I have said before that I draw plenty of energy from the lessons kids teach. That includes my son.
I don’t think I am unique to lay platitudes onto my son. That’s what parents [should] do! Although I have more compelling reasons to celebrate my son; his deeds and words never cease to amaze me!
Recently, my son made twelve years on this planet, with more life experiences than I had at that age. By his fifth birthday, he’d already been to nine countries. In second grade, he initiated a kids’ nature conservation group, Kids Earth Patrol, where he mobilizes his peers to clean our neighborhood natural resources. In third grade, he turned his passion for illustrating comics into a thriving business selling hand-drawn comics. He has been elected twice to his school student government, the only student in his school to hold the same office two years in a row, through competitive electoral campaigns! He is also an ardent Scratcher [thanks MIT]!
I am even more proud of my son as a Social Justice Warrior! I should have known, when I chose to name him *Biko,* after the renowned South African freedom fighter, and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Biko. No known relationship, whatsoever! Although, three years before he was born, his mom met Steve Biko’s son, Nkosinathi Biko while on a visit to South Africa. That visit did not come to mind when I chose his name. I just wanted a name with African roots, which would also easily slide off the “linguistically-challenged American tongues.”
At his tender age, my son is using his platform to promote social justice — protecting the planet, standing up for justice, support to those who may be shunned by the majority, or speaking truth to power.
In third grade, he came home and told me about one of his classmates who was shunned by his peers and teachers because he was “getting into other people’s space.” So, my son showed me the “Behavioral Chart” he created for his peer with “rewards” and “incentives.” He discussed it with him, “Every time I see you doing something great, I will reward you with a check on your chart.” Why? To encourage him to commit to desirable behavior. I was dumbfounded and proud!
As a special educator/early childhood educator, I learned about creating “Behavioral Plans,” with rewards and incentives from my professors. My eight-year-old third grader produced one on his own, becoming an ally of peers with special needs. He understood, unlike his classmates and teachers that his buddy had attention challenges because his brain was processing ahead of his age and grade assignment. Even though his peer did not return to school the following year, they remain good friends to date!
So, when the need to proclaim that Black Lives Matter became urgent, he heeded the call to action. Joining the recent global protest and outcry against police brutalization of black people in the United States. Without my instigation, my son used his platforms to defend black lives and enjoined his peers to become allies in the struggle. I found out that he was engaging his community or creative coders. He started a thread about “Black Lives Matter” on his Scratch Account, enjoining his “scratch community” to express their views on police brutality against black people. He engaged with those who posted, in support or opposition. He explained to those who said All Lives Matter, that the urgency right now is to focus on black lives reeling from the hands of law enforcement. He employed messages from media images, videos, and articles we had turned for information on the protests. Truly admirable, and surprising, since I did not think Scratchers had that kind of platform!
Recently, at a party with his friends, he found himself standing up for black lives, again. When one of his peers said “the whole Black Lives Matter movement was stupid because “all lives matter,” he put on a spirited defense of the movement. Being the lone black voice at the table did not deter him from standing up for his beliefs. Yes, he was frustrated with the mindset around the table. He went to the bathroom to cry off his anger, then collected his emotions, and boldly returned to do the work of a social justice warrior. Defending why we need justice for black people in America. That, it was not “just one single black person killed by the police,” as a peer suggested. He read off a list of more black people brutalized without justice or accountability.
Another peer suggested that “they [protestors] just want a chance to ruin property.” He defended all the other black people who were not involved in “vandalism,” “destruction of property,” or “mischief,” but still lost their lives to police brutality. He reminded a peer focused on highlighting that George Floyd “used a counterfeit $20 bill, and had a troubled past,” that he had turned his life around. Still, “nobody deserves to die just because they are using counterfeit money.”
They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Indeed this is my apple, and I am super-proud! I have spent most of my life standing up for equality, fairness, and justice. Defending those who denied a voice – prisoners, refugees, breastfeeding mothers in detention, racial, ethnic, linguistic, ability minorities. Confronting those silent to injustice.
Following the murder of George Floyd and resulting protests, I waited for my community of friends or membership organizations to express their support for us and show us that we matter. When nobody turned their voices on, I called out our school, the Boy Scouts of America, and the honor societies to which I belong.
If we are going to entrust our children with predominantly white institutions, which is most of America’s education and youth organizations, then they need to make us feel that we all belong,. Reassure us that they grieve with us, and have our backs and our front, whenever we need them. That is what my son was fighting for, and so was I. He was not afraid to become unpopular, by choosing to stand up for what is right. He has a greater purpose, illustrated in these words of Nelson Mandela:
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
I would love for my son to approach his 12 years on earth eagerly awaiting full enjoyment: planning where to celebrate, anticipating surprising birthday gifts, and compiling his a guest list for his party. But that is not his reality, as a black male growing up in the United States.
He’s not afforded the same childhood innocence that his peers enjoy, simply because of the color of his skin.
So, if he chooses to spend his 12th birthday making sure that people like him receive equal treatment by law enforcement. Urging on his peers to confront their privilege of dismissing that, “Black Lives Matter! Envious that a black man is “made so famous by a movement,” even when that man [George Floyd] no longer has the luxury of still breathing. If we are still oblivious to the power of When Kids Teach, I am proud to say that, mine is proof that they are unafraid to be Social Justice Warrior!
When Kids Teach 