Melba Jackson @Melbacoach - Twitter Profile

@AttyIkieSpeaks My neighbor fought for 5 years. I stepped in to help her with paperwork the last 2 years. Unfortunately after she got approved she died 1.5 years later. I think of her often. It should have not been so difficult. Her last years here on earth should oh of been stress free.

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Melba Jackson @Melbacoach

over 1 year ago

@SMHSathletics @ScecinaNow Great job 👏🏻

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Melbacoach retweeted

FeelGoodTales

@feelgoodtale

about 2 years ago

“This is Miss Jones. She was my first-grade teacher. I LOVED her, I idolized her, I thought she was the prettiest woman in the world. I grew up in predominantly white communities, so it was rare that I saw another person that looked like me. The recent events have really brought me back to the childhood memories of racism I experienced. I started going through old photos to find this one picture of my first-grade teacher. She was the first person to make me feel like I belonged. Miss Jones was a fantastic teacher; she would talk to us about important things like the importance of voting while having us do a mock election. But most importantly she taught us about racism, slavery, and the civil rights movement. We all listened so intently as she described her experiences and didn’t sugarcoat anything. I have a distinct memory of her saying, ‘People like me or Laura wouldn't even have been allowed to be at this school.’ And let me tell you, I've been singled out for looking different before but this time I was proud. She was shining a light on something that no one else in the class could understand. Even though the subject matter was sad, I still felt seen. She spoke about her culture with so much pride, even at 6 it made an impact on me. I looked up to her so much. Unfortunately, after 1st grade we moved to Arizona and I would never have a black teacher again and I would continue to be an ‘other.’ It’s probably hard for a white person to understand what it feels like to never see people who look like you in magazines or TV or in any position of power growing up. As I was sifting through boxes to find this picture, I stumbled on something else. A project I did as a kid where we had to draw ourselves, I drew myself with white skin and light brown hair. They asked us to write a story and mine was about a blonde girl with blue eyes. There was also an area for facts about us and one said: what would you change if you could? I wrote that, ‘I would change my hair because I hate it.’ By 4th grade I had already learned to hate myself. To feel less than because I would never be white or have ‘good hair’. My heart broke realizing just how much race had played a role in my self-esteem. Representation is so important. Women like Miss Jones are so important. She was strong, beautiful, brilliant, and most importantly she was unapologetic about who she was, she was proud to be a black woman. And I would like to start being unapologetic as well. I wish every child was taught black history by a black teacher. Black women don't just matter, black women are needed. Black women are essential. Black women are role models. Black women have broken down boundaries and paved the way and inspired all of us. I wish I could find Miss Jones and thank her, but I guess for now I will thank all black women.”

feelgoodtale's tweet photo. “This is Miss Jones. She was my first-grade teacher. I LOVED her, I idolized her, I thought she was the prettiest woman in the world. I grew up in predominantly white communities, so it was rare that I saw another person that looked like me. The recent events have really brought me back to the childhood memories of racism I experienced. I started going through old photos to find this one picture of my first-grade teacher. She was the first person to make me feel like I belonged.

Miss Jones was a fantastic teacher; she would talk to us about important things like the importance of voting while having us do a mock election. But most importantly she taught us about racism, slavery, and the civil rights movement. We all listened so intently as she described her experiences and didn’t sugarcoat anything.

I have a distinct memory of her saying, ‘People like me or Laura wouldn't even have been allowed to be at this school.’ And let me tell you, I've been singled out for looking different before but this time I was proud. She was shining a light on something that no one else in the class could understand. Even though the subject matter was sad, I still felt seen. She spoke about her culture with so much pride, even at 6 it made an impact on me. I looked up to her so much.

Unfortunately, after 1st grade we moved to Arizona and I would never have a black teacher again and I would continue to be an ‘other.’
It’s probably hard for a white person to understand what it feels like to never see people who look like you in magazines or TV or in any position of power growing up.
As I was sifting through boxes to find this picture, I stumbled on something else. A project I did as a kid where we had to draw ourselves, I drew myself with white skin and light brown hair. They asked us to write a story and mine was about a blonde girl with blue eyes. There was also an area for facts about us and one said: what would you change if you could? I wrote that, ‘I would change my hair because I hate it.’ By 4th grade I had already learned to hate myself. To feel less than because I would never be white or have ‘good hair’. My heart broke realizing just how much race had played a role in my self-esteem.
Representation is so important. Women like Miss Jones are so important. She was strong, beautiful, brilliant, and most importantly she was unapologetic about who she was, she was proud to be a black woman. And I would like to start being unapologetic as well.

I wish every child was taught black history by a black teacher. Black women don't just matter, black women are needed. Black women are essential. Black women are role models. Black women have broken down boundaries and paved the way and inspired all of us.

I wish I could find Miss Jones and thank her, but I guess for now I will thank all black women.”

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Melba Jackson @Melbacoach

about 2 years ago

@Upliftingvision @Morbidful This made me cry. I never had a black teacher until college. I never had a black female teacher ever. I now teach and I can tell you first hand as an African American teacher it matters. Still in 2024 I have students tell me I'm their first black teacher.

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