Silence Within The Black Community

For the past couple of weeks, hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa has been accused of molestation from people that could've been his victims. After this shit hits the fan, KRS-One comes out to defend one of the founding fathers of hip-hop.

Since the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and Eric Gardner, an organization called the Black Lives Matter Movement has been on the rise from Ferguson Missouri to Baltimore Maryland. In a nutshell, it's purpose is to bring awareness of crimes against black people by the powers that be, cops and the white man. However, there's a bunch of other shit it doesn't stand for nor won't talk about (I'll get to that later).

Two pastors from the Atlanta area and The Gump Alabama got snitched on by the people they exposed and/or infected with the AIDS/HIV virus. 100 plus pastors secretly had a meeting with Donald Trump, who's openly dissed women, Latinos, and Muslims, and have given their full political affiliation to his cause. Hell, a well known pastor from ATL asked his supporters to donate their taxable incomes to help buy him a 65 million dollar tax write-off plane (which he already bought).

A mother (probably single) from San Antonio Texas was charged with abusing her children, from having two of her children on a leash and the home they all stayed was a shit hole. If anyone who's a father paying child support in the great state of Texas, the majority of custody cases favors women. Let's break it down further. Do you notice child support doesn't go to the kids but to these mothers, who are, as Juvenile termed, "Project Chicks?" The weaves, the nails, the sorry ass men they're screwing while the fathers have to flip the bill.

These different scenarios and more aren't discussed in the black community and anyone who says something politically incorrect (offense to the community), they're blacklisted. Coon, sell-out, Oreo, Uncle Tom, or the devil. However, these different scenarios are running rampant in the black community and it's time they be addressed. Fuck praying and fasting about this shit. Fuck using religion, Jesus, Allah, holy books, and whatever other spiritual monotony to deflect our problems. It's about time to kill the biggest elephants in the room that is still keeping us in the predicaments we're in, blaming slavery and the white man for where we are today.

Yes, the present black community is still feeling the effects of slavery; however, we can't put all the blame on the "white man." You know who we need to blame? We need to blame the people who sold us out for women, land, control, power, money, weapons, and other trade deals; our African ancestors (do your research). Case and point, until we begin to research and educate ourselves on these matters we're going to continue to guidelines laid out for us by the Willie Lynch letters.

Which leads to the ignorance of the BLM movement....

It's funny how BLM talk about the injustices white people and the police have incurred against blacks. They look for a black person to get knocked off by police so they can torch neighborhood businesses, people's cars, people's houses, loot stores, march, and scream at police barricades. However, when a 9 year old girl in Ferguson Missouri was killed by a stray bullet from a probable act of gang activity. Was there a march, looting, and rioting for her? A couple of months ago, right here in The Gump, some innocent folks got shot by some black ass-wipes over nothing. When a elderly gentleman got shot by a cop (after a struggle in the dead of night), here comes BLM showing their muscles. Let's not forget about the high murder rates in places like Chicago Illinois and the widespread drug trades/gang activity in Kinston North Carolina. Hell, when two black cops killed a white young boy in New Orleans, there was hardly any press about this tragedy. Where is BLM at these places? Where are the marches and the protests denouncing these behaviors within the black community? If someone who knows about these different crimes, they keep their mouths shut in fear of retribution from some niggly hoodlums.

Molestation is real and it's rampant, from the projects, to the suburbs, to the schools, and in the church. Shit, I'm of this bullshit and to this day, I'm still working to unravel myself from its effects in my life. There's a code of silence in our community when it comes to this matter. When people who do this shit to others, namely children, mentally disabled, the disadvantaged, and elderly, we're told to keep this shit a secret. But do you know what happens when you keep a secret like this? It fucks with you. For some, they go to drugs, some to alcohol, others to promiscuity, some to suicide, and some of the abused become the abuser. When someone is dealing with these issues, we're quick to say it's sin, the devil, and don't help them seek professional help. They don't have the forums, places, or freedom to express the pain that's been inflicted. They are told to forgive their abusers, let the pain go, and move it along It's easier said than done and these victims bear the weight of this shame; however, their abusers get away "Scott Free." Therefore, the cycle of molestation continues and god-damn if a public figure gets outed, the first reaction by us in the black community is to defend them.

Which leads me to my next point.....these bum ass, no job having ass preachers.....

