God, Gunz & Glory: Free From the "Black Curse"

Author's Note: The arguments, phrasing, and analysis in this essay are my original work. They reflect ideas I’ve developed over years of life experience and study, including college coursework and independent research. This text is not a synthesis presented as derived from any single scholar; it is my own interpretation and articulation of history, theology, and psychology.

Dedicated to Iman.

In this life, we are socialized to internalize negative perceptions or projections other people express, as means of understanding where we “fit” in society, as means of formulating an "accurate" image of self.

One of the many ways this is made most abundantly clear, is race relations.

Though we live in a time where many people like to think of themselves as “colorblind”, it is foolish to operate as if it doesn’t exist.

The scientific truth that we often to choose to ignore, is that in fact, “race” does not, exist. But the social constructs that orchestrate life says it does, so therefore, we must acknowledge its presence.

That said, because of the horrors and justifications of said horrors inflicted upon certain people due to their biological makeup, it is very easy to develop an inferiority or superiority complex, depending on which category you fall into.

But I am writing this essay and illustrated the piece I did, because I want to offer a caveat to all that we are conditioned to believe.

“Racism”, and all the “isms” that follow, are physical manifestations of deep emotional responses—rooted in insecurity—but humility, is the greatest antidote to this very thing.

We’re taught to think of these constructs as inherent power complexes—a divine power bestowed upon those “blessed” with a certain skin tone or features.

But that is not the truth.

Unraveling the Lies

If you must tear someone else down to feel powerful, you have exposed your own “confidence” as counterfeit.

Self-worth rooted in security, needs no scapegoat.

It stands firm without comparison or the illusion of competition.

Yet, we cling to these ideals—made up hierarchies of skin, gender, and culture—because we live in a world that’s been engineered to view life itself, as a race.

And in a race, someone must come out on top.

Someone must be declared, “better.”

But to understand this, we must first trace back where this obsession with being “better” came from; and to do so, we will look at history as strategy, not legend.

The British never conquered the world because they were born superior.

They conquered the world because Europe was soaked in centuries of war.

Conflict bred innovation.

And as empires competed for dominance, they began to incentivize their populations to contribute.

Not by love, but through fear.

Through pride.

And through the promise of power.

An illusion, all humans tend to have a strong thirst for.

So, when Britain colonized, it wasn’t just with muskets and boats.

It was also with ideology.

Settler colonialism, industrial capitalism, and economic imperialism were not random byproducts of colonization, but calculated moves.

Entire continents were seized, entire peoples displaced, and all under the mythology of European excellence.

Cecil Rhodes was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa, who served as Prime Minister of Cape Colony from 1890-1896.

He made a statement in a private letter, sent to a colleague, W.T. Stead, who was a newspaper editor and supporter of imperial expansion, that said: I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race... What an alteration there would be if those parts that are at present inhabited by the most despicable specimens of human beings were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence.

Rhodes not only believed the British were better, but that they were necessary, and because of his own conditioning, he believed his propaganda was a noble cause.

But the truth in this scenario alone, is that he was simply just another agent of chaos.

Though we are talking about the practicality of racism, it is important to give the same attention to the spiritual factors at play, because this issue goes much deeper than the surface.

Some ignore his existence. Some see him as myth or folklore, and some truly believe in him as their god, but I cannot continue this essay without mentioning the role Satan and his demons play.

Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was already peril in heaven due to Satan’s pride rooted in insecurity because he wanted to be like God, even though he could not measure up, though his pride blinded him from seeing so.

War broke out in Heaven, and God’s mighty angel, Michael along with other angels fought against the devil and his demons. But Satan wasn’t strong enough and he and his followers were cast out, and into the earth.

Revelation 12:7-9 (NKJV): And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Following this event was the fall of mankind.

When Adam and Eve were deceived by the devil, disobeyed God, and sin entered the world.

You could be wondering: why would God send him here?

I believe that’s a valid question, because I wondered the same, but the Bible says:

Isaiah 66:1-2 (NKJV): Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist, Says the Lord.

Psalm 24:1(NKJV): The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.

That said, the earth is nothing to God. Why else would there be so many other planets in the solar system?

