Celebrating Emancipation day 2009, I am sitting in my living room on the computer and my mind is going through many motions and consequently, many emotions... When the news of emancipation finally reached Florida, many of the slaves farther north had all ready been informed of their freedom. However, being free did not mean anything to many people because there was nowhere to go after release from the plantation. There were no acres, no mules, no jobs, and no homes, so where were these former slaves supposed to go and what were they supposed to do when they got there? Just as they were freed from one form of slavery and immediated shuttled to another is the fate of many blacks in modern America.
Slavery has now become a voluntary institution. Many people are slaves to their jobs, their lifestyles and even to their secrets. People go to work everyday believing that they are free but they are only free to do what the master wants. How many Americans are one paycheck away from poverty? How many Americans are two paychecks away from eviction? How many Americans are three paychecks away from financial ruin? This is the slavery that we have voluntarily become a part of. We no longer work for passion or fulfillment, we work to hold the creditors at bay. We work to pay back student loans. We graduate from college and now have professional license to be enslaved.
Even more than that, we have chains on our minds. We don't know what we think until someone else has thought it for us. We are scared to speak up and afraid to speak out. So we become the willing cosigners to men like Al Sharpton who is supposed to speak for all of us, but usually speaks for none of this. I, for one, do not agree with many of the positions he stands on but if I am not willing to become a part of struggle, then my opinion is invalidated. So now we are slaves to our leader who drags us along like chattel during his idealogical rants. If you stand for nothing, you are a victim of anything and many of us are victims of the quiet syndrome. Silence infers agreement. We silently agree with someone we do not even identify with.
Some say education is the key, others say money is the key, but I believe that changed minds are the key. If we never realize what we can be, we will never know who we can be. We must be proactive about education but concurrently aware of why we are getting aforesaid education. Are you only in college because your parents sent you? Is the justification for your major than it will make you a lot of money? Do you stroll around campus worrying about being seen and being in organizations? One day you will be released into society and will have no idea what to do. And then you become, a slave...
Free your mind and the rest will follow...
Slavery has now become a voluntary institution. Many people are slaves to their jobs, their lifestyles and even to their secrets. People go to work everyday believing that they are free but they are only free to do what the master wants. How many Americans are one paycheck away from poverty? How many Americans are two paychecks away from eviction? How many Americans are three paychecks away from financial ruin? This is the slavery that we have voluntarily become a part of. We no longer work for passion or fulfillment, we work to hold the creditors at bay. We work to pay back student loans. We graduate from college and now have professional license to be enslaved.
Even more than that, we have chains on our minds. We don't know what we think until someone else has thought it for us. We are scared to speak up and afraid to speak out. So we become the willing cosigners to men like Al Sharpton who is supposed to speak for all of us, but usually speaks for none of this. I, for one, do not agree with many of the positions he stands on but if I am not willing to become a part of struggle, then my opinion is invalidated. So now we are slaves to our leader who drags us along like chattel during his idealogical rants. If you stand for nothing, you are a victim of anything and many of us are victims of the quiet syndrome. Silence infers agreement. We silently agree with someone we do not even identify with.
Some say education is the key, others say money is the key, but I believe that changed minds are the key. If we never realize what we can be, we will never know who we can be. We must be proactive about education but concurrently aware of why we are getting aforesaid education. Are you only in college because your parents sent you? Is the justification for your major than it will make you a lot of money? Do you stroll around campus worrying about being seen and being in organizations? One day you will be released into society and will have no idea what to do. And then you become, a slave...
Free your mind and the rest will follow...
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