I am a woman actively boycotting anything new from Apple. However, for this blog post I am going to use a quote from Steve Jobs.
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. … You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. … They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
What is the definition of crazy? There are many definitions, but the one that stuck out to me the most. It was the definition for the angle of something, and we know an angle is that space in between two things that are supposed to come together. Go with me, because for the freedom fighters who are tired, I am going to give you what inspired me to get up this weekend, after having spent a day in a mental health facility, because I became just that worn out by life, a broken heart from love that would never be realized and the fight itself.
So back to the definition of crazy in regard to being in this in between space, the definition is appearing absurdly out of place or in an unlikely position.
Dear activists, empaths, discerners, freedom fighters, we are indeed crazy, we are in an absurd place! An unlikely position, in that in between space where two things are supposed to meet. What do I mean? Well, one space is, it’s 2024, I saw a comment from a woman of color who said that she was no longer fighting because her ancestors already did it, so clearly the fight against oppression is over right? RIGHT?! Black people now own businesses, homes, people of color have MONEY, we can walk down the street without harassment unlike our elders during civil rights, right? RIGHT?! We have Arab Americans as president of colleges, at the highest level of politics, people of color across the board have come up and we MADE IT! WE had a black president! We made it! Unlike our elders of the 50’s and 60’s across all movements for people of color, we MADE IT! Right? RIGHT?!
The other space, our politicians, we have a BOOMING economy! Do you see how many people of color we let lead? You all ARE liberated, look at how many people of color we let in to represent you, because they look like you! There should be NO complaints! And LOOK we may even have a black and Indian woman as president! We are the most free
country in the world with many allies that we have bullied…um, um, “negotiated with” GOD BLESS AMERICA!! You all have jobs, doctors, medicine, the skies are clear, you can walk down the streets freely, sure we have a few issues, but we are going to get back to the purity that this country was stolen…um, um, built on. Aren’t you listening to what our media outlets are telling you? We gave them the right instructions and scripts to share with you, so you all feel safe. Are you listening to what we are telling CNN, Fox News and all our publications are told to tell you. You are? And you believe them? Ok great! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Then there are us, the absurdly out of place ones, willingly caught in the in between space where those two spaces that I described above were created to meet. We are the absurd ones in the space in between that have decided we will not allow those previous two points to converge peacefully and without a fight. The loudmouth troublemakers who the world wishes would just shut up already! “Stop confronting our rampant consumerism and need for titles! Can’t you see, we already know things aren’t really great, but we have gotten comfortable with the flow of American oppression and our personal bubble is safe STOP TRYING TO BURST IT” They scream at us. “If only you all would be the good people of color who stopped risking everything for these world causes”. We are the absurd ones who dare to say that collectively, oppression in all forms to all people is OUR business! We are the misfits who for many of us are at odds with our family, this is true for me. We are the misfits who our communities have attacked and then isolated for asking questions, criticizing, refusing to go with the crowd.
We are the misfits who the media will call crazy, eccentric, anti whatever word they want to use or worse yet…terrorists. We are the misfits who the government will place on watchlists (I am currently on three domestic watchlists and one international watchlist) for what reason…we are crazy enough to stand in the in between spaces and declare and decree a world of what Kellie Carter Jackson in her book “We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, a world where revolution creates new beginnings. We are absurd and crazy enough to stand in the in between and declare and decree that we need a revolution, birthed from oppression, that will seek a change for the benefit of humanity (ALL HUMANITY) where power is transformed to benefit everyone instead of a select few.
We do not respect the status quo because the status quo does not respect the people. The rules were created within a capitalistic, oppressive system that NEVER put the people first and always upheld and upholds power and money over human life. We dare to have natural responses of righteous anger rooted in human rights and social justice, in response to unnatural behavior of money over life. Yes, we are often quoted and glorified by those who truly see us and truly know us, yet and however, widely disagreed with and intensely vilified by most of the world including our communities, former friends and even family.
While it is often a badge of honor, much like water consistently over time, chipping away at rock, it can chip away at us. We are not getting out of this fight without some bouts of hopelessness, depression or feeling like our minds and spirits are being split into two. Because we are in the space that I feel is God created, divine, pure, wildly optimistic, dreamlike if you will but still real. This space is in direct opposition to the world that the powers that has created for us, especially western citizens, to live in. It gets tiring living in a pace where 90% of the world would not dare to sacrifice their own comforts to bring to reality, and where that same 90% would do anything to ignore you or shut you down. But dear heart, what if I were to say to you, that you are not crazy or going crazy, that you have evolved past a point that many people never reach? You have become or are becoming an alchemist in a sense. Scientifically and alchemist, rooted in the Arabic word al-Kimia, which refers to the Egyptians’ preparation of the Stone or Elixir, is someone who turns ordinary metals into gold. For us as alchemist we are people who transform the ordinary and routine into something better.
I often think of my very strict, religious, Christian upbringing. I think of my church family and other members of my family growing up, who would like for me to not ask questions, do what they say when they say it, how they say it, how they believe I should do it. I think about the scriptures that were used to mold me and how I should think, and how frustrating it was for them all when…Chamar refused to go with the status quo and still takes joy in going against the things that makes sense for all of them.
While I despise the man manipulated, patriarchal rules of Christianity, I truly believe in the foundation if the faith, and Jesus remains my foundation. It is in this that I find that I am truly a Christian which means to be Christ like. Not only in my empathy, my love for humanity, my desire to see souls thrive in the physical and spiritual world. But Jesus challenged the hypocritical system that he was born into AND he challenged the oppressive governmental system that was in control at the time. I would read stories of Jesus flipping over tables and benches in response to a scared space having become a money-making space. I would read storis of Jesus staring down governments and declaring that he would usher in a new way of living unchained from oppressive rule, and while he most certainly meant spiritually, we have come to learn that once is passes through the spiritual realm it will always manifest in the natural. I would read about Jesus, who would challenge traditions that were centuries in the making, to usher in a new world that would break the yoke from around the people’s necks, Jesus would become and enemy to his own community and to the governmental structure of Rome. I may not be the kind if Christian that the church wants, or my family wants, but I am a Christian in the sense of following Christ’s path in this way, nonetheless. While. Am aware that I have people of different faiths that will read this, I am sure you all can think of a hero in your faith that challenged the system, for the freedom of the people, and you are more like them than you think.
The heroes of our faith were called crazy rebellious, misfits, outcasts as were everyone from Martin Luther king Jr (no matter how much the church and the American government has watered down his legacy) to Malcolm X, to Patrice Lumumba, to Yasser Arafat, to Muammar Gaddafi, to the Black Panther Party, to Assata Shakur, to Angela Davis, to Joan Tarika Lewis, to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, to Toussaint Louverture, to Pedro Albizu Campos, to the people of Bangladesh, to the people of Kenya, to the people of Nigeria, to (insert your name here) to you dear heart…who dare to not only dream but believe that a world of true collective liberation is not a myth but a reality to be created.
Rest if you must, nap where you need, eat to strengthen your spirit, cry it out, scream it out BUT…. Daughters arise! Sons stand up! The fight is long yes, but your presence and your spirits are uniquely crafted for such a time as this and even if the world will not admis it You. Are. Needed!
As I heard activist and musician Ryan Parker say at a rally once, I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!
I be with you and celebrate with you as we reach the other side Freedom for the Collective
- Chamar
