Truth Will Sting Some And Inform All

So much has happened in a week's time. We've had the recent untimely taking of life of our brother George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of the local police department.  

We've had the recent action of a Caucasian woman in Central Park calling the police on a Black man and trying to instigate law enforcement to handle him as someone who was aggressive and threatening.

And, in the face of this, in the wake of this, there is so much emotion.  There's so much energy.  There's so much outrage.  There’s so much disgust and justifiably so. 

We are frustrated, angry; we resent what's happening to us and what has happened to us and we resent what's going to happen to us tomorrow.

I respect what we feel.  I appreciate those who have gone out and participated in marches and protests and other kinds of action to show the disdain and the frustration with what's happening.

And because I have this platform and because I've been fortunate and blessed to have you as an audience- to have a voice that folks want to listen to - I know that I have to be responsible with my message.

I had to be responsible with what I posted on social media.  I have to be responsible with what I would put on my website. I had to be responsible with the message that is going to come to you via the Nurah Speaks Podcast. So to that end, I have not been very quick or eager to jump on the microphone to share my thoughts to express what is going on for me personally.

I am a black woman in North America; I have a husband and sons. And so certainly you can infer that I, too, am affected deeply by this emotionally.  I have frustration and concern for black people, men, boys, women, children.

But I know that I have to be measured and responsible with what I say, with what I do, with what I share on social media and what's being delivered to you as an audience, because at this time, our people are looking for guidance.

We need guidance, we need leadership. And as someone who has this platform, I know that it is my responsibility to be dignified, to be civilized and to be truthful.

The truth can sting some; and the truth will inform all. 

And that is the purpose of this- to deliver the truth, to share information that is not going to just inspire us to feel good-but that's going to inspire us to take action. 

I know that there is risk in telling the truth.  We can miss out on opportunities telling the truth.  And some think truth should be delivered in a way that is manageable for all.  

But…that is not my role to deliver the truth so it's manageable, so that all are comfortable with it. I simply want to tell the truth and do my best to choose the words that are most precise to express what is in my mind. 

I strive to be respectful to all at all times. Yet I am going to always tell the truth with whatever risks that come to me.

In many ways, I don't need to record another podcast episode to talk about what's happened in Minneapolis. You can go to the Nurah Speaks archives.  The last episode, ‘Action Is The Defining Measure Of Revolution’ talks about what's happened to our brother and to too many other brothers and too many sisters and too many families and communities across this nation.

You can dig into previous episodes of Nurah Speaks because the foundation of the message doesn't change. Depending on the circumstance and depending on the time, the delivery of it may be adjusted based on those specific circumstances. However, you will always find a foundation of personal accountability in the message of Nurah Speaks. 

And so as I am reflecting as you too are reflecting on the events have recently taken place.  And I know that there's so much material to wade through. I know so many people are posting videos, the news is constantly streaming. There are others that you listen to and that you seek out for guidance. So I want to let you know that I appreciate you taking time to hear what it is that I have to say on this and other issues because it is a privilege to have you here. It is a privilege for me to have your time and I do not take that very lightly and I'm grateful for that.

As I am reflecting on the events that have transpired I see many of our people pushing those white colleagues, white associates or white friends to speak out regarding what's happening.  

We call them allies. And we tell them to speak out to their white brethren, those who also share the thinking of someone who would take a life like that officer did of the life of George Floyd - and those who participated. 

Our people are saying we want them to step up and speak out as those who have alliances with us and those who are our friends. 

And I would suggest that is misguided energy. 

It would be great if they did. 

But we don't need to use our time to influence others to act. We have to influence ourselves to act and not just to act blindly because we have energy, because we have this emotion, but to act strategically.  

We don't need allies.  

What we need today, what we needed yesterday and what we're going to need tomorrow is brotherhood.

The justice that we want, the opportunities that we want, the privileges of citizenship we want to enjoy and the respect of our humanity that we want- that's going to come from us and from what we do!

We elevate others over ourselves when we are pushing them, pushing so called allies to speak out. What they do is their business; though it would be nice for them to do. 

But Brother and Sister, it would be nice for us to take responsible and measured  action so that we can create the change that we want.  And we have to give the energy and effort that is going to equal the change that we say that we want and that we need. 

We can't keep waiting for others to stand up and to speak the loudest on issues that affect us the most. That is misguided energy.  We keep elevating others and their responsibility - or what responsibility we think that they have-over the responsibility that we have for ourselves. 

So first, I would say stop looking for allies. Look for brotherhood. 

When you have brotherhood, what the allies do or don't do doesn't have the greatest impact. 

The greatest impact will be the impact that we make together as a community. Whether we disagree or agree on every single issue on every single agenda, we have to have brotherhood first, and that is key. 

The second point that I want to make is to be cautious about acting when you're heavily ladened with emotions.

