Rev. Ike “It’s Not the Color of Your Skin, It’s the Color of Your Mind.”

A couple months ago, I posted this on Instagram:

If you keep telling little Black kids how the system is rigged against them, don’t be surprised when they grow up to believe in the failures of the system more than they believe in the greatness within themselves.

It was my most liked and shared IG post ever.

Why?

Because, in my opinion, people know truth when they hear it.

Someone with even the most basic understanding of the subconscious mind can tell you that what a child repeatedly hears from birth to age 7 is accepted as TRUTH. And what is accepted as the truth is what gives direction to a person’s life, as he or she consistently behaves in a way that confirms this alleged truth.

So when minority kids (and adults) are repeatedly told how the system is holding them down; when they keep hearing statistics about their slim chances of becoming successful; when they’re admonished for dreaming big, what they learn is to be helpless.

Learned helplessness. Yes, it’s a real thing. (I explain how it works during my pre-clip rant on today’s QOD episode.)

In order to succeed in life, you need two things:

1. Faith in yourself



2. Faith that the world will let you move toward what you want

But how can we expect to have faith in ourselves when we’re constantly told — by our parents, by the media, by supposed “black empowerment” groups, and by our own people — what we can’t do and who we can’t be?


And how can we have faith in the world when we’re forever reminded of how the system is rigged against us?

When you don’t have faith in yourself there’s no hope for the future. To move forward with hope requires a belief in oneself. And when you don’t have hope, you’re effectively helpless. Because you’ve learned to be. So why even try?

I long for the day when people of color can hear how GREAT we are just as much as we hear about our supposed victimhood.

But what we get from our “leaders” these days is more like 80% victimhood and 20% empowerment. More learned helplessness.

Remember: No matter what color you are, you are not a victim.

I’m a half Black, half Mexican man who refuses to be anyone’s victim. I reject the idea that I can’t accomplish the heights of achievement because of the color of my skin.

Nope.

Rather, I believe that the human mind is bigger than any system can ever be, that I am fully responsible and accountable for my life, and that there is nothing that can hold me down.

As Reverend Ike says on today’s episode (which may be my favorite QOD clip ever), it’s not the color of your skin, it’s the color of your mind. No truer words were ever spoken.

Source: The Dangerous Thoughts that Lead to Your Success – Rev. Ike’s The Glory of the Cross, Part 2