All the Information Was Not Put in One Place

What kind of country inherits honey this rich
and cannot swallow it—
the music that made a way out of no way,
forged freedom in the face of crazy-making hypocrisy,
and still we cannot take the medicine?

We're learning the words now: white supremacy,
anti-black racism—necessary, yes,
but only what not to be,
only the dismantling.
Fear is not a sustaining motivation
for the long ride ahead.

Listen: uncertainty is just another name for possibility.
And improvisation is not winging it—
it demands severe initiation, spiritual grounding,
the hard-won capacity to stand on the bandstand
ready to collaborate spontaneously.

You have to be radically empathetic,
listening deeply to your bandmates
while holding command of your own voice,
asking not What do I need to do to have power?
but Who do I need to be
for you to be who you're meant to be?

Muhal Richard Abrams said it:
All the information was not put in one place.
Nine words. Why diversity? There it is.

And RuPaul to Oprah: There's only one of us here.

Power without love is reckless and abusive,
love without power sentimental and anemic—
but power at its best is love
implementing the demands of justice.

On the bandstand, everyone is needed
and no one is centered.
The flower flowers, the bee bees,
and pollination happens—
neither has the whole picture
but the whole becomes greater than the sum.