How can we scream equality when we don’t even support each other?

How can we scream equality when we don’t even support each other?

Afraid to scratch the person’s back in front of you for fear of not getting anything in return

Wanting to be the person acknowledged for the idea when we’re supposed to care about the people we’re doing it for

I’m guilty of it too, had many conversations that turned to arguments because I wanted the credit more than I cherished the friendship

Forgetting the bigger picture and why I’m in this

So many entrepreneurs doing the same damn thing

Competing against each other instead of putting brains together to make a difference

Not challenging themselves which causes the end result to be weak

How many companies put money towards the same mission because they’d rather the competition?

When essentially money is just another weapon they taught to keep us separated as if we were in India with a caste system

So much talent, so many ideas…. just thrown away

Afraid to share our gifts for fear of hearing, “They a fake!”

So much potential, yet not letting others, “Ride our wave”

Over thinking, watering down our ideas and not taking chances

When in reality we could easily fit our brother/sister on that podium with us

We act like Rose with the geometry and don’t pull Jack up with us

Let’s call it, The Rose Complex

Rather see others ideas fade in the background, not wanting to share the spotlight

Letting their dreams die when it would help keep ours alive

I’ve been learning that when I’m confident in myself, there’s no reason to feel such negativity

I refuse to let their dreams drown

I promised myself that when I make it, I’m leaving nobody behind

Won’t ever forget that promise, the true definition of lifting as I climb

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#StopMakingExcuses

Excuses…
The tools of the cowards
“I can’t stand for this issue because xyz”
Making excuses as if movements don’t happen in numbers
The front line surely isn’t for everyone but does that mean silence is the answer?
Surely not
The world needs Black people
The economy needs Black people
We allow others to be a martyr for our cause but don’t back them up
This is bigger than Colin Kaepernick
Bigger than your season tickets or NFL League Pass you purchased on television
For the people giving big names excuses for not stepping up
Where do you stand?
Or does the white man got your tongue?
He cut your legs off by your knees?
The knees Kaepernick bent to try and make a better place for you and I?
The sacrifices he knowingly and unknowingly brought upon himself for equality
“You can’t expect all these people to take a stand, they have a family”
What good is raising a brown family when your innocent son or daughter can be shot in cold blood without the appropriate consequences
We wait, we feel disconnected when the Sandra Bland is not our family member or friend
We wait…
We feel disconnected when the John Crawford III isn’t our family member or friend
When will the sacrifice be seen as more than money and less about just feeling uncomfortable?
“Us boycotting the NFL won’t make a change”
Worried about making money in fantasy drafts …
Living in a fantasy world where your life is worth less than a dog
Really sit and think about the impact we can make
The power of word of mouth and the stance we all need to take
Stop making excuses it won’t get us nowhere
If there’s no signing of Colin Kaepernick then I don’t care
So many Black players, no Black owners
Slavery at it’s finest
They control the money, so we feel they “own” us

White People, I Don’t Hate You

White people
I don’t hate you
That would take too much power
Power that I could be using to rebuild the communities you poured hate into
This isn’t a “Dear White People” type of piece either
See they only scratched the surface
Made jokes about how you hurt us
I’m just angry because you have tried for so long to make me feel inferior to you that I’m fighting every day to make sure you know I’m not
I’m angry because that fight takes so much out of me that I’m not able to be truly happy with who I am
I walk around with this Black Girl Magic , still looking for my wand to show the world just what this black girl can do
See
You stole a piece of me
You took a part of me that I didn’t even know I needed until I got to this place and felt something missing
My self love, which turns into a hatred for you that I try to compensate with kind words to you because I grew up with my mom saying, “Not all white people are the same.”
But what did you hear?
Did your parents tell you that not all of us are a threat?
Did your parents tell you that we all come in different shades, sizes, and backgrounds that determine who we are?
Did they tell you that your ancestors held us captive as slaves and that one day you would be telling your child to tell another black person to, “Get over it.”
It’s a cycle that I didn’t know existed until I got older and realized my black skin would be a barrier I had no control over
And that it would be too late for the, “Black Girls Rock” for me to see that I am truly a Queen
And that reality tv would be the predecessor of my success before anybody got to know, me
And that if I talk with “too much” sass I would come off aggressive
And that when I walk in a room as a minority, the majority, although clearly the MAJORITY would feel like I was a threat to them, silly me
But little ol’ me was just in this mindset where I thought I could succeed
And little ol’ me was never taught to be scared of white people until I realized we were being slaughtered by white people
Not given the same rights as white people
Being killed and not given the same trials as white people
Struggling to find the beauty in my skin because of what they’ve embedded within
And even if you didn’t personally hold the whip that beat my ancestors back
The wealth your bloodline sits upon shows your play in it
So no, I won’t get over, “it”
And deep down I know, as J Cole said, “ain’t no gun they make that could kill my soul.”
Our soul
It rises above the trials and tribulations
The definition of strength
And like I said before, I don’t hate you
I just hate what you’ve done
You made me second guess my greatness and what I can become
But like K.Dot said, “We gon’ be alright.”
And this self love thing is just another one we’ll overcome

