Saving Black Lives.....

Life-Saving Information for Black Youth and Black Families!!

By Brother Tracy Gibson

Reader’s Note: The $5,000 offer spoken of in this article is meant for one individual who loaned me money to start my business, not the entire community. If there was any way on God’s Green Earth I could give us ALL $5,000 believe me I would, but I would want us all to spend it responsibly.

March 1, 2013 9:10 A.M.

Dear: Friend, Associate, Black Youth, Black Person or ewe odo awon asise [ young personnel in Yoruba]:

It was really great seeing you again at church yesterday. I had my Blue Tambourine and I Was in Heaven—not church. I know I embarrassed and scared the Heck out of some people at church a few weeks ago and I have disappointed some people. That was part of what I had to go through at the time. I am just thankful to GOD that the Pastors, Deacons and members accepted me back after three weeks away…, I feel like we are an estranged couple, you and I, and in some Ways I guess We are. I wanted to go over to you after church service and ask that we go out to dinner, but something, the GOD in Me I guess, said NOT to do that and let things alone. It hurt My heart deeply to do that, but I think it is a matter of growing up for me. I can no longer bare to be as close to you as we once were and see you living in and accepting the life situation you have allowed yourself to think is OK. The life situation you have sank into. It is NOT OK and I did my humanly best to convince you of that. I did what I could to help you to see that you need help and that you’re not getting help is really hurting your mental and physical well-being. I did what I could for you. Now that you are 60 I can’t force you to do ANYTHING. What I can do is hold back on that $5,000 until you agree to get some help. It WON’T be coming even when I get it. I have to be frank with you and tell you the truth. ALL my inheritance money is held up until next year anyway because of a glitch in the Way I handled my Father’s last year or so. But first, anyway, there are many, many things I want to say. You are a real sweetheart of a person. You love Black men and you have a real optimism about humanity. The problems seems to come in when you separate yourself from that very same humanity in the way you live in squalor and don’t take care of your basic needs as a human being first. It seems overwhelming and insurmountable to an outsider that you would let yourself get into such a situation—being a hoarder and living in such squalor and all—but such people are part and parcel to the conundrum that makes up this sick and oppressive system we live under. I can tell you all this until I am blue and red in the face and it will not make any difference because you are where you are through a long process of self-neglect, self-hatred, abuse from others that started when you were a little boy and that has continued for years. I am only one person with my own self-growth issues that MUST be dealt with if I am to move further towards becoming healthy and whole myself, so I have to continue on that path. Helping others is not something I can do when my own community fence needs such deep-rooted and extensive mending. And the really funny thing with me is that I still am on the mend even after 35 years of therapy. Most of my therapy right now is just so my Doctor can see how I’m doing and to prescribe a small bit of medicine, because I took the time to mend and get help. If you are young I suggest you start now. I have to admit that I never, ever would have gotten help if I had not been talked to for literally hours by my sister when I first got sick. And if I hadn’t gotten so sick that I could not function, I too would have been stuck in this society as a broken person—a Broken Poem--in a society that we actually have been tricked into believing is OK and somehow normal. It is NOT a normal society, so the people who have adjusted to it are NOT normal. I don’t care if they are Wall Street Executives, Librarians, Presidents, Maintenance People, Teachers, Lawyers, Electricians, Medicine Disbursement People, Doctors or Activists—if they are not getting some kind of knowledge or treatment about the sicknesses in our society—and I am talking about the mental sicknesses in our society—and if they are not working in some form or fashion in healing themselves and healing our society they are just relishing in, profiting from and taking a bath in the sickness themselves. That goes for Pastors, Reverends, Bishops, Popes and Potentates as Well. The kind and character of healing that is needed for Our society and among Our people is deep, long-lasting, and systemic and the reason such healing is needed goes way, way back to pre-colonial days, and when the Native People—The Indigenous American