May the 5th of 2009 is a day that I will never forget. It was a beautiful sunny day in my hometown of Elmwood Park, New Jersey. The breeze of summer was in the air, and families gathered to celebrate the greatness of Memorial Day. My twelve-year-old self decided to attend the Memorial Day Parade. The parade is a tradition in my hometown. All the town officials gather and march to honor those who have served our country. It is a time to reflect and celebrate with joyful dancing, vibrant band marching, and the endless cheering of crowds. However, for me, the parade was a sad realization of my reality growing up in Elmwood Park. I realized that my family was the only African American family in my neighborhood. Unbeknownst to me at the time, …show more content…
I decided to research the history of my town and found that in its 100-year history, there has never been a person of color to serve as Mayor. The lack of diversity and representation made me feel insecure, alone, and marginalized, until I finally realized what I wanted to do to change that. My thirteen-year-old self knew that I wanted to be an advocate, a public servant, and a voice for the voiceless. By obtaining a graduate degree in Political Communication, I could protect and defend the rights of marginalized …show more content…
John’s University, I was able to research housing segregation in the United States prior to the passing of the Fair Housing Act and GI Bill. I incorporated others’ lived experiences, detailed articles, journals, and documentaries from those who were affected by housing segregation. Through this research, I was also able to share my own experiences of growing up in my neighborhood. Additionally, I was afforded the privilege to use my diverse experiences to educate others and serve the St. John’s community as President of the St. John’s University’s NAACP. Through my work with the NAACP, I advocated for my fellow St. John’s students by taking their grievances to higher administration and contemplating solutions to a number of their concerns. During my presidency, we held our largest Founders Day Anniversary Dinner with over 140 attendees, I enacted three new standing committees to our executive board, and membership grew by over 30
White, John, and John White. Black Leadership in America From Booker T. Washington to Jesse Jackson. 2nd Ed. ed. New York: Longman, 1990.
Instinctively a feminist, Lucy Diggs Slowe was an outspoken advocate for the empowerment and education of the African American female. A graduate of Howard University in 1908, Ms. Slowe cultivated her passion for gender equality with many leadership positions on the Howard campus. “She was the first president of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first greek letter organization for black college women” (Perkins, 1996, p. 90). After graduation Slowe went on to teach, earned a Master’s degree from Columbia University and took classes in the innovative field of Student Personnel that would eventually be her career until her death in 1937. The first African American Dean of Women at Howard University, she clashed with many of the presidents at Howard during her fifteen year tenure. As a result of her push back on the paternalistic rules imposed on the female students at Howard, Ms. Slowe’s department was dismantled and she was asked to live on campus to oversee the female population that resided on campus. Despite this retaliation from the University President, Mordecai
When a person presently looks at university school systems, one never imagines the struggle to obtain such diverse campuses. With Caucasians, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans all willing and able to attend any institution, it is difficult now to envision a world where, because of one’s skin color, a person is denied university acceptance. In actuality, this world existed only fifty years ago. In a time of extreme racial discrimination, African Americans fought and struggled toward one of many goals: to integrate schools. As a pioneer in the South, a man named James Meredith took a courageous step by applying to the University of Mississippi, an all white university. After overcoming many legal and social obstacles, the University of Mississippi’s integration sent positive effects rippling among universities across the nation.
... The amalgam of cultural and educational backgrounds will surely affect our college in the future; however, the tradition of the historically black college will not be lost. When our chorale and gospel choir sing spirituals on Founder's Day or commencement, one cannot forget the auspicious beginning of our college and the many colleges like ours, the ideal men and women like Booker T. Washington envisioned and strove to achieve. In this time of historical backsliding when doors are closing to talented students of color, the historically black college is again a home and a sacred space, a setting where one can cultivate talent, self love and the love of others--a special place where the bonds to a past and to an American tradition erase all personal feelings of self-aggrandizement and intellectual pride, a place where the self encounters the struggle of America's past, a place where the soul grows deep like the rivers. WORKS CITED Anderson, James D. The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935.
While the University Chancellor gave the introduction to Julian Bond on the 50-year anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education court decision, my interest in this civil rights figure gradually began to grow. Bond’s has a long list of accomplishments and has devoted his entire life to the fight for justice and equality in America. The audience, myself included, had to be impressed by his resume, because it was one that very few of us could ever even dream of achieving. Bond was a founding member of the NAACP, a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, and an active participant in many of the major events of the civil rights struggle that changed the course of U.S. history. He also served for 20 years in the Georgia Legislature and is now a professor of history at the University of Virginia. With this outstanding l...
