“Open Sesame” is my favorite song of all times. It is how summer came to be important to me. Who would have known that Kool & the Gang had come so far? They brought us to the crescendo of what black life, culture and we as a people are about. The summer time means so much to me and hopefully to you. Think of all the things we couldn’t do as we paused, frozen in winter, now we can do all that we hoped to do, vacations, work-cations and finding a new hideaway, walks on the beach for you and I. Is it the summer that we always understood? How come summer gets so hot in the ‘hood? Why is it that summer means death to so many of our brothers and sisters. This isn’t the summer that Kool & the Gang wanted us to see. Unemployment has continued to soar. Then we have had a sore that we have had to endure. The madness as the temperatures rise, can’t we break this cycle both me and you? Will we share this and read this to one another? Will we say that summer should represent all of those things to our children?
So we bask in the sun and understand what should happen in summer you see. It is when children come to life, even babies learn to walk and talk and move through their day. They shouldn’t have to worry about drive-bys. They should only be out there to play. Summer is going to visit grandparents. Summer is family reunions. Things that mean something to me and you. Not just new music, but music of family, brothers, sisters, uncles, cousins and the love that really means something to you and me. The thread that’s in my head, the uncle that told me what is what, and who I should aspire to be. And then love all of those things that can happen for us to see.
Summer is a wonderful time to free our mind, to have reading lists that mean something throughout our lifetimes. Make summer a time that you smile every day, know that you can love your loved ones. Say something and write letters too. Know that life will mean more to you. Summer is a time that our lives come alive and we can walk beaches and understand our prize. Here we are.
There are parks just waiting for you. It doesn’t cost anything so take advantage. That’s where you should go in peace too. Then find books that have been pushed aside in winter, and get them out for refreshing, you’ll see. Take them, style your mind, write a poem and send it to someone you love. Add Mother’s Day to your summer schedule. Make it a day that you remember her with your head and heart. Take a plant or a flower to someone you love this time. Remind them that they too are loved even in the summer heat. Get a dozen roses for mom this week, and a hug for someone you love this day. Take the time to write a love poem to someone and say that the summer warms your heart. The sun warms you so take the time to warm them too.
So as we approach the end of a summer day, knowing that love and all of the things that come in life and into play. Set up summer so that when fall comes this year, you will have all of these great memories of what your summer was like. Don’t waste your time with making excuses. Have a relationship with Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Marcus Garvey and Maya Angelou. Find a new favorite author and then do the best you can and write a review article or too. Publish it on BlackAtlas.com to let people know what you did for the summer. Most off all enjoy. Break the cycle of self-hate today. Know that summer is a special time.
Peace. –Munson Steed