People--who lived here when the White man came from Europe. The disruption started right away when the White man got diseases and died by the score and when they started killing Native and Indigenous People off by the score. As North Americans We all know this and Our Spirits especially know this, but Our self-actualization's and the knowledge that our deep, inner-most Spirits have is just beginning to face one another eye to eye and catch up with one another. People like Michael Jackson who wrote and sang ``The Man in the Mirror’’ was one of many visionaries who warned us to take a deeper look at ourselves. He was a special person because He let us know a while ago what we needed to do. Some of us as Africans, about 30 % of us, already know what is to come and what we have to do. He also had a song called ``Remember the Time,’’ whose video hearkened back to ancient Egypt and a time when we were Kings and Queens of Africa. The video is almost timeless in its’ beauty and in the Way it instills pride and dignity about being Black. When we as Africans were enslaved, captured, kidnapped, beaten, raped, murdered, chained, made hostage—often with the help of our Own African People—the dishevelment of our humanity also started and we began to become A disemboweled and fragmented People—as Africans. There is something way beyond cruel when you are separated from your family and when you see your woman and your uncle and your child dislodged from His or Her African Homeland and disemboweled or raped or killed. These things take generations to heal and, unfortunately, We have not just had to heal, but also we have had to struggle for decency, humanity, fair treatment, human rights, civil rights and on and on. Our process of healing from the original African Holocaust we went through and frankly, We are still going through It which is not. This disembowelment also occurred—in a self-inflicted manner--to the very Europeans who were gaining and profiting from our enslavement. Some of them took glee at what they were doing and took delight in the political and economic gain they thought they were making. Some of them, largely Jewish People, just took the profit and economic gain and didn’t seem to delight as our humanity and decency was beheaded, betrayed, castrated, castigated, disemboweled and stabbed to death. Some White People worked as Abolitionists, Anti-Slavery advocates, Progressive Writers, Anti-Slavery and Anti-Racism Speakers, and Progressive Politicians and such to stop the Holocaust Against us as Africans before it Really took hold or at least to soften the terrorist threat. But they largely failed. Some such White people still exists today and they keep at it. But because We have failed to stand up and become aware, such White people are few and far between. This is also Why I am writing this now—so more of us Will stand up and become aware and expand our movement to eradicate hatred, racism and start a badly needed healing process. This issue is underneath all the headlines we read and see on the news everyday…. The ones among us as Africans, during slavery, who served as head-slave masters and overseers were as much to blame for our physical and mental castration as the White man was, so we must not let them off the hook either. The people today who turn their heads and turn on their radios and turn on their TV’s and otherwise put their heads in the sand when there is such a real level of insanity and injustice and racism in the world--They are today’s overseers and head-slave masters. They might not be actively engaged in our and their own oppression, but they are n a trance that is killing them and many of our people. I am writing this to help wake them up. So, in a sense, when I ask you to see the need for you to live in decency and self-heal, I am asking for something quite ridiculous unless you agree that there is such a need for you to self-heal. In fact, a person such as yourself, can’t really self-heal. You need help. And seeing that you need this help when we as Africans are still living through a Holocaust is almost rather impossible….. That is why I have written this—to help put our struggle and your need to get help in some context and help you and others to see that the help many of us need is right there, if we just ask for it and reach out, but you have to know that this is not an easy thing, but that the treasures at the end of this African-Humanity Rainbow are varied and many. What are those treasures? A deep and abiding feeling of self-worth instead of self-loathing. A deep and abiding and real knowing that you love yourself and your African People. A steadiness and self-assurance about your place in the world. An ability to begin to see things clearly [including solutions to your problems] and see things as