If you didn’t hustle hard in 2020… Blah blah blah.

First of all, Happy New Year. I hope you are well. Thanks for being in this space with me. I appreciate you.

Let’s get right to it.

For those sadistic little golden monkeys spewing the “if you didn’t hustle harder in 2020, the hustle ain’t in you” rhetoric, I have 3 words for you.. EAT A DICK.

Do you know that people lost family members in 2020? Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Cousins, Husbands, Wives, Children. They lost big. We all experienced collective trauma due to the virus itself, isolation, and the astounding ineptitude of the government. Hustle? When? Motherf*ckers were trying to survive.

Our children have been suffering. Sensory deprivation. Isolation. The misgiving and inequalities exacerbated by online school. The fear of going to in-person school. Hustle? When? Black American parents especially have been trying to simultaneously keep their children safe, alive, and still protect them from the pervasive social violence that is otherwise known as American Systemic Racism.

That’s what we’ve been doing instead of hustling, my dude?!!!! A lot of us have real responsibilities and heavy loads, Ms. I’m going to make 6 figures, let me show you how if you attend my overpriced brunch and/or seminar.

*Coughs and mutters the words – misguided douchebags*

If you did some amazing things in 2020, I actually think that’s great for YOU. It showed moxie and perservance in the face of a whole ass pandemic. Good for you. Do pat yourself on the back, because you did that.

… but you don’t have the right to put anyone else down. You don’t have the right to marginalize people who may have been on the front lines. You don’t have the right to reduce the magnanimous efforts it took for some people to stay in their right minds when they were fighting depression during this pandemic.

Fall back. Close your mouth. Think about your words. Words matter. Words cut deep.

It is not cool, clever, or kind to showboat when so many people are out of a job, under eviction notice, their kids are suffering, they lost someone they love, they’re scared and vulnerable.

F*cking let folks live as best as they can.

A lot of you bullshit ass bootstrappers either have generational wealth that was stolen from Black Americans through redlining, bombings, lynchings, deed theft, or directly benefitting from wealth created through systemic racism of the New Deal. Then there are other bootstrappers who have no generational wealth and you are grinding and up-keeping systemic racism and inequality by being a f*cking pawn. Lastly, there are bootstrappers that voluntarily immigrate to America and attach themselves to whiteness, they are the elites in their home country so they have access to wealth, they dig deep into anti-Black American sentiments and they gate keep through the model minority concept.

To all of you “hustle hard, the hustle ain’t in you” douches, do jump off a cliff.

To all my working class Black Americans and authentic, honest allies, I love you and keep surviving. Keep making it. Keep enjoying those moments of real joy. Your fear is understandable. Your concerns are valid and real. You ain’t gotta write a book, pen a symphony, launch a new product, you don’t have to do any of that if all you can do is quietly navigate this pandemic. Just stay safe, enjoy your humanity, survive and I pray we all can thrive – collectively.

Reject any toxic individualism that marginalizes the invisible trauma we all endured in 2020.

Again, Happy New Year.