JIM BROWN: “YOU TEST YOURSELF….”

This morning I awoke to the news of Jim Brown’s passing. Without the privilege of knowing this remarkable passenger of WORTH, he held a profound place in my youth — a distant figure embodying the resilience and strength that filtered into my life through books, sports, movies, television, entertainment, and music. He was among those adorned in the colors of blackness, navigating the journey from birth to death. From these luminaries, we borrowed intangible feathers of hope, fashioning wings that propelled us to reach for the heights we witnessed them effortlessly soar to.

During an interview, Jim Brown was asked, “What was it about football that you loved?” His response resonated as a sense of affirmed purpose, “You test yourself….”

In the realm of movies, amidst my vivid imagination, I first encountered Jim Brown as a captivating star in “100 Rifles.” During my early teenage years, two influential figures, Sidney Poitier and Jim Brown, embodied the essence of positive black representation. They exuded charm, grace, and a powerful combination of skill, audacity, and sheer force.

My understanding of American football was nonexistent until the age of twelve. As a young Caribbean male living in New York, I embarked on a gradual journey of recognizing, understanding, respecting, and admiring the struggles faced by Black Americans. Even now, I remain acutely aware that despite our shared identity as brothers and sisters adorned in black from birth to death, our experiences of suffering have not been uniform. Our blackness unites us while it bears the marks of our unique paths.

I pondered deeply on how to adequately convey my profound gratitude and pay a heartfelt tribute to Jim Brown, whose filtered access to hope resonated with me as a young, black, and hopeful teenager. His presumed affront, candid empowerment, and unwavering commitment to achieving excellence within an inherently flawed system inspired me beyond measure. It is with immense reverence that I put pen to paper, offering the following words as a testament to his indelible impact:

In the depths of youthful hearts and minds, we are equal with vivid dreams: pre-birth oaths to which we are bound to yearn to fulfill, or we will suffer in private darkness for the lack of trying. Our imagination pre-plays visions of greatness that ignite our aspirations to which we define purpose and passion as if written onto our will to strive. Becoming is the wholeness of our universal life’s application, and it transcends borders, embracing every mind across the globe. When we are consumed by an unyielding determination to make tangible the fragmented contents of our oaths, no obstacle, be it gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality, education, intelligence, or any perceived shortcomings, can shatter the adamant spirit that fills the pages of each live applicant.

A pre-birth oath is not a fleeting fantasy but a profound promise etched upon the core of our beings — the contents written onto each will: the dancer to be; the writer; the singer; the doctor; the athlete; or a dedicated parent who serves as the fount of hope, encouragement, and support.

An oath carries the weight of our hopes and the depths of our emotions. They remind us that our existence is not confined to the limitations imposed by society or circumstance. We sense that we are fragments of two perfections: Incorporeal and Corporeal. We live our lives knowing that we are the only visible constant; we can claim ourselves beings, capable of defying expectations and crafting our destinies in spite of obstacles.

In the eyes of a child, the world is an expansive canvas, waiting to be painted with the colors of one or more oaths. It is a realm prejudice and discrimination hold no power, for innocence sees only the purity of hearts and the unrelenting potential of what it is: the only constant potential that each of us is. It is a realm where the audacity to hope and have faith in our hope is limitless. It is a realm, intrinsic and extrinsic, and our boldness to become is intertwined, driving us forward with an unwavering determination.

Life’s journey may indeed present hurdles and tribulations. Yet, in the face of adversity, our spirits grow stronger, fueled by the fire of resilience. We rise above the judgments and biases, defying the odds stacked against us. Our struggles become the foundation upon which we have learned to build adaptability, transforming setbacks into gathered pebbles that we tie into bundles of rocks to keep stepping toward our envisioned greatness. So, let us embrace the brilliance hidden in each oath and the power they hold over our lives. Let us cherish the unrelenting innocence within each of us despite age, guiding us through the maze of uncertainties. We are in spite of obstacles, and we are WORTH every one of us is {Warded Ownership Rights Through Hardship}, and alone and together, we can rewrite the narratives that seek to confine us. We can rewrite the lies that we were told. Note to self: there are no superior and inferior people; there are only deliberate inferior and superior systems designed for some to find ease on the way to the top while others labor at the bottom in pits of irrelevant thought, words, actions, and reactions against themselves.

Dressed in black for life to death, we are confident of one constant: we are a system of hope and the magic of faith to create on the power of our collaborative effort and to build worlds regardless of the color or religion of the architects. We are indomitable WORTH with access to unlimited wealth to be assembled and shared as a collective to one day become a structural financial system if we choose not to build on top of a system designed for only some of us to excel as an example of what is allowed. So, as indomitable WORTH, let us aspire and ultimately become more than the wealth allowed. WORTH-UP!