The Mis(ter)education of William

If you love President Bush, then you will love to hate this blog. I'm just kidding. Actually this blog is dedicated to my thoughts and feelings on a variety of issues in my life and in the world. I am a teacher at an inner-city (99% black) school in Jax, FL. So check back every now & again and leave some comments. You'll leave feeling good about yourself.

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Location: Jacksonville, Florida, United States

I am an "old soul". I like to just hang out with people I enjoy being around. i've grown out of my club phase & my getting so drunk I piss myself phase too. (Sorry about that again Angel). I love to laugh and have fun. I enjoy molding young minds. I am passionate about teaching kids, especially black males. My goal is to be a role model for any student that I come in contact with. I'm pleasant, kind, generous, loving & outgoing.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

She Is

She is the first thing I see in the morning
She is the owner of the tongue that parts my lips
She is the one who's embrace is the safest place in the world
She is the one who pushed my child through her hips

She is the one I daydream about during meetings
She is the proverbial apple of my eye
She is the body that I explore like an archeologist
She is the physical touch that makes me high

She is the piece of the puzzle that makes me whole
She is the star in my sky that shines bright
She is my earth, the foundation on which I stand
She is my definition of love at first sight

She is my dreamgirl, she makes me happy
She is the best thing in my life
She is the last one I see every night
She is my everything, my future wife

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Another excert from my forthcoming best seller

I am in the process of writing a bookof letters to various people. here is another insert from that book.

A letter to my unborn son

Dear Son,
How are you doing? Well I hope. This is a letter to try to verbalize all the feelings I have for you even before your birth. Some of the things I didn't learn from my pops and I want you to always have something that will allow you to hear my voice even after my demise. The first thing I want you to know is that I love you. I love you so much that I would give up my life to spare yours without any hesitation. There is nothing that you could ever do that would minimize my love for you. Never forget that my love is unconditional. Hopefully, you will be have a healthy self-esteem like your old man. Always remember that you were made in God's image, the Creator of all that you survey, so there is nothing that should ever make you doubt your self worth. With that said you are now better than anyone else. Homeless person, murderer, unfit mother...NO ONE. Treat every living thing with the respect that they deserve. As I write this letter society seems to be in a decline as it relates to how we treat others, but what society does and doing what is right is by no means related so always choose to do the right thing. My job as your father is to prepare you to be a man. But many don't know what that means. It took me a long while to become a man and I promise you becoming one is a lot easier said than done. A number doesn't make you a man. So just because you are 18, 21, 25, or 30 it doesn't mean on your birthday an infusion of knowledge is embedded in your brain like some how-to-be-a-man manual. So i just wanted to share some of the "secrets" to becoming a man, at least as I see it. If I had to sum up manhood in one sentence I would say, "A man does what he has to do before he does what he wants to do." I know that it sounds simple and inevitably you will slip up a time or two, or in the case of your old man, several hundred times, but you must make sure your priorities are in order. For example, paying bills sucks. you work hard and you have to give your money to some entity that you don't really know. I mean most people have a hard time lending money to their own family. And trust me I know the feeling of wanting a new outfit or that new video game, but you don't have the money for it because the car insurance is due or the cell phone bill is due. I mena Sprint has plenty of money. They can wait a couple of extra days for your $78. That new outfit will look good on you, which in turn will make you look good to Keisha. However, a bill is your promise to pay for services rendered therefore, it is your responsibility to pay it. Remember do what you have to do, before what you want to do. Your friend's will tell you different things make you a man. These myths include being a great fighter, sleeping with as many women as possible, being a great athlete, drinking alcohol, smoking weed or doing other drugs, joining a gang, and getting a driver's license are a few that I could think of. None of those make you a man, they may make your friends admire you more, but not a man. For I will do my best to equip you with all the tools to make good decisions and become a man, but remember that in this respect, friends can be a detriment as much as they can be a benefit.
I mentioned earlier that sleeping with a bunch of women doesn't make you a man. Well prepare yourself, because your old man is going to tell you a few things about sex. The first thing that you need to know about sex is that it is wonderful. It is one of the best feelings that you will ever experience. In fact, I could even argue that the feelings you experience when you have sex rival just about every great feeling that you will feel during your exsistence. If asked about sex, i would rave on & on about it. However, like everything in life, there is another side to sex. I will always encourage you to wait until marriage to have sex, although I understand that the pressure to have sex will be immense. The often unspoken side of sex is the feeling after the act. I don't mean that tingly feeling right after. I'm talking about the next day, week & month after. What your friends or society don't often speak of is the ackward feelings between two people who don't have a deep history or love for each other after sharing the most intimate of acts with each other. You want to know one of the reasons why men get labeled dogs? Now you can't share this with your mom. Some men get labeled dogs because they simply don't know how to react to those ackward feelings. We feel confused because we like her (the lady we had sex with) but we also like that other lady (so much so that we want to sleep with her too) and our friends tell us to sleep with both (be a pimp) and society is saying sleep with them both at the same time (use AXE and it will help you accomplish that). You become so overloaded that a lot of men do what people do when they get overloaded. NOTHING. They avoid that partner altogether. They strike out against her by calling her names like slut, jumpoff, ho, etc. Or they purposely try to get her to hate them by talking to other young ladies right under her nose. Either way it is cowardly. The ackward feelings are just one aspect. There is also unplanned pregnancy. Let me be as honest with you as I can for a moment. You are not ready for the responsibility of being a father until you are a man. Being a father doesn't make you a man or woman because the clubs are full of parents who still put what they want ahead of what they need to do for their children. I had a student back in 2007 that was a mother at 15. One day I asked her for her homework and she said she didn't do it because she was at the club. Knowing she had a baby, I asked her why she didn't complete her work while she was at home watching her child. She then told me that the state placed the child with her aunt because they deemed her unfit. I asked how she was unfit and she said that she left her baby with her 10 year old sister while she went to her boyfriend's house for what ended up being 3 hours. She put her wants ahead of her responsibilities, but that's what 15 year-olds do. I was lucky that I didn't have a child before I became a man. Now that I am a man with a child, I feel ready to fulfill my duty as a father. Another reason to wait is because you want to have a child with the woman of your dreams. Your wife. A child conceived in love is a child that is loved. Lastly, there is the real possibility of disease. Son, you have the potential to be a great man. You have to minimize any risks that could hinder that potential. Too many of us African-Americans are derailed from our dreams by factors that are within our control. While protection helps, it isn't 100% safe. You must be careful and think about that before you lay down with random women. Son there are so many more gems that I want to share with you. I will continue to write letters to you so that you will always know where I stand. I love you son.
Love
Dad


Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Happy New Year

Holy cow, it has been a little while since I last had an update & I realize my rabid fan base is starting to get anxious, so I better get to posting. Therefore, my New Years's Resolution is to update at least once a week. So I will start with a random observations.

  • Chris Rock had a skit that talked about divorce. He said, "If you are worth $100 million and you have to give your wife $50 million, big deal you're still rich. But if you make $30,000 and you have to give your wife half...you might have to kill her." Somehow I believe Michael Strahan, who has to give his wife $15.5 million, more than half his net worth, doesn't agree with Chris Rock.
  • Barack Obama 2008. I am very interested in what the negative angle his opponents will take when attacking him.
  • Saw the new iPhone. I hate how they keep inventing new stuff that I just have to have. I am going to be cash poor, but technology rich.
  • I am teaching a Psychology class this semester. I now wish that I would have majored in Psychology in college because it is so interesting.
  • I went to a basketball game at my school and was sitting around a 15 year old girl. Her language was so foul that I had to interject. She could've cared less about what I said. I just get the feeling that she will have kids that I will one day teach and I'll know why those children act the way they act.
  • I love Peanut Butter Twix.
  • I was chatting with a girl from Ghana and she sent me a picture. Long story short, my passport will have a Ghana stamp on it someday.
  • I had a male colleague at the school slip this quote while we were having a conversation and a female student gave me a paper. He said, "Damn she's fine." I don't have any daughters, but I was completely sickened by his statement and let him know as much. I see why Dateline: To Catch a Predator will never run out of episodes.
  • Sports is where you can find Dr. Martin Luther King's dream realized. At an MLK basketball tournament, I saw little black boys and little white boys playing with each other and not being judged by the color of their skin, but by the rotation on their jump shots.
  • Even with more troops, we are set to be in Iraq for a really long time. The next president will inherit a foreign policy mess.
  • Reggie Bush got hit so hard, I was shocked he kept all his teeth in his mouth. then he and Deuce McAllister promptly ran my Eagles rapid.
  • Boise State 43 Oklahoma 42. Sometimes life just deals you a sweet hand.
  • Wife Swap on ABC is one of the best shows going. It's funny and heartwarming.
  • If he keeps it up, Lil Wayne may just become the best rapper alive. Even ahead of the great Jay-Z.
  • Cocaine rap needs to be flushed. A lot of my young black males are so enamored with it, that it is becoming a great recruiting tool for future drug dealers.
  • I love Oprah Winfrey so much and her new school for girls in S. Africa will be a huge success.
  • I had a four day weekend and at the risk of sounding like a moron, the best sentence on TV is "(James) you are (not) the father"
  • Have a wonderful week. I love you all.