The Bloody Knife

There comes a time in every person’s life when they see things as they should be, a moment of clarity if you will. I read a story that intrigued me so much that I wanted to share it with you, and it goes like this.

The Blood Knife

In order to trap and kill wolves, the native Americans use what is called the Blood Knife. They take a blood-soaked knife and stick it into a block of ice with the blade showing. Wolves are instinctively drawn to the smell of the blood. As bloodthirsty animals, they lick the blade of the knife believing they are getting a great meal. In a frenzy, they lick the knife, slicing their tongue to shreds because they can’t distinguish their own blood from the original blood on the knife. Unbeknownst to the wolves, they have just sealed their own fate, slowly bleeding to death. By the time they happen to “wake up” and realize they’ve  been duped, it’s too late. They either die from the wounds or the the pack turns on them and rip them to shreds because their own blood lust must be quenched.

Explanation

In the story of the Bloody Knife, America is the Native American and  “people of color” are the wolves. America buries their knife in the ice and POC lick it. Time and time again, we fall for the okey-doke where our great nation is concerned. What we know to be true is everything but true, yet we continue to falter.

Trinkets are dangled in front of us and we bite….

I don’t judge; I just report, and what I see in my travels  is that we lick the knife subconsciously all the time. In our quest for the “come up,” we will cut own our throats and that of our peers, step on our own heads, destroy our names,etc, and for what? For that almighty dollar!! Traps are deliberately set for us to fail and we embrace it. However small we may think it is, it’s still a trap.

Accountability

As a black man in this country, I’ve come to realize that for many years, I’ve been licking the knife. I’ve chased things put in front of me and it has cost me, dearly. When I was moving in the streets, I was licking the knife… they love when we poison each other and invite ourselves to a system impossible to escape.

Every time I transgressed against my brother, I was licking the knife… they love when we eradicate one another!

When I was out and about being a playboy, not caring about home, I was licking the knife… they love when we’re absentee fathers.

As self-destructive as it was, I continued to do it, unable to see the consequences of my actions.  Finally, I “get it.” Distractions are placed in our path to keep us licking, to keep us pacified and in disharmony. Imagine this, small subtle things embedded in everyday activities like watching a simple reality TV show is not only a distraction, but can be detrimental to our growth. How? Because we’re happy to watch the drama unfold and we laugh, cry, rejoice and yell at the characters. We feed on the drama, letting it fill us with raw emotion but instead of working through it, when our own drama arises, we take the reality TV route and make things worse. We assume that perhaps this is the way that it should be handled.

A New Day

I look at my young brothers and instead of saying, “I remember my crazy styles as a kid…” or, “I wonder what college he’s thinking about attending…” we start to see them as America sees them. “Oh, he must be up to no good…” or, “He looks like he’s about to go rob somebody with all that black on….”

I challenge you, from this day forward, let’s LEAD in love. Let’s leave home everyday with the intention of helping someone. We should search for a smile when we’re tired. Let’s try to understand those that have wronged us. Can we commit  to strengthening not only our families, but enriching the lives of those we’re fortunate enough to cross paths with?

Lastly, I used to wonder why we were so quick to pop off on each other? I’ve often heard the question: how can we be mad at the police when we’re out here killing each other?

Answer: When we’ve been shown time and time again that our lives have little to no meaning or value, we begin to devalue ourselves. It’s easy to harm or kill something that holds no value. Self hate is real people, and if I don’t love ME, if I don’t care about ME, what makes you think that I can care about you? So, in short, we begin by reprogramming our minds.

If you learn to love YOU, then the Universe will allow that love to beam through you and infect someone else, over and over again. Let’s NOT lick the knife anymore. Let’s learn to love each other again. Please?

Dean Swift…..