A Diamond in the Rough

Black women have been going against the grain for as long as can be remembered. The institution of slavery has made Black women strong, stronger than anyone in our society. We have constantly been tested by the indignities of racism, classism, sexism, and many other isms that have tried to divide and defeat us. Though these enterprises have worn us down, they will never break our spirit and certainly will not hamper our drive, which explains the number of Black women going to college, earning both undergraduate and advanced degrees, and going back into the communities and into the world to make a difference in the lives of those who are in progress of bettering themselves.
Being literate is something that Black women cannot take for granted because we have worked so hard to earn the right to learn, a right that as human beings should be bestowed upon us as inalienable and without stipulations regarding the extent of our ambition. This is a promise that Spelman continues to keep by inspiring its students to achieve and conceive as much as our imaginations can hold. Harvey J. Graff asserts: “the environment in which students acquire their literacy has a major impact on the cognitive consequences of their possession of the skill and the uses to which it can be put”. This defines our school’s mission perfectly because we are taught from the day that we set foot on campus that we are expected to learn as much as we can and then go into our communities and make them better places so that future generations may see that anything is truly possible and that dire situations such as a bad home life, absentee parents, under education, and economic distress does not have to always be the defining concept of our lives. There is hope and there is a way out, but it is in no way easy to achieve these goals, but the tools necessary to changing lives is found within the journey of being literate.
Literacy is not a means to an end, but rather a never-ending journey that makes one more aware of the world and of one’s own consciousness. The fact that Black women had to struggle to learn to read and write makes us appreciate literacy more and this is why we are so determined to defy the odds and become better people and be the trailblazers and change agents in our communities. We have come a long way from having no right to learn to taking and seizing every opportunity we have to become better women and to change our world. We are diamonds in the rough when we enter Spelman, and when we leave we are diamonds that shine our light on all around us. This light is one that will continue to shine through service and expectation for our advancement as a people.

Jasmine Bryant