But though we are merely specks in the sand, we—humans—are important to God because we are His children. He intentionally made every, single, one of us.

After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, the Bible also says:

Genesis 3:8-14 (NKJV): And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust. All the days of your life.

These few verses alone display the relationship God had with His creation.

When the first two human beings on earth allowed an outsider to deceive them, they fractured their relationship with God, whom they known since the beginning, forever.

But God is perfect.

He is pure, and He does not, and will not coexist with impurity.

Sin is impurity.

So, we—humans—being the descendants of Adam and Eve, inherit the same consequences they received from God.

Genesis 3: 16-19 (NKJV): To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake.
In toil you shall eat of it, All the days of your life.

18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.

19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.

Because of sin and deception, our right to life, and a right to a life of ease, was stripped, forever.

Genesis 3:22-24 (NKJV): Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Satan is a cursed being and each day that passes, he becomes more malignant than the day before. Though he too could repent and turn his heart back to God, he never will.

His entire prerogative is to destroy us. His destiny has already been decided, but ours is not.

Which is why the Bible says:

John 10:10 (NKJV): The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…

But do not fret, because God has already worked it all out.

That very same verse finishes to say: I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Immediately after the fall of man, and the curse of the devil, God says:

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV): And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed, and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

This was the prophecy of Jesus.

In order to understand this, you must first realize that we are souls before anything else.

The physical reality is where our souls perform, but we are intrinsic beings.

When Jesus was a man.

He was wrapped in flesh.

Because we are souls, our flesh—these bodies we inhabit on this earth—are sinful.

But He obtained the Spirit of God, which is why He is God.

Again, in order to understand this, God has to open your eyes and reveal to you, that you are a soul, first.

"You" are "you", because of the soul you have. Not because of your body.

Our bodies age, they change, they decay, and they will die.

But our souls, our spirits—they live on forever.

When Jesus, a perfect man, allowed Himself to be crucified, He bore the sins of us all.

Those of the past, us in the present, and those to come.

And though his body died, His soul went on to crush the head of that devil.

Had God not done this, we all would have been doomed to a devil’s hell.

The same hell the devil wishes to take us to.

Which is why he deceives us.

Which is why he and his minions:

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV): because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

God wrapped himself in flesh, defeated death, and gave us His Spirit. So that we may have a chance to live with Him forever once more, but in a world without a devil.

Revelation 1:18 (NKJV): I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

1 John 4:13-16 (NKJV): By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Isaiah 65:17 (NKJV): For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

2 Peter 3:13 (NKJV): Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 20:10 (NKJV): The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

So, I said this all to say: Your opposition is not the person sitting next to you. It’s the evil spirit that walks among us.

By preying upon our innate desires—Satan—who’ve I’ve proven is the most insecure being of all, influences us to carry out his destruction by giving us whatever it is that appeals to our lust.

In the case of colonization, it was power.

It was money.

It was validation.

And it was worldly glory.

Entities that will one day, all pass away.

We aren’t taught to think critically about these things, but the sheer amount of greed and audacity a man must possess to leave his land, and extract the resources from someone else’s, while simultaneously dehumanizing them, is worth mentioning.

People often wonder why racism still persists today, but it’s because generations before Cecil Rhodes taught him to think the way he thought, and he passed those same beliefs onto the next generation.

What we see today, is just a continuation of all that existed before, and it takes a conscious and deliberate recalibration of the mind to change that mindset.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV): And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Now you have spiritual context, and practical.

Rhodes and others alike believed they were larger than life, but they are only pieces to a larger puzzle.

And the ideology they believed, became systematized.

Europeans called their conquests civilization, but they brutalized people.

They ravaged towns.

Stole resources.

Spread diseases.

Killed men and violated and enslaved their women and children.

They weaponized trade, media, Christianity, and industry from the far ends of Asia, to the new world in the Americas.

Christianity is not the “White man’s religion”—that too is a trick of the enemy.

The Bible profusely speaks of false prophets, and anyone who picks and chooses which parts of the Bible they choose to believe in, are deliberately contradicting themselves.

And anyone who believes exactly what a man says, just because they found a verse to justify their claims, but their lives emulate the complete opposite of the Word, are choosing to be ignorant and are allowing themselves to be deceived.

