Learning from Baldwin

I want to suggest most seriously that before we can do very much in the way of clear thinking or clear doing as relates to the minorities in this country, we must first crack the American image and find out and deal with what it hides. We cannot discuss the state of our minorities until we first have some sense of what we are, who we are, what our goals are, and what we take life to be. The question is not what we can do now for the hypothetical Mexican, the hypothetical Negro. The question is what we really want out of life, for ourselves, what we think is real.

-James Baldwin

James Baldwin should be required reading in every school in this country. The fact that he is not shows the degree to which we still deny the voices that show us who we truly are as a nation. So much of what he said and wrote is applicable to this day, especially in areas where predominantly poor people are still struggling to find a way out of the concrete maze of institutional oppression. He was born in 1924 and left this world in 1987, and yet, as an intellectual and a social critic, he was a visionary whose insights foreshadowed much of what ails the country and the world at this very hour.

Throughout this journey, I have constantly reflected on his words when thinking about our mission as an organization. I’ve spent quite some time trying to figure out how The Rising Point will make good on our promise and claim to ‘reach higher’. How will we translate that lofty rhetoric into something real and tangible for every young person we work with? Truthfully speaking, I have given a lot of thought to what our slogan ‘reach higher’ actually means as it pertains to what we do with soccer.

Since our official launch, so much has taken place to remind all of us at The Rising Point about what specifically we are trying to accomplish and why. Before I get into what this battle entails, let me first say that the beauty of learning is that it has no boundaries. A quality education must be interdisciplinary because all things are interrelated. I tell my players all the time that soccer is but one subject—it just happens to be my favorite—in a world full of interesting and complex topics. This is the spirit that leads me to write about James Baldwin’s influence on the creation of The Rising Point.

Amongst other things, the message of what it truly means to grow up—for young people as well as for the country—is the enduring legacy of the late, great James Baldwin. I was blown away when I was first introduced to his work. The man himself, both as a writer and activist, spoke truth to power about the scars of this country’s history as well as the fresh wounds being inflicted everyday. He embodied the very best of what honest reflection, true dignity, and worldly intellect look and sound like. His work became a guiding light for how I view history, how I teach my students (players), and even how I interact with the world around me.

Now, back to the struggle and the objective for The Rising Point. Here it is: The struggle is to expand the minds of our kids so they can conceive a positive identity for themselves beyond merely being an imitation of something or someone else. The objective is to get them to think. To think about who they are, where they come from, and where they are going. In short, we want them to be able to think about anything and everything. We want to use their understanding and competence in the game of soccer to show them that the same methods are crucial for success in life. That is what ‘reach higher’ means; striving for excellence in all that we do in order to change lives.

Engaging young minds in thinking is a challenge everywhere and it is especially crucial for low income children who don’t have access to many enrichment opportunities. I’m sick of hearing about how ‘progressive’ the city of Seattle, Washington is. I don’t care how many Democrats, ‘liberals’, or how many Bernie Sanders supporters live here. Seattle faces exactly the same challenge facing the nation as a whole when it comes to educating traditionally oppressed groups. That challenge involves dealing squarely with the reality that white privilege and class privilege are very real. Furthermore, no amount of blame directed at the poor or at people of color for their situation will change that fact. There are systems, attitudes, and barriers that have been here for a long time and that is why we find ourselves at this juncture in our history.

With regards to schools nationwide, the Seattle school district has one of the largest gaps between the academic performances of black students compared with those of whites. That is a fact. Another fact is that our neighborhoods and our schools are segregated. Perhaps we don’t have signs that say ‘for whites only’ but we have programs in schools that are for ‘gifted students’, who end up being nearly all white, while the ‘general education’ students in the same building are predominantly black and brown. That is our reality and part of what has led to the formation of The Rising Point.

At its best, I see the game of soccer as an art, a subject, and a tool designed to help us enjoy and live better lives. That is the primary objective of any worthwhile endeavor, to become a better human being while taking part in it. It was James Baldwin who put those ideas into words for me in a way that I could understand and really own. It was reading him that made me realize that there is no difference between learning in the classroom and learning on the athletic field. The purpose and the challenge in both places is the same.  

The purpose of an education is to learn how to think, about everything. There can’t be a single thing that is not open for reflection and critique. The challenge, especially when one is young and being formed, is to not become an imitation, but to learn how to become your best self instead of merely mimicking an identity that might be packaged for your own destruction. The truth is, there is a kind of posturing and posing—often a mechanism designed to mask low self-esteem or even vacant-esteem—exhibited by students, especially young men of color, in low income schools. This ‘front’ is a by-product of the low expectations, low standards, and minimal support that poor children and non-whites too often receive in a society that is quick to blame them rather than tackle the systems contributing to their situation. Among other things, this is what is so concerning about kids (predominantly poor, black, and brown) who walk around their school hallways wearing their favorite NBA or NFL jersey but who have no idea what they are passionate about beyond sports.

Let me be clear, the problem is not that young people like sports, music, and entertainment. Rather, the issue is that too often their sense of self—to the degree that they have one—revolves around their imitation of an identity that doesn’t truly reflect who they are. As a black male, I’m particularly fascinated by the perceptions and perceived roles of black boys and men in this society. On the one hand, some might say that the prominence of black bodies in popular sports signifies some sense of equality due to the riches of elite stars. But this view is false because it ignores the reality (previously mentioned above) of the inequalities that poor communities of color continue to face.

Honestly, and it seems almost a banality to say it, most young males in the United States are not going to be in the NBA or NFL. So part of the mission in how we educate them must be to spark a light beyond what they can do in sports. Failure to ignite passion beyond superficial things, to truly reach something deep within their souls, is crippling our children. The result is young people who think they know everything about Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, or Richard Sherman but who are incapable of dealing with the historical forces that have produced the run-down neighborhoods they live in. They might think, often just by virtue of being black or brown, that they will be the next Marshawn Lynch or become a professional soccer player. Yet they know next to nothing about what it means to advocate for themselves, to set goals, and to follow through. In some cases they can’t even read. That is a recipe for a disastrous, apathetic, and fractured nation.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of those who say we care about social change to help fix it. It is up to every educator, every coach, and every parent to push their children to think beyond being an imitation. I’ve been extremely fortunate in my life to get this teaching from my parents from a young age. They have always stressed that once one has learned how to think and how to ask important questions (chiefly of oneself), then they are on the way to becoming a responsible adult. This is the message we wish to transmit to every player we work with.

At The Rising Point, soccer is the hook but it isn’t the ultimate measure of our success. In part through what they learn about the game, our players will realize that their dignity and their worth as human beings depends on their own standards and their own estimation of themselves. We want to develop men and women who are readers, writers, and thinkers capable of solving problems both on and off the field. The primary task facing us is to help them become comfortable enough in their own identity to do the hard work required to grow up. The Rising Point is an example that everything in our world can be a learning opportunity if we are open and willing to dig deeper within ourselves in order to ‘reach higher’. James Baldwin helped teach me that.