bethe1change
bethe1change
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Nov 15, 2011 (14 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Nov 15, 2011 (14 years)
- Last activity
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- Topics created
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Bio
When a young, African American male takes the podium to lecture on the inequalities of African Americans, for most, our media biased minds and stereotypical tendencies race right towards the one thought we all wish we weren’t thinking. That’s the point though, isn’t it?
So when Sharif Rasheed, a 25 year old African American male, lectures on race relations at universities he fully intends to make you uncomfortable. He speaks candidly and creates an atmosphere that while at times may be unnerving, is ultimately unthreatening.
Mr. Rasheed has the ability to engage people in conversation about issues that have otherwise been taboo. He speaks from a place of experience while providing encouragement to erase all doubt that his speech is just another rant and nothing more. As a result, students feel comfortable discussing their own issues with racial discrimination and inevitably, where they stem from. His ability to relate to his students and create dialogue between races underlines his point about the education systems’ flaws and unwillingness to discuss issues such as psychological enslavement and media’s effect on various races, particularly African Americans.
He combines history with an eclectic mix of current statistics and data to educate people on the troubles that each race experiences, not to convert them. He feels that people, over time, began to embrace their own stereo types. So despite the end of slavery, the vulgar, outdated notion took on a new form that he believes, has ultimately created the current state of inequality in this country.
Mr. Rasheeds’ ideal role model? Progressive thinkers. Men and women of any ethnicity willing to challenge the inequalities set before them.
As he expressly says in his lectures, “It only takes one.” One person to have the willingness to want to make a difference, to be the change.
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