Rihanna
The recent news of Cassie and Diddy breaking up has been triggering the internet and putting everyone in their feelings. One would think it was their eleven-year relationship has suddenly ended. Most feel as though Cassie "wasted" her time. While Cassie's only comment has been a resounding, "F*ck These Hoes".
If I could have just a few words with Cassie, I would give her a word from the Book of Rihanna. I would tell Cassie all about the great Gospel of Rihanna. I would focus the lesson around the Book of ANTI, Song Number 7. My centering thought will be the chorus for "Needed Me". The reading of the word goes as follows:
Don't get it twisted.
You was just another n*gga on the hit list,
Tryna fix your inner issues with a bad bitch.
Didn't they tell you that I was a savage?
F*ck ya white horse and ya carriage.
As we read these words out loud, may they not just hit your ears but also penetrate your heart. The title of today's lesson is, "F*ck Ya White Horse and Ya Carriage." I bring this message to you, not to disrespect the union of marriage, or to further divide the sexes. Instead, I bring this message to offer a new stance on the idea of marriage. Since the beginning of time, women, more specifically, black women have been taught to be the head of the family. We have been conditioned that it is our love and nurturing nature that allows black families to flourish. Since the dawn of time, black women have taken our task seriously.
Yet, with every disadvantage against our black families, women still measure their worthiness in society by whether or not if they are married or have kids. As the infamous lines go in the great Book of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "We women are expected to make life choices, always keeping in mind that marriage is most important."
But, it's a new day, sis!
Now, we are in a transitional period. Mother Earth, the Great Divine Feminine, is asking us to remember our power. This doesn't happen by lowering, disrespecting, or casting out men. No, in fact, it is the exact opposite. It is empowering, uplifting, and holding men accountable. Only when the male and female can hold mutual space, does the world return to its rightful place. But because we are stuck in this illusion that marriage is most important, i.e. pleasing a man is most important, we continue to give away our power. We are willing to put up with anything from a man for the sake of getting down the aisle, or simply just to say we have a man. Then we wonder why our marriages don't last. We are not taught to aspire to healthy, mutually respectful marriages, we're just taught to get there by any means necessary. F*ck ya white horse and ya carriage.
I use the great apostle Rihanna because despite her being worth $260 million and being one of the richest singers of all time, I remind you that Rihanna is just like us. In light of her break up, I ask Cassie to simply look to Rihanna. Think about it. We love Rihanna so much because she doesn't mind being both a sweetheart and a savage.
We embrace her because she embraces all herself (thick thighs and all), which makes me wonder, why are we are trying so hard to be perfect for these men? We should accept all parts of ourselves: the good, the bad, the bitchiness, and the flaws. Conversely, we should require our men do the same. Not shrink ourselves. That's the Gospel According to RiRi!
Expand yourself to the height of a giant, then mandate that your man meets you there! Or get the fuck out the way.
We have to learn to recognize when the men in our lives don't deserve our love, let alone our presence. That's what we, as women, have forgotten. We are the ones who makes the man better. Not the other way around. It says it in the Bible (a man who finds a wife finds a good thing). We elevate the man! We are the life-givers of the world, both literally and figuratively. Yet, we have weakened our place in society to keep our families afloat. For decades, women have molded and changed themselves for the acceptance of men, but where has that gotten us?
If he can't respect the fact that you don't want to have sex until your married, he's not the one for you. If he can't live with the fact that you like to shake your ass every Tuesday and Thursday, then guess what? He's not the one. If you have been with a man, say for, eleven years and you're still having year two problems, it's time to let it go. If you have given this man chance after chance and he's still doing the same shit - sis, it's time to let it go. Allow these moments of denial and incompatibility be your doorway to the person for you.
If you're constantly trying to morph and shape yourself into the wishes of every man you meet, how would you ever find the man for you?
And I get it, we as woman can be prideful, we want a return on our investment. But at what cost? The heartbreak is going to be so temporary compared to the constant heartbreak you will experience "trying to make it work". If Rihanna can walk away from the hottest pop star, baseball player, the greatest rappers of our generation, and a billionaire, why can't you walk away from Tyrone at Taco Bell? Why are you holding onto Harold from Howard because you two went to middle school together?
I know that society wants to us to feel like we're an endangered, undesirable species but that's bullshit. We deserve love too. Real love. Love without exception. We deserve to be in love with someone who makes us feel good. Love is supposed to inspire you. It's not supposed to feel like you're compromising yourself or losing bits and pieces of your soul. That's not love. Love is not going to make you feel like you're betraying yourself. It's not enough to just have a man.
We need to build families from a place of wholeness. Not from a place of lack or fear.
I'm asking that we as Black Women take on the attitude of Rihanna and say, "F*ck ya white horse and ya carriage."
We deserve full, all-encompassing, all-committed love. Anything else must go. We are challenging men to love us how we deserve to be loved, or to hit the curb. I'm happy for Cassie because she chooses herself.
She didn't allow the length of time to determine the price of her happiness and that's something to admire. After all, it's a new day, sis!
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