Blog

Yep, I got COVID-19, along with many who are incarcerated with me. If you have a faith or spiritual practice, please send up something for me. I'll write a full blog when I'm well enough to. Check back soon...

The other day I was watching "The Daily Show," and came across some interesting information. I learned that banks issue what is known as "police brutality bonds." Police departments purchase these bonds, and use them to pay future settlements.

Between 2010 and 2017 the Chicago police department purchased more than $700 million worth of these bonds. Within that same time frame they paid out more than $1.7 billion in settlements! Them a lot of ass whippings.

Okay, let that info marinate for a second...

Now, if you are familiar with my writings, you know that this is the part where I go on my rant. First off, it is crazy that our police departments are this corrupt. Beating and or murdering people is so much a part of police culture, that they make investments in order to keep the assault train rolling. What is just as fu*ked up is that our banks are actually profiting off of police brutality. YES, BANKS PROFIT OFF POLICE BRUTALITY!

As long as the police keep needing to pay off lawsuits, the longer banks will be able to sell these bonds. Any bank that sells these bonds needs to be put on blast and boycotted.

If we support these banks then we support police brutality. This is the epitome of systematic racism. We live in a country where our financial institutions can legally fund the future assault and murder its own citizens. We all know that the majority of those assaulted and or murdered by the police are people of color. America has become so blinded by capitalism that we can't see fault with banks making money off of the bloodshed of minorities. America has a way of accepting bullsh*t as long as it is deemed "legal." For example, slavery was legal, but B.S., women not having voting rights was legal, but B.S., along with countless other societal violations that were or still are legal, but bullsh*t.

How much longer do Black people have to fight for equality? I've heard people say that "Black people have come a long way." Well, a long way is not acceptable! There are even Black people who have become content with this "sorta-kinda equality." I, for one, will never be content with only partial humanity. Humanity is a birthright to all, not just a select skin color, culture, religion, sexual orientation, or financial status.

Here is a scenario: Every morning John’s mother gives him lunch money for school, and every morning a bully takes all of John's money. After a month of this, the bully decides he will only take half of John's money. One day John finally decided to complain, and the bully says, "You should be happy I'm only taking half."

In this scenario is the bully right? Should John be happy with being able to keep only half of what is rightfully his? Any decent person knows that the bully is not entitled to any of John's money, so the answer is, no. John should only be content with 100% of his money.

This same logic applies to the humanity and equality of Black people. No we should never be content with partial humanity, we are entitled to 100% equality. The real life bully for people of color is not individual people we see on a day to day basis - though some would want us to point the blame at one another. But rather, the system in which this country was founded on was corrupt from the start and is now sustained and maintained by a handful of politicians and giant corporate interests. Our educational, political, religious, and economic structures are designed to extract plus profit from Black minds and bodies.

A perfect example of this is what was discussed earlier, which is police departments and banks working together to profit from the bloody bodies of black people. I can't stress this point enough, racist individual people aren't the biggest issue - they are generally pawns to keep the system’s wheels turning. The biggest issue are the racist legislation and polices created by the handful of entities that profit, allowing the "legal" assault, murder, and discrimination against anyone who is not white.

In conclusion, we need to hold our elected officials accountable for any and all racist legislation and policy that exists. To be real, I don't care if some cop don't like Black people, what I do care about is whether or not he or she keeps their green light to "legally" murder us.

In the hood so many of us fall into the trap of thinking that selling dope is the quickest and most realistic way of getting out of poverty. The reality is that it’s an illusion.

While we are out here thinking that we are "trappin’" we are actually the ones being trapped. We think we're selling dope, when we are the dope.

Let's look at this from the standpoint of the ‘powers-that-be.’ The ‘powers-that-be’ are the rich and powerful white families who has been running the world for hundreds of years. One example would be the Walton Family. They own nearly 40% percent of the country's wealth. Walmart, Sam's Club, private prisons... they're getting $100 million richer everyday, and even more since we've been in a pandemic. They are literally making money off of our country's pain.

