Nipsey Hussle was a prime example of black excellence and I will miss him. We live in a world where millions of people of color have lost their way and have been put to sleep. Within the last 500 years, we have overcame slavery, Jim Crow and have had to find way to live and be happy in a country that exploited and oppressed us since its inception. I watched Nipsey Hussle get murdered on an Instagram post and it saddened my heart. I couldn’t understand how another person could just take another’s person’s life like that. I never met Nipsey Hussle but I was hurt, even as I’m writing this I am still hurting. Nipsey overcame so much to be able to create success for himself. He didn’t graduate from high school or college. In the beginning stages of his rap career, he didn’t have a major label backing him. Nipsey believed in himself and he worked on his craft every day. Nipsey has 7 mixtapes and one studio album. Aside from Nipsey being one of the best rappers in the rap game, he cared tremendously about the well-being of his people. Nipsey wanted to play his part in pushing the culture forward. He didn’t have to open his store in the neighborhood he grew up in. He didn’t have to give jobs to people in his community. He didn’t have to talk about how people of color needed to start creating wealth for themselves.

It’s crazy being a person of color in this country. Because even if you have an education, wealth and success, you still will find that you are just another nigga in the eyes of the people that run this country. People of color must still fight for respect, freedom and equality in this country. The poverty that plagues our communities was created and nurtured by our government. People of color didn’t just start killing each other and selling drugs to one another. Where do you think the guns and drugs came from? The one thing that’s consistent in this country is the amount of energy we have expel just to fit in. How do you convince a race of gods that they are inferior? First, you have to hide and destroy their history. Then you have to force those same people to believe in a religion you created. Then you create laws and a culture of hatred so that people of color would be enslaved, murdered and oppressed. After which, you tell those same people that they are free and that after 500 years of exploitation that they should now go back into this same country and start a family and live out the American dream. The crazy thing people of color are so divine that we were able to do just that. We went out into a world that was convinced to hate us and we found a way to succeed and thrive despite the adversity that we face to this very day. So many of our ancestors have died and given their lives, so that one day my people remember how amazing they really are.

Nipsey Hussle was a prime example of that. He lost his life because he didn’t allow fear and hatred to guide him. He wasn’t perfect but he evolved right in front of our faces. Imagine what Nipsey would have been ten years from now. What hurts me is that Nipsey is not the only young man or woman that has lost their life to violence or police violence. The new illiterate of the 21st century are no longer those that can’t read or write. The new illiterate are now people that can’t learn and unlearn. People of color have become their worst enemy. We hate, kill, and have negative intentions on people that look like us. We have been convinced that we are going to be saved by religious entities, so while we wait on that fairy tale, we have forgotten that our salvation will forever start and end with us. No one is coming to save us. We are divine entities that have just lost our way. The higher power that you are looking for is inside of you. You are looking for something that lies deep inside of your spirit. You don’t have to die to go to heaven or hell. You can live in either worlds depending on what reality you choose to create for yourself. I feel like people of color are living in hell because that’s the reality we create for ourselves. It’s time that we wake up and remember who we are. It’s time that we start to redirect our energy. The best way to change to the world is to change yourself. This means if you need therapy, go get it. If you have bad habits, get rid of them. Change your mindset and learn how to control your mind. Remember that loving your people unconditionally shows that you love yourself unconditionally. When someone is able to kill, steal and harm your people, it shows how much you hate yourself.

Freedom and equality were never given to people that look like me. We had to come together, and we had to fight for the freedoms that we do have. So, we must do the same thing now. When I say “Let’s get our Nipsey Hussle on”, it means it’s time to start rebuilding our communities. The idea that white American must accept us, has hindered our people drastically. We spend so much time and energy trying to fit in. We spend our money on designer brands. We leave our communities and move into communities with people that don’t want us in their community. This society has taught people of color to hate everything about themselves. Police brutality is the new lynching. People of color have allowed themselves to become a race of consumers that only know how to spend their money and not how to invest it. As a collective demographic, we spend trillions of dollars a year on cars, jewelry and things that lose value as soon as you walk out of the store. Let’s use the NBA as an example. Over 70 percent of the NBA players are people of color. Ask me how many teams are owned by people of color. I can think of one person, Michael Jordan. You might remember him, as he is arguably one of the greatest basketball players ever to play the game. So why don’t we have more people of color that own basketball or football or baseball teams. Because that’s not how the game goes in this country. This country is open arms if a corporation can make billions on your talent and give you a small percentage of what you really deserve.

Every day you can turn on the news and see a person of color being killed by another person of color. We don’t even own the property where we have lived our whole lives. I remember a time where you would never see a white person in Bedford Stuyvesant. People of color could have been bought every brownstone, store front and lot within the last 60 years. Instead we bought into idea that we lived in the hood. So, you could throw your garbage on the ground. You can piss in the staircase and you not take care of where you live. Remember what I said about the hew illiterate of the 21st century. If we really lived in the hood, why would it be getting gentrified? We could have been rebuilt our community but when you are taught to hate yourself, you also hate the environment that made you think that way. It’s time that we change the narrative, we control our realities. We have to do better collectively as a race. We don’t need to live in hell. We don’t have to continue to kill each other and destroy our tomorrows. Imagine if people of color decided to shift their consciousness. Imagine if we decided to love each other unconditionally. Imagine if we all decided to look after one another and support one another. Imagine if we viewed all our brothers and sisters as family. Let’s stop waiting until tragedy happens to come together. Let’s not just mourn and be sad for Nipsey Hussle. Let’s replicate what he was doing and let’s apply the same mentality that he brought to his community. Let’s open businesses within our community. Let’s rebuild our communities and schools. Let’s start investing in camps and after-school programs that help give our young people a different outlook on life. When I say “It’s time to get our Nipsey Hussle on”, that means it time to stop waiting for change and be the one that plays your role in being a part of changing the world for the better.

It’s sad that we only a small about of people create success for themselves on a high level and then go back to their communities to give back. Don’t allow fear and worry to enter your brain. If you really want to see change you have to be willing to die for what you believe in. Nipsey was willing to die for his beliefs and what he stood for. What are you willing to die for? What are you willing to sacrifice? Nobody knows how long they have on this planet. What are you going to do while you’re here? I will build a successful business and create opportunities for people within my community. It’s unfortunate that so many of our people have fell victim to violence and hate. The only way things will get better is if we shift our consciousness to a higher frequency. We see what hate and separation is doing to our people. We are still being oppressed and exploited on a global level. We must regain control our consciousness, which in return will give you control over your reality. Thank you Nipsey for standing for something. Thank you for showing me that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. I wish things would have played out differently for you but I know you’re in a better place. The Marathon will continue, and I promise that I will play my part.