon, that is our future. I ask you, with all due sincerity, how can knowlege and appreciation for our rich history and culture be in anyway detremental to our continuing development as a people?
I know now why THE CREATOR put it on my heart to come here, to the Charleston area. It’s because this is where it began for our people in America. Charleston was one of the primary ports where slaves were brought to be auctioned and sold. I have seen the slave museums, felt the pain and injustices perpetrated on my ancestors, in my very soul.
In my meditations, I have heard the ancestors, they cry out, not for revenge but for our rememberance of their sacrifices. They pray that the pain and misery they endured was not in vain. They call out to us hoping that we will be a proud people again. They understand the spiritual power that we possess, that no weapon, not slavery, mental, physical torture, incarceration, negative imagery, or economic inequality can continually prosper against us, unless we allow it to!
IT'S TIME for CHANGE, by THE RENEWING OF OUR AFRIKAN MINDS
ASE’
