My one piece of advice to college students is to study abroad no matter what your major is, especially Black Americans. I believe when traveling abroad, we can’t allow ourselves to get offended by questions and stares because it is such a unique space. You must be patient and willing to answer any and all questions ranging from the ridiculous to the mundane. By doing this, it allows you to become better knowledgeable about another culture and ideals, but also the people of the host nation have a better understand of what it means to be Black American that is not misrepresented by the media. This is the time when we as Black Americans have to suck up our pride and represent our race, because we may be the first and only Black American that people around the world have had the opportunity to meet.
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Before I came to Morehouse, I had never met an African-American who spoke Mandarin. All of that changed the first day of my Chinese 101 class. My professor was Dr. Henrietta Yang who, unbeknownst to me, was one of the most highly recognized professors of teaching Chinese as a foreign language in the country. Her job prior to being appointed as director of the Morehouse Chinese Studies program was an engagement with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) where she trained agents before they went to their assignments in Asia. In other words, she was a boss, the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT); insert whatever culturally appropriate vernacular that encapsulates greatness and that was Dr. Yang. For those of us had not studied Mandarin before Morehouse, she allowed one of her students, Myles Postell-Reynolds to present for us. After he finished presenting (and translated), Dr. Yang told my class, “He began his Chinese studies at Morehouse. If he can do it, so can you”. Completely inspired, I decided that I would go to China one day and get just as good, if not better than Myles.
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