Even Satan knows the Bible.

So double-check what I say, and use this essay as a catalyst for your own discovery.

Though colonizers planted flags and built myths to justify why they deserved the land they stole, none of this made them invincible.

Europe rose, not because other failed, but because of timing, circumstance, and strategy.

The Mongols of China once controlled the largest empire the world had ever seen, proving that global dominance could emerge from anywhere.

But because the Chinese closed themselves off to trade, they were left behind as Europe filled the power vacuum and took their place.

The Ottomans ruled vast parts of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

They were feared by the very same kingdoms that would later claim racial superiority.

The Aztec, Inca, Maya, Aboriginals, and many other Indigenous populations were rich, complex, and advanced civilizations in their own right, but they never stood a chance against diseases such as smallpox, measles, or flu.

Many African kingdoms were complicit in the slave trade, but the demand for human trafficking intensified, vastly depleting kingdoms of their own brilliant minds and labor, now by force, that could’ve been used to catapult Africa to the world’s stage, long before colonizers arrived.

West African kingdoms like Kush, Mali, and Songhai were already culturally rich and economically sophisticated.

Imagine what Africa could’ve been had their progress not been interrupted.

Imagine what Africa could be if their leaders had the ability to see past tribalism or the integrity to lead their nations out of economic and social plunder.

European dominance was never about destiny.

It was about disruption.

So, the beauty standard they exported, for example—narrow noses, fair skin, thin lips, straight hair—weren’t global truths.

They are imperial leftovers.

And once you realize that and understand that the entire scaffolding of race was built for control, it all feels fragile.

But equally liberating, because it is.

Psychological warfare is the most efficient weapon colonizers ever used.

Not only did they conquer the land, but they also conquered the mind.

Though many Europeans and their descendants did objectively have good traits, they conditioned everyone to believe that they were more.

More beautiful.

More intelligent.

More civilized.

But once you step outside of that lie, it all collapses.

Because no one group of people is inherently superior.

History has shown every group of people on this planet has been oppressed in some capacity.

And as a Black American, that reconfirms so much.

We are not the descendants of a weak group of people, but they were brought here because those were the conditions of the time.

Had someone else industrialized faster, had someone else weaponized empire first, had someone else acted upon imperialist desires earlier, the systems we live under today would wear a different face—but carry the same cruelty.

And that also proves, what happened to our people, could’ve happened to anyone.

In fact, it did.

This very thing is proven by Japan’s acquisition of the Korean Peninsula before it split between North Korea and South Korea.

Western schools often skim over global history because it threatens narratives, but Early Modern era Japan was able to escape colonial rule from the Europeans because they developed similar weaponry and industry.

When the Japanese defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese war, it shook the world, because how could this “sub-human” defeat a white man?

And during World War Two, although they were exactly what you’d think the Nazi regime or Mussolini’s Italy would hate, they were able to dominate and collaborate with European forces because power is not exclusive to one race.

But at the same time, their race is also what allowed Japanese Americans to be treated poorly with no one batting an eye, the history of Korea to go unheard, or the propaganda that dehumanized them into beasts to never be challenged, because they still weren’t white and the people they harmed weren’t white as well.

Though Japan sits in the East, operationally, they have historically functioned much like the West.

The Japanese offer a wonderful case study to prove ethnicity has nothing to do with the intelligence, strength, or heart of a man.

What This Means for Us

The truth is: supremacy was born of fear.

Not fact.

Europeans feared irrelevance.

They feared being forgotten.

And most of all, they feared economic competition.

“If a man don’t work, he won’t eat.”

So, they built institutions to be remembered, and systems intended to dominate.

They created categories to separate and then gave those categories value.

 Race being one of them.

So again, I point back to the spiritual factors that allow these things to take place.

James 3:13-16 (NKJV): Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

Nothing in life “just happens.”

We may not know the exact reason why, but what happens in the unseen, dictates what we do see.

Once I realized this, I then asked myself: Why should I fear the white man?

And now I ask you: Why should we fear the white man’s gaze or shrink under his “standard” or perspective of life?

He is not a god.

He is not an idea.

He is simply just another human being shaped by history and insecurity, and without Jesus Christ, he is influenced by an untamed and evil spirit.

