Alex > Recent Status Updates

The false choice between black-black, and worthy black is a trap. It poses that ending Blackness was the goal of anti-racist work, when the real goal has always been and should always be ending whiteness.

Whiteness, the idea, the identity tethered to no nation of origin, no place, no God, exists only if it can expand enough to defend its position over every group that challenges the throne.

To know our whites is to understand the psychology of white people and the elasticity of whiteness. It is to be intimate with some white persons but to critically withhold faith in white people categorically.

When we perform some existential service to men, to capital, to political power, to white women, and even to other, quote-unquote, people of color, who are marginally closer to white than they are to Black, then we are superwomen...When instead Black women are strong in service of themselves, that same strength, wisdom, and wit becomes evidence of our incompetence.

White women need me to believe I can earn beauty, because when I want what I cannot have, what they have becomes all the more valuable.
I refuse them.

When I say that I am unattractive or ugly, I am not internalizing the dominant culture's assessment of me. I am naming what has been done to me and signaling who did it.

I am talking about a kind of capital. It is not just the preferences of a too-tall boy, but the way authority validates his preferences as normal...beauty isn't actually what you look like. Beauty is the preferences that reproduce the existing social order.

Finished Jeremiah 1

"All of this elevated my consciousness that I needed to do more than not be racist. I needed to be anti-racist."

"So then, why am I sharing my story when I don't owe it to anyone? We all have varying levels of comfort around how much we share. Part of why I am so open about my disability story is that I remember what it felt like not to honor my truth."

"I'm reminded of a quotation from Brene Brown, Our stories are not meant for everyone. Hearing them is a privilege, and we should always ask ourselves this before we share, Who has earned the right to hear my story?"

I realized that true power lies not in government but in business

June 1: And the owner paused and said, isn't it incredible to think that some of us lie in the junkyard of life? Each of us desperately needs to find ways in which we can be molded and shaped into something more useful. If we find a way, our success is guaranteed.

May 25: Life without pain was perpetually dangerous.

May 22: The subtle ways in which the comfort zone keeps you from growing are remarkable.

May 19: I go forth in life with the realization that the kingdom lies within.

May 19: Your mind desires to know just what you expect from it. If you do not ask for anything specific, that's just what you will receive.

May 12: a job should be used in arriving at our goals in life.

May 8: So too with the more intangible parts of our natures, we must use our courage or it deserts us. We must use our determination or it leaves us. We must exercise our power of decision or we soon find we have none.

April 24: Our failure to take time to live actually prevents us from deriving the best from life.... We should remember that we do not live to work; we work to live. Good hard work is one of humanity's greatest gifts, but perhaps we can enjoy greater peace of mind if we strive less, or at least reduce the tension of our effort. What good is it to succeed if we cannot enjoy life in the process?

April 17: It is our responsibility to carve out a meaningful life. You have the power to subdue the earth. You have dominion.

April 9: Learn everything possible about the endeavor you're attempting to master. Look long and carefully at the pasture you now occupy. Chances are, it's loaded with opportunities that someone else is going to exploit. And if the grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence, it's because someone else took care of it. Today is big with blessings.

April 6: Real love is selfless and free from fear. It pours itself out upon the object of its affection without demanding in return, for love cannot be demanded, it must be given.

April 5: People only begin to fulfill their creative potential when they have a high degree of alignment in their lives, that is when their pursuits and goals are in alignment are in line with their own purpose.

April 1: Learn all you can and keep learning, whether you are 6 or 60. The minute you stop learning, life will begin to pass you by. Consider the fate of the college professor who jumped out of a plane without a parachute. The only way to succeed in our fast-paced, ever-changing world is through constant learning.

March 29: It doesn't take much to find the high road to success. The path that leads to life's most precious treasures and triumphant possibilities. But to discover those joys and feel zest for the future, you desperately need an agenda for the present. You need directions for today. You need a purpose.

March 25: The same hammer that shatters the glass, Marcus Garvey explained, forges the steel. Looking at adversity and challenge in this manner, we really can love our enemies. They serve as hard shots until we learn to return them.

March 24: Your imagination is a magic wand. Use it to visualize success

March 23: Am I stopping for realistic reasons because I hope to avoid some impending danger? Or am I stopping because I do not believe myself capable of reaching my objective?

Visual thinking is not about seeing per se... Visual thinking refers to the way the mind works. To the way we perceive.