It's been about a decade since I found myself sitting in my Dean's office, of my Suburban High School, being once again accused of false actions that I didn't commit. At that point in my life, as a self-righteous and outspoken teen, the only way I knew how to defend myself was with my pugnacious voice, combined with my husky tone. Ironically enough, the same way I knew how to defend myself, was often times the same reason, I would find myself getting sent there in the first place. On this particular day in the Dean's office, I found myself confident, as I sat with a letter that my mother had written for me to give my Dean. My mother, a longtime educator, was always known for being a phenomenal writer, so I guess in a sense, I was more excited to show the letter off, then to use it for advocacy.
As I handed the Dean the letter, I remember feeling completely consumed with confidence. I just knew my mother's letter, would finally remove me from being on the Dean's radar. Once the Dean finished reading, I remember she looked up, slowly smiled at me, and stated, "your mother wrote this?! Wow, this is a REALLY good letter." I grew perplexed, as I stared at her highly shocked expression, that was masked with a fake happy grin. Suddenly, I felt my confidence eat away, and my anger replaced it, as I sternly stated, "Yes. My mother wrote it."
My letter of advocacy had now been diluted by the shock and preconceived notions of the Dean that was standing before me. The Dean's reaction clearly signified her preconceived notions that she had about my mother, and her writing abilities. I assumed she believed that my mother wasn't intelligent, and she most certainly must have believed that she wasn't a good writer. It was at that moment that I began to realize why it's so important for black people, to obtain good writing skills. Not only can good writing skills serve as an effective form of communication or even representation of oneself, but it can also serve as a powerful tool to support black people in gaining more respect and credibility in this American society.
One's workplace, is a prominent example of when good usage of this tool can serve as a powerful benefit. I know personally, in my workplace, there isn't a single day that goes by that I don't have to use some form of written communication to communicate information to others, or to explain myself. Personally, I've noticed in my past and present professional experiences, that demonstrating good writing skills as a young black professional, especially in a predominately white working place, has supported me in:
- Proving that I'm a credible employee
- Being persuasive
- In situations of self-advocacy, or even self-defense
- In career progression
- And last but not least, it shows that I'm intelligent, and most importantly that I'm also confident about it as well.
Currently, as a youth development professional working in the Urban High School education system, one of the lessons of wisdom I stress the most to my students is the importance of having good writing skills. My empowerment comes from serving as a guilty witness of the "push through" of students grade to grade, with the lack of many skills sets—with poor writing skills being a commonality. On top of providing hands on support, I find myself constantly preaching to my students my famous rant. "You don't have to like English, you don't have to like History, you don't have to like writing essays, and you don't have to necessarily like writing in general, but being a good writer is a vital asset to have." Whether it's for getting a job, getting in an academic program, thriving in a certain job, applying to college, advocating for themselves or perhaps even expressing themselves, I constantly present these examples to my students to reassure them that there are various points of their lives where exhibiting good writing skills would truly benefit them.
Now listen, I'm not saying everyone has to be the next Dr. Maya Angelou. I'm very aware of the fact that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and that everyone essentially has different interests or talents. I just believe that in life, it's extremely beneficial to obtain certain skill sets, and that good writing abilities should be one of them.
