By Derrick Brown (follow on Twitter @dbrowndbrown)
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Dear Hannah,
I don't know a lot about the Tuskegee Airmen.Don't know a lot of details, but now here's what I do know.
I know that they were a group of courageous men of color ... who sought to break barriers in a profession ... that constructed a lot of them ... to make sure that pilots were of a certain hue, if you understand what I'm saying.
And to overcome those barriers, they had to defeat barriers about intelligence and that means intelligence requirements ... not being able to combine physical, mental strength and courage along with the intelligence and the wherewithal to maintain your orientation when you are turned upside down.
I know they overcame all of that. (continued below ...).
Love,
Daddy
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By Derrick Brown
Hey ... good morning, good people.
I don't know a lot about the Tuskegee Airmen.
Don't know a lot of details, but now here's what I do know.
I know that they were a group of courageous men of color ... who sought to break barriers in a profession ... that constructed a lot of them ... to make sure that pilots were of a certain hue, if you understand what I'm saying.
And to overcome those barriers, they had to defeat barriers about intelligence and that means intelligence requirements ... not being able to combine physical, mental strength and courage along with the intelligence and the wherewithal to maintain your orientation when you are turned upside down.
I know they overcame all of that.
I know that the Tuskegee Airmen went to the Tuskegee Institute, now known as Tuskegee University, and I know that they overcame and they excelled to a degree where they became "the crew" in America's wars fought on other soils.
But now I also know that they became a reliable crew in fighting the war that's been waged on American soil for far too long.
And that is the war for equality, for equity, for the access to opportunity.
And the more important war for access to better circumstances that produce equality and equity.
And when I see them in my mind's eye, I see them flying high in the friendly sky ... I see them looking down and acknowledging all the barriers that they have overcome ... but they've reached the stratosphere and they've cleared all those barriers.
The barriers are still there, though.
They're still there and they still impede the progress of lots of other people.
Now I'm reminded, too, of them flying their big bird high in the sky and then they passed by the bird that was ... caged ... that caged bird that Langston Hughes wrote of ... that caged bird that sings for freedom ... he knew why that caged bird sang ... that caged bird sang of freedom ...
So I see the Tuskegee Airmen flying their big bird and they pass by that caged bird that's been freed ... and you see the cage falling to the ground ... and then you see Lionel Richie and the Commodores (also from Tuskegee Institute) singing a little song called "Zoom".
That's probably my favorite song ever.
Definitely one of my favorite songs ever.
Goes like this.
"I may be just a foolish dreamer ...
But I don't care ...
Because I know my happiness is waiting out there ...
Somewhere ...
I'm searching for the silver lining ...
Horizons that I've never seen ...
Oh, I like to take just a moment and dream my dream ...
Oh, dream my dream ...
Whoa, zoom ...
I'd like to fly far away from here ...
Where my mind, oh, Lord, is fresh and clear ...
Now I find the love that I long to see ...
Where everybody can be what they want to be ..."
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to my story this morning.
Peace.
About Derrick Brown (Standup Storyteller)
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I am Keisha's husband, and Hannah's father.
I am a “standup storyteller.”
I fuse rap, spoken word (poetry), oration (traditional public speaking), singing, and teaching into messages of hope, healing, and change that I write, direct, and produce to help people who help people.
Everything must change - and stay changED.
Tradition begins and ends with change.
Change begins with me and the renewing of my mind ... then continues through efforts to effect small-group discipleship (equipping others to equip others) with audiences that respect and embrace mentoring, mediation, and problem solving as tools of change.
I am the product of my mentoring relationships, peacemaking (and peacekeeping), and problem-solving ability.
My education began when I finished school.
After school, I enrolled in a lifelong curriculum that includes classes in ministry, entrepreneurship, stewardship, literacy, numeracy, language, self-identity, self-expression, and analysis / synthesis.
My projects execute a ministry that has evolved from wisdom earned through lessons learned.
I want to share this wisdom to build teams of "triple threat" fellows - mentors, mediators, and problem solvers.
We will collaborate in simple, powerful ways that allow us to help people who help people.
I now know that power is work done efficiently (with wise and skillful use of resources, interests, communication, and expertise).
I am a “standup storyteller.”
I fuse rap, spoken word (poetry), oration (traditional public speaking), singing, and teaching into messages of hope, healing, and change that I write, direct, and produce to help people who help people.
Everything must change - and stay changED.
Tradition begins and ends with change.
Change begins with me and the renewing of my mind ... then continues through efforts to effect small-group discipleship (equipping others to equip others) with audiences that respect and embrace mentoring, mediation, and problem solving as tools of change.
I am the product of my mentoring relationships, peacemaking (and peacekeeping), and problem-solving ability.
My education began when I finished school.
After school, I enrolled in a lifelong curriculum that includes classes in ministry, entrepreneurship, stewardship, literacy, numeracy, language, self-identity, self-expression, and analysis / synthesis.
My projects execute a ministry that has evolved from wisdom earned through lessons learned.
I want to share this wisdom to build teams of "triple threat" fellows - mentors, mediators, and problem solvers.
We will collaborate in simple, powerful ways that allow us to help people who help people.
I now know that power is work done efficiently (with wise and skillful use of resources, interests, communication, and expertise).
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