Thursday, June 21, 2007

"Why Our Children Hate Us"/Part #3

This was the page that drew me in...

The Instincts of Geese ("Why Our Children Hate Us")

It was a beautiful, late spring day. A bold, yellow sun- the kind of sun children draw with fat crayons-balanced in a clear, blue sky above. The wind was calm and Philadelphia's murky, green Schuylkill River was a deceptive oasis. I pulled the van into a parking lot near the river, opened the door and my three-year-old daughter dashed toward the water. I chased. In milliseconds, she was within my over-protective grip, laughing and struggling to be free. I released her, allowing her the chance to run several yards up. Suddently she stopped near a patch of grass and bushes, stooping down and extending her hand. From behind the bushes, three baby geese-goslings-appeared. they ignored her innocent hand, moving to her side and continuing toward bread scraps in the grass. Slowly she followed them, unaware that nearly 30 adult geese were angrily approaching her small back.

I dashed to my child, lifting her from the ground just as three geese snapped at her legs. All three missed, but I kicked one in the stomach for good measure. The goose gawked, fluttered his wings and quickly got to its feet. "Damn geese!" i shouted, backing away with my daughter. The whole flock appeared to stare at me, gawking loudly, some flapping their wings and jumping. I put my child back in the van, still watching the birds watch me. "I wanna see the ducks! " my daughter cried. "I wanna see the ducks!" "Okay," I told her. "Wait just a minute."
The geese still stared. Two walked toward our van. "Goddamn, " I shispered under my breath. "These things are serious."

The three goslings were long gone, nowhere in sight. But the adult geese were still defending their territory. Still defendling their babies. There was no way of knowing which geese were the goslings "parents." All of them responded with the same rage. They came in a pack, a unit. All at once.

Instinct. Simple instinct. They weren't going to wait for something to happen to their babies; they were determined to prevent it from the very beginning. Instinct. No deliberation, No ambiguity, Instinct.

If those goslings had been Black children, Black adults would have handed them over-no questions asked. "Here. Take our children. Roast them. Eat them. Have them for dinner." If those goslings were Black children, most of the adults would have ignored the danger, refused to intercede. "That's not my child, " they would say. "That's not my business."

Geese fight harder than most Black people. That's why our children hate us.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I QUOTE PAULA WITH, "WOW!" IM TELLING YOU, I REALLY NEED TO READ THIS! =)

Miss Snarky Pants said...

[smh]--Girl you DO know that this is torture....don'tcha??--don'tcha?? LOL

Damn them (4-7 weeks I gotta wait for the book to be delivered)--I WANT MY BOOK N-O-W!!!!

JustMeWriting said...

LOL @ ms.b:

Paula: yeah...this was IT for me.

lil ms: LOL...I'm telling you, it'll become your manual to dealing with adults...HAHAHAH...just don't abuse its power...lol.

ms.b: I KNOW... I was actually thinking about you when I posted it...like, I'm giving away all the good stuff...lol, but you'll love it. SORRY BOO-BOO for the torture...lol.

Anonymous said...

WOW...that's some deep ish!

deepnthought said...

I am getting this book.

Mizrepresent said...

I really liked this analogy, and so many are guilty of not defending, providing, nourishing their lot, but i tell you i will defend mine to the end, sacrifice and die for them. I know that's easy for a mother to say, at least this mother, but if we take on that same kind of allegiance, and passion with our extended children, the children of the community, the ones we don't know by name or face....wouldn't we break this cycle of neglect. As i stated on Rawdawgs spot, it's time we move on this, and soon. I've got to get this book as well, thanks for sharing and feeding us.

Tasha said...

That analogy is so poignant and so deep. Amazing.

Miss Snarky Pants said...

If you're really sorry--(for torturing me...that is), allz you gotta do to make thangs right with a sistah is fax me a few pages LOLOL.

Okay...Lemme stop--I'm behaving now!!!

JustMeWriting said...

k: LOL...YES IT IS.

deep: YOU'D BETTA... you won't regret it.

tasha: WASN'T it...I was really stunned, like DAG. When my son read it he said the same thing..."Dag, that's so true" see, our children KNOW it's true, so we don't we?

ms.b: I'm AM sorry,but I'm not speaking to you (you see why in your page) LOL. (I've got my arms folded and lips poked out)

miz: (save you for last) THAT'S what I'm talking about...we need to look at all these children as our own...as we teach ours teach 'theirs' what's wrong with that? It makes it easier for our own children to move through the world because we're there guiding the misguided. Man, we've GOT to get it together.

Miss Snarky Pants said...

Oh hell to the naw (lol)

Girl...I know you ain't even madatme!! [see the follow up response I left]

JustMeWriting said...

LOL...OK. OK...I forgive you THIS time, but "I OUNT LIKE PEOPLE PLANEN ON MY PHONE"...LOL. LOL. (sorry, I had a Dave Chappell moment) where's nic to laugh at that...

A Beautiful Life said...

Wow! Deep!

Dangerfield said...

Jmw we need to get buck wild when it comes to protected, uplifted and educated our children and community.

It should be a priority.

JustMeWriting said...

beautiful: YES...VERY.

mark: HAHAHAH... YES INDEED...RADICAL AND CRAZY WITH IT. Mark, this actually IS my priorty...I'm REAL focused on the proper rearing of our children...I'm working on some things now.

Dangerfield said...

"I'm working on some things now."

mark bey: I know they will be great too baby girl. I hope you will share your ideas with the afrosphere forum.

JustMeWriting said...

mark, it's sooooooo hard sorting all the crap in my head out...LOL. but I'm going to email you.