My Mom Never Played by the Rules When It Came to Her Children

“A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” –Agatha Christie

No Homework

I remember when our middle school principal decided children in our neighborhood did not need to take textbooks home. This policy meant we did not have any homework ever. My mother was certain that White kids were taking their books home every day. She asked my grandmother, who was a domestic working for wealthy white people. Yes, their children still brought their books home and did homework. This made my mom come up to our school, something all her children feared.

My mother showed up to the school in a sunshine yellow pant outfit with yellow heels and a yellow straw hat, like she was the Sunshine rifleman. She had her lashes on and her hair braided into some elaborate style that I could never duplicate even if I wanted. She applied her make-up with care. There was a yellow, and orange kente stole draped around her shoulders.

Please, You Explain It

I was called to the office. They wanted me to explain the new policy to my mother. When I got to the office, my mother was busy playing ‘the dumb role’ with the White principal. The dumb role is where you know the answer but won’t accept it. The idea is to frustrate the person in power until they give up. There was a Black assistant principal there, but she was cast as an extra in this reality episode.

I came into the room to my mom, saying, “You right. I understand; you want me to make sure my kids do their homework every night.” The principal said, “No, the kids do not have homework.” My mom said, “Right, they don’t have books, so I’ll need them books so we can do the work.” The principal said, “We are not giving the children books because they are not responsible.” My mom said, “You, right. I’ll take the books for the kids right now.” The principal and my mom were speaking in civilized tones, but the conversation was not pleasant. You could taste the tension in the room.

The principal looked at me. I was twelve. The principal asked me if I could tell my mother we could not take books home. I shook my head and told him, “No, I can’t.” I wondered how long Mom had responded with a “you, right,” then following up with what she wanted to do. I would get the same treatment. The principal said, “The books cannot go home with your children. We can not afford to replace them.”

Let’s Get Everybody

My mom smoothly stood up, walked over to the principal’s desk, and leaned down. She said, “I understand about the books. I got four kids in this school. I need to go from classroom to classroom talking to the teachers about the books they need. Let me just go home and get everybody else so we won’t have to do this but one time.”

The assistant principal bit her lip. She shook her head at the principal, who was visibly perspiring with my mom coolly standing above him. The assistant principal walked over to the principal and consulted with him quietly for a moment. Then she said, “Mrs. Crowe, I’ll send the books home for your kid's classes tomorrow. Any parent who wants their kids to have their books will get them. We are here to serve the community. “

My mom said, “I’ll wait while you get their books, right now, please. Get my kids, and they can wait with me.” And they did. And we did. My mother and four of her children waited while they got our schoolbooks and gave them to us. Then we left school early with my mom. As soon as we got home, my mom sent us out to tell the other families that we had our textbooks, and they could get their kids’ books too if they went up to the school and spoke to the principal. The next day at the school was not pleasant for the administrators. Before long, all children could bring their books home.

A Different Result

I think about how uncaring the system was about our education, our future. The teachers did not know my siblings and I had homework at night even if they did not assign homework. We read our textbooks to each other like novels.

My mom was one small pebble dropped in that big middle school pond. But I wonder how many children would not have turned out well with an entire school year of no studying and no homework. My mom believed education was the way up. She had no problem fighting for what would make a difference to her family.

When we see mothers fighting for their children's rights against uncaring systems, everyone needs to help ensure the mothers win. The assistant principals’ actions that day made a difference to everyone in our area. I’m glad she acted, prompted into action by my mom.

Originally Published in medium.com

https://medium.com/no-air/my-mom-never-played-by-the-rules-when-it-came-to-her-children-f8b0b8125647