What if you were always told you were beautiful?! Would you then be able to look in the mirror and embrace your melanin? What if you were taught that your hair was perfect and, that you were brilliant for the creative styles that you apply to your hair? What if Black bodies were never sold on auction blocks? Would everyone then value our lives? What if Europeans never invaded Africa? Would we then appreciate all of its natural resources and cherish the land where our existence (LIFE) began?
What if you were taught in school that Africans were here before Columbus got lost and stumbled onto the “New Land?” What if you were taught that your people had civilization and Kingdoms before slavery? Just think about where your mindset would be currently. What if there was an actual reconstruction plan for slaves after slavery ended? What if the notion of everything Black or Blackness being bad or negative had never been engrained in us? What if little girls were told that they are important? What if little girls were taught that they can express themselves without negative stigmas being attached to them? What if young men were taught that women are their equals? What if you were taught that fighting for your rights was the appropriate action? What if assimilation was never promoted? What if there was no Jim Crow?
What if you were told that it was intelligent for slaves to create their own language since they were beaten to death for practicing their native tongue? Slaves were forced to leave their culture behind! Yet, what happened when a new culture was created? It’s mocked! Criticized! And at the same time stolen! What if you didn’t beg for acceptance but, instead accepted yourself? What if we knew our roots? What if we were taught that we are Gods because God is within? What if we knew our actual religion? What if there was no such thing as Religion? Would that stop Nations from attacking one another and forcing their views and way of life on others? Would you still wear a Burka? What if we respected everyone’s differences without degrading them? What if we sought for understanding instead of judgment? What if there were no political parties to separate people? Do you think we would all be fighting for Education and to end mass incarceration? Would we then all be able to make a decent living? How would world operate without poverty? Imagine that a world with no poverty, no homeless people on the streets, and no working poor. What if there were no ghettos to stick certain Ethnic groups within? What if there were no red lining and everyone could get a home loan in any area that they desired? What if the world actually were designed to be fair and to treat everyone equally? What if there were never a desire to control others?
There are so many issues and topics that prevent us from seeing the bigger picture. Unity should be the common goal. We have already been separated by language and, culture so much that we barely acknowledge our connection in roots. We don’t need any additional differences to divide us. Why don’t we embrace one another? I just wanted to acknowledge some of the questions that cross my mind everyday when I read about more innocent Black Lives being taken without any regard for human life. These questions amble through my mind whenever I hear or read someone denoting #BlackLivesMatter by using “All Lives Matter.” I am disgusted by the amount of articles that I come across blaming victims for their own deaths. I am literally angered and frustrated every time I see material about how African Americans are the problem and, what really adds insult to injury is that some African Americans are making some of these brash, blinded, unbelievable statements.
So the next time you hear or see someone post something ridiculous regarding these matters please refer them to some of the questions above.