Coaching at RashidatO.com | Social Activism at Whereveryougolove.com
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I wrote this post while I was in Pittsburgh. It was a time where I was reminded why I felt the urgency to escape. I felt like an outsider in city and culture where I “should” have fit in.
God set me apart from the very beginning.
If you are not of the African American race, you may not have heard this saying about a “Black Card”. See, the “Black Card” refers to the what black people see as the standard identity of being black. In my opinion it’s stupid, but then again most black people would probably say that’s because “your black card is revoked”.
As I sat at an event today, I was reminded of all the reasons why my black card is revoked.
Anyone with a black card would say “What do you mean you don’t like watermelon?!? Watermelon is the most “Black food” on the planet” and all I can do is shrug and smile.
“So you prefer quinoa over fried food. Wait, hold up… You don’t even own grease to fry food? You sho’nuff ain’t black! Some fried chicken and Menace 11 Society is life! Why do you have that look? Rashidat, you haven’t seen Menace 11 Society either?!?!? What is wrong with you? That’s a classic!”
Your “Black Card” is revoked!
That brings me to eating… Anybody who has parents that are Baby boomers might notice that Baby Bomers tend to hoard things, especially food. I believe it comes from a time where people were growing up in the Depression and the mindset was
“Just because I have food today, doesn’t mean I will have food tomorrow. So I will pile food on my plate for every meal and take a heaping pile of food home to make sure that I am never hungry.”
And heaven forbid your child didn’t clean your plate! As a black child, you could not leave the table until you ate all the food on your plate. So you are going to place a heaping amount of food my plate and force me to eat every bite. If the goal was not to waste food, why did you give a 5 year old so much food? Or maybe the goal is to make sure I’m not hungry or to inadvertently create habits of over eating? The motives are a little blurred at the moment.
Add the negative effects of slavery and segregation, and food in the culture of Black Americans, is taken to a whole other level. Not only will I hoard food, but when I gain weight, I won’t see it as fat because it adds to my curves in all the right places. I’m not fat! I’m just juicy and I justify being overweight because God blessed Black people with curves! And if you don’t like it…
Your “Black Card” is revoked!
So you just paid off your student loans? Wow that’s great! But I’ma die with my student loans, but that’s good for you. I’m glad that works for you. Everybody has student loans, though! How did you do it? It was a plan? By who? Dave Ramsey? Let me look that up on my phone. He’s a white guy? Hm, that’s white people stuff. You’ve been “different” and into that other stuff all your life. I’m just not like that… Man I’m proud of you for doing that and I wish I could do that, but…
Your “Black Card” is still revoked!
Reading this post you may think I hate black people, but instead I love my people. And BY NO WAY am I saying that all black people think, talk, and act this way. But what I am saying is that this is part of what the poverty mindset in Black America looks like. I love my people enough to challenge our thinking and say
Wait… are we believing a lie? Is this really what God has for us because the last time I checked God didn’t segregate His instructions for us by race.
If God says we are take care of our temple with the utmost respect, that goes for both blacks and whites. If God says we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, that is regardless of being black or white. If God says to love our enemies, it is regardless of whether the enemy is black or white. God did not create a separate identity for us based on our race. I truly understand our need to be loved and affirmed as race, but trying to set ourselves a part by any other standard than the love and body of Jesus Christ is empty.
What if we stepped out of this poverty mindset? What if we had the courage say “I’ve done life my own way for a really long time. It’s time to do life God’s way. I’m committing to doing life God’s way!”
I can immediately think of a couple things that would look different…
• There would have been more than 10ish black people at training camp for this mission trip. There would be a lot more young adults of color wanting to share the love of Christ to all nations.
Someone asked me “why do you think that the black missionary community is so small?” I don’t know that I have the answer, but my first thought was that they don’t care about anything else, but being happy. There are givers and takers in this world and black people have had so much taken from them and have not received the reparations promised. It makes it hard to be a giver.
“Why should we give when so much has already been taken from us?” Because God tells us to give and forgive.
I imagine that if we step out of out victimization and give of ourselves regardless of what has been done to us, we would add so much power to the body of Christ for the kingdom.
• We’d be able to drastically change consumerism in America.
Did you know that Black America has the largest population of poor, but Black America is also the biggest consumer in the country. We would no longer epitomize the phrase of “buying things that we don’t need at prices we can’t afford to impress people we don’t like”. Instead we’d be able to see the abundance of blessings that God has already given, share all that we have, and even learn to be content.
• Generational curses, those chains that we sing about with Tasha Cobbs, would be broken.
Fathers would be home to raise their children rather than chasing that cash and status…
Mothers would make a house a home rather than searching for love and affirmation from empty relationships and name brands…
Children would learn to dream. And not just any dream, but dreams that would change the world because they have parents that love, affirm and development them to be all that God has created them to be…
Families would have relationships that are about more than cracking jokes and demeaning each other and having a favorite pastime of smoking weed. Rather we’d actually want to spend time with each other, getting to know each other’s heart, and support each other’s dreams.
And most importantly, God can return to the center of lives. Drawn to Him, convicted by Him, lead by Him to live an extraordinary life no longer based on the dead end, empty ideals that we have created, but on the Truth that He, as our creator, has created, tested, and approved to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I guess what I’m saying is I don’t want a black card anymore. You can keep it.
I want a Jesus card. What about you?