They figure:

“We'll take these drugs and put them the streets and see who is dumb or poor enough to pick it up. Once one of you pick it up, we got you. We are about to get paid in so many ways!

“Once you get a little money in your pocket, you're going to buy our designer clothes, luxury cars, and our jewelry. We appreciate you for that. Congratulations, you have completed the first stage of our cycle. After the initial stage, we have more routes that you can take.

“You can eventually get busted, so we can profit as follows... For starters we could profit off of you spending money with our law firms. Second, we may get a profit while you sit in our county jail. You will more than likely spend money on our phone calls and our commissary. If you happen to beat your case, you can go back out into your neighborhood and pick up where you left off, which means we continue to profit off you and those you help destroy.

“If you don't beat your case, you'll go to prison and continue to buy our commissary and phone calls but now you'll also buy our clothes and food out of our Access, Union Supply, and Walkenhorst catalogs, music from jpay, stamps from jpay and, not to mention, the tax payers dollars we get from housing you in our billion dollar prison industrial complex.

“Damn, black bodies have been the most lucrative product we've ever had.

“Let's say jail is not in your future, but the jack boys or some beef you got in the streets catch up with you, then you end up being killed. Well, that's cool with us, real cool. Now we can make money off your funeral expenses. I mean, things like the venue where your body is viewed, your casket, the outfit you got on in the casket and the hole we sell your family to stick you in, add up nicely for us.

“In the event that the guy who killed you is caught, then we can make money off of him in our prison system - we call that a twofer. The most beautiful part is that whether you go to prison or die, the dope is still in the streets for the next guy to pick up. What if you - by some miracle - make it without seeing prison or dying young, you will still make us money from all the material you buy from us and also you will be a walking talking billboard for us. You will help us to lure others into the trap, who won't be so lucky. So no matter what, we’re gonna get our use out of you.

What’s crazy y’all, is this is how the people in power are playing us, and living in poverty makes us not see these traps they've laid for us.

The harsh truth is that there is only a ‘drug market’ because they allow it to be. We are ‘black gold’ when we participate in the drug market and if we did not have a ‘black market’ there would be a massive push for worker equity, since there are literally not enough jobs in the United States with a livable wage for every single person to have one. It is numerous factors that make this job shortage a reality with outsourcing jobs overseas being one of the most glaring.

Hypothetically, if every person in America stopped selling drugs and applied for jobs, virtually every single job in America would be filled. We'd still have millions of people Black and white who would still be jobless or, similar to what we see now, horribly underemployed and underpaid. What are these people to do? Become homeless? Not feed their children? Starve to death?

The reality of the Black situation in America is that even without the extreme case I just named happening, we are damn close already due to systemic racism. So it is hard not to fall into the trap of entering this drug market for survival. People of color are born in a land where systemic racism has been working perfectly against us. The fact is that most of us are born into poverty, and poverty breeds unrest and unrest breeds violence and other criminal activities.

The reason we are born into poverty is because the powers-that-be has been very strategic about keeping us in it. What we see now is the product of hundreds of years of intentional sabotage of people of color. We are born in poverty, then fed the illusion of the drug trade being the way out, only to be set up for the traps I mentioned earlier.

When I speak of these traps, I often hear someone give me an example of someone that they know who has sold drugs "forever" and is now living good. Well, that is the exception and not the rule. In other words, for that one or two people you know who made it out of the drug trade, you probably can name hundreds of people who went to prison or had been killed in this game.

For those people who did or felt they had no other options, I feel you, because I have been there. I do want to say that if you can, please, don't stay there - because you are in that trap and I don't want to see these people get you. I'd rather see you use your money and create jobs for yourself and others. What I am saying is start your own businesses. A better route would be to actually stack your money up from a legit job and go into business for yourself. We need more 100% legit Black businesses, working with each other in the community and not against it.

