Remembering Zora Neale Hurston’s Power

Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me. Zora Neale Hurston. 

In the world of quotes, this is one of my favorites. A few friends have asked me if in my personal experiences since living in the united states, I’ve encountered racial discrimination. Yes, there have been times. And they remind me that anything I’ll ever encounter on this earth has already been confronted and expressed by my people before me. This empowering quote from Zora Neale Hurston comes in handy because it is a refusal to deny one’s own power. Sometimes, what happens in racially segregating circumstances is to make the “other” feel a lack of power and control. It is essential for the “target” to maintain tenacity and vision for their own life, so that they don’t end up sucked into the whirlpool of other peoples’ parochial attitudes.

I used to think that one could bridge the gap. Explain. Reach for understanding. Have the two sides in conversation. Now I know what one ought to do is: discern—be fully cognizant of what is happening. You see, my people have a proverb similar to this quip that’s attributed to Mark Twain: Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig. To be in a position to do that also involves going where the pig is, which is dangerous, because you’re likely to turn out no better. In truth, you end up becoming the pig that you think you’re trying to help or musically inspire. You were on the high road, or high-flying plane, and you decided to lower yourself or your standards out of misguided compassion or who knows what, and now, bingo! There’s no difference between you and the pig. I appreciate my father’s way of teaching me this important lesson whenever I told him about anyone who was mean to me. He would listen carefully, and then say, That’s a diminished person right there. Do not succumb to his/her ways. This always accomplished a number of things: made me laugh, which made me feel better, reminded me of who I was, and redirected me to the high road.

As a warning, though, taking the high road is fine but calling attention to it is treacherous. There’s plenty of self-righteousness in the world and it benefits no one. Pointing this out, I admit, compels me to look in before looking out, in case there’s a plank in my eye, while focusing on the speck in the other person’s eye. To avoid such pitfalls, I return to Zora’s expression because there’s no judgment in it. There’s intention and a knowing of who she is/was,  which I find liberating. It can assist anyone who is going through unpleasant experiences to stand in their awesome power—which they owe to themselves. In all my observations, I’ve noticed the world doesn’t thrive on powerlessness. It needs our power.

At some point, we may all realize that our explanations, justifications, excuses, blame, and even criticism, have not created or enabled us to have better experiences. Therefore:

1. Let pigs be pigs
2. Define and know who you are.
3. Live the fullest expression of that which you are.
4. Embrace difference—the presence of what you are not assures you of what you are.