For most of the women at this year’s annual education conference, sponsored by the Hill District Education Council, raising their African-American male children can be a full time job filled with uncertainty.
During a breakout session on this topic, the handful of mothers in the room shared stories of their struggle, revealing both the caring nature of their sons and their personal disillusionment with the education system.
“You have to celebrate yourselves because you have to first believe in yourself,” said Tamanika Howze, the session’s facilitator and director of the Kingsley-Lincoln Freedom School. “Through education, I set the tone in my household. My children always saw me reading; I always took them to cultural events. We have to start very young. If you have more CDs than books, it says you don’t have much value in education and our children see it.”
This year’s conference “Summoning the Village,” used parent engagement to push forward with improving education for African-American students in the Pittsburgh Public School District. In the session on raising an African-American male, the women were given the tools and motivation necessary to serve as advocates to ensure quality and equity in their children’s schools.