My favorite part of being an activist is getting out there with the people. The “dirty work.” I’ve done outreach work out in the streets with people who were at the lowest points in their lives. Some are homeless, some have addictions, some are prostitutes, some are just plain down on their luck, or don’t have knowledge of self. Whatever the case, it never occured to me to think of these people as anything less than Kings and Queens, and I always referred to them as such, because those people are my people. They are a direct result of the conditioning and colonialism that we have been subjected to for hundreds of years. We are all human. We all have our flaws. We are all learning and growing. We are all brothas and sistas, and we are ALL black. It is possible to have elevated thinking without thinking we are “elevated” above everyone else. Eliticism is a Europeanized way of thinking, and we must all fight hard to avoid falling into that. My favorite revolutionary Tupac said it best: “Even though you was a crack fiend, mama, You always was a black Queen mama.” Speak words to our black women that empower, not belittle.

By:Lakeesha KoKo-Afua Kweli