Chapter I: Truths of Tomorrow’s Past
Let’s begin with another breath.
This first part: Acknowledging and Telling the Truth of our past may be a bit uncomfortable (depending on who you are and where you are at in your journey), but it is necessary in order for us to progress into where we are going from here.
In the words of Marianne Williamson, “If we don’t have a deep understanding of how we got to where we are, we don’t have a deep understanding of where we are now. And if we don’t have a deep understanding of those two things, then we don’t have a deep understanding of where we go from here.”
And in the words of Sonya Renee Taylor, “The key to getting out of a maze is remembering the way you got in.”
Our reality today is one rooted in dissonance and dishonesty about the truth of our pasts, present, and where they lead if we leave them on their current path.
What is our context?
Where do we come from?
What are the factors that brought us here? to this moment?
What do we need to acknowledge?
What lessons do we need to learn?
I find it fitting to share a speech, delivered by Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King in 1962 at the Park Sheraton Hotel in NYC:
“Mankind through the ages has been in a ceaseless struggle to give dignity and meaning to human life. It is that quest which distinguishes man from animals. If our nation [the U.S.A.] had nothing more in its whole history than to create just two documents, its contribution to civilization would be imperishable. The first of these documents is the Declaration of Independence (authored by Thomas Jefferson) and the other is… the Emancipation Proclamation. All tyrants, past, present and future, are powerless to bury the truths in these declarations, no matter how extensive their legions, how vast their power and how malignant their evil. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed to a world, organized politically and spiritually around the concept of the inequality of man, that the dignity of human personality was inherent in man as a living being. The Emancipation Proclamation was the offspring of the Declaration of Independence. It was a constructive use of the force of law to uproot a social order which sought to separate liberty from a segment of humanity…History reveals that America has been a schizophrenic personality where these two documents are concerned. On the one hand she has proudly professed the basic principles inherent in both documents. On the other hand she has sadly practiced the antithesis of these principles. If we look at our history with honesty and clarity, we will be forced to admit that our Federal form of government has been, from the day of its birth, weakened in its integrity, confused and confounded in its direction, by the unresolved race question. We seldom note or give adequate significance to the fact that Thomas Jefferson’s text of the Declaration of Independence was revised by the Continental Congress to eliminate a justifiable attack on King George for encouraging slave trade. It was changed lest it offend the southern representatives, just as today still legislation is discarded or emasculated lest it, too, give offense to southern representatives. Jefferson knew that such compromises with principle struck at the heart of the nation’s security and integrity. In 1820, six years before his death, he wrote these melancholy words: “…but this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776 to acquire self-government and happiness to their country is to be thrown away, and my only consolation is to be that I live not to weep over it.””
There is much to be gleaned from M.L.K.’s passage, and even more to pay attention to in his note of what we often miss about Thomas Jefferson’s remarks.
On April 22, 1820, Thomas Jefferson, slave owner, 3rd president of the U.S., author of the Declaration of Independence, and the creator of the Democratic-Republic party (sound familiar?), wrote a letter to Congressman John Holmes of Massachusetts regarding the imminent doom of the future of the United States given independence from slavery. It read:
“ …on the Missouri question. it is a perfect justification to them. I had for a long time ceased to read the newspapers or pay any attention to public affairs… but this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. it is hushed indeed for the moment. but this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. a geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. I can say with conscious truth that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would, to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in any practicable way. the cession of that kind of property, for so it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which would not cost me in a second thought, if, in that way, a general emancipation and expatriation could be effected: and, gradually, and with due sacrifices, I think it might be. but, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other. of one thing I am certain, that as the passage of slaves from one state to another would not make a slave of a single human being who would not be so without it, so their diffusion over a greater surface would make them individually happier and proportionally facilitate the accomplishment of their emancipation, by dividing the burthen on a greater number of coadjutors. an abstinence too from this act of power would remove the jealousy excited by the undertaking of Congress, to regulate the condition of the different descriptions of men composing a state. this certainly is the exclusive right of every state, which nothing in the constitution has taken from them and given to the general government. could congress, for example say that the Non-freemen of Connecticut, shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate into any other state?
I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of themselves, by the generation of ’76. to acquire self-government and happiness to their country, is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be that I live not to weep over it. if they would but dispassionately weigh the blessings they will throw away against an abstract principle more likely to be effected by union than by scission, they would pause before they would perpetrate this act of suicide on themselves and of treason against the hopes of the world.”
“We have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go…” refers to the “property (slaves, labeled African Americans)” that Jefferson considered a “bagatelle” in value.
Further, he says, “JUSTICE IS IN ONE SCALE. SELF-PRESERVATION IS IN THE OTHER.”***
America, it is time to reconcile that the scales have been off, and we have lived in a chosen state of self-preservation for too long. It is time to ascend from this inequitable reality and balance with justice and acknowledgment of the miseries caused by America’s trailblazers (or rather trailburners).
