Blue Checks, Nike Checks, & Paychecks

What a time to be alive in. It almost seems like the sky is the limit. But with this unfortunately comes both positive and negative. The purpose of this post is to share my thoughts and opinions on an issue today that concerns me. Blue checks, Nike checks, and paychecks hold a high level of importance today, but do these things really determine the value of a person?

We live in a time where peoples value is sometimes more dependent upon surface things. Often times in todays society ones value is dependent upon income, popularity, wardrobe, and a lot of other things that sometimes hold more weight than they probably should. How can these determine the measure of a person when we are made up of so much more?

Even amongst elementary aged children those with Nikes and Jordans are placed on a pedestal. I will never forget when my 10 year old told me she noticed that some people only want to be friends with kids if they have on Nikes. That is crazy to me. I have also noticed that some children’s sense of worth seems to automatically go up with name brand shoes and vice versa. Just to pivot for a moment, we have to teach our children true confidence. Thinking that we are less than because of what we don’t have or thinking that we are better because of what we do have is not a healthy mindset.

One of the saddest things about being a woman today aside from racism and and sexism I would have to say are classism and elitism. As an African American woman I have experienced all of these to some extent. Unfortunately some people still treat others as if they are less than based on different things. In spite of I have managed to hold on to a healthy sense of self worth. This means that regardless of how others may view me or treat me where ever I am, I know who I am. Whether it’s because of race or status we should not hang our heads low because of how others may view us if we love and value ourselves.

I know my worth and at the end of the day it is not dependent upon what I have on, who I am connected with (aside from God), or any other thing of little importance that we deem important. I was recently listening to a song by Curtis Mayfield called Diamond in the Back. In this song he admonishes listeners to keep their heads up and stand tall regardless of what they have or don’t. This is not always easy but possible.

I admire how most people at the end of their life talk about what matters most. It’s almost never the money. Money is just a tool. It is almost always rooted in being loved, giving love, giving, and how you treat others. Although we live in a time where what’s on the outside sometimes seems to hold the most weight. I still believe that old saying “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”. This is what truly determines what a person is made of.

While things are nice, what matters most is not what’s in our closets or our bank accounts. What matters most is how we treat others, how we care, the love we give and receive, and what we are about. If we listen close, these seem to be the sentiments of most who’ve lived a life well lived. I pray we are taking notes.