Purpose is not decided
It is discovered
From starting in Detroit, to taking on the World
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From starting in Detroit, to taking on the World
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The United States has created a fear of Islam that has deluded our understanding of the religion. The Christian community amplified those sentiments with a plethora of hate speech, pushing a narrative that only dehumanizes an entire religion and population of people. I remember hearing stories from family members about how Muslims brought evil spirits that may disrupt our relationship with God. After repeatedly hearing these stories as a child, I began to internalize these prejudice ideas towards Muslims and individuals of other religions from a very young age. Fortunately, my views began to change as I matured but the conflict with my religious beliefs had just begun.
I remember having a conversation with my fiancée about traveling to countries where the majority of the people identified with other religions outside of Christianity. I expressed my willingness to travel to those countries but I was firm on not engaging with the people or anything the religion had to offer such as not entering places of worship like mosques or temples. She explained that in order to understand one’s culture, identity, worldview, etc, then I would have to understand one’s religion. My stubbornness almost cost me the opportunity to experience a large majority of the world. During this process, I did two things. First, I began to make the transition from identifying myself as religious into practicing more spirituality. After a deep dive into biblical scripture, I noticed that religion is a traditional practice that we believe will sustain our relationship with God. For example, some believe that the more you attend church, the more connected you are with God. Many of the same people believe that engaging with individuals from different religions will disconnect you from God. I beg to differ! Within spirituality, I believe God will empower me and stand alongside me no matter where I am physically as long as I continuously call for His help. In addition, these beliefs help me understanding who I am no matter the situation, circumstance, or environment. Because I had an understanding of my identity, I felt comfortable exposing myself to others who practice different religions. Today, not only are some of my closest friends Muslim, but I even had the opportunity to travel to Senegal, a 95% Muslim country during Ramadan. Senegal practices all Christian and Islamic holidays which is proof that the two can coexist. During my three weeks in Senegal, I’ve gained so much respect for the religion and everyone who practices it. I’ve walked through mosque, learned about the history of Islam in West Africa, and ultimately engaged in conversations that changed my perspective. This process has conflicted with the religious training that I was raised upon, but it extends the brotherhood that the world needs right now. No matter who we worship we should all be seeking a few key ingredients to shape our society. Love, Peace, and Commonality.
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It is common for foster youth to conform to the toxic environment that many of us have been placed in since birth. These circumstances unfortunately shape our world view, career aspirations, and vision for the future. I grew up on Detroit’s westside until the age of 17. During those years, my vision was limited by my inner circle as well as my life experiences at the time. I couldn’t see myself going further than the options that were available to me in my community which was limited to say the least. There are many studies done connecting individual success to community prosperity. As a community advocate, I have chosen to create opportunities for the minority youth who are often victim to similar situations. One of the most life changing experiences was deciding to attend Western Michigan University. Not only was this miles away from the neighborhoods I was accustom to, but it exposed me to numerous career possibilities while connecting me with other students that were just as passionate. Following my introduction to college, I also met my soon to be fiancée that encourage me to be educated on a global scale through study abroad opportunities. Through study abroad, I understood how interconnected the world really is. Today I am four study abroad programs in and every trip I wish I could bring more students who are from my neighborhood in Detroit. Their perspective, career ideas, and understanding of who they truly are would grow tremendously from experiences like this. Statistically, African American men are least likely to get an education abroad. I refuse to be the only student at my University interested or aware of these statistics. I wanted to create opportunities for people of color to travel abroad but first I had to figure out why we weren’t traveling abroad. Multiple African American students have informed me that finances, safety, and a lack of representation have contributed to their disinterest in study abroad. While talking to other African American students who have studied abroad, they mention how welcoming many African nations are to students of color. After conducting research on this, I discovered numerous organizations in Africa geared towards welcoming African American and those who are a part of the African Diaspora. This sparked an idea to create a study abroad program focused on African Americans and unrepresented populations such as foster youth who have a confined vision for their future. To test the waters, I create the African Study Abroad info Session last February to see if people were actually interested in an additional African Study Abroad program at Western Michigan University. We received feedback that would only boost our confidence in creating such a program! Multiple people stated that they were interested in an multi-country African program focusing on heritages studies. From February to June, my fiancée and I have reached out to organizations that could help structure a program in specific countries. From the relationship and connects we’ve been privileged to establish, we decided that a two week, two country program in Rwanda and Uganda could contribute to improving study abroad opportunities for underrepresented students. The program would primary focus on ethnic relations and conflict resolution in Rwanda along with climate change and economic/women empowerment in Uganda. Being dedicated to expanding the minds of marginalized group has ignited an opportunity even I am surprised has come to fortition. During the process of creating this program, I have grown expeditiously. Through adversity and fighting through my discomfort while abroad, I have reached a point where my options are endless. After I expanded my environment, I expand my vision. After I push my limits, I discovered that my future is limitless. After I recognized my identity, no circle of people could change me. My mission is empower our youth to experience the same life changing opportunities. Hello Everybody,
