A call to transform our systems…a personal story
This is a personal story. This is witnessing the colonial and capitalistic system reward only those that follow the rules of engagement. Our son is neurodivergent, he is not only ADHD but has dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, all of which affect his brain, every day, all day and for the rest of his life. So, playing in the sand box of the colonial and capitalistic systems is a no-go zone, not just because of his neurodivergence, but also culturally but mostly it just doesn’t resonate or fit our value system. We appreciate that he must be in these spaces, but it doesn’t rule our lives, meaning, we don’t make choices based on win-lose, competition or the desire for him to be just like everyone else.
His neurodivergence plays a major role in his life, meaning we choose what is best for him based on his strengths, values, which include a huge understanding of justice, and that he learns and participates in the world vastly differently than most humans. Hence, he has chosen not to attend post-secondary school at this time, as what he wants to learn cannot be taught in a classroom. It must be taught and learned on the land, through mentorship, and kinesthetic learning. Learning the land, culture and more importantly, our ways of being, doing and knowing are not in textbooks, quizzes, reflection exercises, written assignments, final papers and presentations. One becomes a master of this knowledge and teachings over a lifetime, not in 4 years over 8 semesters of ‘learning’.
None of his peers are committed or disciplined do to this work. Many are either in trades, university, or partying. Not there is anything wrong with that, everyone has free will to choose what they want to do with their lives. However, they don’t see the culture as way of making a living, even though his dad and grandfather made somewhat of a career of it. But our son knows the value that it will bring to the people, even if they don’t see it themselves yet. Where it gets interesting though is in the colonial and capitalistic systems themselves.
Firstly, our son wasn’t going to be seen as valuable to those systems without his high school diploma, so he finished that, ensuring some sort of ‘future’ for himself. But the system then requires him to choose a trade if he isn’t going to post-secondary. Which is ludicrous in my humble opinion. That’s it, that’s our youth choices? And without either of those two things, he is not valued for most work. Meaning, he must work minimum wage jobs. His mentoring by his father and uncles are not being valued as equal to his peers who attending trades school or post-secondary. This logic is being held up by the systems currently, in the wage is he receiving, which is minimum wage, while his peer who failed their 1st year of college is receiving $22/hour because they went to “Post-Secondary”. All because government funding policy states that this how one is to be rewarded by playing in the sandbox of colonial and capitalism.
In the long run, this may not matter, as he will be a cultural knowledge keeper and have a solid career supporting the systems that are trying to reconcile, decolonize and indigenze. But I sit here, as a mother, watching her son be treated less than by system that never was built for him nor by him. All because our systems have a very limited view of what is valuable to be so called “successful” for leadership.
Even though our son is already a leader, with immense sense of self, awareness of the gapping cracks in the systems, huge sense of justice, raised with strong values, identity, love and discipline. He has demonstrated his ability to lead in many spaces, yet he is not rewarded for it because he doesn’t attend trades school or post-secondary. So, I am here writing out loud about it. Not for justice, not out of anger, yet again, out of frustration. My only sense of relief or calm in the frustration is that our son is becoming the man that we raised him to be. I knew the moment he was put into my arms that he was destined for greatness, and great he is becoming. The world will be a better place because he came into it and will change it for the better. We know this. I wish the systems would recognize this and treat him equitably and with the respect he deserves.
My desire is for the systems to change, transform into what is truly needed in our world. I will do my best to transform what I can, but we also need others to want the same, since the status quo won't get us there.
