Invisible Brown People

Now that I know people are actually reading my little corner of the world wide web, I guess keeping this updated would be a good idea, no?

I've had an outrageous number of issues racing through my head these days, but they all end with the same overwhelming thought:

We are not here for our own survival but rather the survival of others.

I think it's arrogant to think that we were plopped on this big round floating ball and expected to just maintain our own personal necessitites: food, water, shelter and bling-bling, but yet that's all most of us are doing. Escalades, Sean John, Von Dutch (who by the way, folks, was a racist and anti-semite, take that stuff off!), etc. etc. *insert name brand here*

Unfortunately, unless the genocide in the Sudan is sponsored by FUBU most of us aren't going to know about it and I shudder to think if we're even going to care.

An interlude on The Blue State compilation called Bling-Bling revolutionary is so on target with its assessment that we have become complacent and it's that complacency that has killed any possibility of revolt and eradicated any semblance of spirituality we have as a community. We are more than complacent, we are satiated. We are overweight with the remnants of sushi on our lips, drunk from Cristal and flossing it all out of our "fronts" at the end of the day.

The reality, though, is that we are not here for our own survival.

I think God is a more complicated Being than that.

I have to believe God is more complicated than that.

There are entire societies of animals, fish and bugs - ants, for example - who cannot exist without the support of its...brethren? Whatever the term is. Beavers, gazelles, elephants, lions, they exist as a community - supporting, nurturing and most of all, protecting each other.

What's our problem?

I think it's human nature to connect with issues that concern the community of people who look like us. It's not right, but I believe it's human nature. It is for that reason that our international media community is focusing so much on the tsunami, not because of the 150,000+ golden southeast Asians who died, but because of the tens of thousands of fair-skinned European tourists who died beside them. I was naive enough to believe this wasn't true and that the world had overnight grown a collective conscious big enough to aid in the relief of these golden people, but then I woke up.

If this collective consious existed, we'd be sending billions of dollars to aid in the genocide in the Sudan. If this collective conscious existed, the United States would have found another errant 350 million dollars to assist Sideshow Bob I saw sleeping on Beverly Boulevard.

So, no, it's not about a collective conscious because trust if Sven and Margaret hadn't been kickin' it on the beach, Indonesia wouldn't see a dime.

But I'm not judging, actually. See the majoritarian community is just that - a community. They fight for the ones who look like them.

And I can't judge because I'm just as guilty. I started Out&About because I really wanted to create a greater sense of community in the black lesbian community. I wanted to support black lesbian businesses, support the art of black lesbian artists, rally on issues that aversely effected the black lesbian community, help black lesbians network.

My original point is that there is a vast section of our American community who doesn't realize the necessity of reaching a hand out to anyone.

So, what are you here for if not to help others? How do we get back on track as a community if you don't each one, teach one?

Basically, what are you really doing?

If we don't cultivate our community, what are we leaving behind us?

I'm not so radical or out of touch that I think people don't support more acts of social activism because they're lazy (but I recognize that for some that is very much a factor). In a day and age where we are dealing with an economic crisis, I get that we're all tryna make it happen and we're trapped in the matrix, but just as we find time to shop for the latest gear or drop it like it's hot on Saturday, so too should we find the time, money and inclination to support political, activist and volunteer efforts.

This adminstration is causing a depletion in funds for many a worthwhile cause and without the support of the community, our quality of life is going to diminish further and we'll shake our fists at the white man for making it happen when in reality most of what we'll miss we could have prevented from demise.

We have allowed ourselves to become invisible brown people because our mouths are so stuffed with complacency we have lost the ability to shout. An ocean away, there are invisible brown people, too. We need to shout for them and we need to shout for us. We have to become involved there isn't any other option.