Changing The Narrative

Disclaimer:  This blog is not intended for any political purposes.

At GBOC children are required to complete their homework.  And if they say, “I don’t have any homework”, we have homework for them.  Our worksheets are divided by grade level and include strategic life lessons that help them prepare for life.

Well…

After completing his homework, one of the children selected a worksheet titled “Dress the President”.

The worksheet included different suit jackets, slacks and hair dos.

The instructions read:

Dress the President, select his hair, his suit, slacks and shoes.

After reading the instructions, he approached me by patting me on my shoulders with a puzzled look, and said, “Mrs. Barbara, this doesn’t look right.  It just has a man’s body, and man’s clothes.”

He shows me the worksheet and he’s correct.  It’s a picture of a Caucasian character, men’s clothing, etc.

“Okay, then change it.”  Without any further instructions, I handed him the worksheet and he got to work.

After working awhile he said, “Mrs. Barbara, I make some man’s locs and then I made a lady’s face with some locs.”

I gave him one of my looks.  (This look says, “tell me more”.)

He then says, “Because you know a lady can be President too.”

What Does This Say?

When I was his age, the thought of an African American becoming President was a far away thought.

The idea of thinking or desiring ‘big things’ was sometimes looked down upon.  But here this young boy is thinking big and outside of the box.

He’s helping to change the narrative of how we think.  Imagine what our generation of children can do when we allow them to dream big dreams.

Imagine what our generation of children can accomplish when we encourage them without judgement.

Let us continue to encourage our children to be game changers in our communities. Let’s not judge their creativity but encourage them to dream and do what we can to help make them happen.

Nothing is impossible for them that believe. Mark 9:23

Photo credit: Kalei-de-leon @Unsplash.com.