Self-Advocacy in an Uncertain Age by Kweisi Mfume
In an era of smaller vision, rampant apathy, and celebrated mediocrity, we
still so desperately need men and women who will stand up for that which is
right and fight back against that which is wrong. To mean it when we say
that racism and sexism and anti-Semitism are wrong, to know as a matter of
critical fact that black bigotry is just as cruel and evil as white
bigotry, and that bigots come in all colors, and to understand in our heart
of hearts at the end of the day that gay bashing and immigrant bashing and
union bashing really deplete us as a nation and rob us of our ability to
make true and lasting change.
And yes, it's a great pleasure to be here because the League for Innovation
in the Community College embodies something that is very close to my heart.
I believe that the light burns bright for the nation's community colleges.
I believe that you are still a place where dreams come true, and give birth
to other dreams of service and academic excellence. I believe that yours is
still a place where the teacher and the taught gather together to make a
better world. And I believe that you have been entrusted with a mighty
vision, and you have proven to be worthy stewards.
You have not buried your talents in the ground, but rather you have
invested them well in the hearts and minds of our nation's greatest asset:
our young people, and those not so young, who decided to cross the
threshold to seek an education, and who have come to your institutions.
This is a beautiful audience, and in many respects, it reflects the
continuing support, that I hope continues to grow nationwide, to the
commitment, the purposes, the objectives, the mission and the mandate of
the League. And it is indeed welcoming, as I saw yesterday, the tremendous
representation from academia and the business people and the government
people who have been focusing on this conference.
But this morning I am inclined to speak to and encouraged to talk to the
family. And the word family includes not only those bound and tied by a
blood relationship, but also those bound and tied by a common need or
condition. And it is true that sometimes we just don't know what condition
our condition is in. For we have a common condition and sometimes a mutual
affliction, and so we are called to gather at conferences such as this to
reason and to think.
I've been asked to speak to you today about the importance of the role of
community colleges with regard to the growing underserved population of the
United States and other countries. In my mind, that task is not just
important, it really is critical. It is particularly critical in terms of
the abilities of those populations to analyze information, to understand
complexities, and to develop cognitive and technological abilities. For
persons who at this hour are trapped in blighted inner cities, for
immigrants at this hour striving to make a new life, for displaced workers
at this hour who are looking for new skills, and a whole host of
underserved populations, community colleges can and do make a real and
lasting difference. They make a difference between education and ignorance,
they make a difference between unemployment and destitution, between
success and mediocrity.
And I know that difference only too well myself. I came from what is
euphemistically referred to as an underserved population. I lived in
poverty and lived on the streets at a very early age. Thank God I was lucky
enough in that process and in that maze to realize that education was still
the key to a better life. It is important to underserved communities,
because those communities really do realize that education is and has been
the bridge over troubled waters. It is still, for many, the way up and the
way out.
I was one of those fortunate enough to get a GED and then to attend a
community college. In those days, after having dropped out of high school
two weeks after my mother's death, I kind of found myself shifting and
homeless and not knowing what to do. I got angry, as many young people do
today, that there was this stark contrast between what I had and what I
didn't have that made me wonder, was there something wrong with me or was
something wrong with the society.
In those days, I would turn on the TV and watch "Ozzie and Harriet" or
"Leave It to Beaver," and I would see Beaver and his friends, and they were
all dressed nice. And Ward was the husband and he'd be in a suit and tie,
and Mom was at home, she didn't have to work. And it was a nice house and a
big car. And then I'd turn the TV off and look at my surroundings and ask
myself again, "Is something wrong with me, or is something wrong with
society?"
I would argue that that direct stark contrast is affecting a lot of young
people today, many of them in your institutions for the first time, for the
first week, for the first semester, others who are trying to get out,
wondering if in fact they will ever get in.
But I was fortunate enough through all of that to find my way to a GED
class, and to go through that for six months, and then to ultimately get
this little certificate that was not magic, but that opened another door.
And the door was to a community college, and that was an important door and
an important threshold.
Before I went on to graduate magna cum laude from a four-year institution,
or to earn a master's degree at Johns Hopkins, it was the community college
that was the turning point for me. I'd been on the sidelines of life for
six years after dropping out of high school, and it was that college that
gave me a chance to adjust and to prove, not only to others but also to
myself, that I could make it through life.
