Blazing the Trail
Almost a century ago a flourishing community was destroyed, June 1, 1921, to be exact. The Black Wall
Street, also known as Little Africa, was a flourishing black community located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Little
Africa had over six-hundred successful businesses, among these were, 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30
grocery stores, two movie theaters, plus a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a
half dozen private airplanes and a bus system. And it took almost a year for a dollar to leave the
community. This wealthy black community was destroyed by the infamous Ku Klux Klan.
One of my goals in life is to recreate such a prospering community with the assistance of others and
blaze the trail for upcoming youth. I don’t have nearly enough time to explain the measures we as a
society need to take for a positive action. But I do have enough time to try to make a difference in your
minds today. I want to emphasize the importance of a change in society and to accentuate the
importance of these measures. There are many things that need to be changed, some more important
and difficult than others, but it is possible to change.
We need to define ourselves, become the author of our lives; we need to believe change is possible; we
need to gain respect to be measured in society. My father would often ask his children, “What is a
trailblazer?” I would reply, as a child, “something that makes a trail.” Then, it was my father’s turn to
explain the true meaning of a trailblazer. “A trailblazer,” he stated, “is something that blazes the land, or
someone who creates a trail, or clear path to move forward.” This was the metaphor that my father used
to emphasize the importance of an education. Having an education makes it a lot easier to go through life
with a clear path and a vision of the future. This experience with my father helped me realize that
education would be the trailblazer to my future.
Not having an education makes the road ahead a lot bumpier and life more difficult. I have two wonderful
parents who were not well educated themselves. My mother left high school with a baby at the age of
eighteen and my father dropped out of college after his first year. But they both had goals and
aspirations of having children and not having an education made it hard on them mentally and financially.
After going through life’s trials and tribulations, my mom realized the importance of an education. She
decided to go back to school and obtain her high school diploma. Two years later, she became an
entrepreneur by opening up her own childcare service. With the responsibilities she faced as a teen and
young adult, it took my mother many years to be able to complete her high school education. However,
she is now on the verge of becoming financially stable and at the point of having attained many of the
goals in her life.
My father was always interested in assisting youth to better themselves whether it was through teaching,
coaching, or parenting. Not being able to go back to school with six children, my father learned about
teaching through the knowledge gained from his jobs as a coach, as an educational assistant, and most
importantly as a parent. It took my father fifteen years to actually have a class of his own. Now he teaches
other young children that the path to success is education. We have to define ourselves. Defining
ourselves means to determine the boundaries of who we are and the person we want to become. Many
more of us have to begin to define ourselves before we can attempt to redefine the world. We need to
become the author of our lives. An author is one who originates the story, a person who dictates his own
story.
Just recently I realized the importance of my life. My life is important because I would like to make a
difference in the lives of others. I realize my decisions can change someone’s life for the better or for the
worse. As the author I determine what goes on the next page. This is what many more of us have to do,
become the author of our lives to become something so grand. Furthermore, we need to respect
ourselves. To respect ourselves, we need to be careful how we portray ourselves or what we consider
ourselves to be, such as the diction we use to address each other.
As I was growing up my brothers and I would always use the term “salty”. We were not using salty in a
positive way. The word salty to us means you are wrong so feel bad about it. Today people still use this
word “salty.” Well, recently I discovered a new meaning for the word, a respectful salty. I’m salty, you are
salty, my parents are salty, the community of Tulsa is salty, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was salty, and
President Barack Obama is salty. This new salty is not offensive. The dictionary describes salty as “salt
of the earth,” which means persons of the highest reputation or worth. This term is positive and also
respectful. This is what we have to do to respect ourselves, find new meanings for old terms or old acts.
In addition, respect is possible to gain, if you obtain it the correct way.
Not long ago I was watching the documentary about Stanley “Tookie” Williams. He was known to be the
co-founder of a gang called the Crips. His reason for creating the gang was to keep the community safe
from acts of violence. But, the gang became the very thing it was trying to stop. Before Mr. Williams’s
death by the state, he became the salt of the earth. He was a Noble Peace Prize Winner for the many
books he wrote to discourage youth from any gang related activities. He also created an anti-drug and
gang program to change the minds of youth already participating in gang related activities. There have
been many things instilled in our communities that have not been in use for long. If we define ourselves,
become the author of our lives, believe change is possible, and gain respect we add to society, we are
measured in society as one. And as a trailblazer I walk on inside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s and
President Obama footsteps to make a difference. Will you join me?
