I Met Clark Kent… And We Talked Black History Month

 

Image Courtesy of RatherObvious.com

I met Clark Kent. Well, okay, it was a “Clark Kent” moment. Replace phone booth with bus stop. “Is this the way to New York or is yours?”, she asked. I pointed to mine. A young lady grabbed her suitcase and crossed the street. She wasn’t wearing couture or jazzed up in any way. But there was more to her than met the eye… We sat next to each other on the bus.

It took me about 2 minutes to start seeing the “S” (for Super WOMAN of course) shine through. Adrina is a performance artist. She writes and acts. But her hobby, yes, HOBBY, is teaching diversity to children. She wants to start a program in New York City about heritage month. Not just Black Heritage or Hispanic Heritage month – but every heritage. Because that’s America, and that’s what children need to understand.

I hope she’ll write on our blog and tell you more. But in the meantime, here’s some of her written word… Welcome to my list of superheroes Adrina. It goes to show that you don’t have to be a parent to influence our children, and become a superhero to them and their parents!  This piece is an excerpt (my favorite part, which was really hard to pull out).

About “Black History Month”…

Because our history books take rich color, and culture, and depth and texture
And bleach it.
Bleach it
until it’s too foreign to reach it
Too hackneyed to preach it
Too dull for our speech
Bleached
until it’s boring enough for teachers to teach.
Which is why black history month gets repeatedly thrown aside
Black students indifferent to exhibiting pride
And white students feeling like their on the oppresor’s side
And red, yellow and brown kids have been misguided
into thinking that it doesn’t pertain to them
And all students thinking it’s a game to them
This is not a game
Our freedom came at a price
The price of our ancestors hopes and their fears
of their blood sweat and tears
Of unspoken years
where our rivers contained more blood than water
This month is set aside so we can remember
Remember that, unless you’re American Indian,
your an immigrant.