(ThySistas.com) I have come to the conclusion that this past year’s political and societal experience has changed me.
I am no longer as idealistic as I once was. And while I still haven’t figured out if that is a good thing or not, I do know this: Having to stand in the brutal brilliance of the TRUTH of what the majority of white America thinks about us as evidenced in the election and countless other incidences of violence and repeated injustice, has forced me to be very definitive about the stance that I take as a woman, a mother of black children, and as a “darker-hued” citizen of this land we reside in.
This past year has changed me.
I have been forced to not just “draw a line in the sand,” but to carve a groove in stone, as it pertains to some of the “absolutes” that I’ve decided are essential for me to live in peace and harmony with myself. I’ve made difficult decisions, repeatedly, to let go of friendships and beliefs and understandings that I once held dear to my heart. I have had to accept that if it were not for God in my life, I could easily become radicalized in my beliefs. Yes…
This past year has changed me.
I can only speak for myself when I say that I am tired of explaining. I am tired of explaining why black lives matter. I will not another time explain the ripples of horror that Philando Castile’s death caused. I don’t want to tell another soul about that moment of explaining that to my daughter… I simply cannot, another damn time, give meaning and significance to Corinne Gaines or Sandra Bland’s lives. I will not, ever again, shut out the image of blood spurting from Alton Sterling’s chest, seconds after his encounter with the police as I try explain why I am still traumatized by it. I am not going to explain the reason why Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee in peaceful protest against police brutality. I’m not going to explain the dangerous landscape that we now navigate as a result of Donald Trump’s election. And lastly, I am not going to continue to explain the beauty and significance of our contributions to industry, technology, and art. I am not going to do it anymore.
Why? Because they already know…they just don’t care.
It’s so important to understand, gentle-friends, that the gloves have come off and it’s just a dirty, bare-knuckled street fight of the fittest. In one way. But in another, I continue to remind myself that our “battle is not flesh and blood but principalities in high places…” If I am very honest, some days that seems more like a lofty ideal than my actual sentiment.
This past year has changed me.
Many of the crimes against our very existence may appear chaotic and random, but I would like to assert that they are neither. These attacks that we have suffered and continue to suffer are strategic and orderly with an intentional deliberation that is both methodic and creative and ensure that our deaths are long and slow; spanning generations but ever so careful to keep bodies intact and always crouched in servitude while the souls are eviscerated.
This past year has changed me.
Even as I stand in the brutal brilliance of my truths, I am continually re-framing my thinking. I am committing to myself, my family and my community to take the energy that is produced from the swell of my heart with each injustice and redirect it to my darker-hued babies. I am committing to allow Love’s momentum to push me and pull me to TEACH them just a little bit more today than I did yesterday, why their existence matters. I will teach them to love the musical lilt of their voices when they talk and to recognize the glimpses of ancient majesty that still show in the way they move and walk…
This past year has changed me.
I pledge to be a voice in the work of creating a new narrative, complete with new words, if need be, that will more accurately articulate the nuances of our present- day battle for justice. We cannot risk the use of old, tired language that has lost meaning from overuse. It is my humble yet fervent belief that the stratagems of THIS fight that we are engaged in, cannot be fought in the same manner of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. This can be the revolution that prefaces a complete renaissance of the black experience in this country.
Oh yes, this past year has changed me.
I will not allow my frenzied emotions that have been conditioned to “tilt with windmills…” to lead me into arenas that are NOT where my battles lie. No, this battle requires me to learn to discern and quickly identify where the real threats and attacks lie. I MUST fortify myself and my children with the nutrients of Self Love and Acceptance and Determination…and Education!
This past year has changed me.
Staff Writer; Lisa R. Partee (a.k.a Ruby TruthSeeker)
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