Joshua David Stein

“As I morphed from from a fat, cute kid to a young man, the world began to see me differently. At Mount Saint Michael's, the Catholic private school to which I had transferred, I was surrounded and befriended by much tougher kids, mostly black like me, many of whom had grown up fending for themselves. Many of the teachers, however, were middle-aged or older white women, and they approached us 10 year olds like we were dangerous. They wielded their power like prison wardens and in their fear, I saw reflected back an image of myself I hadn't seen before. At the same time, I saw the power my friends possessed. How they could manipulate using fear. As our teachers reprimanded us, and when that didn't work suspended us, I saw how the kids around me dealt with this anger and frustration. They turned their faces to stone and dead in their eyes like those of statues. They became hard and menacing, and as I saw it then, that hardness meant strength.”
― Joshua David Stein, Notes from a Young Black Chef