Mother Tuskegee

One of my closest college friends, Cinnamon (yes, that's her real name, no, she's not a stripper and she's more of a chocolate than cinnamon) passed through Tuskegee on her way to Atlanta for her spring break last week. As I saw her posts on Facebook about how much campus has changed and how she felt passing through her old stomping grounds, I felt a little twinge in my heart. She gave me the idea of blogging about what Mother Tuskegee means to me and what a great idea that was!
You see, I didn't originally plan to attend Tuskegee. I wanted to go to Spelman (window air conditioning units and not enough majors); Paul Quinn (colors were purple and gold but it looked more like a high school in the hood), Howard (folks said it was too far away and hell no to the cost-even though it was a few thousand less than Skegee) and THEN Skegee. But after visiting Skegee during high school visitation day during my senior year in high school, I realized it was the place for me. I am a big history buff; I love cities like D.C., Atlanta and New York because they have so many historical sites to visit. To visit the home where Booker T. Washington lived gave me such a sense of pride. It wasn't a replica, but the real thing! I had only seen it in books but now I was standing where this former slave lived and built a life for himself, his family and for a city. What an accomplishment that is! The George Washington Carver museum was amazing. He made so many things from peanuts!
I saw so much Black love on campus that I knew this was the place for me. I came back to Abraham Lincoln High School with a Skegee t-shirt and a sense of pride that I was accepted to attend a university that only others could dream of. The day my caravan of cars (2 of them filled to the brim with stuff that I could barely fit into my room; half of it had to be taken back) pulled up to Olivia Davidson Hall on the campus of Tuskegee University, I knew that I would make friends forever, though I needed a little convincing after looking at the dorm room! I cried when my folks left me so hard that I ran after the car and fell over the speed bump! My dorm mates Chasity and Paulette laughed at me for weeks and still won't let me forget that day! But after I got over my bruised knees and ego, I dusted myself off, walked up to my room, and made some friends. What else was a skinny girl from little ole Port Arthur, Texas to do? I popped in my screw tape and got to enjoying my time in college!
For the next two years, I met friends from Atlanta, D.C., California, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Orleans and every other place you could think. These friends are more like my siblings and I'm still close with many of them for almost 14 years. However, my time at Tuskegee was short. My father was diagnosed with chronic diabetes during my sophomore year and couldn't travel very far. As I didn't have a car, I had to move closer to home. Though it hurt me terribly, I transferred to Southern University, where the majority of my family attended, and I later graduated 2 years later; right on time with my class.
Each year, I attend homecoming with my friends and it's as if I never left. Yes, the campus has changed. In fact, it has evolved in a mighty way. Each year, I see something different that we didn't have as 18-year-old kids, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
My mother asked me the other day which college did I enjoy most and I honestly have to say Tuskegee because this is where I began. This is where I laid my roots. Yes, I have love for Southern because it's my alma mater and it's where I spent every summer with my family; it's sort of a tradition. But Mother Tuskegee is and will always be #1 in my heart. When I would drive from UGA home, I would get excited to pass the highway marker that said "Tuskegee University: National Landmark." And even now, almost 14 years after I started my college career, my heart still pumps a little harder when I hear the words, "Tuskegee, the pride of the swift growing south."
My years at Tuskegee made me the person I am today. The people I met at Tuskegee have helped to make my life a little brighter. The experiences I had at Tuskegee helped to shape my life and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. When I hear people question the importance of HBCU's, I tell them, you must have never been to Tuskegee. That thought would have never crossed your mind.
So I dedicate this blog to my friends from Skegee. There are too many to name, but know that I love you dearly and i know that my life wouldn't be the same had I not met you. And big thanks to Booker T. Washington for making his vision of education for all a reality.