When I was in the 3rd grade I decided that I was going to college to become a teacher. My elementary school, Woodland, in the heart of East Oakland, was full of beautiful black women who taught us like we were their very own each day. I would sit and watch their every move. I would admire their church outfits which they wore to work. During recess I'd try to imitate them by attempting to boss my friends around. These women showed me an alternative to a lot of the negative things I saw in the neighborhood. I cannot remember knowing anyone within the blocks of my neighborhood who had gone to college. It just wasn't the thing to do. Most people, like all of my 9 siblings ahead of me, went to work after high school, not college. Not because they were less intelligent but they had a different path. Therefore, when I say I decided to go to college, I know it was divine guidance. Once I made that commitment, everything I did was filtered through...going to college. Anything or anyone who attempted to deter me from that goal was given the boot. Period. I was focused. Any time I heard any counselor, teacher or guest speaker talk about college, I perked up and listened. The most influential person in this area was a man named Munyiga Lumumba. He was a rep from the Early Academic Outreach Program at UC Berkeley. During either 8th or 9th grade he came to Havenscourt Jr. High to talk about Saturday and Summer classes. I signed up and would go many Saturdays and every summer until graduating from High School. Upon graduation, I went to UC Berkeley. Now when I hear my 11th grader tell me he is going to make movies or my 8th grader talk about singing for millions one day, I don't tell them to think of something else to do. Instead I validate their goal and try to find avenues to support their desire. I must admit there was one time I had to redirect one of my little ones. The youngest, when he was four declared one day in the car, "I'm going to have a lot of kids with a lot of different mamas." While I wanted to gasp, I simply encouraged him explain himself. He went on to tell me that he wanted to marry all of the homeless women so that they could have somewhere to live. Whoosh...that was a close one. We discussed options to helping homeless women which did not involve him marrying each one.
