Thank you — and a big thanks to all of you for being here today, to celebrate this accomplishment with my peers and I. I’m honored to be standing here to share my own experiences with you, and to tell you what Clemente has done to help me progress in my life. Since I was a kid I knew I wanted to go to college. The older I got I knew I wanted to go to a school where I could learn more about my ancestors and my own history. I had dreams of the whole “black college” experience. The sororities and step shows, homecoming celebrations, the whole nine. After HS I was accepted to Coppin State University. It was a historically black university. I moved to Baltimore Maryland, went and lived on campus, made friends, gained perspective, and had a once in a lifetime opportunity. But the the thing is, I didn’t stay long enough for me to learn as much as I could of. I wasn’t able to learn what I initially went there for. But thanks to clemente I eventually I ended up learning more about my own history than any other time spent in a class room.
When I came home from Baltimore after only a few months, I got a job, had a son, and then felt like I had to put school in the back of my mind….but still I knew I wanted to go to college. I never felt it was too late, just felt it was never the right time. It wasn’t until I had my beautiful boy Richmond that I told myself. It’s either now, or later. Never wasn’t an option, but I chose later to enjoy my 1st few yrs of motherhood. Fast forward 3 yrs later and I was ready.
Trying to get back in school when you’re NOT coming out of high school was actually harder than I thought. There was no guidance counselors and advisors to breeze me right along like before. There were certainly no fee waivers, but of course there was some fees owed. I was really stuck in a hard place when I met Elizabeth. I was just finding out I wouldn’t be able to start school when I wanted too, holding me back even more. I was walking out of the library and her first words to me were “hey would you like to go to college for free” as if she already knew my life! And from there it was history!
During my time at Clemente my dad has been here, visiting with me from Ghana. He arrived one week before classes started, and will be on his way back tomorrow. He’s really big on education so although I didn’t enroll at a “traditional college” he was thrilled that I signed up for these classes. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening he would see me and Richie off. At one point I believe he came “hesitant” because I took Richie with me every time. He didn’t understand how I’m taking my kid to school with me. But that’s just another great thing about Clemente, I wasn’t the only one benefiting but my child was too. During our art history lessons he was next door making his own art. During our US history he was there making and documenting his own history. Everything we were taught here mirrored what he was doing over there. Then he would come home and share with my dad all the neat things he did and that allowed my dad to actually see for himself just exactly what we was involved in.
He didn’t know it but my dad essentially ended up being my greatest help and biggest motivator. When I was spending hours at the library he was home taking care of Richmond, when I even thought about missing class I had to think again because I knew I would have some explaining to do to him. Just by him being there, it was another reason to keep going. On those scheduled snow days when we had no class but also no snow, he’d say ‘’no class?” …I respond with It’s a snow day… and he’d just look out the window and back to me, asking if I’m sure. He made sure that I knew that he was paying attention, and that alone kept me on my toes.
I started to say that our class had its ups and downs. Sort of like a roller coaster, but a lot less scary…but then I’m like, well what were the downs? What was even scary? Everything and everyone was uplifting. Being apart of Clemente is like being on an elevator that only goes up. Walking into the classroom on the first day was like walking into a big, crowded, fancy elevator. I say fancy because there were elevator attendants. Jim and Elizabeth, who looked out for us, guided us, provided us with resources, literally carried our baggage throughout our whole ride up. Each floor was a different subject. The teaching style was admirable. And unique. Each subject intertwined to key parts of our own self. And although we’re on the same elevator, we have different purposes. We’re using this elevator to bring us to different points in our lives.
For me, instead of having to wait and waste time while I paid things off to enroll back in school, I was able to utilize my time and actually earn credits before returning to school. The earned credits were my main purpose of joining clemente. The most important thing I needed from Clemente was the credits. But it’s not the most important thing that I gained. Instead I gained so much more! Clemente is that elevator that brought me all the way to the top and that much closer to my goal of not starting school but finishing school! I’m so very proud of myself! I am proud of everyone left on this elevator with me because we all made it to the top. It wasn’t easy, unfortunately more than half of us had to get off a few flights early. The elevators a lot less crowded now, & I’m glad we were able to persevere and take advantage of this opportunity to educate ourselves.
One of my most memorable classes was when our US. History professor held a lesson on how to properly educate ourselves on just about anything. Showing us how to navigate throughout sites where we can pull up decade’s worth of archives on just about anything. She taught us how to use those resources and apply it to our future and our present. That class I realized I didn’t need to try to go to an all-black college to educate myself on my history. I just needed that experience. But the knowledge aspect, I could’ve obtained that anywhere. And thanks to Clemente I know how to do it. Thanks to them I am a historian. A poet, a philosopher, a critical thinker, a writer, and a public speaker, making me more confident than I was before.
Since we’ve finally reached the top floor for Clemente, we must remember to send this elevator back down for others. In doing so, I look forward to continuing my journey with Clemente, helping the prospective students on there way up, encouraging the next class, doing what I can to be as helpful to this organization as they were to me. I wanna thank you all again, and a special thanks to David, who has been the one working with Richie so patiently these past months. We extremely appreciate it and you absolutely will not be forgotten.
I appreciate you all for your time. Thank you again from all of us.