Zora Neale Hurston said it best by stating, “I am not tragically colored.” Playing a pivotal role in the Harlem Renaissance, Zora clearly structured her writings upon the very belief that possessing an ethnic lineage does not guarantee a catastrophic outcome. Urban school systems are primarily populated with great numbers of minority students and regardless of the circumstances they too must adopt this mentality. In order to overcome the realities of their diverse backgrounds, minority students must believe that the power to aspire and achieve rests within their being.  

It is understandable for doubt to arise and for possibility to be questioned. Many of these children are facing unfortunate circumstances; these children witness their peers and close relatives struggling to provide basic needs; seeking survival is not always attempted through legal means which ultimately destroys families and forces the children to take on adult roles; they acquire jobs that strip away their childhood but provide funds for electricity and food for their younger siblings; and those children who have parents fighting for them at all times encounter discrimination because of their neighborhood, family backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. These scenarios are just the tip of the iceberg, and accordingly it may be awfully complicated for these children to imagine visions surrounded by clouds.

It is necessary to plant seeds of encouragement for these youth. Their older brothers, sisters, cousins, and sometimes parents may be incarcerated or never graduated from high school, but this should not be seen as the extent of their abilities. They may witness their aunts and uncles living from paycheck to paycheck, but they can experience a different life. These individual situations can be discouraging and limit dreams if urban students do not come across influential individuals. As parents, uncles, aunts, teachers, and older relatives, we should be cultivators of opportunity. Planting mental seeds of encouragement will begin the growth process in young people who may be struggling with their circumstances. Maybe no one in their family has attended college simply because the thought was not present. You can be responsible for starting a new generation of achievement through simple questioning, suggestions, and advice. Taking the time to talk about goals will open opportunities for planning. Planning is the foundation for perpetuating dreams and actions. The betterment of the urban community rests in the capacity to dream and achieve despite challenging circumstances. Placing limits on urban youth should be avoided at all cost and even if they do not realize their potential to succeed, be the one who plants the first seed so that they will be able to say, “I have been in Sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands.”