Religion & Spirituality
The wealth of the rich is its fortified city, poverty is the ruin of the poor (Proverbs 10:15).Black people! Are we better off than we were?Having a black President (Barack Obama) a few years ago didn't change a thing within the black psyche, implicit biases and internalized racism still exist. It is the tendency of my black people to fight against each other more than any other fight we pretend to battle.The existence of implicit biases and internalized racism is very prevalent within the black community; could it be that the sentiments in which whites/white cops have towards black lives are in fact the same that blacks have against other blacks? The same struggles of our freedom fighters are still living through us today. The result of which racism left the stain still in fact remains. How can we talk about racism when it comes to whites vs blacks, but not the racism that we harbor within our own communities, towards our own? Racism doesn't just happen to us, but it also happens through us, as well. Mark 3:25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.The divide and conquer strategy of our greatest enemy against us continues to go on. How can we ask for anything (ex. reparations, respect, etc), but then be so divided on the inside? We don't stand to receive anything until we sharpen up. Lauryn Hill said it in her 1998 hit song 'Doo-Wop (That Thing)', "How you goin' win when you ain't right within? Come again." How can you command change but your house is in disarray?Ephesians 6:12 Our struggles are not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.Matthew 5:43 instructs us to "love your neighbor and hate your enemy".We are a mighty army together, we are stronger in our numbers; and we will need our numbers in order to take down our greatest enemy. Your neighbor is not your greatest enemy, white people aren't even our greatest enemies. They are mere weaponry.The wealthy. White people, they stay banned together. But my black people, we don't do that. White people may rebuke each other, they may reprimand one another, but not in front of us. Not in front of the outsider. White people do not fight against each other for the world to see! They do not encourage failure or wait to watch each other fail. They don't celebrate each other's lack of any kind. If nothing else, haven't we learned that much from the ones we like to call our oppressors? But poverty: It can be situational, generational; it's not just lack of money, or lack of clothing or food. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor, poor in judgement, poor in values, character, and so much more. Lack in these areas, is or can be debilitating if you're not careful. Folks, we gotta do better!Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.We even see the manifestations of these horrible habits within our Christian churches. Making fun - the church should never be the joke mixed with any outsider discussion. The putting down of our brethren's leads to a slow demise of morale. What this does it lessen the chance of a lost soul to be found, or come to Christ. While not all black people or Christians hate one another, many of us show signs of doing so in our inabilities to stick by or stand up for each other. These are the small seeds that we don't even consider a big deal, but later turn out to be the weeds that ruin the entire crop. Because our oppressors hate or hated us, we in turn learn to hate ourselves, leading to black on black crime, not seeing the value of our own lives or why we were even blessed with life.Are you woke? To be "woke", as so many tend to claim, is not only being mindful of social, economic, political injustices, but it is also being aware of the spiritual and psychological weapons nigh. We miss those cues every time.So, this is proof that we haven't gotten far at all. Why do we expect change in them when we in turn, have yet to change? We have the capabilities of breaking from these generational ties, friends! United we stand, divided we fall! Stop falling for the okie doke. Let's get to work on us now so then when we speak, we are found unequivocally justified! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thank you for listening - Follow me, Sade Graham on Instagram & Twitter or look me up on Facebook.Artwork design & logo by Dana Givens. Website: https://www.danagivens.com/ Social: www.instagram.com/danagivens/ Original music produced by professional musical production company, SweatBeatz. Website: http://www.sweatbeatz.com/ Social: www.instagram.com/ricspice/ & www.instagram.com/diasekou/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Internalized racism: where we take negative racial stereotypes adapted to white cultural standards and record it to our own thinking - leading us to think less of ourselves - unconsciously and consciouslyImplicit biases: biases unconsciously shaped by experiences or learned associationsBlack-on-Black Racism: The Hazards of Implicit BiasUnderstanding the Nature of Poverty