The last thing I want to address is the people who have one of those, "I came from the hood, but I worked hard and became a cop, doctor, lawyer, etc... stories." Okay. That's cool. Bravo, but stop looking down your nose at those of us who were not as lucky. Yes, you beat the odds. The main word being “odds.” Most people fall victim to systemic racism. So how about using some of that energy you channeled to pat yourself on the back, to help us dismantle this system of racism that forced you to have to beat the odds in the first place. No one should have to trap or die.

A lot of people ask me, “What's up with your name, ‘BlaCc Iz Jesus’?” Well, let me break it down for the world. BlaCc Iz Jesus is not just my name, it is a phrase and a philosophy.

My philosophy is that the life of Jesus the Christ mostly resembles the life of black people around the world but, for this writing I'll focus on Black's in America. This is not a writing speaking on the Divinity of Jesus, or his status as the son of God. I am writing about Jesus the man, as history has him recorded.

Jesus was most definitely from the trenches, the hood, the slums, or whatever you want to call it. If Jesus was born in 1986 instead of ancient times he would be from the south side of Chicago, the east side of Cleveland, or maybe he'd be from New Orleans preaching up and down Bourbon street. Or, maybe he'd be from Compton. He might even call it “Bompton” depending on where his granny stayed.

When Jesus was born in the land of his people, the Israelites [people of color], had been absorbed into the Roman empire as the Province of Judea. In other words, it was taken over by white invaders. In Judea, the Jews were the oppressed group of people, just like Blacks are an oppressed group here in America. When Jesus was born, Herod the Great was in power and by the time of Jesus’ death, Herod Antipas had control of Judea. Both Herods were some of history's biggest tyrants and both took orders from the Romans. Both Herods brought so much corruption to Judea that many Jews had gotten off the strict path of Judaism. This led to some traditional Jewish orders like the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and the Zealots to go on a mission to restore order. They came with the same ole, “Pray like this… sacrifice that... Do this, don't do that.” Then, came along this homeless street preacher named Jesus, who basically said. "Yeah, don't think I'm going to do any of that cause I kinda got my own thing going here. But, good luck tho."

In his day, Jesus was considered a radical. He was a disruptor of the Roman system. He constantly challenged the powers that be. He challenged religious, local, state and national power. He went after the rich and lifted up the poor. He was an activist, organizer and revolutionary. Which group of people does he sound the most like?

Jesus said that it would be easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven. He said that the first shall be last, and the last be first. He also said that the meek shall inherit the earth. To speak these words in his day was a big deal - enough to get you killed in fact. He was preaching about peace, love, and most of all, justice!

I am convinced that if Jesus was born in modern times he would be in Black Lives Matter or some other group that the modern day Romans - rich, white supremacists - deem to be disruptive or radical.

Contrary to what some believe, Jesus was not killed because the Jews wanted him dead. True enough, they were pissed at him, however it was the Romans who had Christ killed, because he was a threat to their power. Think about how many of our Black leaders suffered the same fate for being a threat to the powers that be. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was Black Jesus, Fred Hampton was Black Jesus, Malcolm X was Black Jesus - just to name a few. Countless Black people have lost their lives because they dared to challenge those in power, trying to attain justice. Just like who? You guessed it, Jesus!

Death by crucifixion was used in ancient times to execute "rebels." A more modern term for "rebel" is thug, gangsta or hoodlum - the usual dog whistles to describe Black people in America.

Jesus never had a chance at his trial, and in most cases neither do black people. Between our initial arrest and trial we are beaten, ridiculed, and publicly slandered. At times during the trial, a false witness is bared against us, railroad tactics are implemented, and eventually we're given a sentence we don't deserve or one that is too harsh for the offense committed.

May God stop my fingers from working when I stop telling the truth.

While we are talking about the parallels of Blackness to Jesus, let's talk about miracles. They say that Jesus broke up a couple of fish and a few pieces of bread and fed thousands. Well, I remember when it was me, my younger brother, and six of my cousins all at my grandmother's house. I watched her take a half pack of hot dogs and two cans of pork & beans over to the stove with her magical wrist and whip up enough food to feed eight kids. Annie Hatcher is Black Jesus.