Emotions can be like smoke. When there's a fire, people don't die as much because of the fire as from the inhalation of smoke. Once you have inhaled smoke, it occupies space in our lungs. It occupies space wherein air cannot get in. So our emotions can be a barrier to logic just like smoke can be a barrier to breathing.

When we're acting out of emotions and we are not operating logically, we can harm ourselves and we can harm others. 

Yes, we have to act. But we cannot let our emotions lead our actions. Our emotions can be fuel for our actions, but they cannot lead our actions. 

Therefore have to lead with strategy; we have to lead with forethought because lives are at stake. And while folks are out there in the street and they're expressing their disdain for what's happening to us, know that there are others who are also in that crowd who are not there, because they share in your pain and because they share in your agony and your mission. 

There are folks who are in these crowds because they intend to agitate, because they intend to instigate and these crowds can be dangerous. 

So we have to think!  What is going to be our vehicle to get justice?  What is going to be our vehicle to get equality? What is going to be our vehicle to experience freedom in this country? 

Look!  If a march could free us, if a march was able to give us equality, nobody has marched more than the so called American Negro here in North America. No one has marched more than us, although others modeled our movements and have attained equality and opportunity for themselves greater than we.

Still in 2020, we are marching for freedom, justice and equality and that still evades us because that is not the right vehicle to employ to achieve freedom, justice and equality. 

Again!  The vehicle is our brotherhood!  It is not relying on someone else to create an opportunity for us to be free.  

And I know that that might seem like a strange or a foreign concept to many because we don't have the practice of relying on other Black people to get our needs met. But if we relied on one another, with the same heavy weight that we rely on those in positions of power in this government, we could have what we want overnight.  

We could transform our communities and cause others to deal with us much differently. But we keep resorting to the same tactics to get different results. That's not wise and that's not strategic. 

So we have to put our emotions to the side; we have to sit down and think logically about what we need.  And we have to work collectively to achieve those ends. 

I wonder how much more are we going to take until we say,  “Wait!  What we've been doing isn't working, let's do something different!”  There are other options that most of us have not employed to achieve the results that we want. 

You know me - I am a Muslim following the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and I represent a community that is operating in unity, striving to do everything that we can so that we can create freedom, justice, equality and opportunities for ourselves. 

But now hold on…this isn't a religious message! And I'm not suggesting that everybody who reads this should be Muslim, join the Nation of Islam or think exactly like I do. But I will say that operating together with those who want the same for you that you want for yourself in unity has been effective. 

And I want to be effective. I don't want to just be loud because the folks who are the loudest in the crowd are often the least effective in the field where the work is most necessary to improve the conditions of our people. 

So I'm not saying that we all have to think like Nurah thinks or that we all have to do everything that Nurah does. However, what I will say is I have been fortunate enough to put my trust in other Black people who have put their trust in me and we have beautiful, tangible results. 

So it may sound hard, it may sound impossible because we've been trained and conditioned to operate against each other instead of with each other. 

However, if we switch up that mindset, then the revolution that we want is right  within our reach. So I would suggest you try it.  

We have to hold ourselves accountable. We have to hold ourselves accountable more-so than we're trying to hold the officer who took the life of our brother accountable, the mayor of that city or your city…we have to hold ourselves accountable to reach our final destination and achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

We should also learn from history. If we're not going to learn from history, and you have heard this before, we are doomed to repeat it. 

So while we're watching the burning of these cities, doesn't it look familiar? I lived through the LA riots. And then those older than me who saw the LA riots remember the riots of the 60s when King was assassinated. 

So we are watching history repeat itself because we are not doing anything differently. 

We have to be strategic; we have to look inside. We have to work collectively. 

My last point that I will leave here - we have to stop qualifying the reasons why we should be treated with dignity. 

We say about the brother that was harassed in the park, “He was Harvard educated. He was a birdwatcher, so he must really be civilized!  He's the perfect person that should not be treated like a thug.” Well, I would say if there was a thug walking through the park who said, “Ma'am, could you leash your dog?” Amy Cooper should still not have called the police.

We have to stop thinking that because somebody has a certain pedigree, a certain job or title, that they should not be treated like this. 

If I was a thug, I shouldn't be treated like this, if I have not done wrong.

We must stop qualifying ourselves because this is us still looking for validation. We shouldn't have to issue a qualifying declaration to have our human rights honored and respected. 

The fact that I'm a person should cause others to respect me. The validation that we seek shows own collective lack of self worth.

It doesn't matter where we are from; it doesn't matter what schools we went to; the the common denominator is that we are Black. 

I urge us to be strategic. Let's be thoughtful. Let's be organized. Let's operate in brotherhood as that is the only vehicle that is going to bring us the change we need. 

If you have a  reader question, email me at [email protected]. You can also follow the Nurah Speaks podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NurahSpeaksPodcast. 

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And remember, don't just join the movement. Be the movement. Stay in peace!

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