Society made me believe that Black love only comes in one form

Society made me believe that Black love only comes in one form

That Black love can’t be a man & man or woman & woman or trans & trans or even a love between two that don’t identify with society’s pronouns

We place boundaries on love

Who do we think we are?

We made it seems as if we could measure love with our mediocre minds that society has the key to

Black Queen & Black King

Not fit for another Black Queen or Black King

In fear of losing my crown because of my idea to live freely

Racing to find a safe place & an ally in a culture that frowns down on different sexualities

Black and White, Yes or No, No in Between

But why?

Praying for the souls of rapists, molesters & pedophiles but left out a prayer for me

Too good Black folk

Too “Christian” Black folk

Too busy trying to find stones to throw , yet your hands are bleeding from the jagged edges of those stones, nobody is perfect

You stepped on my lawn, peered your eyes through my window, and picked out my “imperfections” as if you’re blemish free

Yes, I have many flaws, but loving freely isn’t one of them

Who are you tell me otherwise?

Did your God send a message through you to condemn all man?

Because my God forgives and I forgive you too

Homosexuality is so taboo

To you

Before you fix your lips to tell me I’m going to hell, take a look in the mirror

Breathe & exhale

Cover up those scars fam, you ain’t no saint

On your knees in church on Sunday but not showing God through you to other’s who ain’t

Turn your nose down fam

We all got a stench

Clasp your hands together and try to include me in your prayer

However, keep your prayer if it’s just trying to “cleanse” me

Sexuality is fluid, and no matter what you say it’s not something we choose

It’s not a fad

I’ve prayed for God to take demons away that weren’t there due to fear of being judged by you

I pray for your soul, even if my name never makes your list

Our God is the same, hypocrite

#BlackFathersMatter

So there’s this guy
He’s been blackballed in our family systems, yet he’s smiling, playing with his baby’s fingers, showing the true definition of strength, melanin glistening from his skin 
Some of us have real images of him, some of us make this moment up in our head, but it’s all still the same
Black father, Baby Daddy, King
We love you
We need you
We appreciate you
You don’t get enough credit
They say, “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch.”
We’ve taken on this saying and applied it to your situation as if it’s applicable
But, it’s not
If anything, the amazing fathers I see bring that batch back to life
See you, you are the apple of your child’s eye
They need you
You help mold them into something that mothers can’t create
Even as amazing as mothers may be
Don’t worry about the many told lies
They paint this image of you that we know aren’t true
Got mother’s celebrating Father’s Day when this day is supposed to belong to you
The many Black single fathers picking up where estranged mothers left off
Struggling to make ends meet
Hustling, I see you hustling
I commend you, even if that hustle includes the streets
See, you don’t get enough credit
The world has taken away the appeal of a Black man actually doing what he’s supposed to do
Got us all applauding like seals in the circus when a poppin’ Black father pushes through
Why?
I’m sick of feeling as if I’m doing back flips from joy when I see a Black father being what he’s SUPPOSED to 
Its not as rare as the world makes us think
Black Fathers Rock, and yes I’m talking about you
Thank you for fighting the system
Thank you for being a King
Thank you for taking care of your family
Thank you for making a way
Thank you to the father figures who step in as well, you don’t get enough
Thank you for being that apple in the batch that may be rotting from the pressures of the world
Yet, you hold on strong to make the others even stronger
I’ll say it again for the people in the back
We love you
We appreciate you
And dammit, we need you
Even if the world tries to give us this distorted image of Black fatherhood, we celebrate you
And for the Black fathers who folded and couldn’t become a diamond from that pressure…
You were still a lesson in a child’s life, and they will be a better parent than you
Happy Fathers Day