Happy Friday … from here in the Caribbean … anyway … so far!! I mean, what are you REALLY thinking? Are you numb? (Don’t be dumb!) Help me “jump start” our day with a TGIF, would youse?!? Bueno, pues! TGIF!!
My daughter reminded me that today is Friday the 13th!!! She said that it was her favorite day! My birthday is July 13th and occasionally lands on a Friday! It’s my favorite day, too! Some of youse had better straighten up before it’s too late!! Are you the kind of person that wished that a “friend” didn’t perform BETTER than you on an assignment in school? Or, are you one of those people who is envious of a person who has overcome tremendous odds to have a “decent life”?! Perhaps though I doubt it, you were one of those creatures who came right out of the womb … walking and talking tough!! Maybe you were one of those kids who were “taught” that you are privileged. How do you “teach” privilege without indicating exactly why one has this “privilege”?!? Are you teaching your children that they are privileged to have the opportunity to look down on someone who has less opportunity than they do? I know … these are tough questions that some folks don’t want to answer for themselves, not to mention for our “world” … what’s left of it!!
It concerns me that as so many innocent children, women, and Ukrainian men are being slaughtered, the guys in their suits (or ladies in dresses) at international organizations have time to gather information to determine if “Pewtin” is committing “war crimes” … I mean, can’t we SEE!?! It’s like a racist person or sexist person who makes comments that are not only negative but often untrue and hurtful, and tries to “walk around the truth”. You see, it’s interesting to hear people complain about “learning” something that makes them uncomfortable while they are simultaneously behaving in a manner that makes someone ELSE feel uncomfortable every freaking day! As the older African Americans who traveled North from the South post World War II to escape the horrors of racism used to say, “it’s like the pot calling the kettle black!” This evil cartoon character has been committing war crimes since Russia’s (Pewtin’s) annexation of Crimea!!!
Okay, so let’s call a “spade a spade” and stop playing games with people and their lives. One is only “privileged” if one has someone or something “under” or “beneath” them. After we play that “game” let’s play trading places where we spend 400 years of Africans selling and trading Europeans or non-Africans?! You’d probably say “That’s ridiculous!” African Americans (most of them) find that “walk around the truth” ridiculous, too!! Again, I remind folks that I am an anti-racist, a social scientist, a learning facilitator, and a social activist … and I am not against ANYONE who is not against me and my loved ones! Straight talk that I try to keep in my actions every day! “Be the change that you want to see!” It’s a damn sure tough job, but somebody has got to DO IT! Or do “we” really like living like this!?! WAKE UP!
Peace,
John I. Cook, Director
Thank you for reading!!
Educational Excellence 