Tag: #onekingsmission

They will call me 2022

William Ross 0 Comment Uncategorized , ,

Sluggishly, he walks towards the door that has awaited him every December 31 for several years. Today, he arrives on January 1. He is tired; Not because of any festivities that occurred last night, but because of the absence of a festive vibe that permeated the year.

“Here we go again,” he sighs as he adjusts his mask. The action has become second nature yet produces the same annoyance and discomfort as when it was first introduced as part of the day’s protocol. He pushes the door open slowly with uncertainty about what he will find. He is late. However, the concept of being on time has proven challenging to comply with during the last 365 days because time seemed lost in a barrage of medical mandates, social protocols, a rampant increase in death, and a crippling decrease in living.

“Hello… Is anyone there?” he asks as he enters the room.

Silence responds to him. There is a chill in the room that is rooted not in the temperature but rather in the sensations running up and down his spine. He sits beside the bed in the spot that has been reserved for him over the last several years. Only this time, there is no hand to hold and no eyes to look into while conversing.

“I am late, but has everything truly passed?” he asks out loud, “Should I just leave? Should I have even come at all?”

He stands from the chair that feels inadequate to hold his weight as it has increased because of worry and fatigue. He dawdles to the window where the breeze embraces him. Frustrated, he slams his hand on the wall.

“This is ridiculous!!” he screams, “I should have not even wasted my time coming tonight!”

Suddenly the streets fill with bodies, and the volume of their actions reach deafening proportions. He can hear them, but he can’t understand them. He can see them, but they are blurry. He finds himself squinting, trying to sharpen the features of the people that suddenly filled the street. It works. He gasps. He stumbles back and falls to the floor in fear. The people in the streets are no longer blurry, and he can make out their features. In doing so, he realizes that they are him.

The window suddenly transforms into a mirror and the reflection succeeds in causing him more discomfort, anxiety, and fear. He not only sees himself sitting on the floor, but he also sees himself standing beside himself.

Quickly turning around from the mirror, he seeks to confront whatever is standing beside him. However, he is met by another mirror with the same reflection.

“What is happening?!” he screams, “I don’t understand!!!”

“Exactly,” a voice responds.

The room begins to spin, and he finds his body flirting with the possibility of passing out. Somehow he is now standing and realizes that the room is one giant mirror.

“You proclaim a lack of understanding because you work towards it. You find contentment in claiming access to knowledge but cower at the thought of committing to consistently climbing towards comprehension. You looked for my predecessor in a spot that you have occupied with complacency yearly. Their absence seemed to concern you, or was it the change from what you are used to? Do not attempt to answer, for I am not interested in the preprogrammed responses that flood your vernacular.”, the reflection of himself scolded.

His fear turns to frustration as he feels lost in a farce.

“Where are you?” he asks with annoyance. “Why do you speak to me through a false reflection?”

“You are looking directly at me,” the standing reflection responds. “Your eyes see an image of yourself because that is what your mind needs to construct. You have drowned in the pool of your existence because you sucked from the clogged straw of “knowledge of self” for air. Clogged because you did not want to breathe; you simply did not want to drown. One should ensure the other, but only when executed to understand that knowledge alone is not sufficient. You see yourself in the mirror because for far too long you have not looked close enough into the crevices of your consciousness. You have allowed theories to copulate in your mind so that the offspring produced could populate the cerebral cinema that made celebrities out of others in the community. All the while you ignored the syllabus that your spirit wrote you so that your mortality could be maximized. You see yourself because you refuse to look within yourself. Knowledge of self was but the key to the lock. The act of turning the key and walking into the room is what has been missing. You entered this morning late and justified your tardiness by referencing exhaustion rooted in the absence of a festive vibe. However, you have not showed-up on time for yourself in ages. The lack of festive energy is not a stand-alone occurance. Rather, it is the next consequence of running on the fumes of familiarity and not on the flames of fruition. You see yourself when looking for me because you have always seen such. The difference today is that you are not glazing over your reflection with habitual tactics. Enough has happened to disrupt your routine that you are in a position to realize you trained your stare to disregard stagnation.”

