It’s not sameness. Oneness is a river of difference braided in light.
It’s jazz, not a jingle. A hundred languages laughing together and none afraid to cry.
It’s your voice wrapped in moonlight and mine in Dayfire… not matching, but merging. Not fixed, but dancing.
Oneness is the moment before breath, when all things remember they were never truly apart.
It’s the child in Ghana who hums a tune you dreamed of in Philly. It’s the mother in Palestine whose heartbeat syncs with yours for one silent, holy second.
Oneness is when borders fall like bad habits, when eyes don’t see threat; they see kin. It’s not peace made on paper It’s peace made by rhythm, by recognition, by reach.
It’s Earth holding us not as passengers, but as poems. Each line distinct, but part of a single song.
And in that song, there is always a note that sounds like you.
What’s wrong with the world, mama? People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas I think the whole world’s addicted to the drama Only attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we tryna stop terrorism But we still got terrorists here livin’ In the USA, the big CIA The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race Then you only leave space to discriminate And to discriminate only generates hate And when you hate, then you’re bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate And that’s exactly how anger works and operates Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight Take control of your mind and meditate Let your soul gravitate to the love, y’all, y’all
People killin’, people dyin’ Children hurt, hear them cryin’ Can you practice what you preach Or would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father, help us Send some guidance from above ‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’ Where is the love (love)
Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love, the love, the love?
It just ain’t the same, old ways have changed New days are strange, is the world insane? If love and peace are so strong Why are there pieces of love that don’t belong?
Nations droppin’ bombs Chemical gasses fillin’ lungs of little ones With ongoin’ sufferin’ as the youth die young So ask yourself, is the lovin’ really gone?
So I could ask myself really what is goin’ wrong In this world that we livin’ in people keep on givin’ in Makin’ wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends Not respectin’ each other, deny thy brother A war is goin’ on but the reason’s undercover
The truth is kept secret, it’s swept under the rug If you never know truth then you never know love Where’s the love, y’all, come on? (I don’t know) Where’s the truth, y’all, come on? (I don’t know) Where’s the love, y’all?
People killin’, people dyin’ Children hurt, hear them cryin’ Can you practice what you preach Or would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father, help us Send some guidance from above ‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’ Where is the love (love)
Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love? (The love) Where is the love, the love, the love?
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder As I’m gettin’ older, y’all, people gets colder Most of us only care about money makin’ Selfishness got us followin’ the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media Negative images is the main criteria Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema, yo’
Whatever happened to the values of humanity? Whatever happened to the fairness and equality? Instead of spreading love we’re spreading animosity Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ under That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ down There’s no wonder why sometimes I’m feelin’ under Gotta keep my faith alive ’til love is found Now ask yourself
Where is the love? Where is the love? Where is the love? Where is the love?
Father, Father, Father, help us Send some guidance from above ‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’ Where is the love?
Sing with me y’all (one world, one world) We only got (one world, one world) That’s all we got (one world, one world) And something’s wrong with it (yeah) Something’s wrong with it (yeah) Something’s wrong with the wo-wo-world, yeah We only got (one world, one world) That’s all we got (one world, one world)
Written by: Justin Timberlake, Will Adams, Jaime Gomez, Allan Pineda, George Pajon Jr, Printz Board, Michael Fratantuno
Album: Elephunk
Released: 2003
Time for us, queridos, to talk about exactly where that Love is?
We talk about it, but…can we wage Love as well as we wage war?
The above book is one I recommend for thinking Christians who everyday strive to walk beside Jesus (man/metaphor/messiah, no matter to me; and I neither mind nor particularly care what you believe about him.)
It’s, thus far, and I’m still reading, is written by two pastors who see things clearly (having probably scraped more Dark off the Looking Glass than many of us), and are speaking to we the people as reasoned, thinking folks. They’re straight talks and explain things clearly.
And on Facebook, I met a minister who sent me a friend request and I accepted. He, too, is a Christian who speaks authentically and not the psycho-babble that Xtians use. If the spiritual belief you have is working toward actualizing the ONEness that is real, then cool. If your belief systems is about Hate, Separation, Division, you are following a lesser god…
All in all, this is a pretty cool day practicing ONEness. To God/Universe/Life (and my elementals): Keep up the great work!!!
Me and my mother at my father’s funeral. He wasn’t assassinated because he said he wanted his children to be judged “by the content of their character.”
He was gunned down because he was courageous and strategically working to dismantle racism, poverty and militarism. He was speaking truth to power about the Vietnam War, about economic injustice + racial injustice, about ‘The Other America,’ about the violence of the U.S. government.
Today, people who don’t want the truth shared about these things are using one quote (from a speech that my father gave about injustice and his dream that we’ve eradicated injustice, including racism) to ban honest history, under the guise of banning #CRT.
But banning CRT, which many who are zealous about banning don’t fully understand, isn’t actually the goal. Instead, books about freedom and freedom fighters, including my father, who was a nonviolent warrior, are being banned. And teaching on racism is being banned.
Truth about the past and the continual fight for justice and freedom is only a threat if a person considers the freedom of others bondage for them. Transparency about how racism and white supremacy have devastated and continue to devastate is necessary for humanity.
Misuse of a murdered man (who was then among the most hated men in America by white supremacists for talking about and doing something about what many want us to shut up about today) for the benefit of banning even him is unconscionable.
We must teach our children the truth about history and about what we must do now to conquer hate and injustice. We must do that at home, in school, via books and art, etc.
Anyone unwilling to do so cannot humanely claim concern for hurting white children as a reason.
Black children are human.
Brown children are human.
Racism is destroying the world that all children live in.
And if adults are not courageous enough to confront it, what are we teaching our children?
What are we leaving our children?
Finally, what is the intentional focus on CRT distracting those who have fallen prey to the fear mongering from really focusing on?
What’s not being corrected when history is not being taught correctly?
One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter’s high school class this winter. They’re learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game.
“I’m going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you’re a witch or a regular person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade.”
The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.
“Okay,” the teacher said. “You’ve got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands.”
No one raised a hand.
The kids were confused and told him he’d messed up the game. “Did I? Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they’d been told?”
And that is how you teach kids how easy it is to divide a community.
Shunning, scapegoating and dividing destroy far more than they protect.
As designated sub-humans – a strata deliberately created (like the Brits with the Irish, the U.S. with people of color)
By a group of people who have decided they are better than (fill in the group you look down on/hate/see as less than human) others
And they have decided that your children have NO value. They’re there. That makes them terrorists. That makes them okay to die in cages…or open air prisons where they can be picked off at random, often to the glee of those “better” humans.
It is against all our good books tell us about the value, sanctity, and the love and care of our children.
But hey…they’re not OUR children, so they don’t count.
IF I CROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD, I WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE THE BLEEDING AND THE MOURNING…
