Carrying Water to a Parched People

Welcome to the inaugural blog post of
 
            The Water Carriers: Quenching the Thirst of a Parched People!
 
For those of you who have yet to read about our history on our website, A Black Education Network (ABEN) was created in 2012 to counter the miseducation of Black students and provide culturally relevant programs and practices instead. We are radical disrupters!
 
In 2015, ABEN’s leadership team hosted regional forums in Philadelphia (East), Detroit (Mid-west), Atlanta (South) and near Los Angeles (West). At the regional forum near Los Angeles (Pomona), a teacher approached me after the convening with tears of gratitude in her eyes. She shared with me how this was just what she needed for her parched soul.
 
The next week, a social worker from Philadelphia, who was in my session there, called me and I shared the Pomona story with him. He said the leaders of ABEN are water carriers bringing hope to our people. I loved that imagery! That is when I knew the blog would be called The Water Carriers.
 
I shared it with Tony Browder, who has been working closely with me in California for years. He told me that Dr. Frances Cress Welsing said “hope” is too amorphous and abstract and that people cannot really grasp it as a concrete idea. He suggested this tag line instead: Quenching the Thirst of a Parched People.
 
The Water Carriers will

• Bring water to help you thrive in spite of the oppression that you breathe day in and day out.
• Bring water from folks in education who are part of ABEN’s board of directors and Wisdom Circle and unapologetically committed to academic and cultural excellence for Black students. Folks like Dr. Joyce King, Dr. Iva Carruthers, Dr. Stephen Hancock, Dr. Cirecie West-Olatunji, Dr. Gloria Boutte, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Dr. Lisa Delpit.
• Bring water with fresh perspectives from young, rising warriors like Dr. Venus Evans-Winter.
• Be a space where you can discuss your dreams and aspirations for the children we love.
• Be a space where you can just share your frustrations as a Black educator or social justice advocate and get great advice.

 
The ride will be exhilarating and life-enhancing. Drink deeply!
 
What do you think? Do you have specific topics that you would like for us to cover? How may we quench your thirst?
 
Debra Watkins, Founder and Executive Director of ABEN. She lived in France from 1971 – 1972 and has always wanted to travel to French-speaking Senegal. She is planning a trip for early August 2019 and will invite ABEN members to join her. Some travelers will also travel to France after Senegal. Stay tuned!
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