Remembering Mother's Day

Remembering Mother’s Day causes me to recall all the sweet childhood memories of a little girl dressed up in her best Sunday clothes, going out to the back yard and looking for a red rose to pin on my dress and Momma’s dress and a white one for Big Momma’s and going to church where the oldest and the youngest Mother was always honored.  

At the time, the significance of the red and white roses didn’t mean much, except I knew that was the tradition for my family, and most all others in my generation.  It’s a poignant moment in my childhood.   Now, I'm reminded of the small sacrifices that go so unnoticed of , not only Mothers, but Fathers as well as they endeavor “to bring up a child in the way he should go.”   If you were fortunate enough to have parents who subscribed to that teaching, you’ll know exactly where that phrase comes from.  It’s just like “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was part of the daily mantra.   I remember the “golden rule” being printed on the 12” ruler that was given to each student in my school while growing up.  It was a rule to teach children in that day.  I look back and remember the standards set for children and young adults then, and wonder how it became, not only an “old fashioned” way to do things, and definitely, not cool conduct for today.   Poor manners, foul language, and street talk have become perfectly acceptable to some adults, so why wouldn’t the children think it’s standard behavior? 

I sure do miss seeing a young man rise from his seat when a woman enters the room.  I miss him opening or holding the door open for a lady.  How about males sitting in a restaurant wearing baseball hat?  Or any other kind of hat for that matter.   Trousers that drag the ground?  (Say no to crack) And nothing meant more to a girl on a date than to have a gentleman open the car door for her.  She’d sit until the cows came home waiting for him to get out and open it for her upon arriving at their destination.  I won’t mention “yes, mam or no, man” as that seems to be a southern thing, but there are other polite ways of responding to your elders.  The female population seems to have picked up on a whole new way of presenting themselves as well.  Of course, the fashion industry doesn’t help the situation, but age-appropriate apparel is never out of order.  Isn’t it true that those who demand respect are the ones who receive it?  A female can be just as successful and treated equally as a male without demeaning herself to any level beneath her education and background?

There are some great kids growing up today.  I know them.  I see them everywhere.  I appreciate that parents have taken the time to instill in them good manners.  Most of the time, these kids are the successful ones in life.  Not always, but most of the time.    I see children from impoverished neighborhoods growing up with mentors and teachers who are teaching them what they can’t learn from home, through no fault of their own.  Thank God for these people.  Many times, these little children become targets for bullying by other students just for being polite and honest.   

Parents have awesome responsibilities.  On one hand, we’re told we must let them be themselves.  Let them find themselves.   You can't make them do that!  They have rights!  Well, I believe we have an obligation to our future generations to teach respect, honor, and dignity.  It has no denomination.  It costs nothing, and the return on our investment will be worth its weight in gold.    Maybe someday, living Mothers may even be remembered with red roses in the lapel and white ones for those who have gone on to another place.   Wouldn't that be grand?

AUTHORS AND ARTS

On a recent road trip from beautiful downtown Madison, GA, I scrolled through the stations on the radio and found very few stations.  NPR was loud and clear so I settled on it.   Featured that segment were a couple of authors whose names did not ring a bell, which isn’t unusual for me, but I listened intently as the moderator prompted them with questions regarding the subject for the day.  The subject matter – and I’m paraphrasing – was that we need to have more books on the shelves in our libraries that have people of color as their main character.  No lie.  

I listened to them, with my mind thinking, something doesn’t sound right here.  Now I’m not a college educated person, but I do read a lot.  Not only books, but informational materials about different things that come to my mind.  I remember words that aren’t familiar to me, and try to get familiar enough with their meaning that I can use them.  It’s just a habit I have.    That being said, there are books that interest me and books that don’t interest me.  There are things I want to know more about, and there are things that I haven’t the least bit of interest in.  I also write my own stories about personal events in my life and take pride in doing so, trying to carefully punctuate and spell correctly what I do write.

If I were to be a real author, one that wrote stories and books for publication, I cannot imagine that I would have my mind wrapped around the fact that this must have a main character of color.   I was under the impression that an author wrote a story that made logical sense to the reader, that is, unless they are writing science fiction.  Even a fiction book would, in my mind, need to have a main character that fit into the plot, setting, and common sense of the work.   This whole experience, riding down the road, listening to these two young authors (they were YA genre authors) prompted me to wonder exactly what NPR is thinking.  The moderator made no attempt to contradict or counter their claims.   They complained that if they went to a library and asked for a book that contained a person of color as the main character that there is very little, if anything on the shelves.

Which brings me to my whole point.    Here we have two young ladies, hoping to sell their own publications, with the idea that an author must have someone tell them subject matter and/ or who to write about.  Now, last I heard, an author of notoriety doesn’t normally write what somebody suggests, but writes from their own talent and research on subject matter.   I don't think you can make an author write a best seller any more than you can make a soprano sing bass.  It’s an art.  A talent. 

NPR is funded by our tax dollars.  So is the National Endowment for the Arts.    

https://www.arts.gov/grants/recent-grants/grant-announcements

After looking through the whole list of grants given for the past year, I didn’t see one single grant that would benefit a rural, poverty-stricken community that would give them an opportunity to explore the arts.   One small town was included, but as you will recognize, it is an affluent community and my guess is that they could fund any arts programs they wanted, by raising funds on their own.   The whole premise and mission statement of the Endowment seems somewhat overblown in their effort to educate and assist opportunities in the quest for art for all Americans.    What do you think?  You may be a little surprised at exactly where your tax dollars are going if you examine the lists from the past years.  

https://www.arts.gov/