Reflecting the past 3 years,
many intimate conversations I’ve shared with my few Black peers centered around what the USC college experience is really like for Black students.
It was a chronic cycle of mental breakdowns, educating our white peers and authorities on why we matter, and we suppressed this anx with the few Black functions, cultural organizations, and athletic events to get by.
Arguably, we all agreed there is a major cultural disconnect from not only the predominantly white university at large, but more so amongst each other––Black student-athletes to Black students to Black professors to Black faculty.
We & the remainder of USC often forget our Trojan roots.
Our legacy first began in 1907, when Jamaican-born John Somerville became the first Black graduate & received his D.D.S. from the School of Dentistry. Two years later, Liberian-born woman (unnamed) earned a degree from the College of Liberal Arts.
Over a century later, Black Trojans continue scholastic excellence while becoming world-renowned filmmakers, actors, innovators, politicians, artists, Olympians, and philanthropists.