SubscribeOur young people need us
Shortly before she died at age 79 little more than 55 years ago, Mary McLeod Bethune sat in her study and asked herself what legacy beyond her few worldly possessions she would like to leave for others. “If I have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and serving,” she concluded.
This daughter of former slaves reflected on her long and rich career as an educator who built a school for girls that today is a coed college; as a presidential advisor who influenced legislation that made life better for African Africans and women; and as a civil and human rights activist who worked to break down walls of discrimination and injustice for all people. She lived a life of faith in action, and for inspiration I often found myself revisiting the “last will and testament” she wrote.
I thought about the document this weekend after being party to two different conversations about the challenges facing African American girls in our schools. I have had similar discussions about our boys as well, about how increasingly difficult it is for some of them to navigate the bullying or pressure to engage in mischief-making or worse from peers. I also remain grieved by the number of our young men involved in crime and gun violence as I wrote in a previous blog.
After a church meeting Friday evening, a mother lamented the lax manner of speech and postures her elementary school-age daughter had begun repeating. On Saturday at a picnic, I listened to two beautiful 16-year-old girls talk about the “Barbie girls” and the “ghetto girls” at their school and how if you are a part of a clique you are expected to fight or be fought. Walking down the hall can be a challenge, the two said, and they have to make sure they don’t accidently bump into a girl who may not accept an apology.
In conversations I have had in recent years about youth, the tension often arises over focusing too much attention on the “bad” kids at the expense of “good” ones or vice versa. However as a parent who has had some child-rearing challenges and through my work as a volunteer in schools and in church work, I am convinced that as adults we have to engage all the young people we encounter in positive, affirming ways. Or at least try. It may be difficult reaching some of them at first, but we cannot afford to ignore any of them.
Our young people need us more now than ever before, even though some of them may not think they do. Young girls, no matter what neighborhood or mentality they come from, need female role models who will show them compassion and offer loving, and when necessary firm, direction.
That’s were Mary McLeod Bethune’s last legacy comes in: “I Leave You Finally A Responsibility To Our Young People.”
“The world around us really belongs to youth, for youth will take over its future management. Our children must never lose their zeal for building a better world. They must not be discouraged from aspiring toward greatness, for they are to be the leaders of tomorrow. Nor must they forget that the masses of our people are still underprivileged, ill-housed, impoverished and victimized by discrimination. We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.”
(The above photoby J. J. Prats is of a memorial located on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to Bethune’s work erected by the National Council of Negro Women, which she founded in 1935.)
In her last will and testament, Bethune also left us love, hope and faith. We have to employ all three as we extend our hearts and hands to young people in our families, churches and communities. Let’s ensure that together with this generation of young people we will work toward Bethune’s “vision of a world of peace, progress, brotherhood and love.”
How are you helping young people in your family, your church, your community?
“I Leave You Faith. Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible. Faith in God is the greatest power, but great, too, is faith in oneself.”
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