Category — Play

As experiences come into your life, you begin to recognize how one situation compares and relates to another. For example, my recent bout with the side effects of a treatment meant to improve and protect my bones from the ravages of bone cancer and osteoporosis triggered the thought of how the side effects of integration have affected the lives and lifestyle of socioeconomically disadvantaged blacks in America.

The once a month infusion treatment, or intravenous injection, was supposed to alleviate the pain and prevent further disintegration or breaking of my bones. I suffered great side effects of chills and aching the first time the drug was administered, but when the injection time was increased, those particular side effects decreased. The treatment continued month after month, but I began to notice I was having difficulty breathing.

It began with the feeling of excess fluid and a rattling breath sound. The problem impeded my ability to perform any physical activity, walking, cleaning, showering, having sex, etc. All effort was labored and distressful. My doctors ordered x-rays, scans, and echo-grams to try to find out what was causing the “pleural effusion” I was suffering; but to no avail. The situation kept getting worse.

Along with complaining, I began to do research into the side effects of the many drugs and supplements I am taking for my various ailments which include Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia, breast cancer, bone cancer, osteoporosis, and kidney disease. Some of the medications mentioned difficulty in breathing, but the doctors seemed to ignore that as a cause. Since the infusion was the latest treatment, to me it became the most suspicious.

As a required precaution, prior to receiving the treatment, a blood test to see if the creatinine level in my kidneys is low is taken as the medication negatively affects the kidneys. For the past three months, my tests have come back with the level too high because the tumor in my cancerous breast erupted and caused bleeding. The loss of blood caused the kidneys to be drier, causing the creatinine level to go higher, which negated my infusion treatment. So while my body has been healing from the tumor eruption, it has also been withdrawing from the side effects of the infusion, which has allowed my breathing to return to normal. I am regaining my strength and ability to function as before. Thank God!

When I awoke this morning the correlation of experiencing side effects from a medical treatment fit into the framework of the black Underclass in America experiencing the side effects of integration.

For many blacks, successful assimilation became a reality. However, according to Bill Cosby, beloved TV father and celebrity, the “lower economic people” or black Underclass, are “knuckleheads walking around…not holding up their end.” To Mr. Cosby, the Underclass has not gotten with the program of living in an American, integrated society and their inability to appropriately function has become very obvious.

In recent statements, Mr. Cosby, has spoken on their lack of language skills, their poor parenting, their spending habits, their dress, their lifestyle, their reflection of ethnicity, even the naming of their children. We all recognize him as a very funny comedian, but what has and is happening to our people is no joke.

Integration was a wonderful concept from a basic human standpoint. All people should be allowed the freedom of their “inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and the U.S. prides itself in that ideal. But along with the powerlessness to pursue the better things in life, there were many blacks who were unable to escape their environment even after the opportunity was presented due to a lack of money and education, or simply because they wished to remain in the comfort zone of their surroundings.

The side effects of such great change in their surroundings became most severe when nearly all of the educated, prominent, role models moved from the black neighborhoods to white suburbs and left the less fortunate behind. The ones left were forced to continue surviving as best they could without direction and the leadership and guidance that had always been available. The motivators and mentors disappeared, leaving only folks of basically the same status. So the vulnerable ethnic group developed their own ways of life and became a culture (Underclass) within a culture (black) within a culture (white or American). The culture of the black Underclass includes a language and moral code which often seems harsh and even barbaric to those from the outside.

But the resourceful group has now increased in such numbers and have gained the attention of outsiders through the widespread popularity of rap and hip hop music, clothing and hair styles, piercing and tattoos, etc. Those who are thriving with conventional lifestyles are taking notice. Particularly as another side effect of integration has been the adoption by mainstream youth of many of the Underclass habits and social standards; including the use of the “N” word.

The further side effects of the full acceptance and incorporation of the black Underclass language, dress, and customs, has made some middle- and upper-class blacks, like Mr. Cosby, criticize and denigrate them in order to try to set them apart. But it can’t be done. Just as I can’t separate my breathing from what is happening to my bones, all descendants of slaves are segments of the whole, parts of the body. It is our legacy. All we can hope for is to find ways to alleviate the side effects which are affecting us.

If Mr. Cosby really wants to help, rather than rant to his peers; he should go to people who would benefit the most from hearing what he has to say. Speak to them and I believe they will listen. He should tell them about his own side effects and challenges. As a matter of fact, the black Underclass has been waiting for someone who made it out and overcame the struggle to come back and give them some honest relief. After all, isn’t that what all those suffering from side effects really want and need?

