Musings and A Little Food for Thought

*****If things were the way I wanted I would go back into teaching here again, get re-certified.  Last week I really saw that kids need me, but I can't cure the social and familial ills of this country.  I can’t make people respect and revere learning and the profession I worked hard to get into and is now displaced out of because after two years of teaching, two years of disrespect, racism, and little support from the principal of my school, I gave up, was burnt out, angry, extremely hurt, and said never again.  I'm not big enough to cure the problems of this place. 

Last Monday at the non-traditional high school which is just a prelude to prison (police walking the halls, age group of students 16-25, thug attire, an occasional pregnant teen), some of the students told me they wished I was their teacher because I'm "laid-back".  I’ve never thought of myself as laid-back, perhaps high-strung, but... Maybe I am mellowing out a little as I get older.  I will be 50 next month. 

Tuesday I was checking myself in at the start of the day at an elementary school, and someone tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned, and it was a big girl who was a school patrol.  I must have been in one of her classes before because she reached out to me and hugged me and then promptly left.  The  afternoon of the same day after I'd made sure the group of second graders I taught that day were on their correct buses to go home, I was walking back inside and first a tiny boy and then a little girl who were going to their buses also came up to me and hugged me and promptly went off to their buses. 

Before I allowed my certification to lapse years back, the lowest grades I was certified to teach were 4th  grade to 6^th (middle grades) then on to the 7^th to the 12th in Social Studies and English only.  I faced a lot as a young teacher and had little support. I gave up.  Later I got a lot of satisfaction teaching abroad first in an African country, Botswana, and in Turkey.  The family structures were more intact in these countries than here.  There was a big difference in attitudes towards discipline and respect of teachers, things that have been cast aside here.  African-American kids are my biggest concern because they have been hit hardest by a society decaying on every level.  I wish I could be there for them, but my health and lack of patience won’t allow me.

*****Just a dream:  I want to be a queen and have my own Utopian kingdom.  LOL!  I would be a benevolent monarch.  I would make sure my people got the best education and health care.  Everyone would have what they need, and crafts and creativity would be encouraged along with stable marriages and families which are the backbone of any well-functioning society.  I have been called "Queen" a few times on Twitter by other African Americans. Flattered.  

 The above was inspired by when I came home last night from a discussion that I was leading at my old university.  I got home and turned on the TV briefly. Tavis Smiley was interviewing an African lady dressed as an African king.  It was Queen Peggy.  Read her inspiring and surprising story here:  King Peggy: A Cinderella Story--With a Twist   King Peggy is not a complete anomaly.  Africa has had at least one female ruler that lived as a king. She was the Egyptian Pharaoh Hatchepsut, and for those in denial about it, Egypt is in Africa. I know my map, and I won’t allow myself to be brainwashed and browbeaten into believing European or American propaganda that it is not. 

*****I suddenly recalled this yesterday and thought I'd mention it.  A few years ago I told some students very briefly of my adventures teaching English in Turkey.  I showed them a photo of a portion of the Istanbul skyline along the Bosphorus, and a couple of them said, “Disneyland!”  I guess in a way beloved Istanbul, the only city on two continents, Rome in the East, does look like a fantasy. 

*****I’ve known about Kshar’s cooking blog for some time.  He teaches Persian cooking, recites poetry in Farsi, and also teaches about flower arrangements.  I don’t know a lot about Persian/Iranian foods, but I see some similarities to Turkish cuisine, but I also believe Persian recipes are even more complex than the Turkish.  I do some Turkish cooking when I can.  I had an Iranian friend here in town, but she moved, and the times I visited her home, she had kept her country’s tradition of great food.  She was an older woman close to my mom’s age, and had fled Iran with her husband and children after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  I was fascinated by the beauty and colors of the meals she presented to her guests.  I see the same and more with Kshar’s creations: 

Kshar's food photos

*****Some people might think I’m solely into art, poetry, literature, Eastern and African cultures, but I’m also interested in issues right here at home with my own people.  The previous help me only escape for a little while from thinking about those who are destroyed or doomed and are not even aware of it.  Yes, I’ve had far more friendships with foreign people than people here at home over the years, and in the last few years my closest friendships have been with Turkish people.  I’ve always felt like a foreigner in this country.  It’s very dismal and tragic with a lot of African Americans, a lot of horrors.  Some of what is happening to us is the nature of the society we live in, and also many of our ills are self-inflicted.  We live in a lot of denial as a people.  I believe that if you have nothing else in life, try to have God in your life, a good education, dignity, and self-respect.  All of that in the end will mold you into a person with morals and high standards.  Never shoot for mediocrity. Most people do.  Western culture is encouraging it more and more.  

Week before last I saw this lecture at a black bookstore in Philadelphia by Dr. Umar Abdullah Muhammad, Intellectual Insurrection: From Public Schools to Prison.  I agree with him on about 95% of what he says.  This is a must see for African-Americans and anyone else who is interested in learning about the catastrophes that have hit our community since the death of Dr. King.  Ignore the title.  There is no big focus on Professor Griff on here. Start at about 4:44 just before Dr. Muhammad comes on.

*****Concluding this week’s post, my cousin’s half-sister posted on Facebook this video that honors Whitney Houston.  I thought it was kind of beautiful, but I have no desire to visit Dubai.  Places that are intensely artificial are not to my taste.