Six months before graduation from Johns Hopkins, I organized the African Americans in the class of 74 to make a statement about our experiences at JHU. The three women of color in the class were easily supportive. The brothers were reluctant but eventually came along. I wrote the speech with some input from others. I did the research so that when we compared the inverse proportional relationship between academic and administrative staff (the few) vs. service employees: food service, housekeeping and security (the many) there would be facts behind our assertion that Blacks were working stereotypically at Johns Hopkins. When it came time to decide who would deliver the statement at our graduation, I was eliminated from consideration early. One of my classmates delivered the news, You cant do it, Ralph. Youre too radical. Youd embarrass us in front of our parents. And so, I sat at Commencement listening to another classmate deliver words I researched, wrote and negotiated with our class president to have delivered. Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced, the writer James Baldwin once said... Last night, for the second time in a row seeing him (the bearer of the news of my inappropriateness) at gatherings, he says he cannot for the life of him remember my name. I never thought he approved of me. Hell never know how little that means to me. LOL.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 13:16:44 +0000
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