Keep on Pushin'

"Keep on pushing
Keep on pushin'
I've got to keep on pushin'
I can't stop now"Move up a little higher
Someway or somehow" 

Many who heard the Impressions or Curtis Mayfield rendering the song probably classify it as Rhythm and Blues (R&B).  No matter who sang it, "Keep on pushin'" connotes multiple meanings.  When I listen, I hear social as well as spiritual undertones.  To illustrate, both Old and New Testament Scripture chronicles people and situations that required sustained efforts.  I assign the song to a Civil Rights era battle cry.  Its lyrics fit a  "different strokes for different folks" mindset. 

Both Old and New Testament Scripture describe people and situations that required sustained efforts.  Witness Hebrew slaves who beseeched Jehovah for freedom from Egyptian bondage.  Joseph's plight from a murder-on-his-mind brother and later prison proved the success of a "boy who made good" saga.  His trials resulted in triumph; he ruled his adopted country as second-in-command.  Exploits mark the forty-year trek through the desert to the land of milk and honey for a freed people.  The Old Testament is replete with history, poetry, and prophecy while the New Testament introduces the Gospels, Acts, Letters, and Revelation.  Keep on puhin'.

The history of captured Africans and their horrific journey to the shores of Virginia in 1619, teems with cruelty and horror and cannot be minimized.  However, capturing it would consume at least one book.  Lerone Bennet's Before the Mayflower could serve as a starting point.  But I digress, except to note that indomitable strength plaited it all together.

"Pushin'" requires perseverance, no two ways about it. To answer where the "grit to survive and thrive" emanates, you (Yes, I meant you) need only to take the time to remember.   Some of you may think, "Wow! that'll take more time than I have right now."  No problemo. Reminisce a little bit each day, as much or little as your schedule permits, before you arbitrarily reject my humble suggestion.  See, now it's manageable.   

Remember, I'm not suggesting anything that I haven't done.  Did it take me a while? Next question! These blogs bear fruit of my excavation and exploration, thank you very much!  I write often of my past because they become the microscope that charts my path today.   Uncle Kelly always managed to insert "Baby, the race that doesn't know their history are bound to repeat it" into every conversation he could, with whomever, no matter their age"  Anecdotes serve as guaranteed dialogue starters at family and class reunions. 

"Pushin'" propagates pride, not in a selfish way but in the act of dusting off unvarnished truth.  Remember all those times you demurred because you'd heard "pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall?" Do you recall times when you should've taken a bow but didn't?  What about excellent grades, awards, and honorable mentions?

"Try to remember when life was so tender that no one wept except the willow
Try to remember when life was so tender that dreams were kept beside your pillow
Try to remember when life was so tender that love was an ember about to billow
Try to remember and if you remember then follow."