{"id":5323,"date":"2015-05-01T09:29:30","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T13:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/?p=5323"},"modified":"2015-05-01T09:29:30","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T13:29:30","slug":"reachhigher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/2015\/05\/01\/reachhigher\/","title":{"rendered":"#ReachHigher – Education Kept Me From Disappearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston University is one of several colleges and universities taking part in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative encouraging college access and attendance on May 1st. Here is Dean Elmore’s reflection about what choosing higher education meant to him.<\/em><\/p>\n

I understand how human beings can disappear but still be flesh and blood.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t have been, but seeing the analysis of\u00a01.5 million black men who are missing from society <\/a><\/span>and civic life, was a shock. When I read it, my eyes filled with tears as if something suddenly hit me across the bridge of my nose.<\/p>\n

I am a witness \u2013 education kept me from disappearing.<\/p>\n

Education came at me in so many ways that looked nothing like a classroom. I was educated in Brooklyn and the City; by folks in rural South Carolina; and, within the Pomfret, Brown, Boston University, and New England Law communities.\u00a0 My teachers have been Civil Rights, urban decay, Booker T and the MGs, the so-called \u201cdigital age\u201d, poor folks, Ellison, DJs and B-Boy creators, random storytellers, Morrison, Root medicine, and the dozens.<\/p>\n

My life education may have helped me get by, but I doubt it would have helped me complete my search for my hopes and dreams or to be the full person I want to be. Reading a $4 copy of \u201cThe Fire Next Time\u201d \u2013 I still carry that same copy \u2013 with James Baldwin\u2019s striking essay, \u201cMy Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation\u201d was my personal game changer.<\/p>\n

How fitting? An essay that I read \u2013 on the side \u2013 as a junior high school student convinced me to give up my flirtations with crime; not fall victim to urban poverty; fight educational isolation; and, to use education as a way to deal with some of my pounding anger.\u00a0 Baldwin\u2019s essay swayed me \u2013 college was going to be a new hustle. I decided to jump \u2013 it was a real leap of faith for me:\u00a0 the chance that going to college would change my situation and maybe even outcomes in my life.<\/p>\n

I put all I had in to getting into college. A dull headache and constant stomach pains were high school companions. Rejection was a fear of mine \u2013 it meant that my assessment as a 13-year-old was off and that I might disappear.<\/p>\n

I know the stories may be different now, but, for me, the story played out well. College opened doors. It saved my life and made it possible for me to be alive. <\/span>\u2028<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope your May 1, choice is the beginning of many doors that open to you.<\/p>\n

Peace.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston University is one of several colleges and universities taking part in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative encouraging college access and attendance on May 1st. Here is Dean Elmore’s reflection about what choosing higher education meant to him. I understand how human beings can disappear but still be flesh and blood. It shouldn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3766],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5325,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323\/revisions\/5325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}