I put together a document to update everyone on my progress personally, academically, and professionally as well as my plans for 2019. Enjoy! LINK: https://www.scribd.com/…/396594128/Justin-Black-2018-Summary “People have the power to transform their thoughts into physical reality: People can dream and make their dreams come true.” - Napoleon Hill In the fall of 2016, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take action on some of the most prominent issues facing Black communities in America. Kaepernick shocked the world by taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Whether for it or against it, everyone seemed to have an opinion on the anthem protest. While other NFL players joined the protest, players finally had the opportunity to voice their opinion on issues that people in their community have been dealing with for decades now. Even the president decided to voice his opinion on the matter stating that all NFL players that participate in the protest should be fired. Kaepernick’s original intention for the protest was to create awareness for issues such as injustice and police brutality. My question is after you’ve created awareness for the issue what’s next?
One of the biggest obstacles the Black community face happens to be the lack of planning and a collective vision. Of course we want an end to police brutality, but was there a plan in place to bring an end to the cruelty? As the anthem protest fizzles out, what can we say was accomplished? We are two years removed from when Kaepernick decided to protest against injustice and now the movement seems to have died out with little to no progression for the Black community as a whole. Kaepernick made it clear why he decided to protest but it wasn’t clear as to what he wanted people to do after he grabbed their attention. Did he want to convince the team owners to use their power and wealth to influence laws that would protect the rights of Black people? Did he want to make other Black people aware of the issue causing the community to protect themselves? How about grabbing the attention of politicians, pressuring them to act? Kaepernick’s silence has not only allowed people to change the narrative of the protest, but it has also left many followers of the movement clueless of what to do next. Although taking a knee during the national anthem was an amazing tactic to raise awareness for an issue, still, what do we do now? The anthem protest was a missed opportunity for the Black community overall. It lacked a strategic plan on what to do next at the height of its popularity. Most importantly, the movement never empowered Black communities in America to take action on the issue causing African Americans to lose control of the narrative. What do you think the anthem protest has achieved? Did it accomplish what it intended to? Did it reach its full potential? “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” - James A. Baldwin Black people in the United States have constantly and continuously been exploited. From being forced to live in poverty, taking up more than 50% of the prison population, and ultimately having our lives devalued in almost every aspect of society, being Black in America today can drive you insane. The worst part of oppression today is that so many Black people have accepted the role of lower class citizens. Fortunately, within every generation there is a Black child who defeats the stereotypical labels placed upon their family and obtains success beyond what their ancestors could have imagined. But what do you do when you feel like you’ve left the rest of your family behind and you know exactly what areas they need help in? You reach your hand back to pull them forward before you have even secured your stability in life. At that moment, you have decided to carry the Black Tax. Trevor Noah’s definition explains it as: “The first generation of success in a Black family has to go back and correct the mistakes of the past. Basically, fixing the problems of the entire family.” I am the first of my mother’s children to attend a college university, get engaged, and travel outside of the United States. Survivors guilt rested on my heart through each experience, especially while traveling the world. While I traveled around South Korea I thought to myself, “Only if I could share this experience with my brother.” Maybe because these are all things are outside of our reality and we can’t fully comprehend a world outside of where we are now. Some of my family has never left Detroit and that’s how the white supremacy complex is designed to work. If we live in poverty our entire life never to experience anything different, as Black people, we are contributing to this complex. I took on the responsibility to fix the problems of my family members in order for them to eventually experience part of what I have, a world outside of the normal. Trevor Noah introduced me to the idea of the Black Tax. I’ve been experiencing it for years now but I finally labeled exactly what it was. Is the Black Tax Normal? How do you cope with being the only one who “Made it out”? Is survivor's guilt normal, or am I overly concerned with another person’s situation? What is my contribution to people of color in this situation? Dear Black People,
