I often wonder about the state of "black folks" in America. Just when I think that maybe we have made some progress, I realize that we have quite a long way to go. This morning, I was at the gym and a lady came up to me and asked me how to do a certain exercise. I showed her and then we began talking. I told her that I was new to the area and did not really know anyone, then we started talking about Georgia and "it's ways." This particular part of Georgia is almost 60% African-American. The poverty rate is so high, that a major car company decided not to build a plant here, which would have created a ton of jobs for people in the area. They basically said that people here are not smart enough for us to bring our plant here. As we are talking about this and other "black issues," the woman states, "you really have to stay prayed up if you want to make it in this state." Meaning, you have to pray to God that you make it and hope for the best. I found this statement to be very interesting.
If we could actually hear the voice of God, I doubt that it would say, "stay prayed up and hope for the best." I think it would say, "get off your lazy ass and make a difference." The slave mentality has allowed us to accept the state of our current condition. As long as we believe that there is hope in the after-life, we care less about what happens while we are present in our physical beings. The farther south one travels, the more this mind set becomes quite evident. Accept the way things are and hope they will get better. I become heart broken when I think about the way some people are living. People are working full-time jobs and still living on welfare, babies are born and being tracked for a system of violence, jail and drugs by the time they are 3 years old. Students in school are slipping through the cracks , and teachers are becoming frustrated with behavior problems and pressure from administration.
All we can say is "stay prayed up?" I have never in my life observed so many people in one area that seem to be clueless about their condition and that don't realize there is something better out in the world. I also wonder about how I would be if I grew up in a different place and I did not have parents who cared about my education, were educated themselves and dared me to come home with bad grades.....would I be saying the same thing the woman at the gym said? I guess only God knows...meanwhile, I will pray, not to sit around, wait and hope for the best, but for the endurance that I need to have to continue my journey on the road to a better life each and everyday. I want my life to be extraordinary while I am alive to see it! Don't you?
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9 comments:
yeah girl, we betta stay "prayed up"! LOL
i believe in prayer, but not in THAT way. i believe in the power of affirmative prayer which to me is just thanking God for what ever it is that i need/want/have.
it's always worked for me, even when i didn't have a name for it.
part of that "stay prayed up" mentality does come from slavery. we learned it thru the religion of our captors.
slaves who believed in the God of their masters were probably more likely to be obedient, a good thing for massa, therefore a good reason for him to want his slaves to "get religion".
in other words, the slaves weren't likely to get off their asses to take the action of their own thoughts ("hmmm, if i gets the hell outta here, maybe i can make me a life where i ain't got to worry about dese here peoples whippin my azz all da time!")
rather, they were getting off their asses to do what massa said, "pick that cotton, tote that bale", because good Christians do as they're told.
i think another part of the "stay prayed up" mentality comes from people just being so used to saying those kinds of things, that they don't always realize what they're really saying.
just like when people say, "have a blessed day" and don't really mean it.
but for some, "staying prayed up" DOES mean connecting with Source/God/Creator, as a means of living their lives. whether that living comes in the form of being in the right place at the right time to get a job, finding the right place to live, running into an old friend they were thinking about the other day, etc.
sometimes it's hard to know what people mean when we don't know them very well, and our perception of events may not always be what the other person meant. :-)
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. - Anais Nin
I am from Arizona, my folks are from Mississippi. The phrase of " Stay Prayed up" can mean more than one thing. Today a Puerto Rican Catholic laughed at me when I said, " The devil is busy, and we have to stay prayed up!" He laughed at me and said "what the hell does that mean?" Well I was offended that he laughed but held myself because he barley know any stories in the bible for that matter has never had bible study, but he can pray and he has a relationship with the Lord. I told him this is a Black church thing we say. My definition of "Stay Prayed up" comes from a spiritual ideology from African Americans more than "religion" . Which means Calling on the Lord to send his anointing. This is symbolic for blessing, protection, and empowerment. This is what they lady is trying to say.
