Don't Cry for Me

by Daniel Black

Let me start with this: love wasn’t a requirement of men in my day. It wasn’t a man’s achievement. In the sixties, when you were born, love was a woman’s passion, a mother’s hope. Fathers had far different obsessions: food, shelter, clothing, protection. My job was to assure you had these things, and I did that.

Slavery did a number on black people. We haven’t survived it yet. The institution is over, but its aftereffects still linger.

Everything we did, whether we were aware or not, we did with white people in mind. Our life’s aim was to make them believe we had value and worth, so we spent our nights trying to figure out what they liked, then spent our days trying to do it. We still haven’t pleased them, and truth is, we never will.

Knowledge is a funny thing, Isaac. It informs by exposing. It shows you precisely how much you don’t know.

Every child wants their parents’ applause, and I had not applauded you. I’d celebrated your efforts, but not your being.

Silence isn’t always quiet though. It troubles a man’s soul, forcing him to admit what he’d rather forget.

No one should diminish themselves to prove their love.

A man believes that, when he becomes a father, he’ll love perfectly. But this isn’t true. Love doesn’t make us perfect; it makes us want to be. By the time you discover this, your imperfections have done their damage.

A man’s son is his truth unadorned.

You must learn to uproot unwanted seeds without destroying the entire harvest. This is the son’s lesson. Nurture good sprouts, Isaac. Toss weeds aside and never think of them again. Just remember that sprouts and weeds are planted together, and weeds have a valuable function. They teach you what to avoid, what not to embrace. There is no good planting without them.