Fork In The Road

So there has been a lot going on in the last week or so that has social networks in a tizzy. From Paula Deen to the SCOTUS folks are in full reactionary mode. I sort of get it but not really. It completely frustrates me that we continuously give our power away. We continuously put our trust in a system that does not return the favor at all. The two party system has been flawed and ineffective for decades now, but yet we come back expecting a change to something that has shown no signs of changing. So then we get a decision like today and we wonder why it happened. We threaten to renew or get new passports and leave this evil place, but then that complacency kicks back in. We go back to our preoccupied lives and wait for the next thing to come along to rile us then pause and repeat the whole process. That was a sweeping generalization of which  I usually attempt to stay away from, but sometimes what we see is what we get.

As long as we continue to be reactive as opposed to proactive about how we participate in the political process we (black people, people of color and poor people) will continue to be left behind, and/or dependent upon others to do something for us. We keep looking at the causes but never the root of the problems. Hence we keep coming back to the same place. A few years back people were angry when Troy Davis was executed in Georgia, but how many of us know our candidates position on capital punishment? How many challenged them to change their position on the subject? Personally speaking I will not vote for anyone who supports capital punishment, and this was before the Troy Davis execution. I believe in being an educated voter not just a partisan one. The political, racial and social divide in the country is getting deeper by that day and social networking and mainstream media is helping to usher it along.

I feel that we are in a time of excess opinion, so in a lot of way this blog is a contradiction. That being said I do believe we need more compassionate voices to speak out and stand up. People who have no allegiances to any party or person. People who are willing to look beyond posters and bumper stickers and seek out  truth. That doesn't mean I don't believe that people cannot support the two parties. I just believe that we should be willing to challenge those we support as hard  as we do those that we oppose, and right now that  is not happening. Fundamentalism is running rampant  and some folks are clueless as to what they are fundamentaling about. We are being led blindly, and reacting to what we are being told to react to.

 I do not have all of the answers, but I have a ton of questions and a lot of passion. I do not believe a system (this system) can truly set us back unless we allow it. When the people put their minds and hearts into genuine change amazing things happen. We can't wait on legislation we have to force their hand. It cannot be a short sighted mission either, two months and then oops back to life as normal. Sustained change takes time and effort. Even on an individual level if we want change we have to stick to it to get results. A new political and social movement won't be had in one cycle or two or three. It may take more than our lifetime but I for one want my descendants to have something better than we do now.

Peace,
MAB

Mortal Lives

One day we will wake up and be gone. Life as we know it will have ended. Loves ones will cry and other may not. There will be a void left where your presence once stood. Life is that valuable, that precious and honestly that fragile for some. Things can happen in a split second. Your food can go down the wrong way, or you can cross the street at the wrong time. Any number of things can happen in a moments notice. I try not dwell on it too much, but since my Moms was 36 when she passed sometimes it just hits me. Or when I am thinking about someone I adore and that one of us will out last the other. I don't know it is kind of weird to me really. I mean I have my beliefs about the after life, but for real I don't really know what happens after that last breath. 


So yeah, remember nothing is a given. Say frickin' thank you when someone does something nice for you. Smile back when someone smiles at you (provided it ain't creepy). Do something random like run through the rain (I was gonna say in your undies, but that would be creepy). Feed someone's meter or leave the change in a soda machine for the next person. I guess my point is...DON'T TAKE SHIT OR YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY! I mean I have causes and beliefs that I am passionate about, and I put in mad effort but life goes on with or without me. I take my personal health serious but not too serious where it infringes on others ability to be around me. That's what I mean when we take ourselves so seriously that others can't have an idea or thought that contradicts our narrow view of the world...

Anywho! It is almost my bedtime and as I thought about my prayers and family it hit me to write what was on my heart at this moment.

Peace & Love,
MAB

Compassion and Courage...Courage and Compassion

In this vid I kind of talk about Jackie Robinson's indirect impact on me, and a little bit about having compassion in the wake of disaster.

Peace,
MAB