WHEN A CHILD’S BRILLIANCE OPENS OUR EYES
Every once in a while, something happens that makes you stop what you’re doing and take a closer look at the world around you. It’s a moment that reaches beyond entertainment and touches something much deeper inside your soul. That’s exactly what happened when I watched a father and his two-year-old son demonstrate the child’s remarkable ability to solve mathematical equations before a national television audience. I wasn’t simply watching a cute little boy perform for a crowd. I was watching a reminder of how much human potential can exist in a child before the world has even begun to shape his understanding of life.
The little boy, Devin, appeared alongside his father, Dwayne, and what unfolded was enough to make anyone who cares about the future of our children stop and think. The father presented mathematical challenges, the audience watched, and this two-year-old child worked through calculations that amazed the people in the room. The numbers became more complicated, the reactions grew louder, and the moment became bigger than the performance itself. What I saw was an opportunity to ask a question that reaches far beyond one talented child: How many other children possess extraordinary abilities that have yet to be discovered?
As a Black man who has spent years observing human behavior, social conditions, family relationships, and the forces that shape our communities, I couldn’t help thinking about all the children whose gifts might never receive that kind of attention. Some may have extraordinary mathematical abilities. Others may be gifted with language, music, art, engineering, leadership, or an unusual ability to understand the world around them. Their talents may be sitting right in front of their families and communities, waiting for someone to recognize them. Yet recognition doesn’t always come, and opportunity doesn’t always follow ability.
That’s what makes this moment so emotional for me. We celebrate the child who makes it onto a stage, but what about the child who never gets discovered? What about the young boy whose intelligence is overlooked because he’s growing up in a struggling household? What about the little girl whose creativity is dismissed because nobody has the time, money, or patience to nurture it? What about the children who are constantly told what they cannot become instead of being encouraged to explore what they might accomplish? Their stories matter just as much, even when the world never hears their names.
I want to look beyond the applause and examine the environment surrounding our children, especially our Black children. It’s easy to admire a gifted young mind when the results are right there in front of us, but the greater responsibility begins when the cameras are gone. We have to ask ourselves what happens to that natural curiosity as children grow older, encounter social pressures, enter schools, face discrimination, and begin making decisions that can affect the rest of their lives. If we truly care about Black excellence, we must care about the conditions that allow Black excellence to develop.
GREATNESS CAN BEGIN BEFORE THE WORLD RECOGNIZES IT
One of the biggest mistakes we make as a society is assuming that greatness always announces itself in a way we can easily recognize. We look for the child who earns the highest grades, wins the competition, sings the most beautiful song, or displays an ability that leaves everybody speechless. But talent doesn’t always arrive in a package that teachers, parents, or institutions know how to identify. Sometimes it appears as endless questions, unusual curiosity, a powerful imagination, a fascination with taking things apart, or a child who sees connections that other people miss.
That’s why we must stop measuring every child against the same narrow standard. A child who struggles with one subject may possess tremendous ability in another. A young person who doesn’t fit comfortably into a traditional classroom may have a remarkable talent for building, designing, communicating, or solving practical problems. Intelligence comes in different forms, and the responsibility of adults is to help children discover their strengths while giving them the tools to improve in the areas where they struggle.
The performance I watched demonstrated one particular kind of mathematical ability, but the larger lesson reaches much further. We don’t know how many children possess gifts that will never be tested or developed because nobody takes the time to explore them. Some children are surrounded by books, educational toys, patient adults, and opportunities to experiment. Others grow up in environments where daily survival takes priority over enrichment. That difference can shape the path a child follows, even when both children possess enormous potential.
Natural ability is important, but it doesn’t develop in a vacuum. A child needs encouragement, repetition, patience, guidance, and the freedom to make mistakes. Curiosity needs room to grow. Questions need answers, or at least an adult willing to help search for them. When children are allowed to explore their interests, they begin to develop confidence in their own thinking. When their questions are constantly dismissed or their abilities are ignored, that confidence can weaken before their potential has been fully explored.