Out of the various pastors/preachers getting outed for exposing/infecting people (men & women) of HIV/AIDS, one got sentenced to prison and the other one, well, he just lost his church (which is still gong on to this day, why?). After the media railroaded this well-known ATL pastor for his multi-million dollar acquisition, he plays the defense and accuses the media of being "agents of Satan." The fucked up part is that he's got that plane, flying wherever he wants to go (and probably not for ministerial reasons), and nobody can do shit about it. Well, something could be done about it but that would need members of the black community to vacate his services every week and take their talents (time, money, skills) elsewhere. However, many like the members of this pastor's congregation are brainwashed, indoctrinated, and told "not to touch the Lord's anointed." Most of us in the black community are afraid of questioning these pastors/preachers because we feel that if we do so, hell and God's displeasure is our fate.

Since the 1980s, the church and the gospel of Christ hasn't helped the black community deal with the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Instead of providing condoms, proper sex education, and awareness of this still fatal disease, we're told to "marry than burn in sexual sin." We're told to be sexually pure (not have sex) but in many instances, people do what they're told not to do. For some reason, some of us hate condoms and get infected with various diseases. One gets an STD from another and then they infect someone else. Then they keep this shit a secret and as the hands in worship services go up and as the offering plates get full, people are a walking petri dish in Jesus' name (especially in the black gay/bi-sexual male and heterosexual black female communities-i.e. - CDC).

And this leads to my next point, child abuse......

What this mother did to her kids is fucked up but it's just an open door to what's going on in the black community. The extension cords, the brutal beat downs, the verbal abuse, the sexual abuse, impoverished living arrangements, crime, credit fraud against under aged children, and high rates of single mothers; all in the black community. Some of these products are residual effects from the generational cycles laid upon us since slavery. My question is, when is it going to be addressed?

There are a bunch of other situations prevalent in our community I don't have the time to touch on. I decided to put these on the table because these three different types are fucking up our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our spirits. We're allowing sensationalized media, traditions, and bandwagon views keep us from telling the truth; hell, being the truth. And God isn't going to come off his/her throne to save us. Stop believing in fairy tales. It's time for us to take off the iron masks from our heads and stop being silent. It's time for us to be logical and reasonable. Take it from a man who's fighting to unravel himself from being a nigger into a human being. We've got our kids to help in a world, in a society, that makes it hard for us to be and do as we please.

Take Care. DgWo

Should We Always Forgive?

I've wanted to put my thoughts down about this topic for a while because I believe the conversation about forgiveness is discussed from a religious perspective; not from a logical perspective. Since Christianity is the monopoly of American culture, we are indoctrinated from birth it's mandatory for us to "forgive others that God may forgive us." If we "don't forgive, God won't forgive us" and we don't question this pseudo "mandate from heaven." Today, I'd like to question it because I believe it's complete and utter bullshit. I believe we shouldn't always have a forgiving heart when people do us or anyone else dirty. So with this post, I'd like to point out a couple of things we need to logically investigate the food that's been fed to us for years based on writings to make us counter-productive when it comes to conflict resolution within ourselves, between others, and the option of forgiveness. Please, let's put our Korans, Bibles, and degrees down; let's think logically and intricately.


1. Should we forgive people when they continuously, knowingly, and with great severity harm us and others?  HELL NO. For the majority of my life, I've lived in the Bible Belt, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Alabama. Within the past few months, I've brought up the issue of forgiveness when it comes to this question. Do you want to know what the answers were? I'm glad you asked. "Jesus said, we've got to forgive our brothers (sisters) seventy times seven." "If we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us, and if we die with unforgivness in our hearts, we'll go to hell." "Unforgiveness holds you back while the people that hurt you are moving on with our lives, not even thinking about you." Does this apply to those people who've been lied to over and over and over again by financial specialists (bankers, investors, loan holders, insurance agents) and have their monies /credit drained to the bone marrow without apology? What about those men and women who were rape or sexual abuse by a family member repeatedly but their abuser never apologies or confesses? Come to think about it, what about those service members who were raped (and reported it to their "superiors) yet their abusers are protected by the powers that be, excel in their military careers, and never apologize to their victim(s)? Should a parent continue to forgive their kids who continually steal, lie, and cheat (with crocodile tear apologies)? What about those people who know what they're doing is wrong and still fucking people over? Should people in these situations forgive those who've wronged them? There are a lot of people I've screwed over in my lifetime, some I haven't apologized for my actions. To be quiet honest, shit, I may never confess or apologize for bullshit I've done (the dichotomy of man, haha). Should they forgive me? Should people forgive me after knowing what I've done to them I'm also knowingly and consistency doing to others? Do you think the court of law forgives people who commit multiple offenses (murder, tax evasion, fraud, child neglect, etc.)? Put yourself in that position and think about it.

