Politics Can't Manage My Divinity

When we are murdered, we rightfully march in the streets, but when will we grieve? I will never forget when George Floyd died. I never could watch the video, but I was aware of what happened and of the outrage. I became aware of him calling for his mama by people describing the video. I remember how easy it was for me to scroll and see a death of a Black man with no trigger warning. Just in your face. Boom! Here’s a murder for you to consume. And what did we do?

What we always do as a community.

Protest. Speak out. March. We voiced our rage. We spoke out.

Yet, we never grieved. We have never grieved and that is because we constantly rely on a system to legislate our wholeness and our divinity.

Did you see George Floyd cry out for his mama can’t you see we have pain and don’t deserve to die?

Tamir Rice was only 12 years old playing with a toy just like all 12 year old boys do, can’t you see your son in him too?

No. Because as soon as we die, all anyone ever sees is politics. Science has discovered that politics in the US live in the same place in people’s body as their religious ideologies and identities. No one cares when a Black person is murdered by cops because they immediately feel like their God is being questioned. Their initial reaction isn’t empathy. It’s defensiveness.

We may say, Black people deserve to not be murdered on the streets by cops. However, what they feel when they hear those words are you questioning their core beliefs, questioning their God, and questioning THEM as being good people.

That’s why murders like Kendrick Johnson and lynchings in the US continue to occur with no consequence because we are not seen as beings in this country, but just another political matter. They vote on our wholeness, the same way they vote on whether or not funds should be used to fix the roads this year.

Is that what we want? Is that what we are continuing to fight for?

What if I told you that a part of decolonizing was also decolonizing how much we politicize our pain?

Hear me out.

What are basic “human” rights?

And should the government (any government) be responsible for regulating human rights?

How did Black people achieve the basic ”human” rights that we now have, not only for us but now every person who comes to this country who isn’t white benefits from?

Every. Basic. Right. We. Have. Had. To. Become. A. Law. Through. Politics.

We are proud of this. To be Black is to be political, but why are we ok with this?

If they make a movie about Black people, it is not just a movie about people living their lives, it’s a political movie. People couldn’t even enjoy The freaking Little Mermaid because they were associating it with a “Woke” movement. Politics.

Everything we have access to. Oh do you want to walk on the sidewalk as the same time as white person? You better march for that.

Oh you want access to livable housing? A livable wage? You better lobby for that.

If my liberation can only be perceived through lobbyist lobbying, protesters protesting, and the three branches of the government allegedly doing their job then throw the whole system away.

Clearly, it is broken and cannot be fixed because politics were NEVER meant to manage MY divinity.

And not yours either.