Its either you build, or you break.

Its one or the other fam. There is no in between. You build with your words, or you tear down with the same. Its that simple.

How you show up for others is through your words, or your actions or your deeds. You get where Im going with this?

And I have realised that we as black people defeat each other. Sometimes even your parents defeat you. And they come from a long history of defeat, and oppression, and apartheid and segregation, and polygamy, migrant and errant dads, and infidelity, and broken homes.

And that cycle continues into the present. Violence/aggression and emotional scars are passed on from generation to generation and on to the next. And if we are not careful, then we become that, the victims of generational bad luck and we pass it on to our kids fam. Because its almost like our inherited conditioning. And I think that explains the present GBV to some extent.

But yet, we have the tools to break that cycle and start taking our place in holding up decency and civility amongst ourselves. And I think it starts with the words we spout. What do we say to ourselves, to our friends, to our families and to our kids that are words to build them up?

Or are we selfish with the information, with the advice, with the networks, with the extended family that extend all our common history and, with the connections? And what about the knowledge for advancement that we received from our new education and our corporate experience and the ladders that we have built? Our selfishness impedes our generational aspirations into the future.

I had a thought the other day that the corruption we see in the news comes from, or is rooted deep in the poverty and the oppression that we and the comrades experienced for centuries under colonial subjugation. But then I thought that that thought was itself defeatist and it provides a populist scapegoat for what is wrong with our elected leaders and our society. But when liberation came, the comrades got selfish. But I digress.

But if we do not share, we dont become part of the sharing economy. We dont get to participate in collective advancement that brings everyone up from the gutter. Fam. These are the times. These are the times Biko wished for. And we should be alert.

And we have to stop belittling and denigrating other people when they are trying to improve upon themselves and upgrade their default settings. We must pump them up and get them to believe in themselves further than their current. Because the power to uplift all of us comes from the works of those that generate the crazy ideas. Steve Jobs said that. What?

So I implore you not to be selfish. And to play your part in breaking the chains that hold you captive, because they hold all of us back. And you must stop yourself from being held back by those that do not believe, in God, but also those that do not believe in you.

And if you are not that one, you may know the one who is, so dont stand in their way. But cheer for them, clear the way and support them with some daily bread, when they come back from the market having not sold anything. But a dream is there, and your support, your words, and your counsel is just as important to them.

There have been 40 generations of your bloodline since the Julian calendar was adopted. Thats if you assume an average lifespan of 50 years of each person’s age before they die. In the 2000 plus years since the beginning of this forward clock count, you likely have 38 generational ancestors who suffered. And now you and your parents add 2 to that number if you do nothing.

And at some point we have to call time on that suffering bro.

Lead us.