no with a negative consequence my mother
used to tell me no I couldn’t have the
last slice of pizza no I couldn’t have
that last cookie but no there was no
snacks before dinner time but as an
adult I understand the importance and
the purpose of no as an african-american
male I feel as if our society is yelling
at me no I fit the stereotype five eight
sort of medium athletic built body for
the tattoos I feel no when I walk past
that couple and they clutch their purse
a little tighter when I have my dress
down clothes on I also feel no when I
walk past cars with my jeans and tennis
shoes on and that person locks the door
I feel society is screaming us know when
I look at the retention rates of
african-american males in our
educational system I also feel Society
of screaming no when I look at the
recent killings of African Americans who
were killed with their hands up saying
don’t shoot I saw these killings on
Facebook I saw these killings on
Instagram and I also saw these killings
on Twitter I remember the first time
that I heard no in our educational
system I was in a second grade and in
the second grade I was an angry young
boy I was angry because just like my
friends I didn’t have my father in the
home I missed his such I missed his
guidance I missed his mentorship so I
had a boy
in my heart so instead of talking about
it
I used my fists to let go of my anger
wow I was in second grade I fought my
way to express my anger I fought my way
to express my anger I remember my
teacher sitting me down and I remember
her saying to me this no you don’t
belong in this classroom no you don’t
belong in this school when she told me
no I felt so defeated I felt that the
teacher and my class didn’t believe in
me I felt she was doing the same thing
that society was doing she was screaming
at me no I just read a book by dr.
Michael Porter and in his books he talks
about the misdiagnosis of
african-american male boys in that
classroom instead of my teacher figuring
out what was going on with me she told
me that if I fought one more time in her
classroom she didn’t care what was going
on in my personal life that no I could
no longer belong there
my mother Veda made a very life-changing
decision for me that altered and shaped
the course of my life my mother signed
me up for you sports my mother signed me
up for you sports and Wow
and you sports I felt that boy that I
was trying to feel I felt that boy and
my coach my coach served as that father
figure to me my coach taught me the
importance of hard work the importance
of teamwork and my coach also taught me
how to overcome societal no my coaching
still dis in me and this is something I
keep with me until today my coach used
to always say to us Reggie I will say
yes sir
he would say how do champions work and I
respond champions work hard all the time
he was saying again
how did champion his work champion his
work hard all of the time that was the
first person to ever tell me that I was
a champion that I mattered that I was
important that my voice was expected to
be heard because society always told me
no there was one thing my coach didn’t
tell me
and I always remember this is the only
lie that I feel that my coach told me my
coach told me sticks and stones may
break your bones but words should never
hurt you now that I know the power of no
words do hurt hearing someone tell you
no it hurts
having society tell you know it hurts I
stay with you sports from the second
grade to the eighth grade and I decided
that I wanted to play high school
football now I always had great
relationships with my coach but when I
got to high school things changed for me
with my relationship to my coach now in
high school I wasn’t the most athletic
kid Wow even wasn’t even the best player
on the team but I remember we was
winning the game we were winning 40 to
zero and at this time I had a 3.0 GPA in
ninth grade we were winning 40 to zero
and I remember one of the assistant
coaches who believed in me said to the
head coach hey coach you should put
Reggie Strobel in the game he’s been
working hard put them in the coach the
head coach looked back to the assistant
coach and laughs no he’s not getting in
he doesn’t deserve to get in he’s not a
great enough player when I heard that
coach said no I decided to quit football
altogether I’ve made the mistake of
letting no
defeat me I allow no to have power over
me in my life when I quit sports my GPA
dropped to a 2.1 GPA because I felt like
I didn’t have that coaching or that
fatherly figure anymore in my life and I
didn’t know how to navigate through our
system without a coach when I graduated
high school I graduated for 2.1 GPA and
I had to make some important choices for
my life I applied to Virginia State
University and then in my acceptance
letter they said no you’re not allowed
to come to our school unless you get
your GPA up so I decided to go to Jason
Reynolds Community College which is
located in Richmond Virginia
while I was at James Saarinen’s
Community College I also accepted a
full-time position so while I had this
full-time position I thought I was gonna
work within this company for three years
get my associates degree and hopefully
just move up in the company retire and
have a happy life in 2009 my boss called
me into his office and he said Reggie I
know you’ve been working here for three
years you’ve worked really hard I’m so
proud of you I just thank you for your
hard work but I’m gonna have to tell you
