February is Black History Month, but I don’t understand why. Black History Month should be January. Why is Black History Month the shortest month? It just doesn’t make sense. January is the start of the year and we should start the year right by being proud of Black history. We should start the year by acknowledging the mistakes of the past and celebrate how far we’ve come and look at how much farther we need to go. How we can try to do better?
I’d to start off by talking about Dr. Donovan McCargo, our Dean of Students. He is a proud Black man. He changes so many lives and since meeting him about three years ago, he has changed mine. He took the time to hear me, work through my leadership skills, and always made me feel as if my thoughts were valid. When I first met Donovan, it was to help me with an organization I was involved with. Now I still try to meet with him every other week to check in and catch up. This year, he’s helped me with grad school applications. Our conversations inspire me to want to do more. Dr. Donovan McCargo is the person that I want to be when I grow up. I want to make an impact like he has. I want to enjoy the little things in life. It’s been an honor getting to know him. He is a father, a husband, a son, a role model, and he is apart of KU. He asked me last year, “Why?” It’s a powerful question and there never is a simple answer, but I have an answer as to why I chose to write about him. Dr. Donovan McCargo is just a person. He’s black, he’s successful, but he’s a person who is in my life that has made a difference to me. This month is about Black history and Dr. Donovan McCargo is like the month of January. He is always learning from the past, being proud of where he is, but looks to the future as time to improve and do better. When people say the wrong thing, he doesn’t get offended and if he is, he doesn’t show it. He tries to have a conversation to learn why they would say something that can be hurtful and how they can change to say something better.
The next person I want to talk about goes by the name of KP. She is a powerful, strong, passionate woman. I feel like anything that is thrown her way she can handle. She recently left KU for a new job and it’s heartbreaking that I won’t get to see her. She came to KU as one of the only Black staff members in our central residence life office. I don’t know what that must feel like, but I do know that she always warms my heart. She’s the parent of her niece and nephew and I know she might not always think she’s doing the best in that role, but I know that she is. Her kids love her and are learning so much from her; their sass is a lot like hers. KP presented on the N-word for all of residence life during our winter training. She was nervous, but the only reason we knew that was because she told us. As she talked, you could feel her passion bursting out of her. She had an hour to tell us about being black. I honestly think she should have had the entire day to talk to us, but I still feel like that wouldn’t have been enough. I want to grow up to be as strong and passionate as KP. She is a Black woman and she is proud of it. She is a role model for her niece and nephew, any college student she talks to, and to me. I hope someday she gets to do a TED talk on the N-word because her passion deserves to be broad-casted. There are lots of people in my life that inspire me no matter their race or ethnicity, but it’s February, the month of love and Black history.
It’s crazy to think about everything that people have to go through by just being a different color then me. I will never go through the talk about cops, walking home late at night, being called a word that is so demeaning, and so much more. I got pulled over for the first time the other week in Reading, PA, which can be a little scary. I was driving at night, waiting for a train to pass. The car behind me already turned around and left when I finally decided to do the same. But I needed to turn at the light, and I went straight instead. Was driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The cop who pulled me over could instantly tell I was nervous and was super friendly with me. He didn’t give me a ticket. He didn’t say this was a warning, but he did tell me he was a KU alum. He just helped me turn around and he almost got ran over by another car. Two other cop cars pulled up while he was talking to me. That truly freaked me out, but I left and headed back to KU. The first thought that popped into my head as I left three cops behind me was, “What if I was black?” So, take a moment during this month and try to do better, be better because this month is about being educated on Black history. Black history effects people all year round and not just one month.