this man is the truth for me right now. as i sit in my office at school blogging, im marinating in the speech that he just gave. the responses from the students that said louder than their adolescent minds could muster "we want to have these kind of conversations. we just need someone to start them for us."

he talked about the fcc allowing "nigger" and "bitch" onto television after 7... he spoke about mascots, and what if your face was on the side of a helmet and you're identity was no longer a person but a commodity... about harriet tubman and a little boy of eight who was scared while escaping with her and she experienced her moment of blackness...

i walked back with a faculty member who i respect, and he said he loved the speech. especially now when he is teaching huck finn. when these conversations are so difficult and that they had training...

i realized we have all the training we need. we were born with it, raised with it, studied it while in school and now teach it. it is our America that has trained us. whether as minority or majority, we all know that something is Wrong in our country. we are ill.

but we have also known that we can make it Right. stop hesitating to have these courageous conversations. just do it. let the fear of uncertainty pause you when responding. make every word count, then discredit it all as nothing than just abstract ways to capture your true thoughts. shirk training to have the conversation

this is where i need to be. i think i have an idea of what i need to do. im scared, but so excited.