strength in numbers.

“the world won’t get no better
if we just let it be.
the world won’t get no better
we gotta change it, yeah
just you and me.”

america’s team, golden state warriors, had the basketball world shook. won three out of five championships. won a record seventy-three games out of eighty-two one year. their best player Steph Curry was breaking records all over the place.

but he didn’t do it alone. Klay was the best two way player in the league, meaning he could play exceptionally well offense, but he could also lock down their opponents best player at the same time. Draymond Green would be their enforcer by getting in the head of the whole team and sometimes even the coaching staff of the opposite teams. Iggy would come off the bench and provide a burst of energy when Klay went to the bench. not to mention, their coach Steve Kerr won a couple rings when he played in the league as well. the team was built to win.

they had the luxury of going against Lebron James. who in their right mind would consider it a “luxury” to play against Lebron in the finals, first to win four games, right? well, that’s it. it was only Lebron James. he had a bunch of disengaged, weak armatures on his side. the warriors beat Lebron because they had a team. they came together as the warriors. the fought as the warriors. they won as the warriors.

they had strength in numbers.

we all need to unite. everyone reading this will agree that war is not the answer, at least this time. we all agree that the person in office is not equipped to make world decisions. we all agree that NON white women have been and are still a marginalized group. we can all agree that people who wear turbans are still being discriminated against worldwide due to the propaganda amerikkka is responsible for. we can all agree that the Latino community is some of the hardest working people yet are still getting played and hated and people look for reasons to get over on them. and Lord knows we all agree that Black people have been and are still getting the short end of the stick across the board.

why haven’t we, with everything we know, rallied together?

why haven’t we started to look at each other as friends or at least allies? an ally doesn’t have to be friendly, but they have a common goal and common enemy despite having differences.

why haven’t we listened to each other cries?

why haven’t we taken each other seriously?

why?

it’s THAT time. it’s past due.

there is strength in numbers.

now let me back up really quickly because i’m not the one to put on a front.

i am going to stay it clear as i can to avoid any confusion.

i DO NOT LIKE amerikkka and i DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF amerikkkan. amerikkka HAS NEVER TREATED ME AS SUCH. amerikkka HAS NEVER LEGALIZED BLACK PEOPLE. amerikkka HAS MADE SURE TO REMIND ME EVERY TIME i DRIVE TO THE STORE AND EVERY TIME i TURN ON THE TV AND EVERY TIME i READ A BOOK THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE STRANGERS IN THEIR “HOME.” i HAVE NO DESIRE TO RALLY BEHIND THE THING OR IMAGE OF amerikkka.

now that we’re past that, i rally behind humanity. i am for brotherhood for anyone who is for brotherhood. i will always be for justice, no matter what. i will always be for the morally right act. laws don’t make acts right or just. there was a time when Black people were considered 3/5s of a human. it was a law. it didn’t make it right or just, but it was a law.

we have to start listening to each other. we have to take more time to understand each other complaints. i just said i do not consider myself amerikkkan and spelled it with three Ks. instead of getting mad and GET OUTTA HERE, ask “why?” and hear me out.

we have to. there are enough “laws” on the book. but it’s been established that laws don’t make acts right or just. so lets proceed.

what we lack at this point is just simply education. we lack empathy. there are not enough words or pictures of dead bodies in the streets of Oakland or Iran that can force someone to empathize. that must be from within.

STRANGER IN MY OWN LAND.

i live in the Bay Area of California. Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley. you might have heard of this area. it’s known for two things. tech and diversity. silicon valley is expensive. the Bay is the most expensive area to move into in the whole country.

what i want to focus on however is the diversity. we have been bamboozled to think just because we have tons of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds and languages spoken and gay and trans people walking around, we are above racism, or we are above nationalism or homophobia. that might make people MORE prone to racism and xenophobia. we might be the most cliqued up area in the country.

yes you work with Black people. you didn’t choose that. that doesn’t make you think differently about us. and we shouldn’t have to go above and beyond to try to make you “change your mind” about us and your perception.

i was walking to my car one night, around eight p.m. on my way to it, an Asian woman came out of a house, assuming it was a family member. i’m maybe thirty yards behind her, minding my own business. she turns her head, looks at me and starts walking faster. i thought “hmmm. this area is mostly Black people, shouldn’t i be the one shocked and alarmed that a single Asian woman is walking around here?” but i kept it lit.

she turned around again. i looked down to make sure i didn’t wear my “I MUST KILL OR SCARE AN ASIAN WOMAN TODAY BY EIGHT THIRTY P.M. OR I AM A FAILURE” shirt again. nope. wasn’t wearing it. i waved at her which must have set her anxiety at an all time high because this woman started RUNNING. now i have never ran away from a murderer or been running with the bulls before, but i’m sure the way this woman was hurdling and weaving through parked cars was reminiscent of such.

