The story of the myth of the frog tells us that if you put a frog into a bowl of boiling water, it will leap out. But if you place a frog into a bowl and gradually heat the water over time, the frog, ever so pliant, will remain in the bowl constantly working to adjust its body temperature until it inevitably succumbs to the boiling heat of the water. The significance behind the myth of the frog is a tale of caution that suggests people be aware of becoming complacent within the comfort of your environment, all the while not recognizing the slight changes that are happening that can lead to disaster if you do not act. In this scenario, the miseducation of our youth is the constant warming of the water. We don’t perceive the danger of being uninformed about our own cultural identity, because we think we must continue to adjust to the circumstances of our environment in order to survive. The danger lurks in the future of a generation that lacks a knowledge of self, cultural pride and a reverence for ancestral sacrifice due to miseducation by omission.  

The unknowing frog will remain in the boiling water all the while constantly adjusting to the ever-increasing temperature until it succumbs to the heat even though it possessed the ability to escape the water the entire time. A simple tap on the bowl would have signified to the frog to jump to freedom and escape. At Melanin N Me Learning, cultural understanding and self-identity through education is our way of tapping the bowl to encourage our youth to understand who they are and therefore what they are capable of.

We work to ensure learners understand that we are not defined by our circumstances and we are not limited by others perception of who they want us to think we are. Instead, each one of us carries with us the magnificence of the ancestors and the potentiality to realize our dreams, if only someone would tap the bowl.