This is why I believe we must look at every child as a human being whose future is still unfolding. We shouldn’t demand that every child become a genius or turn every unusual ability into a public performance. Children deserve the freedom to develop at their own pace. But we should never allow a lack of resources, a lack of patience, or a lack of imagination on the part of adults to become the reason a child’s gifts are never given a chance.
THE HOME CAN BUILD A CHILD OR BREAK DOWN THEIR CONFIDENCE
Before a child learns how to navigate the larger world, the home often provides their first understanding of how that world works. Children watch the adults around them. They notice how people speak to one another, how disagreements are handled, how responsibilities are managed, and how problems are solved. Even when adults believe children aren’t paying attention, young minds are absorbing lessons from everyday life.
A home filled with encouragement, structure, affection, and responsible examples can give a child a strong foundation. That doesn’t mean a family must be wealthy or live in a perfect household. A parent can have limited money and still provide a child with love, discipline, conversation, and encouragement. Sometimes reading together, asking a child about their day, helping with homework, or taking an interest in their questions can make a lasting difference.
But what happens when a child grows up surrounded by constant conflict, neglect, addiction, emotional cruelty, or irresponsible behavior? What happens when the people who are supposed to provide direction are too consumed by their own problems to notice the needs of the young minds depending on them? A child living under those conditions may spend more energy trying to feel safe or cope with family instability than exploring their interests and developing their abilities.
The damage doesn’t always show up immediately. Some children become withdrawn. Others become angry, distracted, or desperate for approval. Some begin to believe that their dreams are unrealistic because nobody around them demonstrates what responsible progress looks like. A child may possess tremendous intelligence and still struggle to concentrate, trust others, or imagine a future beyond the problems visible in front of them.
We also have to confront the harm caused by adults who use words to humiliate the very children they are supposed to encourage. Calling a child stupid, worthless, lazy, or incapable doesn’t teach that child how to improve. It can make them afraid to try. When every mistake becomes an occasion for ridicule, a child may stop asking questions because they don’t want to appear ignorant. That fear can close doors that curiosity might otherwise have opened.
Our children need correction, but correction must not become destruction. Discipline should teach responsibility, not convince a young person that they have no value. We can demand effort while still recognizing ability. We can establish boundaries while allowing children to express themselves. The goal of raising a child shouldn’t be to produce someone who is afraid to make a mistake. It’s to help develop a person who can recognize mistakes, learn from them, and keep moving forward.
WHEN POVERTY STEALS THE TIME NEEDED TO DEVELOP TALENT
We cannot discuss the development of Black children without examining the conditions in which many families are trying to raise them. A child may be brilliant, but brilliance doesn’t automatically provide access to a computer, a quiet place to study, a library, tutoring, quality educational materials, or adults who have enough time and energy to help. These resources can make a difference in how easily a young person develops an existing ability.
Poverty doesn’t mean a child is less intelligent, and wealth doesn’t guarantee greatness. However, financial hardship can place serious obstacles between a child’s potential and the opportunities needed to develop it. When a family is struggling to pay rent, buy food, maintain transportation, and cover basic expenses, educational enrichment may become difficult to afford. Parents may be working long hours and returning home exhausted, leaving little time for the patient guidance a growing child needs.
Think about a child who loves mathematics but has no one available to answer questions beyond the basic school assignment. Imagine a young artist who has no materials to practice with, or a child fascinated by science who has never had the opportunity to visit a museum, use a laboratory, or work with someone in that field. The absence of these opportunities doesn’t erase their potential, but it can limit the ways that potential is explored.
That’s why we need more than speeches about the importance of education. We need libraries, after-school programs, mentors, affordable learning resources, safe recreational spaces, and community institutions that make it possible for children to discover their strengths. We need to encourage people who possess knowledge and experience to share what they know with the next generation. Sometimes a single adult taking a genuine interest in a child’s development can open a door that the child didn’t even know existed.
