It was earlier this year that we were approached by Rose’s principle at South Fant that she may no longer be eligible to attend South Fant. I never thought I see the day when this would happen, the day we began a fight to keep Rose in public school…for all the right reasons.
We started a massive letter writing campaign, one that has no resolution. I am at a cross roads. Does it make sense to write about this publicly? Is this form of public awareness shine a direct spotlight onto a narrative that can be construed as “white privilege”? I don’t know the answers and no one is willing to admit that a wonderful program might need some adjusting.
I have often wondered! When President Obama won the elections in 2008 and 2012, did those elections paved the way for America to accept a female President in 2016, specifically Hillary Clinton? Or is my white, male privilege lens skewed to far out-of-whack to entertain this conversation…this thought process?
I have a daughter and I firmly believe she is growing up in a time when the notion of a female president is going to move far beyond the mainstream, a time in American history that will pave the way for that commonplace. During the 2010 campaign, there was a poster released from the Obama for America camp that read this:
“We must carry forward the work of the women who came before us, ensure our daughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements, and not remaining ceilings to shatter.”
Today was Rosebud’s last day at South Fant’s 3K Program and what an amazing year! Not only did Rose learn so much, but were learning right along side her. I remember her first day of school like it was yesterday. As we were getting out of the car, putting on her backpack, and making our way to the front door, Rose said, “Mommy, her skin is brown?” Sarah responded so beautifully, “Yes Rosebud, look how beautiful…you should ask her name.”
It was that moment in time, we knew we made the right decision; and so began our journey of truly learning about race, class, ethnicity…and most importantly, white privilege. As our journey began, we knew that South Fant was the most wonderful decision we made as parents!
Here is what I write the days leading up to her first day of school in 2015. This is one of many posts I will be sharing from this past year. I hope you follow along this journey!
For the last few years…my blog has been dedicated to so many different arenas from digital marketing, storytelling, content marketing, client stories, and many other narratives leveraged for business. I am changing my writing!
It is time for a change *and* time to start writing my heart. For so long I have held back my personal struggles, beliefs, moments of glory…narratives that make me real. It is time to write for me and to share the stories that need to be shared.
As a young father who is now learning what it means to live in a post 40 world, my life is changing rapidly. I am learning what it really means to be a father, a husband, and son, and provider, and most importantly a writer. I have found my gift later in life and it is the ability to bring narratives to life. It is time to share my narrative.
As a man who is the product of divorced upbringing, a husband who watched his wife loose her mother to breast cancer and witness her death, to a father who could have had four children (three lost to miscarriages), business person who suffered through the 2008 economic nose dive and barely survived, a former journalist who has witnessed/captured national and international tragedies first hand…it is time to share.
Life with Rose and Sarah is amazing…and so are the struggles and celebrations that are the textured wrinkles in my daily skin, I call life.
I look forward to sharing many narratives that truly reveal my hopes to be a better man!
