Weed on the Stairs

I was walking home from an 8 hour day filled with qualitiative research and small group dynamics. I was enjoying the sun on my back as I thought about the dissertation I would begin to write next semester. I decided to take a short cut through a neighborhood. There were stairs that led from one street to another that is parallel.

I smelled a skunk as I got closer to the stairs and realized that there couldn't be a skunk in the busiest area of San Francisco. I came upon two young African American male teenagers who were sitting on the stairs smoking a joint. They saw me coming and scooted to either side of the stair. I said "hello" as I walked by.

I heard one of them say to the other, "We should get to the library and get those books and do our homework and study". I wanted to say something like, "Stop lying", but I knew there was no point. I realized that the lie was a run-on sentence. Why would I notice something like that. Probably because he just sounded dumb.

Lately, I've been wondering aout W.E.B. DuBois' talented tenth. I wonder if I'm part of the tenth who will overcome many of the challenges of being Black and being a woman. In roughly two years, I will be be a doctor of education. I will have reached a certain level of educational success and hopefully I will have some financial success which will allow me to live comofortably and pay off my student loans before I retire.

What will happen to these young men? I'm sure that my one interaction with them will not define their future, but I wonder.