they really are. An ability to deal up-front and realistically with your own personal additions and mental haunts and no longer want to live on the edge and in dangerous situations and circumstances…. A passion and desire to want to be around people who are also healing, healed or working towards these things is also a reward of doing the hard work to get one’s self on the train to help, well-being, financial responsibility, balance, LOVE, stability, and sanity. We live in an insane World, but GOD put us here to learn, to grow, to struggle, to help one another—and yes, My Black Nationalists friends, He or She [GOD] put White People here as part of this mix, this matrix for us to try to work out and deal with and to do so in decency and, I believe through non-violence, through LOVE—as difficult as that may be. Through reaching a true, deep and meaningful understanding of the self and the WE as an African. Individually and collectively We begin this journey towards Healing. Part of the reason our world is insane is because: We are both homosexuals [please don’t take that remark out of context]. Some Black people and African People think that being a homosexual itself is part and parcel to the Problem and that homosexuality itself needs to be eradicated. [They said similar things about Jewish People. I don’t think We want, as decent God-fearing People to see such a thing.] You can be a homosexual and pick up men or women; go to Gay bars and Gay bookstores; and Gay plays and Gay churches; and Gay restaurants and experience what we think is or have come to accept as ``Gay Culture’’ and if you have a good job and ``play safe’’ sexually—you might have a so-called good life. / OR: ON THE OTHER HAND: as a homosexual You can challenge the ``Gay Establishment’’ to be more inclusive, humane, and accepting of People of Color, to be less racist and to deal openly and honestly with their racism and to help us as Black Gay people create a Safe Space for Gay men or color, Lesbians of color and Transgendered People of color to live differently, more rooted in Reality and closer to the Black Community [This is really something We as a Black community of people are going to have to prioritize and do, no matter what our sexual orientation is. Look at the Down Low crisis; the Swinging door of the prison system and levels of HIV and you will understand more fully that this is a Black-Community Wide problem—not a problem that a few Gay men have to deal with]. I think We as Black Leaders of Adodi—a Support group for Black Gay men—We have tried to do this—the second thing. Unfortunately, the Larger Black community which is largely straight doesn’t have a tendency to see the difference between these two aspects of Black Gay people—the more traditional White Gay identified Black Gay person and the Black Gays who are more closely related and working towards self-survival, building self-esteem, connecting with and creating Black identity and actual Black Gay Culture [Which is what Adodi is turning out to be] and relate closer to the Larger Mostly Straight Black Community—sometimes especially relating to elements of the Black Nationalists community, but NOT necessarily so. [By the Way there are all sorts of people who overlap between these two camps and there are other aspects of the Black Gay sub-culture or Community such as: The Fashion Houses with their Fashion Balls, designers, male models, run-way model-show professionals, make-up artists, Vogue dancers and all the other trappings of that particular sub-culture or aspect of the Black Gay community. { I have to point out here, and this is important, that as a Black Gay male, I know very little about the Black Lesbian lifestyles and sub-cultures, or the lifestyles and sub-cultures of the Black Transgendered community.} There are also different groups of Black Gay youth and Black Gay elders. There is a lot of overlapping so it can be rather confusing at times.] This needed Healing comes with time. And we have to be Patient. Some of us go to our graves never having experienced the things, the treasures I mentioned above here, be it the fault of the backwards system we live under, or our own inability, or unwillingness to face the fact that we MUST get the help we need. Like I said, people who seem well-adjusted and ``normal’’ can be some of the Sickest Birds of ALL… Here are some examples: When we walk in the ``Pop EYE’s Chicken’’ and our butts can hardly fit through the door—that is a part of the sickness; when we want to pay $700. for eyeglasses and we don’t have food at home—that is part of the sickness [this is me by the way, so don’t think I am talking about everybody and NOT recognizing some of my own problems]; when we use social media to hurt our friends—this is part of the sickness; when we curse, mentally