But isn't that us all?

What the Europeans built, and what some of their descendants continue to try and replicate, is not divine.

If anything, it is duplicatable.

Japanese colonial rule was proof, and if you look closely at many nations in the Middle East today, they’re doing the same thing.

But that’s why an illusion has to be enforced, because the truth is too threatening.

Race was not created to reflect reality, but to manipulate it.

Because if you convince people they’re unworthy and destined for a life of struggle or pain, you never have to enslave their bodies again.

You’ve already enslaved their minds.

If you successfully divide and conquer, you’ll never have to get your hands dirty—they’ll destroy themselves for you.

Or on the contrary, if you idolize a group of people for no reason at all, or celebrate them for nothing, you breed a sense of entitlement.

And you damage a vulnerable group of people who think too highly of themselves, while simultaneously having nothing, but looking to you to reaffirm their “rightful” place in society.

But when reality hits a person who’s been told they’re worthy of everything their entire life, and they see someone deemed “unworthy” rise above them, the delusion they’ve been fed to believe, shatters.

But because they’ve only been taught insecurity under the guise of supremacy, they dissent further into madness, never opening their eyes to the truth.

Racism is completely illogical and there is no way to truly justify it, but the people who feed their followers these lies know that their own power is contingent based off the faith or hope those beneath them have in them.

They too have conquered the minds of those with superiority complexes.

And as crazy as it may seem, it takes empathy to understand a racist.

Not to justify their actions or sympathize with their beliefs.

But to recognize that they are truly, a broken soul.

Because if anyone finds offense with you based off the color of your skin, contrary to popular belief, that is not your burden to carry.

Supremacy harms both the oppressed and the oppressor.

To be Black in America, means to understand the plight of Blackness for how it has affected us all generationally, but you cannot strip America from our identity because it is exactly what makes us unique compared to everyone else in the diaspora.

We are not small.

We are not insignificant.

We are not inherently aggressive or more biologically prone to criminality compared to everyone else.

We are not mindless animals, dumb, or lazy.

And any person who generalizes us all as the same, or lacks the ability to see people as individuals, expose a flaw evident in their own character.

But embracing a victim narrative and developing an inferiority complex—wherein which you see yourself and others like you, as less than—only hinders you from experiencing true liberation in the natural.

Our history in this country proves that we have beaten the odds numerous times, and we have the power to change our circumstances if we continue see that.

But if we don’t hold ourselves accountable, take control of our lives, and make actionable steps to be better individuals, we slap everyone in the face who fought for us to have choices.

Despite our people being terrorized, beaten, robbed, and stolen—they built a country, you and I call home. And they expressed themselves through music, dance, hair, politics, literature, and so on, so that we have something to call our culture.

In spite of the mockery we face today, our people still continue to influence the world.

In spite of the obstacles so many try to throw in our path; in spite of people discrediting our accomplishments; and in spite of the entire world hating us for no reason at all, we can all stand tall, with our heads held high, because we are descendants of a people who refused to allow their spirit to be broken.

It is our responsibility to honor that.

And in this place we call America, which is laced in our DNA, it is full of privileges and freedoms so many people around the world can only dream of.

Freedoms and privileges our late families and ancestors gave their lives for.

And while it’s very easy to see this nation as pure evil, considering the past, the atrocities of our officials, and some of our neighbors who revel in our despair; we do ourselves a disservice when we don't acknowledge the good that does exist.

Because without that good, I wouldn’t even be able to say the things I am saying today.

Without that good, none of us would be able to coexist peacefully with others who look different than us.

Without that good, slavery would still exist, Jim Crow would still prevail, and all the integration and contributions we’ve made to this nation as free people, would just be an ideal.

Though things are imperfect and our humanity is still challenged, if you never open your eyes to see that the life you believe is exclusive to others, can truly be yours as well, you’ll only ever have a one-dimensional perspective.

While I respect and agree with W.E.B Du Bois’s idea of a double-consciousness, and what it means for us, I believe it’s time we move on from that narrative and began to see ourselves through one lens.

We are simply human.

Just like anyone else.

But we must know this for ourselves.

We must know that we are inherently worthy.

That this is our birthright.

In spite of.

