Traumatic events can cause the young minds of children to become scarred and damaged. Trauma isn’t isolated to horrific events, but anything that is an adverse life experience. A child’s good wellbeing and mental health is dependent on good experiences, so why is it that the world overlooks racism towards Black children and young Black minds when it has a great potential to destroy them?
History doesn’t lie. Although our ancestors young black minds were scarred during horrific events that took place during slavery, somehow we managed to evade PTSD. We were able to carry on everyday tasks while fearing for our lives and the ones we loved. Children were able to be taken away from everyone they knew and work as a slave in an unfamiliar place without a mental breakdown. The fact is that young Black minds are strong. They’re so strong, it enables them to be bold, adventurous, compelling, loyal, and grateful today.
Young Black minds are bold and compelling. They’ve adapted to their surroundings fairly quickly and have learned how to maneuver through situations to obtain the best outcome. Though many of them live in poverty, they’ve managed to overcome obstacles, racism, and discrimination to build successful companies. I’m talking about kidpreneurs like Essynce Couture, LLC and Mikaila Ulmer and Moziah Bridges and Jeremiah Jones. These Black children and so many more, have been bold enough to step out and build their own businesses and compelling enough that their business has a lot of customers.
The minds of Black children are adventurous too. They are curious about life and how it works. They’re brilliant scientists, inventors, and innovators. They’ve never allowed stereotypes to hold them back or keep them from dreaming. They’ve applied their booksmarts to reality to help improve life for themselves and their communities. These are young Black minds like Simon Petrus, Bishop Curry, and Malone Mukwende.
Still after everything that’s been said and done to destroy young Black minds, they’re still grateful for life and loyal to those who are loyal to them. They are appreciative of it all, the ups and downs and everything else that made them who they are. We must celebrate them. Here’s a start; commemorate their accomplishments with the Lex Pyerse Clothing t-shirt that says Black means bold, compelling, adventurous, grateful, and loyal. It will forever empower them to believe in themselves and continue to do wonderful things.