2. Does God really not forgive people who won't forgive others?  HELL NO. I recently had a conversation about this and of course I get the well-known answer I've been getting my entire life. "We have to forgive others that God will forgive us"; all of which is based on a book written by men to control other men (more so the common, working, poor men/women/children of any society). Honestly, will a God who's infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, and is forever not forgive mortals who rightly hold unforgiveness towards people ? Doesn't make any sense yet people continue to think otherwise. How do we know if God turns his or her back on us because we refuse to forgive others? Within the context of Christian culture, when something tragic happens (financial, loss of life, etc.), that's God's judgment upon us. Well, that's complete bullshit because we can't control the ever-changing tides of life and death. We don't know what the hell is on God's mind, no matter if we're the pope, an imam, an apostle, or a shaman. God can't be held in the box of our thinking or some pseudo "holy" book. It's also absurd to think God will forgive a person (who gets away with an offense) who "seemingly" has a repentant heart rather than someone who doesn't forgive another person who continually fucks up others' lives. Come on, people, put on your thinking caps, put away your indoctrination; put on logic and reason. It's time we stop being scared of going to hell based on what judgmental people say and some pseudo holy book masterminded by the Flavian dynasty (research it).

3. Forgiveness versus confrontation? Forgiveness is not easy and should only be given to those who are truly repentant for what they've done (not just with their words/tears but with their deeds). I've noticed within the past 2, maybe 3 years, I've seen people take the forgiveness route because it's the easiest. Instead of confronting those who wronged them, they just pray for them, let it go, and say the old adage, "forgive them Father for they don't know what they're doing." I also noticed that those same people they refuse to confront are still to this day, as a venomous snake, debilitating countless others with their poison. The sad part of it is, they're still cordial with these people and the cycle of offenses, kept silent, continues (especially in the black community). There's a term in the psychology world called "Fight or Flight." Many of these environments I've been in, people would rather forgive (or say they do) than confront. Running away by way of forgiving bypasses our chance to unload the hurt we have inside our minds and hearts. It allows us to confront those that have hurt us (and vice versa) and we have to go through the arduous process of moving on. Speaking of letting it go, we can never be like God, who men have written, "sins are thrown into the sea of forgetfulness." Remember, we are not deities, we are human beings and it's our right to feel whatever human emotions we have, as long as we don't harm others. We can't just through the pain we received just like that, it takes a lot of work and a lot of time for us to make it "manageable." For some of us, forgiveness is easier and we just go on with life without telling others about themselves; however, some of us want confrontation. Either way, we want our houses to be square again, meaning, we want peace within ourselves and a good night's sleep.

4. Do we have to forgive? It's a catch 22. Ultimately, it's up to us whether or not forgiveness is an option. It's not up to our families, it's not up to our friends, it's not up to a preacher, hell, it's not up to God. We have to do what's best for us as individuals, not what's best for the people, environments, and society around us. So, if we choose to forgive, don't forgive for the sake of your fear that God won't forgive you or will send you to hell. When you forgive, you're doing it because you have sympathy for the other person, regardless if they knowingly or unknowingly fucked you over. For some of us, we just do because we don't have time to hold on to anger towards others (but that doesn't mean we have to respect them). If we choose not to forgive, don't feel bad about it and don't let some fuck ass holy roller make you feel bad, either. Some bullet wounds go so deep, the pain will never go away. Sometimes, the people you don't forgive, you tried to reason with them but they continue to "middle finger u" and keep on doing what they do best to somebody else. Whenever I bring this subject up or about my past experiences, people say, "you've got bitterness in your heart and you need to let it go." That's funny, I wonder if they'd say that to people who've experienced worse shit than me? Probably not. Damn, this is a sticky subject but man, we as individuals have to make that decision and learn to be at peace with it.

Oh yeah, for those who choose not to forgive and you express your views to some "holy rollers", here's something for you:

The following link is the definition of bitterness, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bitterness. It's very different from what we've been indoctrinated to believe. This blew my mind.

Take it from me, don't allow your emotions to take you to the deep end and rob you of what life presently and in future has for you (good/bad/ugly). Trust me on that one....

For those who choose to forgive and/or not to forgive, I feel you and you have every right to feel that way. People who don't walk in your shoes don't understand your pain. They never will because they're on the outside looking in. All you can do is keep making your life better and realize that you're doing the right thing. Remember this, forgiveness isn't given, it's earned, just like everything else in this crazy world.

