From Desire to Purpose…A Dreamer’s Journey

Rising To Rebuild

Renee Dugue RebornAndRising

The old saying “Time flies” is so true! It’s been fifteen years since Hurricane Katrina washed me out of New Orleans and the only home I’d ever known. Relocating to Houston, one of the country’s most diverse cities, and having traveled to various places in the world, has clarified for me what many already know…There is no place or a people like us from The N.O. We are truly a different breed. Even from the rest of Louisiana! True New Orlin-y-uns won’t say NOLA. We say, “I’m from The N.O. BayBay!” Y’all know what I’m talking about. Let the gentrifies have NOLA. Ya’ hoid me! We are deeply passionate and unapologetically direct. We are brutally honest, and when necessary, we are brutal. Made stronger with Melanated Magic, no water from busted levies, systemic injustice, bio-chemical planned-emic or vaccines will stop us. We are fighters and survivors. It’s time now though, for us to unite and elevate our fight.

Let’s first answer the questions: Who are we fighting and what are we fighting for? The police? The judicial system? Black Lives Matter? Women’s / Pro-Choice Rights? Education reform? And what is our end game? How do we attain our goals? The short answer, in my humble opinion, is TOGETHER. Building on the base commonality oppressed people share, melanin, realizing who the real enemy is, and has always been. Their strategy is long game, consistent. From slavery to Black Codes, to peonage, divide and conquer tactics are in place. When we as a collective were strongest and began to demand a change that would benefit all of us, our ranks were infiltrated, and we as people were distracted. Specifically, our Queens were pulled into other women’s rights issues only to decrease support for our melanated rights. Housing and welfare incentives were introduced to encourage women to abandon the traditional family structure and to devalue the worth of our Kings. We all know this though. And they know too, the power and value our men possess. How is Louisiana, which is less than a tenth of the size of the largest state in the U.S., the prison capital of the entire country? We have to understand that the real enemy is the perpetrator of deception, and the real fight is to be free of the mindset of dependence on them.

This task of de/re-programming will take time. It will require an unwavering commitment from each of us. It will take all the Melanated Magic and supernatural strength of our ancestors to reawaken the collective spirituality and belief in ourselves that has been stripped away and polluted. We truly have all we need to organize, educate, empower, care for, and protect ourselves. We can grow and produce our food and teach the truth to our children while exemplifying strength and unity. This may all seem daunting; like a huge mountain to climb, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. We can all take a step forward, offering the gifts we have, contributing just where we are, one day at a time. I walk every day, literally, on my journey from desire to purpose. Be encouraged to walk in truth and light on your path.