Mental Purgatory

Yesterday, I attended the expansion celebrations at the Queen Afua Wellness Center in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve never heard of Queen Afua, but Erykah Badu was supposed to be there so I went, press badge in hand. Walking around with a small Nikon compact camera and my IRiver for recording, I was the odd man out compared to the other reporters with HD camcorders and digital SLRs.

But alas, this post isn’t about me, but something Erykah said. When someone asked her some long convoluted question that seemed more of an attempt to get attention than anything else, Erykah took it in stride and said “First, I am a spiritual being. Second, I’m a human being. Only after that am I a man or woman.”

I’d like to expand that last part. Only after that are you man or woman, black or white, rich or poor. At our roots, we’re all genuinely good people. We all feel the same emotions, have similar desires, we’re all trying to do the best we can.

Leaving the event, I spoke with a wonderful woman, Ama, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. After talking for a while, I asked her to help direct me to the subway station as my Google directions were useless (as a side note: it’s 9:30 at night, the sun has set and I’m knee deep in the heart of Brooklyn).

Ama didn’t recognize the station name, but promised that she’d help me. Grabbing the first person to walk by, she demanded directions and wouldn’t let the person go until we knew everything we needed. Ama then told me she’d walk with me to the station.

We talked as we went, discussing spirituality, veganism, herbal remedies and politics. At one point, Ama looked at me and said “It’s dangerous. You should be more careful of what you’re doing. This is Brooklyn and it’s dark.”

While I appreciate Ama’s warning and especially appreciate her willingness to walk a good six blocks out of her way for me, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Erkyah had said. You see, I like to think most people ARE genuinely good and it’s okay putting myself out there like this because in the end, we are all human beings.

And Ama, you proved my point as you did good. Now it’s my turn, and all of ours, to do it back.