Hello Readers!!! My name is Gail Meadows and I am the founder of The Meadows-Livingstone School (MLS) in San Francisco, California. MLS School is the only Afro-Centric School in San Francisco. Our mission is to educate the total child. The major goal is to create a successful, confident student with strong leadership skills. We also teach them to recognize and stand up to racism, sexism, classism and homophobia.

The reason I am starting this blog is because of my own experience being a Black child in a predominantly white school. My identity as a Black child in this environment was either ignored or denigrated. This blog will capture the stories of other Black children who have suffered through this trauma. Their journeys in discovering positive self-esteem and cultural awareness will be the main focus of this blog. I hope you find meaning and joy from my words. I look forward to your comments.

Mandisa Meets Harriet Tubman

My name is Mandisa and I am ten years old and in the fifth grade. I go to a public school in San Francisco, California. I am one of two other Black kids in my class. As a matter of fact there only a few Black kids in my school. I want to tell you about a problem that is bothering me and makes me feel bad.

We were studying about Harriet Tubman in history class. She was the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. The kids laughed at her and made mean comments about her hair; that it was not groomed and messy. They said she looked ugly and dark. They of course asked if I knew her. I felt like crawling under my desk because I felt everyone was staring at me and thought that I was ugly and dark. The teacher did not tell them to stop laughing at this brave important lady. I felt bad and didn’t want to talk about another Black person. This history class made me feel ashamed to be Black.

I didn’t tell my teacher how badly I felt. I have an adult friend who is a teacher and a Black women. She suggested that I share my feelings with my teacher, but I was afraid to say anything to her because I didn’t think she liked me. My adult friend suggested that I write her a letter. Great idea!

I wrote the letter on Monday and put it on her desk. I anxiously waited until Friday, but my teacher did not respond to my letter. My friend said that the letter may have gotten lost in the stack of paper on my teacher’s desk. She suggested that I write another letter and hand it to my teacher.

Good plan. It helps to have such a nice adult friend. On Monday morning I gave my teacher the letter. She took it and thanked me. I waited to have my problem taken care of. My teacher never talked to me about my letter. I saw my Black lady friend at trampoline on Monday. I had come to depend on her for advice and friendship. She had a present for me; a book about Harriet Tubman.

We read the book together after our class. The problem was never settled with my teacher but I felt good to have a friend who understood. I transferred to a new school. At this new school there were children of many different shades of black, brown and beige. I noticed that when we talked about Black sheroes and heroes the children did not laugh. They got excited learning about people who looked like us and were very brave.

For the first time in my life I thought it was cool to be Black.

Please click here to find out more about The Meadows-Livingstone School.