*This poem is the foreword to my first short story titled, Da G.O.A.T (The Gangsta of ALL Teachers). At the end of the poem, I’ve linked chapter one. I appreciate all likes and loves. I respond to all comments. Those SHARES tho? 🖤💪🏾🙏🏾👏🏾🥂*
Because it’s not about the money or power
I’m getting older and lost interest in “ballin”
Teaching is about being a part of something
Influencing the next generation
Nobody lives forever and I don’t want to
But through teaching
Philosophies may stand eternal, Perspectives may last forever
Why Teach?
It’s my calling, in my blood
I was born to do this
Possessed with a passion to do this
I’m going to do this
My commitment to teaching stems from pride and love
It’s my way of paying dues to those I owe my freedom
Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Medgar Evers
My responsibility is to follow the footsteps
Of those who left the torch of education
Phyllis Wheatley, Yoshua Ben Yoseph and Dr. Carter Woodson
I’m teaching because time is of the essence
But it’s never too late to make a difference
Never too late to challenge the standards of society
Shake the social foundations and denounce assimilation
Never too late to encourage critical thinking
Prioritize connections and motivation
I teach because the opportunity
To improve an individual’s integrity gives me butterflies in my stomach
I teach because I’m fascinated
With the fantasy that I can reach the unreachable
Touch the untouchable
I teach because I can’t preach
But it’s my belief that you must question what you’ve been told
Always, always formulate opinions of your own
There are those that don’t want me near young people
What I’ll say, they fear
But I welcome that stress each and every year
Why teach?
Because of those that need me and deserve me
Those that haven’t seen with their own eyes
How much of what they live is a lie
My obligation is to increase their odds of success and survival
My duty is to interrupt the social and criminal injustice cycle
I’m teaching because I’m full of ideas
Surprises, energy and excitement
I champion multiculturalism and damn those who deny it
Through teaching,
Society can be reconstructed on the establishment of
Truth, Knowledge and Equality
So, why teach?
Because I wish I had a teacher like me
Click here for chapter one titled, You could be ANYTHING and you chose this?
