School of Hard Knocks
Lesson 1
Laying the Foundation For Education
School-info4u.com would like to see people of colour unite and be clear about the future we want for ourselves, our families and our community. The school of hard knocks is about laying a strong foundation for our young people, one that values education, celebrates diversity and embraces unity.
Our current state may be very dispiriting, but our aim should be to try to build a sense of optimism about the future. We can't do this if we are divided as a people.
‘Small island’ this and ‘African’ that just demonstrates a slave mentality. There are those who still don’t want to acknowledge that we are all connected and our roots lie in Africa.
We need to rebuild a positive image of Africa in our minds and make sure that our young people do too.
‘When I discover who I am, I'll be free’. Ralph Ellison
Black is beautiful: 'Naptural' roots
Black hairstyles are beautiful and diverse and we should embrace this, whether we are relaxing our hair, wearing a weave/wig or showing off our natural hair with pride.
When it comes to natural hair there are so many textures and types, kinky, wavy, semi/straight etc, but believe it or not, some of us still have a fear of the ‘fro’.
Over the last decade or so though, there has been a growth in the number of women of colour deciding to go natural and this has encouraged our young people to follow suit.
Our young people don’t need to be hearing negative messages like he or she hasn’t got ‘good hair’, this only serves to divide our communities even further.
We need to re-educate our young people and ourselves in order to have more pride about roots, skin tones and hair textures.
‘None of us is responsible for the complexion of our skin. This fact of nature offers no clue to the character or quality of the person underneath’. Marian Anderson
African-Caribbean culture, tradition and heritage
Have you ever thought about tracing your roots? If you don’t know your family history but would like to, there are a number of websites that can help you.
There are also many educational resourceson the market that can help to teach your child about African and Caribbean history.
Encourage your child to research their history and experience the culture. They will find out that their ancestors were the mothers and fathers of civilization.
By reading books and surfing the Internet, your child will learn that the mothers and fathers of civilization were also the founders of language, community, art and science.
Our young people need to know just how powerful our history is so it can help to guide them into becoming just as powerful.
It is important that you help your child to find the right balance between studying and ‘chilling out’.
Instead of allowing your child to fall into a ‘TV trance’ night after night, why not encourage them to start reading books that will stimulate their mind. Encourage your child to read books by inspirational authors.
It is good for your child to question things.
Try to teach your child the art of REALLY listening to something. This is about being able hear what’s really being said and analysing it.
The art of REALLY watching something involves seeing what’s really being presented and asking yourself the question, ‘what message is trying to be put across here?’
The art of REALLY reading something requires that you question it instead of automatically believing or accepting it.
‘Television is chewing gum for the eyes’. Frank Lloyd Wright
‘I wish TV had a knob so you could turn up the intelligence. The one marked Brightness doesn't seem to work’.
‘Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other’. Ann Landers
