Graduating with Conscious and Purpose...

I listened today as Howard University (HU) conferred the honor of Doctorate to Chadwick Boseman, a noted actor and HU alum, before he delivered his commencement address to the Class of 2018. I was moved when he spoke of standing his ground and being guided by his principle when asked to play what he thought was a role negatively depicting the Black experience as part of a soap opera cast.

He shared with the graduates, as they go forward, the importance of finding and being true to their purpose and to the proud spirit that was instilled in or confirmed for him and them while students at Howard. I respect that he shared with the graduates his willingness to risk being fired rather than compromise his principle of not promoting a negative perception or portrayal of his people for the world to see or for the love of money. He shared with the students that once he was able to speak to the execs' about how and what he was feeling about his character, he did his best work on that job on that next day which was not surprisingly his last day on that job.

He relieved himself of what was inner turmoil in the work place and therefore potentially toxic for him personally and spiritually. Of course he was fired. Of course he was labeled "difficult", which means he hit a nerve when he spoke his truth, that he has a mind and a voice of his own that he is willing and unafraid to use as his right, which means his mind has been freed from mental chains of any kind, which means he is fearless, guided by and lives by his own principle and which most importantly means that he sleeps well every night the good Lord sends. Oh, how I can relate...

I arrived at Howard University as a woman. I was already 30 years old and had had my underwhelming but thankfully successful undergraduate experience at a PWI (predominantly White institution). But for a very few professors and the benefits of the administrators and fellow participants of a summer program for Black, mostly first generation college students (EOF, Martin Luther King's Scholars Program), I was not nurtured, groomed nor recognized there...

Fortunately for me, unlike many graduate students, I was able to enjoy a significant bit of the real HU undergraduate experience because I had the honor of living in and being a GA (Graduate Assistant) to two incoming classes of blossoming fresh"women" and two years of undergraduate RA (Resident Assistants) students while supervising a dorm at HU. Being a role model to and watching confidence grow in these young ladies is one of my proudest and most fond memories. So many of them still reach out to thank me for some advice or encouragement I gave them or to share with me some positive memory of an experience with me that sometimes I can't even recall. It is so very moving...

I arrived at HU a rebel, I exited a confirmed rebel. It has always been my passion to advocate, defend and speak up for self and for others. I am willing to take risks as did our fore-parents and our valiant civil rights workers who put the collective good before their own good. There is no time for being cautious, taking "baby steps" or being afraid to speak up in the face of injustice. I merely drink the Kool-aid that has been served me and then take much delight in serving it right back, always professionally with a smile that is sure to be laced with lots and lots of honey, purposeful self restraint, tact, diplomacy and dignity of course. In accordance with the wisdom and advice of our esteemed First Lady Michelle Obama, I am appreciative to have a seat at the table but not so grateful that I will forsake why and how I came to be seated at the table. There just ain't no other way to operate... Speak up or Get Up!

As did Dr. Boseman when he found himself in a situation of choosing between work and being true to the principles that guide his life, I find myself there yet again. While my pride and strength was not ingrained in me at Howard, it was certainly fortified while there. I am unwilling to compromise my values for the sake of self at the expense of the collective. Where, I ask, would we be if that had been the position of those who came and paved a way before us? It was that shared pride and strength that likely drew me to Howard and that made me fit, belong and remain true to Howard. I treasure each of my three degrees to include an international experience abroad but it is my tenure at Howard University that is the most valued of my collegiate experiences. 

There is an unspoken, unbreakable, uncompromising responsibility and sense of self pride, therefore Black pride, that comes with having attended an HBCU and certainly for having the honor to call oneself a Howard alum, a Howard Bison. I was inspired to hear Dr. Boseman reinforce and pass that lesson along to yet another generation of young Bison and to remind and/or re-confirm that lesson for the rest of us. It was a beautiful Day, a great speech and yet another Great Memory from Howard University for the Class of 2018. Congratulations to graduates everywhere!

Dr. Boseman closed with these parting words of wisdom: 

This is your time. The light of new realization shines on you today. Howard's legacy is not wrapped up in the money that you will make but the challenges that you choose to confront. As you commit to your past, press on with pride and press on with purpose. God Bless you. 
I love you Howard. 

Howard Forever!