I know what
I want to say... just not sure how to say it right...here goes:
WHY BE
KIND?
I would like
to offer a logical reason why it's imperative for us to be kind to one another.
Kindness is
a very fluid thing that can take on all sorts of shapes, methods, and
ways. I can comfort someone and that's
kindness. Give a needy person some food,
give an encouraging word to another, or pay someone's way through college. All these are acts of kindness. All these are forms of kindness or forms of
charity. Interestingly, one way that
kindness can manifest is via money. If I
don't know what mode of kindness is best to do for someone -- I don't know if
they need a kind word, or new shoes, or whatever, then I can just use a common
denominator which is money and give them charity money. With money the person can go and buy most
things (therapy session, food, whatever).
THE
MONEY CONNECTION
Money is a
strong manifestation of kindness. But it's
the one who's doing the giving (of a product or service) who is being kind; the one who is consuming is being kind also -- more like gratitude. The giver is the one who will be more blessed than the receiver. Putting out a product to the
world is a kindness.
So if people
don't like you, they will not be kind to you -- they may not give you access to a product or service.
Or, even worse, if people don't like you, they may still be kind and give you access because
they realize that the kindness is for them, but they may not want anything from
your hands -- except maybe what they just gave you -- in other words, if you try to offer a good or a service they may insist on cornering you into a "buyer's market" where they "give" you the amount they want to pay -- which is usually lower than your asking price.
The highest form of kindness exchange would be where people put out whatever excess goods they have in a certain area and also come and get whatever they need. Like giving charity anonymously and receiving charity anonymously. I think many Native American Indians did it this way. But that's not always possible.
THE
TRAP
I have
noticed and have learned from our great shepherds (May their
memories be a blessing for us!) that in America especially, people do not want
us to be producers. They want us to be
consumers -- to give away our kindness -- our money -- to work and earn
kindness/money and give that away. And
give it away to those who don't like us, don't appreciate us, and would not
give us an opportunity if we wanted.
But they don't want to receive products from us -- straight from our
guts. Things we create. Businesses we begin. They don't want us to give -- to partake in
the blessing of kindness. And without kindness we get no money, no wealth
blessings. They would rather colonize a
Black nation and suck the wealth out as if they were the givers. Even many black folks don't want to
participate in the kindness exchange with other Black folks.
So how do we
make it in a system that is rigged for us to not be providers, producers or
givers and to only consume (like saying thank you, oh, thank you forever and
feeling indebted always)?
KINDNESS
IS THE ANSWER
We have to
use our wisdom and understanding to know that we only have ourselves right
now. We need to be kind to each other --
in other words, we need to give money to each other. There is a campaign out there called Buy
Black. That is an awesome
start. But I want us to understand why
we need to buy black and not just do it while the sun is shining. If we give kindness to each other, that will
bring wealth and yes, money as well.
Kindness
comes in many forms. I once saw a post
on Facebook about a million dollar sandal.
Million dollar sandal! It had
carvings of animals on the strap, intricate jewelry, etc. But showcasing the sandal was a Black
person. The only comments that post had
was how ashy the feet was, how the toe nail was badly clipped. Nothing about
the intricacies of the sandal. Nothing
about anything except criticism of the black guy's foot. It was a sad sign. There was zero kindness given, zero grace for
that person. Kindness is looking at
someone with a positive eye. We don't
have to overlook a wrong, but be judicious in what we do with it. Same goes with the "smDh" who has a
damned head? And referring to one another as "yo a$$" -- why the
backside? Why the side of judgement? If
not out of true love, then out of the wisdom of understanding that without the
exchange of kindness we remain far from wealth and yet more blessings that
await us.
THE
STARVING ARTIST
And then you
have the starving artist syndrome. The
one who does want to produce and does! But nothing seems to work. They are starving and still trying to give of
their kindness, sell their creation -- something that they made straight from
their heart. What now? What is missing?
JUSTICE
The flipside
of all this kindness is to keep it real.
To be truthful no matter how much it hurts. And the truth is that probably nobody
deserves an act of kindness. Everyone
has fallen short of being perfect and is probably deserving of punishment -- or
at least no kindness.
That is a
righteous way of looking at things. It's just.
But do we need justice at this point?
Yes!! We do. As things stand
right now there is no justice. We see
our fellow getting killed daily -- by the police at that! There is no one to turn to. No one to call. What used to be the court is no longer a
place of justice. The media is the new
court system. And the media has never
found us innocent -- always guilty. The actual
court system seems more like a farce or a ritual to keep everyone calm.
But we
shouldn't wait for criminals to give us a court system. We should create a court system with our
elders for ourselves and agree to abide by those rules. We judge ourselves so that we not be judged
Above.
With the
combination of Truth and Justice, we will feel truly free
and confident to move forward.
There should be no more doubt of undeservedness. No more secret fear that we shouldn't have
something or shouldn’t become something.
No question that we ought to move forward.
GRACE
I believe
conviction, perseverance and determination is what will give us the grace that's
needed for people to be receptive to gifts of kindness. The giver themselves have to truly believe
that what they have to offer is something so valuable that the world may crash
if it's not given! Then they won't be
shy or have to worry about self-confidence because it will be a matter of
urgency.
A
MATTER OF URGENCY
And I want
to tell you that what you have to offer is a matter of urgency. We need black doctors, plumbers, carpenters,
computer programmers, import/exporter everything...literally everything to
create a functioning Black world. If you
close your eyes and imagine a functioning Black world how big would that world
be? To me it seems very vast and empty
--where are the bank owners? The water
purifying companies? The airlines? Who is connecting to Afro-Cuba? Who is connecting to Afro-Brazil? To Afro-Asians (assuming they have embraced
their Africaness) we need more people to populate it and we should give their
businesses patronage -We are our economy.
May we be vessels for the Creator to bring goodness for our people.
Be kind.
