Dreams are funny things Adama, Lauren, Analie, Megan, and Jennifer

Dreams are funny things....

America, the beautiful, America the great, right? All through out my schooling I learned about the great things America has done for people all around the world. You hear great stories of Ellis Island and how people came to this country for better opportunity We learned about the constitution and how Abraham Lincoln "freed" the slaves form slavery. We learned that everyone is created equal and even though America had a short history of racial tension, that time is over now.

As an African American woman who will bore African American children, I would love to dream of a time where all children are created equally but I know I would just wake up to a rude reality. Often times, many people ask well how do we move on?

As I watched the grand jury not indict Darren Wilson for murdering Michael Brown, there is doubt in my mind that we can ever move on. How can we move on with constant reminders that Black men in America lives are not valued? How can we move on when Black women are already at the bottom of the barrel and have to endure the loss of their male counterparts on a daily basis? How can we move on when before Black boys are taught how to interact with women they must first learn how to act when a police officer approaches them? How can we move on?

As a teacher who will serve Black and Brown men, I ask myself, how do I fight the good fight and prepare my students for the harsh realities that await them outside the school walls? I cry for my students because no matter what we would love to believe even the schools they attend treat them as the "other" that America proudly keeps intact.

In the word's of Mary Prince's mistress "who had put freedom into my head" I directly respond "America did but now they regret ever doing so."

The question is not how can we move on from these tragedies. The question should when will America stop acting like these things never exist and prove to our Black children, whose ancestors built this country from the ground up that they are important?