Lately I’ve had the chance to reflect back on my ancestors and I must say I am thoroughly amazed by their success, but also by their ability to overcome adversity on such a high scale. Lately in the media, race relations between the African-American community and the Caucasian community have been at an all-time high with constant badgering from each side. With each turning day it seems as though another brethren or sister from my community has their face and name plastered all across social media outlets with the letters “R.I.P” standing in front of them. We like to think that death is a part of life and that at some point we will all meet our maker, but as a young male in this world I would love to achieve every goal I have set for myself without having the fear of knowing that I could be killed due to my skin color. Growing up, I vividly remember hating the color of my skin because I was always different from the rest of my friends. I felt that due to my skin color, I would face disadvantages in life that my friends would not have to such as walking into a store and immediately attracted ominous eyes.
At such young age, I would compare my worth to those of my friend’s based solely on the color of my skin. Thankfully I can look back now and smile knowing that I was naïve in thinking that I could measure my self-worth on the basis of skin color. Over the years, if there is one thing that my beloved parents have instilled in me it is that we cannot define ourselves by race, but instead by the actions we dwell in. As I grew throughout the years, my parents always taught me never to see color, but rather see people for their response. I owe a lot of my wisdom to my parents, but I also owe my understanding to books that I have read over the years. Literature has taught me about the accomplishments of Civil Rights pioneers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcom X. Each of these individuals paved the way for young men and women such as myself who seek prosperity and understanding. In a way, I owe them my lives because without each of their efforts combined our society would not have progressed into the resilient nation that it is today. Today I am free to go to school without any limitations on my education and for that I am forever in debt to their contributions. As a young African-American growing up, we were always faced with being depicted as a stereotype by the rest of society. The fear of never being good enough or allowing myself to succumb to the negative label that was attributed to being a young man of color was very daunting. With the reassurance from one of my favorite poets named Maya Angelou, I learned that overcoming adversity is just a part of life and how we respond to it determines how we will live our lives. Her poem “Still I Rise” has played a vital role in my success over the years because of its ability to add encouragement and evoke a sense of pride.
I find peace in knowing now that I was so wrong about the color black. Usually when we see black we think of something dark and horrific or something that is unfavorable, but I see it as something completely different. When I see the color black, I see freedom, strength, and resilience. All that I have today, I owe to the past members of my community, but the highest praise goes to my heavenly father Jesus Christ. Without his constant hand and patience with me, I would not be the young man of color that I am today. I am who I am because He made me that way and that is something that I will always appreciate.
