Here I am about two hours away from teaching and I feel uneasy.
I am in deep thought about what I’m going to say to a class that is 90% white people.
Will everyone look at me and know the pain I’m actually feeling along with so many others?
What is a class suppose to feel like after these fucked up situations happen? How am I going to teach about love and kindness when it feels like a lump in my throat is rising each moment I breathe.
I’ve thought of themes, I’ve thought of making a all black playlist, I’ve thought about getting it covered…shit I even thought about asking people to form a circle of love.
I sat here…wondering….shifting in thought…..
I found one answer…
I’m going to do nothing but be my simple and free self in this hour of peaceful time.
I am going to allow myself to be open and protected. I do know that when we can practice a moment of peace…take it.
Category Archives: Elevate
create|HER
I asked: “Why are your eyes closed?”
She said: “I’m tired of seeing the black woman treated like she has no place in the world she created”
Almost Midnight: Melodies.
Kllo – Make Me Wonder.
What to do when you’re on cloud 10 but someone else is vibrating on a negative frequency?
No need to sit there and pretend this doesn’t happen to you or that your not the one sometimes dishing out the low vibration.
We all encounter some pretty negative people here and there and truthfully I don’t believe it’s a way to completely get rid of those people or situations.
Energy is all around us and all we can do is control our own.
The energy that we give is the energy that we will receive.
Ask yourself to remember the last time you were angry, what did it feel like? How did you react to the situation? What type energy were you giving off to attract such an emotion/response?
Your memory may direct you to the cause of the anger, maybe someone pissed you off while driving so your frequency went wacky and you lost control and let that emotion over power you. That person put out a cause that bounced off of you and made you feel a certain way…but how could that have been avoided?
That’s the ultimate question, no one answer can solve.
Here are a few suggestions though…
We can let our frequency stay higher than the one that was put out in the first place to cause a low vibration (easier said than done…I know.)
We can literally put up a shield of protection from negative sources from the moment we wake in the morning.
I am saying that when we rise we will notice that we have the opportunity to be light, free and positive….by choice.
Hopefully we understand that we are in control, we understand that our actions the night before can cause us to wake either positive or negative.
With that being said….we can wake and manifest a whole day of positivity with the guidance of our higher powers asking them to only bring situations and people of positive light into our paths.
That’s why it’s so important to rise and ritual. Nothing comes before until after.
Again we are in control.
When we feel a rise of emotion that is not of a positive force or source we block it out asap. NO dwelling in it nor NO energy will be given to it so therefore it will not be fed or empowered. We will not drain our energy with that of negativity.
Again….I am not perfect and I have to literally remind myself of everything I am reminding you of at this moment.
When someone else is bringing negative fire to you, say in your head (your spirit) I am not going to feed this source and I will not be effected by this source. Once you have this in your head and spirit the person or situation has no power.
As we learn to control what we react to this will become easier.
Let’s work on it together.
Much love,
Imani
w a i t e d.
Tokimonsta – “I’m Waiting”
See I’m waiting.
Waiting for your footsteps to walk on my soul.
Waiting for your hands to take a hold of my heart.
Waiting for me to lose my breath, waiting for you.
Waiting for you to disappear into the darkness where I swear I found you.
I waited for you to come to light.
Waited for you to become light.
Instead you turned into dust at my feet.
Tried to grab your finger tips before all of you left me.
I collapsed and waited till I couldn’t breath.
I woke up to find it was all a dream and I no longer had to wait for you to appear, you were waiting inside of me.
-Words by Imani Smith
MANIFESTOR : One that Manifest.
I am opening up to the possibility that I am a master m a n i f e s t o r.
My whole life I had the thought in the back of my mind that I was in control of my destiny, even when I knew nothing about the law of attraction.
I use to sit in church during our normal catholic school regimen and wonder if God was this person in a transformer type of get up, directing billions of people left and right. The thought would cross my mind but then quickly fade away when I thought about all the stress it would be to do such a job.
My thoughts were overshadowed with “what if I’m in control, what if I am the transformer of my destiny,” this seemed more realistic…. more free.
Years later in high school I found Nam Myoho Renge Kyo – a Buddhist philosophy that helps you take control of your life. On top of the bountifulness that came with taking control I also noticed the power in the law of attraction. A power that they didn’t teach while drinking the blood of Jesus Christ.
Something in my spirit said Imani, you are the controller and with the practice I realized this was true in all ways. I didn’t have to wait around for the robotic movement. I could move, groove and create shit that I always dreamed of creating instead of listening to the whole “pray to Jesus and you will receive,” spill.
Now don’t get me wrong I believe in God but God is now me. God isn’t a being in the sky that is directing my destiny. I have slipped away from the thought of God being outside of me, I like to think of the spirit being alive inside and this very belief along with many other rituals has turned me into a master manifestor!
