My child, I speak these words to you not by a wisdom I have always known but of one, which I am still learning. May your path be different from my own, I pray this.
This costume of blackness, of browness, of color, should not define you.
Unlearn the lessons of your forefathers.
Yes, remember the lessons of the Kings, the Woodsons, and the Mandela’s but unlearn them.
Let each day be an opportunity to let the sun paint you a new history.
The blood and the pain of your ancestors is neither your present nor your future. Unlearn it.
Those battles have been fought and I urge you, my beautiful child of color to find your own battle.
And your battle may be the most difficult one yet.
To learn to love the very essence of our pain. The very essence that is ours, the essence that is blackness.
Yes, dear child, your battle is not an easy one but I urge you to pick up your weapons of self-love, self-appreciation, respect and dignity.
The process of unlearning will be painful but it must begin now.
It must begin with you.
I’d love to share this with my third grade class.
Wow! I feel so honored! I’d love for you to share it with your class. Thank you so much!
Cool. It’s perfect.
Thank you again! I hope your class enjoys it.
Reblogged this on The Picture Book Pusher.
This is an awesome read. It teaches an important lesson but the way you weaved the words just makes it all so beautiful.
We really should learn to take our own chances; break out of the cliches and status quos; we have to find our own voice somehow; find, learn and understand the reasons behind our own actions.. So that we stop hiding behind our fore fathers and the great people of the past and our mothers and our fathers. It’s gonna take some effort to unlearn and just live our own lives as they have come but it’s only when we try we can hope for effect and change.
I love your message!
I completely agree with you, it will definitely take a lot of effort to unlearn and allow ourselves and generations to come to just live our lives. However, as you have said, and quite rightly so, it is an effort which we must be bold enough to make. Many of us are weighed down by a past that is not ours anymore.
Thank you for comments though!