PUSHing Through Our Legacy

The last week was a very interesting one for me. After the I Am A Man: A Forum for Black Men event, I approached Kianta Key about planning a similar event for the women on FAMU's campus. We brainstormed and came up with an idea about the legacy of black women; past, present, and future. We planned to invite older women and younger women to come together to discuss the roles of black women in society and what we could do to change the perceptions of our women. Well, by the time we got to the week of the event, most of our planning had changed. It became a week of events with community service and an all-star panel and a bruncheon keynoted by Rae Lewis-Thornton. You see Kianta is a seer. She has the creative mind that takes an idea and makes it an event. She was able to expand my 3,500 dollar idea and make it a 53,000 affair. We hosted Chrisette Michele, FAMU alum Meredith Clark, entrepreneur LaShawnna Stanley, journalist Helena Andrews, and noted relationship expert, Dr. Michelle Callahan. The turn out was tremendous and I believe we changed someone's life.

By the time the forum rolled around, I didn't even want to see it. Having worked on it, all I wanted to do was have it happen. It mattered not if I was able to partake in it. When the program finally started, my heart started to beat wildly because it was actually happening. My vision was becoming reality. I think that's how childbirth is. When the baby is in the womb, he/she is not really real. It's not until the labor pains start that it begins to sink in the magnitude of what you are doing. You have created life. I feel the same way about my idea. I am so grateful to everyone who worked with me on the idea and helped to make history with me. I pray for the people who come after us and try to recreate our vision. I pray their strength in the Lord right now. Most importantly, I thank God for vision and the will to see it through.

And now I can graduate and go on to Howard, or Georgia State, and get my doctorate of philosophy in English Literature with a concentration in African-American Literature.

Time to make history again