What will we choose? Justice or self-preservation? Letting go of what has been for the greater and long-term good of our world or holding on to what we have known harms our people and planet in exchange for vain luxury and disillusioned privileges?
For those of us who choose justice, then we must start by acknowledging all that just is: the whole truths of our past and present, so we can be clear on where we are today and walk forward with integrity. Integrity, not as some high honor, but integrity as we view it in math: the state of all integers being recognized, unified, undivided, and whole. Every factor being accounted for: both the joys, the cringe-worthy ills, and everything existing within the spectrum.
And we can tell our truth today with clarity, by the fact that we have great awareness of the varied quality of the fruits produced by our communities, companies, and environments.
Visiting the Foundational Truths of Our Current Reality
In telling our truth, let us start with the foundation of the U.S. today by referencing the Declaration of Independence, also penned by Thomas Jefferson:
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.”
Let us note that Thomas Jefferson, himself, and all 55 other signers, stated that we are endowed with birthrights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Further, they stated that if the Government becomes destructive of these ends, then it is our RIGHT and DUTY to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Gov’t that is most likely to affect our safety and happiness.
This is often understated, but it is key to note that the Power was bestowed on us to decide what we will do as a society going forward.
For context, this is exactly the situation that these “Founding Fathers” found themselves in. They were experiencing suppression of who they were and their ability to attain liberty and their pursuit of happiness. And so, with this Declaration of Independence, they “broke all political ties between the American colonies and Great Britain, set forth the ideas and principles behind a just and fair government, and the Constitution outlined how this government would function.”
We find ourselves in a similar and even more complex version of this predicament today, as much of our nation has. So, I feel that it is now time for us to own our Right, as mentioned in our Declaration of Independence, to alter our situation.
Let us begin by telling the truth of our context:
Truth: Modern U.S. Society & Innovation is Built on a foundation of Oppression and Erasure
Indigenous peoples from Africa to what we now call the Americas were murdered, enslaved, dissociated from our cultures, and worse while a people who began to call themselves White leveraged evolving forms of media and storytelling to convince other Euro-people to call themselves White and that the darker brothers and sisters of Earth were less than human. All of this was done as a means to justify the exploitation and savage treatment of other human beings to build the foundations and innovations for what we now call “Modern day society.”
Discuss the effects of these lies on the neurology and processing of the world’s majority and “minorities”?
We know that indigenous peoples and those of darker skin are not savages. We are human. In fact, we are brilliant and resilient humans who transferred much of the innovative cropping practices to establish this country. Beyond that, we have overwhelmingly managed to maintain our sense of self and culture, in spite of all the constant terrors we have been subjected to. One would call this a miracle considering the fact that stress alone kills, and since it has been proven that trauma gets passed down through our gene pools, we have quite a lot to unpack internally.
Truth: Womxn and Intersex groups have been Oppressed and Marginalized
The Declaration of Independence itself fails to acknowledge anyone other than men. Womxn have been made to seem as less than men and have been subjected to silence, rape, dulling of the senses, less pay, suppression of the legal ability choose for self. And by extension, we have missed out on the balance that comes from women leadership guiding our world hand in hand with man’s. The same applies to the intersex groups of our world. Add more here.
Truth: We have Exploited TF out of our Earth
Not even going to spend a ton of time here. It is Summertime in New York on October 15, 2020. Water droughts. Oil Spills. Deforestation. Melting Icebergs. Climate Change is real.
And in the past 50 years, we have decimated global wildlife populations by ~68%
I wish I were making this up.
Truth: Our Systems have been built on Binary Thinking
Beyond this, our current systems and constructs distribute mass education that leads us down paths of binary thought: White or Black. Man or Woman. Gay or Straight. Capitalist or Communist. Extroverted or Introverted. Happy or Sad. Old or young. Rich or Poor (albeit with an elusive middle class.) Good or Bad. Etc.
Truth: Our World and Identities are non-Binary
But our identities are far more fluid than this, and instead of existing as binary, linear figures, we are actually ever-evolving quantum beings who exist on spectrums based on our daily lived experiences, as well as our collective experience that we have accrued over time.
In part due to our binary lenses, we live in a world that is treacherously inequitable and worse hesitant to acknowledge that we are sacrificing our own humanity in order to continue along these lines. We are living in extreme states of anxiety, depression, and constant cognitive dissonance, as our planet echoes our inner state, and we struggle to let go of a system that doesn’t work for our colorfully rich and diverse identities.
Those who carry the label of White and have benefited from White supremacy + colonialism constantly question and deal with varying levels of denial, shame, guilt, confusion, and frustration about the world as it is.
And all that has been marginalized by White Supremacy carries the burden of genetic and phenotypic trauma and bias that holds groups back and forces us to do extra work of healing so that we do not self-destruct or further damage others within our own groups. One can surmise how this would eliminate time and make it even more challenging for someone in a marginalized or compound of marginalized groups to do things like innovate or thrive, while most are just trying to survive.
