I 2 Am Hueman

I know that I was out of words yesterday. When I wrote that, I sincerely meant it. I really did. However, guess what? Today, I found some words that lived deep within my soul. With that being said, let’s get to it. As the title of my website is the Hueman Movement, it is important to know that I have love and respect for all huemans. I see you, I hear you, I feel you, and I sincerely hope that the day soon arises when we can live with one another rather than around one another. To me, there’s a difference. As a Black Man, I am around people most of my day, yet, I rarely feel as though they are with me. In order to feel like I am surrounded by those who are with me, I must take refuge in communities saturated with people that look like me. Truthfully, in most instances, it is there, and only there, where I can breathe deeply, completely open my eyes, and speak from my soul rather than my professionally crafted mind. Now, on to the words that I found. World, please stop treating the victims of some of the worst crimes against humanity like we are criminals. We are not. We are Beautiful Survivors. Our behaviors are a response to trauma. We are born into a war that we didn’t choose, and we are doing all that we can to make peace and safety real. More importantly, stop treating both the direct descendants of those who inflicted those crimes, or equally importantly, those who look like them and continue benefit from their acts of treachery as though they are victims. I promise you; some are not. Honestly….. Honestly, people of Color are required to acquire knowledge and education in order to live in this world. We can’t go to school for knowledge, for those who are instructing us are bound by curriculum, societal norms, fear, and ignorance. For knowledge, we speak to our tribes. For knowledge, we listen to our elders. For knowledge, we use the music of our survivors as a sweet, yet dark lullaby that reminds us of our past struggles coupled with our future hopes. This is how we acquire knowledge. Although unspoken, we all know that we must never speak of this knowledge in the presence of those who will never understand it. For education, we go to school. It is there that we begin the legalized, strategized, and specifically designed course of ignorance. When we are in nursery school, we sing songs about our own demise by softening the sting of the meaning with the seemingly innocent nature of childhood. We are taught the greatness of our “founding fathers” while intentionally overlooking that we are his bastard children. George Washington freed over one hundred of his slaves after he died. Many say that he knew that slavery was wrong. Did he free them after he died because he was afraid of what they would do if they were free while he lived? I may never know. Education…. When I walk into a room, I know what it feels like for some women to grab their purse. I know what it feels like to be questioned for being in a venue in which you are the keynote speaker. I know what it feels like for others that look like me to look at me as though they are ashamed of the fact that I am not trying to blend into our seemingly expected invisibility. So no, I don’t take the pledge. Why? Taking a pledge comes with a commitment. In good faith and mind, I cannot make a commitment to an ideal while others are committed to the common practice of reminding me that the initial ideal never included me. No… If this World is to change, there must be a reckoning of truth. There must be a space and time to hear the impact of the methods used to create the “greatness” of this World. As the descendant of the bastard children, it is my moral, spiritual, emotional, and communal responsibility to speak to, for, and about them. Had it not been for them, I would not be. Until we are all free to be, none of us are. Perhaps this is why we fear each other. Lies have never given anyone a reason to sleep well……Patrick

As always, I know I said it yesterday, but I’m saying it again today. This week, please do something for someone other than yourself for no other reason than to make their lives better. If you make it to where you’re going, please don’t forget to leave a map for the rest of us. Always Choose Love Because Love Changes Everything.