Considering the Week Ahead

As our students boarded the bus outside the Stratford Richardson YMCA (after a warm and joyous community sendoff), I challenged them to use the time during the ride to write down some thoughts or expectations for the trip. I half-expected to get an eye-roll or two or maybe that look that suggests one can't hear over the music blasting in an ear bud. It is, afterall, only the third day of summer vacation.

But one thing that I've learned about the students in this class of Creating a Usable Past--they trend towards moving beyond the expected. These young men and women did make a conscious choice to extend their school year an additional week to be a part of this program.

Just a few hours into the ride, Breanna Washington presented the second in a series of poems related to our studies that she has composed. In this verse, she speaks on behalf of the group and the weight of what we are about to embark upon.

Tracking Back

Eager hearts to study the past
Keeping memories alive at last.

Let's go down South to the fields and hurt
the shackles on their feet
as they craw thru the dirt.

Let's dig a hole and dig it deep
discover our roots and clense our feet.

Take a step back into time
let's walk the path
of the ones before
take new leaps
and open new doors.

and I promise . . .

the ones ahead will know my name
and that the journey before wasn't
taken in vain.