Because he believed in me.
During the late summer of 2012, I walked onto Harvard University’s campus- this time instead of arriving as a visitor to see my dad at work (he managed an AV department in their Science Center), I was there as a student. I started my one-year master’s degree in education policy and I was so nervous and excited to start a new chapter in my life.
While I planned to take most of my classes at the Ed School, I also wanted to take a class somewhere else to remind me of the broader context that schools and colleges function within. This desire led me to enroll in Professor Charles Ogletree’s law school course- Race and Justice: The Wire.
Unlike most of the country, I had never watched the show. During the first day of class, Professor Ogletree warned us that there would be spoilers midway through the semester. For me, this meant that whenever I had a free hour, I was watching The Wire. While most of my classmates were working on readings and assignments in Gutman Library, I could be found curled up on one of the tall, gray chairs with my headphones sitting on edge during Stringer’s next big speech to his corner boys and anxiously awaiting Snoop’s next victim.
What I loved about this class is that Professor Ogletree forced us to think bigger and more structurally about the issues presented in each season of the show. He encouraged us to see the full humanity of each character. He also brought in amazing speakers from judges (including a Supreme Court Justice) to folx who inspired characters portrayed in The Wire, to one day actually inviting a panel of actors from the show (see blurry photo from an in-debt grad student’s phone below).
I went on to take another course with him during the following semester, Revitalizing America’s Cities, where in addition to exploring the criminal (in)justice system, we also studied major institutions including education, housing, and transportation as well as the ways local and national leaders were working to change policies and programs in more socially just ways.
Professor Ogletree is well known for having mentored Michelle and Barack Obama, having served as a lawyer for Anita Hill and Tupac Shakur (he always said Tupac was sweet and very smart and that he wanted to start a fashion label before he was gunned down), and for the many ways he worked to advance civil rights for minoritized people across the country. I never imagined that he would open his arms and be so kind as to mentor me, too. Through his mentorship, I met many other inspiring change-makers.
He also encouraged me to get involved in research, especially work that could influence change. Through his connections, I worked on a report to assess the real cost of obtaining an ID when conservative states aimed to make photo IDs a requirement to vote.
Even after I graduated, we stayed in touch. I went on to work as the Dean of College and Career Advising at a high school in Boston, and Professor Ogletree invited my students and me to visit his classes. On one occasion we were even able to meet and ask important questions of the then Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan- a dream come true for me.
This morning I heard the news that my mentor has passed. While I am deeply saddened thinking about the loss of a civil rights giant, I am going to carry with me the lessons he taught me, in and out of the classroom. He always reminded me that I can do anything. And, he really believed it. I could have never imagined that I would one day become a professor myself, let alone in Professor Ogletree’s home state of California, but I know I couldn’t have done it without him.
