Heart4kidsadvocacyforum's Blog

I am speechless!  I am angry!  I am disappointed! I am frustrated! I am not surprised and that makes it worse!  If it were not for Affirmative Action, I probably would not have had an opportunity to attend UCLA and earn my Bachelor of Science degree.  If it were not for Affirmative Action, I probably would not have had an opportunity to attend USC and earn my Master of Arts degree in Education, with a Specialization in Early Childhood Education.  It was not that I did not have the grades, recommendations, and a passion to pursue my education, I knew that I could not compete without a system that gave me a chance to prove that I was worthy of a good education.

I fought all through my high school experience to be recognized that I was capable of going to college like my white and Asian friends.  I was told by my high school counselor when it was time for college counseling that “You should prepare to be a secretary because that is a good job for colored girls”! I left her office and went down the hall to the pay phone and called my father.  He got to the school so fast that I thought he must have been sitting on the corner waiting for my call.  He went to her office and told her that she was never to counsel me or any other child of color in terms of academic counseling.  He then went to the principal’s office and had me removed from her list of students.  I knew then that no one else in life would tell me what I could and could not do.  When I graduated, I went to a small Christian-Liberal Arts college in the city of Orange, but after having the experience of a cross burning outside my dorm, I called my parents and left the college. I spent a semester at City College to tie me over till my application was accepted at UCLA.  It was through an Affirmative Action program that I was accepted, and the rest is history. My parents were among the parents that started the busing program for kids of color.

It has been a challenge to thrive and overcome the multitude of roadblocks that we, as kids of color have had to face. I weep tonight for all the young people that will not have the “key” to open the doors that will be shut in their faces. I will continue to advocate for their success and find ways to support them, the way I was supported. Maybe this is the time to dig in and support and expand our HBCU’s and flood them with our financial support and voices of advocacy. Mommie always said that when one door closes- God opens another and it usually is better than the one that was closed. Please forgive any mistakes in this blog but it was a very emotional day for me! Now it will be a standard that young people of color will have to plead their case of racial injustices in their life as a criteria for being worthy of being given a chance to enter college. Really!