Understanding our Pain

Understanding our Pain

Why we must look within ourselves and our “own” History

September 27, 2016
By Marion Theresa Myers

 

 

Understanding our Pain ~ My people are hurting right now because of the senseless murders that have plagued our communities. I can’t really say lately, because African Americans have always had to deal with unjust treatment since slavery up until now. In my opinion, it has only gotten worse , since our first black President, Barack Obama took office.

I have never seen a president of the United States of America treated with so much bigotry and disrespect in my life! Why in the world would we expect anything other than injustice from a race of people that won’t even respect the President of the United States?

My heart is aching because most of our people are at odds about the unrest in America right now. We must realize that we are not going to solve anything by auguring about why do we kill one another “black on black crime” and then expect for white cops to stop killing us? Why do we demand for them to stop is simple —  it is a natural instinct of human beings to want to protect our husbands, uncles, sons, brothers, daughters and now to add to the list, our preachers?  Are you kidding me? How can any African American person actually pose this question? Can you not relate to the pain of your very own people? Can you not relate to injustices all over the world?  If it is not a natural instinct of yours, then maybe you need to ask yourself why? I bet you won’t ever hear Caucasian people asking that question! You won’t read comments on social media or anywhere else that would suggest that their own people are making an argument about “white on white crime”. Do you really believe that they will give Black officers a pass for killing one of them for whatever reason?   Why won’t you? Because it is not a normal response from any race of people to justify violence of any race.

Have we become so brainwashed by all of the negative images of us that we really that we don’t love or value our own lives.  Yes, we need to take accountability for our own actions. But we have seen time and time again is innocent people being slain in our very own streets simply because we looked like a criminal. Remember, people fear what they don’t understand or relate to.  I mean it goes so far beyond the media and how others view us. It starts with how we view and love ourselves.

Please understand that we have been conditioned since slavery to not love ourselves and to not value our very own lives. The tragedies that we all faced as a “people” may still have mental ramifications on the lives of our people. Don’t take my word for it.  Read up on the issues that are plaguing our communities. Read up on the history of our black people. Try picking up books by Naimah Latif, “Slavery: The African American Psychic Trauma”, Sheldon George, “Trauma and Race: A Lacanian Study of African American Racial Identity” and last but certainly not least, Rick Wallace’s article on “An African American Enigma: Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma”. His great and many articles can be found on his web page http://www.theodysseyproject21.com.

 

Hosea 4:6 New International Version (NIV) tells us, “6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”

Yes, we are responsible for our own actions, but some of us for many reasons just don’t get it and we need to understand why some of us don’t! Until, we all get it,  we all fail as a collective. First and foremost, we must heal by forgiving the people that wronged us. If we don’t they hold great power over us. That is why we must not hate anyone even if they deserve it because we give our power over to them. We must put away the distractions – TV shows, music videos and media stations that only diminish the black family. Stop allowing propaganda to direct our lives and our mindsets. Then we must get up and fight – I don’t mean to fight with our fist. I mean to fight with our minds, hearts and our spirits. Study your enemy and beat him at his own game. Start reading and studying “Our” history.  Start growing, loving and building our families. Spend our money in our very own communities etc.…

 

Putting away the lies of the enemy about us being inferior and understand that we are the most brilliant and gifted people on the planet — it’s time for us to start acting like it!

Be Encouraged

Marion Myers