BIO

 

My birth name is R. Leon Mathews but I was given a spiritual name by a spiritual teacher during an African naming ceremony. She crafted the name Askari Ali meaning "exalted warrior, destined to rule" which I finally feel I am living up to presently. In Arabic, “askari” means police or indigenous people who have been recruited into the occupying power's military to fight their own people. It's all a matter of perspective and intent.

 

Currently, I work as a freelance website designer and marketing consultant. I am shifting back into civic activism in a more evolved and conscious manner than previously when I worked in the fields of HIV prevention/outreach, employment & training, and other areas in nonprofit management.

 

These days, I am compelled to express myself creatively and spiritually in a number of ways such as writing, fashion design, tarot reading, transcendental meditation, and speaking out on important issues that keep humanity from reaching its potential. Two years ago, I had to drop out of the "rat race" because I got tired of running after things I didn't need and having to look at the asses of all the rats in front of me. At the time, being unable to get a job doing things in which I had no interest was driving me crazy. I've made pretty good money in the nonprofit industry but the "politics" always got in the way of me progressing and/or helping people in effective, efficient ways. Still, I knew I wouldn't be happy until I was working for myself because I know best how to utilize my talents. Unfortunately, my mind was still stuck in the social conditioning that I needed to maintain certain non-essential possessions, appearances and financial security even if it meant doing work that far from utilized my talents. When I finally quieted the constant societal programming, I was able to look at things from a common sense perspective and saw that I really had not been charting my own destiny at all.

 

I questioned all my beliefs and sorted out which ones were authentically mine and which ones were "accepted" as a result of me not questioning tradition and social norms. When it all came out in the wash, I felt like a society outsider. I have never been much of a money-minded person. I understood what it could provide in terms of material comfort but never felt the NEED to be rich. During my self-imposed exile, I came to the realization that there has never been a time in humanity where our collective focus was the preservation and betterment of ALL life through cooperation. This is an ideal that I think is worth striving toward and is now the defining purpose of my life.