Some years back, as a young creative in business, I was very fortunate to have a mentor who poured herself into me. Taught me everything she knew and finally when my wings were strong enough to fly, she pushed me out of the nest, encouraged me in every possible way she could. Everyday I felt and still feel blessed because I just thought I was favored by God or God sent me an angel. What I didn’t know was that, she had made the decision not to pay back a wrong deed that had been done to her. She decided to break the narrative and do right by the people she would mentor in the future.
It’s a shame that in this day and age, amidst everything that black people are going through, we still stand against each other and compete, thinking it’s still a jungle where we all have to survive. If a black business start-up has the heart to take another business’s brand and trademark it as their intellectual property, this brother could sell out his fellow brother. Every day, we are fighting for something. Our right to live, our right to receive funding, fighting to be recognized in spaces we already belong in, fighting for the lives of our sons and daughters, managing micro-aggressive and snide racist comments in our work places; This is definitely not the right atmosphere to sabotage your brother’s efforts.
Let me tell you a story, once upon a time there was farmer who lived by a river. Sooner than expected, a drought came upon his village but he wasn’t concerned about anyone else because he lived by a river. By the time the drought was over, he went into the village and found out that everyone else had died. As a community, we are supposed to look out for one another. Help each other as much as we can, especially in business. Not drag each other on social media and poach each other’s clients or employees. MLK said himself, “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” Don’t be that person.
I don’t think I need to capitalize on this further but right now more than ever, protect what yours with all you’ve got. If you’ve got a business, protect it. An idea, patent it. Your children, teach them what it means to be a black person in this day and age and pray over them. Some of us still believe in community and we will continue to look out for our own because if a house is divided, it cannot stand.
Remember, whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord and He will repay him for his deed. Look out for a brother, look out for a sister. The sky is big enough for all of us to soar, no one is stealing your shine. You are a King in your kingdom and helping others attain their kingship in their territories will take nothing from you, instead you have taught another brother the importance of being kind and paying it forward.
Until next week, bye.