A great deal of effort and expense is invested in education; in learning, which is indeed a necessary tool in order to contend and compete in the workforce or any specialized area of study or interest.
As a man who has been blessed with 81 life years, thus far, I find that I learn each and every day. I spend quite a bit of time on YouTube and one of my favorite commentators is Dr. Neely Fuller. When asked how he is, his response is always, "I'm still learning," and I concur with that wholeheartedly. I am learning more now than in my former days.
Questions around my history and the origins of African American people, led me on a quest to research subject matter that was not a part of my education process. I discovered how much I didn't know and realized the value of the investment of personal study. This quest has now evolved into 23 years of sharing what I've learned with others as the black history instructor at my local church assembly.
I'd like to pose a few questions to the readership.
- How much of what we learn in the various institutions that we frequent, do we research to validate the integrity of the information presented to us?
- How much of what we say and practice is information passed down without knowing where it originated?
A lot of what we accept as truth is really tradition and a lot of what we say and repeat is predicated upon what we "heard' coming up. Even a lot of gossip and rumor have been passed down through generations as a result.
As we soon enter into a new calendar year, 2016, and I resurrect this blog, I want to begin to share some "DID YOU KNOW's," which I pray will cause us to access information so readily available to us via the internet and written resources to validate, invalidate, and/or expound upon what we think we already know, so that we may then be guilty of knowing the difference between what is true and what is not.
Most of us won't just eat what someone puts in front of us without some inspection of what is on the plate. Let us perform the same diligence with regard to what we learn, do and say.
I believe it is vital to bring LEARNING outside of the established norms. We must make learning the INSTITUTION as opposed to relying solely on learning institutions.
Stay tuned for next week's "DID YOU KNOW."
Til next time.
Clarence Matthews
The Elder's Ledger
PLEASE NOTE: All who reside in the Jersey City area are welcome to attend our black history class. We meet every Saturday at 10:30 am.
Monumental Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Ercel F. Webb Education Building
Lafayette Street
Jersey City NJ 07304
This week, I would like to further expound on this principle. I pose this question for all to ponder,