- S
- D
Below is a small excerpt from my Letter of Intent to Georgia State Universities Masters of Arts, In African American Studies program to which I have been accepted to attend in the Fall.
Serving the Black community through our youth has always been my passion and something I intend to sustain well into my professional career.
Anything (even well wishes )are vital at this time. Thank you in advanced for your continued support for my educational endeavors.
My mother is, and has always been, a very rigid woman. In lieu of tender caresses, and soft soothing words, she offered scathing critiques and harsh reality checks.Vilifications so appalling and infuriating that more often than not, one of my siblings, or I would find ourselves on the opposing end of an entirely too long, and divisive verbal power struggle. Her favorite oration, which soon became her own personal mantra was, “Black people around here live and die within a two mile radius of the local gas station.You make sure YOU don’t do the same!” With my childlike apprehension, I interpreted it as her being mean, oppressive, stifling, and redundant. It wasn’t until I left the comfort of my two mile radius in West Los Angeles a few years later that I realized her mantra was in fact, a battle cry steeped in rebellion, that I would use to shape my life through undergrad, and beyond.
I understand now that “Not living and dying within a two mile radius, of the local gas station” was more than ceaseless, repetitious, nagging. It was instead a series of demands and expectations.
The first, required that I find the courage to break the mold of “complacency” history has conveniently trapped the black body into. The second insisted that I acknowledge the complexities of separation from the familiar, and persist through its laboriousness, in order to equip those “stuck” between the two mile radius of their local gas stations with the tools to dismantle their immobility. In 2011, I attended the University of California Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz CA., 6 hours away from my two mile radius, and submitted to the demands of my mother's mantra. Towards the end of my undergraduate career it became more apparent that, in order to quench the mantras request of dismantling the lethargy that has been forced onto the Black body, I needed to reach out to the youth. I realized that in order to be successful in this quest, I needed to create a space where the youth could easily delve deeper into the collective history of trauma placed upon blackness, and black bodies. A space of influence that invited the nourishment and examination of collective Black consciousness.
In 2015 after graduating from UCSC, I became a corps member for City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, at Overfelt High School, in East San Jose CA. An Americorps program that assists “at risk” students in K-9th grade with retention through literacy, mathematics, and community work. Here, I finally had the opportunity to create, and facilitate this space for dialogue, and critical engagement with Black youth aptly named, The Black Series. Its mission (which stands today) is to be a safe space for Black identified youth to be celebrated, and liberated through critical analysis of issues, and events that plague our community. I began the series focusing on the Willie Lynch speech, allowing the students to process, dissect, and debate the ideologies current existence, or nonexistence based on their own life experiences. And concluded it with a firm call to action focused on the reclamation of Blackness. I wanted my students to walk away from the series with pride and knowledge of who they are, and where they come from. I aimed at bringing them the awareness of the torch they have to bear in the fight against systematic oppression, and physical eradication in America, and more specifically their community of San Jose, where their representation was almost nonexistent. Through working with the youth involved with “The Black Series”, I am now cognizant of the major impacts, and subsequent trauma that affect the youth
when they have no space to openly, freely, and unequivocally explore their blackness. I witnessed the need the youth have to connect with anyone who looks like them, and their desire to affirm that their black experience is not a solitary one. Throughout the series many of the youth shared their feelings on its impacts, and voiced that it was the first time many of them felt truly safe enough to critically engage with their identities. These assertions serve as validation for the work I hope to sustain throughout this graduate program and beyond.
I am applying for my Masters of Arts, in African American Studies, at Georgia State University because, It is a program that will continue to foster my growth as an educator, community builder and social justice warrior for Black youth across the globe. With guidance from my mother's mantra, I believe that I have been charged with the task of providing Black youth with opportunities to better understand themselves through collective dialogue, and limitless access to Black driven content. Today, I understand that giving the youth the ability to engage with their past works to enlighten them on their current paths through life, and in turn, simultaneously allows me the opportunity to share with them, the perspective of the mantra, in order to aid in the dismantling of its historical realities. In order to successfully advance in this work, I have cultivated an array of experiences throughout the Bay area, working with programs such as Moving Forward Education at their Hayward Community Day Continuation school site, as their Social Justice Coordinator, mentoring and coordinating forums focused on the retention of “at risk” high school students of color. And sitting on the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committee at Seneca Family of Agencies’ non-public school, James Baldwin Academy, bringing cultural and equitable practices into the employees and students daily thinking.
In closing, I would like to highlight my commitment towards the advancement of Black youth through spaces of uninhibited, collective dialogue. I understand that when given the opportunity to speak, and exist freely, our youth are able to smash labels, eradicate barriers, and dispel critiques. I understand that with access to a center that focuses primarily on critically engaging Black thought, the stirrings of consciousness can take root and lead to both mental, and physical freedom for our Black youth, as they navigate a world conquered, and forged against them. Through Georgia State Universities Masters of Arts program, in African American Studies, I will be able to establish a firmer foothold in this soul work for our Black youth.