How many times has your mother made Christmas happen when it seemed like it was no way possible she'd be able to do it. Even Tupac said his mother made miracles every Thanksgiving on his song "Dear momma". R.I.P. Afeni Shakur. She was Black Jesus.

It is crazy to me how the Bible and other historical documents clearly spell out the fact that Jesus was from the bottom and he faced discrimination, ridicule and ultimately death, but people can't see that Black people are clearly the persecuted people of our time, just like Christ.

The reason these parallels still exist is because actual Biblical Jesus was more than likely Black. Don't let the fabricated european version of Jesus fool you, and don't let the fact that the people you see in Jerusalem nowadays looking white fool you either. Like I mentioned earlier, the land of the Israelites were conquered by white people. In fact, the entire Middle East was dark skinned until the white invaders came. Africa and the Middle East were connected by land until as recently as 1869. If you don't believe me Google the "Suez Canal" which is the canal that was made by white people to disconnect Africa from Asia in order to travel faster by ship and to cover up the fact that Africans populated Asia.

Okay, I want to leave y’all with this...If' you identify as white, this is an opportunity for you to self reflect on if you're in solidarity with those who are the modern day Black Jesus of the world or are you more like the modern day Roman Empire. This is something to remember as you pray to, worship and serve the Christ. If you are of color, I want you to know that no matter your religion, "Ye are gods." Additionally, if you identify as Christian, I know you strive to be Christlike but just know this, you are being Christlike just by being Black.

As an activist for social equality I despise systems and weapons of injustice - like systematic racism, bigotry, sexism, domestic violence and police brutality, just to name a few. With this said, allow me to take you on the journey of my hypocrisy.

For years I was in denial about the extent of my homophobia. The plight of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community is one I felt justified to ignore. let me note that I've always felt they deserved equal rights, but that is as far as my concern went. Outside of that I had little to no respect for gay people - well I had no issues with lesbians - so let's just say I had no respect for gay men.

I was raised in a culture where homosexuality is a big ‘no, no’. If a dude was deemed to be gay, he is considered the lowest of the low. He is also someone to be laughed at and ridiculed relentlessly. When you’ve been in prison for as long as I have been you’re automatically subjected to a lot of jokes about having sex with another man, and in some cases, a real belief by some people that all inmates who do a lot of time are gay.

Again I was raised in a culture where homosexuality is a big ‘no, no’ and a huge source of ridicule, so I did not want my name to be associated with anything dealing with homosexuality. I was taught that a man being gay was sick and inhuman, therefore it wasn’t hard to dehumanize men who were gay. This made it easier for me to "gay bash" and discriminate towards inmates who are gay. About 10 years ago, I would refuse to let a gay man be my cellmate. If a gay person was assigned to my cell, I gave them two options. 1. Go tell the correctional officer you refuse to go to your cell and therefore you’ll be thrown the hole, or option 2. Get beat up. Every single time, they would choose to go to the hole.

I know I was an A-hole for that, but keep reading it gets better.

Outside of that circumstance, I can honestly say that I never bullied anyone for being gay. At that point in my life, I was never going to let a gay person in my cell and have people snickering and making gay jokes about me, nor did I want rumors to be spread on my name.

I cared more about my reputation than their humanity. That was flat out wrong.

Over the years, as I got older and wiser, my knowledge and understanding evolved around social issues and my mind magically changed... Okay, that did not happen. But that's what I tricked myself into believing.

I did always, in fact, think that all people should have equal rights. So I felt that was enough to make me non-homophobic. I felt like I was fine until my fiancé exposed me for what I really was – an “in-denial-homophobe.”

One day, her and I were on the phone joking and she said something about my feet probably being jacked up. I went on to tell her that I had beautiful "man feet" (I really do though). I told her I even had a pumice stone to keep my feet smooth. She then said, "Boy, let me find out you’re ‘metro’." As in metrosexual!? I instantly got upset! In my mind she was questioning my "manhood."

