NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) reporter Stephanie Lopez caught up with Donovan Livingston after his “Lift Off” poem presented at Harvard’s recent convocation. The reporter had several questions beginning with the reasoning behind the poem. If you have not seen the inspirational video please take a look.
Stephanie Lopez: In this metaphor you say ‘education is the key while you continue changing the locks,’ what are you getting at when you mention ‘changing the locks?’
Donovan Livingston “So when I talk about changing the locks I’m really getting at this idea that our society has become a meritocracy, where you go to school, what you major in, what you do after you’ve done all of this learning is really what matters more than anything else and we’re living in a time where a high school degree isn’t necessarily enough to maintain a living wage, and we’re also living in a time where a bachelor’s degree might not be enough to get you the sort of economic leverage that you would’ve got maybe twenty, forty years ago as a college graduate.
“Really telling students that college is the ultimate goal is not enough. As someone whose entire career in education is predicated on getting students into and through college, I firmly believe that getting into college is not enough. We need to create spaces for students to have meaningful experiences in education, and by meaningful experiences I mean really highlighting the things about them that make them feel like a whole person.
“I really don’t feel like I would’ve felt like a whole person at Carolina had it not been for my Ebony Readers Onyx Theater community or my Black Student Movement community, which really those were spaces where I could really unpack the true measure of who I was.
“And schools are one of these institutions that we has humans all pass through and I really see school as a place where we can learn the most about ourselves and how to make this country a great place.”
Donovan Livingston touched on various things in his initial answer that he would later expound on later in the interview. In this blog I wanted to discuss the college experience of American Americans as many of us have similar experiences. I am the first person to graduate from college in my immediate family. My father insisted that I go because the people of his generation that did really well went to college. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics the spring of 2005 saw a payroll employment increase of $274,000 . It would have been crazy not to go to college. Right?
I would learn as Donovan Livingston learned and preaches that “simply going or even graduating is no longer enough”. During the fall of 2005, I had one of the hardest periods of my life because so many of the things that made me feel connected with not only school but, life where gone. My life revolved around family, church and, football and I was removed from those comforts. It was as if I suffered a brief bout with depression, as I experienced bouts of euphoria followed by utter loneliness. I had this quote, “I feel like I’m the only one standing in a crowded party”. To top it off, I did not have good study habits as I began to doubt if I would ever be a good student.
During my second semester in college I was cleared to return to the football field and I began attending a local church which slowly started my turn around. Academically, I still continued to struggle until I received my first “A” during summer school. I attended a local junior college back in my hometown. I was able to use that “A” as catalyst for the remainder of my college career. The belief that I could be a good student seemed to free me of the psychological chains of self-doubt.
However; I can’t help but think about my peers who started high school or college but, never finished. I can’t help but think of the children that are coming behind. Donovan Livingston had his fraternity and his poetry group that gave him confidence, brotherhood and integrated him into the college experience. I was a member of an athletics team so that allowed me to feel like a valued member of campus life? What supports are in place for young people of color who don’t join an athletics team or a fraternity/sorority? What gives them strength while also letting them know that they are valued? What happens to the young people that never get the confidence boasting “A” in a class?
“Can genuine human relationships flourish for black people in a society that assaults black intelligence, black moral character, and black possibility”.- Dr. Cornel West
I graduated in the spring of 2009 but, my happiness was short lived as the economy was experiencing The Great Recession. In 2008 and 2009, the U.S. labor market lost 8.4 million jobs, or 6.1% of all payroll employment. No, my college degree has not generated the revenue or opened the doors that it once did. However; graduating college helped me learn the most about myself and I nor Donovan Livingston can say or show it any better.
The Weary Blues 