Truth: We have Serious Trust Issues
Trust, right now, is at an all-time low. Many of us have little to no trust in companies, governments, hospitals, media, and worst of all ourselves as individuals and communities.
This is largely due to the fact that we are systemically incentivized to extract value and exploit others in order to drive growth for our own personal gains and profits. $1.4 trillion of the $1.9 trillion market value of Facebook and Alphabet comes from the data they hold and how they use it. We should be returning this value to the people who created the data in the first place — each individual of us who uses the internet.
Truth: Our dirty hands are in the cookie jars of many nations
And this furthers our own plight. We have not yet taken care of our basic concept of home, and yet we seek and hope to exemplify justice in other countries across the world. I do believe that it is our responsibility (or kuleana: Hawaiian) to care for one another. But how can one who has not cared for self even adequately understand how to care for another. Taking care of home/self is essential to taking care of the larger self through connectivity to each other.
Truth: we are suffering. suicide is at an all-time high.
Even with connectivity, we feel lonely.
Truth: We prioritize Sight and Thought over other senses and Faculties
Truth: Our justice system is discriminatory and not in the business of making people whole.
[See the works of Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow) and Danielle Allen (Our Declaration).]
Truth: We prioritize quantities over qualities.
And this encourages numeric value-driven results over true values-driven accomplishments.
Root Truth: We operate as if we know 100%, when we don’t.
95% of communication is non-verbal, but words are abundant.
95% of the universe is dark energy and dark matter, but we know very little of it.
>80% of the ocean has yet to be explored, mapped, or even observed.
Root Truth: We operate off of Linear Science that Prioritizes Material
We measure wealth, success, and more based on materials, and we prioritize logic and numbers as some sort of prime/best way to do things. The reality is “matter” has not been found, this is an energetic world that just takes temporary form in materials, and thought/reason is not any more important or valid than feeling, intuiting, etc.
This results in inherent bias.
In fact, we live in an energetic world that is spectral and quantum (very non-linear.)
It’s a lot, we know. But remember to breathe.
Inhale. Exhale.
This document does not exist to demonize. It exists to account for our past, accept it as true, and to walk forward in accountability with compassion for ourselves: our inner self, inter self, and collective self.
In the words of Angela Davis, we must now “Lift as we climb.”
Moving Forward
Good news! Going forward, profit and metrics of success will look different. Why? We are collectively growing in awareness of our plight and have increasing technical means to actively give a shit about what we become aware of.
“When you are caught in a situation, you might think it is normal. And because you think it is normal, you won’t have a desire to leave until you are taken away and look back.”
Tomorrow, we are activating value and uplifting others as our means for growth. My father had a saying when I was growing up. “If you take care of your car, it will take care of you.” I learned this to be applicable in all areas of life, especially in nature. When we take care of a garden or animals for instance, they respond with care for us. In the words of native Hawaiians, or lahui oiwi: “malāma aina,” which is that if we care for nature, it will care for us.
Calling upon the wisdom of Proverbs to further this idea: “we reap what we sow.”
Great global change will be spurred by solving some of the world’s most dire issues: climate change, rising populations experiencing houselessness, water droughts, poor housing conditions, hunger, closing identity-based inequity gaps, wealth disparities, and more.
And this shift spurs remarkable innovation and prosperity based on solving genuine, fundamental problems with sustainable practices; not just what sells and can be marketed well.
People will live while alive and work to the health of self, understanding self is always interwoven with all of us.
All of this will take one simple thing: renewed and restored Trust.
Trust is both the means by which wealth and information are transferred, as well as confidence or firm belief in someone or something.
We now must proceed with powerful resolve to counteract imminent chaos and disparate living for a future. In our new world, the near future will yield a shift in that the companies who are most prosperous will be the ones developing based on models that bring balance to our world.
We must channel our creativity to paint new visions and systems to accomplish them.
So Artists, Write your truth with liberty and Paint your reality freely.
To Businesses, provide services and products that are good for people and our planet.
To Healers, continue nurturing through the collaboration of honest prayer, medicines, body arts, herbs, meditation, and the infinite other ways to heal.
To Educators, let every individual be equipped to educate and govern themselves.
To the Arbiters of Data, create instruments that make it easy for us to tell and share our truth.
To the Modelers and Policymakers, create models and implement policies that reward honesty, respect, and the development of agendas that address our collective present.
To Each and every individual, believe in, embrace, accept and entrust yourself, as you are.
In the words of Bill Hicks, “We can change it [our reality] any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”
In the words of former U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, “Together let us explore the stars…unite to heed, in all corners of the earth, the command of Isaiah: to “undo the heavy burdens … and to let the oppressed go free.””
“And this is one of the great tasks of leadership for us, as individuals and citizens this year. But even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction — purpose and dignity — that afflicts us all. Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product — if we judge the United States of America by that — that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”
Robert F. Kennedy — MARCH 18, 1968
“True freedom cannot be had without equality. It is time to update our social contract.” — Danielle Allen
“True happiness can not be had without freedom.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
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