(ThyBlackMan.com) At some point in life, most of us will learn and conclude life isn’t always fair. You can be attractive, charitable, eloquent, friendly, qualified, and operate with integrity in all your dealings without being invited to dance. Class and charisma won’t secure you an invitation to participate in the dance that comes with life if others have already determined who they want on their guest list. Sometimes, guest lists are developed not just to exclude individuals and groups of individuals. They are designed to control guests’ behavior, beats, rhythm, and movement. As you may know, we all don’t hear or respond to the musical beat that comes with life the same way. Not everyone will be accepted into the in-crowd due to being marginalized and the dominant group’s unwillingness to recognize others’ humanity.
Many Americans from all backgrounds and ethnicities have envied some Black Americans and many individuals who suffered from mental health challenges throughout the years for their candid ability to have a rhythm, hear a beat and a different sound, and produce at a level that others could not replicate despite the many obstacles and challenges they may face daily. History has shown that Black Americans and many individuals with mental health challenges have thrived by taking broken and obscure pieces and things to go onto to produce thoughts, objects, inventions, organizations, and systems that are still thriving and being used worldwide even today.
Recently, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance reminded Black Americans and many individuals who suffer from mental health challenges that our invitation to the dance they will be hosting for the next four years has been lost in the mail or that we are not invited in the first place. However, acquitted Marine Veteran Daniel Petty and many other individuals who may operate similarly have been invited to their party. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-president-elect JD Vance hosted newly acquired Marine Veteran Daniel Petty in their suite to watch the Army vs. Navy college football game. Daniel Petty, a Marine veteran, had been charged in the death of street entertainer Jordan Neely, who was unhoused, with a challenging past, and suffered from mental health challenges.
Jordan Neely’s chance encounter with Marine Veteran Daniel Petty in the New York subway led to his demise. It is safe to assume that Daniel Petty learned to make educated and complex assessments for various situations as a Marine veteran. What happens when educated assessments collide with personal and cultural bias in American society? For centuries, it has led to the exclusion, execution, and extinction of individuals and marginalized groups. Our presidential elect, Donald Trump, and our vice president, JD Vance, also know how to make decisive assessments that continue to show personal and cultural basis towards many marginalized groups and selected individuals.
Many will contend Jordan Neely was a menace to society, and his behavior on that decisive night warranted the chokehold Marine Veteran Daniel Petty placed him in that ultimately cost him his life was justified. Various individuals from marginalized communities believe Marine Veteran Daniel Petty operated on a personal and cultural basis that many Black Americans and Americans with mental health challenges face in American society daily. If we are honest, we all have shied away from someone at some point, possibly because they seemed different. Our American culture is fortunate enough not to be monolithic, so we all should choose to embrace the perceived differences that could separate us. I am convinced that we all have had a dance with depression in our lives, despite the mask we may have displayed to the outside world. I have learned to embrace, accept, and become comfortable with everything that makes me different from my fellow man so I can see and understand the differences that come with other individuals.
Yes, indeed, everyone won’t accept, understand, or embrace the things that allow us to be different, like our gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, ethnicity, country of origin, or mental health status, but we are going to make it. Our ability to dance in life isn’t based on the invitation someone gives us. Our opportunity to dance comes from every moment we are blessed with. Walk, stroll, crawl, or roll into 2025 knowing you might have crumbs and no invite to their party or to be on anyone’s agenda, but you will make it if you refuse to give up.
Staff Writer; Jamie Seals
May also connect with this brother on Twitter; mychocolatemind.
Also drop an email at; JSeals@ThyBlackMan.com.
