If there were no Bibles, Qu'rans. or Torahs....

If there was no Bible, Qu’ran, or Torah, would people know how to seek God?

Would people know how to live righteously?

        Would people know how to love themselves?

 

Must we really be told how to love?

                    How to live?

How to respect ourselves and our neighbors and our universe?

                                  How to become one with our spirit?

 

If we didn’t have Bibles, Qurans, and Torahs

Would people even seek to be spiritually sound?

Would people know where to begin?

 People quote the Bible.

People quote the Qu’ran

People quote the Torah

 

They speak the truth of love.

The power of faith

The essence of oneness with all

 

If there were no Bibles, Torahs, or Qu’rans

We would write our own psalms

 

If there were no Bibles, Qu’rans, or Torahs

We would recite our own mantras

                  Find our own paths

                                          Ignite our own fires

Make our own rules

 

 Follow our own gospels

                                            Cultivate love in our own way

 

Wouldn’t we?      Would we?

 

What would we do if there were no Bibles, Qu’rans, and Torahs?

 

Would you know God?

Would you know how to know God?

Would you believe in God?

Would you have faith?

 

Would we argue over the truth?

                                       Would there be one truth?

Would there be infinite truths depending on experience?

Would people be so attached to their beliefs?

Would people be so quick to judge others’ beliefs?

Would we feel so trapped?

Would we feel so dirty?

Would we feel so inherently bad?

Would we feel so inherently good?

 

If there were no Bibles, Qu’rans, and Torahs……

My Thoughts on the Zimmerman Verdict One Day Later

I am feeling quite depressed today honestly, after that Zimmerman verdict came back not guilty. I had faith in the system. I had faith that what we all inherently know would be upheld and Trayvon Martin's family would feel some sort of peace after receiving justice by the hands of the law. People were telling me so adamantly that Zimmerman would get off and I was like " Hmm maybe, but I don't think so." I'm an optimist... After the announcement Saturday though, I realized the country still had a long way to go and the system is flawed in many ways, still.

I generally am not very emotional about death and cases like these anymore. They are all too common and all too sensationalized. I acknowledge the pain and pray for those affected, but I generally do not dwell on the situations. I prefer to focus on solutions to the never ending chaos rather than engulf myself in the pain that surrounds us all. But this decision is just affecting me heavy today! I feel so hurt and in so much pain that the family has to suffer and that the system is designed in a way that all individuals aren't granted equality and justice under the law. There are discrepancies in race, class, gender. etc that determine if you will be treated equal and just under the law and this is obvious.

Furthermore, what is really plunging me into a state of deeper anger and depression are the scattered responses TO responses to people's outrage about the decision. What I mean is:

• The comments I read that said why we are stupid and brainwashed for protesting for Trayvon when in Syria some other injustices are occurring
• The status that said I don't get why people don't get this outraged about Black on Black crime
• The conversations about the uselessness of passive protests and rallies and sorry nature of activist communities that do these things

These 3 things bothered me a lot honestly. People get so hung on how things are done and how people react and whether their reaction is appropriate. Meanwhile, it contributes to one of the causes of the predicament that the inhabitants of this country are in today. You can't be a so called activist who doesn't want to show support for other activists. That is a problem in not only the Black community but in the nonprofit/grassroots activism circuit. Lack of collaboration and unity, usually due to minor differences and an unwillingness to compromise for the greater good.

Minimizing the seriousness of this situation by bringing the attention to another injustice, as if activism and advocacy and the fight for equality is a game of tit for tat where we have to prioritize which injustices get mentioned, talked about, or rallied for first is sad! Its a product of this sensationalizing culture that we live in and propaganda we are fed. We buy into the idea that the worst & biggest injustices are the ones that appear on the tv screen and trending topics the most. No!! There are horrific injustices happening every fucking day, 24/7, 365, whether its murder, institutionalized racism, rape, human trafficking, police brutality, fucked up laws passing, patriarchy, hate crimes, Zimmerman getting off, exploitation, capitalism, the list goes on forever!! But we can't be mad that people are mad....Why? We watched a travesty play out before our eyes. Many can empathize. Sympathize. Is compassion now a crime as well?

Even further, these viewpoints all speak some ignorance into the atmosphere. Organizing for rallies and protests is never futile, especially for the spirit. Just thinking in terms of energy---gathering a group of people in a common space (with intense passion and intent mind you) is what we as activists live for! You have harnessed collective energy with a common goal who obviously want a change, because they have showed up. It is at least a building block to forming something substantial, if the organizers have the hope, plans, and determination to proceed. Secondly, I HATE the notion that Black people don't show outrage when reckless violence occurs within our community. BULLSHIT!! We have vigils, marches, rallies, and outrage when that happens as well. Once again, that's the belief that whatever is on tv must be the truth and must be valued.

