Congratulations to Olamide Eletu for winning our Writing Contest!
Olamide is a Junior who majors in Criminology, Law, and Justice and is also Pre-Law. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to America at the age of 7. At a very young age, she was aware that the world isn’t fair to everyone, especially Black people. As she has been living through life and gaining more experiences everyday, she have taken it upon herself to always fight for justice for those that can’t. She thinks education is one of the most vital thing we need on earth, hence why she is not taking my opportunity for granted. As of right now she does not know exactly where her career is going, but she does know she wants to fight for immigrants, for women, and for the youth.
Here is the 2020 winning essay!
Education Leads to Forward
Olamide Eletu
As a kid, differentiating right from wrong wasn’t easy. As you get older, you’re taught
right from wrong based on their experience in life. We are not truly being raised as our authentic self, it’s just a way to construct people so they can fit in a box. America is a country that has done many damages to other countries in order to save themselves. Due to the history of this country, the enslavement of millions of Africans which then caused trauma for many generations in the African American community, America can never progress. Many of America’s problems came from the justice system, which was created in the nineteenth century. Back then the goal was to promote provide law and order in communities and take down the
bad guys. However, as time progresses it seems as though the U.S. Justice system is just another way to enslave African Americans.
America has done many things to keep Black people down for many years in order for them to continue to have law and order in the country. They know and understand that Black people deserve revenge and if Black people were given the opportunity for an higher education then there will be a crumbling nation that thrives off white power will be destroyed. There are thousands of African Americans that are not educated due to them not having a strong family base. Many African Americans are not aware of how to provide generational wealth, let alone how to keep themselves from jail. After slavery was emancipated, America was afraid of what millions of what free slaves will do to society, so they organized a way for people to control them physiologically and mentally. They didn’t allow African Americans to receive the best education, live in the best neighborhoods, and basically just live a normal life. They were always subject to their talent. America hates Black people but yet love Black’s talent and culture. In order for this country to progress then all African Americans need to have access to education that will permit them to learn about their culture and history so that we can have a full and open discussion about the Black history. Racism is taught, sexism is taught, we all didn’t come into this earth hating each other so why are leaving this earth like that? The government needs to start giving back to the communities they’ve taken from. The power of a Black person being educated and knowing their rights as a human being is something that is feared for the police and justice system. Once they can’t control you then they cannot put you in the system and make you their slaves anymore. Many Black families have been ripped apart because of this system that chooses to divide people in many different ways. Education is the key for success and a progressive country. Everyone should have the right to be taught their right, it shouldn’t just be given to certain groups of people.