Article submitted and written by,
Rodtrell Cameron
Freshman, Morehouse College, Atlanta
Urban Spice Staff Intern
Almost a century ago a flourishing community was destroyed, June 1, 1921, to be exact. The Black Wall
Street, also known as Little Africa, was a flourishing black community located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Little
Africa had over six-hundred successful businesses, among these were, 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30
grocery stores, two movie theaters, plus a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a
half dozen private airplanes and a bus system. And it took almost a year for a dollar to leave the
community. This wealthy black community was destroyed by the infamous Ku Klux Klan.
One of my goals in life is to recreate such a prospering community with the assistance of others and
blaze the trail for upcoming youth. I don’t have nearly enough time to explain the measures we as a
society need to take for a positive action. But I do have enough time to try to make a difference in your
minds today. I want to emphasize the importance of a change in society and to accentuate the
importance of these measures. There are many things that need to be changed, some more important
and difficult than others, but it is possible to change.
We need to define ourselves, become the author of our lives; we need to believe change is possible; we
need to gain respect to be measured in society. My father would often ask his children, “What is a
trailblazer?” I would reply, as a child, “something that makes a trail.” Then, it was my father’s turn to
explain the true meaning of a trailblazer. “A trailblazer,” he stated, “is something that blazes the land, or
someone who creates a trail, or clear path to move forward.” This was the metaphor that my father used
to emphasize the importance of an education. Having an education makes it a lot easier to go through life
with a clear path and a vision of the future. This experience with my father helped me realize that
education would be the trailblazer to my future.
Not having an education makes the road ahead a lot bumpier and life more difficult. I have two wonderful
parents who were not well educated themselves. My mother left high school with a baby at the age of
eighteen and my father dropped out of college after his first year. But they both had goals and
aspirations of having children and not having an education made it hard on them mentally and financially.
After going through life’s trials and tribulations, my mom realized the importance of an education. She
decided to go back to school and obtain her high school diploma. Two years later, she became an
entrepreneur by opening up her own childcare service. With the responsibilities she faced as a teen and
young adult, it took my mother many years to be able to complete her high school education. However,
she is now on the verge of becoming financially stable and at the point of having attained many of the
goals in her life.
My father was always interested in assisting youth to better themselves whether it was through teaching,
coaching, or parenting. Not being able to go back to school with six children, my father learned about
teaching through the knowledge gained from his jobs as a coach, as an educational assistant, and most
importantly as a parent. It took my father fifteen years to actually have a class of his own. Now he teaches
other young children that the path to success is education. We have to define ourselves. Defining
ourselves means to determine the boundaries of who we are and the person we want to become. Many
more of us have to begin to define ourselves before we can attempt to redefine the world. We need to
become the author of our lives. An author is one who originates the story, a person who dictates his own
story.
Just recently I realized the importance of my life. My life is important because I would like to make a
difference in the lives of others. I realize my decisions can change someone’s life for the better or for the
worse. As the author I determine what goes on the next page. This is what many more of us have to do,
become the author of our lives to become something so grand. Furthermore, we need to respect
ourselves. To respect ourselves, we need to be careful how we portray ourselves or what we consider
ourselves to be, such as the diction we use to address each other.
As I was growing up my brothers and I would always use the term “salty”. We were not using salty in a
positive way. The word salty to us means you are wrong so feel bad about it. Today people still use this
word “salty.” Well, recently I discovered a new meaning for the word, a respectful salty. I’m salty, you are
salty, my parents are salty, the community of Tulsa is salty, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was salty, and
President Barack Obama is salty. This new salty is not offensive. The dictionary describes salty as “salt
of the earth,” which means persons of the highest reputation or worth. This term is positive and also
respectful. This is what we have to do to respect ourselves, find new meanings for old terms or old acts.
In addition, respect is possible to gain, if you obtain it the correct way.
Not long ago I was watching the documentary about Stanley “Tookie” Williams. He was known to be the
co-founder of a gang called the Crips. His reason for creating the gang was to keep the community safe
from acts of violence. But, the gang became the very thing it was trying to stop. Before Mr. Williams’s
death by the state, he became the salt of the earth. He was a Noble Peace Prize Winner for the many
books he wrote to discourage youth from any gang related activities. He also created an anti-drug and
gang program to change the minds of youth already participating in gang related activities. There have
been many things instilled in our communities that have not been in use for long. If we define ourselves,
become the author of our lives, believe change is possible, and gain respect we add to society, we are
measured in society as one. And as a trailblazer I walk on inside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s and
President Obama footsteps to make a difference. Will you join me?
Article submitted and written by,
Rodtrell Cameron
Freshman, Morehouse College, Atlanta
Urban Spice Staff Intern
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