Hey Black Child

Protect and serve lead me to think of a poem called Hey Black Child. In this poem the writer is asking a black child what they know about themselves and asking if they know that there are infinite possibilities to what they [the child] could do. However without the proper discipline the black child could not strive and be successful because they would fold at the pressure of the real world. This is why single black mothers seem to show a tougher love than emotional one, it is because they want their children to be able to grow up and be able to strive in this tough discriminatory world. In other types of homes such as white two parent homes their may be a different type of upbringing one of a more gentle loving style. However I think your upbringing and the type of love a parent should give to their children should be based on the type of trials and obstacles they will have to face in the real world. If you black children are brought up to have tough skin and not wear their emotions on their sleeves then when they are tossed into the real world it wont be such a difficult transition for them to face. Yes, it will still be a difficult struggle to face being black successful and literate in this world but they will have a sturdy foundation to stand on because they would be able to answer yes to the question in the poem Hey Black Child when it asked “Hey black child do you know who you are, who you really are? Do you know you can be what you want to be when you try to be what you can be? Do you know you can do what you wanna do when you try to do what you can do?”