Sharpton motivates area students at West Loop Campus

Feb 25, 2014

Civil rights activist, Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing call to action to local middle-school, high-school and college students, encouraging them to stay in school and work hard to better their own lives. Also in town for HCC’s Black History Gala, Sharpton visited HCC Southwest’s West Loop Campus for the Minority Male Initiative and Men of Honor.

“If I walk over to you and knock you off your chair, that’s on me,” said Sharpton, in his trademark raised and impassioned voice. “If I come back next week, and you’re still down on the floor, that’s on you!”

Sharpton believes that, no matter what—or who—has knocked us down in life, it is up to us to pull ourselves up, without any excuses or any blame. He offered an example of a boy who only saw his father for one month of his entire life, was raised by a single mother and lived on food stamps. When Sharpton asked another young man if he thought that boy could grow up and do something with this life, the boy said he didn’t think he could.

“Well, the next time you’re in Washington, you might want to go by his house,” Sharpton said. “He lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!”

In the audience were students who participated in HCC’s Minority Male Initiative’s Summer STEM Academy (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), as well as selected students from Challenge High School, located at HCC West Loop.