I was 8 when I went on my first college
visit those memories still overwhelmed
me but the feeling one gets when they
find themselves in a place of perfect
belonging everything I saw was
awe-inspiring students moving around
with purpose
buildings that exude its centuries-old
wisdom lawns that service places for
Future Leaders to debate big ideas or
Jim about things they wanted to
accomplish all of this gave me a healthy
dose of impatient to master fractions
and decimals differentiate between
metaphors and similes and understand the
milestones a measurement of Mesoamerican
history after all those were the things
that stood between me and my future
college so this first college visit was
transformative for me and what is
peculiar about it is that I never had to
leave my home for this transformation I
sat in my living room in my polkadot
onesie watching the Wayne Wayne and
Whitley Gilbert for my favorite show a
different world enjoying their college
life at the fictional Hillman College I
spent weeks sharing Kim’s anxiety and to
termination to do well under her MCAT
for medical school I cried with Whitley
as she went through the painful process
of trying to find herself these
characters became role models for me
they looked like me their families look
like my family and their worries were
similar to my words unfortunately she
was like that don’t exist anymore to
inspire and some form it was through a
different world that I not only learned
about college life but also about
historically black colleges or in
universities or HBCUs for sure I see too
many kids my age who don’t know about
HBCUs the excitement of college life or
possibilities available to children of
color even though over 60
percent of all high school graduates go
on to college there is a different
reality for african-american youth for
example just last year only 10% of all
degrees from four-year colleges were
earned by African Americans on average
over over one-third of all white
Americans over the age of 25 have
obtained at least a bachelor’s degree
while the same is true for less than a
quarter of African Americans but who is
to blame for this these disparities
certainly have more than one cause and
while we should continue addressing
systemic issues causing these
disparities I see too many children who
look like me
and who are my age that have never found
the different world at school these
children see teachers who don’t look
like them learn about people who don’t
look like them and they read from
textbooks that share a lack of fair
representation of the history of their
communities but what they need to see
it’s people who look like them teachers
who look like them they need to
understand the importance that the
African people have on our community
they need to learn the they need to
learn the impact that they had on the
sciences mathematics literature and
philosophy a different world it gave me
a hunger to experience
well a different world it is why I tried
so hard to visit Spelman College a
historically black college for females
of color in Atlanta Georgia the southern
part of the United States this visit
gave me so much pride I saw females of
color making the name
themselves their being better than what
they already are
they were excelling in doing everything
that I wanted to do when I was there I
saw the future man I saw people who I
wanted to be like I saw people I didn’t
even know and I looked up to them just
because of what they accomplished in
schools there are children who may not
understand how important education is to
them but they know they need one because
that’s all they hear and parents you
need to encourage a chosen to do this
schools I urge you don’t wait encourage
your children to learn about different
things encourage your students to do
what you do and encourage them to be
better than you you may inspire someone
to go through years of tough schooling
hormonal changes and possibly bullying
parents show your children the vision of
excellence show them what you see for
them and what you want them to see for
themselves colleges be proactive and
reaching your children of young ages
elementary school and middle school and
students demand to see the vision demand
to see a different world see something
go after it know what you wants and do
what you can do to get there I see a
different world for you because there is
a different world for you thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
visit those memories still overwhelmed
me but the feeling one gets when they
find themselves in a place of perfect
belonging everything I saw was
awe-inspiring students moving around
with purpose
buildings that exude its centuries-old
wisdom lawns that service places for
Future Leaders to debate big ideas or
Jim about things they wanted to
accomplish all of this gave me a healthy
dose of impatient to master fractions
and decimals differentiate between
metaphors and similes and understand the
milestones a measurement of Mesoamerican
history after all those were the things
that stood between me and my future
college so this first college visit was
transformative for me and what is
peculiar about it is that I never had to
leave my home for this transformation I
sat in my living room in my polkadot
onesie watching the Wayne Wayne and
Whitley Gilbert for my favorite show a
different world enjoying their college
life at the fictional Hillman College I
spent weeks sharing Kim’s anxiety and to
termination to do well under her MCAT
for medical school I cried with Whitley
as she went through the painful process
of trying to find herself these
characters became role models for me
they looked like me their families look
like my family and their worries were
similar to my words unfortunately she
was like that don’t exist anymore to
inspire and some form it was through a
different world that I not only learned
about college life but also about
historically black colleges or in
universities or HBCUs for sure I see too
many kids my age who don’t know about
HBCUs the excitement of college life or
possibilities available to children of
color even though over 60
percent of all high school graduates go
on to college there is a different
reality for african-american youth for
example just last year only 10% of all
degrees from four-year colleges were
earned by African Americans on average
over over one-third of all white
Americans over the age of 25 have
obtained at least a bachelor’s degree
while the same is true for less than a
quarter of African Americans but who is
to blame for this these disparities
certainly have more than one cause and
while we should continue addressing
systemic issues causing these
disparities I see too many children who
look like me
and who are my age that have never found
the different world at school these
children see teachers who don’t look
like them learn about people who don’t
look like them and they read from
textbooks that share a lack of fair
representation of the history of their
communities but what they need to see
it’s people who look like them teachers
who look like them they need to
understand the importance that the
African people have on our community
they need to learn the they need to
learn the impact that they had on the
sciences mathematics literature and
philosophy a different world it gave me
a hunger to experience
well a different world it is why I tried
so hard to visit Spelman College a
historically black college for females
of color in Atlanta Georgia the southern
part of the United States this visit
gave me so much pride I saw females of
color making the name
themselves their being better than what
they already are
they were excelling in doing everything
that I wanted to do when I was there I
saw the future man I saw people who I
wanted to be like I saw people I didn’t
even know and I looked up to them just
because of what they accomplished in
schools there are children who may not
understand how important education is to
them but they know they need one because
that’s all they hear and parents you
need to encourage a chosen to do this
schools I urge you don’t wait encourage
your children to learn about different
things encourage your students to do
what you do and encourage them to be
better than you you may inspire someone
to go through years of tough schooling
hormonal changes and possibly bullying
parents show your children the vision of
excellence show them what you see for
them and what you want them to see for
themselves colleges be proactive and
reaching your children of young ages
elementary school and middle school and
students demand to see the vision demand
to see a different world see something
go after it know what you wants and do
what you can do to get there I see a
different world for you because there is
a different world for you thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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