A 6-Part Story

My story is a familiar one, an American one, a rag to riches one. From leaving my native country of Haiti to immigrating to the USA with my sisters in search of a better future, working hard in school, and ultimately landing a full scholarship. Just five years ago during the peak of my high school career, I was featured on ABC’s “A+” news segment for my achievement in obtaining a stellar academic record despite facing many obstacles. For the first time, I shared a portion of my life story to a greater audience. In addition to recognizing my accomplishments, the segment afforded me the opportunity to be a role model in my community, consisting of mainly minorities, by showing that despite your hardships you can achieve what’s in your control. The segment highlights the core values and aspirations that I had developed despite the hardships that I faced while being a high school scholar. Watching myself on TV being praised as somebody who had achieved success in this country that I had only come to five years prior; created a sense of pride. But it also masked the struggles and hardship that led to my accomplishments.

A+ in my life means graduating top of my class in high school, being able to attend WPI on full scholarship as a Gates Millennium Scholar, and transitioning to the tech industry by first working at Wayfair and now being a product manager at Lowe’s. These accomplishments are great feats to my obstacles, and I’ve been privileged to have been granted these opportunities. In turn, I’ve had to make the sacrifice of leaving behind my family and community to explore these opportunities. Not everyone who comes from similar walks of life grades their success in these terms.

I decided to publish a 6-part series that details my life story. I’ve decided that even though my journey is considered A+ doesn’t make it A+. How does one award a grade to an entire life story? I decided to share this story because even though we love stories of pulling people up by their bootstraps; pushing through and persevering; those stories come at a cost. I want to share both the joys and the costs of that experience with you.

Around this time last year, I became a U.S. citizen. At that time, I did not realize the responsibility that comes with being a citizen having sworn to ”support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. At that time, I would have conversations and learn about the history of America, but I wouldn’t feel a part of that history or part of the country that looked at its African-American citizens as enemies. History depicts that our country is built on the product of slavery. This same history presents itself today when looking at the inequality that still exists in this country and it’s social systems. I find myself a year into being a citizen, slowly redefining myself as a black man in a country that has a rich and complicated history. This history is now mine. This country is now mine as well. What a time to be a black man in America.

As a black man here in this country I am fearful of sitting in my own home in receiving news of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Elijah McClain. Now that I am a citizen, this news is my news and their story is my story. Jail or wrongful death are possibilities just because of my skin color. I realized that an A+ achievement simultaneously comes with living in fear. It is difficult to explore even the simplest of opportunities when there are obstacles placed in your way. Living in fear holds back us as a community and puts us at a disadvantage.

My own experience is shared with others in hopes that this encourages change, and there is motivation to vote in the upcoming election to initiate that change. Especially here in the U.S, it’s necessary to use our voices to help those who cannot help themselves. I am not new to creating avenues of change, however, the responsibility of voting is something that comes fairly new to me as I address several injustices to equality that I have experienced as a Black American, immigrant, and child in the foster system. In our society, stories like mine — stories of achievement-stories of redemption are admired. An A+ for achievement against all odds is a story people love. But we prefer not to dwell on the many ways that the “rags to riches” story weighs on the individuals and their families who live through these narratives. In doing so, we take for granted many “A+” stories. The stories that shape the makeup of the American narrative hide and oppress the lived experiences of the leading character.

The small portion of my life’s story which I spoke about during the news segment briefly mentioned the events that led me to come to America and the events that followed in my time here. In sharing these two perspectives, I have come to accept that it’s complicated. There are struggles here, like in any other country. I ultimately did find a better future here and feel grateful for the opportunities to pursue higher education and an exciting career in tech. And also, there are systems within the United States that contribute to the oppression that my family and countless other families have faced. In light of the Presidential elections that are in the near future, I want to bring additional focus to underlying issues within these systems that create difficulties to succeed, further igniting the belief of recognizing both failure and success.