The Easel That Outed My Abusive Kindergarten Teacher

Thursday, 21 December 2023

By: TB Obwoge

My life's been filled with abuse, it's dawning on me how many people abused me. I can find the most abusive people in the world, then love them hard and long, I've endured so much pain and so much abuse.

I answer questions on a platform, throughout my day, I post news and newspapers from African countries, then answer questions. I enjoy doing so, even when the platform allows for the most racists questions to be asked. I have learned a new way to insult people, without having my comments deleted, so it's now very interesting. 

One of the most recent questions made me think about something that has bothered me for more than 40 plus years. The question being; "Who was your worst teacher and what did they do to you to become your worst teacher? I have had plenty in my life….

As an adult I've tried to learn French because a lot of the news I read in the African countries I follow are in French. West Africans that I listen to during my time watching the news, speak slowly enough for me to get what they're saying. 

When I was in the 8th grade, we had a French teacher, she was actually French I believe, she did have an accent. Any way, you could tell she dreaded our all Black classroom. We had maybe one student who appeared Asian, we all know he was Korean and Black though, Clarence, his name was Clarence.

Well one day another student brought in a jar filled with pennies, she had the idea of us throwing pennies at the French teacher. I have no idea where our teacher was located at this time, she was very odd to say the least. After we graduated she was bumped down to teaching second graders, right where she belonged. 

I know I'm taking to long, we ended up taking hand fulls of the pennies, then throwing them at the French teacher while she wrote on the board. Well she quit coming to our room shortly afterwards, the vice principle would sit with us for her 45 minutes, 2 times a week.

Here below is what I posted as my answer; 

I had several teachers that were kind of mean, actually being a black person in the United States of America we tend to run into a lot of racist teachers.

Most of my teachers were white, rarely had a black teacher. However, when I was in kindergarten and I can still remember this and I'm going to be 50 years old in less than a year and some month's.

Whelp, so my kindergarten teacher used to hit me, I remember, holding my pencil in my left hand and writing with it all the time. The teacher even said one day hold up your Hand that you write with, and most of us were riding, and I had my left hand up with my pencil in it she took it and squeezed my hand, and the pencil point ended up, stabbing me in the palm of my hand.

She would do all types of violent things to me if I was seen holding my pencil in my left hand. That's not the end of it, we would have painting time at the easel. We were given a very large sheet of paper to paint on and then our paintings would be hung from strings above our heads (from a clothing line like) and you could take your picture home and hang it on your wall.

I remember always asking if I could paint on the easel and she would say no and I remember telling my mother about it.

We went to a parent teacher conference for report cards or whatever and I remember my mom used to always make us go with her to talk to the teachers and I guess this teacher was not expecting that.

So my mom talked to her and she said all these things about me And I told my mother only about the easel not about her breaking my pencil point into the palm of my hand or hitting me all the time. I asked her about the easel and I said she never lets me paint and so the teacher said yes you do you paint all the time and she pulled out a clipboard and she says you paint more than any other child in the class and she had my name marked down several times.

So I looked to my mother and I said mommy where are the pictures? Where are the pictures mommy? So my mother asked her yes where are the pictures that she draws? Are they here? She said no I give them to them and they can take them home.

My mother says well there are no pictures that large in our home, so where would they be.?

So the teacher said well I don't know I don't know why you don't check her book bag to see where her things are. I'm a black woman my mother is a black woman. I think she may have thought she was white because my mother is so light with a red hair , however my mother cursed her out so bad the woman cried she said the wrong thing I remember painting on that easel every fucking day until that woman went out on maternity leave.

I did not know it but all this time that woman was pregnant. She was so abusive and such a bully. I wish I remembered her name , I really wish I would remember her name because I would contact her if she is even still alive to tell her how miserable she made my life.

A few months to a year and I don't even say a year maybe a few months later my mother started abusing me and my sister and my mother has hit on me and beat on me until I was over 44 years old , she was even arrested for assaulting me when I was 42 years old 44 years old.

At 46-years old, I was stepping out of her car she didn't like what I said and she pulled off. I was halfway in and halfway out and I had just had a lump back to me on my breast, and I fell and slid across the driveway , so I have never forgotten this kindergarten teacher that abused me just months before my mother started abusing me for my entire life.

Source: Myself

I have many more teachers who were horrible, but I will leave you with these examples.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏽 Please consider buying a coffee for Lacey’s House efforts in Gender Equality & Children’s Rights as it tries to move international.

©️TB Obwoge 2023 All Rights Reserved