Coming into racial consciousness began early for me. My first school years in the 1980s were spent at the McGraw Learning Institute, an experimental Afrocentric preschool in Little Rock where Black children were introduced to African culture and history from the earliest ages. Each day began with a school-wide recitation of the poem, "I Am the Black Child" by Mychal Wynn.
Then, in 1989, soon after the start of kindergarten, I transferred to Carver Magnet Elementary, a school where a 50/50 racial balance between white and Black children was mandated by the federal court that had overseen the Little Rock School District for years.
I was aware that attending Carver was a privileged position, my two older siblings having won admission there two years earlier. This would be my first extended time around white people. From the start, I was attentive to the racial composition of my friend group, fearful of being labeled an Oreo -- Black on the outside, white on the inside -- by classmates or family.
Kindergarten and first grade I navigated with Black friends, mostly, but things became more politically charged soon thereafter, when sleepovers began. By third grade, I was pretty adept...
Source: https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2026/01/26/an-elegy-for-carver-magnet-elementary
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