In the early 1970’s when Sly and the Family Stone sang these lyrics I was a little boy coming off MLK’s murder and the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. That was the time that I was born in.
1966….
A black kid walked by my house with a White Sox hat on in 1973. All the other kids that I played with wore Cub hats.
“Hey kid! Do you like Dick Allen?”
“Yeah….. do you?”
That’s when I met my first black friend.
None of the other kids played with my new friend, but to me they liked Bill Madlock and we liked Jorge Orta.
I didn’t realize at the time that black players on the Sox and Cubs were different than the black kids up the block. They were acceptable if they wore pinstripes, but not if they wore black skin.
My dad and mom taught me to be Color Strong and not Color Blind.
The way I interpreted this was simple…. Pick the black kid in the Sox hat over the white kid in the Cubs hat….. Color Strong!
The Shepkids will wake up and see this quote today. It will continue their education on being Color Strong. Each generation must get better with defeating racism.
Their generation has taught them to cringe at the “N” word. I’m definitely going to have a ton of questions when I get home.
My generation was taught to go “enie, meanie, miney, moe… catch a ni**er by their toe.”
My job is to teach my children how ugly that was… my job is to make sure they never use this outdated way to pick the teams for "Kick the Can."
JumboLove is Color Strong! Not Color Blind!
Today is National Hotdog Day. You know my love for the hotdog.
Hotdogs are Color Strong…. They don’t care if you’re black or white… just don’t put ketchup on them!
I didn't put a face on the sun today. the sun shines on everyone.......