Nothing is easy at all even when you know you are in control, if anything this makes life a little more challenging knowing that I can’t wait around for something to mysteriously happen. What I put out is what I receive back, if I want to manifest a job, home, a million dollars I can if my brain sends the message to the universe it eventually will happen.
Now it’s not magic or shit it kind of is but you have to put in work in order to draw these things into your life. DISCLAIMER – you can manifest whatever you like it doesn’t and shouldn’t only be material stuff but things that help you elevate overall. This helps to show the universe that you aren’t greedy just a creator.
Manifestation can literally transform your life in so many powerful ways. You can go to a dull life to something so bright and sunny.
I have so many stories I could share but I’ll let you be the judge and manifestor of your own destiny. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to wake up and say I will have a wonderful day, I will have abundance and I will succeed and truly see your day unfolding in such a way. With time and practice you will start to create your destiny and become the powerful being that you truly are!
Come back and share your manifestation stories with me in the comments below.
With love,
Imani
New Detroit, same ass shit.
So while some of us are celebrating Detroit’s come up, many locals are steadily being treated like the dirt underneath Dan Gilbert’s fancy boots.
Twenty four years of living in the city and I have yet to see much effort around the build up of the people who are actually suffering due to the lack of resources.
The sudden change has me feeling less and less hopeful for my future here. If anything the new changes are turning me all the way off, the new hipsters make me vomit and the New York style traffic is starting to make me want to scream. Sadly, it’s making me plan to relocate to a place that accepts my kind of people (middle class/skating on thin ice towards the poverty line) with equal opportunities.
I cringe at the way the people from out of town are slowly creeping in acting like they have been here for years through all the bullshit.
If you weren’t here when Detroit had to file for bankruptcy you ain’t trill, if you weren’t here when we were named the most violent big city in the nation you ain’t trill, if you weren’t around when we had to have an emergency manager come in and reck DPS even more than it was already you ain’t trill, when Kwame had that party at the mansion – you ain’t trill, if you weren’t around when most of us became numb to the fact that our communities have been forgotten about and looked at as warzones….you ain’t trill! Now, there are a lot of reasons that Detroit has seen worse days – those are just a few.
If you weren’t here during the difficult times how can you be a real part of the shiney come up? Your money is the only thing that suggest that you are apart of the change happening. Money may be everything to you but to some of us…money has been one of those hard things to come by. Detroit residents has struggled to get money every since the crash of the auto industry and the riots that came from the devastation of thousands of jobs lost.
I have heard every story in the book though, front to back-side to side about how “New Detroit” is good for the locals. “It brings so many opportunities to the creative and music scene,” “Why wouldn’t you want to be apart of the development?” Well the reason is because the development of Detroit does not seem include me or many of the other amazing locals.
I still struggle to live and rent a home in some of the same areas where they are moving New Yorkers and other rich kids into for exclusive rates that seem to go over my budget seeing that this black entrepreneur has yet to see a financial break.
We have artist from different calibers who have been working for years on top of years to finally get their shine and recognition they deserve to only be left in the shadow. We have over 100,000 residents according to the Huffington Post being displaced from their homes in 2015, unexpectedly due to tax foreclosures. Since early 2005, MLive has reported 1-3 homes in Detroit have been foreclosed due to back taxes and mortgage defaults, that leaves 139,699 homes foreclosed and 384,672 unaccounted for. The bigger catch is…families occupy a lot of the homes up on the chopping block (the numbers have slightly risen or fallen but the point remains the same.)
Unfortunately, the same people that were threatened with eviction were some of the same people that faced water shut-offs when the city of Detroit felt they could put water/money over people’s human right.
With a population of over 80% of blacks in Detroit we have yet to see the areas where we are supported. Black owned businesses are struggling to keep their doors open while we are seeing people move in next door with lower rent prices and better opportunities.
Where is the change directed I ask, I hate to make this a race issues, but it’s obvious that minorities have to bite the bullet AGAIN! It’s not just black people, note that – it’s all people that don’t fit the new style of gentrified.
In the same Midtown, which is really Cass Corridor you see development happening at a rapid pace while right down the street at the NSO (Neighborhood Service Organization) you can clearly see the displacement of the people forced in one area. The NSO has been around for over 60 years helping provide care for the mentally ill, homeless and forgotten about. We can see where the line is drawn, it may be invisible to you but it’s there. Our population of homelessness in the city of Detroit according to the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness is well over 90,000 individuals. We have plenty of room for them in the city with the unoccupied space, it’s just the unoccupied space isn’t up for grabs for such people.
I could keep going on about the changes occurring but to waste my time is not something I like to do.
