Please Give Financial Support to Dear Old Morehouse While We Still Can!
I could only dream of one day expressing myself as eloquently as Dr. Uzee Brown, but please do allow me to add my voice to the chorus of those pleading for help on behalf of my beloved alma mater.
The coronavirus has devastated our economy and, for the foreseeable future, called into question the economic viability of many colleges and universities. Schools will close and many will not be as lucky as the indomitable Morris Brown, a school that only just recently rose out of the ashes like a Phoenix … or perhaps more appropriately like Lazarus.
It cannot be overstated that HBCU’s are in trouble but I contend that they remain critical institutions in the American educational landscape that should be saved and protected at all costs.
My time at Morehouse was a time of exploration and self-discovery. I learned as much about life as I did about international relations. Students can arguably get this from most accredited institutions. But as a black man, I felt seen, something I didn’t always have at Princeton … or anywhere else to be honest.
At Morehouse, my skin was celebrated and my perceived queerness was handled gently. My many successes stood on the shoulders of veritable giants - the likes of Howard Thurman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For one glorious moment in time, I did not have to suffer the micro aggressions of people who questioned my very presence in the most Ivory of Towers.
I loved my time at Princeton, but I was an outsider. I was an outsider because of my skin color and even the most liberal classroom with the wokest students sometimes made feel alone. My experience at that institution very much put into stark relief what institutions like Morehouse have to offer the descendants of slaves: a caring, nurturing, loving place where blackness is normal.
Where Blackness is love.
Where Blackness is bold.
Where Blackness is beautiful.
Where Blackness is the standard.
Morehouse must be saved, but it’s going to come at a cost. We are all struggling right now, but we must dig deep into our pockets and give back to an institution that has given us the tools that we need to survive in a world that does not accept us.
The alternative is too painful to imagine.
Give back to Morehouse in her hour of need. Give with love. Give generously - and spread the word.
yours always,
The Trendy One
