Sticks and Stone

Photo by Leon E. Pettiway

We are such fragile beings and we suffer in infinite ways. 

We suffer from the physical blows that attack us with such vehemency that they unnerve and ruffle the vibrancy of our being. Then there are the words; the ones others trumpet in our ears or those that resonate from the vibrations of the ethereal sounding boards of our minds. They impale us and have so much power, but we seldom inquire or realize who has conferred them with this power. When they are either the vibrations of our own making or the uttered projectiles of our enemies that shatter or confront our beliefs and habituations, we surrender to rage or we yield to indignation, confrontation, sadness, lamentation, or vitriol. And when the words pump us up, there is glee, joy, delight, admiration, or redemption. But whether they are positive or negative, they create the scaffolding that defines our sense of ourselves and our view of the world. They have been used to control us and they have the power to enslave us, making us fragile creatures, victimized by the conjured words that flood our worlds with fantasy and magic. 

Words, our concepts, and our conceptual notions become the creators of worlds. So, while it is true that sticks and stones can break our bones, it is not true that words cannot hurt us. They do! This is so because we believe we are something that we are not. And the truest examples and expressions of this truism can be found in the erroneous discussions concerning race, crime, and the administration of justice proffered by scholars, social commentators, and others. I began writing Only for the Brave at Heart with these thoughts in mind and I wanted to interrogate our conceptual understanding of race and how that understanding has arisen given our erroneous understanding of the fundamental nature of reality and existence. In that regard, I believe we must create a social movement that transforms our world and this requires a radical shift in our thinking and process. 

This is what I hope Only for the Brave at Heart will facilitate.