My Black History Month is dedicated to the black men and women I work with every day as a School Bus Driver for Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Read more: Being a School Bus Driver – Black History Month

I became a school bus driver to get my CDL so that I could drive Bailey. I got my CDL, I got a job, but I also got so much more.

A predominantly black workforce, the Transportation department of Guilford County Schools and specifically Zone 9 (the Smith/Dudley zone) has shown me more support and appreciation as an employee than any other place of work I’ve been a part of. I hope they know how much I appreciate them every day, “Black History Month” is just a trending excuse to highlight my colleagues-of-color who brighten my life.

**I chose to name only the individual whom I asked directly if I could name her, and kept private the names of my other colleagues. If you are one of those colleagues and would like your name to be listed, please let me know!**

My Boss

Beginning with a huge thank you to my boss, he is an exemplary leader at the Smith/Dudley zone. Here is a list of things he has done and does that I greatly appreciate and respect:

• Sends out messages at least once a week with updates, important info, and most significantly, general motivational and appreciative comments
• Wrote Christmas cards for all of his employees, along with candy and an adorable “School Bus Driver + nutrition facts” reusable plastic cup (featured in the review of the first Art Club)
• Has organized for a food truck to provide us free food round the Schools Bus Driver appreciation week

And so many more. I see now how this zone’s family-and-neighborhood culture treasures and values leaders like him. I’d like to also give a shoutout to our standby who answers every one of my phone calls and is at the ready to help every. Single. Moment. Thank you.

My Daily Motivator

Ms. Fleming, if only you knew how much our brief interactions brighten my day. Your positivity and authentic personality are a blessing immediately following my (honestly, taxing) elementary run every day.

Your personality and approach to me as that-bus-driver-whose-route-runs-latest is mind blowing. Be it dancing with the students or asking me what my plans are for the weekend, I am utterly amazed at your energy and enthusiasm. Many would not have the mental and emotional fortitude to keep a smile on their face at the end of each day.

You have also made me feel comfortable and safe to be honest and transparent not only with my reservations about the job, but about who I am and the values I hold. I can only hope to do the same for you in return.

My Mentor

Possibly the coolest person I’ve ever met, she taught me not only about being a school driver but also about how being in that role means being a part of these kids’ community and neighborhood. I feel like I never truly understood the characteristic of black culture that pertains to the neighborhood community mindset until I rode her bus for a month.

She can pick out any of her own students and identify half their family members, where they live, what they’re doing now. She has not only seen her students grow up riding her bus over the years, but also their parents. What blew my mind most was her familiarity with any given person walking down the street – how can one woman be so connected to this many people?

I don’t know how intentional my boss’s decision was to pair me with her, but it was brilliant if it was. My experience as her mentee in those handful of weeks impacted me deeply.

Special shoutouts to the two ladies, one of whom is the trash basketball champion at the middle school the three of them drive for, for contributing to my initial introduction to this realm of bus-driving. I adore y’all, and I know the two of you have similar relationships with the kids in your routes.

My Cheerleader

The biggest compliment any artist, really any professional in any field can receive, is someone requesting guidance and advice in that field. You know who you are – I am humbled by your questions, the fact that you pass it all on to your son, and that he takes heed of them. I am no expert by any means, but as I told him, I will say again to my audience: It is because I have failed time and time again that I can share my knowledge and wisdom.

It is a compliment, a flattery even, to be given the opportunity to say: “don’t do this, because I’ve tried it, and it won’t work! Try this instead”; to indicate the cheapest options for up-and-coming young artists; to share resources and tools that others may know not of; and finally, to be honest, and say that I do not know. Thank you for providing me with such an opportunity to say all of these things, and in turn being a cheerleader of my work.

Black History, Black Culture

As a white latina American, I am still learning. I am learning about black culture and the black experience in the United States. I am learning how it compares to the immigrant experience. I am learning about my platform and how to utilize it with respect to the black experience. And I am learning how to be silent when black voices must take precedence.

With “Black History Month” trending as yet another marketing campaign at every large corporation, it is difficult to identify which pieces of content are actually genuine. And as a person who is not black, I am challenged: Do I post something about Black History Month at all? Is saying nothing better than taking up unnecessary space that perhaps better-spoken, black people should be taking? What do I have to say about Black History that is any more insightful than the next white person taking up that space?

Well, the most recent articles about School Bus drivers in Guilford County are about the shortage. But where are the articles about the bus drivers who have been here for over twenty and thirty years? Where are the articles highlighting the resilience of these men and women, given all that they endure with the struggles that working with children and teenagers bring? Where are the articles that actually point out that most of them are black? That most of them are underpaid? That despite all the challenges, they still have smiles on their faces and laughter in their hearts?