"Thank You" is a track from Stay Human, the third studio release by Michael Franti
& Spearhead in 2001(wiki) (lyrics).
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" is a 1969 hit single recorded
by Sly and the Family Stone, recognized as one of the greatest and most
influential funk songs of all time. (Wiki) (Lyrics)
Kai's Thoughts:
When
I was in elementary school, my mother would sometimes drop me off to school
early so that she could get to work on time. If my teachers were around they
would let me sit in the classroom and work on the computer. I remember when we
got a computer in our one room library that had access to the world wide web, I’d
spend early mornings there studying the WNBA and ABL (American Basketball
League) websites just dreaming of the day I’d be able to play with the pros.
I
absolutely adored Ms. Felgenhauer, my fourth grade teacher. I remember being
really creative in her class and because I enjoyed it so much it didn’t really
feel like school at all. One morning I was helping her get ready for the week.
We were talking--now I have to tell you that I sometimes didn’t realize my own
age because I often times liked to sit and listen to adults talk and if they
engaged me even better—and she asked me how I thought her class was going. I
responded, “Well, I love your class, but we don’t really learn anything.” She
was so angry and hurt, her response, “You are learning, you just don’t know it.”
I do believe our 4th grade class lacked in rigor (but really what does/should that
mean for a fourth grader). Shouldn’t we be singing and imagining new hybrid
animals like the lizardcat? Shouldn’t we be taking the time to dream and play?
Isn’t that where the revolution is conceived?
I
remember being obsessed with corn snakes and worms. I’d collect worms in shoeboxes
with mud and grass. I collected worms from gutter streams and bring them to
class. I was never told that that wasn’t okay. I wasn’t told that I was weird
or odd. I was curious (okay, maybe a little weird;-). I think back on that moment
now and I see how I was beginning to decipher what education was supposed to
look and feel like formally, while experiencing something different—something more
pleasurable, a place where I could draw things that I had never seen in real
life. Dreaming is work even though many of us dreamers don’t get acknowledged
for the kind work we do. I want to thank Ms. Felgenhauer because I think you
were right—I didn’t know then just how much you were teaching me about teaching
myself and allowing myself to dream and be creative. I want to thank some of
the folks who have been master teachers to me. Of course this list is not
comprehensive, but I want to acknowledge some of those master teachers.
Mom: My first teacher. Because you never doubted me, I never doubted me. You always have my back and push me to keep going even if I’m challenging you. You have made me stronger. You have made me compassionate. You have made me gentle because you taught me how to care for you when you needed it. I appreciate you and you will always forever ever be my number one teacher. (You also made me a Scrabble master;-)
Dad: You taught me blues and basslines. You sang to me in harmony, all three parts sometimes. You taught me how to walk without needing to know where I’m going. You helped me to learn the importance of the journey. You modeled for me openness, a kindness with strangers that I aspire to. You taught me how to go with the flow. But most you taught me that people can and should change. You continue to teach me about true forgiveness and deep healing. You’ve taught me the sacred medicine of laughter and I thank you.
Gwen
(My aunt/preschool teacher): You have taught me love for community. You have
taught me how to be prepared for a fight.
You have taught me about loyalty and the importance of family. I Thank
you for all of the work you have done and all the work you continue to do—you
do it with/for love (because we know it’s not for the money) and I appreciate
you.
Ms.
Ella (pre-school teacher): I thank you for those moments when you would come
get me during nap time and ask me if I wanted to do something else. I wasn’t
always sleepy and you allowed me to be awake. Thanks for letting me help you
make snacks with you. I remember those moments as some of the most tender I
have experienced. I thank you for modeling for me kindness and a nurturing
calm.
Mr. Flemming (Elementary School teacher): Thank you for showing me that there are many ways to be a teacher. For you teaching was not about how well one did on the test, even though I was obsessed with this. You taught me that honesty is important but sometimes rules are not always to be followed. I thank you for teaching us about Hatshepsut—you made sure we knew that it was indeed possible for Black women to rule the world. I thank you.
Mrs. Stoermer (Elementary school teacher): I thank you for always pushing us. I thank you for taking us camping and allowing us to experience the wilderness. I thank you for taking an interest in my educational journey and moving me to the spaces where I got access to the best. I admire your passion for teaching. I thank you.
Mr. Ajamu (Middle school teacher/coach): I thank you for teaching me how to play basketball. I thank you for always pushing me to take the game seriously. You have taught me to recognize the poetry in dance (even though I could never catch the beat myself). You taught me how to be proud and value myself and what I bring to the table always because you were always so proud and confident.