As our conversation progressed, she could not understand why I was so upset. Her and I have had conversations before about gay rights and I said all the "correct" things about LGBTQ people being equal and deserving equal rights. The issue was that my words were politically correct - and in my mind I believed them - but during our new conversation what became clear to both of us was that I was still homophobic in my heart. I was better off than years’ past, but I was still homophobic, nonetheless.

Even though it was clear, I was not ready to admit it. She blatantly called me out on it, and I got offended, because I was supposed to be this ‘equality-for-all’ kind of guy and here she was shining a light on my truth. To save face, I argued a list of bullet points on why I was not homophobic, but inside I knew I had been exposed - not only to her, but to myself as well. My conscience was eating away at me. How could I be a hypocrite? Mentally, I wanted to not have a bias against gay people, but my heart was not catching up as fast as my mind. I was conflicted, but this was good because these were growing pains.

A few weeks later my fiancé came to see me at a visit and the topic came up again. By this time I had come to terms with the fact that I still had homophobia in my heart. I looked her in her eyes and assured her that I was working on myself. I told her that my change may be slow, but it would be steady. I was more open to learning more about how to respect the LGBTQ community. Months later I had made more progress, but one more test was needed before I could reach my next stage of growth.

My fiancé and I were having a conversation about one of her friends who transgender. She was trying to explain to me how to respect people’s pronouns. Gender pronouns show up when you are talking about a person and you refer to them using gender revealing words. She/her/hers and he/him/his are a few commonly used pronouns. I also learned about people who consider themselves “non binary” – meaning they don’t adhere to either gender. Completely new concept for me!

So in this conversation, she was telling me that her friend was born physically male but the pronouns this person uses are she/her. We got into a debate on whether or not it was cool for me just respect the person as a man. I said that I did not feel comfortable referring to someone born physically male as she or her. After about 10 minutes of debate, I began to see things her way and understood that it would be disrespectful to her friend if I used he/him pronouns.

Okay, this was the part that started the argument: My fiancé then told me that when I come home and we are in certain organizing and grassroots movement spaces that it is customary for people to introduce themselves by saying both their names and their pronouns. She informed me that I would have to state my pronouns. WHAT?!?! I went off! "What the hell I gotta state some pronouns for? I'm a regular dude and that's all to it. WTF."

After that she had an attitude, I had an attitude and we ended the night in disagreement.

I stayed up that night until around 3 am with my conscience eating at me. I was once again conflicted. I knew I was wrong, but my suppressed bigotry did not like the growth I had gained. It was trying its best to pull me back into its grips. After hours of wrestling with myself I decided that I would not let bigotry win. I would respect everyone's pronouns and if I was in a setting that called for me to announce mine, so that others are comfortable enough to announce theirs, then so be it.

Okay this next part was definitely divine intervention.

Shortly after my new realization I fell asleep and when I awoke the next morning, my TV was still on the C-Span channel from the night before. Someone named David Johns from the National Black Justice Coalition was on discussing police brutality.

David was speaking so much truth on the subject of police brutality and racial injustice. I was hype! I was cheering at the TV - I mean, so loudly that people were looking at me like I'm crazy lol. But I did not care. I was on it! Then David said something that expanded my consciousness. He talked about how hard it is for him being not only a black man, but also being a queer black man.

I was like, Damn! This guy is out here fighting for black people like myself to stop being killed by the police and is also being discriminated against for his sexuality. I felt guilt and liberation in that moment. I felt guilt because it had taken me so long to get it. This person is fighting for people like me and I got the nerve to be discriminative towards his community. I felt liberation because I knew that this moment was life changing for me. His words awakened me on a whole new level. I also knew that it was not just a coincidence that I had just spent my whole night wrestling with my discriminatory thinking, then wake up and David was on TV with this message. This was Allah, Jesus, the Creator, the Universe – whoever you want to say - but this was divine intervention for sure.

