I am black.
I am white.
I am of mulatto descent.
I am mulatto.
I am different.
I am special.
I am highly favored.
I'm instructed by scripture to not be conformed by this world. I'm starting to see the power of just making that claim. How much it sets me apart from the pack. How it exposes my lack of fear which runs rampant in our society. My primary occupation is electrician. Now I'm also a business owner. I'm working on being an inventor as well as a leader. Most people are afraid of electricity. I'm not. Most people don't understand what I do. I'm a bridge builder. I'm able to go into a structure and build a bridge for electricity to travel into and then out of the structure. My job is to eliminate electricity's potential. Control something I can't see by properly calculating a number of variables into a solution that protects everyone in that structure from being harmed by electrical shock. My lack of fear in general removes me from the stance that I should act either black or white. It allows me the ability to create my own social status. In my life I have experienced prejudice from so many. I have encountered blatant racism and public humiliation by being the only one of either race or because I was the only one on welfare or because of my clothes or lack of education or because I was the only one willing to speak up.
I've also experienced so much grace. I've had people from all levels of the socioeconomic class that exists pour into me. I've learned from CEOs CIOs CFOs people who have losts vast fortunes from self made multimillionaires from politicians from community organizers. Old young black white Hmong Ethiopian male female people from all walks of life have taught me so many life lessons. So how can I place a label on myself to attempt to differentiate myself from others? Especially because I'm a product of so many others.
Growing up I always just wanted acceptance. Neither of my parents saw the paradox they created by choosing to have mulatto children. Ultimately they both abandoned us leaving us to fend for ourselves. It was a cruel experience to endure hate for something I couldn't control and had no say so in.
The world I live in is so focused on the past that they can't see forwards. White people and black people in general frustrate me. The need to differentiate is understandable but it can be done in a peaceful manner. Those willing to speak out are quickly silenced. One such person is Robert Kennedy who wrote The Enemy Within. I haven't read it but I know it took a lot of courage to write. I'm sure it had a lot to do with his untimely death. It's on my list of books to read. White privilege exists. Anyone who disputes that is just blind to reality. But at the same time black people need to acknowledge how they are so self destructive. Black people think they have the market cornered on being mistreated in this society. And that they are excused from having to do what all of us our required to do because of previous injustice. Or because they've been mistreated by a white person. We see images of whites only and colored signs from recent times. Those same water fountains labeled colored were drank out of by Hispanics Asians native Americans and all other non-whites. Life is hard. No matter if you are white black rich poor skinny fat healthy or sick. It's hard and we all have our challenges. But what are we focused on the negative or positive?
It's all about perspective. Times have changed. Laws have been rewritten so many times that a person can do just about whatever they want today. GE decided they didn't want to pay taxes anymore.... Guess what? They don't! As I look around me I'm just taking it all in. I'm soaking up everything around me and plotting on how to utilize everything I have at my disposal so that I'm in a position to continue to spread the gospel. I truly feel like I'm looking at the world through my rear view. Because I'm headed to a new world. Not new world order. But to a destination that I envision where I will feel safe. If you were to take a Bernie Madoff a known and convicted thief and tell him he had to live in the tough parts of Chicago Detroit or LA. He would be terrified. But what about the poor old women that have to live there? The handicapped? The young girls and boys? None of them ever feel safe. Nobody is willing to go to the ghetto. Everyone wants out. Everyone wants to feel safe.
The important thing to keep in mind is that dynasties are formed first by risk takers. Then handed over to the next generation. If you aren't handed a dynasty you should be building your dynasty. Or just sit there and watch those that are. We live in a society that has no real poverty. Not really. It's a battle in the mind. Some battles must be lost in order to win the war. If you live in poverty in America it's by choice. With so much information at our fingertips we should be leading change in this world. Unfortunately we have a generation in control that is greedy. Doing its best to maintain control by overburdening those trying to climb the proverbial ladder of success while also pacifying those who are lazy and want everything handed to them. The result will be a shift of power creating a void between the outgoing generation and those who are in position to have it handed to them. Because the people willing to take risks will be able to leverage themselves in a position that those who've been handed power will not be able to act accordingly because they never learned how to take risks. Just maintain control. And those who are lazy will unfortunately walk themselves into a modern day slavery. They will line up just as the Egyptians did in front of Joseph. Unless they wake up. It's not a black or white issue. You're either asleep or awake. There are those who say you have to choose the lesser of two evils. I say I choose no evil. I say I choose to follow the way the truth and the life that which is Jesus Christ. And in doing so I am able to create my own destiny my own norms my own culture my own view of this world always focused on God and filtered by his light. Wide awake. #static
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