Hello beloved.

Warning.... life changing secret below.

Black people have been denigrated since we arrived here in 1619. 

Black is ugly.

Black is poor.

Black is less intelligent.

Black is blah, blah, blah.

So how do you protect yourself from this negative programming?

And how do you protect your children... your grandchildren... your nieces and nephews?

Simple.

Proverbs 18:21 says that life and death are in the power of the tongue. 

We've got to learn to speak well of ourselves and each other.

We've got to learn to speak life.

So, this week, I'm sharing two examples from Nikki Giovanni and Jessie Jackson.

Read on... then say right on.

Speak life to yourself and those you love.

Ego Tripping

I was born in the congo...
 

I walked to the fertile crescent and built

    the sphinx

I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
    that only glows every one hundred years

    falls into the center giving divine perfect light

I am bad

I sat on the throne

    drinking nectar with allah

I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
    to cool my thirst

My oldest daughter is nefertiti

The tears from my birth pains
    created the nile

I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
    out the sahara desert
 

With a packet of goat's meat
    and a change of clothes

I crossed it in two hours

I am a gazelle so swift

    so swift you can't catch me

For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
    He gave me rome for mother's day

My strength flows ever on

My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
    as we sailed on a soft summer day

I turned myself into myself and was

    jesus

men intone my loving name
    All praises All praises

I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my back yard

My bowels deliver uranium

the filings from my fingernails are
    semi-precious jewels

On a trip north

I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world

I am so hip even my errors are correct

I sailed west to reach east and had to round off

    the earth as I went

The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid across three continents

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended
    except by my permission

I mean . . . I . . . can fly

Like a bird in the sky . . .

~ Nikki Giovanni

Click below for "I Am Somebody!" by Jessie Jackson

Are You a Sharer?

It ain't no fun if the homies can't have none.

~ Snoop Dog

If you are and would like to share "You Have a Special Power. How Will You Use It?" with a friend, you can by simply forwarding this email.  

Once again, thank you for taking this journey with your fellow readers. 

It's just one lesson from the greatest story never told. 

If you have a story of your own that you'd like to share, send it to me at the email address below. I'd love to hear it.

Or, if you have comments, expressions, or feedback... feel free to hit me up at b.johnson@ethnicexpressions.com

Until next time,

Brian