This is the first draft, it was later rewritten and shared 

Dear Black Parents,

When you send your children to PWI's (Predominantly White Institutions) please teach them that it is okay, acceptable, and even a demonstration of SELF-RESPECT to make eye contact with AND to say 'good morning, afternoon, or evening' to OTHER BLACK PEOPLE.

Daily, I encounter Black students who either:
1. see me from a distance approaching them and when I get close enough to make eye contact, they pretend that they are checking their cell phone or conveniently look away as if afraid to say hello.

2. see me looking at them trying to make eye contact but simply refuse to acknowledge my very big, very Black, very natural hair wearing SELF in the dining hall or the corridor of an academic building etc.

**Tell your children that being the only Black person (the Lone Negro) in their class at college will be very different than on the high school level, if they came from a situation where they were the 'only Black person' or one of a 'hand full of Black students'. It will definitely be different if they came from an ALL Black high school, neighborhood, or environment.

**Tell them that other Black people, especially older Black folk in these environments can be their first line of emotional support for rough days or rough situations (some of us, not all of us, so teach them to recognize different 'kinds of Black Character Traits). **

**Tell them that sometimes, just walking into a room can be a rough situation because you run the risk of "offending people just because you are Black, breathing, and smart enough to be in the same classroom"

**Tell them that just because people think 'affirmative action' is why they are at the institution does not mean that THEY have to think or believe or accept this type of racist bullshit from their peers and they should be prepared for responding to this with intelligence, quick wit, professional deportment, and good grades.

**Tell them that even in 2015, they can not do what White people do and expect to be viewed the same way by the institution, even though the rules may be applied the same way, the social circumstance surrounding their actions will mark them in ways it will not mark their White peers.

**Tell them that their 'youthful indiscretions' will become 'youthful expectations' because of their Race. THEY ARE EXPECTED TO BE OF A LOWER INTELLIGENCE, MORAL CHARACTER, AND TOLERANCE LEVEL or they are expected to be a "Super-White-Black-Person" and meet some "American idealism" of Whiteness that White people don't even adhere to.

**Tell them that when an older Black person (such as myself) tries to say hello to them that they need NOT fear me, ignore me, be uncomfortable speaking to me because I represent a 'certain kind of Blackness' (that you, their parents could have told them to stay away from) -- because IT IS MY KIND OF BLACKNESS THAT WILL SEE YOUR BLACK CHILD AT A WHITE COLLEGE CAMPUS OR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD OR UNIVERSE AND OFFER THEM 'UNCONDITIONAL CONSIDERATION' AND FIGHT THE INSTITUTION (OR THE DEVIL) TO PROTECT YOUR BLACK CHILD SHOULD ANY LEVEL OF SHIT HIT ANY SIZED FAN, EITHER UNTIL YOUR CHILD FEELS SAFE OR UNTIL YOU CAN GET HERE TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD YOURSELF. Your child needs to recognize 'my type of Blackness' versus the type of Blackness and Black practices that will tell your child to follow the rules of the institution without helping them NAVIGATE the institution (you have to know the language and codes of White Supremacy to Navigate these institutions, perhaps ALL American institutions)

We know what has happened to us psychologically as Black people, no matter how hard we try to ignore it and simply blend in to White institutions. Therefore, we owe each other minimal forms of care, concern, and SUPPORT on a basic HUMAN LEVEL.

If your child is out in the world and sees an older Black person on a campus where we are few in number, Black Cultural Traditions dictate that YOUR CHILD initiate the contact, your child should say 'good morning Mother (Mama)' or 'good morning Father (Baba)' out of respect for the wisdom the older person has and their (your child's) NEED for that wisdom to be shared with them to make them better human beings. THIS IS BASIC AFRICAN / BLACK FOLK PROTOCOL!

My 9 year old does this at the Wal Mart, the Golden Corral Restaurant, in churches or other spiritual institutions, IT HAS BECOME SECOND NATURE TO HER AT AGE 9!. "Ooo, mama, there is an elder, can I go greet them?" SHE DOES NOT HAVE TO KNOW THEM, ALL SHE NEEDS TO KNOW IS 'THAT COULD BE MY GRANDMOTHER OR GRANDFATHER or THAT COULD BE MY MOTHER OR FATHER or THAT COULD BE MY SISTER OR BROTHER so I NEED TO HONOR AND ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR PRESENCE!

We owe each other AT LEAST an 'I see you' nod of the head, ' a how you doing?' WHETHER WE ARE HANGING WITH OUR WHITE FRIENDS OR NOT. And,

** tell them to let their White friends know that they (your child) does NOT have to 'know' another Black person to ACKNOWLEDGE another Black person when they see them, it is a Black Cultural 'way of being in the world'.

** Tell them to Tell their White friends to go somewhere and be the 'only white person' in ANY SITUATION for 48 hours, and to come back to let them (your child) know if they found themselves looking for another White Face to find a common experience, a common cultural expression, a common language or custom, or a common skin color, but ONLY IF THEY (your child) FEELS THE NEED TO EXPLAIN OR TEACH their White friends. DO NOT DO THIS OUT OF ANY OBLIGATION BECAUSE THEY (your child) DON'T OWE THEIR WHITE FRIENDS SHIT!

** Tell your child to BE WHO they ARE AND BEING BLACK AND CULTURALLY CONFIDENT SHOULD BE A PART OF WHO they ARE.

If your child's 'White friends' want your child to explain why they speak to Black people they (your child) don't know personally, tell your child to ask their 'White friends' to explain why 'white people they don't know personally demonstrate contempt, bias, injustices, and hatred of Black people through the institutions created to protect their whiteness.

Then tell them they may not have those white friends anymore and they can go find some more if they need to and to not be hurt by this, it is normal operating procedure for practicing self and cultural knowledge and competence.

I am Jolivette Anderson "The Poet Warrior" and I wrote and approved this message.
Jolivette Anderson-Douoning's photo.