1 post tagged “roots”
I woke up this morning to the news of Yolanda King's death, the breath seemed to be caught up in my throat. I mourned for her even though I didn't know her. I mourned for the loss of her father, her mother, and her. The loss of people who understood the complexity of the battle we fought to be where we are and who we are. A loss of people that never questioned their self worth or the worth of others, but rather deemed themselves capable of achieiving anything that they put thier minds too.
It scares me that there are not more of those people around for our children to emulate. I remember being in school and when you were asked to write about one of your heros(as a African American child), the list would normally entail Marcus Garvey, MLK Jr, Malcolm X. But, those days are long gone, now our children look to sports personalities, and music personas as their representation of success. They want to be like Mike Vick or Michael Jordan. They want the bling bling, the ice, and the women. They no longer recognize the importance of education, or the fact that this priviledge was not always afforded to us.
I recognize this in my own child, who knows nothing of racism and prejudice. I have tried to make him sit down and watch shows like Roots or Malcolm X, in the hopes that he will some how identify with his people and see from whence we came. But, I don't think he gets it. And, its kind of a hard thing to explain. I cringe to think of how it will affect him the first time he realizes that someone pulled their purse in because he was walking while black. Or for the first time he gets racially profiled for driving while black.
Has the loss of Kings and Queens... caused us to some how lull ourselves into this false complacency? Have the cries of those in Louisiana fallen on deaf ears?
We have come a very long way, and we certainly aren't turning back, but we still have a very long way to go...
Gone but, never forgotten....
"If you want to be important wonderful, if you want to be recognized wonderful,if you want to be great wonderful, but recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant, that is the new definition of GREATNESS.." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
