The Talk

I do a fair amount of public speaking for my day job.  I still get nervous, but by and large it is an experience that is familiar to me and one I like to do.

I have a speaking opportunity coming up, which I am also excited about and which I am sure I will greatly enjoy, but which I am also terrified about.  Because I will be speaking not as an economic consultant or a School Board member, but rather as a father, and specifically as a father of an African-American boy.

This will also be my first foray into the contemporary art form known as "spoken word."  On Thursday, March 7, I will be participating in "The Talk: Parents, Sons and the Police," an event put on by First Person Arts and the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services.  Three of us parents of color will speak from our hearts about conversations we've had or plan to have with our children about how to interact with law enforcement.

The event will take place at Southwest CDC at 6328 Paschall Avenue and start at 6:30pm.  I thank my friend and colleague, the incomparable Jamie J. Brunson, who runs First Person Arts, for the invitation and encouragement.  Please consider attending this free event, for which you can find more information here.  Through trepidation, I am leaning into this opportunity to speak candidly and emotionally on a topic of great importance to Amy and me and so many other parents in this city.