In this time of upheaval and fear, many of us are being bombarded with programmed messages that you are told to follow without any thought.  We have been subjected to ‘programming’ for all of lives.  In that programming, truth is the first casualty as we are told to think and do as instructed.  As a community, we now tend to believe more in man than in GOD.  Yet it was GOD who created our minds, bodies and souls.   

One example of the in-depth programming is the fact that we, African Americans,  don’t even know the true name of the land of our origin.  Since childhood, we were programmed to believe that our ancestors came from the continent of “Africa”.  The truth is the real/original name of that continent was “Alkebulan” meaning “Mother of Mankind” of “Garden of Eden”.    This name was used by the inhabitants, the people that live there.  The name ‘Africa’ happened when the Romans honored one of the great generals, Scipio Africanus, by renaming the continent.  Look it up.

The programming not only affects our minds/thinking.  The programming affects our bodies as we are told to consume, consume, consume.  We tend to subject ourselves to unhealthy lifestyles such as overeating, drinking too much, dangerous legal and illegal drugs, etc. all leading to our demise, one way or another.  Now, we are in a battle for our souls.  Think about it.

The solution to finding happiness, peace, and fulfillment will never come from programming.  We must take Self- Responsibility because the solution is within each of us.  For your mind, practice critical thinking, don’t just accept what you hear or are told.  Read, research, cross-reference then decide what is truth.  For your body, imagine GOD made you as a temple, respect it.  Eat healthy, exercise, and avoid or at least minimize bad habits; strive for fitness not consumption.  For your soul, pray then live the prayer as a good life.  Most important, remember, we did not make ourselves.  Have Faith.

Stop listening and believing in the programming, trust yourself and the mind, body and soul that GOD gave you.  Take responsibility for yourself and think independently instead of depending on programming like a fish swallowing a baited hook.  It may seem scary at first like taking the ‘red pill’ in the ‘Matrix’ but it is your only hope for having a genuinely good quality life.  I wish you the best.

– Randy Williams

“Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.” – From W. E. B. Du Bois “The Souls of Black Folk” February 1, 1903 We are now in the beginning years of the 3rd decade of the 21st century with so much history to draw on and learn from in our struggle for liberty, freedom, and equality in this nation. In 2014, we and our nation celebrated the 50th year passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with all its great provisions, promises, and hopes. The history of our struggle reveals a hard fought battle by everyday black folks like my family members and yours who endured insult and assault, who suffered casualty and fatality, and who experienced hatred and brutality while pursuing those fundamental precepts, rights, and liberties foundational to our Republic’s Constitutional Democracy.

Yet that past which informs our present and guides our future calls out to us all that our battle is not won and our struggle for equality and justice is not over. We, as people of color, are still, in fact, suffering the pains of inequality, injustice, and oppression in a nation founded on the promises in the Declaration of Independence and provisions of the United States Constitution.

That the “color line” continues to disrupt, degrade, and destroy Black “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is evident in the on-going and persistent social inequalities, inequities, injustices, and maltreatment experienced daily by Blacks in the community, the workplace, and even in the local, state, and federal institutions and organizations supposed to equally serve all citizens.

Even more so today, what we understand from our history and our present is that our race and the color of our skin, i.e., “The Color Line,” remain the predominant cause-and-effect construct of our struggle for liberty, justice, and equality more than any other factors determining every aspect of our lives being based on “the lie of Black inferiority still being accepted as truth” (taken from a quote of Dr. King) by those persons and institutions who still reign over and dominate the socio-political, the socio-economic, and the inter-racial customs, structures, and environment in this Nation.

I believe that the problem of the 21st Century remains “the problem of The Color Line.”

In Unity,

Brutha’ Q

March 24, 2021