Cleo Johnson, founder of Cleo Johnson School of Charm & Modeling
Wendy Raquel Robinson arrives at the 2009 BET Awards
NEGRO SCIENCE: parent
"Many people laid down basic structure for their lives building upon the foundations established on the structures their predecessors laid. As they walked the paths their ancestors built they naturally created a legacy from their legacies. That is our history. Today, in the gap Black Americans are fond of falling into, our children are languishing. Without the Cleo Johnson's in our communities our legacy turns into shit storms. Adults cannot minimize the truth, or mince words to feel good about themselves and succumb to the numbness of conformity while the genius of their children, unable to grasp the boundaries their parents adhere to, and other authorities revere, boils in their souls, sizzles within their every thought, and murmurs under their breath resenting the form schools, homes, and churches are forcing upon them.
It is cruel what we do: sleeping on the job of guiding the spirits of children, giving our children to establishments who do not love children, care to train their minds to blossom, or allow their spirits to play. We, as a people, have assimilated so deeply into the paradigm of disbelief, of fear, and given ourselves to the image of not being ourselves in a way that keeps the tonic of slavery intoxicating.” - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
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