ONE ON ONE | Lynette Miller Spreading lessons of black history to children

Why did you choose education as a career?
I really have always been involved with children and loved working with children. Before it became an official term, I was a mentor to younger children. That was always just my niche.
What sparked your interest in black history?
I am 50 and being 50 that means I am a child of the '60s, I am a child of the civil rights movement, Dr. King, Malcolm X, assassinations and water hoses, all of that, and my family was actively concerned about those things. I can remember my mother and my aunts and uncles talking to us about that and that was a part of my upbringing -- to be taught that what happens to your people also affects you. I can remember being outside playing in the summer and the news would show water hoses being turned on people in the South and my mother would call us in and say sit down and see what's going on.
What is the best thing about your job?
My children, my babies. I love working with kids and I love making them smile and communicating with them. I miss teaching tremendously because I am a guidance counselor now and so I don't get a chance to teach like I used to, but I still have my Harambee Youth group and I periodically teach to them.
Kids -- historically, social studies bores them, but I would be lecturing and the bell would ring and the kids would collectively go, "Ahhh, this class is over too quick," and that would just make my day. Now I am a counselor but they still make my day because our babies have issues and somebody has to be there to be an advocate and listen to them and be a shoulder to cry on.
What are some of those main issues facing younger people?
We have many kids in homes that are difficult such as foster homes or being raised by grandparents or great-grandparents. You have kids that are in broken homes. You have kids who are low-functioning and have a frustration level and their parents have a frustration level, and they are begging for assistance and help in tutoring them. Then you have issues of abuse sometimes and alcoholism. Then there are issues of fear that the streets are so devastating and whatever happens in the streets affects the school and the lives of the kids. As a guidance counselor, you see all of those and your approach has to be an all-comprehensive approach.
Who are your political heroes?
I have a few, firstly Harriet Tubman because she was strong and courageous, giving of herself to help other people. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, because as I said I am a child of the '60s and both of them stepped out there and shaped my life. ... Fannie Lou Hamer -- she was actively involved in the South attempting to get people registered to vote. She was a sharecropper who worked for the governor and lost her job because she was trying to get people registered to vote. Also Nelson Mandela.
What is your favorite food?
Spaghetti and fried fish.
All time favorite movie?
I am a movie buff, I love movies, but all-time favorite would have to be "Malcolm X." The latest most powerful movie I have seen is "The Hurricane."
Do you have a religious philosophy?
I will offer my favorite verse, which is consistent with who I am, and that is "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."
What is your main pet peeve?
What I call cultural assassination. There are many things that we do as blacks and many things that we bring to the table, yet black kids are told that they are culturally disadvantaged. They are taught that real art for example is "Eurocentric" and what we do is not important. I tell kids that if Beethoven is art so is Stevie Wonder.
When you are not working, what can you be found doing?
I love to watch basketball, as I said before, and read. I love reading. When I put down one book I have to pick up another.
What type of music do you like?
Well, I like old-school stuff like Earth Wind and Fire, the Commodores, Natalie Cole, older rhythm and blues. I also like newer soul music as well.
If you could pick anybody who has ever lived to have breakfast with, who would it be?
I have two people. First, I would like to have breakfast again with my mother because I lost her in 1994 and I miss her tremendously. Then I would like to have dinner with Malcolm X.