- Which one?
- Dis one right here.
- Oh, dat one. I could barely see it. It was hidin'.
- Well, dat's how nature he'ps dis little one. It can hide so de bird an' de wasps cain't hurt it.
- I hav' a question fo' you.
- 'Kay. Go 'head.
- Well, you told me all de ways nature he'ps protect de caterpillars from de birds an' de wasps. But what 'bout shoes? 'Member, you said Daddy's boot might accident'ly crush de life out o' one o' dem.
- Dat's a good question, Carter. De answer is de way nature he'ps dese little ones mos' o' all. Come over here an' look a' dis wit' your eyes.
I stood beside Carver and we looked at one of the most wondrous things in the world - the caterpillar wrapped in a chyrsalis waiting to become a butterfly. Yes, the chrysalis. Did you know the word chrysalis comes from the Greek word 'chrysolos', which means 'gold' in English? Most chrysalides have a gold tint in their color, a tint that tells the world something important is happening inside of it, a change is taking place, a metamorphosis is occuring, something completely different will come out from what went in.
Remember I told you that 7 out of 10 folks in Clarendon County were black folks? As you will learn, life could be dangerous for black folks. But we were a community and we wrapped ourselves around each other and in March of 1948 told our county, state, country, and world that something important was happening inside of us, a change was taking place, a metamorphosis was occurring, and something completely different would come out from what went in.
- Dis one right here.
- Oh, dat one. I could barely see it. It was hidin'.
- Well, dat's how nature he'ps dis little one. It can hide so de bird an' de wasps cain't hurt it.
- I hav' a question fo' you.
- 'Kay. Go 'head.
- Well, you told me all de ways nature he'ps protect de caterpillars from de birds an' de wasps. But what 'bout shoes? 'Member, you said Daddy's boot might accident'ly crush de life out o' one o' dem.
- Dat's a good question, Carter. De answer is de way nature he'ps dese little ones mos' o' all. Come over here an' look a' dis wit' your eyes.
I stood beside Carver and we looked at one of the most wondrous things in the world - the caterpillar wrapped in a chyrsalis waiting to become a butterfly. Yes, the chrysalis. Did you know the word chrysalis comes from the Greek word 'chrysolos', which means 'gold' in English? Most chrysalides have a gold tint in their color, a tint that tells the world something important is happening inside of it, a change is taking place, a metamorphosis is occuring, something completely different will come out from what went in.
Remember I told you that 7 out of 10 folks in Clarendon County were black folks? As you will learn, life could be dangerous for black folks. But we were a community and we wrapped ourselves around each other and in March of 1948 told our county, state, country, and world that something important was happening inside of us, a change was taking place, a metamorphosis was occurring, and something completely different would come out from what went in.
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