Perplexed, he asks: “So you are me?”

The answer delivered does not seek to provide comfort; it seeks to provide change. “I am not you. I am not knowledge of self. I am not your life path. I, dear friend, am the instrumental ingredient needed for you to bring knowledge of self from the menu of theory to the table of consumption. I am the “Understanding of Self,” but you all will call me 2022.”

©Dr William “King Mission” Ross 2022

Dia de las Madres 2021

William Ross 0 Comment Uncategorized , , ,

Hoy me gustaría no solo reconocer a las #Madres del mundo por el amor que dan, los sacrificios que hacen y las victorias que aseguran. También me gustaría reconocer y celebrar la energía materna que impregna nuestra sociedad y llena a tantas personas sin importar el género, la orientación sexual o la composición familiar. Entonces, hoy, los invito a todos a unirse a mí para reconocer que ningún modelo puede albergar la profundidad de esta energía maternal que tantos celebran hoy.

Profundizando en el abrazo de #Òrìsà #Yemaya, Ella me recuerda que, como las profundidades del océano nunca se conocerán por completo, su alcance nunca será limitado. Me recuerda que está presente en el padre que también hace de madre, la madre que ha perdido a sus hijos, la madre que no puede dar a luz, el individuo que se sacrifica por los demás como si fueran de su propia sangre. Ella me recuerda que no necesita darme todos los ejemplos de cómo Su naturaleza protectora llena las necesidades de todos los que aceptan Su potencia limpiadora. Me recuerda que la orilla no busca comprender cómo se materializará el abrazo del océano; simplemente acepta las olas.

Profundizando en el abrazo de Orisha Yemaya, me recuerda que la mejor manera de honrar esta y cualquier otra energía que nos guía, protege, nutre, alienta y repara, es asegurarnos de que nunca nos dejamos convencer de que uno día es todo lo que se necesita para decir “gracias”. En cambio, nuestro agradecimiento debe ser diario porque la fuente de toda esta energía nunca nos limita a un día.

En este Día de la Madre, y todos los días del año, recordemos que si no fue para las madres; no habría otros días en absoluto.

©Dr William “King Mission” Ross 2021

Mother’s Day 2021

William Ross 0 Comment Uncategorized , , , , ,

Luz, Amor, y Àşé. 

Today, I would like to not only recognize the #Mothers of the world for the love that they give, the sacrifices that they make, and the victories that they ensure; I would also like to recognize and celebrate the maternal energy that permeates through our society and fills so many regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or family composition. Today, I invite you all to join me in recognizing the fact that no one model can house the depth of this maternal energy that so many are celebrating today.

Delving into the embrace of #Òrìsà #Yemaya, She reminds me that as the depths of the ocean will never fully be known, nor will her reach ever be limited. She reminds me that she is present in the father who also serves as the mother, the mother who has lost her children, the mother who cannot give birth, the individual who sacrifices for others as if they were of their own blood…. She reminds me that She does not need to provide me with every example of how Her nurturing nature fills the needs of all who accept Her cleansing potency. She reminds me that the shore does not seek to understand how the ocean’s embrace will come to fruition, it simply accepts the waves.

Delving into the embrace of Orisha Yemaya, She reminds me that the greatest way to honor this, and every other energy, that guides, protects, nurtures, encourages, and repairs us, is to ensure that we never allow ourselves to be convinced that one day is all that is needed to say “thank you”. Instead, our thanks should be daily for the source of all this energy never limits us to one day.

On this Mother’s Day, and every day of the year, may we remember that it wasn’t for mother’s there would be no other days at all. 

