Making America Great Again…
Rumor has it that someone wants to make America great again. Unfortunately, our country wasn’t always great — many citizens were not seen, heard or valued. My mother, born in 1950, courageously integrated her high school in search of educational equity. Her mother and (my grandmother) spent over twenty-five years working as a maid, nanny and cook for a family from sun up to sundown, referring to them as Mr. and Mrs. — -while she was called by her first name — by adults and kids alike.
Bear with me, if ‘making America great again’ sounds like a clarion call to revisit a time where my energetic 19-month old son would not be seen, heard or valued.
Over the next couple of months, thousands of poor, working-class, black and brown young people will be graduating from high school and college in search of their American dream. Many of these individuals will be the first in their families to attend and in most cases graduate from college. According to a 2010 report by the U.S. Department of Education, today nearly 50 percent of the college population are first generation college students (FGs). Roughly 24 percent of these are both first-generation and low-income.
As a first-generation college graduate, I do want to return to a time when our country ‘behaved magnificently’ and thought of education as an investment and not just an expense — the GI Bill, Stafford Loans and Pell Grants — this commitment put hundreds of thousands of people with non-traditional narratives through college. This investment impacted rural, urban, Republican, Democrat, gay, straight and all shades of the ethnic diaspora — these investments were the proverbial boot-strap for many first-generation college graduates.
Bridging the opportunity gap cannot become synonymous with entitlement.
We have more students attending college than ever before and half of all students in college are FGs and often lower income– yet Pell Grants now only cover 30% of college tuition at a public college, the lowest percentage in 40 years. While college tuition has been rising almost 6% over the rate of inflation for decades. If we are truly going to make America great again, we need to be visible and vocal in support of these first-generation students, they are the future curators of the American Dream.
As first-generation college graduates ourselves, we know how hard it can be. Education was not the panacea for inequity in our lives but it has played a transformative impact in defining our dreams, narratives and revolutions. Many of us live lives that our families did not know existed. We did it because we had support: FGs and FG allies who served as role models and evidence that our dreams were possible. Without them, we would never have made it this far.
I have an idea: let’s make higher education great again.
Because in the words of June Jordan, “We are who we’ve been waiting for” — and we owe it to ourselves and the next generation to be vocal and visible. Together, we can make America great again — — for everyone.
On Friday, May 27th, we call on first-generation college graduates, students, and supporters to join us for #ProofPointDay, a national day of celebration and visibility for FGs. We encourage all those who support first-generation college students to wear green and share the history and message of #ProofPointDay.
Chastity Lord is the founder of #ProofPointDay and is also a 2012–13 Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow with the Pahara Institute and the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
