I recently saw some reporting by a white conservative journalist which alleges that black Americans don't value education and I wanted to share my personal experience with that as a non-American black man. In 2018, I graduated with a masters in Biostatistics from Harvard. 🧵👇🏾
Traffic was bad on graduation day so I ended up walking through the streets in my full cap and gown. The thing I remember most about that day is all the happy black faces that were congratulating me. Boston is mostly white so it really stood out. 2/6
Black people were literally congratulating me in the streets as I walked passed. Black people that I didn't know were honking their car horns. It clearly meant a lot to all of these people who were probably on their way to work or doing errands. 3/6
I remember feeling ashamed that I'd briefly contemplated not going to graduation. Normally, I brush off compliments but I quickly realized this wasn't about me. I can't say for sure what everybody was feeling but it seemed deep and powerful and positive. 4/6
The most emotional part of the day for me was when a black teacher with a class of black kids approached with a few of the kids to congratulate me. You don't have to be a genius to understand that they were seeing me and understanding that they could be Harvard graduates too. 5/6
Nobody can tell me these folks didn't value education. I looked into so many eyes and I felt the love and appreciation for what I had done educationally and what they hoped I would do. 6/6
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