abuse and beat our children and blame them for ``not turning out right—this is part of the sickness; when our life is a string of Elizabeth-Taylor-styled failed relationships and yet We are still questing for ``That certain Someone,’’ and We are 56 and We don’t think We have a problem--the very energy that goes into thinking We don’t have a problem is the very energy We need to turn around and utilize to work with someone at solving our problems; when we allow our children and ourselves to eat enough salt, fat, sugar, beef and pork to kill a full grown horse or bull and then wonder why we have heart problems, joint problems, high-blood pressure, Diabetes and obesity [and when the road to eating healthy is right before us, but We choose to ignore IT —this is also part of the problem also. When we watch ``Dancing with the Stars’’ ``Gene London’’ or ``CSI—Los Angeles’’ and have no time for our children’s report cards or to go up to their schools to see about their behavior problems and grads and talk with their teachers—this is part of the sickness. So maybe you Are In the U.S. Armed Service and think you are Real Cool with your Military Paycheck, badges, nice uniforms, cadences, free lodging, site-seeing plans for Europe, military bands and other trappings of the military? Have you thought about how you are going to feel when you are sent to the Continent of Africa to shoot or Blow-Up some of your own African Brothers and African Sisters and African Babies? Have you visited the veteran’s Hospitals to see the numbers of injured Vets and how they are treated? Do you know what it’s like to have a leg blown off or an arm blown off or destroyed? Attention Deficit Disorder and other more severe forms and levels of mental illness or cognitive disorders are nothing to sneeze at. Depression and other mental illnesses can result from the harsh reality of the battlefield and this country [the U.S.] is involved in a few wars and conflicts right about now. Your involvement in those wars can result from signing up with the military. It might not just be an assignment in Europe like Germany or France... Please take this into consideration before you so easily sign away your precious time on this earth as a living and breathing and physically fit Black young man or a living and breathing physically fit, young Black woman. Think about it. When we go out ``looking for love’’ and sleep with every man or every woman we can, not understanding the true meaning, wholesomeness and decency of finding that right person or understanding the value in that or even beginning to see how to do that—that is part and parcel of the sickness as Well. You just found out your child or grandchild or the child you adopted or are a guardian for is Gay or Lesbian or Transgendered, or is stealing or is drug dependent or has some major health issue such as Diabetes or Obesity or some other major health issue. You blame yourself. You want to throw the child and the problem out of the house—out of the window-- instead of act responsibly and handle it as an adult. Maybe you need some help. When we say we want a man, crave men, would give our very lives and castles for just one last sexual escapade or encounter—but We don’t even have a nice place for them to come back home to, to experience the actual sexual gratification or sexual act—that is also part and parcel to the problem. I could go on endlessly, but I won’t. I think I have made myself very clear. I am going to list four places where YOU can get some help. YOU don’t have to listen to me. You can go on with your lives the way they are and live on the hamster wheel you are probably on and not get help and see no resolutions for the problems you have, or you can work on each problem individually, and work to get yourself moving forward and resolving your problems each in its’ own time. Sometimes it is as simple as that. I am not a psychiatrist, a sociologist, a Pastor or a Doctor. I am a writer and a journalist, a businessman and an activist who is deeply concerned about the State of Black America and our whole Diaspora... Someone who has suffered mental illness and is still getting help and has been in therapy for over three decades. I want you to consider some things that may be right for you or may not be right for you. But I want you to try one or two of them at least for a short period. I don’t care if you are rich or poor; Black, White or Asian; Latin or Chicano; or male or Female; Transgendered or Straight. I LOVE you because you are part of this family of man and this family of woman and because you need decency in your life. I want you to get help… It is NOT an admission of weakness, but a testimony that We are living in a place that is largely tooled and was largely created to enslave us not free us. Think about it.

