Message to the Future: You Have a Right to Be Here!

From Johnnie Nelson-Grant

Growing up during the Civil Rights movement, I experienced the southern racial etiquette, along with the strange fringe benefits, of Jim Crow segregation and integration.

I silently moved in the direction as ordered, too young to fully understand; my question was inevitably, “Why?”

My only understanding of these implicit biases was the nature of my very existence; a psychological barrier society held for me because of the color in my skin. It has been metaphorically stated that “It is difficult for African Americans to acknowledge our mentality because of the very nature ‘mental’ slavery created for generations of Africans in America. If someone has your mind, they have your body and soul.”

Dr. Na’Im Akbar reminds us that “Every form of animal life on this planet, no matter how big or small, is guided by their instinct or innate programming. Humans are the only life form in nature who operate based upon our self-consciousness, or what we know about ourselves. We only know what we are taught, and it is the mode of social control. Black minds alike are therefore guided/enslaved by the excessive and distorted information about African American people, and the absence of information.”

It is the charge of everyone to understand the struggles and sacrifices Africans in America endured to achieve rights in this American society. African American history represents the contributions of many individuals; it is a bridge to the betterment of those who will follow.

You must strive to achieve your psychological freedom by education, innovation, and building of bridges in the 21st century and beyond. With those achievements, great or small, it is important because of who you are.

Remember these words (in part) from the Desiderata:

“You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

“Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” Be careful…. Strive to be happy.