Eggs & Toast: a letter to my younger self

Dear young Darrius,

I just want to let you now, everything is ok. You are different and that’s okay. Like it’s perfect actually. I know there are so many people telling you what to do and how to act because apparently everything about you is wrong if you let someone else tell it but I’m telling you, you are perfect! You are a light and always will be. The things that people use to belittle you will be exactly what takes you far in life.

Hold on young warrior. I know shit doesn’t make sense to you right now and I know you think it will all be better if you just died right there but please hold on. There are people that are depending on you to grow up and be great and strong for them. There are people who are going to love you just the way you are because you are perfect. Fuck everyone who says anything opposite of that. Fuck everyone who tried to steal your light. Fuck everyone who spoke death on your name at 10,13 and so on. By the way, they are fucking insane because I’m coming to you at 23-still alive.

Don’t let other people’s beliefs bring you down.

Question everything. You have all the tools to be phenomenal already. As you get older you will use these tools to build your empire and everyone will see and congratulate you for all that you have done. You will have to learn to love yourself first and take care of you first always! Don’t let anyone take away the love that you have. Don’t let anyone abuse the love that you have. And don’t let anyone take advantage of you. You don’t need anyone’s validation at all. You are so great little boy. That smile is going to light up rooms and your energy will transform the environment. You are a force that is not to be fucked with. And people see it , they just want to control it. Don’t give anyone that control and don’t give anyone power over you. I’m telling you, FUCK THEM! Even your family. Learn to love them from afar and learn to simply say…fuck y’all. In your head of course because you must stay respectful but when you get older you’ll be screaming fuck you from high mountains and everyone will hear it. You’ll be fine. Trust me.

Young Darrius. You are a king, you are worthy of love and I just need you to hold on. Your wildest dreams will come true. You are going to do amazing things in life, you just have to hold on. You are going to have friends that love the fuck out of you. You are going to meet someone that loves the fuck out of you. And you will love the fuck out of you and that’s what’s most important. So keep on being different , keep on questioning everything , keep on excelling. Everything will be alright. I’m so proud of you little man, I know you don’t hear that enough. But 23 year old Darrius is proud of you because you are amazing. And I just need you to hold on. Everything will be ok. I love you and always will.

-Older Darrius

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I’m Not Your Woke Friend

There has been many things going on in the world. Suddenly slavery was a choice and you can’t sit in Starbucks as a black man without being targeted. There’s just a lot of vibes being thrown around. And there’s also been a surge of people wanting to hear my opinion on things. Phone calls, tweets, DMs, text messages, actual strangers trying to start debates with me because apparently I just look like I have an opinion. And I do. But what I won’t do is continue to use my energy towards fuck shit. And I wish I could find another word(s) to describe what’s been happening but that’s just what it is. Fuck shit.

First and foremost, I thought I told y’all- I’m not woke. Nothing about me is woke. I’m aware. I’m aware of the uneducated, ignorance that has been spewing out of Kanye’s mouth ( yes I saw the whole interview, still fuck shit). I’m aware that it’s still cool but not cool to be black in public places. But I’m not your woke friend who is going to use all of their energy ranting and raving about topics over and over again. The woke community lacks something that truly bothers me and that’s facts. Facts trumps everything. If you don’t have your facts in order, don’t even try to start a conversation with me because I’m going to hurt your feelings. Research isn’t that hard. Stop allowing these social media prophets to big up your heads. Know the whole story and all the facts and then we can talk.

Another thing the woke community lacks is self identity. There have been many before us that unfortunately have fought similar(read same) battles that we are fighting today. However times are different. Frequencies are different. We are vibrating at a higher wavelength than those who came before us which means, we have to do things a little different. The woke community love to hold onto old ideologies that worked in the 50s and the 90s. But let’s think about what life was like back then. Shit, woman just earned the right to vote in 1920 and black women couldn’t vote until the 1960s. That alone says a lot. Women are forerunners for the majority of political movements and a few decades ago they weren’t even able to have a say-so for what happened in the world they lived in. So no, I can’t have the mindset as Marcus Garvey or Malcom X. However, I appreciate everything they have done and I will learn from their journey but I’m going to do what works for me.

And the last issue I’m going to discuss in regards to the woke community is the lack of resources. I still can’t understand how you can be woke and still pick and choose what type of person you choose to stand for. How can you wear your Black Lives Matter shirts and hashtag #BLM on every post yet, faggot is a word in your daily vocabulary? How do you not see all people of color as equal? How you hating on a person that isn’t even paying you any attention that is doing 10 times better than you? The LGBTQ community have been front and center for every political event yet the woke community still scrutinizes gays in the black community. If it wasn’t for those same faggots and dikes you would still be stuck in some fucked up situations. And speaking of resources, do you not understand that there is so much to learn from a person living a different lifestyle than you? Those trends that you are so ready to hop on, who you think started that?…don’t know ? I’ll tell you. The black woman that you quick to call a ho and a bitch but yet she’s a queen. The faggot that you bullied in middle school. The same people who subliminally made you are the same people you are casting out of your woke movement.

I repeat, I’m not your woke friend. When Kanye does something that is outright disappointing and foolish, don’t call me. I been telling y’all stop thinking one sided. When you question a man’s masculinity because of whatever, don’t call me because I been told y’all masculinity and femininity work together. And I also told you hyper masculinity is a fucking joke. No I’m not mad, I’ve been mad before. Now I’m just focusing my energy elsewhere. Focusing on fixing issues. Focusing on helping my community. And for my people, you know who you are, next time someone comes at you with the fuck shit ask them one question, what have you done for your community that has had a positive impact ?

