Hate shall not persist, despite the injustice

Like me, I am sure that your hearts, minds, and time are captivated by the protests taking place across our Country. Still, I humbly request your undivided attention, at a time of exceptionally divided emotions. I know that many of you feel anxiety, pain, and anger for the injustice and civil unrest our nation is experiencing — I feel it too. We hunger to find a way to make these feelings recede. As we manage our difficult and sometimes conflicting emotions, I would like to express my appreciation for my diverse community and for each of you as we aspire toward the American Dream of equality.

Broward College, like Broward County and South Florida, is a configuration of beautifully diverse people, cultures, and experiences. Our diversity nourishes our unity: all are welcomed, all are respected, all are supported, all are loved. My colleagues and I are privileged to celebrate the co-existence of diversity and unity daily. Among our 63,000 students and 5,000 employees are vivid reflections of the aspirations of our community and our nation.

Our bedrock belief is that equitable opportunity to attain a quality education is inextricable from our ascension to the American Dream of equality. Broward College’s role in that ascension, plainly, does not start or end with what we teach inside the classroom; it necessitates each of you. It is represented by the many businesses, organizations, and donors that partner with us to ensure we provide quality educational access, regardless of a student’s wealth, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, lineage, nation of origin, and, perhaps most pertinently today, race. Many of you have hired our graduates because of your trust in their knowledge, dexterity, character, and will, as it should be.

Together, we uplift individuals throughout our diverse community, providing a safe, inclusive environment for everyone. Now more than ever, our commitment to this role is resolute. What we do is grounded in the love of something greater than ourselves. It is grounded in our love of our students, our love of our neighbors, our love of our community, our love of humanity.

Like you, I collect various experiences and perspectives over time. My collection yields optimism. I have immeasurable respect for the bravery on display every time a law enforcement officer wears his or her uniform. I have tremendous pride in our College’s Institute of Public Safety (IPS), which trains the law enforcement officers of Broward County: our IPS is the very best, and I feel safer because of the leadership of our IPS and its graduating cadets. My very best friend of 25 years is a New York City Police Officer – I could not be prouder of him, and I trust him with my life.

My collection of experiences also yields concerns. Whether I am leaving my home for a few days, or just a few minutes, I tightly hug every member of my family because I am convinced that my return is uncertain. Recently, in my own neighborhood, a message labeled “Urgent alert: Black guy roaming” circulated on a local social media site. I am still hesitant of jogging in the dark. When I do jog, I am sure to run the same route every day, reducing the likelihood that I appear to be “roaming” in my own neighborhood. In an abundance of caution, I always jog with my identification. In my previous role as a Vice President at Broward College, while on a work-related drive I was pulled over, and the first question from the officer was of my white female colleague in the front passenger seat, “Are you okay, ma’am?” After I was asked to get out of the car and step away, she was further questioned to ensure I was who I said I was. Perhaps most heart-wrenching for me personally, my four-year-old daughter asked me on Saturday, May 30, 2020, “Are black people still slaves?”

I despise these conflicts of my existence, but I despise no one. While hate persists, it will not persist within me. Hate shall not persist within us. It is not possible to be both consumed with hate, and simultaneously be consumed with the love necessary to usher our children, our students, or our residents into the opportunities and lives they all deserve. It is not possible to be consumed with hate, and simultaneously love each other the way we must to serve our community. It is not possible to be consumed with hate, and achieve the American Dream of equality. Our choice is love.

We love you George Floyd, and we denounce the injustice leveled against you, and the countless others who have fallen to the same injustice.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King. Together, we are the light, we are the love.