I am educated went to 2 universities and a junior college, I totally agree with your fact statements and the immobility of Atlanta, Georgia' people. It is quite sad, pathetic, and embarrassing.
I am 30 years old and my family brought me up in politics, Black beauty, and Black Movement. MY Parents ARE FROM MISSISSIPPI, this is country too!! Yet my Father graduated from Jackson, my mom went to college as well; Education and not taking crap off white folks, Work smart and hard was taught in my household. We have many educated African Americans, but we don't want to help one another and see that there is more than just poverty and "hood-rich". Well, there are many that want to help and are doing so, but get fed up because it takes too long for us to form an alliance to conquer this cancer on lost Blacks. 1 not even 10 can help this epidemic we have across our nation!! WHITE FOLKS stick together, LATINS stick together, Asians stick together, but not us. Our down fall is hate, jealousy, envy,non-trusting and, ill-informed.
The ones that think outside the box have the same mentality as you and I; to make our lives as beautiful and less stressful, and enjoy while we are on this green earth. But it has to be more than that!! We can not truly live our lives happily unless we have found our purpose and proceed to help others if not create something that will leave our mark after we are gone. To be non-selfish and think more than just yourself and the people that you love. What about those kids or single mothers that can't see there way out or don't know how to get the proper resources to have a better life?? I truly believe in the idea of EACH ONE TEACH ONE. If we do that as a society, we would be beautiful inside & out:)
All the slave massa stuff, should be put on hold. I think we have gotten passed that stage. Many of our people are stuck in oblivious state.
I am from Arizona, my folks are from Mississippi. The phrase of " Stay Prayed up" can mean more than one thing. Today a Puerto Rican Catholic laughed at me when I said, " The devil is busy, and we have to stay prayed up!" He laughed at me and said "what the hell does that mean?" Well I was offended that he laughed but held myself because he barley know any stories in the bible for that matter has never had bible study, but he can pray and he has a relationship with the Lord. I told him this is a Black church thing we say. My definition of "Stay Prayed up" comes from a spiritual ideology from African Americans more than "religion" . Which means Calling on the Lord to send his anointing. This is symbolic for blessing, protection, and empowerment. This is what they lady is trying to say.
I am educated went to 2 universities and a junior college, I totally agree with your fact statements and the immobility of Atlanta, Georgia' people. It is quite sad, pathetic, and embarrassing.
I am 30 years old and my family brought me up in politics, Black beauty, and Black Movement. MY Parents ARE FROM MISSISSIPPI, this is country too!! Yet my Father graduated from Jackson, my mom went to college as well; Education and not taking crap off white folks, Work smart and hard was taught in my household. We have many educated African Americans, but we don't want to help one another and see that there is more than just poverty and "hood-rich". Well, there are many that want to help and are doing so, but get fed up because it takes too long for us to form an alliance to conquer this cancer on lost Blacks. 1 not even 10 can help this epidemic we have across our nation!! WHITE FOLKS stick together, LATINS stick together, Asians stick together, but not us. Our down fall is hate, jealousy, envy,non-trusting and, ill-informed.
The ones that think outside the box have the same mentality as you and I; to make our lives as beautiful and less stressful, and enjoy while we are on this green earth. But it has to be more than that!! We can not truly live our lives happily unless we have found our purpose and proceed to help others if not create something that will leave our mark after we are gone. To be non-selfish and think more than just yourself and the people that you love. What about those kids or single mothers that can't see there way out or don't know how to get the proper resources to have a better life?? I truly believe in the idea of EACH ONE TEACH ONE. If we do that as a society, we would be beautiful inside & out:)
All the slave massa stuff, should be put on hold. I think we have gotten passed that stage. Many of our people are stuck in oblivious state.
