Recently, a group of friends and I went skydiving. Yes ... you read that sentence right. We went skydiving! Skydiving is an extreme and highly dangerous activity, but this did not phase us. We refused to let fear limit us, so we didn’t think twice. Had we given it extra thought our minds might’ve talked us out of doing it. Just like the many minds of our peers who called us crazy for doing it, and even worse, we were told that skydiving was not “acting Black.”
Hmmm ... “skydiving is not acting Black.” There’s something wrong with this statement. This statement says that there are limitations to being Black; it says that we shouldn’t delve into activities that aren’t dominated by us. American society has barricaded our minds. As a people, we don’t engage in certain things because we’re conditioned to believe that certain heights aren’t for us to reach.
Living in America alone is enough reason to believe that anything is possible. So much has been accomplished in this country by Black people, and so much has been given to the world by Black people. The world wouldn’t have the advancements it has today if it were not for Black people laying the foundation during Ancient times, yet we limit ourselves by saying that doing certain things aren’t “acting black.”
We need to do a better job of what we allow in our heads, and a better job of what we let manifest in our minds. Society is repeatedly sending messages to us that says you can’t do this and you can’t do that, but you can be a rapper, you can be a football player, you can be a comedian, you can be a basketball player, etc. Yes we can be those things and what’s better than this is that we could BE and DO MUCH MORE ... like skydiving. : )
Skydiving was a great experience, and I recommend it for everyone! I am a different person since my landing, and doing it was just another reminder that I and my people can do anything that we choose to do because life comes with infinite possibilities.
If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.
Henry Ford
3 comments:
Thank you for this post. When we limit ourselves, we take away from our humanity. I believe that this perpetuates that false ideas that whites are "more human" than blacks and that Blackness is a monolith and not diverse and complex.
I have faced not being "black" enough my whole life. When I was young, my different interests made me feel like a martian, but as I got older my different interests began to be "cool". Overall, I know that because I welcome my mind and spirit to new things.... things that are not expected of me... I'm a better person for it, and I experience things ppl who always limit themselves will never even see.(Like you did with skydiving) Thanks for making me feel like I'm not alone in my feelings about life. lol
KN
Lol. You are not alone KN. :)
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