I remember when...
My best friend sat at the foot of my bed sobbing because the love of her life was murdered by a police officer. I couldn’t believe it - it was worse than the worst possible nightmare. Stanley was 17 years old, two weeks away from going to college. He was like a brother to me.
Nothing could ease the pain. The hurt. The confusion. Why did this happen?
The media smeared Stanley’s name - attempting to justify why the shooting happened. Painting one of the kindest young men I’d ever known into a villain. My grandfather cried “I was hoping you’d never have to have the same experiences I did.” It was a pain too great to bear...it was a hurt on levels I was unable to process. I was just 15 and it felt like not only was the world fearful of my people but they were actively hunting us down. Each time another black man lost his life in a police shooting, I felt completely gutted. I feared for my brother, my father, my family. And after the tragic death of 7 year old Aiyana Jones, I even feared for myself. I marched, I wrote, and nothing changed but my rage deepening each time I heard a new story. Surely there was another way. I was fed up from feeling like a victim and feelIng utterly powerless. It was this pain that was the catalyst for my spiritual journey. On my journey, I came to realize there is nothing more powerful than who we claim ourselves to be. This was the missing key that seemed hidden for so long and yet certain sectors of our society knew so well. Get people to accept a narrative (especially a fearful one) and you can control them. We were all being controlled - not just black people but all people (including police officers, media, politicians, and everyone else involved). All of us “typecast” in a play we didn’t know we were participating in, with roles already scripted. The greatest lie ever told was that we don’t get a choice to define who we are! We are choosing who we are every moment of every day. And that was the moment I decided I AM the only one who gets to choose the narrative for my life! I AM Divine and keenly aware that whoever I boldly claim myself to be is how everyone in the world responds to me. We ALL have/are this power. It is the very reason the Egyptians had “Know Thyself” on the top of every temple. Because when you know who you truly are, you never have to walk in fear again! It’s time to live BOLD AF by writing a new narrative. It’s time to start a new page from the standpoint of being victorious! The pen is in our hands and the time is NOW.