I am from Arizona, my folks are from Mississippi. The phrase of " Stay Prayed up" can mean more than one thing. Today a Puerto Rican Catholic laughed at me when I said, " The devil is busy, and we have to stay prayed up!" He laughed at me and said "what the hell does that mean?" Well I was offended that he laughed but held myself because he barley know any stories in the bible for that matter has never had bible study, but he can pray and he has a relationship with the Lord. I told him this is a Black church thing we say. My definition of "Stay Prayed up" comes from a spiritual ideology from African Americans more than "religion" . Which means Calling on the Lord to send his anointing. This is symbolic for blessing, protection, and empowerment. This is what they lady is trying to say.
~~Continued~~
I am educated went to 2 universities and a junior college, I totally agree with your fact statements and the immobility of Atlanta, Georgia' people. It is quite sad, pathetic, and embarrassing.
I am 30 years old and my family brought me up in politics, Black beauty, and Black Movement. MY Parents ARE FROM MISSISSIPPI, this is country too!! Yet my Father graduated from Jackson, my mom went to college as well; Education and not taking crap off white folks, Work smart and hard was taught in my household. We have many educated African Americans, but we don't want to help one another and see that there is more than just poverty and "hood-rich". Well, there are many that want to help and are doing so, but get fed up because it takes too long for us to form an alliance to conquer this cancer on lost Blacks. 1 not even 10 can help this epidemic we have across our nation!! WHITE FOLKS stick together, LATINS stick together, Asians stick together, but not us. Our down fall is hate, jealousy, envy,non-trusting and, ill-informed.
The ones that think outside the box have the same mentality as you and I; to make our lives as beautiful and less stressful, and enjoy while we are on this green earth. But it has to be more than that!! We can not truly live our lives happily unless we have found our purpose and proceed to help others if not create something that will leave our mark after we are gone. To be non-selfish and think more than just yourself and the people that you love. What about those kids or single mothers that can't see there way out or don't know how to get the proper resources to have a better life?? I truly believe in the idea of EACH ONE TEACH ONE. If we do that as a society, we would be beautiful inside & out:)
All the slave massa stuff, should be put on hold. I think we have gotten passed that stage. Many of our people are stuck in oblivious state.
Not a big blogger sorry, the error message said it my comment was too long and yet it posted it 4 times. If you can delete 3 of the 4 that would be great. Thank you.
Peace & blessings
"Staying Prayed up" to me is praying to God for His grace and mercy upon you and and your family. When the time comes for you are a member of you family that does't knows the Lord need that spiritually blessing GOd remembers all those times you prayed to him to heal your family.
I've been in some situation where I know that it works. I thank God for my mother everyday because she is a praying lady. In the last three to five years the devil has really been attacking her and if it wasn't for her prays and the grace of God she would be here today. It always good to have someone praying for you when you your not. Because God remembers. That's what "staying prayed up mean in the church not just the black church.
Crystal I totally agree with you honey...Nothing is wrong with using the phrase "staying prayed up" we mean well when we say that. I just hate how people like to criticize and make matters worse for using that phrase...smh... These Haters would be surprise how many people use the phrase no matter what the race is ... I STAY PRAYED UP!!! I'm truly blessed:)))
We just walk forward in the Lord. We are prayed up when the Holy Spirit is in us. If people want to say 'be prayed up' and to believe they need to pray a certain amount daily about certain things then that is certainly their prerogative. Personally I chose to walk forward in all that Jesus is because He came back for us and gave His all so we could walk in all that He is. Once I got hold of that I was truly set free.
Education can be a fine thing but it is certainly not the most important thing. I don't like to use education as something that makes me feel holier than others. Only Jesus in us makes us Holy.The Pharisees were highly educated and look what it did for them. We can only be confident in the Lord.
As far as not taking crap from white people is concerned I can say that all of us should practice not being offended by anyone. The only thing race has to do with anything is what value we put on it. If we accept offense then we can count daily endless types of offense from all manner of people. Blessings!
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