February may be short, but we have much to learn

My boy is very wise. I posted on Facebook recently about his awareness of our family. He loves the "controversial" Cheerios commercial. We want him to know that through our differences we become strong.

Marie Daly was the first black woman
to hold a Ph.D. in chemistry.

So here comes February. Black History Month. Oh damn. I have so much I want him to know. He is still too young for so many things, but I am going to focus on science. He is very interested in science this year and I needed to narrow down my own excitement. So we will focus on scientists. There are so many people to study other than George Washington Carver! I looked forward to this month when I was in school. It was one of the few times history became engaging for me. How many times do we have to hear about an over 50 year old white guy who did something he should have anyway, but had to struggle to make the decision? Then when he did the right thing, we all celebrated. Woo freakin hoo. Give me the real meat of how we all came to be. 

The women of my husbands
family.

Personally, I am fascinated by black culture. Mainly the bond between mother and son. I have seen it with my own husband and his mother. There is a different level or respect and admiration that I feel comes from the relationship between and black mother and her son. I know that this is the reason my husband is such a wonderful husband. Watching family dynamics are of course different for every family, but the black women I know have something within them that demands more. When describing black women it is almost second nature to put strong before black. I would be doing a disservice to my children to not honor the lineage that their grandparents came from.

I have a responsibility to raise my sons with this understanding that they are different and the same all at once. They are made up of many different cultures and we have to incorporate them. We do this for many reasons. We owe them knowledge. It is how they will become adults that will bring something to the table. We need them to feel pride about who they are. I am not talking about self esteem and squishy feelings here. I am talking about that type of pride that is passionate. If I can help them to be passionate about their cultures then they will want to educate and through education we will all grow.