When I graduated high school, Reverend  Calvin Butts  http://www.abyssinian.org/index.php?l=1 gave a speech about what we needed to do in college; the mind we needed foster ; the ideas that we need to hold on to. That was in 2005 and I was more than happy because I saw our graduating class, like most people, as the next leaders of our respective communities.  The idealism that was ignited made my pursuit of a triple major and the hopes of graduating in three years rational and with the help of a book called the Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, I set out on what was my journey with my other high school graduates.

            As my “senior” year has come to an end, I have seen a lot and learned a lot.  Yesterday, I was at an event by Congressman Charles Rangel and the legislator informed a group of idealists that they are the next generation and that they needed to guard the future. When we introduced each other and I told the Congressman and the rest of the group my professional interests, he looked at me and laughed and said, “so you are paying attention to my tax initiatives.” The Congressman spoke about the dying middle class and said that we need to maintain it because then the very essence of America would fade away if we lost the middle class.

             The very essence of democracy is the middle class and a world in which there is only the upper class and the lower class is a world that will shrewdly follow the dictates of Karl Marx.  The idealism that should structure the moves of the graduating senior is the understanding of the current state of American society.  College illuminated what for many is a world that is distant because they never had a chance to go to college.   It is a journey that we individually choose, but we are all guided by idealism. Since high school, I have looked at Congressman Charles Rangle’s District with an acute sense of entitlement.  When I was in his office, I went near his door and hang my suit jacket and went in and sat in the conference room; his legislative assistant said only those who feel comfortable in the office actually do that. Obviously, I may not replace the giant gorilla, given the fact that I also seem to have priorities in Africa, but I think at every stage I always see myself  on the  long journey to freedom; not sure where it will lead me.

            At the meeting with Charlie, I met the various individuals who will go on to run some of the biggest institutions in the country.  Ours was a group of individuals with goals so grandious the Congressman emphasized networking.  It is always a good feeling to understand that we plant men and women of character in the world in the hopes of continuing our mandate for a progressive world.  I recall my first year in college at the YP4 seminars when we were told that if we should be the change we want to see in the world. I have always wanted to see men and women who understood and that the problems they encountered at a stage when they were vunerable are problems that as adults they shouldn’t let linger; they should fix them!!! For some the journey will end short, as was the case when I went to my former neighborhood and found that the guys I played ball with still hang around the corner. I often don’t see how lucky I am to  have gone to college and graduate without loans and now attempt to set up a life I want for my family, but at times I do and that is what motivates me to work hard and change the little things that I can change. However, the long journey for me has never stopped and it should not stop for the many seniors entering the labor market in various professions.  We all have different experiences but we share one thing, the consciousness of a world that can be better. We should engage in the intellectual world, business worlds, and other worlds we see as our calling with the acute awareness that things can be better.  A person gets old when idealism fades for it is only idealism that distinguishes the old from the young!!!!  Thus far, three of my friends have gained sits in the legislative bodies of their states (Ohio, California) and one friend in Copper belt in Africa. The urgency for many of us very much there, and that is why there should be no room for mistakes.