Your heart is heavy. Not because you saw another black man killed by police... but because that man was your brother or husband. What if you woke up to learn that your son had been murdered? What if you couldn’t breathe because you were being held under a policeman’s knee without mercy? Is it a crime to be black? No. Is it a crime to be racist? Yes. Why are we living in a camera obscura reality where justice is ignored and bigotry is allowed?

First of all, I hope to God I am wrong. When I look ahead, and I don’t have to look far, I see a civil war…and I pray it’s only a metaphor. In actuality, I think we are already here—men killing each other out of preference. It is a sad day and still, there is possibility for change.

To be fully empowered. To express our voice, our hearts, our creativity at volume. To live within the innate freedom that allows us to become who we truly are. Is this possible? Yes. Is it supported in the current reality we live in? No, not really. In a world that has been built upon greed, dominance, and manipulation, the actual freedom we seek is merely a myth, a fantasy. Until we do our inner work as courageous beings, we will remain enslaved to this world we helped create. Now it is our responsibility to undo this entanglement from the inside out. Yes, it is an inside job.