Ms. Vargo (Middle School teacher): I thank you for taking me and my writing seriously. You were the first person to teach me how to read a text closely. You taught me about emotional intelligence and empathy. You created a holistic classroom space where we couldn’t think about the texts we read without encountering ourselves—our deepest loves, our goals, our fears, and our pain. Thanks putting Ender’s Game on our reading list. I appreciate your friendship and mentorship over the years.
Macedo (Boarding school advisor): I thank you for your self-awareness. I admire your will to always do better. I thank you for helping me navigate Dana Hall. I thank you for coming to visit me at camp that one summer when I didn’t think I would return. Your encouragement was/is felt and I appreciate you.
Professor Hicks: Thank you for pushing me like no other professor or teacher before. You called me out and asked me to step my game up—no one had ever done that before. I thank you for teaching me to take myself and my work seriously. I thank you for teaching me about blackness, space, place, and history. I thank you for introducing me to Robin D.G. Kelley’s work. You are a master teacher and I am so grateful to have studied under you.
Professor Edwards: You taught me Black Marxism, Stuart Hall, and the meaning of Africana studies. You taught me how to read a text. I thank you for sharing your brilliance with the world and with me—we need it. I appreciate you.
Professor Keeling: I appreciate the way you travel with music and poetry always in tow. You have taught me about Black queer futures and women of color feminist genealogies. You remind us of the histories of the Black radical imagination, proving that we are never alone. I thank you.
Professor Clyde Woods: You taught me how to speak up even if afraid. You taught me friendship. You gave me mentorship. You were concerned with Black life—that’s what you loved and that is what you endorsed. I appreciate the hard questions, the times you would put me on the spot. You showed me how to do this work with love. I am grateful for all the wisdom you shared while you were here and for the road maps you left behind so that we might not get lost.
Professor Robin D.G. Kelley: Thank you for teaching me about poetry, surrealism, and Monk. I thank you for your generosity as a scholar and a mentor. You teach me that freedom dreaming is essential to life. I appreciate you.
Professor Alexis Pauline Gumbs: You gave me something to carry in my wallet. You bring poetry from the future back and forth and all around. You make it clear and there’s no doubt that when you speak we all listen. You boldly bring us messages back from our ancestors. I am grateful for your kindness, your brilliance, your ability to create alternative spaces of knowledge production where we might pursue our dreams in health and with joy. I thank you.
Treva Ellison: You are both my friend and my intellectual/creative partner. I appreciate your encouragement and the time you have taken to create with me. You show me that there are multiple ways to tell a story and sometimes the best way isn’t with words and writing—sometimes it is in the chords you play on the guitar or a hum or perhaps a stencil. I appreciate your wisdom and the poetry with which you walk. I thank you and I am thankful for you.
Patrisse Cullors-Brignac: You have taught me community. You have taught me about friendship enduring. You have taught me how to make art out of disaster. You have taught me how to turn insanity to power. You teach me the importance of organizing. You teach me forgiveness and compassion. I appreciate you.
This list goes on and I am so thankful for all of those master teachers I list above. Of course there is also: Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Fred Moten, Jordan Camp, Christina Heatherton, Julia Wallace, Analena Hope, Prentis Hemphill, Cole B. Cole, Lanita Jacobs, Laura Pulido, Sharon Holland, Rod Ferguson, C. Riley Snorton, D’Lo, Shana Redmond, Sarah Haley, La Marr Jurelle, Qween Hollins, C. Jerome Woods, Jewel Thais-Williams, Katie Kent, Maria Elena Cepeda, D.L. Smith, Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Jefferey King, Maylei Blackwell, Adaku Utah, Kelly Lewis, Patricia Torres, Jeremie Preston, and the list goes on (and on and on and on and)…
I am more than grateful for all of the master teachers who I have encountered in life so far. I share the songs above and this poem below—THANK YOU.
Recreation
Coming together/ it is easier to work/ after our bodies/ meet/
paper and pen/ neither care nor profit/ whether we write or not/ but as your
body moves/ under my hands/ charged and waiting/ we cut the leash/ you create
me against your thighs/ hilly with images/ moving through our word countries/ my
body/ writes into your flesh/ the poem/ you make of me./ Touching you I catch
midnight/ as moon fires set in my throat / I love you flesh into blossom/ I
made you/ and take you made/ into me.
-Audre Lorde
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