Columbus High panel tackles Black students' experiences

By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | A panel of four Black professionals told students of color at Christopher Columbus High School that they need to take advantage of the educational opportunity they have at the all-boys private school.

The Black History and Leadership Lecture Panel, held Feb. 23, 2022, marked Black History Month at the school.

“Although athletics is important to many of you, don’t have a myopic existence at this time,” said panelist Chris Lomax, an attorney. “Look at academic subjects that interest you. Don’t rely on sports. If you don’t understand something ask questions. Don’t be afraid to speak up in class. Don’t let these four years go by without touching on other subjects that interest you. This time period, 16-22 years old, is a wonderful time to experiment.”

Because of cultural differences and perhaps being the only person of color in the classroom, there’s a little bit of an intimidation factor for some of the Black students to speak up in class, said panel moderator Shirelle Jackson, senior associate athletic director for student-athlete development at the University of Miami and a Columbus High board member.

Another panelist, Alexander Martin, assistant director for player development for the Miami Dolphins, said that in his freshman year in college he felt like he was behind his fellow white students.

“I’m sitting in class with students who already know what they’re doing,” said Martin, who was majoring in computer science at Southern Illinois University. “And here I come, a student athlete in my sweats with notebook and pen, feeling like I’m two years behind. I didn’t want to ask questions. I was doing myself a disservice. I didn’t want to hold up the class. How am I going to balance my life as a student athlete and my academic studies?” 

Martin said a conversation with a student counselor set him on the right track.

“He said, ‘Bro, you’re here to get a degree. Ask questions. Who cares if you’re holding up the class.’ So at the next class I asked about 10 questions. My classmates were a little angry, but I’m glad I did that because it made it easier for me to ask questions down the road. That one experience in college taught me a lot.”

Panelist Jason Jackson, Miami Heat announcer, and his wife, moderator Shirelle Jackson’s sons, are Columbus alumni. Jordan graduated in 2021 and Justin in 2017. Justin is in graduate school at Ohio University studying for his MBA and Jordan is a freshman at Florida A&M.

“We looked for a school where our kids could have a good athletic and academic education at a reasonable tuition and have a diverse student body,” said Jason Jackson. “I was very impressed with Columbus. The school does a great job.”

 

‘YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT HERE’

Jackson said that nine years ago he walked onto the Columbus campus reluctantly. Then an African American student “walked up to my son Justin and grabbed his face and said, ‘You’re going to love it here.’

“That student had found that the energy he needed to succeed wasn’t necessarily at home, but he found that energy at Columbus,” Jackson said.

He added that African Americans should be proud of all that they have accomplished despite the terrible past. And he recalled the words of a Maya Angelou poem, “I am the dream and the hope of the slave, and still I rise.”

“I think about that every single day,” Jackson said. “I think about slaves being beaten to within an inch of their lives because they hadn’t picked enough cotton. I think about someone being someone else’s property, a slave owner raping a woman because they own them, slaves developing family on the plantation so there’s more free labor and then at some point selling family members off, and then I think about still being here. My great-grandfather was a child of slaves.”

Once Blacks were free they emerged into a society that really didn’t want them, he said. Now some are trying to bring back those times of “complete hell.” He urged the students to go beyond themselves.

“Will you have the guts to participate?” he said. “Will you have the energy and awareness to impact the things going on around yourself?”

Panelist Charlton Copeland, a Yale University law school graduate and UM law professor, urged the students not to let others put them down.

“You have to find the capacity to block out trash talk,” he said. “Maybe the other person wants to feel empowered and make you feel less empowered. Block it out and go on with your game.”

 

MICRO AGGRESSIONS

Lomax said that as a 25-year-old attorney working for the U.S. Department of Justice, he faced micro aggression or subtle reactions.

“I was armed with the power of the U.S. government,” he said. “I worked primarily in the deep South prosecuting police who exercised extreme force, those committing hate crimes, and human trafficking. Sometimes, sitting in a courtroom someone would ask me, where is your attorney? Did you get here because of some affirmative action? My reception wasn’t always warm. I don’t think that they would have asked those questions if I was white.”

Shirelle Jackson said that she, too, has faced micro aggressions.

“Sometimes people say, you are so articulate,” she said. “You speak white. What does that mean, I thought?”

Before concluding the discussion, the panelists took some questions from the students.

“Can you define the difference between quitting and moving on?” asked Columbus senior Marquis Peoples, 17.

Panelist Martin answered that when he realized he wouldn’t make it as an athlete, he remained in sports by moving from the locker room to the front office.

Columbus, a Marist Brothers school, has about 1,730 students. About 68 are African American and about 20 are Afro Latinos, said principal David Pugh.

Derrick Hart, 17, a junior, is the president of the Black Student Organization, which was founded in 2019 by Joseph Louisias, '20.

“We’ve had a good response,” he said. “I wanted to bring knowledge and awareness of Black Columbus students. The administration had been supportive. We meet once a week. We talk a lot about academics and how athletics isn’t the only way to college.”

Both Peoples and Hart live in Perrine and received scholarships and financial aid. Hart transferred from a public high school to Columbus and said he sees a big difference from public school because there’s more individual attention at Columbus. Peoples will attend Florida State University in the fall.

Corrected March 1, 2022: To clarify the date of the founding of the Black Student Organization and the name of the founder. It was founded in 2019 (not 2020) and by Joseph Louisias, class of 2020, not Derrick Hart, its current president.