Teach 'Em What?

I have epiphanies at the most amazing times,
Yesterday I was standing at the sink washing my hands and a sister walked in with her little girl, and that child was as shiny faced and lovely as sunshine…
Mama was explaining to her child what not to touch and all those age old lessons our mothers taught us,
You all know the ones,
Don’t sit on the toilet seat in public bathrooms,
Don’t drink behind people,
Wipe off the can before you sip from it, etc.
Good lessons all…
But what played in my mind was that one day this girl was going to be a teenager,
A young adult and she was going to date,
And I wondered if that same mother who had taken the time to dress her up so pretty,
Or cared as much as she obviously did by telling her basic hygienic principles,
Would she take the time to tell that girl how to protect herself from sexually transmitted disease…how to say no to activities that weren’t good for her…how to demand love, honor and respect…
In this world where STD rates are rising and women, particularly women of color are being affected by HIV at alarming rates, those women who teach their daughters not to sit on the toilet seat had better be telling them how to be safe,
How to protect themselves, how to stay alive, how to have expectations of being honored,
Respected and loved…
And that they have the absolute right to refuse to do anything under the sun, that they do Not wish to do or that they know is inherently wrong for them…
It is our responsibility along with all the other wisdom we past on,
To teach our young sisters….
How to LIVE….

Love and Blessings,
angelia