In the spirit of Rosa Parks, Melodye Micere Van Putten brought a message to New Haven: Dress presentably, speak properly, and read and write abundantly.
“Pull up your pants, and take the nasty out ya mouth,” Van Putten, author of Obamatyme: Election Poetry & Soul Poems, told a crowd of around 50 people Friday night.
Van Putten was the guest speaker at New Haven’s fifth-annual “Thank You Rosa Parks” event, commemorating the woman whose refusal to give up a seat on a race-segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus in 1955 sparked a boycott that in turn propelled the Civil Rights Movement.
Friday’s event, organized by Dorthula Green, took place at Troup School. (Click here, here and here to read about past years’ events.)
Van Putten expressed the importance in African-Americans having rites of passage and knowing who they are in order to overcome the burdens that come with not knowing history.
Yury Maciel-Andrews, PTO president and parent of a Troup student, said she appreciates the message Van Putten brought.
“Things like this are not easy to make happen because the culture of the educators is different from the culture of those within the community,” Maciel-Andrews said. “It’s extremely important for us as parents to try to make that happen.
She said she wants to use some of the words spoken by the Van Putten to decorate the school. “She touched me in a deep level, even with children around me,” said Maciel-Andrews, laughing. She was sitting for the children of another parent, who was helping out with the program.
Van Putten said if she were a celebrity like Lil Kim, more people would have come out, a feeling echoed by organizer Green, who said the event’s committee will work on increasing turnout next year.