What If Business was War?

PROLOGUE:

I am excited about the awakening in the Black community collectively.  I too am experiencing an awakening.  However, I do long for the day when the Black community's actions are not viewed immediately as "coonery" or "stupid" until further analysis is done.  I mean, I long for the day when it's assumed wise until proven otherwise.

What If Business was War?

Thanks to people like Boyce Watkins, Andre Hatchett, and legends like Claud Anderson, the buzz for creating Black businesses is being felt and people are moving and shaking things.  Businesses are getting created in an amazing array of industries, apps are getting created, the list goes on and on.  But the question that seems to puzzle everyone is this:  Why aren't Black consumers going to black businesses?

Many of the answers have something about "coonery" on the public's part or "stupidity" on their part, but I would like to analyse it a bit more and from a new angle.

When an entity's will goes against another entity's will, it makes for a clash.  One may try to impose their will on the other one if they are small minded.  This battle of the wills is the stuff that war is made out of.

Group A wants land X.  Group B opposes.  They go to war about it.
Group A wants product X.  Group B opposes.  They go to war about it.
Group A wants X.  Group B opposes.  They go to war about it.

You get the picture.

If not, another good example is sports.  There are two teams.  They both have the will to get a rare resource: the winner status.  They go out screaming or some  kind of battle cry and it's on.  They go to war about it.

Sports is the entertainment for warlike people.

Businesses are not too different.  They introduce item X.  But they don't let you have it unless you yield (money).  The battle cry is the marketing and advertisements.  In the end, they both hope to be the victor and compete for that position.

What's Love Got to Do With It?
Now would someone one who loves another battle it out?  Or would they have the same will -- to make sure item X is available to their loved ones who need it without struggle?  Can you see why a Black person who loves another Black person would maybe not want to engaged in such battles, bargaining, outsmarting, etc.?

Hopefully, we can begin to see the wisdom and love in the Black collective's action. It could be they don't want to engaged in this war against their own.  Whereas with other companies, other groups, they know they are in a battle and there's no love there.  So they do what they can to outsmart the business or they resign themselves to possibly being the defeated one, the outsmarted one.

Once I heard that a Black woman started a detergent line.  But she and her friends were offended that Black consumers felt comfortable enough to ask her what ingredient went in the making of the detergent.  They asked, "would they ask Tide about their ingredient?!"   No.  They wouldn't.  But they may wonder.  However, if they know they'll be lied to, outwitted, or they have no choice in the matter anyway, so they buy without question.  But it doesn't necessarily mean there are no questions!

Best Model for Paradise
To the best of my knowledge, I think the best model is how some native Indians had it.  There was an area where everyone brought their excesses and those in need would rumage through and take what they needed.  But everyone had to be productive and kind enough to share their excesses.

We are nowhere near recreating this self sustaining model (nor even desiring such a model possibly), and so therefore must go out and hunt.  Go out and go to war and bring in resources into the community.  But to chastise people for not hunting the hunter makes no sense.  Let him hunt.  We should all be hunting and bringing home resources until the community is self sustaining.

It's awesome that these warriors are getting created.  They are needed.  And when possible Black consumer should buy from them if/when they can.  But one must use caution to make sure it's truly to our advantage in the short and long run.

The Curse of Hham

Do you believe that the children of Hham are cursed?  Do you believe that the Jews are cursed?  I believe that the children of Hham are not cursed just as the the Jewish people are not cursed, but blessed!!  They both received a blessing and they both made the same, albeit fixable, mistake.

When a blessing comes down, it can either fall "heads up" for lack of a better word or "tails up" in which case it is a curse.  It all depends on one's behavior. 

So what was this blessing that came down and went wrong?  Can it be corrected?

BACKGROUND

In the story of Hham.  His father was the tzaddik of the generation -- the righteous one of the generation.  He got the call to build an ark and to enter it with many of the animals because of an incoming flood.  So he did.

All this is done out of mercy.  Hashem had mercy on the world; it had gone so badly, with people hurting one another, stealing from one another, and mating in an unnatural way to the point that it became the law of the land.

So he built the ark and as a window, he used a precious stone to bring light into the ark according to some commentaries.

Precious stones are also embedded in crowns.  According to Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, the crown -"keter" - is the highest tip of one level.  Looking through the precious stone one can see into the next level -- the lowest part of the next level.  Hham may have stared into that precious stone and received a revelation -- i.e. he studied and pondered until he "knew" something.

Knowing has lots of different connotation.  It can mean understanding a piece of information or it can me mating; such as Adam Knew Eve/Chava.  But really they both mean the same thing.  Knowing someone or something well; all the contours, all the ins and outs, understanding.

So Hham had intercourse in the ark.  He knew something.  He got a revelation of something and understood something.  As a result of this understanding he was stricken in the skin.

