Reflection on our first full day…
First of all I must say that sitting here 7pm (Arkansas time) trying to recount yesterday’s experiences isn’t the easiest thing to do, but a couple of experiences stuck out to me and those are the ones that I’d like to share.
The first of those experiences was a conversation I had with my father as my brother and I were preparing to leave our room to head to Stephens High School. Passing the phone between one another we were letting him know what all we were going to be doing for the day and the needs we were going to be meeting. I remember his response, he said that “what yall are doing is really important because they need that… you can keep them off these streets.” Now to the average person it may not seem like much, and it shouldn’t, but to me it was so great to hear the voice of my father saying that who I was, where I was, what I was doing was important and needed… I walked out of the dorm and onto the van with an “S” on my chest! Placing this into the context of our service trip, I ask myself how many of the young men I’m engaging have male figures in their life that affirm and confirm who they are?
Secondly, we took a full tour of the school with Principal Cowins. Even though I knew before hand that the high school was grossly underfunded, I was in no way prepared for what I saw. A school that so resembled a church that I thought to myself why are we stopping here until I was informed this was to be our destination. The most telling part of the school’s dilemma (and this is an understatement) was the school library that was literally the same size if not smaller than my elementary school library and we had half of their 400 student population. How in the world are these students being prepared, educationally, to cope with our ever increasing global society without resources as simple as books? I noticed as Principal Cowins was telling us about his struggles of in a sense being a one man administration team, having 64 students leave in the past quarter because their parents can’t find jobs, and having to “let go” some of his teachers he kept a smile on his face. It was not a smile of pleasure. Neither was it the jovial smile that graced the face of our chief of staff as he tapped danced on the White house porch, although his no child left behind act has left behind too many students, as the money they needed went to supporting an unjust war. But it was a smile of hope, that he believes his presence will one day make a difference in the state of Stephens High School. Dear God, help this man be strong!
Finally, we concluded our day with a AWESOME lecture by Dr. Smith that was about the over-representation of African American males in the Division 1A of football and basketball. The take home message was one I’ve been hearing from my parents and many other respected elders for a long time now, but seems to just be making its way to academia: “everybody can’t go to the NBA/NFL so you better pay attention in class.” It’s funny how our country’s brightest are just acknowledging something that grandma knew and she never went to college. So in closing I have some advice, as I pull from my racial and ethnic roots, for whoever our next President is to be: All governmental officials including the President must be continually advised by a group with a minimum of 5 “Big Mama’s!”
Dear God, strengthen our hands to work, our hearts to love, and our spirits to know you -Amen