TOGETHER WE CAN

(Excepted from POVBlack History Month Special Article By Marjorie J. Hurst)

Now, when we tell our young Black children they can grow up to be anything they want to be, including president of the United States, they will not have to be believers in Santa Claus or the tooth fairy. IF. . . If they are not in jail. If they are not taking drugs or selling them. If they don’t drop out of school. If they have more than a G.E.D. or a high school diploma. If they aren’t dead.

But what will WE do to help those young Black children now that we know for sure that one of them can attain the highest office in the most powerful country in the world? How will we help to make that dream come true for our little Johnny, our Herman, our Malik, our Latoyia, our Diane or our Chanequa?

The answer is quite simple. Our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles automatically did it for us without a second thought. They mentored us. They asked us to show them our report cards. They asked us why we were out so late. They asked us if we had done our homework before we went out to play. WE will do the same for our youth. WE will become their “caring adults.” WE will sacrifice one hour a week and volunteer our time at a local school and rescue one child at a time from the streets, from jail, from the undertaker. WE will help. WE will encourage. WE will be there. WE will make a difference.

And although you will not be looking for recognition when you volunteer your time, Point of View is going to give you some recognition because you deserve it and because we want you to be an example to others showing them how little it takes to make a difference in the life of a child. We’ve made it easy for you. Just contact the Springfield School Volunteers and tell them you read this article and you want to become a mentor. Call them at 413-787-7015 or email them at springfieldschoolvolunteers.org/ssv or visit them at 195 State Street, Springfield.

Each month starting in April, POV will be spotlighting people who sign up to be mentors in our Mentor Honor Roll Column as a way of saying thank you to our community. We will begin with Alton King and Terri Mayes-King who first became mentors at Chestnut Accelerated Middle School as a result of the efforts of Leslie Lawrence and now are mentors at The Renaissance School and Brookings, respectively. We applaud them because we know how busy they are but we also know that we must be willing to make the effort. IF we do, then, yes, “together, we can bring about change we can believe in.” We can and we will make a positive difference in the life of the next Black child who aspires to become president of the United States.

Won’t you, too, join in this effort?