Take care, dGwO.

Do Black Lives Really Matter?

This has been a tumultuous year for the overall black community. Sandra Bland, Christian Taylor, etc, the list of black people dead at the hands of law enforcement is overwhelming. I'm pretty sure tragedies that have been tagged as "race related" will continue in America. As I was taught 20 years ago, "you're going to see a lot things happen when you all become adults." Mr. King wasn't lying but some others are. For the past couple of months, maybe longer, we've been introduced to the hashtag, "Black Lives Matter." For the average person, it's very easy to jump on the bandwagon, go to protests, march, and voice our outcry against injustices toward blacks. As I look deeper into the black community (also the move from Texas to Alabama helped), I'm seeing a lot of hypocrisy in my community. The revamped notion of "the white man" is in full effect. I agree, there are still signs of racism in this country. Truthfully, there's racism in all races against other races in this country. Now the Black Lives Matter campaign is climbing the mountain top in a pseudo MLK fashion (which most of our "newer" black generation don't know). But we don't see Jackson or Sharpton walking through the streets of Chicago to simmer down the senseless killings due to black on black crime. - Side note - Hell, thesdopportunists were disallowed in the Ferguson situation. - We don't see black social (empowerment) groups in the South demanding TV time to address the AIDS/HIV problems in the black community (mostly from 16-24). We don't hear black preachers condemn other preachers/churches from swindling "the saints" of their time and money just to please "Jesus." Black communities aren't coming together to put public school systems in check to provide better educational resources for their children. Unless Oprah touches it, the black community is very hush on the rampant sexual abuses of our children. As soon as a cop (no matter the race), "kills" a black person, we tear up black and/or locally owned businesses that support a community than tear up the places (government buildings/etc) that are perpetuating our broken legal/penal systems. Unlike the stars of the 60s and 70s, which were doers, we Facebook/Twitter "reporters" are bullshitters. We have become slaves to sensationalized media and unable to form individual opinions. As W.E.B. Dubois once said, "we do things to impress others", meaning we become members of groupthink than be our own man/woman. You see, I know that black lives don't matter to blacks no matter how we spin it. Growing up in the 80s' crack/cocaine/AIDS epidemic, I see those same problems still don't matter to us now (get it). Just last week, a white kid was killed by a cop for no reason. Are we acknowledging this? What about the illegal immigrants being funneled through the sex and drug trade? Do their lives matter? For us "black folk", we're the only folks deserving justice including a pacifier and 40 acres with a mule. Fuck that. It's time to change the way we think and it starts by educating ourselves. But knowing us, "black folk", self-education without externally forced behavioral modification, will not happen. In my opinion, there are poor whites and other races/ethnicities that have or are worse victims than us. All Lives Matter, a perspective coming from a man whose been across the world. Don't you see the American citizen, no matter the race, are persecuted by the same maniacal force? To the average black person, we're the only victim.

Till next time....

You Can Keep Your "Jesus"

If anyone believes on the name of Jesus, the same will be saved. That's a street version quote from the book of Romans. Centuries later, this phrase has been used to give people the power, authority, and dominion in the "earth realm." Yes, this is so true and millions are spirits are being led astray from the Jesus they need to know about. For the past few months, I've been thinking on a scripture I used to read a lot and only understood from the "churchy" perspective. To corner phrase, "who has tricked you?" Another says, "anyone talking about another Jesus that you received on a one on one basis, let him be cursed." I guess a lot of ho-hum, spirit filled, tongue taking, handclapping, tithe giving, hands raising Chrisitians didn't read the email. Even the man himself warns to heed the voice of reason (truth) so you won't heed the voice of another (wolves). I and millions of  others allowed ourselves to be tricked, hitched, and our necks slit. We get baited into believing that we have the "Holy Ghost" by speaking with tongues as the spirit gives utterance (yet lack common sense and other cultural skills to be successful in this world). If this isn't happening, we aren't filled and technically not "saved." We are taught to give our 10 percent of our gross earnings while the government takes less than that from our paycheck. If we don't give them we're not blessed but cursed. We are taught that to live the Chrisitian life we have to go to church. If we don't go to church, we are subjected to the whims of this "world." We are taught that God gives us pastors after his own heart to lead, guide, impart, and release us into "ministry." If not, we will never walk in the "fullness of God." One word for all this-Mess." For over a year now, people say, you're saying all this because you've been hurt by the church. That's bs too because my outprocess from chrisitanity began as early as summer 2012. I saw that the world isn't wicked, just the a-holes we allow to have power and control. I learned that a lot of stuff I've learned since a child to adulthood doesn't work for me. I learned that since a child, I've only known this "Jesus" that will accept you into heaven if you do this, this, and this..... Presently, we are seeing chrisitanity and the institution of "church" for what is really is yet those who are a part of the "Babylonian" system have their eyes blinded by the gods of this age (pastors, fake apostles and prophets, teachers, and evangelists). They, just as I did, enable a system that continues to indoctrinate folks into a thought process that dumbs that 99% of their human intelligence. People are shunning "the gospel" because they know it's propaganda is being used to turn out people like pimps to hoes. This "Jesus" proclaimed by the majority of Chrisitans isn't Jesus at all. The Jesus in the gospels didn't exclude people unless those people were excluding others from knowing God for themselves without a preacher or man-made doctrines. The Jesus I know (I'll agree with Carlton on this one) wants everybody to know God for themselves; everybody. The Jesus I know only judged the world of folks that's making life difficult for the masses, not everyone who's not a part of the church. Hell, the Jesus I know didn't preach separatism because one sins differently than the next person. That's the real Jesus, not this con artist that's quoting Abraham to support a preacher buying a 65 million dollar plane. Yeah, it may sound like I'm pissed again but that's not the case. I would like to see more people see that this Jesus they believe in is nothing but a ICE train to nothing. I guess Kanye was right after all....

