My sons now are men
They are finding their way
We've done our best to prepare them
But I still remember the day
That the FIRST call came (it would come again)
They were just wee little ones
But still with contempt she said
'Your sons keep on fighting
Get them to stop if you would.'
So we sat down to talk
Make wise choices-walk away
But that's quite hard to do
Being called n***a every day.
Have you told a teacher?
have you let them know?
You might hope they hadn't
But we knew that they had
Even at 5 and 6 they'd been taught their worth
They'd already been called that word...
More than they should.
The problem becomes
Not just that it's said
but that when it's known
Nothing is done.
Thus began a regular fight
Here come the Pitchford's
I'm gonna need you to get right.
Not just the boys
but Daddy and Momma Bear too.
Just so you know we aren't taking your shit
Soooo
They aren't going to be suspended
And they aren't staying in
Unless you begin
To handle this hate
To deal with the truth
That using that word
Carries some weight
And if you say it enough
You might not be safe.
And the ugly truth
Is there's still much to teach
Because you can't stop that word
It just flows from some people
But as a parent you can demand
That they listen
They watch
And then they act
Because yes there's great teachers
But there are also
Those who deep down inside
Might be saying that word
They just know to hide
The hate that they feel
Or might not even know
They carry it around
And sometimes let show.
So it's always our job
While they are still in our care
To teach and to guide them
But remember that
We can't always protect
Those wee little ones especially
As they begin to leave our sight
As they grow and become
Young women and men
Then adults on their own
And that word
Still there
Continues to flow
So while I'm teaching mine to
Walk away-take a breath
And to remember that they are often
being watched and often
Won't get the benefit of the doubt
I need you to teach yours
To keep that word out their mouth
No comments:
Post a Comment