Power is Corrosive
This world is no fantasy.
America reminds me of a set of peaks and valleys.
You land high enough on entry you never know how far down it goes.
You land low on entry you’ll never see how big the world really is.
The soul of America lies bare in the pain of its people.
George Floyd was an innocent man
murdered for no reason other than being another number in a broken institution that has now created cells of anarchy across the entire country.
The revolution has been at play since Rosa and Martin, Malcolm and Owens, to John Lewis—
We’ve been here before and it all makes the pain run deeper.
People are tired.
The Minneapolis police department has a record so grossly consistent with terrible behavior it is ripe for deep changes to get the police to work for the people for once.
But what can we do again, wait for change?
I remember back during Furgeson, Tamir Rice, and Trayvon Martin.
I remember waiting for a good day in court to have all the evidence laid out.
“A riot is the language of the unheard”
— MLK JR
I remember where I was when I learned no one would be held accountable, no matter how much they say they are willing to do.
Where do you go when you're surrounded by conversations of looting, pain, and black lives cut down in a thousand ways.
We have to change the conversation.
We don’t destroy our own communities, set them on fire. That doesn’t work.
We can be in the middle and be for progress.
But we need to watch who walks among us.
Who isn’t really for us but talks of how to help destroy the house we sleep in and not theirs.
We can bring those that are for our cause but there is something in the air that needs to be addressed.
Something I’ve written about extensively on my personal blog.
Not everyone is an ally.
Not everyone that smiles has good intentions.
Racism is a white problem and a white disease.
Across the board, period.
There are people that believe they know what’s best for the world we live in.
And their arrogance blinds them to their foolishness and delusional belief that they are anointed to save the black race.
They are helping destroy our own homes.
How can we feed the evilness?
We must resist the temptation and illusive power of the mob.
We can create what we need for ourselves by focusing on each other and boost the conversation.
So I wanted to ask you directly, I’m running a poll on twitter to see what people think is the most effective way for change.
It’s a tight list so it’s for sure not everything but any comment or vote would be amazing. It would be interesting to see how the club feels as a whole.
At Black Men Book Club we work to create an environment of learning and growth for black men and all that have a thirst for knowledge, success, and health.
Our new product—The Collective:
A top list of self-submitted books from club members, will be looking for black stories about experiences that changed their world from literature to startups.
We’re really looking forward to sharing some of the amazing books we’ve gotten submitted.
If you like, you can submit your own story here in advance to get updates on the launch directly.
We don’t really have a book this week to promote but I’m currently listening to Kevin Heart’s new book on audible.
Have you checked it out?
It’s something you can knock out on the weekend in a few hours and have some great energy going into the week.
Something we all need to keep us sharp and ready.
Create a magic notebook for exploring data and thinking with code
Transcript:
To control our money, food, and energy is the true way to get the government to listen to what we have to say. Our generation does have to do it differently. We have to start earlier and stay up later.
We don’t act as though the world will give us everything we want, we know the truth.
I want us to be ferocious in life every single day as a result of this.
I want to channel that build-up and energy.
I want it to be channeled into the great thing you’re working on. Or that interview you’re planning for, the assignment you're stuck on, or the relationship you’re trying to fix.
Any enemy knows that the best time to attack is when they are distracted and off-balance.
Moments like this force our hand. We must tighten the ship.
We must double down on our lofty, crazy, billion-dollar dreams.
Because if we don’t, the ones hungry for learning, reading, tech, science, history, the arts, culture, how can we look to a man that doesn’t know of what we know and expect it from him?
We have to lead the pride.
We have to king ourselves.
The fog from the battlefield may be tight. But my conviction is strong and my heart is pure. Keep charging along, you’re on the right path.
That’s all I’ve got today, see you next Sunday.
Jordan
✌🏽
RIP George Floyd