My Time with Morehouse Men

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some time with Morehouse men. Dr. Gwendolyn Williams, a faculty member at Morehouse, invited me to be a judge in her Reading and Critical Thinking class. The young men in her class participated in group assignments that were based on Hill Harper’s book: Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny.

For those of you who are not familiar with the book, Harper, through a series of letters to young brothers, addresses several topics that young men have asked him personally. The topics cover everything from school, money and careers, to girls, family life and achieving goals. The book is an inspirational read, ideal for any young man whether he has questions or not. As far as I’m concern, it should be mandatory reading for any male who is age 13 or older. Keep in mind there are some sensitive topics Harper covers in the book, but he does it expertly.

But getting back to the presentations. Out of five groups, I judged two of them. Each group took a different aspect from the book and presented on it using their personal styles. The first group’s topic was part three of Harper’s book – The Real Deal: Girls, Sex, and Responsibility. They presented using monologues/poems and had videos to drive home their point. Needless to say those  were some pretty…dicey topics, but I thought they handled them beautifully.  The second group I observed did a skit for their  presentation. Their group’s topic was from part two of Harper’s book – School, Work, and Money: Mining Our Resources.  Through a series of scenes, the skit followed a young man as he confronted various issues in his young life where he had to make tough decisions with the assistance of an angel consulting in one ear, and the devil chattering in his other.

Personally, I was impressed by both groups! It was encouraging to see young men who were not only able to articulate their words and thoughts superbly, but who also exhibited passion on the topics they spoke on. My hat goes off to Dr. Williams for giving these young men a platform to show their intellectual, acting, and creative abilities. I felt honored to be invited!

Let me know if you’ve ever read Harper’s book.  And if so, what did you think?

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