And quickly I learned that I was not alone. I learned that there were
others who were just as timid, just as unsure, just as uncertain as I was.
They had been out of school for a few years, or many years. Some were young
like me; others were much older in life, seeking to acquire new skills. We
all shared a commonality. We were all scared, we were all timid, we were
all uncertain about going into this structured environment that we always
heard about. And we had to ask ourselves, were we really up to it?
And the one thing that made the real difference then, and I think it makes
the real difference today in community colleges, was that the community
college, unlike university this and university that, took the time to
embrace us and to make us feel comfortable and to allow us to know it was
all right to be uncertain and timid and unsure. That college, in its own
way, after embracing us kind of nurtured us; it allowed us to make
mistakes, and said it's OK to do that as long as you learn from it. It
allowed us to find a way to matriculate together after having before then
lived our own separate lives, doing whatever we wanted to do. It allowed us
to understand that that door and that threshold was different.
There were others like me who understood that, both independently and as a
group, we really were capable and able to redirect our lives if we took
full advantage of this new opportunity, and yes, this different
opportunity.
Ironically, we didn't necessarily think of ourselves as an underserved
population or some segment of society, just kind of thought of ourselves as
people wanting to be students, putting one foot in front of the other,
understanding that it was OK and that there were others like us.
But something else also was happening in that transformation and in that
experience. Perhaps more important, for the first time, at least in my own
life, we thought of ourselves as being on a par and certainly equal to
those students who were Black and White and Latino who at the time were
making news at major institutions in a larger student movement, those who
were always referred to as the bright hope of our nation, and those who we
looked at in awe, wondering whether or not we could compete. All of a
sudden, the community college gave us the ability and the presence of mind
to believe that we could be on a par.
And all of a sudden, also, almost as an offshoot of the emergence of that
newfound academic legitimacy, we too believed that we were empowered never,
never, never to give up what we had found. But we also thought that we had
this newfound authenticity, that we had now the authentic ability and
capability to think, to question, and to dream.
So we were lucky to have the institution, that community college, that
place where we could learn away from the pressures of life, that place
where we were all so willing to be seen as equals, quite happy to be doing
something that no one could criticize. At long last we were matriculating
because we were given a chance.
And I would argue to you today, and proffer to you, that there are
thousands and hundreds of thousands of potential students all across this
nation who still need that opportunity, many of whom will only get it from
the community college.
Consequently at that college, for me at least, came a new understanding
that the degree we would one day receive would in fact represent many
things. It would be a reward for academic excellence. It would be a
reminder of a debt we could never repay our parents. It would be a source
of relief and respect for our professors. But more than anything, it would
in fact be a license to learn.
Yes, the community college, you see, did play a very critical role, because
it gave me a chance to understand differently. It played a critical role in
my life because in a way, a basic way, it gave me life. And I think without
a doubt those of you who are in institutions today will recognize and
quickly admit to the fact that it is giving people life in these
institutions, a belief, a look at the world and a chance to make mistakes,
a chance to grow, to question, to think, and to dream that they would not
have otherwise.
But you know, while I am grateful for all of that, gratitude is not enough.
In a world where the community college system is governed by political
decisions and political constraints; in a world where corporate America
expects that you will help usher in this new workforce, but does not always
want to help you develop it by setting aside scholarships or giving you
employees or administrators on loan, gratitude is not enough to ensure that
community colleges, having been around now since the 1940s, will be around
until 2040. Gratitude is good, but it is not enough.
There ought to be an inherent responsibility for those of us who have
benefited from the community college, those who have worked at a community
college, alumni, students, and beneficiaries to also become advocates. We
must become advocates.
I would say that for me, it's been heartening to know that the League and
your member colleges have made it a priority not to just exist inside the
safe confines of campus and cafeteria and classwork, but to reach out to
underserved populations by casting a wide net for those too often looked
over or left out, and then reminding them that they do have a
responsibility to one day also become advocates.
This is a time when affirmative action in higher education is under attack,
when it has been singled out, quite frankly, as it was on Dr. King's
birthday in January, as something that is wrong and something that should
be done away with. This is a time when some seek to make opportunities even
for excellence in education more limited instead of more accessible. We
need advocates as never before.
