Sometimes Those Trying To Bring You Down, Don’t Realize You Are Part Of The Reason They Are Still Standing

By Wane A. Hailes

“Be kind to the people you meet on the way up because they may be the same people you meet on the way down.” “Birds of a feather flock together”. “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. “The early bird gets the worm.”

These are all adages: traditional sayings expressing a general truth, common experiences or observations that most of us have heard at least once in our lifetime.

Recently, I came across one such expression that succinctly put into context how many of my colleagues and I feel as members of the Black Press.

“Sometimes those trying to bring you down, don’t realize you are part of the reason they are still standing.”

Often, when we seek to inform, educate, and inspire our readers there will inevitably be those who misconstrue our words or views and choose instead to castigate us amongst their circle of friends and on social media. Despite their actions, we refuse to give up on our people.

I’ll leave you with this story to emphasize the title of this commentary.

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind. She hated everyone except her loving boyfriend, who was always there for her. She said she would marry her boyfriend if she could only see the world. One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her, and she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?” The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears and later wrote a letter to her saying. “Just take care of my eyes dear.

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