Along with Hham, the dog and the raven also "had intercourse" in the ark.  As a result, the dog is made to be tied.  In other words, the dog also understood or figured something out and they are brought into the human world -- tied to the human -- a step higher than the animal world.

The raven was made to expectorate.  Ravens are one of the smartest creatures on the earth.  In fact, it is said they are even better at speech than the parrot.  Speech is a human quality -- one step ahead of the animal world.

These animals moved to a higher level away from the animal world and into the human world.

Hham was already in the human world.  So there was only one place for him to move.  The spiritual world.  The skin being stricken caused the move to the spiritual world.  In fact the melanin is controlled by the pineal gland -- that which is activated when we pray or meditate.

THE CURSE

After the ark everyone came out and began life anew.  However, Noah shamed himself by drinking from the vineyard, stripping himself naked, and doing who knows what.  Already, problems can begin.  Because even if Noah was mating with his wife, he shouldn't do this while drunk.  And if he wasn't with his wife, the last thing the world needs is spilled seed on the holy, freshly washed land.

Hham did not like that.  He and his fourth son, Canaan went and did something to Noah.

But where Hham did wrong is that afterwards, he went to Shem and Yaffet and reported what he saw.  They then took a sheet and covered Noah up.

When Noah woke up and found out what happened, he cursed Hham.  He said Hham would be a slave to all his brothers.

If Hham had to go to his brothers and hear what they say rather than stand on his own knowledge, his own center, and his own two feet and make decisions, he basically is putting himself under whatever people's reactions are to his ways.  That is the curse.

THE JEWS

It's not a rare mistake.  There was another group who made have done the same thing.

In the story of the Jewish people, the Jews left Egypt (along with some Egyptians) and went to the mountain of Sinai.  There the prepared themselves for the "wedding canopy" with Hashem.  In this time, they all received the Torah -- a set of instructions carved in stone.  Although the Torah was received in stone, when it gets written, it can only be on leather, i.e. skin -- usually the hide of a cow.  Cows are also known to have high melanin content.

They were so amazed from it all, they responded "we will DO and we will hear!"

Commentaries have said that right then and there antisemitism came into the world.

It could be that when they said "we will DO" that was the blessing.  They were willing to do God's will.  They would receive it and do it.

But then, just like Hham ran and told his brothers, the Jews spoke and said "and we will hear!"  Hear what?  They had to have heard already before they can do.  So what is this second hearing?  Some commentaries say that the second hearing is for the parts of Torah to come.  But it could be that this "we will hear" is listening to what the world says about their actions.  And listening to what the world says is making them very hard press to live their lives as they should, with conviction, determination, etc.

THE ANSWER

The answer is that both the children of Hham and the Jewish people need to stop listening to what the world says -- especially to what the West says.  Why the west?  Because Esav/Esau is the one who it's said was a man of war.  Who goes around with trickery and is under the angel Satan.  If they see that there is a person, or group of people who are waiting to hear what is said -- waiting for validation, that is an opening for a tricky person to take advantage of the situation.  That is a controllable person -- put before the wrong person, they are in trouble.

STEP BY STEP

Both groups need to clear out their candelabrum so they can be better.  The candelabrum I speak of is the black lights -- the two eyes, the two nostrils, the two ear holes and the mouth.  Take great care what is let in.  And use the best oil for the light.  Taking in negative news, self-negating programs, seeing gross imagery, bloody imageries, illicit relationships (for the nose is related to the reproductive parts), eating the wrong food or even speaking negatively about one's own are all things that will ruin our candelabrum.  The candelabrum must be pure in order to shine far and wide.  What is it that we are using the candelabrum to sense?  The truth.   With the light of the Truth, we will know where to walk and where to go.

The Jews have the extra light of Torah that must be kept pure and that is doing good deeds (mitzvoth) and acts of kindness.

For Black folks, there is the extra light of the candelabrum which is the black skin -- that is also a light and must be kept pure -- doing good deeds and acts of kindness.

THE FUTURE

In the long run, doing the right thing is beneficial for the entire universe and so well worth the efforts.  This includes the environment, the animals, the plants, and the people.  It behooves us to find the strength, like Joshua/Yehoshua ben Nun to be strong and courageous.

But before we even go there, good strong character traits are needed otherwise will can fall right back to listening to what others say and being unsure and seeking validation.  Traits and values such as diligence, patience, generousity, faith, wisdom, and mercy.  These traits and values must be instilled as quickly and consistently as possible -- we must raise and teach our own children to make sure that these values are in place --on LOCK.  And the learning must be continuous.  Hopefully, this way an "other" will not be able to come and shake them.

Plus, pride should have no part in this.  If one becomes proud, the mouth opens up.  Then we may find it necessariy -- even commendable -- to try and teach others.  But if others aren't ready to hear it or may feel inferior because they don't understand it, what good did we do?  We would have only created envious creatures.  The knowledge is for us.  We are the ones who need it.

Be strong and courageous.