Further though,  I don't think people understand why this situation does garner outrage from the Black community and why it indeed has an adverse affect on us. When a case is sensationalized like this, with all the racial undertones included, people feel the emotions and listen to the opinions ad notice the context of certain opinions and publicized happenings, and we become invested in the trial, emotionally and spiritually. But what this case shows is the existence of institutionalized and systemic racism and classism that still exists presently, that people vehemently try to deny. Systemic and institutionalized racism and classism have just as great an effect if not the most on the conditions that the inhabitants of this country are in....spiritually impoverished, mentally dead, and on the brink of destruction. Shouldn't the victims of these isms be outraged. WTF?! Are we supposed to be outraged at a different time? In a different way? For a different reason? Why not now?

I just think we sometimes always want to look at what's wrong with anything and everything. Black people are actually organizing in a constructive way for a constructive cause and it's still a problem. Isn't this the solution we all say we need? To unite. Even now that we decide to unite, the unison isn't good enough.

People should be ready to die today. Sorry but that is not realistic. That all people will be ready to give up everything to be a 24 hr activist overnight. I am just happy they took the step to take a stand for something. I see the heart in that. Now its your job to engage and empower them further.

Those people should care about this and not that. Well why don't you get a group together who cares about that, educate us on it, then we can work together to rectify both issues.

Let's realize that the ills of society will not be rectified with one motion, in one week, under one condition. The problem is multidimensional so the solution will be as well. This is the importance of building coalitions. This is the purpose of organizing. This is the purpose of empowerment. We must remain in good spirits focusing on positive outcomes and supporting productive change. We must show our un-support of injustice and demand fairness, equality, and our human rights. Spreading negativity makes you apart of the problem.

Its Not What You Know Its Who You Know: Why Business and Emotions DO Mix

This is the corporate/ professional/ entrepreneurial mantra: Its Not What You Know But Who You Know. From my experiences over the past few years, I can agree with this unwritten rule. Networking and building connections with people is so important! Knowing CEOs, donors, promoters, board members, politicians, city officials, managers, entertainers, even bouncers and djs can open doors for you in which others may not even reach. Knowing people, especially people with influence, can be the difference between getting a job, getting a grant, paying for a party, being elected to office, a bill passing, getting a promotion, or just even gaining access to certain information or places. The impressions we leave on people and the people we know and connect with are guaranteed to effect situations and outcomes.

My thing is....if we can accept and recognize this dynamic, how can we in the same breath be so ADAMANT about separating emotions from the business and professional world? Do we not realize that essentially, relationship building is based on our emotions??!!?

People love to say, you're letting your emotions make decisions for you or stop letting your emotions effect you. That's like saying stop letting your hormones effect you. You can't. Its involuntary. What you CAN do is suppress or ignore your emotions but that doesnt mean its not effecting your body, thoughts, and decisions. Whether you recognize the truth or not, it will still remain true. The coldest man has emotions, so even in a business setting, this person may appear cool as a cucumber, but if you rub him or her the wrong way, they are not going to fuck with you.

People say emotions have no place in business so many corporate and professional people attempt to suppress their emotions by not expressing them or for some completely ignoring them, as if they don't exist. But, we all know emotions exist; our bodies involuntarily have SOME sort of response to stimuli, verbal and nonverbal. For example, you meet someone at a networking event with prejudice viewpoints. You may clench your teeth or curse the person out. Both are reactions to the emotion anger. You meet someone who specializes in your field at the park. You either smile or grab them and hug and kiss them. Both are reactions to the emotion joy. Both reactions will garner different responses from the receiver.

So how am I tying this in? Because irregardless of expression, emotions will determine the healthiness of any relationship. If someone is experiencing unwanted emotions when interacting with you, i.e anger, frustration they are not going to want to build with you, do favors for you, promote you, hire you, even refer you. They may be inclined to slander your name if the negative emotions have effected their outlook on you THAT much. The opposite is also true; if someone experiences favorable emotions when interacting with you i.e joy, ease then they will be inclined to work with you further. People don't work with people they don't like.

Its not what you know its who you know.
Emotions have no place in business

Emotions have a place in everything! How would we even know our own likes and dislikes without emotion? One would not feel anything was it not for emotion. We could just all live in bubbles not interacting with anyone or anything, and even still, we could possibly fall prey to emotions such as loneliness or despair. Emotions steer us toward desired outcomes. They are the precursors to thought; the innate animal response to any stimuli which signals to our brain how to voluntarily express this feeling (tears, blushing, yelling, smiling, etc). Emotions are apart of us as human beings; its not an option lol. Denying emotions is denying who you are.

When people hear the word emotions, its associated with hysterical crying or rage. Of course these 2 emotions would be inappropriate and unfavorable in ALMOST EVERY SETTING. But emotions have such a huge range and every emotion can be expressed at different intensities. We can PRETEND that emotions are irrelevant but whether someone expresses them or not, they remain and they effect our decision making. We do not like to experience negative emotions and will avoid the causes of them, including if these causes are people. I am not associating with someone who FRUSTRATES me. PERIOD. Unless they are the only being in the universe with a certain ability lol.
Therefore, "who you know", on at least SOME level, is based on emotional intelligence.

My thoughts on the importance of our beautiful emotions which have been devalued by patriarchy, along with the other functions of spirit and heart....