Believe…

As we progress through this month — with the lost of an iconic figure (Whitney Houston)…we must not forget what this month is about.

This month we celebrate the brave men & women that stood in front of adversary, laughter, dis-belief, animosity, & hatred and fought for the equality of humanity.

This month we reflect on the beauty that was reflected through the marches, speeches, and actions; the “belief” that one day, no matter the skin color equality was going to be given in the schools, services, neighborhoods, politics, etc…but most importantly they “believed”…

You see if Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, and so many others didn’t “believe” we probably wouldn’t have Black History Month…or music icons like Gladys Knight…or actors like Denzel Washington…or our 1st black president, Barack H. Obama.

The “belief” that equality was going to be given propelled all the amazing black men & women to go above and beyond…to not settle for “average”…to not give in to fear, hatred, or words of discouragement…they knew with every fiber in their body — that somehow, someway, what they did…would have great ripple effects & change history in his entirety.

Many of those great men & women may not live to see what has happened, what their “belief” has given us, how their determination, willingness, sweat, cries, & their “no quit” spirit has empowered many young people in fighting for what they “believe” in…

The fight is not over…but these great black men & women have started it — now it’s up to us to finish it…just BELIEVE.

Happy Valentines…with luv.

What is this word love…

Throughout my whole life I heard the word “love”–my dad would say it to my mom, my mom would say to us, and I say to my wife and kids…But what does this four letter word means–I mean before two individuals get divorced they said it, or before someone says/do something horrible to a sibling they said it…So my question is, “what is this word love?”

Anyone can “love”–but not everyone has unconditional love or “true love”…you see the difference is that with “love”–you can love & hate. With “true love” you only love; still don’t understand, let me break it down (like they say in my hood…LOL)

When you have “true love” –you love your family, friends, enemy, and even those who do harm against you; yes I said “even those who do harm against you”. You see “true love” forgives all the negativity that may be done to you. With that said, it it’s hard to be “human” and have “true love”–but besides Jesus there where other men that displayed this kind of love.

Let me focus on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, (my hero) he was mocked, spat on, beaten, locked up–and still (keeping his cool) managed to spread his message of “equality”. Not many of us would go through this kind of torture to get what we believe we should get…

My readers when you let “true love” embrace you–you feel light as a feather…what I mean “hate” is so heavy it drags you down. When you “hate” someone your just allowing that someone to continue controlling your life. You don’t believe me–when I had hate towards my mom, everything I did/said was to get farther…I wasn’t doing “things” because I wanted to do it–I wasn’t even enjoying most of the “things” I did…when I truly ask & gave forgiveness–not only was this “heavy” burden lifted; but I started to see clear. Ask yourself (if you hate someone) are you truly doing what you are doing for you or them?

So I believe is time to say goodbye to “love” and say hello to “true love”–don’t let anyone ruin your dreams…forgive and forget. It’s hard to do, but it can be done.

Thank you to Jules for honoring me with his feature (I hoped you enjoyed)–if you want to be featured, send me an email at jonathan.baez82@gmail.com…Have a wonderful weekend; next week we are going to reflect more on “fear, pain, and love”…

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” ~  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes