Mother to Son

My son is having difficulty reading my book, I Am Not Beneath the Law.  I remembered the poem by Langston Hughes and thought it might be helpful to him.

Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stairs.

It’s had tacks on it,

and splinters, and boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a –climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turning corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So, boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the step.

‘Cause you finds it kind a hard.

Don’t you fall now—-

For I’se still going honey,

I’se still climbing.

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Langston Hughes

The life of parents has not always been easy. One must perservere and stay resilient. Life is not always fair. We must look to our ancesters and draw strength and inspiration. We must never give up. Slavery could not stop us. Oppression will fail. We must keep moving. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution should apply to us. Freedom is our goal and we must never give up. As Black people, we have been through some things in our lifetime. Trailblazers have stories to tell.

A white editor told me that so many things happened to me that one might question the validity of my story. I omitted a lot of the horrors of my life and insignificant discrimination faced daily. The old saying, “walk a mile in my shoes” might apply to a lot of Black lives. It is time to open a conversation about the past of Blacks in America again.