Craig Scott Randolph

I Know My Calling Craig Scott Randolph

Dr. Carlisle Aimer is passionate about his profession as an educator but his journey was not planned. He fought it tooth and nail. His disillusionment began as a Black child growing up watching Blacks hosed and beaten by racist all over the South on television. It continued as he saw men being brought back in body bags on the six o'clock news during the war in Vietnam. He was crushed after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated one day while in Physics class. He began to emulate those he saw in the Black exploitation movie era. Super Fly and the Mack became his new heroes. Carlisle rebelled against education and the advice of his parents by entering into the Navy. He chose to experiment with drugs, become a womanizer and embrace the life of the streets. Then, after all of the madness and rebellion, Carlisle got an opportunity to teach elementary kids and he was given a son to care after. It seemed like God was giving him a chance for redemption. He fought it at first but he decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Perhaps, God was calling him. Perhaps, he could help a few kids. Just perhaps, he was being used to save and educate those less fortunate than himself. He goes on and successfully teaches twenty five years in the toughest neighborhoods in America. He, also, takes his language skills to Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, on two missionary trips. His life has purpose despite all the confusion and attempts to sabotage it. He sees his life has a meaning. Carlisle realizes and finally knows his calling. Life as a Black man in America can sometimes be discouraging. It can sometimes seem cold. We experience feelings and thoughts that can be so self-destructive. For some reason we do things that can be fatal. Our passion can become criminal. Even though we believe in God, we sometimes test our own faith in him. We question if there is a God? We question, "Why us God?" The answers seem never to come but we have to trudge along this road. E