My mother was born to be a teacher. I was told that she would have local children arranged on the South Philly steps of her home playing school: she would play being the teacher, and the other kids would play being the students. I later learned that she was very bright in school, got “skipped” a grade, and was one of the few African-Americans at that time that went to an “integrated” school and not a “segregated” one.
She had me as a single mom, and from what I could piece together, she had to quit college, where she was studying to be a teacher, and get a government job to take care of us. When she married my stepfather, she quit her job to go back and finish school.
I was coming home yesterday from quite a distance, and my GPS brought me home through a unique, circuitous, countryside route. It told me to turn onto Cheyney road. My mind instantly thought of the fact that that was the same name as the school that my mom went to: Cheyney University, an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) school.
After some twists and turns on the road, there it was: Cheyney University! I pulled over and jumped out of my car to take a picture of the front of the school.
After I got back into the car, I realized that the last time I remembered being there was as a child of about maybe 10 or 11 - at her graduation! I started to get choked-up, thinking about all she meant to me, and all she taught me. She poured into me to such an extent that I went on to graduate from a prestigious prep school and two Ivy League schools.
She went on to be a fantastic teacher in the Philadelphia Public School system, and inspired many of her students to greater heights. She even went on to get her master's degree from Antioch University. She also inspired a friend of our family, who was working in one of the schools as a cleaning lady, to go and get her degree - and this lady left that job and ended up as a community organizer and a great influence in her community!
One of her former students, who is a friend of mine to this day, told me that my mom was very instrumental in making him the person he is today. She had such a personality that most people say that once you met her, you never forgot her!
I certainly will never forget you. Thank you, Mom, for all that you did for me and for others, teaching us how important education is for everyone, and even showing me that Christians need to educate themselves too, and not just be as some are: victims of false teachers.
