2020

My great grandfather took a train ride north from his plantation in Texas to Indiana.  His son, my grandfather, had the same passion to take trains and would become an engineer and a licensed Sears carpenter.  My mother, one of ten children and the only daughter, was told by her father that she had two options: become a teacher or become a nurse. At 16 years old, she went to Indiana State University to study Latin, and she would spend her life as a high school Latin teacher.  She pushed me to be perfect.

The African American Male Education Network and Development (A2MEND) organization is a non-profit organization comprised of African American male educators who utilize their scholarly and professional expertise to foster institutional change throughout the educational system—for the sole purpose of augmenting success rates for African American males.

Recently, a group of Orange County residents showed up at a meeting of the county board of supervisors furious because of an order that requires them all to wear masks. While the exact reason for their resistance in the middle of a pandemic is unclear, perhaps they feel that masks conceal who they really are and even violates their freedoms. I could not help but recognize the irony. I, and many others like me in America, are forced to wear a mask that says Black man.  A mask adorned with suspicion, stereotypes, injustice, and disrespect.

There are few sayings that make most people shake their heads (often in disgust), like the phrase “find your passion.”  For many, pursuing passion means sacrificing your livelihood.  For instructors though, we are part of the few who can proudly say, I have found my passion.  Whether we are teaching English, Women’s Studies, or Accounting.  We love what we do, and we love sharing our expertise with others.

The last thing my father told me before I left for college was, “Don’t forget about the Black man.”

I then stepped off our front porch and walked straight into the intellectual lion’s den.

No amount of scholarships could have prepared me for the type of education I would undergo.

I was thankful to be raised in an environment that taught me how to be politically gangsta.
My mother said, use your words.
My father said, don’t hit first.
Both of them believed in standing your ground.

THE EXEMPLARY PROGRAM AWARD

“Our work is about the “We” not the “I”

In fall of 2019, ASCCC plenary session delegates debated and adopted a series of resolutions that updated sections of the ASCCC Rules—and in one case, its bylaws—that pertain to the elections process for members of the ASCCC Executive Committee. The order in which representative positions are elected has been reversed. Nominations from the floor will not be called for except in the case of positions for which no one has accepted a nomination.

(In 2013, the Academic Senate Executive Committee approved a project to record and preserve the history of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The April 2017 Rostrum contains an article that explains the intent and structure of this project. The following article was written as an aspect of the history project and is the first in a series of planned articles remembering individuals who made outstanding contributions to the work of the ASCCC.)

Most people would agree that communication brings people together and, with empathy and an open mind, can provide the foundation for understanding and growth. The thought of moving into action and beyond words is exciting: to change a dominant culture to one more inclusive of all diverse voices, one that validates and empowers those often silenced and marginalized. Women, for example, have been trailblazing and fighting for equality and equity for centuries.