We are all experiencing the ushering in of a new era in the world since the death of George Floyd by the hands of the police. I have never seen change happen so rapidly in my 34 years on this earth. It warms my heart to see how many of our white brothers and sisters are fully active in the Black Lives Matter movement. Having white allies who stand up against white supremacy, and white privilege is essential in the fight for social change.

The same way that it is essential for white people to stand up to racist white people it essential that Heterosexual people stand alongside Homosexual people in their fight for equality. From here on out I will be one of those allies.

I know that this will come with some ridicule from people who are still stuck in the mindset I once was in. But, I will stay the course. There are still things I am ignorant to around the LGBTQ community, but I will continue to learn and evolve in my understanding. What I do understand is that there are countless cultures and customs in this world and even If I don't agree with what someone else does, I can still respect them as a human being who has just as much value or worth as anyone else.

I see how mad racist whites be when companies like NASCAR and the NFL acknowledges the Black Lives Matter movement. I also she how mad they are about the statues of confederate soldiers are being torn down. They feel as if blacks gaining dignity in the public eye, ruins this whole country. Their issue is that they don't want to feel less superior because an oppressed group is finally gaining equality. The LGBTQ community is an oppressed group so none of us are no better than these racists and bigots if we continue to discriminate against gay people.

I know that my past gay bashing can't be erased and any hurt that I've caused can't be undone, but I will chase redemption by helping to convince others who may still be in the same discriminatory space that I was in to change.

I want to end by saying that there is zero justification for hating the LGBTQ community. The most frequent justification I hear is that the Bible says being gay is an abomination. Well, the Bible and other religious texts say a lot of things are wrong in the eyes of God and all of us do some kind of wrong. So we can't just zero in on Homosexuality. How many of us have killed, stolen, cheated on our spouses, or have had sex out of wedlock?

We human beings are not doing a great job at earthy matters. Look at how much hate, war, poverty, discrimination, and violence we have down here. So let’s leave the heavenly duty of judgement to that realm.

"Only God can judge me now."

~ Tupac Shakur

Are Nonviolent Protests the Most Effective?
By BlaCc Iz Jesus

Are nonviolent protests the most effective? In my opinion, the answer to that question is ‘no,’ but it still has its merits.

I feel that the tactic of nonviolent protest is still needed but is no longer the most effective form, like it was back during the civil rights movement. Today, we live in a different social/political climate in which a more disruptive form of protest is needed in order to end the killing of black people by the police.

I know that condoning riots, burning of buildings and destroying property is not a popular or politically correct thing to endorse but it may be necessary. A bully (police officers) usually doesn't stop bullying until they are punched in the mouth. In other words, they need consequences for their actions. Ask yourself, how many sick and racist police are out there who understands that they have the greenlight to kill black people with no consequences? In recent years, social media has shown Americans ample footage of police officers blatantly murdering black people, then getting away scot free. Think about the message this sends to the people of this country - that it is open season on the lives of Africans. It also reinforces the message to racist police that we are fair game.

It’s easy to know that a racist cop can easily think, "Okay. If I kill a person of color, there will be some protests, a few T- shirts made, a hashtag and some bumper stickers, but in the end - I'll walk.

Armed with this all-too-true knowledge, what is stopping the police from killing us? Like I mentioned earlier, the bully knows he is not going to be punched in his mouth. He knows all too well that the police chief, the mayor, the governor, the grand jury and other people in power will protect him. Peaceful protests do give “bad press” to the bully, but at the end of the day the powers that be will likely protect their own. Peaceful protest has been practiced since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s era and yet we still are being slaughtered by policemen.

I applaud all activists who are playing a role in the fight for social justice, but I do see more that can be done as far as protests are concerned. I've watched numerous protests that shut down city highways as a form of disruption. My questions are, is the officer who killed a person on the highway at that time? Did you at least make him late for lunch? Why not go to his residence instead? Why not go and cause confusion and disrupt the peace in their communities, the same way they disrupt the peace in ours? Flip some cars, mess up some lawns! I’m not saying physically hurt people, but still cause a problem. The loss of property could never compare to the loss of life!