Beanz Out

Don’t Smoke in Bed: My Ode to Letting Go

I have been planting seeds. I have been watering my seeds. I have watched my seeds bring fourth newness. I have watched my newness die. In that moment where I witnessed my “dead” plant I had a decision to make, replant and nurture what was there or pluck it up and move on. I’m in the season of plucking up and moving on.

The things that I was holding on to are no more. I can no longer carry the burden of something that is not meant to be. Yes, these things have taught me a number of lessons and I am forever grateful for the lessons I have learned but I can’t move into this new season holding onto these things.

I have been planting many seeds. And now I am able to witness some newness from some of these seeds I have planted. I’m so proud of these new plants in my life and they are deeply rooted in prayer, faith and struggle. Through this struggle I have learned and met some amazing people and have done some amazing things. But some of these people and things were only for the moment and I can no longer carry them and they just don’t fit in this upcoming season. There will always be a place in my heart for these people and experiences, I shall never forget.

I pray that the feelings of joy and love and prosperity that I felt in my life will be felt by many people. However, I must go. Thank you for all that you have taught me. Thank you for allowing me to grow. Thank you for picking me up when I fell. Thank you for opening an ear when I needed it. But now we must go our separate ways and I’m taking my strong plants with me so that I can continue to plant my seeds and watch my plants grow.

Remember me always as the light that shined on you when the clouds took over your sight. Remember the good and let’s not forget the bad that groomed us to this point today. Remember to take your breaths and embrace the earth and all She offers. And lastly,as the great Nina Simone said, don’t smoke in bed… take care of yourself.

-Beanz Out

01:30:2018

I’ve been having a hard time processing information lately. For some reason I feel as if I’m not getting the whole truth in things. Im discerning on another level that makes me question “is there more to this ?” What eventually happens is I end up on this quest for an answer that sits well with me. I dig for the answers that resinates with my spirit but even then I’m still left with the question “is there more to this?” Someone explained to me that this is all apart of the “awakening process” but I’m like, when did I sign up for this ?

Literally, internally I’m at peace with a lot of things and I find myself flowing a lot more fluidly these days and even when I’m on these mini quest of truth I’m still at peace. I’m not racing and pacing all over the place, I’m not freaking out, not losing out on sleep or anything. But it’s not always roses and cotton candy, sometimes I literally feel like I’m losing my shit. When something else is revealed to me I can’t just accept it, I have to process it. During that process I’m like “well why is it that at one point this was said? And am I the only one who sees this happening ?” It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s annoying.

All in all , this is my life. This is my journey. Everything has a purpose and I have given up on trying to figure out what the purpose is, everything will reveal itself in due time. The deeper I dig within myself, the more gold I will find. The more truth I operate in, the more love I will give out. I’m on this journey , no I didn’t sign up for it but someone or something knew this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Beanz Out

Acceptance of Self+Self Love= Happiness

For years I carried so much on my shoulders. I carried my skin as burden instead of a God given honorable shield. I carried societies standard of masculinity instead of defining manhood for myself. Eventually I grew tired. I grew tired of constantly fighting myself from myself. I was covering up who I truly was because I was scared of what other people would think or the fear of making someone else uncomfortable. As a nonconforming black male, you never know how people will accept you. After some time I stopped caring. I had to realize that I was the only thing that really mattered. It was my peace and happiness that was truly at risk.

We hide behind so many veils in order to conform to society and not to step on any toes. Under these veils we lose ourselves and we miss out on our potential. I had to accept all of my good and accept all of my bad in order for me to move forward in life. I stopped acknowledging what people told me was “bad” and turned the “bad” into moments of self observation. How is being myself bad? What makes these things bad? Who deemed it bad? And who the fuck are you to tell me, a grown ass man, that something about me is bad? Just because my life doesn’t necessarily align with your belief system and how you feel doesn’t make it bad.

Unfortunately we live in a white patriarchal, hyper-masculine society where young black  boys and girls are told their skin color makes them less than and that their hair isn’t straight enough or long enough. Basically that we will never be enough. This was my reality. For years I hated my skin color, I wanted to be lighter. Lighter would equal more people liking me. Lighter would equal more opportunities. Lighter was better in my eyes. When I first started to accept my skin color, it wasn’t because I genuinely loved my  complexion. It was because people liked my skin color. So in my head I’m like “Yes I’m accepted”. It wasn’t until college honestly that I truly loved my skin color. I realized it was mine. MY SKIN COLOR. No one else in this universe has MY SKIN COLOR. I realized that it holds magic and that I would do whatever the fuck I wanted because the DNA that ran through me came from people who looked just liked me who made shit shake. Once I accepted the love of me and my skin thats when I started to love everything else. My hair. For years I would spend half of my weekends in the barber shop in order to keep up the clean black boy look. Waves on swim, hairline so sharp I could slice you open with it with one strike. I even grew out my beard because someone else told me it was the thing to do, made me more attractive in a sense. Its been a year now with no haircut and I now have locs and I’m beardless. These were my decisions to love every strand of hair that grew from my head in its natural state. My beard did not define me. I now make decisions based on whats right for me and the spirit within helps me and guides me to making these decisions. I made the choice to not conform to what people and society claimed as acceptable. I choose what is acceptable for me everyday in that moment.

Once I accepted me for all the magic that I am, I gained my happiness back. The years I spent trying to please others is gone, I can’t get those back. The years under white rule are gone, I can’t get those back. But today I am striving to be the best version of Darrius Newton I can be. God has given me the tools to succeed its up to me to use them. My nappy glory, golden skin that turns blue under the moon’s light and my abundance of love that exudes through my pours will always be me. And I love every moment of it. I define who I am as a man and theres nothing anyone could say or do to change that. Love yourself , love others, spread happiness.

Beanz Out