The challenge is particularly serious when a child faces several obstacles at once. Financial hardship may exist alongside family instability, inadequate schools, unsafe neighborhoods, and limited access to professional guidance. Each problem can create additional pressure. Together, they can make the journey from natural ability to developed skill much harder than it needs to be.
When we see a gifted child succeed, we should celebrate the achievement. But we should also ask how many children need similar opportunities and how those opportunities can be made available. A society that recognizes talent only after it has overcome enormous obstacles is missing a chance to help that talent grow in the first place.
RACISM, LOW EXPECTATIONS, AND THE DAMAGE OF BEING UNDERESTIMATED
Black children deserve to grow up knowing that their intelligence, creativity, and ambitions are worthy of respect. Yet racism and racial stereotypes can influence how children are treated, how their behavior is interpreted, and what others expect them to achieve. When a young person is repeatedly underestimated or judged through assumptions about their background, they may face barriers that have nothing to do with their actual abilities.
The problem isn’t simply an offensive remark or an isolated moment of disrespect. The deeper concern is what happens when low expectations become part of a child’s daily experience. A child whose questions are dismissed may stop participating. A student who is unfairly labeled a troublemaker may receive less encouragement. A young person whose advanced abilities go unrecognized may miss opportunities to receive the additional challenges and support they need.
We must also recognize that Black children are not all having the same experience. Their families, schools, neighborhoods, and individual circumstances differ. Many Black educators, parents, mentors, and institutions work tirelessly to help young people succeed. There are also children who thrive despite discrimination. The point isn’t to suggest that racism controls every outcome. It’s to recognize that unfair treatment can place unnecessary obstacles in the path of a child who deserves a fair opportunity to learn.
The response to racism must include more than telling children to work harder. Hard work matters, but children also need adults who will advocate for them, recognize their abilities, challenge unfair treatment, and make sure they have access to educational opportunities. We must teach young people to believe in their capacity without pretending that every environment will treat them fairly.
At the same time, we have to make sure our children don’t inherit the limitations that other people attempt to place upon them. They should understand their history, recognize the obstacles that exist, and develop the confidence to keep learning. Their identity should never be presented as a reason to lower their ambitions. They deserve to know that their minds are capable of exploring every field of human knowledge.
DRUGS, DISTRACTIONS, AND THE COST OF LOSING DIRECTION
As children grow older, the influences around them become more complicated. They encounter new friendships, social expectations, entertainment, and opportunities to make choices without an adult standing nearby. This period of development can be exciting, but it can also expose young people to pressures that interfere with their education and personal growth.
Early exposure to addictive substances and environments where drug use is normalized can create serious risks for developing minds. Substance use can affect judgment, learning, attention, motivation, and health. It can also place young people in situations where school, family relationships, and long-term goals become harder to maintain. When drugs become part of a child’s social world, the consequences can reach well beyond a single decision.
We need to be careful not to treat every young person who struggles with substance use as a lost cause. Children and teenagers who encounter these problems need support, appropriate intervention, and adults willing to help them find a healthier direction. Shame and rejection rarely provide the kind of guidance a struggling young person needs. Prevention, honest education, positive relationships, and access to help are essential.
Another challenge is the constant pull of entertainment and digital distraction. Social media can provide education, creativity, friendship, and access to new ideas. But when a young person’s day becomes dominated by endless scrolling, online arguments, unrealistic comparisons, and the pursuit of approval, there may be less time for reading, exercise, meaningful relationships, and developing a skill.
The danger is that distraction can become a habit before a child understands what it is costing them. Hours disappear into content that leaves little behind, while the difficult work of learning something valuable gets postponed. A young person may begin to measure their worth by online attention rather than by the knowledge, character, and abilities they are building.
