Freeman helped teach a generation to find its voice
As the Freeman family laid a legend to rest, I keep wrestling with the question: What does Dr. Thomas Freeman’s legacy and the movement sparked by George Floyd’s untimely death have in common? They both helped a generation find its voice.
As George Floyd’s voice traversed time into eternity with the words, “I can’t breathe,” people from all walks of life broke their silence with massive protest across the country. People who once suffered in silence by an unjust legal system have now found their voice. Dr. Freeman used to teach his students to “speak up to be heard!” Well, America, can you hear us now?
I believe this was the crux of Dr. Freeman’s work, teaching a generation to find its voice. Once you found your voice under his tutelage, he wanted you to go to the courts, the classroom, the pulpit, city hall and the boardrooms of America to be heard! It was never about the trophies; he was preparing us for life. Doc taught his students more than just speech and debate; he taught us how to be resilient in life.
In response to an interview question about failure and giving up, Dr. Freeman responded, “There are forces working in our world to destroy that which is good and eternal, and anytime you give up, you allow those forces to win the victory over you. You are an individual person possessed of capabilities, competencies and powers, and I don’t think God intended for you to throw them away by giving up!”
This fortitude of thought, mixed with his faith, created a culture of success at Texas Southern University for “more than half a century.” It was this culture of success that was exported across international waters and multiple continents as his students clinched first-place trophies and honors in England, Rome, Germany, Spain and Africa, just to name a few.
Through his fundraising prowess and ability to engage Houston’s corporate community to underwrite the debate team’s international travel, Dr. Freeman made it possible for his student’s voices to be heard around the world. I implore Houston’s corporate community to continue to financially support TSU’s awardwinning, internationally acclaimed debate team.
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, with major economic centers of commerce like the Energy Corridor, Texas Medical Center, the Port of Houston and NASA, and we must continue to invest in our local universities.
A win for TSU is a win for Houston. Dr. Freeman’s students cry both tears of joy and sadness at the same time. Tears of joy because we know his work will touch unborn generations. Tears of sadness, because we know, we will never again hear that distinctive Shakespearean-like response, “Come!” when you knock on his office door.
To all of Dr. Freeman’s students who are grieving the loss of their mentor, I can hear him shouting from the rafters of heaven: “Don’t worry about me. I’ve done what I was supposed to do with the time God gave me. Now you do what you are supposed to do with the time God has given you!”
Although Doc lived to be a centenarian and George Floyd’s time on this earth was cut short at 46 years of age, both men will leave a lasting legacy of transformative change.
God gave us all a voice. Now use it!