"Back In The Day (Puff)" by Erykah Badu
...back in the day when things were cool / we used to meet up with these dudes / then we'd roll out on Vogues and Trues / and would ride around the park till its after dark / pumpin the trunk with the windows rolled up, puff...
For Black History Month, I am focusing on my Black Hot Blues blog. I am writing about topics in the African and African American community that I find interesting, have recently been exposed to, wonder about, and all that.
I have a lot of opinions about the condition of Black people and women in this world. All of my coursework in the last 2 years has been about these topics and I needed a place to catalog them. I also want to practice writing some arguments and draw from these entries to incorporate in my lesson plans for the girls I teach (I got to see them yesterday and I was so happy. I missed them).
So each day, I am supposed to write on some theme I am inspired by conversation, news stories, articles, whatever. I am running behind because today is the fifth and I only posted "Day 3" a few minutes ago. I'll catch up this weekend though.
My job, like any place of employment, is full of politics, counterproductive policies, bureaucracy, disorganization, and sometimes even a hostile environment. I love it. None of that stuff fazes me at all. I am not their for the check or to command a tight ship. I am there for the beautiful Black girls.
Yesterday, the only day I got to see them this week, we had a brief group about adjusting and accepting change. It was good for them since the program had just been restructured and this was a new class for them.We had an extended group after mandatory group in which I reinforced the routine of the classroom. They are to write journal entries everyday that they come to class for the first 30 minutes to an hour, before dinner. Of late, they have been complaining bout it and I had to redress them about the routine that they helped to establish. On the first day, I asked them a bunch of questions in order to find out how to facilitate their progress in an engaging manner. They suggested journal entries and I have sent a list of supplies to administration for my classroom so they can do journal writing and the other activities they said they wanted to do.
Then I had a talk about some other activities, like vocabulary. I don't use my "SAT" words around them a lot but I don't speak to them as if they are stupid either. I enunciate and pronounce well around them and clearly define words they have never heard before. And they appreciate it. I can't help the Ebonics sometimes. It just slips out of me. But I don't apologize for it. It is a unique way of talking that Black people should never lose, lest they lose the little bit of history they have recorded. I think it demonstrates to them that I am like them but they can one day be where I am (i.e. in college, working, preparing for an independent life, etc.).
They were so excited. I was so happy. I said vocabulary and they lit up. One of my girls said, "That's wassup. We gon' learn to talk like you Ms. Kamarah." I know that's right boo! Yes you are!
Sometimes I feel a little self conscious at my job. I am an activist, everyday, all day. Forget what you heard. I am a rebel with the biggest cause...Afraka and her peripheries. These Black kids are the all important peripheries. Some of my coworkers, although I can see on their faces they truly enjoy the kids, are hampered by the lack of efficiency of the program sometimes and their own personal lives. I fear that I seem ridiculously enthused about my job and they are judging me. But I am always worried about stuff like that because I'm paranoid...really because I am an artist and I'm sensitive about my shhhhh....
Nonetheless, I am an activist and I am accountable to the cause boo.
Doing it for Africa since 1987....booyah!
1 comment:
awwww. they call you ms. kamarah. that's cute.
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