Just my opinion.....

Where Is The Love?

The older I get, as the times change, I'm seeing that love has become a superficial word we as a society to use. Stevie Wonder had a song that posed this question back in the 90s. Almost 20 bullets later, his truth looks absolute. I believe more and more people are becoming sociopaths to be honest. Hell, I see sociopathic tendencies in my own behavior. This morning I had to accord that I've allowed life to "trip me up." I realized that love is it already has left my heart. Or maybe I'm feeling the effects of what I perceive going on around me. Mothers are turning against their daughters. Fathers abandon their sons. Friends turn on each other. Someone catches the raw end of the deal and if they don't have a shoulder to cry on, the hurt go out into the world hurting others. I've distanced myself so I don't become the asshole others have been to me. I'll tell you right now, within the past two weeks, I've seen the total disparity of  humanity, from family, to job, to religion. All I have to ask is, where is the love? How can family members say they love each other but put knives in each other's back? How can churches/preachers  say they love God but condemn others unlike them? How can friends friend enemies; thereby betray their other friends to run with their enemies? How can spouses think so lowly of each other when things get hard? Ask yourself, where is the love in your love? 

Til Next Time.....

Hatred In The Black Community

God knows I don't want to talk about this but I need to. There's a lot of hatred in the black community. What do I mean by this? There's a lot of hatred towards each other. I guess the red letters are right, brother against brother, sister against sister, father against son, mother against daughter. In my opinion, I believe hatred within the black community can be listed as such:

1. Each other's success: When one is on the cusp or has achieved success (without screwing somebody), the other contempt for them. They tell other folks how they helped the successful one make it to where they are, to belittle them. Or just bad mouth them altogether to ruin their reputation, business, and legacy built on honesty and hard work. It's sad because we as a black community should be treating each other better but we won't. I've hoped for that day since the 80s, it's just not going to happen.

2. Life: If a black girl talks "white-ish" or expresses concerns of violence in the black co,,unity, they are called "Oreos" and coons. They're not black enough. Wow. And some of you can't lie because this actually happens in the black community.

3. Backstabbing/Lies: There are some of us in the black community that love to backstab and lie to get our way. As the O'Jays stated, for the love of money and fame, we'll take from each other. Do you think they were talking about the white man? Hell no. They were talking about the black community. We love to defame each other with lies to put ourselves on pedestals because we lack self esteem and love in our hearts.

4. Money: OMG, we'll rob, steal, kill, and destroy each other to get that green that changes in value every milli-second of the day. At times, we bait each other with these "better life now" business schemes and leaves others in financial ruin. And I'm guilty of what I'm about to say, we are so,e materialistic folks. If one has the latest gadget, we got to have it. With the more excesses we get is the more debt we incur. Therefore, we lose our buying powers and as one says this, they're called a coon or ignored. From Kinston to Compton. 

5. Services: Following our problems with money,WE LOVE FREE AND HATE TO PAY. For example, if a black man is looking for support from his own community let's say a car wash, he might as well get ready to get that support from other communities. Or for a hair stylist, they've got to put their feet down on the price of their services. If not, they won't make the money they're suppose to make. We'll pay "the white man" his money on or before time but when it's time to pay each other, "oh, I ain't forgot." Hmmmm....

