“…it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows. That sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination-time…” (DuBois, 1897)

I am thinking about 

My students

A student

Gifted in profound ways

Searching for her voice

Her place

Her look

In a crowded room

Where

Her

Soul

Beauty

Song

Language

Story

IS NOT

Celebrated.

Where gaze devolves into contempt 

Filled with fear instead of joy

Filled with rage instead of admiration

Filled with jealousy instead of acceptance

That 

This gift to our community is 

LOVE

Principled

Ethical

Celebrated in her home

Where two nations meet

Like blue skies 

Welcoming Blackness

Before rain.

A new day lies on the other side for you.

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