Life In A Black Body

Life in a black body is filled with involuntary stress.

In natural life, a being only encounters stress that its actions or results of its actions create. In a black body, you are constantly bombarded with information which belittles your worth, categorizes your character, or directly threatens your existence. Life in a black body forces you to go within. It forces you to find some internal light, some internal joy, some higher power that can't be extinguished by the bombardment you know is part of your everyday life. Black people have to find refuge in the silver lining of life. Constantly creating a more joyous perspective of life at large.

As a Black man, I meditate to transcend this black body. Not with any intent to escape it, and definitely not because of shame. I meditate to connect to my existence in its essence.

I am being.

I am awareness.

I am light.

I am existence expressed through a focal point.

No matter what body I come in, I am still that I am. I wonder what specific part of this black body makes other bodies tremble. What about this black body needs to be so hurriedly executed. Why does this country need to build itself upon black bodies? Have I found myself in this black body to experience anxiety and quickly return home? I see the only reason to be in a black body in America is to educate the country on the importance of life. I just wonder if this lesson must always be taught through martyrdom. Black bodies seem to be stuck in an infinite cycle of self sacrifice. I feel every death is to teach other bodies the value of existence. Every innocent life taken holds a mirror to life itself and shows a side of humanity we must also face. We face it and learn a new level of respect for ourselves and one another.

I understand in this life, you can't do anything to another without revealing what you feel of yourself. To hate is to express self hate. To love is to express self love. I wonder why America expresses so much without checking in on itself. I wonder why it still allows its rules and its government to remain the same, both of which were created 243 years ago. Does it believe the problems of today are the same? Or is it still trying to understand itself? Just like the moment in 1776 when a new country was born out of a dream to make things better, in 2020 America needs to recreate itself in the image of who and what it is today. We are no longer a country looking for independence. We are the melting pot of the world, and our systems, laws, consciousness, and leaders need to represent the next steps in human culture and advancement. It is time to heal the wounds of our past and move to a future where all bodies are afforded the ability to live. Old America needed an enemy to validate its existence. Without one, it decided to turn on its citizens, especially those of color. America reimagined could focus its attention on human advancement and innovation across the globe. It can be a land of all people, for all people.

When you look at the Earth from space, there are no borders. There are no boundaries. Every part of the planet intersects with another. We are all truly one. America's most valuable trait is its multiracial, multicolored, and multi-cultured population. It's time to recreate itself to highlight that truth.

RIP George Floyd. I want you to be the last black life sacrificed for change.