One Secret to Success for a Working Mom, Expand Your Village (Jack and Jill of America)

Jack and Jill of America member and her daughter Recently, I have become keenly aware that good kids are created by accident. They become good because someone made a concerted effort to pour positive things into them--things like, honor, discipline and respect for others. These qualities are taught through lessons and by observation. For that reason, I have been actively considering how to give my children more examples of people who embody those qualities.  Indeed, raising my children to become good people is my most important job.

A Peek Into the Life of a Working Mom: An Unexpected Lesson from Kanye West

English: Kanye West at the Vanity Fair kickoff...
English: Kanye West at the Vanity Fair kickoff part for the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Photographer's blog post about this event and photo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kanye West says things that are controversial and does things that are definitely uncouth, by any standards. That said, \he said something powerful at the BET Honors with his acceptance of the Visionary Award that really touched me. In a very tongue and cheek tribute to his wife, he nailed the racial problems in this country with one sentence and identified a solution. He said, “[W]e deal with racism because there are different races. Or the micro of it, we focus on different races, as opposed to the macro of it, which is the human race”.

In a word, he called us on our problem. We major in the minor when there are bigger issues to deal with. We are more in common that we are different, but we often forget that.


Kanye West Taught This Working Mom a Lesson


Dismissing Kanye West as crazy would be all of our mistake. I do not condone all of his actions or his choices. But his comments did resonate with me, probably because I am a part of a blended, multi-racial family. This experience has expanded my views about race and love beyond that which I could have conceived.



My husband and his family

We have a complicated history in this country. Also, this country has too many people that are racist. And that racism has caused innocent Black boys to be killed without cause and seemingly without consequence.

That said, we are all a part of the human race and those ties transcend racism. There are also many multi-racial families, like mine and the Kardashian/West clan, that are united by love. This love has created lives, like little North West and my husband, and has the power to heal.

Kanye West may be an ass for interrupting people at the Grammy’s and the Saturday Night Live Red Carpet and perhaps at a Whole Foods in LA (I’m just guessing). However, he spoke the truth at the BET Honors' like a visionary...

We should all be focused on the macro, which is the human race. Doing that will help this country achieve its true potential and make this country a better place for our children. 

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