The Hard Truth — Kojo’s little birthday wish, Part II
22nd April 2013 · 0 Comments
By Min. J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer
Last time we started a discussion of what I wanted for my birthday, which was the 19th of this month. I said that if the birthday fairy, elf, etc granted three wishes I already knew what mine would be.
The absolute Liberation of Black/Afrikan people worldwide is my highest priority in This Life. I am obsessed with and totally committed to this ideal/goal. However, I would not wish for instantaneous Black Liberation, because I believe we have to earn that to handle it properly. The process will wizen and strengthen us, although the cost…well…
As I said, last week my first wish would be for Black people to LOVE OURSELVES. This would lead to the resolution of every other problem that we have. That is why our enemies work overtime to get us to believe that we started out as slaves and to divorce ourselves from Afrika and any knowledge of the great things we accomplished before our unfortunate contact with Europeans. That is why entertainment and media keep insisting that the most we can be is thugs, lackeys, hoochies, buffoons, and angry, ignorant, uncivilized bipeds.
An outbreak of Black Self Love would even help clear up some of our spiritual confusion, because you don’t love God, if you don’t love you.
But if I had two other wishes they would compliment Wish #1. They are:
Wish #2: For Black people to be consumed by a Collective Vision of Greatness, Power, Freedom and Sovereignty. If we were to become driven by a passion to have the best lives and to be the best people on earth (and the cosmos) instead of by our past and current fears and hurts we would be unstoppable. We would never, ever settle for less again. We would become preoccupied with doing and building for ourselves. We would realize the necessity for working together because our Vision would be too big for any one of us to accomplish alone. We would use wisdom, courage and determination to steamroll any opposition and keep moving forward. The things we will create and do when (not “if”) this happens are unimaginable. Just look at what we accomplished in Afrika and the world before our terrible fall. Look at the amazing things we have done in captivity.
Of course, a big part of believing in our greatness goes right back to the issue of Self-Love. If you could only see what I see when I look at our people. My God, the potential!!!
Wish #3: I would wish for a massive Crisis of the Spirit among our people. I would wish that each and every one of us would develop an insatiable hunger to know and relate to The Creator for ourselves. This hunger would force us to think for self, seek for self, know for self and then live the truth we know. I think this pursuit would create some confusion at first,but would ultimately result in a new type of unity that upheld certain principles while respecting differences in understanding or approach.
How could this be? While our perceptions and insights may vary, Truth Is One. It is sheer arrogance for any mortal to claim complete or perfect understanding of any spiritual principle or truth. We could all be wrong about anything we claim to know, or believe and every truth exists and manifests on multiple levels. It takes humility to approach our quest with this understanding. To approach spiritual truth without this level of humility generally produces abuse, war, exploitation and oppression, usually in the name of “Truth”.
We should judge our spiritual practices based on what they cause us to do. That’s how I know that Christianity or the universal Church, as we have known it, has failed, just like every other major religion. Do the results live up to the expressed intentions? Hell naw! The practices don’t even match. What we call “truth” has not even transformed the religious institutions that are supposed to promote goodness in the world.
When we each assume the divine responsibility for what we choose to believe it will create a much-needed upheaval. When critical thinking becomes a part of our spiritual practice, every minister, teacher, prophet, priest, shaman, etc, will have to be accountable for what they put out…and not just accountable to an invisible God/Creator but to the very people you lead/teach. No one will feel obligated to accept something you know is crap, just because “de preacha said it.”
Then you will see a new day and a better condition than the world has yet known.
However, since there ain’t no b’day genie or elf that means I will have to get back up off of my Black, proud duff and continue to push and spread the message of Black Love, Black Vision and Critical Thinking until it catches on.
If you are down with this idea then…Whatchagonna DO?
This article originally published in the April 22, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