We should not expect children to manage these pressures without guidance. Adults must model responsible technology use, establish reasonable boundaries, and help children discover activities that engage their minds. The goal isn’t to remove every form of entertainment. It’s to help young people understand the difference between enjoying a moment and allowing a distraction to consume the time they need to build their future.
PEER PRESSURE AND THE NEED TO BELONG
One of the most powerful forces in a teenager’s life is the desire to be accepted. Young people want friends, companionship, and the feeling that they belong somewhere. There’s nothing wrong with that desire. The problem begins when acceptance comes with a price that requires a young person to hide their intelligence, abandon their interests, or engage in behavior that conflicts with their values.
A teenager who enjoys reading, studying, building things, or discussing serious ideas may find themselves in a group that treats those interests as something to ridicule. Instead of receiving encouragement, they may be told they’re trying too hard or acting as though they’re better than everyone else. If the need for acceptance becomes overwhelming, a young person may begin to suppress the very qualities that could help them grow.
This is especially troubling when a child learns to associate intelligence with social rejection. Nobody should have to pretend to be less capable to make other people comfortable. We need to create environments where young people can be serious about their education without being treated as outsiders, and where achievement doesn’t require them to turn their backs on their friends or community.
Teenage romantic relationships can create another set of challenges. Young people are learning about attraction, affection, boundaries, trust, and emotional responsibility. Those experiences can be meaningful, but relationships can also become consuming when teenagers lack guidance or feel pressured to prove their loyalty. Jealousy, heartbreak, conflict, and the responsibilities associated with an unplanned pregnancy can affect education and long-term plans.
The answer isn’t to tell young people that love is wrong or that their emotions don’t matter. It’s to help them understand that caring about someone shouldn’t require abandoning their own development. A healthy relationship should leave room for education, friendships, family responsibilities, and personal goals. Young people need to learn that they can care deeply about another person while still investing in themselves.
Our children should be taught to choose their company carefully, recognize unhealthy pressure, and develop the confidence to say no. They also need adults who will listen without immediately humiliating or condemning them. If we want teenagers to make responsible decisions, we have to give them the knowledge and emotional support to understand the consequences of their choices.
ENTERTAINMENT, ROLE MODELS, AND THE STORIES CHILDREN BELIEVE
The stories children consume can influence how they understand success, power, relationships, and personal worth. Music, television, films, online personalities, and social media creators can introduce young people to new ideas. Some provide inspiration, knowledge, humor, and positive examples. Others may repeatedly present violence, reckless behavior, exploitation, or material wealth as the main signs of success.
The concern isn’t that every child who watches a particular program will imitate what they see. Young people are individuals who interpret media in different ways. The concern is what happens when a narrow picture of success dominates a child’s environment and receives little challenge from the adults around them.
If a young person repeatedly sees people gaining attention through conflict and humiliation, they may begin to believe that being controversial is more valuable than being knowledgeable. If wealth is constantly presented without any discussion of work, skill, responsibility, or consequences, a child may develop unrealistic ideas about what achievement requires. When criminal behavior is celebrated without showing its human cost, the distinction between entertainment and real life can become harder to understand.
Black children need access to a wider range of examples. They should see Black scientists, teachers, engineers, historians, doctors, entrepreneurs, artists, inventors, and community builders. They should hear stories about people who solved problems, created useful things, served others, and developed their abilities over time. These examples help children understand that success has many forms and that their futures don’t have to be limited to whatever happens to be popular.
Parents and mentors should also encourage children to think critically about the messages they encounter. Instead of simply telling them what to watch or reject, adults can ask questions about what a story is teaching, whose behavior is being rewarded, and what consequences are missing from the picture. Those conversations help young people develop judgment rather than depend entirely on someone else to make decisions for them.
The real goal is to broaden a child’s imagination. A young person should be able to picture a future that includes creativity, education, entrepreneurship, public service, technical skill, and personal independence. They need to understand that being admired for a moment isn’t the same as building something meaningful that can last.
