Nothing is ever as it seems...

Tonight, I learned a very valuable lesson… Nothing is ever as it seems.

 I’m standing in a crowd full of a weird mix of strangers and family members. I have no connection the situation at all and yet feel right in the middle of it. This was the pre-game to the vigil for a young woman, the victim of another senseless killing, in Detroit. I stayed out in the crowd for as long as I could before the cold took me in. Oh, but I did stay out long enough to see the various dynamics of life, that often times people within and outside of the culture don’t always understand. Here we are mourning a life in the most un-sad way. (Some of us are taught death is a time to celebrate because the soul is on to the next journey, or a better place.)  We are passing drinks and herb around, even letting some spill every now and again. (Libations) There is music playing in the background and we are solemnly at ease and grateful for the day. I see old friends reconnect in the sheer look and tears for this young woman. I wish people could see what I see sometimes, past the static and right into the heart of things. You see how alike we are as people and in culture. We are some powerful people! Black people... Baby! We carry on traditions we don’t even know we carry on.

Stay woke!

-Myrrh