I too, stand on the shoulders of the NAACP
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In life, no matter how good all of us may be, we all stand on someone’s shoulders.
We may be the very best stockbroker, the best surgeon, the most amazing teacher or radio talk show host, the greatest NFL or NBA player….but we still all stand on someone’s shoulders.
Some person, or some organization paved the way for our success. In my case, historically, and by far, it’s the NAACP.
At times, the older I get, it’s scary for me to think about what my life would have become without the NAACP historically advocating for what I call the voiceless in society. The NAACP is a “voice for the voiceless.”
According to Wikipedia: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans.
It’s humbling to reflect on the fact that I would have never been accepted to college without the NAACP, which changed the trajectory of my life in a tremendously positive way . I just wasn’t the type of kid colleges would be interested in.
The reality was I was an average student at best from the NYC public school system, lived in the housing projects, had attended five different high schools in four years, and my family did not reflect the traditional sense of family. I had no father, and was raised by my grandmother and aunt. My mother suffered from severe Mental Illness. I would also be the first one in my family to attend college, and absolutely had no way to pay for higher education. Just like the Lotto commercial all I had was a “dollar and a dream.” But I did have hope. I could dream, and the NAACP historically, had made it possible for kids like me. I now know that one determined person can change the world.
