Memoirs of a man of Morehouse II

March 16, 2009

I've only but a minute, only sixty seconds in it.

Forces upon me, can't refuse it.

Didn't seek it, didn't choose it.

I will suffer if I lose it, must give in account if I abuse it

It is up to me to use it.

Just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it.

Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays

6th President

Morehouse College

It is up to us what we do with our time. It is the personal decision of each pupil of when he or she will accept the calling on their life. For some, the decision will be simple. For other they will have supreme guidance in the course they take. A last, for others it will be a gut wrenching process, including denial, betrayal, and ignorant actions, which will lead to confusion. I am Ethan Brisby, and for many years I have been a young man who lights up a room by being myself, a boy who has the audacity to hope, and a child who was told from an early age to understand the word unique.

Last week, I began a series of memoirs detailing my personal experiences in my matriculation at Morehouse College, a liberal arts school in Atlanta that caters to African American males. The "Harvard of the South" or perhaps Harvard is the Morehouse of the North. At any rate, this is a place where boys, no matter their age become men. We live by a creed that iron sharpens iron and builds the character necessary to be a leader in a world where change is so very necessary.

As an illustration, I rode an Amtrak train for more than 24 hours to get back to Atlanta, because I know Mother Morehouse would be calling roll on August 28, and I had to be in that number. I then challenged the administration to do all in their power to accommodate a little fella from Texas with a big heart, flare like Sean Combs, and a social outlook similar to his Morehouse brother, Martin King.  

As I alluded to earlier, some of us will deny or elude our calling for as long as possible, but if you do not do what you were put on earth to do, then it will never be done. A quarter of a century into my life, I have come to a point of no return. I get it because numerous students I met during a stint as an NSO leader keep coming back to me for advice, guidance, and comfort during the trying times an early school semester brings. I get it because I have been asked to lead the Next Great American Poet and its army of students to a future of scholarship giving, leadership building, and mentorship fulfilling tasks. I get it because I have always wanted to do what I do better than any man dead, living or ever to come.

I never wanted to be famous, and to this point I have been fortunate enough to keep a low profile, however with what I see everyday, and my drive for accountability, it will not be long before the power of numbers finds itself on my side. Let me put it this way as Dr. King so eloquently did, "We begin to die the day we are silent about thing we care about." I care about people. I care about women, and the prettiest people who do the ugliest things. I care about African American men, and education as an agent of socialization within this ethnic group. I care about a sustain relationship with a God that always is, always will be, and is always moving. I care about you, so any extended silence will continue to kill me. However, I choose life.

You may ask, why is Ethan going about his business this way? For some the question may be who is this fella? And for other it's, "Thank God he finally gets it!" For the last group, I want you to stay having my back. For the second group, allow me to introduce myself. And for that first crowd, watch me do me. All things work for the good of the Lord, and the self-fulfilling journey I have taken has made me everything I am today. What ever it is, It was Necessary.

As the story goes, Morehouse College smiled down on a little skinny fella from Texas. Determination and favor came in the form of scholarship money, car repairs, and mobile communication. Don’t blame me, I was given this world, I didn’t make it.  

Keep your head up,

Ethan "EJ" Brisby

...to be continued