Serving the Black community through our youth has always been my passion and something I intend to sustain well into my professional career.
Anything (even well wishes )are vital at this time. Thank you in advanced for your continued support for my educational endeavors.
My mother is, and has always been, a very rigid woman. In lieu of tender caresses, and soft soothing words, she offered scathing critiques and harsh reality checks.Vilifications so appalling and infuriating that more often than not, one of my siblings, or I would find ourselves on the opposing end of an entirely too long, and divisive verbal power struggle. Her favorite oration, which soon became her own personal mantra was, “Black people around here live and die within a two mile radius of the local gas station.You make sure YOU don’t do the same!” With my childlike apprehension, I interpreted it as her being mean, oppressive, stifling, and redundant. It wasn’t until I left the comfort of my two mile radius in West Los Angeles a few years later that I realized her mantra was in fact, a battle cry steeped in rebellion, that I would use to shape my life through undergrad, and beyond.
I understand now that “Not living and dying within a two mile radius, of the local gas station” was more than ceaseless, repetitious, nagging. It was instead a series of demands and expectations.
The first, required that I find the courage to break the mold of “complacency” history has conveniently trapped the black body into. The second insisted that I acknowledge the complexities of separation from the familiar, and persist through its laboriousness, in order to equip those “stuck” between the two mile radius of their local gas stations with the tools to dismantle their immobility. In 2011, I attended the University of California Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz CA., 6 hours away from my two mile radius, and submitted to the demands of my mother's mantra. Towards the end of my undergraduate career it became more apparent that, in order to quench the mantras request of dismantling the lethargy that has been forced onto the Black body, I needed to reach out to the youth. I realized that in order to be successful in this quest, I needed to create a space where the youth could easily delve deeper into the collective history of trauma placed upon blackness, and black bodies. A space of influence that invited the nourishment and examination of collective Black consciousness.
In 2015 after graduating from UCSC, I became a corps member for City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, at Overfelt High School, in East San Jose CA. An Americorps program that assists “at risk” students in K-9th grade with retention through literacy, mathematics, and community work. Here, I finally had the opportunity to create, and facilitate this space for dialogue, and critical engagement with Black youth aptly named, The Black Series. Its mission (which stands today) is to be a safe space for Black identified youth to be celebrated, and liberated through critical analysis of issues, and events that plague our community. I began the series focusing on the Willie Lynch speech, allowing the students to process, dissect, and debate the ideologies current existence, or nonexistence based on their own life experiences. And concluded it with a firm call to action focused on the reclamation of Blackness. I wanted my students to walk away from the series with pride and knowledge of who they are, and where they come from. I aimed at bringing them the awareness of the torch they have to bear in the fight against systematic oppression, and physical eradication in America, and more specifically their community of San Jose, where their representation was almost nonexistent. Through working with the youth involved with “The Black Series”, I am now cognizant of the major impacts, and subsequent trauma that affect the youth
when they have no space to openly, freely, and unequivocally explore their blackness. I witnessed the need the youth have to connect with anyone who looks like them, and their desire to affirm that their black experience is not a solitary one. Throughout the series many of the youth shared their feelings on its impacts, and voiced that it was the first time many of them felt truly safe enough to critically engage with their identities. These assertions serve as validation for the work I hope to sustain throughout this graduate program and beyond.
I am applying for my Masters of Arts, in African American Studies, at Georgia State University because, It is a program that will continue to foster my growth as an educator, community builder and social justice warrior for Black youth across the globe. With guidance from my mother's mantra, I believe that I have been charged with the task of providing Black youth with opportunities to better understand themselves through collective dialogue, and limitless access to Black driven content. Today, I understand that giving the youth the ability to engage with their past works to enlighten them on their current paths through life, and in turn, simultaneously allows me the opportunity to share with them, the perspective of the mantra, in order to aid in the dismantling of its historical realities. In order to successfully advance in this work, I have cultivated an array of experiences throughout the Bay area, working with programs such as Moving Forward Education at their Hayward Community Day Continuation school site, as their Social Justice Coordinator, mentoring and coordinating forums focused on the retention of “at risk” high school students of color. And sitting on the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committee at Seneca Family of Agencies’ non-public school, James Baldwin Academy, bringing cultural and equitable practices into the employees and students daily thinking.
In closing, I would like to highlight my commitment towards the advancement of Black youth through spaces of uninhibited, collective dialogue. I understand that when given the opportunity to speak, and exist freely, our youth are able to smash labels, eradicate barriers, and dispel critiques. I understand that with access to a center that focuses primarily on critically engaging Black thought, the stirrings of consciousness can take root and lead to both mental, and physical freedom for our Black youth, as they navigate a world conquered, and forged against them. Through Georgia State Universities Masters of Arts program, in African American Studies, I will be able to establish a firmer foothold in this soul work for our Black youth.