To the "powers that be," a black life is not worth a dime. Make no mistake we live in a capitalistic society and money comes before everything. Knowing this, protestors have to speak in dollars and cents. If protestors constantly hit the systems where it hurts - which is the pocket - I bet we'll see some change. Black lives are deemed worthless, so we need to give them monetary value. Every time a cop unjustly kills a black person, millions of dollars in damage should follow. This will send the message that a black life will cost millions. If this becomes the norm, then we'll see how many mayors and governors will allow their officers to continue to run wild. The "powers that be" will not allow racist cops to continue to cost them millions. Not saying that the "powers that be" won't be racist themselves. What I am saying is that they will put money over protecting a corrupt cop.

Now, if racist cops understand that they will no longer be backed by the system, they will not just kill at will. Why not? Because they will understand that the system will not place them above money and will charge them quickly, so the people won't tear the city up.

It is sad that our lives do not have inherent value in America’s eyes. Hopefully one day they will. But, in the meantime we'll have to settle for financial costs as a deterrent from being murdered by the police. I know that rioting is not ideal, but peacefulness by itself is only resulting in cops either acquitted or not charged at all. If buildings have to burn for lives to be saved in the long run, screw those buildings!

We need to be disruptive to the point where killing a black person is just not worth the cost. Once we are heard and felt economically, then we can attain the legislative changes we need to end police brutality.

An important thing to address is the notion of a "Rouge police." This implies that most police are "good" and only a few are bad. This is not accurate at all. The reason I say this, is that silence is consent. So even if the majority of cops don't actually kill black people, they still stand by and condone, protect, or do nothing about those who do. This makes them just as guilty. A perfect example of this was in the case of George Floyd. Officer Derek Chauvin leaned his knee into George’s neck until he died. This was all done while three other officers stood by and did nothing. Inside the police departments, so called "rats" are frowned upon and blackballed, and in some cases are fired if they speak up on misconduct within their departments. Think about what a "Rat" is. This is a person who reports wrong doing. So if not being a "rat" is a big part of police culture then this means the police force itself is an entity of corruption.

All of those who are in this battle for social justice are in a fight with a vicious entity, where passiveness very rarely works. There has been no time in history where a regime of tyrants has taken their foot off the oppressed without being forced to do so - by any means necessary. Tyranny does not just go away by marching, singing and holding hands. MLK was arguably the most influential man in history when it comes to gaining equality. However, to say that his way is the only way, would be an injustice toward history. Very disruptive men, like Huey P. Newton, Fred Hampton and many others, helped to apply pressure to the powers that be. Although they had a more aggressive approach than Dr. King, they all suffered the same fate as Dr. King. Why? Because they all effectively challenged the status quo and were a threat to white supremacy. In the end we need both our peaceful protests and our riots. Instead of debating about whose way is right, let’s just play whatever role is in our hearts. To quote the late, great Tupac Shakur, “We might fight amongst each other, but I promise you this, we’ll burn this bitch down, get us pissed.”

Dear Woman of Color,

My name is New I.D. and I am writing you this letter because I’ve been enlightened to some truths about the sacredness the Black woman that is necessary to share. Please note that when I use the term "Black woman" I am referring to all women of color since you all descended from the original Asiatic/Black woman. The divide and conquer methodology used in white supremacy has successfully convinced the masses of black, yellow and brown people that we are different when in all actuality, we are one people.

It has been scientifically and archaeologically proven that the original inhabitants on earth are from Africa, the Motherland of Black people. This fact leads me to this truth - that the black woman is the Mother of civilization and all life spawned from her womb. If you are a woman of color, I hope that statement gives you a since of your importance in this world. In this world of toxic masculinity, you may have never even considered this reality about yourself. It saddens me that the truth about your sacredness has been hidden from you and me. It’s been replaced with lies, double standards, and derogatory terms used to describe you. As far back as biblical times, systematic sexism and patriarchy has been put in place as a stumbling block. There are numerous invalid reasons that ancient men put those systems in place. I will name some of those reasons in this letter but it’s important to note that all of them are rooted in a man's insecurities with himself. The ill effects of those systems are still going strong today. If you ask me, it’s about time we start to dismantle these systems.

