By: Kerstan N. (’22), Editor-In-Chief
Growing up, my dad would often take us by the house where he spent the majority of his adolescence. It was a white cinder block home, sitting alone in a sea of corn, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, the first time the family had running water. “Twenty people, all crowded into that thing,” he would laugh. For him, that home represented something beyond the physical space, the house represented a time where he had yet to dream of what he could become.
My dad was the child of sharecroppers, raised in a city that supported itself through the money earned from tobacco. He would be the first of his siblings to attend college, supported in part through the sacrifice of my grandparents, in part through a merit scholarship. However, he still needed to take two jobs while attending North Carolina Central University. It was not enough. He ended up dropping out and pursuing a career in the Army.
I tell my dad’s story because, throughout the years, I have recognized it in the stories of friend’s families. We are the result of the sacrifices others have made before us, the realization of other’s dreams. However, sometimes, it is not enough. The pressure of being the first is tiring, living in a world determined to break you is exhausting, and at times it can feel that there is no way out. Sometimes, it takes us decades and generations before we become all that we dreamed that we might one day be. Sometimes, dreams are never realized.
As we close out National Black Business Month, I think of all those whose dreams have not been realized. I think of those that encourage a “pull yourself up by the bootstrap” narrative. How can you pull yourself up by the bootstraps when they’ve been cut, leaving you gasping for something to hold on to? This month is not only about Black people who have started businesses; it is about those who have sacrificed for them, who have supported them, who have loved them and encouraged them to go beyond where they have stopped to rest.
Today, my dad is a business owner. He has realized his dreams, but those dreams are not his alone. They are the dreams of a community that has seen his vision, the dreams of my grandparents, the dreams of our ancestors. National Black Business Month, for me, is a reminder of what could be when we support our brothers and sisters when we dare to challenge oppressive systems and the idea that we can get anywhere on our own.
