A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

This has been the slogan of the United Negro College Fund since 1972.

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste" is a quote by Arthur Fletcher. The quote means that our life is a reflection of our thoughts, and our thoughts are driven by our mind, which ultimately decides or controls everything. The quote has become one of the most widely recognized slogans in advertising history.

The Christian is commanded by God to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). The mind is a terrible thing to waste, especially, in the service of Christ. Therefore, the Christian, whose ongoing spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:2), is to be more and more linear, as well as, incrementally deeper, will not only be a person who saturates himself in the “only” perfect book, the Bible; but will also be one who does not disparage the reading of great books, both Christian and non-Christian (2 Peter 3:14-18).

Thus, his reading diet will assuredly include solid Christian titles (through “the plundering of the Christians for all their gold,” by reading solid books from the following genres: theological, doctrinal, historical, biographical, and practical); But, it will also include non-Christian titles (through “the plundering of the Egyptians for all their gold,” by reading solid books from the following genres: fictional, political, historical, biographical, and technical). Why? Because Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that God has given gifts to His church, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

These gifts from heaven, were not meant only for their own age, but for our own as well. They were not ministerial gifts from Christ for only those who would hear them, but also for those who would read them! Pastor Albert N. Martin has rightly said, “The Christian who providentially has access to Christ’s gifts to His church … and does not use them, is guilty of arrogant, prideful presumption, believing that he does not need these gifts for his spiritual maturation, and … he’ll end up being spiritually stunted with … spiritual immaturity!”

So then, do not forget the words of our Lord, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him, much will be required …” (Luke 12:48). Why not begin today by picking up a biography of some great believer, pastor, or missionary, and learn more about God by seeing Him at work in someone else’s life? And always remember, that a book may preach when the author is not. Many authors, though dead, still speak today! Even the great nineteenth-century pioneer missionary to both India and Persia (Iran), Henry Martyn, once affirmed this,

Let us draw near to God, first, by taking heed to our heart preparation today, for encountering the living God tomorrow, in our public Worship service, both through our praises and prayers to Him, with God’s people; and secondly, through our attending to the reading and preaching of His Holy inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word! Soli Deo Gloria!

In his poem “After Avery R. Young,” the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Jericho Brown writes, “The blk mind / Is a continuous mind.” These lines emerge for me as a guiding principle—as a mantra, even—when I consider the work of Black poetry in the world , which insists upon the centrality of Black lives to the human story, and offers the terms of memory, music, conscience, and imagination that serve to counteract the many erasures and distortions riddling the prevailing narrative of Black life in this country.

Indeed, Black poets help us to consider our past, present, and future not as disparate fragments on a disappearing trail, but rather as a single, emphatic unity: the Was, Is, and Ever-Shall-Be of Black presence and consciousness.

The blk mind is a continuous mind. And language is one site where the continuum of Black life can be perceived, where we can hear ourselves talking to one another across generations, landscapes, and the particularities of circumstance. Indeed, Black poets also hurl their voices across other types of borders to remind us that we are living, sighing, and singing in harmony with others elsewhere and with traditions beyond our own.

We are encouraged to study hard and think … freely. Not to waste time, not to waste life, but to build a better tomorrow from our experiences and those of our ancestors. We are taught that a strong mind is a valuable thing, not to be lost or squandered in some frivolous act or activity. We are taught that every mind is a gift from God, to be revered and protected.

As I poetically try to write what I think, I do not speak for Black and brown people in our world; I only speak for me, though many of us who reside in this country will tend to agree. The flag that waves for justice and freedom is not the flag we see.

This justice system has never been just, and her freedoms have never been free. If you think that we believe this system that continues to oppress us has changed her spots, renounced her ways, and now opens her arms to caress us, you have lost your mind.

If you think we believe that a new president, a new party, a new Black chief of a gun-carrying cult of authoritarians who regularly kill us are now there to protect and defend us, you have lost your mind.

If you think that most Black and brown people are ready to trust police, prosecutors or judges who do not live in our communities and are not accountable to us, our neighbors, or our peers, you have lost your mind. We are trapped in a system of fears conceived to oppress us, designed to distress us, and no matter what we do or say they are most inclined to arrest us.

The law-enforcement system loves to protect is culturally programmed to defend itself. It does not protect my community, my family or my health.

We can never be safe in this country while the homicide of our people is justifiable. Sure, the government can make new laws, it can add new Black and brown faces, but the problem remains the same. Our people are continually terrorized by the police, and all of us wear the shame.

It seems to me that when the world is serious, she is the best at everything and can do anything … except stop police from killing innocent, unarmed Black and brown people. Until then can we do that, that flag, it can wave for justice and freedom, but it does not wave for people like me.

Our minds are a terrible thing to waste.