To my people

My grandmother use to say to me these words when I was a young boy full of doubt and disbelief in GOD… I would always ask her why can’t I hear GOD; and she would say maybe GOD don’t speak English (lol) or maybe GOD can’t get a word in because you talk so much… Sometimes we need to be still and empty our mind to hear what’s truly happening in our life…




Today friends I want to say some words to my people; it’s not that all human beings aren’t my people, but as it stands the world still sees my skin color… With that say I begin… Dear brothers & sister the time has come for us to throw off the final shackles of oppression and those shackles are connected to our minds… For to long we have let the past rule our present and we continue to blame others for what we are now doing to ourselves… It is not our European brothers that hold us in this state of oppression; it is our lack of care for our people and our hatred of ourselves… Yes they did show us the way to the path of self destruction, but now it is us; we are all to willing to stay on that path even though we can clearly see it is killing us… We have lost all sense of what we are… We are now like actors on a stage we have be given a set group of lines and we stick to the script… We have been striped bare there is no sign of what we were before our brothers throw us in chains… Now I cry out to all the members of the African family the time is now, we must begin the hard work that is needed in order for us to survive… Our first steps is self evaluation today take a good look at you and think what can I do to be a better person today??? I know you will be tempted to look at your past deeds, but urge you to forgive yourself for all past deeds and never look upon them again… The past should only be used as a reference tool; we use it for the lessons then throw it away… Today is the only day that matters what you do today can help shape the world you live in tomorrow… The second step: give back all the tools of oppression begin to see them for what they are shackles chains and wall that separate you from the beauty that is inside all of GOD’s creatures… I know it is hard to give up abuse once you have been conditioned by it, but we can’t keep drinking poison no matter how little we drink over time it will kill us… I can’t tell every African what the poisons are because some of us have come under the influence of many different kinds of poison that’s why it is so important to look at ones self before taking up this fight for our humanity... We need to be ready!!! Before some crazy person gets the wrong idea let me say the fight I speak of is a fight that takes place inside all of us and only we have the power by the grace of GOD to battle our own inner demons… So my call is not a call to arms or a cry for war but it is a call never the less… A call for my people to fight for their humanity to take responsibility for the life that has been given to them… Step four: dare to dream that right dream of a world where you can see yourself and your people in a good light a place where you flourish and abide in peace… It may be hard to think of this because you have only known suffering, but I say to you that it is possible you know more about happiness than you are willing to concede… You have had many more days of joy than you think, all you did is, what most of us do; let the bad over shadow the good… But I tell you it’s ok to be happy because only a happy people can live in peace… I hope something I said has opened your minds to the possibilities that are out there for us as a nation of people also the hope for us as members of the human family… It can be done all African peoples can live as one so too can all peoples no matter what your race or color… With love and peace your brother Ridgley