By: Vincent L Hall
Walesha Robinson is the newly minted principal at Pleasant Run Elementary School in Lancaster. She is proud, and all of us who know her are proud of her. She asked that volunteers show up to greet the new pre-K3 to fifth graders.
There were other educators, fire and police and working-class folks. I was given two choices: a plastic hand clapper or a set of pom poms. Guess which one was in my hand during this 45-minute exercise?
It was the first day of school, and that always brings up so many emotions. These children were beautiful. They were Black, Brown, White, and mixed. They were adorned in beautiful colors that either paid homage to Lancaster’s Orange and Black or any other color you can imagine.
Some came with all the confidence you could muster, and others came in tears. You are old if you can’t recall how daunting a new school year can be for a first-year or returning student. You never know what to expect.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – President Nelson Mandela
These babies sported some stunning hairstyles, haircuts, braids, pigtails, braided pigtails, and afro puffs. The boys were razor-sharp, and some wore tapered cuts with short mullets or big curls. There was not a child walking the welcome line who wasn’t picture-ready.
These children came in singles, doubles, triples, and at least one quad. Some held their fears in check, while others had terror written all over their faces.
Parents flashed picture after picture and videos. They were single moms, moms with husbands, moms with significant others, and as always, a bunch of seasoned grandparents. Lord, what would we do without seniors who didn’t “double-dip” in the parenting role?
Pleasant Run Elementary, like most schools in America, was open and ready for the most pressing job in our nation…Teaching children. I was in heaven for 45 minutes, but when I left the campus, it was nothing but hell.
I thought about how sinful and demented this process must be for Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. What must it be like to try to create some normalcy amidst being bombed by the Israeli war machine? How do you teach arithmetic to children who watch as “Jewish settlers” take their lives and land without recourse?
I thought about the children of Cuba who are suffering unnecessarily because our commander in chief decided to initiate and sustain a fuel blockade. This lawless act has caused electric grids to collapse, daily blackouts, paralyzed public transit, disrupted food distribution, water sanitation, and healthcare operations. What about the 160 girls America killed in an Iranian school? How do you educate children in that type of chaos?
I thought about the children in the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine, the Sudan, Congo, and Somalia. What about the children in Haiti, Venezuela, Lebanon, Iran, and Myanmar? What types of challenges are these children facing that inhibit or totally impede their ability to learn and thrive?
I thought about the inevitability of Karma that America will face for being the sole conspirator and co-conspirator in almost every nation, country, and state where children are in distress. How much longer will God allow us as a nation to selectively pick the meat and skin off the bones of peoples who have a lesser military?
The first day of school at Pleasant Run Elementary or your local schoolhouse should remind you that these children might be the world’s last chance. They are inheriting a world that is wrought with hatred, environmental rapture, and strife of every variety.
Congratulations to Principal Robinson and to educators at every school and every level. You who teach hold the most powerful weapon in the world and out only vehicle we have to change the world!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
