Donald Tucker Inducted into Tilden Technical H.S. Hall of Fame
Thursday, November 1st, 2012Hello Bloggers/Readers, I just returned from Chicago, Illinois where I was was very honored to be inducted into my high school Hall of fame. My high school, Tilden Technical H.S., gives this award to recognize outstanding achievements and accomplishments in various fields of Industry, Science, Education, the Arts, Medicine, Military and Athletics to past Students, Teachers, Coaches and friends of my High School.
During my acceptance speech, which was attended by many of my friends and family members, some of whom I haven’t seen or talked to for over 50 years, I had to share a story of why I went to Tilden Tech. It all had to do with my mom. In my auto-bio, “The Two Edged Sword”, I described a conversation with my mom when I graduated from Elementary School. Neither my mom nor my dad was very well educated. “Duck”, she said, ” I don’t want you to go to Du sable High School”. Du sable was an all-black school, that most of my friends were going to attend. I grew up in a tough south side neighborhood called the “Valley”. My mom didn’t have anything against Du sable, I would get a decent education and hopefully make something of myself, but my mom was focused on my future and the light at the end of the tunnel. That is so important for kids today because so many have a negative opinion of what their life will be like in the future.
My mom was a great black lady, who had a lot of intrinsic wisdom that over came her lack of advanced education skills. She had observed the plight of young black kids in my neighborhood who were still struggling to achieve success in life. “Duck, I want you to go to a Technical High School that will teach you a skill that will help you adjust to becoming a successful adult and make something of yourself. Tilden will teach you a skill, if you want to be a wood shop worker, an automobile mechanic, an architect, an engineer or craftsman, you will learn to use your hands”.
My wish to all of you would be for you to have a mom like mine. Tilden provided an excellent path for me and the foresight of my mom will always be second to none. I will forever cherish this award and accept it on behalf of Easter Tucker, my mom.