THE SECRET’S OUT:
BLACK COLLEGES OFFER HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL

Check out this fascinating story about Joshua Packwood, a young Anglo male who worked hard to earn the distinguished honor of 2008 Valedictorian at Morehouse College, known for educating generations of African American men, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/16/white.valedictorian/index.html#cnnSTCText

This was of particular interest because a family friend, Tor Derricotte, son of Nadine and Kevin, just returned from a Morehouse campus tour. Tor’s a brilliant young man, among the top in his high school class who recently completed a German student exchange program. He’ll soon make his choice between Morehouse, Rider and Rutgers. Many other family friends, including William Thompson, a Charlottesville attorney from my Hometown of Hampton, Virginia, and others are “Morehouse Men.”

The point is: both Tor and Joshua have choices. For other generations, the decision of where to go to college was “decided” by the status quo.

A few weeks back, during the Race and New Media Panel at City Tech, I had a great discussion with a fellow teacher. I told her I went to Howard; she said her younger cousin was at Howard's School of Pharmacy. She explained how an African American institution wasn’t their cousin’s first choice, but said they’re tremendously pleased with the great education they’re receiving!

The secret’s out, blasted via CNN and personal exchanges. Black colleges, namely Morehouse, Howard and Hampton (among countless others) provide a high-quality education—for all. Everyone is beginning to understand the rich context and extreme VALUE of the Black college experience.

Understand life is serious. You can achieve or obtain anything you want, but realize that the rules have changed. Guess what? All generations must realize that future classmates and alums at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will white or from other countries.

This is what Martin Luther King and our parents generation worked for, opportunity and equal access. With that comes progress.

Friends, we know the intellectual rigor of HBCU’s, but everyone else doesn't. So, I provided a brief a history lesson for my new teacher friend, about biology classes in "The Valley;" where all the science buildings are located behind at Howard, behind Founders Library. I described a statue honoring Biologist Ernest Everett Just, a tribute to one of the founders of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Then, I shared how Biology 101 was used "back in my day" to weed out people who wanted to study nursing, pharmacy or medicine. I still remember folks in my dorm (Meridian Hill Hall), literally crying after a test. You would have thought someone had died. Almost, since their future careers were on life support and needed fast resuscitation if they were to survive! The Biology 101 book weighed about 30 pounds. The professors did not play.

So you want to be a doctor? Pass Biology 101.

Many who first thought they wanted to be a doctor or nurse had to buckle down. Some wiped away their tears and changed their major. Serious business.

[Full disclosure: LSJ did not take Biology 101. While I got decent grades in high school science and considered the course as an elective, my academic advisors rightfully encouraged me not to take it, since it was constructed to reveal only the most astute scientific minds.]

I also told my colleague how many engineering students literally had their names engraved on certain chairs in the library late at night. Yes, friends, I saw them because I was there studying too. Even Howard communications majors have to be serious. The School of Business and virtually every other specialization has a RICH history of success, educating talented young professionals of all races. Many hail from throughout the globe.

And yes, some are white.

So, guess what? Students of all colors must have higher SAT or ACT scores—no

matter what your field of interest. Video game playing and texting must give way to writing skills, studying and advanced placement college-prep courses and high school internships.

If not, you’ll be left behind, by people who look like you AND those who don’t.

We all have a wonderful opportunity to better share our stories, so that young and old can have a greater understanding. The presumptive Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama has opened people’s ears to the possibility of change.

But you have to listen in order to accurately hear the story.

We've got to be big enough to raise the bar on our own level of achievement and that of our children—of all colors. Understand the level and depth of the commitment is often very arduous, but well worth the effort.

To this day, I often sacrifice "fun" or family time to keep honored commitments. It's so important to contribute in a substantive way. If not, why bother? I feel that commitment and passion is a testament to my family, a community of support that goes back more than a hundred years. The sacrifice of many allows me to sit here and edit this blog entry.

Keep your perspective and understand your unique place on the planet. Understand your power. Persevere and most importantly, don’t waste time, because there is simply no limit to what you can achieve or who you can influence.

Know that others are gaining on you and many live half a world away.

I try to communicate this to my students, who fortunately are of all ages and races. The global learning environment found in New York City is something I will always cherish. Go back a generation, and you’ll find scores of over qualified African American teachers, physicians and nurses would not have been able to educate, influence or much less save the life of someone other than their own color.

Think how much farther ahead we’d be as a country if these distinguished citizens had been allowed to fully practice their crafts, instead of being relegated to what were then all-Black institutions, due to the laws of the day.

It's simply mind boggling, right?

Now, we have a chance to rev up our global game. America has the opportunity to truly be cross-cultural. We can diversity our educational and employee development techniques.

Develop school spirit and pride. Celebrate the culture; add your own flavor! Then open your mouth and share the wealth of knowledge right between your ears.

If you don't pass important knowledge on to the next generation, then who will? That’s why many young people, of all races, are well … a bit lost.

Lost as to manners, how to write a concrete sentence and the importance of follow-up and being true to your word. Simple, yet abstract tools young people need to succeed.

Share the rich heritage of HBCU’s, American Colleges and Universities (ACUs) or Global Colleges and University’s (GCU’s). If we don't pass important knowledge on to the next generation, it will be lost. You’re never too young or too old to teach someone about what you remember from your college experience, or what you plan to achieve if you’re currently a student.

Be on a mission to mentor and motivate young people in elementary school, middle school or high school who just need a little push. Only when we propel each other into the next phase, can we all truly excel!