The 12th Pair of Shoes
Months ago, on the way to find a new trail, I overheard over the car radio the latter half of an inspiring story, which I relayed to my daughter when she was home.
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A black mom, in raising her black girl, has been telling her to always keep her head up but her mouth shut.
Sitting in the classroom one normal school day, she was facing the questions from her teacher.
“What does your mom do?”
Remembering her mom’s word, the little girl answered timidly that she did not know.
Then the topic somehow switched to the shoes the girl was going to wear to school. The girl told the teacher that she had ten pairs of shoes, describing each in details the colors and styles.
One day, the girl wore a pair of shoes that was not in her list. The teacher saw it, looked into the girl’s eyes, and said coldly: “You didn’t tell me that you have this.”
The girl was intimidated and lowered her head, as if she was doing something wrong.
Back at home, she told her mom what happened that day at school. The mom was enraged. "That’s ridiculous!”burst out the mom. The girl looked at her mom, not sure if it was her that her mom was mad at.
“It’s none of her business!” Holding her little girl’s hand by one side, and with a handbag in another, the mom stormed out the door. Not knowing where her mom was taking her, or if it’s the school they were going to, the girl followed her mom fearfully. They came to the bustling main street, and stopped in front of Saks 5th Avenue. The mom went straight into the shoe department and picked a pair of yellow-colored shoes that cost almost $100.
The next morning, the mom asked the little girl to put on the new shoes, and told her:
“You go and tell the teacher that you actually have a dozen pairs of shoes.”
The girl did accordingly. She walked up to the teacher and showed her her 12th pair of shoes. The teacher, stone-faced, looked at the shiny bright new shoes, said nothing but: "Go and sit down.”
Of course, the mom knew that soon the little girl's feet would outgrow all the shoes she had, but this $100 is a silent defiance, fighting for her little girl’s dignity in face of an authority. Many years later, the little girl, now grown up to be a self-esteemed lady, was telling her story over the radio, reminiscent of her proud mom and her 12 pairs of shoes.