You, as members of the League, have chosen the road less traveled, and yes,
it is indeed the road less certain, but it is the best road to be on. Not
only have you resisted this anti-affirmative-action, anti-person trend in
higher education; you've also strengthened your already powerful efforts to
ensure that people have access to educational opportunities. I applaud you
for that; you richly deserve it.
But I would suggest to you that just as you exist and you do those things,
there are those who take you for granted. They don't mean necessarily to do
that; they just assume that, well, you know, "The community college is
there. They'll do their thing. I've gotta be concerned about university
this and university that. I've got to fundraise for them, I've gotta go out
and make sure the alumni association is grounded. The community college is
OK. It'll be there. The government will take care of it, the county
government, the city government. It'll be there."
But it is not necessarily true that it will be there. And if it is there,
without any attention, the question then becomes, "How does it exist, and
what does it become?"
These are important questions. I'm sure you deal with them day in and day
out. I simply raise them to let you know that there are many of us in
organizations around this country who share these concerns; who are willing
to work with you and struggle with you to create that sense of advocacy;
who are prepared to petition local, state, federal, and indeed
international governments on your behalf; and who seek nothing, absolutely
nothing in return except the knowledge that men and women who are young and
not so young who come through your doors will in fact be given a second
chance as they have been in community colleges.
Your Tolerance Project, as you know, provides critical tools at this time
in our nation's history that permit recognition and respect for diversity.
That recognition extends to differences in race, ethnicity, and lifestyles,
both on campus and in the world at large. It is a program of peace in a
world too often at war.
Your Digital Divide project, as you know better than I, is bridging the
technological gap for digitally disengaged populations. It does so by
recognizing the impact of technology on world communication and information
exchange and by analyzing the extent and the effects of digital
disengagement on communities.
For over 35 years now, you have taken the lead, in this League and
independently in your own colleges, in developing model curricula in
applied sciences, in professional health care and in general studies. You
have taken the lead in fostering community college advancement with the
application of information technology, and you have taken the lead in
developing more learning-centered colleges. And as the only major
international organization specifically committed to improving community
colleges through informational and institutional transformation, you
provide faculty, administration, staff, students, and others with the
experiences necessary to sustain growth and to make a real and lasting
difference.
In all of these areas, I think it is fair to say without question or
equivocation that you and the League have acted responsibly and
innovatively. And so I would urge, as you conclude the conference, that you
include perhaps a new concept: a concept of renewed vigor; a concept of working to change the
political landscape, a change that is so desperately
needed. I challenge you to recognize that you've got to toot your own horn,
because others won't. Public relations is not a bad thing, and tooting your
horn is not a bad thing, because you have something indeed to say.
I think that education is an American birthright, for everyone everywhere.
But the other side of me knows that it is also a struggle that requires
concentration, organization, and collaboration. My hope is that you will
find renewed vigor in trying to find a way to force the issue of education,
the need for community colleges, and find a way to galvanize alumni. All of
us out here who may have gone to Institutions X, Y, or Z, who have our
master's or our Ph.D.s or our No D.s - gather us up! Go through those
databases. Find us. Do ad searches in the major newspapers. But get us
together. If you can't work for and be the champions of the community
college system that we benefit from, then nobody can.
I would urge that you do all that you do with a renewed dedication, and
that you give the underserved communities more than just a chance, that you
give them a belief that it is all right to come into those doors, it's all
right to sign up for coursework, to make mistakes, that you put your arms
around them the way community colleges always have. I guarantee you will
find advocates who will never forget that basic lesson. What you do
determines an even greater course that emanates beyond any other immediate
deeds you might do.
Scientists, physicists, doctors, researchers, academics, government leaders
who are needed in our society - a lot of them are coming through your doors
right now. You don't always notice them, but they're there. More than
anything else, keep doing what you're doing, but with a renewed vigor, so
that this system of community colleges, that first graced our landscape in
the 1940s or earlier, remains an important part of deciding and dictating
the course of our nation.
Kweisi Mfume ( <http://www.naacp.org/> ) is President and Chief Executive
Officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A former Maryland Congressman and a graduate of Morgan State and Johns
Hopkins University, Mfume began his higher education at the Community
College of Baltimore County.
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