©Dr William “King Mission” Ross 2021

WEPA! Mercado del Pueblo en Chicago, IL

William Ross 0 Comment Uncategorized , , ,

As the sun warms the snow-kissed blocks of “Paseo Boricua,” community members create a steady flow of traffic. Masks and other face coverings are the new additions to the attire worn by all. Still, as is the tradition on Division street between Western Avenue and Mozart Avenue, where Chicago’s Puerto Rican Community is concentrated and celebrated with businesses and organizations focused on the preservation of Puerto Rican culture in the face of gentrification (Flores-Gonzalez, 2001), these masks contain Puerto Rican flags and other symbols associated with the island and the culture it houses.

It is a Saturday in March during a pandemic. Messages on the importance of social distancing are on repeat from politicians and medical organizations, while simultaneously warnings of the adverse effects isolation have on one’s mental health are touched upon in the media. For Chicago youth, the violence hasn’t subsided despite the curfews, the quarantines, and the other social stipulations conceived by society’s efforts to combat Covid-19. “Yeah, bro… we still here living the life we live – ya feel me? Covid ain’t changed nothing but forcing us to wear a mask and we can’t sit at a local spot and eat. We gotta take our food-to-go,” says a 17-year-old high school student who calls the Humboldt Park area of Chicago home. “Oh, and we can’t say goodbye to our people who get killed or die cause of the virus,” he adds.

But there is a change on “Paseo Boricua” during this time of pandemic-driven economic hardship. Another accomplishment of Chicago’s Puerto Rican Cultural Center is made tangible as of February 6, 2021, when the “WEPA! MERCADO DEL PUEBLO” opened its doors to community vendors. Providing a space for the community to gather – following face coverings and 6 feet of distance (when possible) – and purchase goods produced by local entrepreneurs. The market’s idea was born from the need for vendors who were regularly participating in community pop-ups to have an indoor space where they could continue selling their products without having to battle the frigid temperatures of the Chicago winter. The initiative will continue to expand and evolve to the next phase, where local vendors will receive assistance to establish storefronts.

Walking into the “Mercado Del Pueblo” comes with a greeting from one of the most potent tools the community has to prevent youth violence; the smile of a young person. Emitting energy that speaks to a sense of purpose and pride, the two young women who greeted me when I entered into the space did so with flyers for upcoming events and a brief explanation of the vendors that were present. Their smiles were contagious not only to me but to all the vendors in attendance. In the back of the space, traditional Puerto Rican food was being sold, and it was here where I found a congregation of young people laughing and talking in a manner that denoted a sense of comfort and relaxation. There was no denying that the community was genuinely embracing this community space.

Taking a moment to stop at every vendor’s table, observe their products, make a purchase, and engage in a brief chat, proved beneficial in confirming the assessment I made of the vibe that permeated through the market. Time and time again, the positive effects on the community were iterated to me by the vendors. “I grew up in this neighborhood, and there was a time that we knew not to be outside. We knew when we had to be home because the violence was bad. Now, we still have problems, but you know what? These kids have a place where they can come and safely hang out now and get something to eat at a good price. They also become familiar with other community members, and when they see each other in the street, they can say “hello”. That makes a difference,” said one vendor when I asked her how she felt the initiative was impacting the community.

A key aspect of conflict resolution is understanding the root of the conflict. A key aspect of understanding the conflict is understanding the perspective of those involved. A key aspect of understanding the perspective of those involved is understanding their lifestyle. The WEPA! MERCADO DEL PUEBLO addresses a need the community on Division Street has. A community that is no stranger to the fight against gentrification, this initiative instills pride in the people of Paseo Boricua and that pride has the potential to quell potential conflict among the youth in the area by reminding them that the community is home to more than them and those in their immediate circle. With the extension of their network comes an appreciation for the existence of others. With this appreciation comes (hopefully) an understanding that life should not be disregarded. I would argue that when someone not only knows the name of the bystander behind the target of their rage but also cares about their wellbeing, the individual may be less likely to act in a manner that could rob another of their life.

©Dr William “King Mission” 2021

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