From The Ramparts

Transmute Your Frustration

Transmute Your Frustration

Just as the within smallest seed is encoded the potential for the most beautiful and radiant flower, the tallest, thickest oak tree or the most tantalizing fruit; so too resident within each of us is an animating dynamic spirit/intelligence whose natural tendency is expansion and actualization. It is the nature of the human spirit to seek the expression of the indwelling gifts, talents, aptitudes and proclivities resident within each of us. This is the essence of life, it is what living is all about. In our free and most enlightened state it would be the duty of the society to discern and assist in the actualization of the genius within its membership. In many indigenous societies, this responsibility is taken very seriously and is executed through rituals, divinations or the occult sciences. In a benighted and backward cultures like those established by the Aryans, this notion of reciprocal social nurturing and responsibility are missing. Any serious study of the indigenous Caucasian cultures of the Steppe region in Eurasia will reveal it spawned a ruthless and predatory dog eat dog, every man for himself cultural outlook. The Indo-European spread these behavioral patterns as they expanded into Europe, Asia and subsequently everywhere they set foot on planet Earth. Their legacy aggression, their love of war, pillage, plunder and domination are undeniable. We can see these patterns being played out this very moment all over the world albeit under the banners of noble sounding verbiage like “democracy “, bringing peace” “civilization” and the “War on Terror”. Once the invaders conquered, their target population and region, they set up a repressive/oppressive color based social dynamic with themselves at the top of the hierarchy and the rest based upon color gradations with the darkest at the very bottom!
Our situation as Africans in AmeriKKKa is a variation of that centuries old theme. When we look at our status in the overall arrangement of AmeriKKKan society, although we have contributed much we are still relegated to the margins. The vestiges of the racial caste system euphemistically called “segregation” still exist only, in more subtle forms. One of the consequences of this continued oppression (oppression: The act of oppressing, excessively restrictive authority or power; severity; hardship; cruelty; a sense of heaviness or weight on the mind or body, depression- The New Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language) is an omnipresent animus, tension and uneasiness on the part of both the oppressor and the oppressed. Having set up the system with themselves in the most favorable positions and a skewered power relationship so all rewards are based upon white skin privilege or benefits are accrued by Africans for the maintenance of and in service to the oppressor’s system and agenda creates a deep sense of frustration on the part of the victims of global white supremacy. The Dictionary of Psychology defines frustration as: blockage or thwarting of goal directed behavior, an unpleasant state of tension anxiety and heightened sympathetic activity resulting from blockage or thwarting. What is this blocking and thwarting? It is the deliberate denigration of our selfhood and humanity, the minimizing our innate talents and abilities by treating us as “less than” inferior beings, and writing us off as worthless and subhuman. The effects of this oppression are an unpleasant state of tension, anxiety and anger due to our systemic maltreatment and dehumanization. Most of us are frustrated but many aren’t able to articulate precisely why we feel this way. We know something is wrong but can’t put our fingers on exactly what. Part of the problem is we are locked into a socio-political system that is the very antitheses of our natural African systems. This is exacerbated by the fact we have no clue of who we really are, what our life’s mission is, nor do we receive any support for discovering or helping us actualize it. We are dismissed or pigeon-holed into educational systems and occupations that stifle our innate genius because we lack the knowledge, options and guidance to match our nurtural aptitudes with ways to express and manifest them. Doors are closed to us simply because we are black. And we are subjected to a program of menticide designed to drive us insane. This process is very distressing and frustrating. Often we seek to anesthetize this strain and pain by using alcohol or drugs or engaging in self-sabotaging and destructive behaviors like overspending, over eating and reckless interpersonal or sexual activities.
In order to heal we must first recognize and admit we are ill. We have to acknowledge this uneasiness, this inner agitation and frustration and grasp that it is not healthy to maintain over long periods of time. We have to transmute or re-channel this emotional and psychological energy into self-affirming and self-actualizing activities. The process is a cognitive one; it begins with our thinking, how we think and what we think about. We have to consciously and assiduously reprogram our minds to think of self and group first. We must learn to take an ethnocentric approach to life and living. This will require a major mind shift because we have been programmed very well to think of serving white folks first and ourselves last, if at all! We must rethink what it means to be a human being. For models we can and ought to refer to African philosophies from ancient Kemet, or the intricate ideologies of the Akan, Yoruba or Kongo cultures. There we will find pathways to our psychological, emotional and spiritual liberation. We can also tap into the resident omniscience within ourselves through meditation and intuition. We can begin to pursue our dreams and goals; after all frustration is the blockage and thwarting of goal-directed behavior. We must remain true to our goals and life’s mission.
We have an obligation to be purposeful and goal oriented and not allow obstacles or opposition deter us. When we encounter blockages, we must not become frustrated. We have to examine the opposition and determine its’ power. If we can overcome or transcend the situation using our inner and external resources, fine. If not, we must not allow discouragement or frustration to set in. Instead of focusing our emotions outwardly or negatively imploding, we can redirect our energies into positive activities (mental, emotional and physical) that will assist us in achieving our goals. We can modify our strategies and tactics so we are not thrown off task. Resistence and opposition are natural, they are a part of all endeavors great and small. We just have to find ways to overcome them. Remember the principles of aerodynamics, airplanes fly not only using thrust but also by manipulating air resistence and pressure. Wind and air ppposition helps the plane fly! Expect opposition to your goals but use it to strengthen yourself and accomplish your undertaking. Redirect the energy you would use being frustrated anxious and angry into ways that trigger your inner resources to solve problems and attract to yourself the needed allies to help succeed. Life is lived from the inside out. Transmuting frustration is an inner process. Our inner self is the first thing we need to learn to master and control. Once we do this, we can use our self-mastery and control to fashion our personal and collective outer reality; one that curtails or eliminates our oppression.

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posted by Junious Ricardo Stanton @ 10:18 AM