6. Sexual Abuse: I myself having direct experience with this, sexual abuse is still a taboo topic. In the 80s, it was molestation of kids, forced homosexuality,  and AIDS. In the 90s, teen pregnancy, molestation, incest, and AIDS. Well, the 2000s, there's too many of this to name. I know this topic occurs in every race on the planet but I can only speak for mine. The black community is ready to condemn the LGBT community but becomes silent when it comes to the "taboo" sexual issues. 

7. Spiritual Abuse: Since most (I assume) people in the black community proclaim Jesus Christ is "truly the head of their lives", the same are experiencing spiritual abuse. Last year, the news talked about black pastors spreading the AIDS to their female congregants. We've heard of people like David Lee being "escorted" out of TD Jakes' church for exposing the truth about "tithing." We've heard one preacher misusing the words of Christ to justify his need of receiving funds to help pay back the loan on his new 65 million dollar plane (Creflo already got it folks). Since the slavery days, the black community have inherited (been brainwashed) the slave master version of Christ. And it just won't stop....

8. Love: We love rims. We love new clothes. We love new houses. We love pretence. We love fame. We love DNA (dick and attention....I've borrowed that from Mr. Sotomayor). We love mental slavery. We love the clubs. We love spending money. But you know what we don't love, each other. I tell my wife all the time, my few years in Princeton, NC was the only time I experienced hatred from another race. You know whose screwed me the most in the life, black folks. 

9. The White Man: I've heard throughout the years that the black community feels entitled to "40 acres and a mule." Guess what, keep dreaming. I know we've experienced a lot, police brutality, slavery, education, and this list goes on. Some things are for sure, we can't blame the white man for everything. We can't blame him for not educating ourselves through school, trades, the Internet. We can't blame him for not working from the bottom, adding to our work skills; thereby moving up. Nope, some of us want things to be given but unwilling to earn them. If anyone has the right of entitlement it should be the Native Americans. Read about the Trail of Tears and other atrocities brought upon them since America was "discovered." Oh yeah, you can't blame the white man for slavery. If the majority of us knew history, it was the dominant African tribes conquering and selling other tribes to receive for tools and luxuries of superiority. Hold that...

10. Black Pride: It's okay to have black pride but that doesn't mean the black community has the right to make itself superior to other races. This also means we shouldn't be thinking we're better than each other either. As my old platoon sergeant used to say, I put on my pants the same way you do. Duly noted, top.

Now, I do have black friends and we talk about this very frequently about the mind state of the black community. I really didn't want to talk about this but I was about to explode, my friends. Oh well...

Take it or leave it, till next time....

 

Some Relationships Are Made To Be Broken

Letting go for people who love others is a hard thing to do. For some reason, those people who are supposed to receive love from others are cry devilish people. I just call them devils. Women stay with men who beat them with their hands and their words. Men stay with women who emasculate them with their selfish desires. Teenagers continue to call "acquaintances" friends who dirty their names through the school halls. Children are bullied by other children because they're not "normal." It's a sad cycle that's hard to break. But the cycle must be broken. We toss and turn in the beds of our minds trying to find a way to get the other party(ies) to love us and treat us the way we should be treated. We pray, fast, and buy others material things to show our allegiance to them. The end result equals more heartache and pain. When it's time to burn the bridge, we are spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially bankrupt. We are left bruised and battered by the damage. As we suffer they continue on in life doing the same things done to us to other gullible and naive people. That's a damn shame. We may ask the question, "God, why me?" Here's your answer. It's called learning hard lessons and they must be shared with others in the same mess we were in. Life is a flowing river and anything stopping that flow must be removed. They say inertia is the driving force that breaks all limits and boundaries. For many of us, it's people and we have to make the hard choice to put these hurtful relationships to sleep. For good, mate. It has to be done and if not your life will amount to nothing. What if Diana Ross didn't break up with her former husband, she would've never made hits again. What if Princess Diana never left her husband, she would've never experienced happiness before he untimely death. What if Martin Luther never spoke against the Catholic Church, people would never have the freedom of thought in environments of religious oppression. What if Prince never challenged Warner Bros, his career would've been stifled. Why are we trying to reconcile or maintain relationships life is sending us emails to cut loose? They are too many other people on this planet who will love and accept us for who we are. Pick up your head and open you eyes, my friends.

Til next time.