Uncle Kevin

Ayo, peep this: two brothaz hittin each other up, back n forth, plottin for the culture!
Aaaaaannnd, now that I have your attention, let me be serious, lol

Imagine this, two African American men putting their heads together to plan a series of informal conversations for the benefit of younger ladies and gentlemen who look like us. Such was the case with me and my Uncle Kevin, my mother's brother. Uncle and nephew, two brothas planning ways to add layers of emphasis on the importance of education to PreK-8 foundations with varying degrees of stability.

For the past three Wednesdays, Uncle Kevin has  come to Martin Luther King High School to sit and chat with each of my 5 classes about life. During these #UncKevSeries (I just made that up) the conversation topics ranged from the importance of being literate, having and holding on to dreams and visions, and making the teacher's job a wee bit easier (On everything, I didn't ask him to say that...). He also spoke of his being raised in Germantown, his hope of one day becoming a trash man, later a teacher, and ultimately the reality of his becoming a registered nurse with a well known hospital in Philly.

The conversations were authentic.
Many of their questions, real.
The lasting impact, as with any youth engagement initiative, yet to be determined.
Some feigned disinterest, but when they repeatedly ask on a Thursday or Monday (knowing he'd only be coming on Wednesdays), "Ayo Flem, where ya uncle at?", that's when you know it's real!

Let me add one very important piece. My Uncle Kevin is an alumnus of a local community college, the Community College of Philadelphia. Those who follow my thoughts on paper know that I recently wrote about not sleeping on community colleges. Here's yet another example of how community colleges may be the direction that some may want or need to take as an initial step into their future!