i am still hyped. today was an amazingly emotional day. i knew it would be deep, knew we were seeing something that few ever expected to happen so soon (if at all), and i didn't think i'd do it, but i cried. yep, cried. right there in my classroom when one of my students asked me how this event made me feel. i couldn't get my answer out. starting talking about my grandmother, and arkansas, and jim crow, and then tears made the words stick to the corners of my throat. my students were shocked. a few of them started crying when they saw my tears. and then it happened...

one student, who is distantly related to me, started to give her testimony and i felt like i was at some sort of youth revival. y'all she began talking about her life. how she was taken away from her grandmother (my grandmother's cousin) and now lives in a group home. how she's been abused and nearly been raped since being in the group home. how she has nothing left but her sister because she chose to fight and cut school and stay out late, instead of go to school. she urged her peers to be thankful. she told them to run home and thank their parents for their support. told them to get their education. begged them to do so. she told the class her mother is an addict & is currently in prison, wanting back in her life, but she won't allow it. she told us she wouldn't allow her mom back in her life because she left her with her grandmother at 2-months old and she's tired of people leaving her.

my.head.was.blown.

i couldn't even speak when she was done. thankfully the bell saved us all, and i dismissed the class (barely). i couldn't even wrap my brain around what had just occurred. between the inauguration and her comments, i cried like a baby in the solace of my classroom.

ever since then i have been trying to get my head around what the Obama presidency really means. not just to America, but to my students. to the kids in the trenches with no one at home. what does Obama mean to the kids who have nothing, not even hope to cling to? i've been struggling to make this moment relevant to my students in a deeper way than just being happy he's the first Black president. i mean, that's great, but i want them to trust and believe that anything they put their mind and energy to can come to past. i want them to know that they are valuable and worthy of the dreams they keep tucked deep inside themselves.

but so far...i am at a loss. i am still trying to deal with today's events. i do know this...it cannot stop here. we cannot be happy just having him in office. we have been called to serve, to question, to criticize. and for the first time, i am truly excited about my country and its possibilities.


how did you spend the day? what are your thoughts going forward?