A Love Letter To Every Black Mans Higher Self

[Music]

foreign

[Applause]

hi my name is elis griffin

oliver the dude and i am a card-carrying

white supremacist

i live inside your mind and sure i like

some negroes but only the educated ones

the negroes that are softer on the

palate

not nigger-ish speaking of

i hate

make it harder for the

upstanding and

astute negro are sloppy and

embarrassing

besmirch our progress

and shame our forefathers

you don’t like the way i talk donkey

well tough duty

you created me yes you did

i serve as a constant reminder that you

hate yourself

i am a collection of your past failures

your traumas

your insecurities and your trapped

emotions

this has been a public service

announcement

from um news number one in your news

for the culture

when is the last time you gave yourself

a compliment

how often do you criticize yourself i’m

so stupid

when is the last time you were truly

proud of yourself

high school college

how many of your past experiences are

you still ashamed of

you’re worried about your beak with old

boy when are you gonna forgive yourself

when is the last time you bet on

yourself in a high-stakes game of life

no one should be left alone inside your

head

are you in an abusive relationship with

yourself

you’ve been programmed to hate each

other starting with so

the most programmed keep it real

and why is keeping it real always

malicious

because we hate accessories that’s white

supremacy

but you know black men who love

themselves keep agreeing too

we keep it real by taking care of our

kids and our families

we keep it real by building our

communities together

we keep it real by always being our

brothers

and sisters keep oh we keep it real

my name is daryl i’m a doctor

my wife is gorgeous i have a beautiful

home

family i have

a perfect job perfect wife

perfect life

it’s not true

[Music]

it’s not true at all

disgust mirrors my fear infested

existence

being twice as good as average used to

make sense

i work harder for myself paid my boss a

lot of money

changing my perspective could help be

waiting on the world to change is a

cocoon

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married for 14 years now my wife 14.

and there’s something going on between

us pretty sure we put on a good show for

the public but

i think we may be growing apart

i mean i i didn’t know that marriage

meant i was supposed to keep you happy

uh i mean what am i your gesture i don’t

want to keep myself happy

you always talking you know

nothing’s ever good enough it’s never

enough

it’s like on this project that we’re

working on and you’re this perfect

portrait and that’s

i mean only way this works i mean

truly works this marriage

is if we’re both accountable for our

[Music]

i was listening to so what morning show

brother zoll talked about transactional

relationships

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that’s what i meant

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transactional marriage

i just want peace

peace

[Music]

before we go in to punch the old ticker

dim your light dimmer

much dimmer ah

there we go you work twice as hard and

be twice as

humble paint your smile

paint it you must be

chipper look i don’t

know what chipper means either but you

bit finally decided

to call somebody back nah now you got

your ass

trained well man you know me i’m always

good

how the are you yeah

yeah what

you finally did it jumped off that damn

cliff

wow wow

wow hey man look i’m proud of you man

but but i have to go but ain’t

describing two or two this weekend

yeah sunday works for me all right

one

paint it

hey how are you stan the man

for the last time i do not listen to

trap music

jill how was your weekend super

hey what’s up brother yeah becky

how the hell are you

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where i’m from where i went to school

to what career i sought from where i

lived

clothes out there it’s groundwork

i’ve been programmed like a computer

downloaded a live

the standard for greatness is faker than

a facebook friend

success is

white man i’m chasing what i can never

be i never wanted to be a doctor

obsessed with black men in the 80s with

lab coats

and stethoscopes

today i’m more of a drug dealer than i

am a doctor

i don’t cure anyone

i’ve known the pain dr burnout is so

[Music]

real

you know what i really want to do

i want to build a school to enlighten

and empower our kids

to define themselves on their terms by

mastering the science of their mind the

most beautiful person

in the world shines their light

living and loving in their purpose

and in their muse i’ve had that idea for

seven years now every time i try to try

to tell my wife she

wonders why any black person in their

right mind would give up a good job

because i’ve successfully integrated

into

the system right

then why am i so miserable

because deep down deep down

i know i meant for so much more

when i was a kid i wanted to be a

comedian i loved

prior bill cosby and murphy george

carlin and dale gibbons

bernie mac robin harris and on and on

and on

i think laughter is a priceless gift

there is nothing in the world like

spontaneous laughter

a big old laugh is a spiritual

experience a spiritual act

definitely it is i mean you’re laughing

with your entire body

tears running down your face you’re

hunched over or you’re running out of a

room

with the joy of a topic

laughter is my favorite love knowledge

[Music]

hey i

you

we

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are we growing apart

yeah i know the answer to that question

[Music]

i also know that your happiness is not

my responsibility

and i don’t want you being responsible

for mine

my job i hate it

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and i know deep down i know that there’s

something much more for me

i just hope that you respect that

you know i don’t want to give up on us

[Music]

i don’t want to give up on this but

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i’m no good to anybody i don’t know who

i am and

i’m not finding peace i mean before i

can take care of anybody else i gotta

learn how to take care of myself

[Music]

i just hope you understand

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yes

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benefits and love sums

disgust nearly as my fear of

festive existence just being an average

being twice as average used sense

i work hard for myself

made my boss a lot of money

changing my perceptions for help waiting

on the world to change

i challenged myself to change myself

fear inferno so i became the seed and

the soil

my journey switched from finding the

light to becoming the sunshine

my third eye viewpoint is so divine

[Music]

yeah

better on myself getting better with

myself

i beat that solution man what would it

be faction

can’t win broke with copy a new script

one voice from the depths of the

invisibles

third eye to focus whispering

you can do what i do at all you

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[Music]

order mental shapes of infinite

possibilities i tore through the pain

sore and put through fear and suddenly

it’s so clean it’s so clear

my mind is a throne of liberty i’m free

and imagination only strengthens

our mind from darkness comes the bright

light

of the rise sun

how can one have faith in god or faith

itself

faith is quiet steel

faith is a divine whisper faith is an

action verb

faith is contagious faith is the power

of

peace faith is our shame