Questions and Answers

The story behind this poem is pretty interesting.  Apparently, the author was put in a trance and prompted to verbalize how they felt about their situation in life and how to improve it and the interviewer encouraged them to keep going by asking questions at certain points, which explains why it jumps around a bit at times.  Don’t know if that’s true or not, but even if it’s not, it’s still deep stuff.

Author Unknown

Stream of consciousness thoughts on problems and solutions, questions and answers:

I am African American.  I feel inferior.  How do I fix it?  If I am inferior, who is superior to me?  What makes them superior?  How can I become more like them?  I am more like them now…I still feel inferior.  How can I be more like them?  Maybe they are not superior.  Maybe I am not inferior, but they want me to feel inferior.  Why would they do that?  Why did I respond they way I responded?  Maybe it is them that feels inferior and they are trying to compensate because they know my true potential.  Why do I not know my true potential and they do?  Now that I know their motives, what do I do?  What should I buy, or stop buying?  Who should I support, or stop supporting?  How do I feel good about myself?  How did my ancestors feel about themselves before their culture was attacked?  When did I stop being African and start being African American?  Did I stop being African, or am I still African?  If I am American, why do other Americans not see me as American?  Then I must be African.  If I am African, how should I behave?  Who should I support, or stop supporting?  What should I consume, what should I stop consuming?  What should I learn?  Who should I learn from?  What are my people’s problems?  Are they problems or symptoms of problems?  What are the REAL problems?  Am I African or American?  I am African, how do I behave as such?  What should I learn?  Who should I support?  What do I believe?  What is our history?  What are the motivations of the people trying to “educate” me?  Why haven’t we made any progress since 1968?  Do Presidents, mayors, or governors improve our condition?  What will improve our condition?  What is self-determination?  Can there be political and social power without economic power?  No.

Switch.

I want to learn our culture.  I want to learn our history, but not repeat our mistakes.  I know that what I have been taught may or may not be true.  I want to learn the truth.  I want to know more.  I want to stop consuming things that do not help me or my culture grow and flourish.  I want to support my people.  I want to support our businesses.  I want us to have our own schools and institutions.  I want to save and invest my money in my people.  I do not want to enrich my enemies…the competition.  I cannot be oppressed if I do not allow myself to be oppressed.  I am not a victim.  Victims choose to be victims.  I choose to be powerful beyond measure.  I control my thoughts, and thoughts are things.  Thoughts have power and I have choices.  I choose to be healthy.  I do not choose to consume the poison that they want me to consume (physically or mentally).  I want to experience life and not just survive.  I am here to grow and expand and choose from all that life has to offer.  I come from a long history of civilization builders and enlightened beings.  I chose to come to this earth to experience life.  My journey has been interrupted, but I can still choose to continue it.  I am an African that was stolen from the land of my birth.  I thought I was African-American, but African and American are fundamentally incompatible.  American is European.  Eurasia is the bastard child of Africa.  Eurasian culture is the enemy of African culture.  They are immature little children.  In the span of human history, they are newborns.  We tried to teach them and they were incapable of learning.  I am African.  Africa has influenced all of humanity and all advanced civilization.  World history is African history.  Technology alone does not make a civilization advanced.  Science is not separate from spirituality when I understand science and spirituality.  I know what it means to be European.  I know what it means to be African.  I choose to be African…no hyphen.