A first step in fully recognizing your sacredness as a woman is to debunk some of the lies you’ve been told. The truth is that no matter how many mistakes or bad decisions you may make, you are not bitches, hoes or thots. You are, in fact, the most Christlike of human beings walking this earth. Black women carry their metaphorical crosses every day; the same way that Christ carried his literal cross. Christ was beaten and sadly so are many of our Black women. You are beaten physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and even financially. Christ was talked about, not believed, degraded, ridiculed, judged and left for dead. Sound familiar ladies?

It was written that Christ paid for the sins of man. Well, I see black woman who pay every day for the sins of men. Systematic racism is a heavy burden for people of color and women of color especially pay the greatest toll of all. For example, when the Black man goes to jail it's most likely a Black woman who raises the bail money. Mommas and girlfriends have been managing this role as long as time. If a man sentenced to prison time, it is more than likely Black women who are in his corner during that period of incarceration. Any woman who has a son, brother or significant other who is locked up knows the mental, emotional and financial toll it has on a woman. The plight of the woman of color is real! It’s the mother who has had to fill the role of mommy and daddy because the father of their children either walked away, got killed, or is in prison for a substantial amount of time.

You are the most resilient group of people on earth, you are all of sacred lineage. Think about this, the most beloved prophets inside the Bible, the Quran, or any holy text, would not have been alive if it wasn't for the mothers who birthed them. To get deeper the mothers of those prophets would not have even existed if it wasn't for the womb of the original African/Asiatic women who gave birth to the original inhabitants of this earth.

Whether you are Christian, Muslim, or Jewish and believe God created man from the earth, or if you are of the Nation of Gods & Earths and believe that the original Black man birthed himself from supreme consciousness or if you are purely scientific and believe only in the Big Bang theory, one cannot deny, that it is women who are blessed with the gift to create.

All glory be to God, but scientifically speaking - since our bodies are formed inside of a woman - from an earthly standpoint, women are literally our creators. Some men would argue that men are the “true” creators. They may argue that it is the male seed that eventually grows into a person inside of the womb. This may be true, but it’s not until after we plant the seed that the Divine happens! It is the woman who MOLDS us. Inside the womb is where human Skeletal structures are formed. It is inside the womb our skin, nails, hair, eyes and all organs are formed. Inside of the womb is the place where our souls are breathed into our bodies. This means we all are physically and spiritually formed inside of a woman. How could a woman not be sacred?

I don't say that women are creators to be blasphemous. Remember, even the Bible says, “Ye are Gods,” (Psalm 82:6) the bible also says, “Let us make humankind in Our image and in Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). There have been many great men to walk this earth, but remember in God creating man from the earth, He delegated the most important job of all to women - to be the temple that sculpts life moving forward. After reading this, I hope you understand that you are the greatest being in creation.

Women of color are born at a higher rate than any other group on earth. Mathematically and logically, this tells us that nature knows that you are the most precious resource on earth and that you are needed in abundance.

Sadly, in this so called "man's world" you have been sabotaged at every turn. Men and women are raised through societal programing, in numerous ways, to have us believe that women of color are worthless or inferior to all men - regardless of race - as well as to white women. As a woman of color, you carry the burden of racism, sexism, and in a lot of cases, poverty. From birth, you have the most weight on your shoulders, and yet, so many of you find a way to overcome. I say this in hopes that you realize your power. Understand that your power is feared that’s why the system built by men to confuse you is so extensive.

Awareness is 50% of the battle. In your awareness, go out and seek the knowledge of yourself. Men have a long journey to untangling ourselves from the system we’ve built. It is my hope that this letter will be an empowering tool for Black women to rise above it and emboldened them to overcome it. It is time for sexism, racism, and the era of toxic masculinity to be DISRUPTED!