Students at Booker T. Washington High School had the opportunity to dialogue with dynamic trailblazers and historic figures on Friday, September 28th. The Rev. Dr. Joseph Roberts, Jr., former pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, renowned professor of computer science, Dr. Andrea Lawrence, and influential lawyer, Larry Dingle, spoke with the students as a part of the 3rd annual “Back to School with the HistoryMakers” program.
Rev. Joseph Roberts, Dr. Andrea Lawrence, and Larry Dingle speak with students at Booker T. Washington High School.
“It gives us an opportunity to come back and share life stories that we believe would be helpful in giving people a sense of the possibilities that are within themselves,” Dingle explained.
HistoryMakers is the nation’s largest African-American Video Oral History Collection committed to preserving and making widely accessible the untold personal stories of both well-known and unsung African-Americans.
“The HistoryMakers program is focused on commitment,” Lawrence said. “We are here to encourage students to commit to their education, to commit to moving forward, and to commit to making positive choices.”
During the back to school program influential African-Americans tell their stories in schools across the country and encourage students to go out into the world and begin to make history.
“These speakers inspired me because they all had very challenging obstacles to overcome and they overcame each and every one of them to make themselves a part of history,” said Jasmine Collins, an 11th Grader at Washington.
Rev. Roberts worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. and served as the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church for 30 years. He witnessed countless monumental and historic events, including the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Dr. Lawrence is best known for being a trailblazer, as she was the first African-American to receive her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.
Mr.Dingle served as the first African-American Clerk of Council in the City of Atlanta starting in 1977, and he worked in key areas of the Atlanta Police Department. He is also known for rezoning Atlanta’s Phipps Plaza, and he was instrumental in the creation of the Georgia Aquarium, the new World of Coca-Cola, and the retail space at Camp Creek Marketplace.
“After listening to the speakers I learned that everyone goes through things in life, but you just have to persevere, “ 11th Grader, Brittany Crawford explained. “I know that I want to make history one day in the field of psychology.”
After each leader told their individual stories of adversity and triumph, students had the chance to participate in a question and answer session with the HistoryMakers.
“One piece of advice that I’ll always remember is that nothing is given to you on a silver spoon,” Collins said. “You have to earn and work for what you want, just like these HistoryMakers did.”
