Morehouse College is an academic institution that is full young African-American males who are determined to succeed, but is that positive or negative? It all depends on the purpose behind that drive. An individual's idea of success determines how positive his goals are. The thing to remember is people can be swayed to take on a different perception of what they feel are components of success.
Morehouse is a prominent school that has amazing results and has produced prominent figures throughout our community, but today is a different day. Blacks are not physically abused as they once were in the days of Dr. Martin Luther King. We now face an educational and economic genocide. Known throughout history as men of strength, black men are now at a time where we must fight a war without weapons.
That is where the Men of Morehouse and Morehouse Men come into play. It won't be all of them though. For there will be those who come to Morehouse only to cling to the name that it has already established for itself. Then, there will be those individuals who muster together and use their scholastic adventure through this institution to leave a legacy that can be seen without a bank statement.
I think it's an amazing thing to come to a school and see a battalion of black men all with plans of earning lavish incomes but should it all stop after that six-figure check hits the palm of the hand? When I first arrived at Morehouse, the administrators and scholars stressed that community service and charity should be important to us as Men of Morehouse. That is our way to reach equality. Which will be more effective now: mentoring young, black children or a bus boycott?
There is nothing wrong with striving for economic success, but we cannot fall so deep into this capitalist society that we forget about our people that need us. We must do more than just make good grades, get an internship, and convert them into a high paying job so that we can lose track of where we came from.
Step One has already been taken. We have a large group of black males assimilated into a life free of the poverty-stricken society that encompasses the stereotype of the black community. The next step is to pull our loved ones out of the infernos that some call ignorance and destitution.
Morehouse is a place where thinking positive is in. Here, reaching for the stars is the norm. Lavish lifestyles equipped with houses, cars, and expensive clothing is the topic of the conversations. The fact that black males are realistically aspiring for these things is a positive, but if it stops there, then it's only beneficial to us as individuals. The students of Morehouse College have established a "Circle of Success", but if that success only pertains to getting rich then it should not be what the "Men of Renaissance" are all about. When will we take the risk, go outside of the norm? When will we disconnect the current circle and help our people that are outside of it?