These are some of the things I want you to consider doing in the near future---the next few days and the next few weeks…..

*1] Turn off the TV and think. You Will be surprised what GOD will tell you. She or He has just been waiting for you to be still and quiet long enough to listen to Him or Her. Do this for about 10 minutes and then 20 minutes a few days later.

*2] Go to the Self-Help section of the book store and find a book that talks your language; that jumps out at you and says ``read me’’!; or go to the library and do this. Buy that book or take it out of the library. If you don’t have a library card, please get one.

*3] If you have a phone and a little time off and have children, take them to a museum if you can afford to. Call the City’s visitor’s Bureau [2156861776] and find out what libraries and museums are free if you don’t have money to take yourself and your children… [For starters there is the Polish Museum; the African American Museum; The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Liberty Bell. For people with a little more money and time to travel there are a host of museums in D.C. and Manhattan that are quite well kept up and worth the trip.]

*4] GET OUT OF THE LOOP. Don’t eat a hoagie, a mustard pretzel, or drink a cup of coffee or a soda or eat a donut for a week. Just take one of those things and go for one week without ONE—JUST ONE—of those food items for one week. You will have told yourself and the people who think they are your masters, that you have the self-power, that you can make up your own mind and you can decide to change your life and move forward.

*5] If you are under threat of being physically abused by a boyfriend or husband or, yes, wife or girlfriend, call family services and see what they can do. Or call Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. Also: if you are going to a church regularly ask to talk to your Pastor if you have good relations with Him or Her and an ability to talk freely and openly with them. Describe the problems you are having. You might want to write them all down so you will have the ability to remember each and every problem and any extraneous details you know of. Give as much detail as you can. You need to try very hard to not be ashamed or hide anything. This may well be your own life you are saving or the lives of your children or other members of your family. Remember that FAMILY is important, even if your family is now a network of friends, acquaintances and well-wishers because your real family lives in another city or because they just can’t relate to you.

*6] I know the lady is already as rich as apple sauce with cinnamon, but buy a copy of The Oprah Magazine. Just pick up one copy and read some of the articles. Even if you are a man. Try this. You will find a cornucopia of ideas bursting through the pages and your mind—so many that I really can’t even tell you about them ALL here. Don’t try everything all at once. Do what you can manage. Take notes. Take real time with this and turn away from the TV. Share the articles with friends. Send e-mails about the articles. Oprah is very smart. That is how she got so wealthy. She is NOT producing that magazine only for White people. You can benefit from it as well, no matter what color, age or sexual orientation you are. Even men!!! Read instead of watch TV or go to the movies. Go to the library if you don’t have a home or a quiet corner of your home to read in buy yourself. …

*7] Attend a Black Community meeting and meet some different people. Meet some of the people who have been working to change things in the community you live in for years. Take up some duties. Volunteer instead of allowing yourself to vegetate in front of the TV.

*8] Go for a short walk. Even if it is just around the corner. It will be something different. You will get some fresh air. You will feel different. You will feel great. You will feel a sense of achievement. You will get the blood flowing and you will begin to hear GOD move you forward in your life. You will also think clearer.

*9] I want you to write me and ask for a book list. It will contain 400 books. I want you to have the courage to tell me when you are having a problem by writing a short note about what the problem is and how I might help… I Will suggest at least three books and I will write you a personal note. I want you to include a Postal Money Order for $ 7. [Seven Dollars] Make it out to my company: Brother Tracy Gibson and Associates, Inc. and send it to: The Black Millionaire’s Network: Post Office Box 42878; Philadelphia, PA 19101-2878. I want you to make this small investment in yourself, for yourself NOT for me…. It will begin to put you on the path to getting those other treasures We talked about earlier in this letter. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you take this positive step for yourself. I don’t care if you are homeless and seemingly helpless. You can get $ 7. from somewhere. It will help me with the cost of ink, paper, writing and research. If this is given to you for free, it won’t mean as much. Believe me I know. I want to hear from you because I LOVE you. I know I’m sounding corny, but I’m a corny person. I LOVE you anyway.

Here are some references for People and Organizations who either have a record or helping others or who are actual churches and or organizations with records of service. I have also included the kind and character of help they offer and what they might help you achieve along with contact information. Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues [BEBASHI]—Transition to Hope—1217 Spring Garden Street 1st Floor; Philadelphia, Pa 19123; 2157693561—they give information about Sexually Transmitted diseases, have advisers on staff and give free testing. You don’t need to call for an appointment and everything is confidential. Unity Fellowship Church in Christ of Philadelphia; [www.UFCCP.Org]… This is a church with a largely gay, lesbian and transgendered congregation, but ALL are welcome. They have service on Sundays at 2 P.M. at 55 North Broad Street in Philadelphia and are looking for volunteers to help them run and sustain the auxiliary committees such as The Pages for Men’s Book Club or the HIV discussion group; They have many programs and much discussion to help their members and visitors move in a forward fashion with their lives; White Rock Baptist Church [Check service time]. They are at 5249 Chestnut Street [2154741738]. They have a youth and children’s ministry and many Positive Ways for Black Families and Black people to get involved with lifting themselves up. Bright Hope Baptist Church is at 1601 North 12th Street {or 12th and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. } Their service is at 10:15 A.M. on Sunday. They can be reached at info@brighthopebaptist.org or call them at 2152326004. They have many family oriented committees and even a business committee. They have Bible Study and special programs for youth, children and women. Reader’s Note: The $5,000 offer spoken of in this article is meant for one individual who loaned me money to start my business, not the entire community. If there was any Way on God’s Green Earth I could give us ALL $5,000 believe me I would, but I would want us all to spend it responsibly.