WHEN SCHOOLS FAIL TO SEE THE CHILD BEHIND THE GRADES
Schools play a major role in developing children’s abilities, but no single classroom can fully measure everything a child might become. Grades can provide useful information about academic progress, yet they don’t capture every form of intelligence, creativity, curiosity, or practical skill. A child who struggles with one learning method may flourish when given another way to understand a subject.
Some students need additional support. Others need more challenging work because the material in front of them doesn’t stretch their abilities. Some learn best through reading, while others benefit from demonstrations, discussion, experimentation, or hands-on projects. When schools have the resources and flexibility to recognize these differences, they have a better chance of helping students develop their strengths.
We also need to understand that a child’s behavior may be influenced by circumstances that adults cannot immediately see. A student who has difficulty concentrating may be dealing with stress, sleep problems, family conflict, a learning difference, or another challenge. That doesn’t mean every disruptive action should be excused. It means educators should look for the cause of a problem while still holding students accountable for their actions.
A young person shouldn’t have to be perfect to receive encouragement. Children learn through mistakes, and education should help them understand how to improve. When the only message they receive is that they are failing, they may begin to see themselves as failures. When adults identify what a student can do and help them build on it, setbacks can become part of the learning process instead of a final judgment on their worth.
We must also make room for curiosity that goes beyond the assigned lesson. Children should be encouraged to ask questions, explore new ideas, and develop interests that may not fit neatly into a standard test. Education should prepare young people to think, reason, create, and solve problems, not simply memorize information long enough to pass an examination.
The lesson from a gifted child demonstrating mathematical skills is not that every student must perform extraordinary calculations at an early age. It’s that we should remain open to discovering abilities in unexpected places. The child who surprises us today may be the scientist, designer, teacher, or problem-solver of tomorrow. But first, somebody has to give that child the chance to grow.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
When I speak about the challenges facing Black children, I’m not suggesting that every problem comes from outside our community. We have to be honest about the role that families, neighborhoods, schools, institutions, and individual decisions can play. We cannot demand that the wider world treat our children fairly while ignoring the ways our own actions may either strengthen or weaken their development.
We need adults who understand that raising children is about more than providing food, clothing, and shelter. Those necessities are essential, but children also need attention, boundaries, emotional security, conversation, and examples of responsible living. They need to see adults who take education seriously, honor commitments, manage disagreements without constant hostility, and understand that their behavior teaches lessons whether they intend to teach them or not.
We also need to stop treating a child’s potential as the responsibility of parents alone. Teachers, coaches, librarians, faith communities, neighborhood organizations, and experienced professionals can all play a part. A child may discover a passion through a coach, learn to love reading through a librarian, or find direction through a mentor who takes time to explain a career. These relationships can help young people recognize opportunities they might never have considered.
Community investment should also include practical support. We need safe places where children can study, access to books and technology, affordable educational programs, opportunities to explore science and the arts, and adults who can help them develop real-world skills. We should encourage successful people to share their knowledge without making young people feel that they must already possess exceptional talent to deserve attention.
We must also be willing to support children who have made mistakes. A teenager who has fallen behind in school or made a harmful decision still deserves a chance to learn, take responsibility, and change direction. Accountability and compassion can exist together. If we write children off too early, we may become part of the very process that closes their future before they have had a chance to understand what they can become.
Our responsibility is to build a culture where learning is respected, curiosity is encouraged, and children are protected from influences that can seriously damage their development. We should celebrate achievement without making children feel that their value depends on becoming famous or wealthy. Every child deserves respect, and every child should have the opportunity to discover what they can contribute to the world.
