Teachable moments are everywhere, if you’re looking for them…
Remembering the Dream
I remember the day I marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The civil rights activist (Sam Walker) who was only 11 years old himself at the time of the first march, had asked for volunteers to be his Hosea Williams and John Lewis. Our hands shot up. They were the brave souls to lead the marchers on Bloody Sunday. Our courage was much less in stature, but still significant. We wanted to do them justice. We wanted to march for ourselves and our future.
This is Us in 2017
We’re entering unchartered waters as a family. This is where the fun starts.
Be extraordinary
What we choose to be extraordinary in depends on the season or priority, but one thing that’s undeniable is that our kids are watching us, and our extraordinary today will one day become their expectation.
What happens next?
This small moment, for me just days after the election, hopefully left a mark on my girls. You never know what does leave a mark, all you can do is model the type of leadership you expect, and give them the tools and opportunities to practice on their own.
A crash course in black girl hair micro-aggressions
If I had to replay that conversation back again, it might go something like this…thank you very much for your compliments of my daughter. For future reference, you should probably ask permission first from her if you’d like to touch her hair, out of respect for her personal space. It’s a rough draft. Unfortunately I’m sure Riley, Olivia, London, and myself will all have plenty of practice perfecting our responses over the years.
Why dads need friends too
It’s crucial that we have people like this in our lives, other dads who know our hopes and dreams who can serve as companions on a similar journey. For my circle of dads, the ties run deep: our wives are besties, our families vacation together, our kids are god-siblings…you get the picture.
The future is in good hands
For parents out there wondering if there’s hope in this world, look no farther than our children and their daily growth. Even in the little things, you’ll glimpse aspects of their talents, talents that will one day change the world for the better. Thank God for these little reminders of what’s possible.
Think lab, not lecture
We must prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child. The further out I can see, the better the decision I will make to help the next generation win. Don’t think control, think connect. Don’t think rules, think equations. Don’t think lecture, think lab.
To whom much is given…
The longer we remain silent and on the sidelines, assuming our comfortable lives will save us, the more we ensure our own demise. How do we as parents help our kids #staywoke to the realities of the world around us?
