By Destiny Jackson

Major: Communications
Involvement on Campus: Ramblers Alliance for Equity

What does Black History Month mean to you?
Black History Month to me is a celebration of people who built the foundation of America. However, Black History Month is a minute portion of Black history. There is no American history without Black history. Though Black History Month is celebrated in the month of February (28 days, the shortest month of the year), it is not even the beginning of the education that needs to take place for our country to move forward with freedom, justice, and equality for all people. No person or people will ever experience freedom, justice, or equality in this country if those who suffered, died, and endured conditions that were animalistic, dehumanizing, and evil don't experience better treatment first. There is no such thing as Black History Month because Black History Month is every month of the year, every day of the week, and every hour of the day. History is the study of past events. Black people are living, thriving, succeeding, and breaking barriers every day. No person or person's history should ever be limited to 28 days of the year when that race is breathing every single day. Black History Month is important to specifically Black people because knowledge of self produces the love for self, and the love for self produces the want to do for self. The way that Black people have been brought up in America has conditioned us to believe what society tells us we are instead of us knowing who we really are. Knowledge is power when applied correctly and Black History Month is an opportunity for Black people to investigate who we really are as a people and study the things they don't tell us in school. It's a start, but far from what is needed to move forward. Black History Month is every month.
 
As a black student-athlete, how do you use your platform to advocate for social injustices?
In today's generation, the biggest influencers are athletes and artists. So being blessed with the ability to play collegiate sports puts me in a position where I can use my platform to influence this generation in a positive way. My goal has always been to show people that success doesn't only lie within being an athlete, but success lies in fulfilling your purpose within your time on Earth. To be a Black athlete is to have an automatic influence on people around you. It is up to you whether that influence is positive or negative. I use my platform to highlight healthy ways for people to use their voice to the highest capacity. Everything that we do as athletes has always been bigger than us and, given the opportunity to be in the position, has given us the responsibly to use our voices to change a society that has for years conditioned Black people to think that we are nothing more than athletes, musicians, and entertainers. I use my platform to show those around me that striving to operate in your purpose, educating yourself on the knowledge of who you are, and impacting people around you in a positive way to the best of your ability is far more important than putting a ball in a basket.

Is there a particular moment or historical event in your lifetime that galvanized you to fight for change? 
May 29, 2020 was when my perception of how I could use my platform completely changed. On that day, my older cousin and I went to a George Floyd protest in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was unlike anything that I have ever experienced before. When I was there, I was already verbally committed to another University publicly. At the protest, I saw people that I have never seen in my city that congratulated me on my recent commitment as a student-athlete. The protest ended as police tear gassed the whole crowd. I remember my cousin and I running to his car. We got away from the tear gas, but we saw people in the street falling victim to it and threw out water bottles to help them. That whole experience showed me that I don't even have to play in an official game and I can still have an influence over people that I don't know. This sparked an idea with me to assemble groups for Black student-athletes in my city to talk about the importance of our platform in our community and how we could use what we have to better the conditions around us. This led to me having an idea about getting the Black community together in my city for something positive and fun. In using my platform, I collaborated with a current NFL player from my hometown, Austin Mack, in helping build out an annual streetball event on the southside of town that promoted giveaways, created opportunities for Black-owned businesses to sell their products, and got the community together to watch local Black athletes play in a friendly, competitive, energy-filled streetball game on Juneteenth (June 19th) called the Mack Fest.
 
Is there anything else you want to add about this topic?
Athletes are given such huge platforms to operate on because we provide entertainment and some of the highest paid people in the world are athletes. What we fail to understand as a generation is that how many points you score, wins you obtain, or records you break does not give you value, nor does it make you successful. Black people specifically have connected success with athletic accomplishments. What entertains you trains you. The basis of community development is self-development within your purpose. You fulfill your purpose by identifying the most effective thing you do with the least amount of effort and acting on that. I'm a firm believer that no one's purpose is to run, jump, dribble, and sacrifice their body while doing it. However, I do believe that being blessed with talent, ability, and opportunities to play a sport and improve at the sport is part of your purpose and is an avenue to reach the destination of why we all are here, which is to serve those around us in a unique way that only us as individuals can. Being an athlete is amazing. It teaches you so many lessons about how life works and connects you with people you thought you never would have connected with if it wasn't for your sport. Taking those lessons and applying them to your life and finding ways on how you can become a better individual through self-development to the highest degree and using that to improve the lives of others around you is far more important than any athletic accolade or achievement. If we begin to understand that, strides will be made that connect the athlete's platform to community development and will improve the conditions of the Black society, which will ultimately improve society.