A Testimony: How #JillScottVsErykahBadu Unblocked My Tired Spirit

The Black women praise and worship I didn't know I needed.

I’ve been looking at my website and blog page like that corner of your room that has unfolded clothes and the mail on the desk you still need to go through. You know you need to address it, fold the clothes, go through the mail but ugh, maybe it’s tomorrow’s problem.

Between a pandemic, an awkward graduation and birthday season, and the disreagrd of Black bodies in a socially distant society… I am supposed to trust the same system with my life and health, while they blatantly disregard Black humanity? When I look at my website, I haven’t found the right order of words to express or share my experience. Where does one start? Do I start with the complex inspiration I've found when the whole world is on pause and I now have the audacity and space to look forward to a better future? Do I start with the daily news briefings that answer some questions, but continue to leave the big ones unanswered? Do I start with my reluctance of the ebb and flow of fear and confusion minute to minute, trying to find opportunity within the uncertainty, while simultaneously counting my blessings? All the while… white nationalists storming capitol buildings with automatic weapons and assaulting police officers. Where does one find a word amongst all this?

Then God gave us the Verzuz battle with Jill Scott Erykah Badu. As many expressed, this 2-hour long Instagram Live event was something I didn’t know I needed. I didn’t know how tightened my spirit was. It didn’t take long for me to not only witness the love that exists and persists between Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, but also tap into my own greatness, Blackness, and inner inspiration to create. As they traded hit for hit and played table tennis with love and compliments, I was put at ease because that is not only who they are, it is who we are. Black women. I was reminded that, at the core of our being is not only resistance and resilience, but also love. That is how we get through. That is what I saw between these talented women and in the comments. It was a celebration of love and there was space enough for all of us, even though there is not a lot of space for any of us in many ways these days.

Lesson learned: Abundance is in us. Abundance is us. Abundance is in our creation, as Jill Scott said, it is mandatory. Abundance is in our connections, be it years or days, during a pandemic to see and connect to a kind spirit is a blessing. Abundance is in our history the way that we have been able to tell our own story, despite the fraudulent spin offs, and have it reach generation to generation.

Amongst the tragedy, fear, and trauma in our lives, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu were able to give us an unapologetic musical meditation on what we still have amongst this pandemic and global shift we are in. But what will never shift or faulter is the beauty, love, grace, and shine that Black women have. Thank you, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu for the reminder. Now my words flow, my smile, grows, and I’m reminded what I am here to do and how I can share it with others.