This journey impacted me in so many ways, it has taught me lessons and values that I will hold dear to me for the rest of my life. In so many ways I feel truly disenfranchised from my ancestors, I don’t know my true origin. That’s something that bothers me everyday, and this trip helped me to get deeper understanding of their struggles. I won’t pretend like I know it all, we honestly barely scratched the surface of what there is to know about our people. Before this trip, I thought I knew it all. I thought slavery and Jim Crow was the beginning and end of oppression towards minorities. I didn’t have a good understanding of institutional racism, until we learned about red-lining, mass incarceration, inadequate housing etc. This trip provided me with a deeper motivation to speak out against injustice for everyone.
Learning about the struggles of people who came before me, the trailblazers who made it possible for me to have an education humbled me. I was also so ashamed of myself, for wasting the efforts my people made for me to get an education. It was illegal for slaves to learn how to read and write, it was illegal for black students and white students to attend school together. What’s my excuse?
I attend one of the best schools in New Jersey in my honest opinion, I have a surplus amount of opportunity to succeed, and I choose not to. Not anymore. If I won’t succeed for me, or my family, I’ll succeed for the thousands of people who sacrificed their lives to make sure I’m in a position to succeed. That’s my word.
In my life I’ve been around a lot of black males, but very few black men. On this trip I learned what it truly means to be a black man, a man with honor, pride, respect, intelligence and compassion. These are all values I will hold with me when I’m raising my children. I will be the best father a man could possibly be if I stay true to the values that I learned. I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to attend this trip, and the wonderful people who hosted us, fed us, and welcomed us as if we were family. A special thanks for Mr.Scanlan, and Dr. Lansang for thinking of this project.
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