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Today I lost one of my mentors.
Some of you know this, some of you might not, but I have been so, so blessed by the Almighty to have not just one mentor, but five mentors. They put into me everything they had gathered through their decades in the struggle, to enable me to become the best freedom fighter I could possibly be for our people.
These are five strong, beautiful black brothers, who each took me under their respective wings to develop me into the 21st century freedom fighter I am--called by the Almighty and the ancestors for my people and for humanity.
Those five men are John Conyers, Ron Daniels, Bill Fletcher, Curtis Muhammad and Damu Smith. Not that I have any lesser feeling for so many other beautiful people, who have come into my life (such as my white brothers Joel Segal or Tim Carpenter, many sisters of all cultures, or my mothers in the movement), but these five men were my elders, the brothers, in each of whom I saw something that I wanted to take and just put inside of me forever--for my people, and for our struggle.
I never knew Dr. King or Malcom X personally. I came to cherish them only through tapes and writings. But with these five men whom God placed in my pathway, I had something even better. I had love in the flesh.
So when people would see me and would like me, I knew sometimes, it wasn't me they liked so much. Rather, people were responding to that which had come from each one of these five brothers and had in some way been placed inside of me--the essence of their spirit.
The wisdom and inspiration offered by each one derived from their unique contributions to and from aspects of the movement. From Conyers, it was about politics; from Ron, it was about mobilizing; from Bill, it was about being an engaged intellectual; from Curtis, it was about organizing, and from Damu, it was about living as a warrior.
Losing any one of my mentors I knew would never be easy, but I never thought it would be this difficult. Losing my warrior mentor today is indescribable. I pray for Black Voices for Peace, I pray for his dear Asha poo, his family and huge extended community of friends.
You can have no idea how deeply saddened I am by his transition, but I press on, we press on--knowing how much he loved our people and how much he loved freedom!
I love you Damu, thank you.
God willing, I will not let you down in this struggle. Welcome home, good and faithful servant.
Forever indebted,
Rev. Yearwood
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