Self-Determination

by | Jun 11, 2020 | 2 comments

How do we, as Black people, navigate the onslaught of being the most vulnerable during this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, along with the continued terroristic acts committed against us every single day? How do we deal with the pain of seeing these atrocities played out in the media every day, every week, every month – year after year? We must convene in private, and plan for solutions to get out of our plight. Our job is to get focused, get organized, like never before. Nobody is going to do this for us! Sure, it’s nice and even necessary to have allies outside of our race, but the job of Liberation rests on our shoulders. There’s no Calvary out there coming to save us, nobody handing us over a silver platter of FREEDOM. The tasks of family healing, emotional healing, physical healing, financial healing, spiritual healing – the responsibility for all of this rests on our shoulders, and ours alone. Get Focused Black People! 

Resist the status quo! Fight against the 400 plus years of oppression that created a global system built on the backs of Black people, designed to profit off of our disenfranchisement and subjugation.  Yet even as we are processing the horror and the pain of Being Black in America, focus and planning are key.  I repeat:  “focus and planning are key.” We can all learn from our Ancestors, who paved the way before us. Study books and films reverberating the voices of Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ida B. Wells,  James Baldwin, Nina Simone, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr., Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and so many countless others. When trying to figure out what to do next, listen to you heart for signs. Ask the Universe for guidance.  Ask the Wise for direction. Ask the Ancestors for protection. Aim high. Figure out a plan. 

Examine your own sphere of influence, in your own daily world.  Where can you make a difference? How can you realize the best parts of yourself?  Start with your very own talents, gifts, skills and abilities. What action do you have in your power to take? Act now! Take baby steps. Take giant steps. Stay encouraged, especially because you know you are doing the right thing. Envision a time when peace and love rule the world, when the current world order of white supremacy and structural racism is dead and gone.   

 #BreonnaTaylor #AhmaudArbery #justiceforGeorgeFloyd #7PrinciplesofKwanzaa #Self-Determination #kujichagulia @pheralyn pheralyndove.com  

2 Comments

  1. Ellen Frances
    Ellen Frances on June 17, 2020 at 11:54 am

    Pheralyn, thank you so much for this profound message. It is indeed our continued mission to gather ourselves and continue to fight the sadness and anger that would otherwise pull us down. We have overcome this for so long, indeed it will be a revelation to have the change we deserve. I join you in the mission to read about our heritage and let that guide us through very trying and difficult times. I challenge the younger generation to do this and to add this to their arsenal of weapons to fight the fight the has unfortunately been passed on to them, thanks to the oppressors who thought it not a good idea to stop. As Black people we are our own strength and courage and together we must overcome this and make the demands that the hearts and minds of those who are not thinking clearly change for us All… but mostly for the Black Lives that do Matter! Love you!

    • hibiscus
      hibiscus on June 17, 2020 at 3:07 pm

      Thanks Ellen, for your thoughtful observations. What you say is so true: “As Black people we are our own strength and courage and together we must overcome….” Love you too!!!