We will not survive operating in an individualist culture. The US has created an image where individuals need to appear perfect from the outside looking in. America has forced communities of color to abandon their emotions in hopes of experiencing, “The Pursuit of Happiness” or “The American Dream.” The dream is to become wealthy while belittling everyone around you to prove that you are superior. The agonizing roots of white supremacy demands only one overly masculine and flawless alpha male to take charge in every situation. The spirit of white supremacy lingers throughout the black community resulting in the destruction of black families often stemming from toxic masculinity. Our society has become all about image, while neglecting genuine care for one another. The black community will die trying to uphold this image. Toxic masculinity has been forced upon multiple communities of color. We have lost the ability to communicate how we feel while being completely vulnerable with someone. We go to great lengths to prove that we are superior to one another which helps the white superiority complex thrive. Emulating these habits could ultimately be the downfall of our community. The situations and experiences that many Black people in the United States go through are not normal but for some reason often normalized. As a young adult entering in his junior year of college, I have finally seen the importance of mental health and mentorship. Layer by layer I am starting to discover who I am outside of the mindset of being the inferior race. Hopefully throughout my lifetime I can help others operate outside of the system of the world. The issues within the black community are multi-layered which is why I’ve decided to tackle some of the prominent problems I’ve noticed. This article is just an overview of multiple articles to come discussing toxic masculinity, mental health, and the idea of success. With love, Justin This summer, I will be interning with the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) in Washington D.C. In this internship, I will be working on public policies to create and develop opportunities for youth of color. This experience will give me insight on how to successfully develop minority communities. Coming from the city of Detroit where schools are regularly shutdown, homes are left abandoned, and black people are slowly but surely being pushed outside of the city, I feel that it is my duty to help rebuild black and brown neighborhoods. This internship will help me gain community organizing skills as well as experience in policy work. The educational gap between black and white youth is tremendously wide. The graduation rate for youth of color are vastly lower than the white and Asian-American population. I will be taking the responsibility to study why there are such huge disparities. The plan is to not simply discuss the problem, but create solutions. During my time with NBCDI, I want to help create educational programs to help black youth who have trouble adjusting to the current education system. Far too often black youth are labelled or degraded for their lack of success within the current system when the system needs to adjust to our youth. Equipped with a $4,000 scholarship from The Fund for American Studies (TFAS), it has allowed me to not only search for a local organization to intern with in the D.C. area but also take a class at George Mason University. The TFAS program has placed me in a position to get a head start on my career in community development. I would advise any young scholar to apply to the TFAS program and experience the world of work in the D.C. area!
On July 10, 2016, I met the women I would eventually call my wife. During the Seita Scholars Program’s summer SET week, we instantly connected like we’ve known each other for years. Often, two former foster care youth being in a relationship can be disastrous with two individuals coming from traumatic situations seeking healing from the other, but our relationship was different. We accepted the trauma we both experienced in the past and embraced who we had become. Similar to the process of creating diamonds, we both lived through agonizing pressure and pain only to surface and shine brighter than the moonlight itself. The process of giving my love to her through the past two years has been even more beautiful. As I returned home from Seita’s SET week, one thought in particular came to my head, “I wonder how my family would react if I dated someone outside of my race?” It’s silly to even consider her race as an issue seeing that she has been so socially active for communities of color and has an open heart to learn more. During our week of being together I didn’t think much about it at all to be honest. I saw who she was spiritually and that was enough to confirm that she was a good person. After a few months of being friends, we eventually became a couple. Initially, I received great feedback from my family. Some black people can be caution of “White Allies” which we should be, but I believed they would eventually accept her as another member of the family simply because I loved her and she treated me well. On May 18, 2018, I decided to drop to one knee and propose to my best friend and my future wife while in Mindo, Ecuador. From the first week I knew her, I knew I would eventually make her my wife. I truly saw the person she was and not the stigmas that came with her skin color and she did the same with me. She uses her platform to dismantle hatred, racism, and bigotry while giving her life to God and I couldn’t ask more from a partner. BUT, everybody doesn’t see our relationship as such. Within 24 hours of my proposal, I received a glimpse of what life will be like for my children. Even though we received overwhelming love from multiple different people in our lives, the harsh reality of hatred within my own family was shown publically on social media. I appreciated the love and support we received from several family members (on both sides) but for some reason the hatred spoke 10x louder. I always knew the outside world had animosity towards interracial relationships but seeing that I felt the same energy with my own family was disheartening. In 1967, the Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court case ruled that interracial marriage was constitutional. Almost exactly 50 years later and we are witnessing ourselves how this hasn’t changed for some people (black and white). I began to think to myself how harsh of a world my mixed child could be coming into. The black community won’t accept them because they aren’t black enough and the white community won’t accept them because they’re mixed with black blood. This was merely just a glimpse of the challenges that we will have to face and this has affected my desire to even have a wedding because of my nerves and fear of all the drama and animosity that may arise. However, I have faith that we will get through it together because our relationship is stronger than “color” and bitter individuals trying to tear down our happiness. With today’s political climate intensifying by the second, racism in the United States has become more prominent in the media. Bigotry and hatred have been fully embraced by citizens all over the country and the current administration continues to fuel the fire.
