Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Letter of Love and Courage

To The Woman I Love:

You cheated on me. You committed the most heinous act that one could commit in a relationship: you had an affair with another man. And at this moment, I feel a pain inside that I never thought you would cause. I feel hurt because I would do my damnedest to never do such a thing to you. I feel betrayed. You straight up lied to me. When asked if being around him would be a problem, you told me nothing was wrong. You told me never to worry about this person. But it was all a lie. How could you do that to me? We had plans of you moving in my place with me. We were going to create a life together. Maybe not married, but our relationship was suppose to grow deeper and move onto a path where we could consider that type of future. Yet, you put that all in danger. Just for a few moments for reasons you never made clear, you threw it away

I have done my part. I stayed faithful through many drunk nights at the bar. I stayed faithful through having an ex throw herself at me. I have stayed faithful living alone and knowing that I could cheat and you would never find out. Because when I became your man, I made a vow. I promised you I would never go out of my way to hurt you. I have held true. My faith in you and love for you have never wavered.

And through all of this, I want to be with you. When you told me what you did, all I could think about is how to make it better. There has to be a way to make our relationship stronger I thought. I truly believe, even in my moment of pain, that I love you and want to be you.

In order for this to work, you must teach me to trust you again. Make me believe in you. Make me believe that you believe in us. I need to be able to trust you. Right now, you have planted doubt in me. When I hear you say "I love you", a voice in my head questions it. Whenever you send me a text message saying you are thinking of me, I wonder if its true.

I am moving to forgive you. Love is forgiving; it does not hold grudges. In time, I will heal. But you must get me to trust you again. You must.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

What It All Means.....


This man, Barack Obama, has been chosen by the American people to be our president. At this moment, I am still having trouble fathoming what that all means to me. I am still in shock. I still have a high, euphoric feeling. But I took some time today to reflect on what it means.

We have no excuse.

We now have no excuse. We have no excuse for not reaching our potential. Now, Barack Obama's election does not mean that racism and prejudice has ceased to exist. But what it does mean is that DESPITE racism and prejudice we can achieve anything we set our minds to. Black people have demonstrated, through Barack Obama, that there is no power on this planet that can keep us down. Racism and prejudice only has the power to suppress us if we allow it.

We have no excuse

Now it is time for us to step up. We must not only continue to attack and fight injustice. We must look within ourselves and see if we are doing our best everyday. Barack has demonstrated that we have overcame a lot. Just 43 years ago, Blacks could not vote. Blacks had to eat separately from whites. We had to sit in the back. Look at a white person the wrong way, that could be the last look you make. Just 43 years ago.

We have no excuse

Last night we have demonstrated that in 43 years, we can go from having no rights to being the leader of the free world. We are a resilient people. We are strong in heart and spirit. Now, we must fulfill our potential. We must inhabit the greatness that has been demonstrated last night.

We have no excuse