“When I was a child”…I acted like a child. There are many children, I’m sure we all know a few, who seem to have skipped childhood and went straight into adulthood. Their walk, talk, and actions are those of someone much older than their tender years represent. I always feel saddened by the mannerisms of a child whose childhood has been stolen either by the actions of their parents, other caregivers, peer pressure, the media or too much exposure to all of adult society.

Back in the “good old days” when I was a child, I admit that much that we should have known was held in secret by all those who believed that a child should be “seen and not heard.” We were not allowed to remain in the company of adults who were visiting, but introduced then quickly shuffled to a discreet distance away from the ensuing conversation. “Grown folks business” was not our business, and we were not privileged to interact with older adults until we were much older, even if we were young and married.

I agree that life has changed and information exchange has loosened…thank God. Because of the times we live in, the strangers who lurk around the corner, and too much exposure of the negative kind being spewed out to tender minds, there is a need to counteract with information that parents deem appropriate for their children. This need to protect yet enlighten is the premise behind the Restore Childhood Project.

The goal of the Restore Childhood Project is to support those non-profit organizations which promote play as the appropriate outlet for children, as well as help parents, other caregivers, teachers, and the media in developing and using positive messages and tools of learning.

The attached survey is an initial attempt to gather feedback on the idea of such a project. Please feel to add your comments and suggestions. Thank you.

This is a picture of my rag doll, Bubba Oodle. For the last 18 years I have prepared for, cared for and now I’m introducing Bubba to the world as the first visitor from the land of Oodleville. Bubba is one of 10 characters in my adventure stories for children, the first one is entitled, “The First Trip.”

The idea for Bubba and the other Oodle Dolls was conceived during a conversation with my daughter. We were sharing stories about toys and dolls we loved as children. I mentioned how I made dolls from soda bottles, clothes pins and hemp rope; she mentioned how she loved rag dolls. Then she asked why there were no commercial black rag dolls, and could I make some?

Having been a seamstress for a large portion of my life, I had scraps of cloth and ribbon in my sewing basket and soon had all of the dolls made. They were given names and occupations, and the stories seemed to flow about their imaginary land of Oodleville.

Now that the first story has been published, and the Bubba Oodle dolls’ store is up and running, things are in ready for Bubba to meet children from around the world, and I feel like a parent whose child is going off to college. As with that event, I am very proud of what has been and will be accomplished.

http://oodleville.myshopify.com

www.thefirsttrip.com

www.cafepress.com/oodleville

Within us all there is still a child, and given the chance, we often welcome the opportunity to restore that child’s childhood. Regardless if some of us remember it in pain, the glimmer of what was, or could have been, is desired to be recaptured if only for a moment.

We see it in the excitement of becoming a parent for the first time. When we hold our child, we imagine ourselves as we once were…fresh and innocent. But too often, too soon, the past rears its ugly head and we fall back on past hurts and painful memories. Without having the ability or chance to properly restore our own childhood, it is our children who suffer, and time moves on.

When we become grandparents, that new joy is renewed and a second chance is given to make it right, so we dote on our grandchildren. Many grandparents even willingly, but sometimes out of necessity, take on the task of parenting again. We may be looking for another opportunity to restore our childhood through playing with and attending to our grandchildren; as well as getting the chance to be involved again in a child’s life without all the mistakes and drama experienced with our own children. 

Teachers may have the same experiences of parents and grandparents. With their education as a large component of the process, teachers may enter the classroom with a renewed vision of their own childhood.  Many, however, enter their duties with the passive attitude of only plying their trade. They are the ones that do not seem to really care about their charges, or may feel too overwhelmed to try to do more than transfer their knowledge from themselves to their students in a lackluster way. They miss the chance to restore both their own childhood and those in their care. 

The care of children may be placed under the authority of other caregivers who are productive, but the influence of fully functioning, compassionate adults is what is most needed. For it is in the strength of authority wrapped in the softness of influence that children can thrive best successfully. 

In order to promote the child’s best interest, however; we must first restore the child in ourselves. That restoration can be accomplished by entering into our past to face the demons or boogiemen hiding in the dark recesses of our minds. Another way is to bring out to play the child within more often. 

With each opportunity of returning to the imagination and activities we once enjoyed as children, we can restore childhood in our own past, and see how important it is to give future adults a chance to build and retain those same memories and feelings. 

This call to restore childhood by the reduction in exposure of adult activities and language, while promoting play for current children, is one of the most important ways to ensure a wonderful future to our entire civilization and way of life. 

Parents, teachers and all caregivers, whether involved directly or indirectly in the concerns of children, should make it their responsibility to allow all children the chance to be children.  We need entertainers, the media, religious institutions, sports figures, movie and music producers, extended family, friends and neighbors–the entire village–to help by getting involved in the process it will take to help to restore to our children the childhood they deserve. 

To find out more:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/319211/73274512?m=e5767d02