Co-editors Note: Recent changes in statewide curriculum requirements are attempting to reduce or eliminate Ethnic Studies programs across California. Ethnic Studies departments, such as the Africana Studies Department at San Francisco State University, were implemented as a result of hard-fought battles for racial equality and justice. For many people of color, Ethnic Studies have been an opportunity to become conscious of our own history/herstory and have inspired political engagement and community organizing. The recent cuts to Ethnic Studies departments reflect the degradation of Civil Rights victories. This article by Leontyne Smith is an example of how Africana Studies can uplift, awaken and activate revolutionary scholars. The move to downsize ethnic studies departments is a part of the war on Black and Brown folks in Amerikkka.
Adults in this era do not know their true history, because a lot of schools do not teach the truth of African indigenous ancestral heritage. I know this for a fact, because from the first day of school to the last day of high school I did not have a clue about people like Marcus Garvey, Frank Douglas, Malcolm X, and every positive aspect of black history. Western European theories consider black people to be savages.
A reality check came to me my first year of college, when I took a class called West African tribal customs. My mouth dropped when I saw all of these classes named after African traditions and African Americans. Honestly I didn’t know that there was a difference. After taking this class with Doctor Wobogo, I fell in love with these classes, because we learned about the real customs of womanhood, manhood, in the context of our ancestral history. For example women were treated like royalty and men were treated with dignity and respect at a young age. In fact, in the tribe we studied, boys went into training around the age of five and were taught how to take care of a family and own their own land by the age of seven. Men would provide a hut, land, and animals, as well as skinning their own meat, and how to strategically how to hunt.
Learning about West Africa was awesome; I went through college without thinking about my future and what struggles I might have by majoring in Black Studies. I chose classes like Afro-centricity and the Dawn of Science, Black Religion and even a Black Journalism class. I wondered why black people in different majors would say the Black Studies major was a cop out. Still I didn't understand why people considered the Black Studies program a joke. Even some of the teachers would ask me, "Did you choose this major because we do not require statistics as a requirement?” This is absurd in my opinion. I didn't understand the politics with the Black Studies department and how we struggled so hard for this program to come into fruition. The BSU and Greeks were fighting when I attended and I would have to say Brother Maurice, and Brother Black put in blood sweat and tears. They stayed in school postponing graduation just to keep up the BSU, and what SFSU stands for. Brother Maurice always talked about unity, and people would hate on him because he was a fighter for indigenous people, even people outside of our race. He was straight out of Hunters Point and people thought he was ghetto because he grew up in the hood, but he actually stayed on the deans list and got straight 4.0 every semester. I really felt for some of the coordinators of the BSU, because a lot of people gave them a hard time. I came to a conclusion that your own people will turn on you, and a lot of people want to be the leader. Egotistical stuff ruins things, but despite all the challenges, they did keep up the kings and queens meetings.
Nine years passed by and I graduated in May of 2012 with a bachelors degree in Black studies. Every agency I sign up with for help tells me not to mention to a potential employer I have a Bachelor’s in this ethnic background. They tell me to just say “social sciences.” Now I believe people do not go to college to learn; they go to college for a high paying job in the future. It is said if you graduate from college you are guaranteed to have a job because of a piece of paper. I worked so hard in college and honestly I am proud to have a Bachelor’s Degree in Black Studies, because teachers like Nobles, Tsuruta, T Shaka and etc empowered my soul. They made me feel like I am somebody. I got a lot of support from my academic advisor. He was the only person who believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. He was also African American, and he ran the whole undergraduate advising center. All of our teachers would send us to Marcus Bookstore for our textbooks, and a lot of the teachers wrote multiple books.
Establishing a Black Studies major was a hard-fought battle. There were riots and people died to have the chance of having something of our own. Black people in the past demanded a lot more than just having a Black Studies department, but they negotiated and even established Malcolm X plaza, and the Cesar Chavez student plaza. Even though I cannot get a job (which has been a huge struggle for me), I am going to graduate school for to get a Marriage and Family Therapist License. I will carry all the knowledge I received from my elders at SFSU. I can teach children to love themselves just based on their history, and talk to them with an Afro-centric approach and teach them what I know they will not learn in school. Hopefully I can work at the youth guidance center or a place with troubled people and help them with my knowledge of Black Studies along with the MFT license.