I just want the locals to know that until we buy land, build our own homes, learn to grow food and heal our community we will continue to be looked at as foreigners on our own soil. If we can’t depend on the support of the new development then at least we can start to occupy areas of the city that aren’t apart of the shiney come up in their eyes. We have amazing space and opportunity on the East and West side of Detroit, if they want us out of “Midtown,” we walk with pride to the next abandoned block and take over…completely. No, it’s not giving up it’s becoming smarter and more logical. Who has time to argue with millionaires? They don’t understand our struggle.
Once we take our dollar out of “Midtown” we began to see what big part of the land can be invested in. First step is, search your heart out for the space that needs energy, combine your energy and resources with spaces that need support – no money like me? Invest in more small business when you can, volunteer to support those affected by change. It all counts, a little and a lot!
New Detroit, we the locals are fighters; can’t you tell? We been living in a zone where ya’ll declared a state of emergency, we don’t die easy we get stronger from struggle so if you think this shit gone fly…
Think again!
Sincerely,
A local of Detroit, with pride!
Choices.
The choice to love is better than the choice to hate, the choice to breathe is
better than the choice to give up. You are the powerful being that you dream of. Take those choices and run! -Imani Smith
P>O>W>E>R
Okay so we all have made it through to the next cycle – the next phase – the bloom (rather you acknowledge January 1st as a New Year or not,) you made it!
How do you feel? Was it a magical spark in your soul at midnight? Was you popping champagne and kissing your boo at the ball drop?
Shoot, either way you up in this bitch! 
I learned a great lesson going into 2016….to always go with your first mind and never let someone convince you otherwise. I also learned the power of my thoughts and behavior which resulted in me calmly rejecting negativity and being more powerful than what was trying to present itself.
It felt good to put my power to the test and that made me realize my 2016 theme:
“Utilize your power and see where it goes”
Now when people hear “power”they sometimes think of it in a negative way but to me there’s also a positive power out there that we all posses. The power of controlling our destinies, the power of digging deeper into the soul, the power of controlling the emotions, the power of balancing, the power of releasing, the power of opening up, the power of healing…I mean you get it!
You are the power, no one else has power over you UNLESS you take that power away from yourself and freely give it to someone else.
We all can reach our highest potential simply by putting the effort into that direction with our powerful actions and words.
Have you ever realized when you feel out and down you either soak in that shit or you overpower it and say enough is enough?!
So that’s what I mean when I say “utilize your power and see where it goes,” Change your emotions, have power and control over them, use logic and power to outweigh those emotions you are feeling.
Make time to find your potential of power, embrace it and run with that shit!
You can’t be fearful of the power you posses because misery loves power and fear is misery.
Sit with your power.
Be humble with your power.
Spread your power for the positive so you can attract what needs to be attracted into your life.
Don’t belittle your power, its infinite.
If you understand the power of hate, you understand the power of love.
Open up the Chakras to a flowing amount of power. Tap into each Chakra so that you use the power you posses to align yourself so that you are at peace, elevated and protected.
Be careful though because when you start to utilize your power you will defiantly come into encounter with blood sucking power spirits. Especially ones that want you to do negative with the power you have come into, don’t let them get to you – you are a positive powerful being greater will come from this aspect.
I can go on for days about ways to utilize this power – but I believe in saying just enough for you to go out and search yourself. So peace to your powerful journey!
Peace to you powerful beings.
Go move mountains.
New Year – New Me?
Yeah yeah, I know some folks dislike this time of year for the many tweets and Facebook updates of people talking about what their going to do different in the new year, who their cutting off and what type of goals they want to obtain.
But my whole thing is….
Why the hell you so mad?
To me this is great! When someone wants to get rid of old energy, anytime they want to set a goal and run after it like no ones business than I’m with it. I want to see people happy and having aspirations in this world, rather its on January 1st or November 19th, I could care less.
If a new year calls for you to bring out the “new year, new me” phrase than I support you 100%.
Life is rough, and it seems to be putting more and more people in a funk and when that happens a very thick cloud of funky ass energy starts to spread in the clouds. Would you rather have that? I doubt it.
New determinations mean that people still have hope in the future and that is a fantastic energy to have flowing in the air.
Everyday I try to wake up and set an intention for my day, week or month and yes I do the same for the New Year. Its like we are able to press the reset button of on our track record, we may still have the same problems on January 1st but at least we can look at them in an optimistic way.
We get to leave what we don’t want to take in the future, we also get to sign up for another 365 days of self determination, self love, gratitude, success and much more.
If anything this is a fantastic time to bring a “new you” to the scene.
Become the REAL you!
Put your plans in motion and take action into the direction of elevation!
No more holding back as you move forward in a direction that you trust…shit trust yourself!
The universe is working with us all in order for us to heal ourselves, each other and most importantly the Earth. Without us setting an intention for healing of Mother Earth than none of our goals will manifest….remember that.
We are going to win by stripping away old layers and habits. No one came move forward by staying the same! So embrace it, take advantage of the new cycle because you too can become something higher!
Set it off!
Ashe’