A Solution

But to do this, I will offer an antidote, and as radical or crazy as it may be, this one ability could spark change for all.

The antidote to insecurity, is humility.

All humans crave validation and belonging, but the trick to surviving this world is learning to affirm yourself and find your belonging in places that transcend this world.

The reason why “racism” and its family of “isms” dominate the world, is because some people have never truly learned to validate themselves.

They have been affirmed by society—whether directly or indirectly—their entire lives and have fostered a worldview that everything belongs to them and anyone who isn’t similar, should be second class or subservient.

They fail to realize their strength is based on external and shallow value systems, that quite often contradict themselves.

But humility, by the power of God, gives you the ability to see beyond the aggression, slander, and hate.

And humility does not mean shrinking yourself.

It means knowing your worth so deeply, that you never feel the need to posture, prove or perform.

Though flaws can be found anywhere, humility is exactly why Martin Luther King's philosophy for the Civil Rights Movement worked, and why we saw change.

Humility is not a weakness, but actually a profound source of strength.

It doesn't mean silencing yourself or not fighting for what's right, but doing so in a manner that doesn't fight fire with fire.

The person with the ability to control their emotions in the face of opposition, wins every battle.

And that is why, again, humility is the greatest antidote to insecurity because insecurity feeds off validation.

An insecure person needs you to feel bad about yourself, so they stay comfortable, but it’s not your job to make people feel good about things outside of your control.

And by not feeding into someone’s personal issues, you give yourself the freedom to live life the way you imagine.

Don’t you want to be free?

Free from the fear of someone else’s opinion.

Free from the fear of opportunity.

Free from the fear of truly accepting yourself.

And I say these fears specifically, because they're the root of everything we're conditioned to internalize as either out of reach or the absolute and defining factors of who we are.

But everything starts first, in the mind.

Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV): For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…

You have to believe in yourself enough to shut out the noise and disregard the opinions of others as fact.

You have to believe no one is superior to you, you are inferior to no one, and you're deserving of every good thing this world has to offer.

You have to believe you are enough.

The Europeans who set these systems up were performing dominance and set out a mission to prove themselves as the greatest in the world, because they truly were not secure in who they were.

And though it may not seem that simple, everything in life traces back to the values of the human being carrying out whatever they believe.

Every system begins as a feeling.

First by an emotion sparked in the heart, that then mechanizes in the mind, and lastly takes root by the actions performed in the physical.

So, to escape that trap, Black people and other minorities alike, must recognize that someone’s outdated racial implication of who you are, holds no merit regardless, but especially when YOU know who are.

And humility grants this passage because you recognize your worth is affirmed by the Lord above.

The most powerful being in the entire universe, who created each of us in His image.

It is not God’s fault mankind is insecure.

It is our own.

And although this is essay it was written with Black Americans in mind, these principles hold true for all people.

No one should feel ashamed for who they are, because none of us asked to be here or chose to be born in the body they were.

Humility rooted in secure self-awareness will allow you to see the world with an open mind and interact with all men peacefully, regardless of what they may think of you.

When your value system is based upon the Spirit of God, you develop an armor, no man can touch.

Romans 8:31 (NKJV): What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

Humility, a God-given talent and a God-given command, gives you the ability to truly see people.

Not just the surface, but their soul.

It is a strength not taught, but a skill more valuable than anything else on this planet.

Christ spent His time on earth, constantly reinforcing the message that no one is better than the other.

He constantly made it known that our religion, our riches, our beauty, our knowledge, or anything else, would never grant us eternal life.

But accepting Him into our hearts, would.

Romans 10: 9 (NKJV): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Something Christ did preach however, was the importance of humility.

Luke 14:11 (NKJV): For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

And the Bible in general says:

Proverbs 22:4 (NKJV): By humility and the fear of the Lord, Are riches and honor and life.

Because humility is power, and humility translates to love.

And love doesn’t mean excusing wrong, or ignoring calamity to keep the peace, but it means in spite of wrong, you don't think too highly of yourself compared to other people.

Because we are all one in the same, capable of both good and bad, and there is not a single person walking this earth with a past in perfect condition.

1 John 4:20-21 (NKJV): If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

The greatest commandment is this:

Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV): And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”