Before You Build It Up, Tear It Down: A Call to Conscious Community

I was sitting still—thinking.
Letting the mind wander across proverbs, ancient texts, and what's happening now.

One idea kept circling back like a hawk over fresh prey:

“Before something great can be built, it must first be broken down.”

You’ll find echoes of this in the Tao Te Ching, in Proverbs, and in the ancestral wisdom of Africa.

“If you want to kill a fool, give them a bag full of money.”

That one hit me sideways the first time I heard it. It didn’t say “fight the fool” or “educate the fool”—nope. Just bless them with abundance they ain’t ready for, and the destruction will take care of itself.

And I can’t help but see that playing out in real time—in our politics, in our people, in the nation.

Collapse as a Setup, Not a Setback

Look, I don't usually date my writings, but let’s keep it real—it’s early November, post-election season, and a whole lot is shifting. Layoffs coming, benefits getting sliced like onions, and SNAP ain’t so snappy no more. AI’s the new scapegoat, but we know this system been downsizing folks long before chatbots came to take the blame.

And yet…

Even in the breaking down, I see setup.
Because to make something truly great, you must break it down first.

Think demolition before rebirth. Think pruning before harvest. Think furnace before gold.

This moment? It ain’t chaos. It’s choreography. And if you’re paying attention—not to the noise, but to the rhythm—you’ll see we’ve been positioned. Perfectly.
All this breaking down is giving those of us with vision and values a rare window.

This Is Our Moment—The Conscious Community Must Show Up

Now, if you rock with the principles—Nguzo Saba, Maat, or the core codes of Gye-Nyame—you already know: we ain’t here just to look righteous, but to be of service.

This is a stress test for the philosophies we brag about.

Can your spirituality feed people?
Can your principles house a family?
Can your "woke" community organize a soup line, a rent fund, a child care pod?

This ain't the time for Instagram enlightenment.
This is the time for embodied truth.

As the safety nets shrink and the illusions get cut, this is the moment where conscious people—warriors, nationbuilders, elders-in-training—need to demonstrate what they believe.

Let the sacred systems we’ve been cultivating become shelter. Let the “fringe” ideas become frontline strategies. Let the philosophy serve people, not just impress them.

Nguzo Saba Ain’t Just Philosophy—It’s Provision

For those of y’all who walk with the Nguzo Saba, this ain’t theory—it’s time.

This is the perfect time to show the power of Umoja (unity) and Ujima (collective work & responsibility). Not as abstract ideals, but as boots-on-the-ground action.

When the checks stop coming and the cupboards start humming,
who will show up?

Not for clout. Not for conversions. Not for ROI.
But because this is what we do.

Not for what we get out of it, but because we are it.

This is not an investment. This is a duty.

Let the Fool Rise—Foolishness Will Fall on Its Own

We spend too much time resisting foolishness. Debating it. Posting about it.
But foolishness, like a house built on sand, collapses under its own weight.

“Give the fool a bag of money…” you remember the rest.

We don’t need to chase the fool. We need to build the village.

And right now, there are people hungry for more than food. They’re starving for principle, community, real connection, and tools to live—not just survive. Your ritual, your discipline, your knowledge—it’s not too small. It might be the exact thing someone needs to hold on just a little longer.

Don’t Waste This Golden Window

Moments like this don’t come often.

Collapse opens space.
Crisis creates clarity.
Confusion filters the real from the fake.

This is the perfect time for us to build something meaningful, not on the back of capitalism’s greed, but on the back of ancestral truth.

We don’t need to rise because we’re mad.
We need to rise because it’s time.

A Call to Inaction:

Before You Build It, Break Something

“You can’t fill a full cup. You must first pour out the poison.”

Ask yourself:

What illusion are you still clinging to about “the system” saving you?
What part of your practice is performative and not practical?
Who are you still trying to “save” that’s already committed to sinking?

Cut the excess. Burn the fluff.
Don’t do more. Just stop one thing that’s weakening you.
The Ancestors will meet you in that silence.

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