I just relocated from Portland, Oregon to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. This is the reason I did not post last week. Life took over! This week I decided to fight back and post.
A big change for my family and I. Because it also coincides with the new year it is a good time to reflect on the impact of this blog on me. I decided to write this blog to help people who look like me. It was a very selfless act in honour of all the selfless people I met over the years and contributed to building a better me. The reality, I tremendously benefited from posting on a weekly basis. Here are the reasons why:
- A better thinker – I am also on the hunt for new materials for my blog. I carefully listen to news, and I am on the lookout for difficult topics I believe need to be addressed. Because I want to tell a good story, I have to go beyond the obvious we can hear everywhere and give my personal opinion. This is a great exercise to always be ready to address challenging questions in real life.
- A better communicator – Once ideas are clear in your head, putting pen to paper is a formality. That allows me to spend more time giving my personal spin on the story.
- A better connector – The more I focus on issues affecting people who look like me, the more I am able to connect with people who do not look like me. Like Aime Cesaire said « plus on est nègre, plus on sera universel. » Translated in my own words as “The more negro you are, the more universal you are”. A strange paradigm where the more I advocate for Blacks, the more I understand non-Blacks (including whites) and the more I see opportunities for all to come together and be better off as a whole.
I am extremely thankful for all the followers and supporters of this blog. It is my privilege to share my thoughts with you. I hope that you got as much from reading this blog as I got writing it. Drop a comment or a question anytime. 100% response guaranteed!
Photo by Matt Palmer on Unsplash
The Black Negotiator 