Dreams For My Black Son: mater mea’s Christal Brown

Today on MyBrownBaby, we celebrate Mater Mea mom Christal Brown, a choreographer and dancer who serves as the assistant professor of dance at Middlebury College. She’s raising her son, Gabrielle, between New York and Vermont until she finishes building a home in the latter, and becomes the chair of Middlebury’s dance program. Here, Christal,  photographed by J. Quazi King for mater mea, shares her vision for who she hopes her son will become.

I hope to share with [Gabriel] that the path for your life is not something you create or something that you neglect. It’s just something that’s laid out for you. And as long as you can listen and be humble, then everything you need will happen.

I hope he becomes, first of all, a God-fearing man. I want him to be a man of integrity. I want him to be clear about who he is and not to make exceptions for people to make him comfortable. I want him to be strong in his convictions. I want him to value education, and I want him to be a leader among men. Those are my dreams for him. I think those are probably every mother’s dreams for their children. But I really, sincerely want him to be a man of integrity no matter what he chooses to do to do with his life.

This photo and quote was reprinted with permission from mater mea.