Our Lives Matter!

I share a whole lot with my students, and I definitely share with them about books that I read. I told them about The Quest of the Silver Fleece by W.E.B. DuBois, and that led us to talk about W.E.B. Dubois' life and legacy. Of course, I had to show them the pictures of me in Ghana at the home and burial site of DuBois.

Well, Thursday and Friday of last week, one of my students was in Massachusetts to attend the funeral for his grandmother. He excitedly rushed in today and said "I have something for you." He passed me this card that tells about a National Historic Site for DuBois. He told me of how his family was riding along and saw the sign for the site. They did not have time to visit the site, but they stopped briefly to get this card for me. (Swoon!)

  
I wonder if I had not shared with the student about DuBois, if he would have paid that sign any attention and just passed right on by it. I want to believe that I influenced this student to take notice of this person who is sometimes left out of American history.

This encounter with my student reminds me of one of the reasons why I love being a teacher; We, not just teachers, have the power to influence other people and the lives of the people whom they influence, either positively or negatively.

My People, Our Lives Matter!

Happy Monday.....