Three Strikes: Graduating from the University of Adversity

Where are we as individuals, as a nation, and as a race? This is a question the nation asks as we pass the 50th anniversary of integrating our schools. The integration era ushered in scenarios of black children sitting beside white children, regardless of whether either wanted it or not. It was a different time then, no question. People were vocal about their beliefs in 1954; loud and strong were the dissenting white voices, while the black voices cried out their passionate pleas. One wanted status quo, and the other wanted status. It was a time when people were not afraid of their cause because they believed in it no matter which side they lined up on. Riots filled the streets, men were hung by ropes, children were beaten, and teens were killed. Local police sanctioned much of this conduct in parts of the country. Washington was asking, no... telling, states how they should act but many of these states, especially in the Deep South with their Civil War heritage, refused to obey the federal government. It was a time when many Americans knew the disadvantages they were suffering. No matter how hard they tried to overcome those faults, many sectors of society were told continuously that they were not allowed to compete. In tallying up the damage to themselves psychologically, socially, and economically, many in society began moving to a point where they had to make a decision about accepting their lot or fighting for their rights. The end result was a critical watershed moment when people throughout the country began demanding equal rights, no matter what the strikes against them. In 1954, your strike was that you were black and it did not much matter your gender or your ability to getaround. In that decade, this country had only moved forward by twenty years recognizing women had equal rights to men. The Suffrage movement was being transformed into feminism, the movement for Civil Rights for black Americans was growing, and we were still forty years from a real Americans with Disabilities Act. This is the history. Once upon a time it was questioned how much a person was worth based upon what they could offer the world. Mostly it was the corporate or educational world judging and sending people home if they were not middle class enough, conformist enough, white enough, or healthy enough. If you did not fit those types, the odds were you were not counted for much. We say it is now a different world. We say now it is a time and place where all Americans are treated equal. Again, how far have we come? Diedra Cole will not try to answer that from a societal standpoint. Instead, answers from a personal standpoint. As a black disabled woman, she has come far. Even with three strikes against her, in the face of society, she was lifted above it all. Come with Diedra. Hear her story and learn how she woke to find herself in a gigantic arena of learning, a University of Adversity.