WE MUST PROTECT POTENTIAL BEFORE IT BECOMES A LOST OPPORTUNITY
The most important lesson I take from watching a gifted child perform is that we should not wait for a public stage to begin paying attention to our children. By the time a talent becomes visible to a large audience, years of curiosity, practice, encouragement, and family involvement may already have helped it develop. Countless other abilities remain unseen because the children who possess them have never encountered the right opportunity or the right person to help them grow.
We cannot know how many children might become extraordinary mathematicians, inventors, educators, artists, or leaders. We also cannot assume that every child who demonstrates an unusual ability at an early age will follow the same path throughout life. Children change as they develop, and their interests may grow in unexpected directions. That’s why our responsibility isn’t to place impossible expectations on them. It’s to provide an environment where they can explore, learn, and become the best versions of themselves.
Protecting potential begins with everyday decisions. It means listening when a child asks a question instead of telling them to be quiet. It means finding a book, an activity, or a learning resource that connects with their interests. It means noticing when a child needs extra help and recognizing when another child needs a greater challenge. It means making time for conversation and refusing to let constant distractions replace meaningful involvement.
It also means confronting the larger obstacles that families cannot solve alone. Racism, economic hardship, unequal access to educational resources, unsafe environments, and inadequate support can all make it harder for children to flourish. Addressing these challenges requires responsible families, committed communities, effective institutions, and public decisions that support children’s development. Encouragement matters, but children also need real opportunities to put their abilities to work.
Most of all, we must change the way we think about our young people. A child is not merely someone to be controlled, corrected, or prepared to follow instructions. A child is a developing human being with questions, interests, emotions, abilities, and a future that is still taking shape. The way we respond to that child can help build confidence and curiosity, or it can teach them to doubt themselves before they’ve had a fair chance to grow.
HOW MANY FUTURES ARE WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED?
I keep returning to the thought that started this entire reflection. A two-year-old child displayed a remarkable mathematical ability, and people stopped to watch. His performance created a moment of excitement, but it also reminded me that extraordinary abilities can appear much earlier than we expect. Somewhere, there may be another child with a remarkable gift who has never been encouraged to explore it. There may be a young person who has already begun to believe that their dreams are beyond their reach because nobody around them has helped them see another possibility.
We must be careful not to measure every child’s future against a single performance. Our children don’t have to solve complex equations, win competitions, or become public figures to have value. Their worth isn’t determined by how quickly they learn, how many people applaud them, or how much money they eventually earn. The goal is to help them develop their abilities, build good character, learn to make responsible decisions, and discover how they can contribute to the lives of others.
But we should never confuse equal human worth with the idea that every child has identical needs or abilities. Some will need additional academic support. Others will need advanced challenges. Some will find their direction early, while others will take years to discover what interests them. A responsible society makes room for these differences instead of allowing one narrow definition of success to determine which children receive attention.
As Black people, we have every reason to take the development of our children seriously. Their future will be shaped by the knowledge they acquire, the relationships they build, the choices they make, and the opportunities available to them. We cannot control every influence they encounter, but we can work to strengthen the environments in which they grow. We can encourage their curiosity, protect their dignity, teach them responsibility, and make sure they understand that their background does not have to define the limits of their ambition.
And that’s why this moment moved me so deeply. I wasn’t simply amazed by a little boy doing mathematics. I was reminded of the responsibility we carry toward the children whose gifts have not yet been discovered. The question isn’t just how many gifted children are out there. The question is what we’re doing to help them develop before the pressures of life, the failures of our institutions, or the absence of guidance begin to close doors that should have remained open.
I want us to look at our children differently. I want us to listen more carefully, encourage more deliberately, and stop assuming that we already know what a young person is capable of becoming. The next great discovery may begin with a question from a child nobody has taken seriously. The next remarkable invention may come from a young mind that needs nothing more than guidance, opportunity, and the confidence to keep trying. We may never know the full measure of what our children can accomplish, but we can make sure we don’t become the reason they never get the chance to find out.
PEACE, LOVE & RIGHTEOUS REVOLUTION ALWAYS,
SCURV
