One thing that grinds my gears when it comes to Black people is us being told we are not capable of learning….and accepting it. This entire SCOTUS Scalia madness about black children not being fit for college is absurd and not something i’ve wanted to lend any of my attention, but this will address it indirectly how I feel.

I know POSITIVELY how this two year old’s dad feels because he is I and I am him.Yes, the little boy in the images and video is son. He is my oldest.

He learned how to play chess at two years old and I know what you are thinking, that’s i’m possible, but I assure it isn’t.

How I Taught My Son Chess At 2 Years Old

All it took to teach the little fella how to play such a wonderful mental game was a TON OF PATIENCE, LOVE, AFFECTION AND TIME. That’s it.

Obviously, that is an oversimplification because you have to teach the fundamentals of the game, but it is the truth. It took a lot of TIME.

You don’t just sit down and teach a two year old how to play chess in a few sessions. It starts when they are 6 months, before six months actually.
Had the little fella with my soon to be wife while in graduate school, her and I. Had some time on my hands and loved to play a lot of chess. I was and still am an avid chess player. Love the game.

My son grew up on my lap watching and assisting me play chess long before he was two. He would sit there with a pawn in his mouth, hand, on his thigh or whatever he felt like doing with it, but was observing the game. We don’t give infants credit for being aware of their surrounds or taking in what they are seeing/doing, but they are.

My son would sit on my lap paying attention, watching. Once he got 12 to 18 months old, I allowed him to make the moves for me. I would point at the rook, say rook, then tell him where to move the pieces. Overtime, he began to pick up how the various pieces on the board moved and their corresponding names.

By the time he was two, he was into the game, but had one problem. He couldn’t grasp how to make the bishop move. It moves at a diagonal and I tried everything I could to get him to learn it. It wasn’t until a friend of mine was over the house and showed him the bishop’s movement a few times that it clicked.

Was amazing how simple it was. He drew two arrows that intersected in an X on paper. That is all it took after weeks of me trying to get him to grasp the movement.

My son got it and went on to become a chess player. By the age of four, he was on a kids chess team winning championships downtown Chicago at Navy Pier. He was featured on International chess magazines, websites. ABC News, Chicago Magazine and the discovery channel came to our home to learn more about the young chess prodigy.

By the age of 7, he was playing and beating adults in tournaments around the Chicagoland area. It was a sight to see for grown men to put their hat in their hands as a 7 year old playing with the knights like horseys between moves would destroy them on the board.

I say these things not to brag about my son, but to show you what is possible if you don’t accept the limitations the world puts on our children. I rebuke Justice Scalia and anyone else that tells me our children can’t achieve at great levels.

In fact, I will fight anyone if necessary that attempts to put limitations on our children….even them!

Here is a video of my son playing me at the age of 3 in our apartment many, many years ago.

Playing chess with my son over a decade ago. Believe he is three in this video, but he learned at two. Don't tell me our children can't learn. They just need someone willing to take the time to teach them. You can't just toss an iPad in front of them and expect results. Real parents put in time!And yes, he is an animal now on the chess board!#UIFreddie#FatherhoodIsAllGoodDang, I miss this little guy. He is way taller than I today.

Posted by Urban Intellectuals on Tuesday, January 27, 2015

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT IS THEIR BIRTHRIGHT

I’m one of those crazy people that believe children are geniuses. Not my children, I have two, but children in general. They are born with all they need and more to not only survive in this world, but thrive. It is our duty as parents to bring it out of them.

Unfortunately, most of us dampen their spirit, confidence, skill and ability because we are afraid to let them soar and be amazing. We are afraid because something MIGHT happen that hurts their feelings.

Parenting in America is the problem, in my humble opinion. We don’t know how to do it. Don’t want to take the time to do it right. And are just flat out enabling our children into mediocrity.

They were born to be GREAT!

It truly baffles me that a people with as much faith in God as the Black community, don’t trust God. I mean, if they actually did, then we would accept that the child was born with everything they need to be great. God don’t make no junk, but we insist on treating our children as if God made a mistake.

Your child is a genius. You just have to be willing to put in a TON OF PATIENCE, LOVE, AFFECTION AND TIME to help cultivate it. Not only is your child capable of great things, it is expected when you understand and accept that God didn’t short change them…or you.
Help your children be GREAT!

Want to Know what my son is up to these days?

He is sixteen years old and about to graduate high school as a senior. In fact, he will start college at the age of sixteen as well. He skipped a few grades…..but last year he did nail the ACT with a 35. Here is the update: