Empowerment – The Fire Within (A 2013 Throwback)

The following piece was written back in 2013. While 4 years have passed, the underlying message is still quite relevant today.


As members of the LGBT community, it’s sad that we still live in a world that cannot see beyond our sexuality. How appalling is it that the masses fail to realize our worth or accept us wholly and completely? When faced with hatred, discrimination, and stereotypical imagery in media and entertainment, we can’t help but feel a bit of shame, guilt, and anger. So many misconceptions and stigmas continue to cloud judgment, perception, and understanding. But for what? Our sexuality is one of so many parts of who we are. While it doesn’t define us, we can’t ignore it. And it’s obvious that public officials, conservatives, and organizations (that shall remain nameless) are obsessed with our sexuality more than we are.

Did the powers that be, holy rollers, and haters forget that we’re human too? We desire, no, we deserve the same things as our heterosexual brothers and sisters – family, friends, love, happiness, success on our own terms, good health… I could go on, as the list is endless. But you wouldn’t know this reading or viewing some of the media and entertainment created daily. How hypocritical can a society be that prides itself on freedom, but shames, victimizes, vilifies, and silences those who don’t fit the preferred, traditional archetype? We’re well past the time to lift the veil on the alienation and isolation that comes as a result of living in such a heteronormative society. But let us not be defeated.

Validation from the outside world may not come in the time, manner, or fashion we desire it to. However, we shouldn’t let it hinder us from living or having what we want in this life. No matter what the outside world says we must remain steadfast in knowing ourselves and trusting what we believe in. No matter what the world says, we are beautiful in every way. We are not less than. We are warriors.

Sometimes we have to forego or question everything we’ve been taught or led to believe as truth to find out who we really are. There’s so much that we deny ourselves when we feed into to the B.S. aimed at refuting our existence. We have to shut ourselves off from the noise and the hysteria to make way for what’s real – to make way for peace, serenity, and truth. When we’re able to free ourselves individually and collectively – the change we see within and around us will be miraculous.

As Audre Lorde said, “Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the now.” We cannot wait. While we should celebrate the recent Supreme Court rulings in the DOMA and Prop 8 cases for being a step in the right direction for gay marriage, the movement doesn’t stop there. These rulings should only intensify our fight for justice, equality, and freedom for all. And everything we need for this fight lies within.

The key to finding what’s within, the power within, is loving ourselves. We talk a good game about loving ourselves, but how many of us actually do? How many of us can say we truly love ourselves? It’s impossible for us to love ourselves if we continue to allow internalized hatred to ruin our progress. It’s impossible for us to love ourselves if we continue to tolerate the abuse, ill-treatment, and foolishness we encounter daily.

We must not let fear run our authentic selves away. We must be brazen. Stand up for those who were/are not able to stand up for themselves. Realize that in doing so, we’re empowering ourselves and challenging everyone to (always) strive to be and do better.

When we find the love within, the power is never too far behind. When we find our power… When we realize our power… When we utilize our power, its intensity will inspire action and breed the change we need in our families, communities, and the world.

Ours is a power that not only changes lives, but also saves lives. As James Baldwin said, “The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.” So let’s find our power and wield it lovingly, strongly, boldly, and unapologetically. It’s our world. Now let the power within—that internal fire—lead the way!

Day 97: Making Dreams Happen

Image from OutWrite 2012 in DC, taken by Author Donald Peebles

When everything else falls short, our dreams are sometimes the only things that can pull us through.  When you wake up each morning and go to bed every night yearning to break out and bring your passions to life, you’re eventually going to have to make a decision.  Either you’re going to continue living a life unfulfilled or you’re going to commit yourself to working towards a fulfilled life where you achieve your dreams.  I’m glad that I finally made the decision on November 27, 2011 to make a serious push towards achieving one of my lifelong dreams.

On November 27, 2011 I submitted the initial draft of my manuscript to be self-published through iUniverse.  For at least three years, I’d been toying with the idea of publishing my first volume of poetry.  For whatever reason, I was conflicted.  I take that back.  For several reasons, I was conflicted.  I’d given so much of myself away to my job and school and other entities outside of myself, that there didn’t seem to be much time or energy left to focus on what truly mattered to me.   I doubted my talent and wondered if I really had what takes to make it.  And I got caught up in others’ and society’s expectations of what I should be doing with my life.  I found myself trying to adhere to standards and live a life that I didn’t want and that didn’t fit me personally.  I suffered because of it and had to work to rebuild and get myself back on track.

So in the months leading up to submitting my manuscript, I eventually said, “Fuck it!”  I was tired of being depressed.  I was tired of doing things I wasn’t passionate about and could really give two shits and a side of fuck about.  I realized that there was no better time than right now to go after what I wanted.  I couldn’t blame anyone else but myself if I got to a point in my life where I was completely frustrated, disappointed, and angry about what I did and did not accomplish.  The blame would definitely fall within no realm but my own if I committed to the quest of living the life dictated by others.  So I went to work.  I did research on how I should go about getting my work published, talked with friends and others about their experiences publishing and what advice they had for me moving forward, and continued nurturing my craft.  And in roughly six months time, my book Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics was available for public consumption.

It fills me up with so much pride and joy seeing my book in print.  It’s a major accomplishment, and I’m glad I finally pursued it. Now that my book is out, work hasn’t stopped.  I’m still writing, networking, and planning for signings, readings, and other appearances to promote my work and myself.  I’ve also begun work on my next project (more on that in another post, I promise).  The focus for me is becoming a full-time writer.  Outside of my writings about music, entertainment, pop culture, I’m most interested in writing about the human condition and the many things that we experience in our day-to-day lives.  My writing—be it poetry, song lyrics, short stories, or prose—can, at times, be raw, confrontational, and confessional.  As people who’ve read my writing have said, it’s engaging and it’s real.  I’ve long since realized my style is not for everybody.  However, if my writing resonates and touches just a few people, then I’m on the right path.

While writing is one of my passions, the dreaming doesn’t stop there.  I’m in the process of achieving two other dreams.  The first is finishing my MBA (which will be completed December 2012) and the second is becoming a voice over actor/artist (which I’m training for as we speak).  And I have others, that, in time, I will continue to nurture and work to achieve.

It’s great to have dreams.  We should all be encouraged to dream.  But nothing is sadder than when we don’t go after or put in the work to make our dreams come to life.  It’s critical that we do not let anything or anyone (and that includes ourselves) stand in the way.  And you can’t give up if success doesn’t happen immediately or happen in the way you think it should.  Always be open and flexible to what the universe may bring you.  It may be better than anything you ever dreamed or anticipated.

Whatever you do—keep dreaming and keep achieving.  Live your destiny.

Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics is available at iUniverse, Amazon (Paperback | Hardcover & Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Book-A-Million (Paperback | Hardcover), and other retailers.