General Topics – Page 7

Why The Tree Does Not Complain About Losing Its Leaves

I love the beauty of nature and how paying attention to it helps me to understand life better. I mean, we are of the earth, after all. It amazes me how we can come from the dirt and assume no connection to it.

So, anywho, as I sat here reminiscing about everyone I’ve lost over the years, a thought struck me: You will never hear a tree complaining about losing its leaves.

Trees lose their leaves for various reasons, except for the evergreen, which retains its green foliage all year. Otherwise, deciduous trees (from a Latin word meaning “that which falls down”) drop their leaves primarily to conserve energy in preparation for upcoming harsh weather conditions by using less energy.

Losing its leaves also conserves moisture within the trunk and keeps it from drying out. The tree can now focus its energy on root growth.

Losing leaves allows wind to blow through the branches, reducing strain on the tree, which is especially important during winter storms.

Losing leaves also gives room for new leaves to grow in its place.

Although the tree appears inactive and desolate without leaves, it is still active, utilizing its energy and resources to develop its root system. A healthy root system will help the tree thrive in the spring.

Much like a tree that must shed its leaves for continual growth, so we must shed some things, too. It helps us to be better equipped to thrive in the conditions the next level requires.

One More Game

From my eighth-floor window
I could hear hope bounce back and forth
on concrete loitered with crack vials.

Dirt-caked Nikes were like hands
reaching for revolution
in the air.

It didn’t get them out of the projects,
but Jordan would have been proud
the way these boys balled.

It kept their bodies distracted from the hunger
of not eating for three days.
Here, many children raised themselves.
Forced to grow up without grownups.

It’s a strange thing not to have parents
strange the way these kids parented
themselves.

Adults in small bodies
swallowing their pride for one more game.

They might not eat today,
but boy, how they balled.

This was inspired by the real events of growing up in The Robert Taylor Projects as a kid in early 90s Chicago. Head over to my TikTok @yecheilyah to listen to the poem.

Our 6th Annual Poetry Contest is on the Way!

Stay Glued.

The Power and Necessity of Community

I enjoy the changing seasons the most. Summer is alright, but my favorite part of the year is when summer gives way to autumn. Georgia’s temperature is 80 degrees, yet the sun is not intense, and the way this wind blows feels like my skin is drinking a cold glass of water. It is refreshing.

That’s why I’m typing this at the kitchen table with the door open to the back porch.

As I sit here, I cannot help but think about how much of a blessing this blog (which is to say, the people who follow this blog) has been to me.

Despite the fact that I had been writing and publishing books since 2010, it was when I started this blog in 2014 (after my first two attempts had failed) that it became a platform where I could share my work and receive helpful feedback in return. As a result of this feedback, three published books were born, all inspired by blog posts.

This blog put me on by introducing me to a larger audience, and together, we blossomed into a community.

We had so much fun in the early years. I miss it.

With Elon Musk now contemplating charging X (Twitter) users to use its platform, assuming other social media platforms will eventually follow is not too far-fetched.

They do seem to copy each other. Reels were created to compete with TikTok, and Threads is just Instagram’s version of Twitter.

After thinking of this, I began to consider the significance and necessity of creating our own communities, both online and offline. If we take the time to create them, we may soon be forced to seek solace in our own isolated areas of the globe.

Just as this wind is blowing the trees, which will soon let us know how beautiful it is to let go when its leaves fall, I sense a change is coming.

Just my Thursday thoughts.

Thoughtful Thursdays. Hmm. Got a nice ring to it.

Cover Reveal: Black History Facts You Didn’t Learn in School

It’s been a long time coming!

What started as a profound series on this blog has been transformed into a full-length history book you can carry with you!

Inspired by the Black History Fun Fact Friday series, I am incredibly honored to finally introduce the book version, Black History Facts You Didn’t Learn in School.

My greatest hope is that after reading this book, you are equipped with enough information to spark conversation and, if necessary, participate in your own activism for the continual education and restoration of Black historical truth.

May it bless the hearts and minds of people outside of yourself.

Share it with your children, spouse, colleagues, co-workers, students, family, friends, and young people.

May it be a reawakening, a restoration, or even a song.

May the stories of our ancestors strengthen and carry us like the Negro spirituals of old.

May this work act as its own redemption song.

Preorder now at blkhistorybook.com.

The Black Bundle

The Black bundle includes the paperback version of the book, the audiobook, and matching companion notebook.

Imagine reading and listening to the book as you take notes!

The Black Paperback

The Black Paperback includes a signed paperback with matching bookmark.

The Black Ebook

The Black ebook is the digital version of the book you can read on your phone, Kindle or any e-device.

For ARC copies, and media inquiries: yecheilyah@yecheilyahysrayl.com.

Every Black Leader Was Not a Civil Rights Activist

I think it’s safe to add this to our world’s watering down of the black history category.

The history books went from eliminating key events in Black history to only talking about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement.

Now, everyone considered a leader in the struggle for Black freedom was a Civil Rights activist.

For example, when Malcolm X’s birthday passed this May, the blogs and tweets mentioned he was a Civil Rights Leader.

No. He. Was. Not.

The Civil Rights Movement, and the Black Power Movement are separate movements with different ideologies and methods of liberation for Black people.

