It has been an interesting week with my daughter. Most weeks are pretty damn good. But I wasn't ready for this week. I thought she said some pretty cool things and stuff I really wasn't expecting to come out of her distracted and wandering mouth.
Because I'm lucky, I am very grateful for her teachers and the attention they have given to Martin Luther King, Jr. this last week. Here are the treasures this has yielded for my wife and me at home:
STORY #1 and #2
Talking about her school day is always a chore for Norah. She would much prefer to make up fantastical stories of her own (like the time her teacher pushed her down during story time and hurt her knee, or the time that I turned into a small creature). So I was pleasantly surprised when Norah told me that they had been talking about "Martin Luther King, Jr.." I like getting the whole name in, specifically. I asked her what she learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and she said, "He was somebody who made speeches and got shot." I asked why he got shot. And she said, "Because he was trying to do something good and the guy who shot him didn't like it." I asked what was he trying to do and she said, "Just make sure that we're all nice to eachother."
YES. Well Done Mr. Brack and Sra. Ariza. That IS what he was trying to do.
End of Story #1
And then I said, "You know Norah, Martin Luther King, Jr. helped us understand a lot of important things. When he was giving his speeches, people thought that kids with brown skin, beautiful brown skin just like yours, shouldn't go to school with other people."
NORAH: What?!
Because she's lucky, a feeling of hurt is creeping over her beautiful brown face . . .
ME: I know isn't that weird? Martin Luther King Jr gave speeches to say that he believed that everyone should be able to go to school together, to eat together, to ride the bus together, no matter what color your skin is.
Feeling of comfort sneaking back over her beautiful brown face . . .
NORAH: Yeah . . .
ME: Right. He thought that people with brown skin should be able to eat with people with yellow skin and red skin and black skin and white sk . . .
NORAH: (Interrupting me--) WHITE SKIN? I've never seen anyone with WHITE skin!!!! Mommy that's silly.
YES.
Because Black and White do not reflect who we are. They reflect what we teach ourselves and our children about who They are and who Us is and if we teach them They are Black or Us is White, then we've gotten it wrong.
End of Story #2
STORY #3
A few days later, I came home from work and relieved our awesome and sensitive and smart babysitter, Sarah, from her important work of nurturing this beautiful child of mine. And she said, "Norah said the coolest thing today. We were looking through the Box of Questions and we came across this question--
If you could be famous for anything, what would you want to be famous for?
And Norah said, I would want to be famous for giving speeches like Martin Luther King, Jr.
and I (Sarah) said, what would you give speeches about? And Norah said, the same things as him. Telling people to be nice to eachother, like no hitting, no biting, no pinching, no name calling . . ."
End of Story #3
If you know me at all, you know that I have always known that as a parent, I am called to help my child, regardless of what shade her skin is, understand that we are not Black or White or Brown or Cinnamon or Cafe Con Leche or Peach or Gray (that's what color s
I know the day grows ever closer when she will understand that she is Black and I am White. I am absolutely not raising a color blind child, please don't get it twisted. But Norah will also understand that she is NORAH and her skin color is cinnamon in the summer and caramel in the winter and that her gray old mother believes that regardless of whose path your crossing the number one thing you should remember is that you should be nice to people, no hitting, no pinching, no name calling.
It's a hard life to live, being a brown-skinned baby in a gray and peach family. Because we're lucky, we get to be a part of her journey.
I wish that we lived in a world where she was as lucky as me.
