Whenever I first sat down to formally think about why I believe African/African American/Black Studies should be a program or curriculum offered at a university, I felt like the answer was so obvious. Yes, it should be. I also believed the reasoning should have been apparent as well. I feel very blessed to have come into this time in our Nation's history.  We have come so far just within the past one-hundred years, and I can say I was present when America inaugurated its first African American President, something I am happy to be a contributor in.  African American culture deserves attention and respect to educate others on it's past story just like any other culture does.  However, the struggle and changes it has had to go through are very important and embedded into America's culture as well. 

In my hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma, I had the privilege to attended a historical African American High School, Booker T. Washington High School. It was the first High School in Tulsa to be desegregated in 1973 and the pride that every students hold for that school is something that is unexplainable I find. I will always be proud of my High School, it's history, and the lessons, I believe, it will always have left me with in just four short years. 

I think the way that our Nation has transformed is an incredible story.  Beginning with the terrible use of slaves, moving into segregation, and just a week ago to electing a leader of our entire Nation are stages some may have never predicted had you told them fifty years ago.  But this story does not only pertain to African American studies, I believe it pertains to American studies and I am truly excited to learn more.  No other race has seem such a transformation within our Nation.