Wakanda Forever.

Part 2.

Black is beautiful, baby Black is bold. Black is Black, true. But Black is Gold.

We make history every day. Don’t wait for February to celebrate. Don’t wait for February to get enlightened. Our history did not start with slavery. Dr.Martin Luther King Jr and Barack Obama are not the only people we can salute. They are great. Yes. But we cannot brush over the countless great Black heroes. And we cannot neglect the millions of Black women who have held the Black culture and race down for centuries.

Love yourself. Love your Black self. Love your nose. Love your hair. 4a 4c. Love your body frame. Thick. Slim. Short. Tall. Love your voice. Love your skin color. Dark. Light. Albino. Love your ambition. Love your attitude. Love your skills. J.Cole said “you ain’t never gonna be happy til you love yours” and everyone “felt that on a spiritual level,” but I am urging you to love yourself.

Being Black is a blessing. I know the many hardships we go through. It isn’t fun. Yet we make the best out of everything. We make jokes and light out of disaster. We are unique. You ever seen a kangaroo at a rap concert? You ever peeped Kevin Hart dancing? You ever see a little girl praying her heart out then it being on the first song on a Kanye West album?

We can’t be stopped, y’all. We’ve been through hell. We sang like we ain’t going through struggle. We fight like we ain’t facing an army, the country we live in. We dress like it’s a fashion show. We wear jewelry like kings and queens.

People talk about our Hip Hop. That’s the CNN of our lives. If a survivor made a song about school shooting, it would be reality and would win awards. When 2Pac talked about Brenda having a baby, it’s a “slow down there.” When NWA yell FUCK THA POLICE, it’s a “you hate cops.” It’s reality. So Neyo and Usher can talk about love because that’s their life, but Biggie and Public Enemy can’t talk about their life? Got cha.

People gravitate towards us like the moon. People can’t get enough of us.

Asians love 2Pac more than us. Asians crip walk like Snoop is their Uncle.

White people dab like Cam Newton in 2016. White people have imitated, never duplicated, our culture for centuries.

Latinxs use our language and get mad that we don’t like approve of it. Latinxs appropriate Black culture and folks say “they have a similar struggle to Black people. They’re okay.”

“Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of the elements of one culture by members of another culture. When anyone is replicating a style that originated within another community or culture, they should be careful to not represent it in a way that perpetuates racist stereotypes,” says clinical psychologist Dr.Christine Adkins-Hutchison. Try to understand culture before you try to emulate.

Culture is NOT to be shared. Don’t wear ME as a costume. Don’t NOT give credit where it’s due. You’ve been taught about plagiarizing since 5th grade. Don’t act brand new now.

Black culture, specifically Black american culture, is the most influential force present. Argue with that wall in your room, not me. Black people represent roughly 13% in amerikkka. 13%. That’s around 43 million people. You see US in everything about the world.

We got our own language and people call us ignorant. We communicate effectively with each other. Flawlessly. When Latinxs do it, it’s Spanglish. Naw. Stop letting people belittle your culture, Black people. Stop giving people passes, y’all. Cut people off. If someone disrespected your mom or your hood, they’re catching a fade. But if someone disrespect your culture and heritage, it’s a difference. Naw. Cut people off. Stop giving these vultures passes. Stop allowing colonizers to colonize. Stop allowing everything to slide.

Indians can have names with three G’s and five P’s and a K. Latinxs can name their kids something WE can’t pronounce. And that’s okay. That’s their culture. This is not a diss. I love that. We should all ask how to properly say their names. But what we’re NOT gonna do is let people diss our names. We are NOT going to be told and BELIEVE our names are “ghetto.” That’s out, y’all. We’re not gonna diss OUR own names. Before colonizers colonized, our last names weren’t Washington, Jackson, Williams, Johnson. You think I’m juiced to have a last name Washington? I’m ONLY proud to have that name because it’s the last name of my dad, who is a hero. That’s the ONLY plus. Our names were cultured. Our names had meanings. Do NOT shame kids and adults for Lakeisha, Donte, Leroy and Kanye. Might be straight ghetto names to you, but it’s a cultured name to me. A Black person named a Black person. Simple. My best friend, a brother to me, name is Hoa. I did not know how to say it at first. Ask him. He was the first Vietnamese person I’ve became close to. I’d be out of my mind if I played him and his name and his culture. And I’d be out of my mind if I played Black people who name their kids with the most untouched by amerikkkan culture, cultured name. People say it can hurt chances of getting a job with a name like Lakeisha or Deandre or whatever. The racism is REAL. (forget getting a job, we’re teaching kids to create jobs people need) If a NAME will hurt me getting a job, I don’t need that job. Meanwhile, a name didn’t hurt that Indian dude you work with. It’s culture. Embrace it. Black people, stop thinking about what the world thinks. We run the world, if you THINK about that.

