Via my Facebook feed, I came across an article in the Boston Globe featuring a project titled I, Too, Am Harvard that highlights the frustrations of black students at Harvard. And having watched the video below that introduces the project, it brought back memories of my days at the University of Michigan. The immense burden to prove (mostly to other students), that I had the academic chops to be there; as well as the pressures to speak for all black people when matters of race or slavery came up.

It was frustrating but I endured mainly by studying my ass off and making the Dean’s List. And this added pressure to prove that I belonged and could truly claim Michigan while not nice, helped to make me become the person I am today. So while sad that things haven’t really improved much, here’s hoping that all the black students at Harvard and other college campuses where they are a minority will be able to rise above. It’s not easy, but it can be done.