Fathers: Are You Teaching The Lessons of Selma

[williamjackson]

Fathers: Are You Teaching The Lessons of Selma

Chinua Achebe (Nigerian Author), "We cannot trample upon the
humanity of others without devaluing our own."

This is one of the wise sayings of The Igbo culture of Nigeria the
homeland of Chinua Achebe. Many of his books dissect the practice
of colonization that denied human rights of Africans in their native
lands on the continent of Africa.
Blacks in America can relate on multiple levels because of the situations
and circumstances of slavery, segregation, and laws designed to deny
human and constitutional rights.

"He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud
to keep him down." The Education of a British-Protected Child:
Essays. Blacks have been held down in the red clay of Georgia to
the sandy dirt of Florida and the other soils of this nation.
Over the centuries Blacks have fought and died for rights that
whites have had. Rights that should have automatically been
given to Blacks because they were earned from decades of slavery,
denied because whites control and continue to control the very fabric
of the American society.



The movie Selma has highlighted the power and effectiveness of
unification by Blacks in gaining their rights. Center piece is the
urgency, responsibility and accountability of men to step forward to
sacrifice and fight through legal means and in peaceful marches to
make life better for their children and their grandchildren.
The focuses were diverse, the genesis on voting rights, the
encompassing power of being able to vote and influence the
electoral process. Education continues to be a central focus because
an uneducated Black community is left deprived of jobs that help
to provide for the families of Black men and women. When a group
is denied education and voting rights their communities will
decline into chaos, poverty, crime, homelessness, hopelessness and
lack of investment to build or maintain that community.

The Black father / men is key to keeping Black communities stable,
alive, safe and vibrant. When Black men are working they reinvest
their dollars into their families and they (the families) reinvest
into their communities. Black men that work are more prone to value
their homes, automobiles, neighborhoods and even are more active in
their places of worship because hope is seen outside of the church
not just from preaching from the pulpit and singing which brings a temporary
solace. The reality is that Black men are attacked on multiple fronts
that seem to drain him of his will and desire to keep pushing forward.
"Fathers, it is time to lift our children, our families, our culture,
our communities from the mud of poverty, ignorance, death and
destruction." William Jackson – My Quest To Teach



The lessons of Selma are a transformative nature where at
one time many Black men sacrificed for their families, worked
two or three jobs to pay rent, pay utilities and keep food in the
home for their families, in today's society there are the
challenges of finding a job or starting a career. Educational
opportunities are challenging where the color of your skin may
mean testing for ESE or directed to a School to Prison Pipeline
to keep dropout rates high and prison cells full. The opportunities
to graduate from high school with a diploma that will open doors
to higher educational opportunities or military service are still a
challenge for too many Black children.

In Selma we saw that men are the foundation of the family, the
corner stone of the community and the workers in the church.
Fathers are supposed to be the rock that their children rely on,
their families can stand on during the storms of life and the
challenges that they will face. There are many lessons and
examples exposed in the movie Selma the most enduring is
the active participation by men to rally in a movement that
means to change injustices.
Men unify and expand their influence through planned
strategy that encourages collaboration and cooperation for
the betterment of Black people not for self promotion or monetary
personal gain.



Young and old participated in the marches and protests of the
sometimes violent states, but men were active and involved.
They worked to change laws, they sacrificed to change policies
and to stop discrimination for their children's and grandchildren's
future. This blog addresses the responsibilities of "men in the villages"
of the many Selma's in this nation. Men must re-evaluate the
importance of their children; their children/families should
come first, the value of the lives they helped to create are
invaluable. A father's legacy is not in how many children they
created, but how they take care of them and educate them. Did the
father inspire the value for education in the home or did they
allow the streets to raise their children? Did the father go to
school and talk to teachers and administrators or did the father
ignore misbehavior's and disrespectful attitudes allowing another
Black child entrance to a School to Prison Pipeline?

Men have a right that extends to the accountability and responsibility
to be involved in their children's educational growth and development.
To develop positive societal morals and ethics, fathers need to be
involved in a dialogue that is a growth from watching Selma.
An appropriate quote from Nigeria that the late Achebe shares,
"People who do not seek their fellow human beings' help when in danger
or difficulty are therefore animalistic." Black men that ignore, reject
or deny their children and families are worse than animals. Today Black
fathers are needed to teach their children how to survive.
"People say that if you find water rising up to your ankle, that's the
time to do something about it, not when it's around your neck." Chinua Achebe
The blood of youth killed by Black on Black crime is around the knees
of us all that stand by and do nothing.



The movie Selma and the current events of police brutality and increased
civic unrest are screaming for actions from men/fathers/grandfathers.
How much more will be done in violence just as in Selma as seen on the
streets of the nation before men will band together in unity to stop
the violence done to Blacks in this nation and by Blacks to each other?
As a man, father, and educator, I must learn from events like Selma so I
teach my children and others to be cautious, to be intelligent, to be
positive in their actions and love who they are and their culture.
Their hopes and dreams are based on their abilities through education,
prayer and the knowledge that their village cares about them.

Selma has many lessons, the key elements are education, voting rightsand
the rights of human beings. Fathers affect the whole environment;
"...children who identified a father or father figure scored higher on
basic learning skill tests and had a stronger sense of competence and
social acceptance compared to children without fathers"
(University of Maryland Medical News, 2000).



Fathers have you had a Selma discussion with your children and are you
leading your children and families or running away from them?

William Jackson, M.Ed.
Parent, Educator, Speaker
Blogger: My Quest To Teach
My Quest To Teach
Twitter: @WmJackson
Instagram: http://instagram.com/williamdjackson

[Rob68]

I see the best way out of chains is education...not until education is the number one objective of all people of color is the number one thing at home will things change...soo many whites still hate and are afraid of any person of color..its going to take another 100 years in the south for true eqality. We have families that are still teaching their babies hatred..Those who deny that fact are just plain ignorant. Itll take centuries to undo the damage done by early America if ever. Did we really think things would just smooth over after we ended slavery? African american families theach their babies and that hatred continues. When will it end? Its up to you and i.  Try this...invite someone outside of your social group,color group,economic group once a week for dinner at your house...hey we all have to eat.

[williamjackson]

Thank you for those comments.

I agree with you in so many ways...

Wm