Voices of Our Foremothers

Sunny-Marie Birney's Voices of our Foremothers related a lot to my life. It takes a village to raise a child is what many West Indian families discipline their children by. Growing up I had many mothers and fathers outside of my biological ones that were not afraid to set me straight when I went wrong. I always had someone to turn to when I needed aid, whether it is the school crossing guard, teacher, principal or neighbor. My mother set relationships with everyone so that no matter where I went there would always be someone there looking out for me.
As I got older, I realized the relationships that my mother formed were not petty but beneficial. As Sunny-Marie Birney stated that, she decided to make a commitment to educate the African American Community. I have also made the decision to become an educator off the experiences I had being nurtured in the classroom by teachers who viewed me as more than just a student but one of their own children. I can understand how the teachers that Ms. Birney encountered made such an impact in her life that she carried with her into adulthood. Reading Voices of our Foremothers made me reflect a lot on my life and how it paralleled Ms. Birney’s .I want to make that impact on my students as Ms. Birney’s teachers and herself did.

-Nehemie Villarceau