dreams – Dr. Kiara Shanay Lee

#theBlackertheHistory — “So Far”

So Far

by Corey Jackson

So far we have come

But yet so far we….

So far we have to go

This place, America

Has put us

In a tough place.

Instead of teaching

Our young men

How to prosper

How to thrive

In success

The parents are

Teaching how to survive

In the streets

The educators are

Preaching how to survive

In the classroom

From grades

And other educators

For a lack

of knowledge of either

Could result

In the preacher presiding

Over their homegoing.

So far we have come

But yet so far we….

So far we have to go

In the same conversation

That we show optimism

That as a black male

You could lead this country

We have to be realistic

That as a black man

You are destined

To face adversity

In nearly every thing

You do.

The climb up

that steep hill

Of justice and equality

Is as difficult

As the hills

Dr. King climbed

In Alabama

The difference is

Those hills of the sixties

Of rock and stone

Are now composed

of Red Clay

For it is much

Harder for those

Who made those hills

To wash off

their Filthy hands

of injustice.

So far we have come

But yet so far we…

So far we have to go

As the list of

Slain black males climb

We must fall

Fall to the realization

That tough roads

Are Ahead

The same groups

That support and

Protect you

Also have people

Who are there

To hate

and destroy you.

Society and

Those who

Interpret society’s laws

Have shown

To be dangerous.

Our people killing

Our people over

Items of monetary value

Our protectors killing

Our people over

Assumptions of actions

of crime and civility.

Young Brown, Young Martin

The martyrs of

America’s Choice

To make a major problem

Into a minor incident.

This generation

And those to come

Must learn how

To live

Not in fear

But intelligence

Be smart, be aware

Be understanding

The circumstance.

Black history

Of America’s past

Is still present today.

So far we have come

But yet so far we…

So far we have to go

Corey Jackson is an educator and former University of Richmond football player who believes that the fight for racial justice and equality is far from over.

Weekly Wisdom: Low Places Ain’t So Low

You may have some kind of big dream. Something that wakes you up at night. Something you dream about during the day. You want to be or do something big, something fulfilling and something important.

But sometimes, the dreams in your head don’t exactly match up with your reality.

And you gripe about it. You feel you don’t measure up and you minimize yourself as a result. But what you don’t realize is the importance of the low places.

Here’s an example.

I recently read a little blurb on Esther Rolle (you probably know her best from playing Florida on Good Times). As an African-American actress heavily active during the 50s and 60s, she often played the role of a maid to wealthy white families before breaking through this typecast later in her career.

When asked if this bothered her (given the time period and the context behind these roles), she said no. Although she had made a name for herself in Hollywood and STILL had been typecast as a maid during a time where the racism surrounding black women in domestic work was virulent at best, she didn’t mind. She saw her typecasting as an opportunity instead of a road block. In so many words, she said she felt she was paying homage to all the black female domestics before her (and even in her own family) who struggled and caught hell and then some — all in the name of supporting their families, acknowledging that the blood, sweat and tears before her is what paved her way to Hollywood in the first place. It was her opportunity to give a face to a plight largely unknown to and overlooked by the status quo.

Don’t take this the wrong way. You should strive for better and never become too complacent. But it’s all a process — Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just because you may not be where you want to be today doesn’t discount the value of this minute or this hour. There’s value in everything, but it’s up to you to value the minute, the hour, the day that you have.

Use your time and your place (where you are in life) wisely. The baby steps lead to feet and the feet lead to leaps if you’re wise, if you’re patient and when you understand that the low places aren’t so low.

Peace, Love & Consciousness

Kiara