In the 1960s black student unions were created as a stepping stone for African Americans everywhere to voice their social concern and culture on college campuses everywhere. The black student union created in September of 2015 on Post University’s Campus was created to address pressing social issues in the black community while bridging the gap between all races through education. Through the use of planning and strategic management, the possibilities of success of the black student union becomes endless.
In the midst of one of the busiest cities in the world there lies a sanctuary. There lies an area where all men are equal, where poverty is non-existent, where all men are united under two things; the first being death and the second being America. Arlington National Cemetery is a tribute to all of the fallen heroes, the patriots, the soldiers, the pioneers, all who have cried American tears. I have been forever changed since visiting Arlington National Cemetery and it is a visit that every American should make.
I decided that I wanted to dedicate as much time as I could to this class, and set a goal for myself: to become an officer. After weeks of meticulously perfecting my speech and having occasionally surges of anxiety, election day had arrived. After all the candidates had given their speeches for their respective positions, the class voted for the officers. After the period of tense silence and scrupulous tally counting had concluded, I exerted a sigh of relief as I heard my name get called for the Latinos In Action Secretary. Little did I know, this moment would propel me into diving into the wonders that this club had to
As a freshman at Cal-State Fullerton I began to ask my self where inequalities come from and what causes them, why does society use the term minorities and why minorities are oppress. While working at the Volunteer & Service Center I was invited to join a group that plan an event called the Social Justice Summit. This event was a grassroots event that helped raise awareness about different inequalities and oppressions in the community to over 500 community members. With this event, I understood that there isn’t one solid answer that exists about what causes inequalities and oppressions. And even now, the only thing that is clear is that people need to know what is happening in the world. This is why I want to continue my education in the field of Ethnic Studies. Specifically I want to find out the struggles of the Chicano/a population. Find out about pass movements and what we can learn about those movements, what we can improve about those movements, to help the Chicano population today.
Diversity, a word often heard growing up. In high school diversity was an issue that was pushed repeatedly. I attended a school that had a student body of over 2000 students, in which diversity was not really an issue. As time passed I found that diversity affected my life more and more. As college neared filling out applications became more of a ritual, and I found that by being born into a white middle class family would hinder my financial status rather than help it. Recently an article appeared in the Iowa State Daily, which addressed the issue of a white-only scholarship. In addition to the scholarships offered to members of the minority races, a scholarship should be offered to the members of the decreasing majority.
Tragic events occur not only in the United States, but also all over the world. From these tragic events communities, families, and the government decide to place memorials for people that were lost and as a thank you for people protecting the citizens of the country. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Wall, in Washington D.C. is one of these cases. However, what exactly was the purpose of this memorial? The purpose of putting up the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was not only to thank the veterans for their bravery, but to remind future generations about happened during the Vietnam War. Also, the memorial is important to help people and the veterans to accept the fact that the war actually
...e time television depicts Black Americans as people who do not know how to speak proper English, live in the projects and ghettos, and procreate beyond our existence so that all we can do is rob the system and depend on welfare for our sustenance. These depictions are very stereotypical and negative. Martin R. Delany, a renowned Black American who wrote a book that discussed the attributes of a black man said that Black Americans should foster a sense of pride because of our complex and unique history. We need to bind together and “Lift up Every Voice” (Black national hymn) to make sure our past and future histories are not forgotten, not just by us but by every American. The legacy of Black History Month is an achievement we all should be proud of, but for Peace’s Sake do not let others undermine your past and accomplishments and do not forget your own history.
In order to fully understand the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as the importance of their preservation and need for continuation, one...
Phillip, Mary-Christine. "Yesterday Once More: African-Americans Wonder If New Era Heralds," Black Issues in Higher Education. (July 1995).
Defenders include that governmental policy regarding minorities in society has without a doubt prevailing with regards to extending business and instructive open doors for non-white individuals, and that people profiting from governmental policy regarding minorities in society have for the most part fared well in the work environment or on the grounds. In such manner investigate finds that African American understudies moving on from specific US schools and colleges in the wake of being conceded under governmental policy regarding minorities in society rules are marginally more probable than their white partners to get proficient degrees and to wind up engaged with community issues (Bowen and Bok, 1998). As this concise discourse shows, a