…remarks from last Sunday as we concluded our Summer Enrichment Camp…

Today is bittersweet. We concluded our Summer enrichment camp today. And while it remains to be seen what harvest will appear, I am stubbornly hopeful that the All-wise, Eternal, Benevolent, and Merciful Creator will reward the faithfulness of those who lovingly served this Summer.

This is hard work, and you are heroes – champions for our children.

As the camp concludes, I’m more aware now than ever of the tremendous need for programs like the Springboard. The dearth of positive, safe, healthy, and affirming spaces for our beautiful brown babies, leaves me feeling how the Israelites must have felt when they were being harassed by the Philistines and their champion, Goliath.

Our children need heroes.

Our children need champions. Not the sort that run fast, or dunk basketballs – these are fine. But our children need some everyday heroes. Moms and Dads that look into their eyes and remind them that there is goodness and greatness in them – that they are beautiful, smart, and strong! Grandmothers and Grandfathers that will cradle their handsome faces and remind them of their royalty – remind them of where they come from and who they are. Teachers that recognize their potential even when is not yet refined.

Our children need heroes.

Our children need to hear words of chastening but even more than that – they need words that affirm, encourage, and inspire them – our children need the words that will make them fly – words that will make their spirits soar! Our children need an investment of our time, soul, and strength – not just our money! Our children need to be urged to crave knowledge and not just entertainment – to strive to be substantial and not just stylish. Our children need heroes. Our children need to be shown that love is not weak or lame but that it is strong and resilient. Our children need to be taught to love and value themselves so that they can love one another.

Our children need heroes.

Our children need to be taught the mantra of our Ancestors- I am because we are, and because we are, therefore, I am!

Our children need to be taught to cherish their brown bodies, the coils in their hair, the broadness of their noses, and the thickness of their lips! Our children need to be taught that their almond, chocolate, mocha, coffee, midnight, brown, beige, caramel, sun-kissed skins are a blessing and not a curse. The melange of hues, the mystery of our melanin is too a mirror of majesty – a reflection of divinity!

Our children need heroes!

And though it appears that we, like David, are overmatched, ill-equipped, and underprepared- we will persist. With only a sling and a few small stones, we confront the giants of racism and supremacy – and the poverty, violence, self-hatred, and hopelessness that ensues.  We confront the dark towers of misogyny, sexism, and xenophobia that casts shade on the souls for our little ones. We confess our fears, but we will not be paralyzed by them. Our size will not determine our significance. We admit our anxieties, but we will never abandon this great work. We may acknowledge the strength of the adversary, but we will always affirm the power of our Creator!

Our resources, sparse as the may be, are more than enough for the God who specializes in making something- that is all things- out of nothingness