On the Freedom of Black Children

If sufficient grace and compassion flow to them, we will all receive these necessary elements of life.

I returned to Austin yesterday from just over a week on the East Coast. I celebrated a dear friend’s birthday in Philadelphia and caught up with folks in D.C., but the primary reason for my trip was the annual coordinating committee retreat of the Dignity in Schools Campaign in NYC.

I will dedicate a separate post to just how fully the Campaign has given me deep clarity - and ultimately transformed me. As we met for two and a half days, I thought of the intergenerational organizing that has defined movement work for centuries. In the space, we welcomed two children of our fellow coordinating committee members - a three-month-old and a three-year-old. The three-year-old immediately called to mind my niece: along with their inherent brilliance, they share the fact that they are Black children who were born in the year 2020.

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Across the turmoil of the past three-and-a-half years, my relationship with my niece stands out as a consistent point of peace and joy; moreover, bearing witness to Black children in my community and my travels - like a Black boy on the shoulders of his brother in D.C. in September 2022 - grounds me.

The climate emergency worsens, police murder Black people with impunity, and capitalism exploits millions of workers across the U.S.; these are simply the realities of our time. However, my niece, my fellow coordinating committee member’s child, kids in my congregation, and myriad Black children inspire my work and remind me that hope is indeed a discipline.

On a regular basis, I witness these children read, write, critically interrogate the concepts presented to them, build community with one another, care for the Elders in their lives, and extend the imprint of their families. My niece and I already share inside jokes, water plants together, and laugh with happiness that fills any room we’re in. As I fight arduously at the Texas Legislature for the humanity of Black children to be uplifted in all policy decisions, these inflection points in my life - seeing Black children thrive in various ways - motivate me in the face of such virulent opposition.

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As I concluded my time in NYC in particular, I gave thanks for the Dignity in Schools Campaign. DSC exists at a critically important time, in an epoch where school policing - and its ineffectiveness - still emerges as the primary solution from legislators; where critical race theory bans seek to hinder discussions of the very material ways in which racism and capitalism deprive people of their full dignity in real time; where funding streams seem slim for the Black Elders, parents, community members, and young people waging local fights to win a better world across the country. DSC often brings together Black people - across generations - to fellowship, break bread, strategize, and be with one another. I am most grateful for this gift - for myself and the Black people of the future.

Many struggles await us, that is beyond clear. As we buckle in for turbulent and uncertain times, may the goal of the freedom of Black children guide our work. May Black children be given the grace to ask critical questions, make mistakes, build relationships, grieve, celebrate, and love capaciously.

Truly the rising tide - from this starting point - will lift us all.