Tricks and the Trades

Graduation season is upon us and I’m meditating on the importance of supporting multiple ways to win in this African American life QueenSiS. Wake Up Everybody by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes is arguably as relevant today as it was when released fifty years ago. One of my favorite lines is “wake up all the builders time to build a new land.”

It’s going to be hard to build a new land or even maintain what’s already built if entire generations are stuck in the trick bag that says you need a 4-6-12 year degree (and the student loan debt to match) in order to have a shot at ‘The American Dream’ (we can unpack this irony on another post). Oh that we would give equal consideration to the trades when we are counseling young people (or making our own career decisions). Let’s be encouraged and encouraging about the trades and the necessity of these skills to help the next generation become builders and makers of their own futures, literally and figuratively speaking! #FutureBuilders