by Yusef Raahman Sudah

Created on: October 27, 2009   Last Updated: August 18, 2011

In my community you were called "green" when it was obvious that you were not street wise. Being "green" meant others knew that the "wool" could be pulled over your eyes. We all are new to the game of life and therefore "green".  Clearly in dark shadows of urban life, if we going to survive while pushing through 1930's Chicago you must gain the skill to cope. Trying to manage the day to day activities that certainly effect us is troubling at best. So much so that none of us have an answer as to how we can effectively get through a day without the possibility of disappointment. When we offer loving words, presents, going out to dinner, cooking our mate's favorite foods and many other sensual treats we are still not sure how long the pleasure of the moment will last.

There has never been a living creature that avoided the need to cope; both living and dying are part of the process. These events are not limited to the species called human even though humans may have narrowed the value of other life forms. The two companion , life and death, are mutually to all living matter. From the giant redwoods to micro-organisms on a flea's body all living things experience this cycle. Perhaps another name for life could be cope! All things seek to master this process. Yet, none can avoid the experience cloaked in having to leave Earth.

It is bewildering to witness what in the psyche of the western human species of the last 2000 years has heightened his arrogance to feel superior to other living creations. Creatures that not only out -numbered him but also are mightier, more adapt to the environment and capable of feats yet mastered by any human. What in the life experience of a "primitive" man would allow him to see beauty in all living matter while contemporary western man can only see contempt? 

Why does western man seek to conquer this planet with war; the killing of animals for pleasure, and eliminating the productive capability of fertile soil to feed its many inhabitants? These intolerances are born in a mean spirited soul detached from the rhythm that cascades in fabric of the universe. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed yet "uncivilized" humans have never deflowered our planet with such conviction to waste life and cause so much death. Is this because of a lack of know how or a presence of appreciation?

Advancements in technology should give us pause to wonder what we mean by "advancement". If our ethical center as civilized

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