what good is diversity if this happens in your own neighborhood?

i was the image of a walking nightmare to this woman. and i was just heading to my car to see the movie Us.

every time i go outside to jump rope, an Asian man comes and peeks around the corner. i have been living there for what? nineteen years? about fifteen years longer than his family and i’m the outsider.

do you know what that can do to the psyche? do you know how that can make one feel? you hear people committing suicide for not being accepted due to their sexuality. what about people committing suicide due to not being accepted and feared by everyone at home because of their skin color?

again, brotherhood is a two way street. there are laws that let people live where they want, cool. that’s nice. but i will not celebrate when people lack the education and empathy to fulfill what the law was intended to do.

we live in bubbles and we’re okay with that. we’re happy about being anti social. we’re happy about going straight in the house when we get off work. we get upset and nervous when neighbors of darker hues talk to us. we get upset when our roommates offer drinks.

we have no desire to understand each other.

we are stronger together.

I GOT ENEMIES, GOTTA LOTTA ENEMIES.

what has Iran done to you? how has Iran affected your life? “i have brothers in the army.” that was a choice. they got themselves in that situation. so again, what has Iran done to you?

more harm has been done domestically.

fifty three percent of white women who voted, voted FOR Donald. PRO Donald. i was thinking of saying it’s mostly older white men but that is just simply not true.

last time there was a survey of such, majority of the respondents (countries) agreed that amerikkka is the biggest threat to world peace.

there is a literal continent on fire right now. Australia.

the Amazon fires has just been forgotten.

people are shooting up schools and festivals and churches left and right.

police are harassing Black people right outside your window, at BART, at the subways.

it costs about two thousand dollars to move into a studio in some of the least friendliest areas in the Bay.

jobs are becoming more autonomous as we speak.

banks are offering less than one percent for saving accounts and still hit you with a fee if you overdraft. one overdraft fee is more than a years worth of saving with the interest they’re providing.

we complain, but we wait for someone else to do something.

SO WHAT? WHAT NOW?

capitalism and racism and patriarchy is killing all of us.

we are more powerful than the one percent. i know it seems like we are not, but we are.

we have to make sacrifices. that’s it.

don’t wanna say “that’s it” like it’s easy, but it is necessary.

we cannot complain about gentrification and support and fund the monopolies that are running everything. we cannot complain about Donald and we have the same thoughts internally. we cannot get mad at white men being in office and we are the ones voting them in. it starts with you reading this and me writing this. it really does. it really really does.

we have to start boycotting companies. everyone got mad at banks who didn’t divest from the Dakota Access Pipelines (#NoDAPL was the hashtag) but we don’t even divest our money from the same banks. wells fargo. bank of amerikkka. we don’t take our money away from people and companies who have no interest in anything besides convenience. amazon. google.

TAKE YOUR MONEY OUT. THAT IS FUNDING WHAT YOU ARE MAD AT.

a lot of people are now contemplating having kids or not due to the future and i’m saddened. while some people just shouldn’t have kids as it would be irresponsible and harmful to the rest of the world, a lot of us should. you reading this have a lot to give and a lot of love and wisdom for someone to inherit. yes you do. but we cannot complain anymore without doing something.

if you didn’t have a job, you would apply. there was a time when you called and texted and asked around to see if someone anyone was hiring. why? because you needed money. complaining wasn’t enough, you had to apply yourself. no pun intended.

challenge yourself to learn something new this month. pick up a book about Black people. pick up a book about feminism. watch a video on investing. watch a documentary today. pick up a book about Mexican culture. pick up a book about Pan Afrikanism. find out something about Vietnam. look up something about the Cuban revolution. learn something today.

what good is diversity if you refuse to learn about those very diverse people.

challenge yourself to talk to someone new today. tell someone they are pretty today. tell someone they have nice style. we all have hundreds of people in our phones, yet we never call or text them. text a few people from your contacts this week. just check on them. buy someone’s lunch or coffee or toll today. you might think it’s for them, but it’s for you.

you often feel better when you do nice acts. you often are happier when you commit to service. the reason why i am not a fan of the holidays is because we are forced to do acts of service. it’s a chore. a task. get in the habit of surprising. get in the habit of texting people in your phone. get in the habit of asking your neighbor how was their day.

we need to work together. this time we’re living in is not random. this time is not unbelievable. look at history and you’ll see this is normal, unfortunately. so we must counter the normalcy by doing something transcendent: loving.

“wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed,
no more backward thinking time for thinking ahead.
the world has changed so very much
from what it used to be so
there is so much hatred, war and poverty.”

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