Don’t believe the hype.

Black men and women love each other. Listen to social media if you want to. Be led by Charlamagne if you want to. Black men love themselves some Black women. And Black women love Black men more than anything. Our love for one another is beautiful and unmatched. Do not let media paint an inaccurate depiction. Black women tend to know what they want and need, and not settle for anything less than that. Black women have very high expectations and standards. Black women display confidence, beauty, intelligence, strength and femininity all while holding down the fort. And Black men can understand and properly cater, protect, withstand and provide to Black women. Media will tell you and show you otherwise. That’s their job. Media will show you Love&HipHop and y’all will run with it. Media gives you movies and news clips and music and people assume 43 million Black people are 10 people they see on tv.

I’ll tell you right now, there is not one thing (besides my Lord) I love and appreciate and respect more than Black women.

We must support ourselves. I know Black people who complain about Asian nail shops and beauty supply stores because they’re rude and follow them around the store, yet contribute to their wealth. I say support Black business, and the most common complaint is “they don’t know how to treat you. No customer service.” Wait. So Linda or Lisa Nails can follow you around the store, but you get turned off from an attitude or mood that you posses as well? No. Drive 4 more miles to support your own. Spend $10 more to buy that weave. Drop $15 more dollars to support Black creatives on Twitter or IG. Yes, I know you can buy Black Lives Matter hoodie off of Amazon made in Indonesia for $20. It’s not more rewarding buying a hoodie from your homie who makes them at his house by himself for $35? (@KingHenok on IG and Twitter)

“My seeds, grow with his seeds, marry his seeds. That’s how we keep Wu-Tang money all up in the family,” Ghostface Killah.

Watch this video.

If you have a problem with me talking about pride in culture, you have 1 of 2 problems. Either you have not enough pride in your own culture, or you’re threatened.

I’m promoting self love. I wish EVERYone wrote about their culture. I didn’t have to shade a culture to lift mine up. I didn’t have to disrespect anyone. This is all about love and pride.

When Kendrick said “Alls my life I had to fight, nigga. Alls my life, i…” he was referencing The Color Purple.

The problem isn’t with you rapping that song. The problem is with you thinking he was rapping about you. The problem is not even knowing the reference and you got the nerves to think he was rapping about you. Naw. Y’all been alright. So now, WE GON BE ALRIGHT.

“Wouldn’t you know? We been hurt, been down before, Nigga. When our pride was low, looking at the world like ‘where do we go?’ Nigga. And we hate po-po. Wanna see us dead in the street fasho. I’m at the preachers door. My knees getting weak and my gun might blow but WE GON BE ALRIGHT.”

Black people. I mean, stylistically, we are already the best. That’s not debatable. Swag. Flow. Walk. Fashion. Hair. Music. Thays just natural. We have what they want. So neeexxxtttt.

But we must understand our strength. We must understand the power we hold. We must love ourselves. Love one another. Embrace our heritage. I know media told you Africans are nothing but wild savages who live outside. Wrong. You think places like Wakanda don’t exist? Stop eating everything they feed you. You think the colonizers would colonize if we weren’t valuable? You think they would let us keep our families together, with them knowing how powerful we are individually?

In Roots, colonizer CHANGED Kunte Kinte’s name to Toby. Kunte wouldn’t say his name was Toby so they had a fellow Black man whip Kunte. The colonizer himself didn’t do it. He made a Black man whip another Black man for not saying his name is Toby. But we must stop whipping ourselves.

“Before we came to this country,
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys.
there was empires in Africa called Kush.
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books.
to learn from Black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian, Arabs and gave them gold when
gold was converted to money it all changed
money then became empowerment for europeans
the persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings and everything sacred,
Africa was almost robbed naked.
slavery was money, so they began making slave ships.
Egypt was the place that alexander the great went.
he was so shocked at the mountains with black faces.
shot off they nose to impose what basically,
still goes on today, you see?” NaS.

Please, watch NaS I Can video and be inspired. Watch it after you read this.

Together, we are strong. By ourselves, we’re strong. Together we are unstoppable. We are beautiful. We are survivors. We are intelligent. We are wise. We are talented. We got royalty, got loyalty inside our DNA. We’re all we need to get by. Unity. Brothers and Sisters.

*Listen to Kendrick Lamar Alright. Beyoncé and Kendrick Freedom. J.Cole Love Yourz. Jay Z Family Fued. Nas I Can.