In his great book, “Why We Can’t Wait”, Martin Luther King Jr., was advised by his inner circle to take it slow, things aren’t that bad, and that this wasn’t the “right time” to seize civil rights. He spoke of how there was not a season for civil rights. African Americans had been enslaved for hundreds of years and the time was now to do act.
The same applies to the kids on the Fort Peck Reservation and beyond. The childhood experiences and beliefs shape their entire lives, for better or for worse.
What children learn in childhood will be repeated in adulthood, with little chance to correct.
Few get the chance to rewrite their history as an adult. Like education, health, physical fitness, and music, when embraced and accepted in childhood, it tends to stick a lifetime.
Unfortunately, so do third-world conditions and extreme hopelessness.
Social advocates agree that the next generation is the solution to the current problems. Einstein is credited with saying, “the people, who created the problem can’t be part of the solution.”
The next generation has to be nurtured, encouraged, and inspired to be better.
Imagine if we only educated adults or spoke of physical fitness to adults. The whole metric of society would change for the worse.
The kids need a positive renewal of their Native American values. These will help guide them with wisdom in an ever-changing and complex world.
The voices and ideas of these kids must be heard by the world, not silenced.
Join the movement known as Love Has No Color.