My first time voting was in the 2016 election as a freshman in college. In my 21 years of living I never seen racism so openly accepted and encouraged. I began to read books such as The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle l. Mcguire. In addition, I began enrolling into courses at Western Michigan University that are social justice related. The election as well as my passion for social justice led me to study African American history, the history of racism in America, and how to dismantle an institutionally oppressive system that has plagued America since its beginnings. During my sophomore year at Western Michigan University, a friend of mine informed me of the Wesley Foundation’s Sankofa trip. The Sankofa trip is designed to broaden people’s perspective on racism while educating them on the history of oppression in the United States. Sankofa, which is a word derived from Ghana, is translated as “Go back and get it.” The training includes visiting historical sites of oppression and resistance with one site being the Whitney Plantation outside of New Orleans. This site specifically will teach us the basis of racism through slavery in America. This trip will not only give me a better understanding of race relations in today’s society, but it will be the first step in my journey to help rebuild communities of color and a resurgence of young African American leaders, educators, innovators, and activists. It has taken me one year to accomplish more than I have been able to do in my 20 years of living! My faith in God has been the most important reason I have been able to have continuous success at such a young age. Next to having God in my life, I made a conscious decision to surround myself with three types of people. The cliché saying, that we all need to surround ourselves with positivity is true but do we automatically know what is positive or good for us altogether?
Personally, I was clueless of the tools I needed to succeed, both as a high school senior and even as a college freshman. Therefore I reflected on the valuable lessons of my journey, in order to help others learn from my experience. My reflection helped me to compile the following three seeds of success that has worked in my life to create a well webbed network of great mentors, a strong campus support such as the Seita Scholars program at Western Michigan University, and maintained a host of meaningful relationships that I have benefited from throughout my life. The qualities of all the people that have made up these Support Systems for me, are as follows: · People who are more successful than me; · People who see the best in me even when I don’t see it in myself; · People who are doing what I want to professionally and/or personally. Some of my recent accomplishments included traveling to 12 countries in one summer utilizing study abroad funds and returning home to begin a new position as a resident assistant at Western Michigan University. In spite of my added responsibilities to my full-time class load I was able to finish a very challenging fall semester with a Grade Point Average of 3.88 (GPA). In addition to my numerous rewards of my hard work I continued to seek more opportunities resulting in being awarded the Fund for American Studies summer internship opportunity in Washington D.C.. This special internship includes an opportunity to take classes at George Mason University. I can honestly say that the Secret of My Success has been to intentionally follow the model that has been set before me, by those who lead by the example. Last semester I surrounded myself with students who were performing on a higher level than me. That decision influenced me to elevate to their level of dedication professionally and academically. As I’m committed to personal growth, I attended events that continuously encouraged me to be the best version of myself. I was actually looking to achieve a 3.5 GPA until my girlfriend nearly threatened me to attain a 4.0 Grade Point Average. She had seen something in me that I had yet to see in myself. Her faith in me propelled me to earn a 3.88 Grade Point Average. For those seeking to improve themselves and their success outcomes in life, the advice I will share is to never miss opportunities to meet people who have achieved goals that you aspire to accomplish one day. You may meet one or more people who fit this description. And ultimately, it will be up to you to chose intentionally, to surround yourself with, nothing but greatness. |
AuthorJustin Black
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