I made a promise to myself...and i didn't keep it.

I promised myself that i would carefully consider everything i put into my mouth, then it was everything i watched on television, then what i listened to, later i added who i had long conversations with, before long my list included every word i read, the first thing and the last thing i was exposed to when i woke and before i slept.  I did so during a fast for Lent.
I hung tight throughout the fast and it changed me.  And it changed my environment and it changed my social circle, and it changed my thinking, and it changed my outlook, my paradigm, and my perspective.  And then...i stopped.  It wasn't all in one day.  I watched a television show i had not seen in a long while and it made me think about a song i hadn't listened to in a while.  Then before i considered it, i was eating things i knew were bad for me, i stopped working out "just for today".  I found myself in a worse situation than i was in when i started.  Then i became angry at myself for starting the whole process in the first place.  Like, i was cool, why did i mess that up?!?!?
i felt like what i imagine the son in Jesus' parable about two sons (often referred to as the Prodigal Son) felt when he "came to himself while eating the husks fed to the pigs.  But, unlike the son--who is often incorrectly referred to as THE prodigal son--i had no idea where to go.  Going forward seemed to me like going back and vice-versa.  i felt lost. i WAS lost.  Then, i started a process that continues to this day: Self Discovery.  It could not have happened any other way.  i learned and am learning that who i am has only a little to do with what i eat, drink, listen to, converse about and watch.  Who i am is about why. the principle of five "why"s was paradigm-shifting for me, but even that was just a start.  i have seen other people take a similar journey and it is sometimes painful to watch, but it is even more painful to undergo.  I thank My Creator for this type of pain and i recommend the journey.  If i keep no other promises, i can keep this promise to myself: i will finish this journey or die trying.

Educating ourselves...and our children (from Black Then, all rights reserved)

Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well.  One of the reasons black people are not where we should be in terms of progress is because we've relied on other people to educate our children for far too long.   As a child, you were taught that your goal is to go to a public (or private school), typically one that is run by non-black people and to do your best to fit into that system.  This kind of culture  is unhealthy for at least two reasons:  First, the uncomfortable experience of black children within the education system often leads our kids to believe that this system was not built for them.  Therefore, they disassociate, disconnect and end up disenfranchised.  Secondly, even those who successfully adapt to these systems become ineffective and misdirected non-resources for the African American community.  Our brightest children, best athletes, etc are often recruited into predominantly white institutions and end up leaving their own communities.  The sad part is that many of us consider it "progress" for a black person to leave their own people and go give their very best efforts to somebody else.   I'm sorry, but this is not progress.  It's called an exploitative brain-drain.  Keep this in mind as you raise your children.  First, remind them repeatedly that they should give their best to their people, not to somebody else.  Secondly, remind them that knowledge and education don't typically come from a system, but from critical and accurate information provided to you by those you love.   Third, teach your children how to run their own businesses so they are not forced to bow to a white supremacist system to simply be able to buy something to eat.   You must prepare your kids for a world that is built upon economic warfare.  We can only win this war if we stand together.  Also, don't forget that we're offering a special on the new film, Hidden Colors, by Tariq Nasheed.  With each purchase, we will include four e-copies of books by Dr Boyce Watkins, and also a special Black Business School lecture between Watkins and Nasheed in which he explains he was able to build his Hidden Colors empire.  If you'd like to order the entire series, please visit HiddenColors1234.com. If you'd like to order parts 1 - 3 of the series, please visit HiddenColors123.com. If you'd like to order part 4 only, please visit HiddenColorsBundlePack.com.  Until we meet again, please be strong, be blessed and be educated.  Sincerely, Black Then Team

Copyright © 2016 The Invisible InK, All rights reserved.

Missing in Traction - Suspect Lives Matter

Have you heard the story of the person who committed suicide and was missing for weeks until he became a suspect?  
When the Boston Marathon bombing occurred, an alumnus of Brown University thought the suspect looked like one of his former classmates and put the word out via Twitter.  According to the "Washington Post", " That message snowballed into a digital search on Reddit and other social media sites. From there, it was picked up by reporters from mainstream media outlets."  Based solely on this process, the family of the individual in question, Brown University student Sunil Tripath, was "inundated with threats".  There was no investigation, no credible sources and in fact, only one quasi-credible source who thought someone looked like someone else and changed the family of that person forever.  This will happen again and again because we are allowing ourselves to be driven by groupthinking.  So, i find it necessary at least for my mental health, to make a distinction between groupthinking and #solidarity.  Groupthinking is when any group, large or small, is presented with a claim as though it were truth AND (and this is very important) they accept that claim without questioning or  verifying that claim.  Even if the claim is proven to be legitimate, groupthinking is still at work if it is not verified prior to publishing.  Ravi Tripathi told NPR in 2016. “It almost felt like a case study in mob mentality, in virtual mob mentality.”
#Solidarity happens around principles. A group operating in #solidarity may disagree on specific details, but they agree and act based on shared principles and a shared mission and/or vision.  Groupthinking groups tend to consistently be compared with "mobs", and groups operating in solidarity may also be compared with mobs depending on the darkness of the solidarity group's skin.  But Groups operating in solidarity can always return to their shared principles and vision/mission to rightly direct themselves whereas Groupthinking groups have no basis for alignment other than hearsay.  Groupthinking is dangerous and easily misguided.  #Solidarity is difficult to divide because principles never change even when our adherence to them does.
What happened to Sunil Trupathi? Sunil did not commit the crime. Though his body was found after the bombing, his suicide, Sunil’s family said, had occurred a month before the attack.  He was a victim of social neglect and his family was the victim of groupthinking.
Here is a link to more of the story of Sunil:
http://www.cjr.org/analysis/sunil_tripathi_was_already_dead.php

Everything we do has a consequence...

If there is one principle, one truth that applies across all paradigms, it is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, aka: you reap what you sow.  The challenge comes with stopping a cycle into which we were born.  How can we stop the hurting that we were given without passing it on? This is what Acharit is about. Acharit is literally "that which comes after" and it applies to the idea of traveling on a journey.  The road that you are now on can only lead to a small subset of destinations.  You cannot get to Indiana from Alabama traveling due east, and you cannot get to college from elementary school by failing tests and having random absences.