To Develop: Blog 365 Day 32 – Just a Blemish
By Jiddoe S'Phatt
Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day
32 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.
Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this
blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer
David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project
titled #DailyPieces365
these two artists will release a new song every day for the next 365
consecutive days! Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new
blog every day of 2018.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope
you enjoy this one!
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Learning I was different didn’t happen right away. It took
some time.
As an adult I’ve often been the only or maybe 1 of few Black
people in a room. I never walk in looking to be treated differently. I enter
treating everyone equally. Letting my personality shine sometimes helps take
the emphasis off my skin color.
When I started school many years ago not many cared how
outgoing I was. The children in my class were tough enough. The parents and
teachers always gave me a difficult exam.
During kindergarten and 1st grade I was 1 of 5
Black students in an entire school. To those parents who frowned on my attendance
I was just a blemish on an otherwise pristine class photo.
Teachers and parents spoke slowly to me, overemphasizing
their words as if there was a language barrier. I was a Black kid who rode the
bus from the inner city to school every morning. I wasn’t being shuttled in
from Spain or some indigenous island.
I still didn’t get it right away. I’d gone to a daycare
where children of all walks of life played together. Once in school all but a
few avoided me. I was told everyone enjoyed me being there and that I was well
liked, yet I couldn’t help noticing the disgusted looks.
I’d learn their glances meant I didn’t belong.
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