The Tao of Wu

by The RZA

The second lesson ODB left us with is just as important. It’s about freedom and your cipher—your circle, your family, the people you love. Death has many causes—violence, scheming, abuse—but a major one we overlook is neglect. We say, “Oh, he’s a grown man. He can drink what he wants to drink, smoke what he wants, say what he wants to say.” But Martin Luther King said that freedom has its own laws; it’s not without its own principles. You’re free to go from New York to Virginia traveling north and going around the globe. You could do it, but you’d have to travel around the world. You’re free to smack someone in the face. You do have that freedom. But they have the freedom to smack you back. That’s justice. I remember thinking about that after I learned the Fourth Lesson in the Twelve Jewels, Freedom. Freedom has a law, and that’s Justice. But I don’t think I truly understood that until we lost ODB. Equality is the responsibility of every man to one another. If you really want equality and freedom and justice for all, you got to be able to say, “Yo, son. You’re drinking too much. You’re free to do what you want, but it’s gonna kill you.”