Civil Rights activists like Dr. King followed the nonviolent philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi (who was racist toward Black people, by the way,*), and Malcolm X was a Muslim who identified more with Black independence and an “eye for an eye” philosophy. In other words, if you hit me, I am hitting you back.

*Gandhi said Black people were “troublesome, very dirty, and live like animals” when he was in South Africa in 1903. He also said that white people should be “the predominating race.”

In fact, Malcolm was a major critic of the Civil Rights Movement:

“You don’t have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution. There’s no such thing as a nonviolent revolution. [The] only kind of revolution that’s nonviolent is the Negro revolution. The only revolution based on loving your enemy is the Negro revolution. The only revolution in which the goal is a desegregated lunch counter, a desegregated theater, a desegregated park, and a desegregated public toilet; you can sit down next to white folks on the toilet. That’s no revolution. Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality.”
– Malcolm X, December 10, 1963, Speech at a rally in Detroit, Michigan

Referring to all Black leaders as Civil Rights Activists implies that Black people were always willing to be nonviolent in our quest for equality (or that we all sought to be equal with those who oppressed us), and that’s not true.

Our children must know that there were several ways in which we went about acquiring freedom for ourselves beyond the Civil Rights Movement, from Marcus Garvey’s Pan-African Movement to Slave Revolts to the Black Power Movement.

I admire all of these movements and the people who led them, for they all impacted where we are today.

And this is why I do not believe in leaving any of them out.

Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey are just as important to the history of Black freedom as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but they’ll tell you they were crazy and eliminate their story so you think there weren’t any Black people who stood up and fought, just marched.

Historical Context is Important

I was away spending time with family when the now-viral Montgomery Riverboat brawl occurred.

When I finally logged into social media, I saw hilarious memes of folding chairs and pictures of Louis Farrakhan clamping his hands together proudly with the words: “Black people across America watching that video today…and ya’ll know what video I’m talking about.”

But I did not know what video they were talking about.

And then I saw it, but the fight video did not draw my attention as much as a specific viral meme.

This meme is inaccurate and should not be shared!

The meme identifies Nathaniel Alexander as the inventor of the folding chair, but the picture is of a different Black inventor.

The man in this picture is not Nathaniel Alexander. It is Lewis Howard Latimer who worked with Thomas Edison and helped make the light bulb possible.

Latimer is responsible for many of Edison’s patents because he worked as the original draftsman at Edison’s research laboratory.

Latimer also worked with Alexander Graham Bell on the telephone.

I cover more about Latimer in the upcoming book.

As for Alexander, he was not the first to patent the folding chair, which had already been used going as far back as ancient Egypt.

In the US, an early patent for a folding chair was by Jordan Cram in 1855.

Alexander’s invention improved the folding chair featuring a book rest which he patented in 1911.

“The purpose of my invention is to furnish a chair with a book rest or support that will be immediately placed in position when the seat of the chair is lowered…Another purpose of the invention is to provide a folding chair with a book holder and rest…”
https://www.truthorfiction.com/nathaniel-alexander-folding-chair-inventor/

Fredric Arnold also patented a folding chair in 1947.

The memes are funny, but historical context is important. A child somewhere now thinks Lewis Latimer is Nathaniel Alexander and that he invented the folding chair because it’s all over Google.

While both were Black inventors, the meme is decontextualized and could lead many astray.

Cause really, neither man invented the folding chair.

Let us do our part to ensure that we are not spreading disinformation. Black history is too rich and extensive for us to have to make anything up.

Lessons from Grace Part Two

These are the lessons I am learning thus far on my journey to give myself more grace.

Take the Pressure Off

Story A.

I was never under any pressure to share the same stuff on all of my social media channels. I have never automated my posts to ensure that what I write to one also appears on the other, for this reason. Early on, I recognized that each medium had a slightly different audience. And I rarely received the same reaction when I attempted to post the same thing. At times, it works, but it’s not something I do often. Each platform, to me, is its own. Therefore, what I post to TikTok won’t necessarily make it to Instagram, and what I post to Instagram won’t necessarily make it to Facebook. (Hardly anything makes it to Facebook. It is my least favorite platform.)

Story B.

This weekend, I am excited to attend my family’s annual BBQ. That’s right. My Chi-town homies are coming down for us to meet in Augusta, GA, for some family time.

We were all to stay at the same hotel until my cousin called and said a group of them would stay at an Airbnb.

“Okay cool. Imma cancel our room then and find a cheaper hotel.”

I’m not staying at an overpriced hotel that everyone else is suddenly not staying at. (Cause how ya’ll just gonna leave.)

Nope. Imma find something else. (And I did at a little over $100 cheaper with the same quality.)

What’s my point of these two stories?

Take the pressure off yourself to do what everyone else is doing, appear polished and put together, or post eighty-six times a day.

Take the pressure off yourself to show up in spaces you are not comfortable with to make other people comfortable. This includes spending money you don’t want to spend.

Take the pressure off yourself to respond immediately to emails, text messages, and comments.

Take the pressure off yourself to agree with everything, overextend yourself, or do more work than is necessary.

Take the pressure off yourself to always go the extra mile, even when no one is going the extra mile for you.

Give yourself more grace by taking the pressure off.

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	Yecheilyah on Black History Lives
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