Who says that the third time is the charm? For Rev. Al Sharpton, the second time comes awfully close. Sharpton received his second honorary doctorate of divinity degree from Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Thursday, May 5, 2011. To sweeten the occcasion, Sharpton’s father, Alfred C. Sharpton, was there to witness the ceremony.
Rev. Dr. Al Sharpton also delivered the commencement address, urging students to seize the moment and take control of their future. “We have a black president, a black attorney general, 40 black members of Congress; we’ve got more working for us than those who preceded us,” he said. “But most are doing less with what we’ve got. We still have a long way to go. We are still fighting violence and bigotry. We have come a long way, but we haven’t gotten there yet.
“They can slash the budget, but they can’t slash hopes and dreams,” Rev. Sharpton added. “Education is the civil right of the 21st century.”
Rev. Sharpton encouraged the students to face challenges in the spirit of the institution’s founder, who started the school then-named the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls with $1.50, her faith in God and five students.
“I am honored by what Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune meant to our history,” Rev. Sharpton said. “When Black people were still in the back of the bus, she built an institution. We need to be reawakened to the pursuit of excellence she taught. Blackness has never been about how low you can go, or how bad you can be. Blackness is about the fact that no matter how far we were pushed down, we found a way to get up anyhow.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the 2002 American Community Survey, 52.7 percent of Americans have some college education, but only 27.2 percent have actually obtained a degree. The numbers decrease when talking about higher education. According to the same survey, only 8.9 percent of Americans have a master’s degree and only 3 percent have earned a Ph.D. According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, in 2004 blacks made up 7.1 percent of all doctorates awarded to American citizens.
The labor market has grown increasingly competitive. In most cases, the more education you have, the greater your advantage when competing with a candidate whose experience is equal to yours. During a slow economy, advanced degrees become more crucial.
With this in mind, African Americans must strongly consider what role they are going to place in the marketplace. Urging students to use their degrees as a launching pad toward achievement, Rev. Sharpton reminded them that failure is not an option, regardless of any obstacles and hindrances they encounter. “No matter what you face, you have the grounding and foundation for excellence,” he said. “You are not responsible for all that happens to you in your life, but you are responsible for what you do with what happens to you in your life. It doesn’t matter in life who’s on your side if you’re not on your own side.”
Take heed to Rev. Sharpton’s advice because your experience paired with an advanced degree empowers you to control the pace and direction of your career and secure a future for you that can withstand any economic roller coaster. –yvette caslin
