Be Sure Of The Purpose
A few posts ago, I touched on a critical topic of healthcare & the importance of knowing what you are going up against before you battle “The System”! Towards the end of that entry I purposely shifted the focus from John Q to John Henry. If you are not able to identify John Henry, I’ll give you a brief rundown of who he was & why his story is engraved on the walls of my heart.
John Henry was a freed slave that ended up working on the railroad during the industrial revolution. Being a freed slave back then is very similar to a released inmate. No where to go while not having any skills to find adequate employment. Working the railroads were dangerous & was very strenuously. John lost so many friends while working due to heat, collapsing caves & lack of oxygen from mining in a deep coal shaft. Work condition were poor but John carried on knowing he had to provide for his family.
While building the railroad, there lay a mighty obstruction in the planned path. It was impossible to lay tracks over a mountain & the foreman felt it was illogical to build around it so the only other way was to go through it. As the project began, a salesman from the city approached the foreman & told him of his amazing invention he manifested that could melt through stone & complete the task well before its projected completion date. The salesman also ensure the foreman that this investment could efficiently replace human workers while drastically cutting costs.The foreman was all in but John & the other railroad workers would be rendered unemployed if the foreman purchased the machine. John stood firm & said he was not going down without a brawl.
John stretched as he offered to compete against the machine. The salesman laughed because he knew no human alive could war with a digging apparatus & reign supreme. The competition was on & both John & the machine started laying tracks while digging through the internals of the mountain. Long story short, the digging contraption over heated & burst into flames. Everyone (with the exception of the salesman) was ecstatic over John’s victory. While in the mists of John’s celebratory moment, he clinched his chest & was having difficulty breathing. Everything that John fought to get off his shoulders was now heavily weighing on his chest. As everyone ran to help John, he collapsed & died in the very spot he gain his iconic victory.
The story of John Henry is about a Black Man who went to war with the system in hopes to secure his friends , coworkers and family had sustainable income. John looked the system in the face & told it that he woulnt’t stop until his people were in better positions. John & his “Go hard or go home” ambitiousness fueled his drive for victory. Some may argue that John’s achievement was in vain & the payoff wasn’t worth his life. But Id have to wholeheartedly disagree. A man with nothing to die for doesn’t have anything worthy to live. for. We will all face the day when we have to stare down a system & get combative with it. But be selective on the battles you pick. Is the payout worth it? Does the reward outweigh the risk?
Are you guys telling your people how you feel about them while you can? After John won the battle, he still wasn’t able to make it home. The system has multiple moving part so be cautious when challenging it. John paid the ultimate price against the system. If you find yourself in John’s shoes, reach out to friends for helpful resources. Try not to face this demon alone. As a community, it’s vital that we pull together like each component of the network & intricately work together to exhaust the system. We all have a little John Henry in our blood. Despite the task, big or small, always give it your all & once you have given it your all, dig a little deeper and go a little harder. When you hit your last wind, John will be there to carry you across the finish line.
Peace I.L.L Community