know you can no longer work here hearing
that word no again I felt that same
feeling that I felt in high school I
felt defeated and I felt that I wanted
to give up I called my mother that day
and she really helped me and guided me
through this process
she said well didn’t Virginia state tell
you no as well I say yeah but genius
they told me no did you get your GPA up
why he was in Community College yes I
did she said I want you to go to
Virginia State University tomorrow and
see will they tell you yes so I went to
Virginia State University and I
explained to them that they first told
me no but Virginia State told me yes
day that I was accepted in in that
moment I begin to understand the power
of know while at Virginia State
University I developed my passion for
going back to help young
african-american males like myself I
wanted to go back and tell them yes
because Society was telling them no but
I knew my place and I knew my purpose
was to go back and to our educational
system I’ve reached out to some of my
mentors and I asked them what should I
do
with this passion how can I spark this
passion that I had somebody recommended
to me that Virginia Tech had an
excellent higher education program but I
did not have the GPA which is a 3.0 to
get accepted into the school I still
apply knowing that Virginia Tech may
told me no and I got accept it in to the
school but they told me that I was only
accepted in on conditional status
meaning if I did not get a 3.0 my first
semester that they will also tell me no
I will not be able to come back next
semester I came to Virginia Tech it was
a little rough at first when I got here
but I was able to smooth my way Deut a
couple of weeks and my first semester of
grad school I remember November the 11th
I experienced a freakish accident on our
drill field I was playing a flag
football game my team was winning by the
way they threw a pass I run and I go for
this pass there’s somebody else going
for this past as well as I reached my
hands out my hand misses the ball but
the person who else was going for the
past their head hits my mouth when their
head hits my mouth my two front teeth
I’m missing and I also split my lip in
half I remember laying on the hospital
bed and the doctor told me that I would
have to be out of graduate school
for a month if you know anything about
graduate school if you miss one class
it’s kind of hard to catch up when he
told me that I was gonna be out for a
month I said you know what I quit I’m
gonna let know
defeat me again maybe Virginia Tech was
right maybe I should have been accepted
only on conditional status I called my
mother and she actually flipped the
script on me she actually told me no no
you’re not going to quit no you’re not
going to give up and no you’re not going
to give in because there are people who
are depending on you there are other
young african-americans who are looking
at you and I’m depending on you to
finish your degree at Virginia Tech so
you could come home and you can inspire
and motivate them I’m so glad that I
listened to my mother and I’m so glad
that she told me no because I decided to
stay and I decided to turn my no into a
yes while I was here but junior tech
while I was here I was able to host over
30 events for the african-american
community I was able to study abroad in
Punta Cana with our football team and I
also was able to graduate Virginia Tech
actually with my highest GPA and our
educational system well for 3.67 GPA so
I was able to turn my no into a yes
while I was here with my degree I
decided I wanted to go back to Richmond
Virginia and I wanted to help and
inspire the young youth there I call
them the next generation potentially the
next generation of Hokies because they
see me and they see inspiration and they
see motivation they say if coach can
come to Virginia Tech and do it then I’d
also know that I can inspire and I can
also try to go to Virginia Tech and also
do the same thing also with my team
there are seven and eight they’ve been
on multiple college trips each coach on
my staff is a certified professional in
their feet
and I also have speakers to actually
come in and to speak to my team so they
can learn how to overcome the nose that
society is going to tell them now when I
think about nose as well a lot of my
football players they ask me very
interesting questions one of my football
players turned to me one day and asked
me with tears in his eyes he says coach
I said yes son he said why how are we
continuously getting killed on TV why do
I have to keep witnessing us someone who
looks like me died on TV and I had to
respond to him and say I’m sorry that
you’re witnessing this but they actually
did not get the opportunity like me to
turn there no into a yes so you have to
go and you have to face society and turn
your nose into a yes and I wanted us to
partake in a moment of silence a moment
of silence for the african-americans who
did not receive the opportunity to turn
I know this hoodie on my head
his actions been the first time I
actually placed a hoodie on my head
since the death of Trayvon Martin that I
– it could be next on that screen
because I’m perceived as a threat in our
society a society that continuously
screams and yells at me and people who
look like me know so as I tell my youth
and I tell all African Americans who
speak and ask me for advice
don’t look at societal snow as a
defeating mechanism look at societal
snows as your next opportunity thank you [Applause]